THE BEST WORST DAY IN HISTORY
Notes
Transcript
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
-I want you to take a moment to think about what you would consider the best day of your life that has ever happened. I want you to think about the joy, the elation, the high that you felt that day. Maybe for adults it’s the day you were married, or a child was born, or you got that job that you had always wanted. For youth or kids it could be the day you got the present you always wanted, or you got the grade you worked so hard to achieve. I want you in your mind to relive that special time, and bask in the pleasure of it…
-Now, with all of that still lingering in your imagination, I want you to now imagine the absolutely, positively worst day of your life. It could be the day you suffered loss, or the day you got bad news, or the day of complete and utter humiliation or rejection. It is hard to relive, but think about the raw emotion of the moment…
-I have just asked you to relive the greatest extremes you have ever experienced, all together at the same time. Joy and sorrow. Pleasure and pain, all mixed together in a hodge podge of polarizing emotion
-This mixture of extremes is the best way I knew how to get you to understand and experience the day in history I wanted to consider today
~Today is Palm Sunday and it marks the beginning of what we Christians normally call Holy Week, and we also label it the Passion of the Christ because of His suffering this week
-But today I want to look at what happened that Friday—we commonly know the day as Good Friday, but that little adjective “GOOD” doesn’t even begin to describe everything that went on that day, and all of its implications
-On the 1 hand, it was the day that the greatest injustice that ever occurred in human history came about----in our day and age we often hear stories about how DNA has exonerated some people who were wrongly imprisoned for crimes they didn’t commit—there was a miscarriage of justice--and as bad as that definitely is, it cannot even begin to be compared to the gross injustice of that Friday because the only truly innocent man ever in the world was executed like a common criminal
-and yet on the other hand, on that same day, masked within the same events, God provided the solution for man’s greatest need==Salvation from sins==the greatest burden of man was lifted off his shoulders
-That is why we could call that day the Best Worst Day in History—Joy and sorrow; pleasure and pain—the extremes of all of history come down to this 1 day—it is this 1 day around which all of human history and eternity revolves
-Today I want us to have an understanding of the events surrounding that day (good and bad), as well as the implications and challenges it brings to our own lives----I want us to leave the message today in utter sorrow over the cost that had to be paid for our own personal sin, and yet leave here today in utter joy that we are forgiven and accepted by Almighty God
-So, we want to look at Luke’s account of Good Friday—and instead of having 3 points and a poem like a typical Baptist sermon, we are just going to look at Scripture itself bit by bit and take in the full impact of what happened that day
66 When day came, the assembly of the elders of the people gathered together, both chief priests and scribes. And they led him away to their council, and they said,
67 “If you are the Christ, tell us.” But he said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe,
68 and if I ask you, you will not answer.
69 But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God.”
70 So they all said, “Are you the Son of God, then?” And he said to them, “You say that I am.”
71 Then they said, “What further testimony do we need? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips.”
-During the middle of the night Judas betrayed Jesus and Jesus was arrested----as sunlight broke over the horizon on Friday morning, Jesus was brought before the ruling religious council, the Sanhedrin=70 men led by the High Priest; a council made up of Sadducees, Pharisees, and lay elders, who ruled over internal Jewish matters
-They brought Jesus before them, not desiring truth, instead acting more like a kangaroo court----not even following their own rules, laws and procedures, all but a few on the council had 1 thing in mind, finding a way to kill Jesus----why? because he was a threat to the religious status quo…He was a threat to their power
-Like so many times before, they tried to trap Jesus in His words, trying to find some reason, any reason, to be rid of Him----even if they had to trump up charges, they were going to get it done
-Jesus knew as He was being questioned, that no matter what the truth was, they did not want to hear it and they were not going to act upon it
-Finally the truth comes out—Jesus is the Messiah, Son of God (meaning He Himself is divine), the Son of Man from Daniel’s vision who will rule and reign over all the earth----But even in the face of truth, they believe what they want to believe, and in a rage and frenzy they seek even more to silence Him==they were faced with truth, but they wanted nothing to do with it
-You yourselves have been faced with the truth of Jesus’ identity, and you have a choice of whether or not you will believe
----Jesus is your King, He is your God, He will be your Judge or He will be your Savior—you may be a cultural Christian, a Christian by name but not with loyalty in the heart—know the truth, Jesus knows your heart, and if your life bears no fruit, that means you are not connected to the vine, Jesus Christ—today, face the truth of your soul’s condition, and enter by the narrow gate walking the difficult road----what will you do with the truth that is staring you in the face today…
1 Then the whole company of them arose and brought him before Pilate.
2 And they began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.”
3 And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.”
4 Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no guilt in this man.”
