Four Lies Dispelled By The Cross of Christ

Okay, so not too many hands. Those of you who did raise your hands, a further question? How many of you answer yourselves? Actually don’t raise your hands. You might not want everyone to know that. You know what, just see me after church.

Now let me challenge like 99% of you who said you do not talk to yourself. Are you ready for this? Turn to your sermon buddy and ask, “Are you ready for what he’s going to say?”

I’m sorry to break this to you, but you do talk to yourselves.

Here’s what I mean. All of us go through our days with a song playing on our inner MP3 player. Or for those of you who are little more traditional, there’s a record playing over and over or a CD playing over and over and, for those of you who are really over the hill, there’s an eight track playing in your head over and over.

Except this tape or CD or MP3 - it’s not playing music. It’s playing a series of statements about yourself.

“I will never be able to lose weight.”

“No one will ever find me attractive.”

“No one really loves and cares for me.”

“I am not a good Christian.”

“I don’t know how to pray well.”

Make sense to everyone? These things are what you might call negative self-talk. Sometimes we run these statements around in our head, often without even realizing it. Psychologists call that rumination. It’s weighing you down and discouraging you; and, it’s shaping how you act and how you respond to other people around you.

This morning, our text, I think, addresses four statements of negative self-talk - and, let’s just be honest and call them lies - it addresses these four statements and confronts them with the truth - the truth of who God is, what He has done for you, and who you are in Him.

So first, this one: “No one understands what I’m going through.”

Lie #1: “No one understands what I’m going through”

Our text opens up after Jesus has been betrayed by Judas, his own disciple. He’s been arrested. He’s been questioned — and mocked and beaten — by the high priest. The high priest then sends him over to Pilate, the governor of Judea. The Jewish leaders want Jesus dead. They think He’s dangerous.

Problem is, Judea like the rest of the known world in the first century AD is under Roman occupation. And under Roman law, only a Roman court could sentence someone to death. So that’s where Pilate comes in. And that’s where we pick up, with Jesus before Pilate.

So Bibles out, hearts prepared and open to God, eyes down in your copy of God’s word. Look with me at how John describes what Jesus endured as He was on trial before Pilate. Is it true that “no one understands what I’m going through.”

John 19:1–6 ESV

Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.”

Can Jesus understand what I’m going through? What did Jesus Himself go through? Well, first, there was the physical pain.

It begin with the beatings. A Roman flogging was administered using a whip made of cords, and the cords often had little pieces of sharp stone, bone fragments.

The victim would be made to hug a pole to which he was tied, so that his back is completely exposed. And what often happened was the whipping went on until the soldiers were physically exhausted - and these are strong Roman soldiers. And that meant that when it was over, often the crucifixion victim was dead before he even got to the cross. I know that’s gory and honestly disgusting, but that’s the point. Salvation is messy because our sin is messy. And it’s the messiness of our sin that makes our salvation so amazing. God wasn’t afraid to get messy with us, for us.

So he endured physical pain when he was beaten. And none of that even compared to the cross.

Jesus understands your pain - your chronic, severe, unrelenting pain. He knows what’s it like, and He cares.

But Jesus also understands another kind of pain. Jesus understands emotional pain, relational pain. He was mocked. He was the king of the Jews, right? In reality He is the king of kings and lord of lords. But of course the Romans didn’t believe that. “So, you’re a king, right? Well let’s get you dressed up like a king! Can’t have you dressed like a Palestinian peasant. Let’s put you in some clothes fit for royalty.”

By which, of course, they meant a tattered purple sheet for a robe. And a crown of thorns. I didn’t know this until I was looking at this in depth for you all this week. The thorns were taken from the date palm, a tree in the Middle East with thorns that are 12” long. These were twisted together and press into his scalp. And with this mock robe and crown of thorns, the soldiers, one by one, are coming up to him, bowing in mock reverence, saying “Hail, King of the Jews”, and then breaking his nose with their fists. Blackening his eye with their hands.

And in this condition, bloodied and weak and struggling to stand, in this condition he is brought out by Pilate to be displayed to the crowds. Pilate hopes that having beaten Jesus, the Jews will have mercy on him and say, “You know what? the beating was enough. Justice is served. Let’s all go on with our lives.”

Verse 5 says “when the chief priests and the officers saw him” - i.e. saw him in this condition, and what did they do? - “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

Jesus suffered rejection.

Church, do you know what it is to be rejected?

Some of you know what it’s like to be rejected by your own, by those closest to you - maybe your mom and dad, or your husband or wife, maybe the most painful all, you’ve been rejected by your children, grandchildren. Isn’t it interesting how some people seem to never even have to know what rejection is, while others seem to be followed by rejection everywhere they go? I don’t know why God allows that for some of us. But here is what I do know: Jesus is the only One who will never reject you. “Whoever comes to me I will never cast out” (John 6:37 ESV).

Jesus looks at you have been rejected and says, “I am yours and you are mine. I am for you. I will never leave you, neither will I forsake you. I will never leave your side. I will be with you every step of the way during your earthly journey, and even though there may be times when you don’t feel me there, trust that I am there. And I will lead you safely home. “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (Psalm 23:6 ESV).

Now let’s take it a step further: Jesus was abused.

You say Pastor Dustin, that’s too much. That’s a step too far. Jesus, abused?” But church, what is abuse if not when someone with the power to help instead uses that power against the person in their power to do them harm? And is that not precisely what Jesus experiences?

I realize that by saying that I am bringing things up for some of you. That’s not my intention. But these needs to be said:

If anyone in this room is being abused, first, tell someone.

Call the police. Call your church family. Get out of the situation, even if you’re married and your spouse is the one abusing you. God is not asking you to remain in a situation where you or your children are being hurt and taken advantage of by the one who should be protecting you. Then tell your church family. Come and talk to me, or Shawn or one of our deacons. Please, please, please, do not suffer in silence. Our God is the God of the abused. In Christ He experienced it first hand. And He is angry with those who abused you. He comes to you in your brokenheartedness and confusion. Justice will be served even if not in this life.

Jesus understands your pain and your rejection. He is with you in it and He will face it with you.

So is it true that no one understands what you’re going through? No. It’s a lie. Counter it with the truth. Jesus understands what you’re going through, He knows, He is there, He is helping you, He is going to use this in your life and in the lives of others, and even if no one else ever understands, it’s enough that He does.

Second lie: I am guilty and shameful.

Lie #2: “I am guilty and shameful”

I am guilty and shameful. I am defiled. Either by something I’ve done or by something that’s been done to me. I am guilty and shameful, that’s the second lie.

When the novelist Marghanita Laski died in 1988, just before her death she famously said, “What I envy most about you Christians is your forgiveness; I have nobody to forgive me.” Even non-Christians are aware of their need for forgiveness. A psychologist named Erich Fromm said, “It is indeed amazing that in as fundamentally irreligious a culture as ours, the sense of guilt should be so widespread and deeply-rooted as it is.” Richard J. Morgan, Preacher’s Sourcebook of Creative Sermon Illustrations (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2007), p. 363-64]

[SLIDE: Jesus before Pilate]

Now let’s be honest: we are guilty. We have done things that are shameful. So in a sense that lie is true. But in Christ, if we’ve trusted in Him for salvation, we can lay that guilt and shame at the foot of the cross and be freed from it. The problem is when, once we’ve done that, we still have guilt and shame that we can’t shake. It just won’t go away.

[By the way, there’s a picture of the arch where Pilate probably delivered his sentence.]

So what can help us shake our guilt and shame?

Pilate believed Jesus was innocent!

“I find no guilt in him” (Jn. 19:4b)

“I find no guilt in him” (Jn. 19:6b)

“Shall I crucify your king?” (Jn. 19:15)

“Take him yourself and judge him by your own law” (Jn. 18:31)

“I find no guilt in him” (Jn. 18:38)

Well, look with me, in your Bibles, at Jesus’ actual trial. And notice how many times Pilate affirms Jesus’ innocence.

John 19:4–8 ESV

Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid.

Here’s the point. We know Jesus was sinless. We know that we are sinners. We know that Jesus’ death on the cross atoned for our sins. But that’s just the negative side of it. That merely takes away our sin.

But having no sin isn’t the only purpose of salvation. God not only wants our sins forgiven and taken away; God wants us be to actually righteous and holy. And since we are not righteous and holy by nature, get this, church: Jesus Christ lived a life of perfect obedience to God. Jesus Christ as a man and as God lived a totally and completely righteous life. And here’s we come in: When we trust in Jesus for our salvation, God not only takes our sin away; He gives us Christ’s own righteousness.

Actually, do me a favor. Turn with me in your Bibles to 2 Cor. 5:21. This is worth seeing ourselves with our own eyes, not just rushing past. And read along with me, will you?

2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Now heres the thing. Remember lie #2: I am a guilty and shameful person.

If you feel that way, I would ask you this: have you trusted in Jesus as your Lord and Savior?

Have you leaned upon Him, are you resting upon Him and what He did for you, trusting that His death and resurrection are sufficient to forgive your sins and give you eternal life?