5 But they were urgent, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee even to this place.”
-coming to somewhat a consensus, the Sanhedrin had no power to legally render the death penalty, so they took Jesus to the 1 man who could—the governor Pontius Pilate
-although they wanted Jesus dead for religious reasons, they knew Pilate would not listen to them for anything other than political reasons—so they trump up some political charges:
(1) they said Jesus led people to rebel against Rome; which was untrue; although it is interesting that they charge Him with rebellion when they were the one’s rebelling against God
(2) they said He led people to not pay taxes to Caesar, although Jesus clearly said earlier in the week to render unto Caesar the things that are Caesars
(3) they said He claimed to be King—although He is King, He was not a revolutionary King as they were purporting Him to be----He never once cried out for rebellion against Caesar (and that actually was part of the problem the Jews had with him)
-Pilate could see that Jesus was no threat to Caesar, and what we find to be a constant theme throughout this passage of Luke, Jesus is declared innocent (Pilate, Herod, thief on the cross, a Roman soldier) all declare His innocence, because He was innocent
-yet, in the face of His innocence, the Sanhedrin would come up with any excuse possible to deny Who Jesus was and deny His authority over them
-I wonder how many of you make excuse after excuse for Jesus to not have His rightful Kingly authority over you----oh sure, you go thru all the religious motion that good Southern Christians are supposed to do; sure, you believe you have morals and you are on the “right side” of all the hot-button issues of the day, and yet Jesus is not on the throne in your life----do you think your religion excuses your rebellion? You are no better than the council trying to rid the world of Jesus, because you yourself want to be rid of Jesus’ claim on your life
6 When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean.
7 And when he learned that he belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time.
8 When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him, because he had heard about him, and he was hoping to see some sign done by him.
9 So he questioned him at some length, but he made no answer.
10 The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him.
11 And Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. Then, arraying him in splendid clothing, he sent him back to Pilate.
12 And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before this they had been at enmity with each other.
-Pilate didn’t want to have a riot on his hands by refusing the Jewish leaders, but neither did he want to condemn an innocent man—so he thought he could get out of his dilemma by passing the buck to Herod, who was governor over Galilee but in Jerusalem for the Passover
-Herod had heard much about Jesus, and had for a long time wanted to see Jesus, but not for any noble purposes—having heard of Jesus’ power, he wanted to see Jesus do some miracles----all Herod wanted was some feel-good entertainment
-when Jesus, knowing Herod’s intentions, refused to entertain, Herod and his cronies decided to create some entertainment of their own and mock Jesus==yet, strangely enough, according to Pilate later, Herod also found Jesus innocent of any wrongdoing
-but it makes me think about those of you who come to Jesus and come to church to have your ears tickled—you want feel-good entertainment rather than the truth—you want easy believism rather than messages of sacrifice—you want miracles but not the cross—you have no root in your faith, and your faith will wither away if any hardship or sacrifice is demanded of you—as Jesus said to His disciples, except you repent, you shall all likewise perish
13 Pilate then called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people,
14 and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was misleading the people. And after examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him.
15 Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him.
16 I will therefore punish and release him.”
18 But they all cried out together, “Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas”—
19 a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city and for murder.
20 Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus,
21 but they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!”
22 A third time he said to them, “Why? What evil has he done? I have found in him no guilt deserving death. I will therefore punish and release him.”
23 But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. And their voices prevailed.
24 So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted.
25 He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, but he delivered Jesus over to their will.
-being returned to Pilate, again Jesus’ innocence is announced—but the bloodlust of the Jews was in such a frenzy that nothing short of Jesus’ death would satisfy their evil hearts
-Pilate even tried to get Jesus released by the annual Passover tradition of releasing a prisoner—he thought, surely the Jews have enough sense to release this guy over a known rebel and murderer—but Pilate underestimated their hatred for Jesus, and they chose Barabbas instead
-Choosing, therefore, to save his own political backside, Pilate agreed to their desires—but whatever you do, don’t think of Pilate as some innocent person caught in the middle—he had the power to do that which was right, but he chose instead to compromise in order to save himself
-There are many who claim the Christian faith who choose to willingly compromise with the world, because being completely dedicated to Jesus puts them at odds with those around them—instead of standing up for the truth, they allow it to get watered down or muddied, whatever it takes to not be in the uncomfortable position of being different
-You may sit there and justify yourself, you may sit there thinking that God understands, but you have a choice, just like the Jews had a choice and Pilate had a choice—you can choose Jesus or the world, but you can’t have both, because being a friend of the world is to be the enemy of God----neither can you wash your hands of Jesus—you can’t get by without choosing sides; Jesus is divisive enough that you will either love Him or hate Him, serve Him or scorn Him; there is no middle ground, there is no middle of the fence—what will you do with Jesus today?