Friend, do you know what means? That means your guilt and shame that you experience are just in your mind. “As far as the east is from the west”, sings the psalmist, “so far does he remove our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12). God has put your sin away. He will never bring them up again. He will never again hold them against you. Those things of which you are now ashamed, they no longer define how God sees you. God now sees you as innocent, as holy, as righteous as Jesus Christ is. Why? Because not only did Jesus die for your sins to be forgiven; He lived a perfect life of obedience so that He could give you His own righteousness.

“I am guilty and shameful”? Dear Christian, not if you belong to Christ. He sees you as innocent, righteous and holy.

Lie #3: “I can’t trust God with what is most precious to me”

Another lie: I can’t trust God with what is most precious to me. Quick poll: who among you this morning would say, “You know, there is this person or relationship or situtaion that I am really worried about, and I cannot seem to give it to God. I guess I’m struggling with trusting Him.” Anybody?

Chuck Swindoll tells a story about an event that happened at Niagara Falls in 1860. A French tightrope walker arrived there at the falls, took a deep breath, and said, “I intend to cross over these falls on a tightrope.” And he did. It was a 1,000 foot tightrope from one end of the falls to the other, 160 feet over the main Horseshoe falls there at Niagara. And he did it not just once, but many times. This really happened, by the way. The man’s name was Charles Blondin, from France. There’s an image for you in case you need to refresh yourself on how amazing - or stupid - this guy was.

And of course, many people were watching and amazed and one such person was a little boy. The tightrope walker caught this boy’s eye. The tightrope guy said to the little boy, “Do you believe I could take a person across in the wheelbarrow without falling?” The little boy, full of enthusiasm, said “Yes, sir. I really do.” The tightrope walker then said, “Well, here’s the wheelbarrow. Get in.” [Swindoll, p586]

But it’s hard, right? If you’re like me, you can believe that God will be faithful to other people. You can reassure them and encourage them like nobody’s business, and believe it - for them, but not for you. But when it comes to me getting in the wheelbarrow myself....well, we’re not so sure it’ll hold true for us.

Well, what we need here, church, is proof that God is a God who is trustworthy; He is reliable; He does keep His promises; He will do us good; He is for us. He is, in other words, faithful. Always faithful.

Where do we see that in our text?

Jesus....thirsty?

“I thirst” (John 19:28)

“My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death” Ps. 22:15)

Many places, actually. But let’s just take one, the most obvious one. Look with me in your Bibles at verse 28: “After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), ‘I thirst’.”

So simple, right? Just two words. Actually just one in the original Greek. Jesus really was thirsty. Thirsting to death is probably more accurate. Blood loss, dehydration, physical exhaustion, mental anguish - all of that would contribute to him needing something to drink. By the way, here we see the One who is living water - now he is thirsty. He is pouring himself out for us.

Psalm 22:14–15 ESV

I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.

But behind the scenes, there’s something else going on. Psalm 22, the psalm that speaks of Jesus’ death centuries before it took place, that psalm contains a lot of verses that are similar to what we see here. But one stands out. Psalm 22:14-15

So big deal. What’s the connection between Psalm 22 and John 19? Look back with me one more time in your Bibles to John 19:28. “After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said” - and then look at this - “to fulfill the Scripture”. What Scripture? The one we just read from Psalm 22. What God had promised in an ancient text centuries and centuries before Jesus died finally came true as Jesus died on the cross.

Don’t miss this, church: God is orchestrating details down to the words and actions of the Roman soldiers, the clothes Jesus was wearing, and his physical experience of thirst, to show His faithfulness. That practically shouts at us, “God is faithful! Trust Him!”

And if you were to sit down and really study it with a Bible and a commentary, you would find hundreds of examples of the same thing. God makes promises, church, and He always - always - keeps them. Even when it seems like he’s forgotten. Even when it seems like circumstances would prevent it. God makes promises. God keeps promises. How do we describe someone like that? He is reliable. He is constant. He is consistent. He is trustworthy. He is faithful.

So, “I can’t trust God with what is most precious to me?” How about, “I can trust God, because He is faithful.”

Lie #4: “I don’t have enough faith to be saved.”

Lie #4: “I don’t have enough faith to be saved”

Have you ever felt that way?

Often it comes in different forms: have I really and truly believed in Jesus? What if I wasn’t totally sincere? What if my faith is just shy of the amount of faith I’m supposed to have to be saved?

It’s like those height measurements at amusement parks. There’s usually someone standing there to check and see: are you tall enough to ride this roller coaster? Nah, I don’t think. Come back in a year or two, okay sport?