26 And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus.
27 And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him.
28 But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.
29 For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’
30 Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’
31 For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
-Having suffered the blows of scourging, being whipped with probably a cat-of-nine-tails, Jesus was too weak to carry His own cross, so the Romans force an onlooker to complete the walk
-on the way to His own execution, Jesus took notice of women mourning over Him—but the Lord forewarned them and told them that the mourning they were expressing for Him won’t even compare to the mourning they will have for themselves because God will judge Jerusalem for turning their back on their God to such a point that they murder His only begotten Son
-God’s judgment with the horror of the Roman siege and occupation of Jerusalem that would later occur in AD 70 would be so severe that women would be better off not having children rather than see their children suffer during those times—the judgment would be so devastating and painful, that ppl would rather mountains fall on top of them to put them out of their misery
-Such is the fate of all who turn their backs on Jesus=God’s judgment and wrath is upon you, and without the mercy and grace found thru Jesus’ sacrifice, you will experience His wrath for eternity====that is why the call goes out to you now to repent of your sins and come to faith in Christ====tomorrow is never promised to you=====the Bible tells you that now is the acceptable time, today is the day for salvation—without it you will face God as your Judge, so instead come to Jesus as your Deliverer
32 Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him.
33 And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.
34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.
35 And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!”
36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine
37 and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”
38 There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”
39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?
41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”
42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
-Jesus, with the other criminals, were led outside the city walls to Golgotha/Calvary/the Place of the Skull, most likely called that because the place looked like a skull
-The process of crucifixion was simple, horrifying, and extremely painful—the agony was such that one of our words for pain comes from this method of torture: EXCRUCIATING
-Most likely the criminals only carried the crossbeam (the vertical stake already being in place). The soldiers sent spikes thru the hands/wrists of Jesus into the crossbeam. The crossbeam was hoisted with Jesus’ body dangling freely in the air. They affixed the crossbeam to the stake and nailed his feet in place; hanging in torment for hours.
-What I find so ironic is that for the Jews and the Romans involved in this whole sordid affair, the very thing that would be the capstone to their rightful condemnation, also turned out to be the only way possible for their salvation and forgiveness====they murdered the Son of God, yet thru that murder salvation was secured for the entire world, even for them if they would repent and believe
-On top of the cross they placed the sign that listed His crimes: HE IS KING OF THE JEWS—yet what they claimed was a crime, was actually the truth—the King, though, died to pay the redeeming ransom for all who believe
-Having a simple understanding of one’s own sinfulness, and simple faith that Jesus is the Christ, secures one’s eternal place in God’s Kingdom—as we see this played out with the criminal who believed, we are reminded that all who die with faith in Christ will be with Him in Paradise
44 It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour,
45 while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.
46 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.
47 Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!”
48 And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts.
49 And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things.
-Two supernatural events are given by Luke of God showing the significance of what Jesus is going thru
-there is a supernatural darkness that covers the land from noon until 3 p.m.—darkness was always a sign and symbol of judgment and wrath throughout Scriptures—for 3 hours the God-man suffered the eternal wrath of God for the sins of mankind
-Then, in the temple, the veil that separated the Most Holy Place from the rest of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom----the Most Holy Place was the home of the Ark of the Covenant and could only be entered unto 1 time each year, by only the High Priest on the Day of Atonement
-The torn veil shows that the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world willingly gave Himself to atone for the sins of all, permanently giving access to God for all who believe----no longer would people need a priest to approach God on their behalf, for we can all now approach the throne of God boldly to obtain mercy and find grace to help us in any time of need that we may have
-If you can approach God without any fear of condemnation, but only find love and acceptance, wouldn’t you want to take advantage of that as often as you could----in Christ, the barriers to God are all gone, and we relate to God without fear or hesitancy
50 Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man,
51 who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God.
52 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
53 Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid.
54 It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning.
55 The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid.
56 Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.
-Joseph, one of the few on the Sanhedrin to disagree with their actions, was a good and just man—He believed in Jesus, and out of respect desired to bury Jesus in a new tomb that Joseph had purchased for himself
-But Joseph didn’t need to be concerned about where he himself would be buried since he gave Jesus his spot, because the tomb wouldn’t be occupied for very long
-Jesus died, according to Scriptures, was buried, but we know that is not the end of the story—a story we will need to pick up next week
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
-As we’ve looked at the Best Worst Day in history, you need to know that today could be your worst or your best day----today could be your worst day because the means of eternal salvation that God has given for you thru the death of His Son Jesus has been laid bare before you; and if you do not accept Him by faith and repentance, you will eternally be reminded of this day, the day that you passed up on your opportunity for heaven
-However, today could be your best day ever in that if you accept the gift of eternal life thru the shed blood of Jesus Christ, you will come to know what it means to be eternally secure and accepted by the God of the universe <contact us>
-Christian, this could be your worst day, in that you pass up on the opportunity of living in victory thru the indwelling Jesus Christ, taking your cross up daily, instead living in defeat-----or today could be your best day in that you die to self, and give a complete surrender of your life to Christ wherein is victory…