And somehow we imagine that in heaven it’ll be that way. There’s no biblical support for this. But we imagine, I don’t know, Peter at the gate of heaven, right? And he’s got his faith-o-meter. Everybody ticks by one by one, each of them scared to death: will I have enough faith?

Friend, let me ask you something. Where is your trust? What are you hoping in? If you’re wondering whether you have enough faith - if you’re concerned you might not have been sincere enough - friends, your focus is in the wrong spot. Your focus is on yourself. Right?

It’s not about me or you. It’s about Jesus. We look to Him, not to ourselves. Our faith doesn’t save us. He has already saved us if we’ve trusted in Christ. Our salvation is already accomplished. It’s a done deal.

That’s what Jesus meant when he said “It is finished.” Tetelestai, is the Greek word, just one word in Greek. One word — just one word — sums it all up.

But what does it sum up? What is finished? The crucifixion? Jesus’ sufferings? The whole day of arrest and betrayal and beating and crucifixion? Jesus’ earthly life, all 33 years of it? Did it mean that He had completed the work the Father sent Him to do, to redeem lost sinners for their good and the Father’s glory? Absolutely?

But the fullest meaning, and what I think Jesus intended? When Jesus said those last words, “it is finished”, He meant that the Father’s plan to ransom lost humankind, a plan that stretched all the way back to eternity past, a plan to restore God’s creation and rid it of all sin and misery and pain? All of that is that summed up in those three words: “It is finished”!

“Lifted up was He to die, ‘It is finished!’ was his cry; now in heav’n exalted high: Hallelujah, what a Savior!” Philip Bliss

When Jesus said “It is finished” (Tetelestai!), part of what was finished, completed, brought to its end, was your salvation. Not just a possibility. Not merely an opportunity. But the reality. It is finished.

And if that’s true, that your faith doesn’t save you, then that means that there’s really no point at all in even asking those questions.

It is not about how much faith you have, it is about who you have faith. It is not about the degree or quantity of faith; it is about the object of faith. If I’m looking at myself and my faith, man, I’m riding high one day and in the absolute pit the next day. Our feelings and our allegiances change daily, maybe hourly. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore.

Conclusion and call for response

So how should we respond to all this?

If you have already trusted in Jesus and been saved, if you have a relationship with Jesus already, your task is to cultivate that relationship. Lean into Him even more, so that you will have the weapons to fight the lies with the truth

But how about the rest of you? Is it possible that some of us do not have a relationship with Him?

When I was 15 years old, my parents bought me a pool table for Christmas. It wasn’t a full size competition pool table, but neither was it a kids’ pool table. We put it in our basement and I started practicing pool everyday. And after awhile I got kind of good at it, you know? I learned the rules, the tricks, I learned to do that thing where you sit on the edge of the table and put the cuestick behind your back and aim at the ball that way. I could actually do that. I got good enough at pool that I wanted to kind of show off to my friends a little bit. So I started telling people I had this pool table.

And do you know what happened next? I suddenly had “friends” that I did not have before the pool table. Suddenly my house was the hang-out for a lot of guys from school and church. They acted like my friends, and some of them were actually true friends, but not all. I thought, man this is great. I’ve got a lot of friends all of a sudden. What more does a 15 year old need, right?

But then one day it hit me. These guys weren’t around much before I got the pool table. They were there for the pool table, not because they liked me. A couple of them were actually good buddies, but most of them weren’t really there for me. They were there for the pool table. Their affection for me and their desire to spend time with me went only as far as the pool table and no further.

I think sometimes we treat Jesus like that, too. I know I did for a long time. Jesus was my buddy. I’d go to him when I needed help with something. But once I had what I wanted, I kind of forgot about Jesus. Jesus was like the guy with the pool table. I was interested in Jesus only so far as I thought He could give me what I wanted.

Many of you would say that you like Jesus. Many of you would say that you have a high opinion of him, you think well of him. Some of you truly love Jesus, some of you truly are disciples of Jesus - I know. But maybe for some of us, we pray to him and think well of him, but that’s about it.

Church, that isn’t saving faith. Saving faith is a relationship of love and trust. You believe certain things about Jesus, yes - that’s the starting point. But on the basis of what you know about Him, you commit your life to Him, knowing that He’s committed Himself to you.

Will you commit yourself to Him today if you haven’t already?

Settle it today. Jesus loves you, too much to lose your forever. He died on the cross because our sins had to be punished, and Jesus stood in our place so that we might not be punished. You can be forgiven, redeemed, adopted into God’s family, and that’s only the beginning of a lifetime of adventure with God. What are you waiting for?

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