A Sacrifice for All

A few years ago, when I was on a trip with Abby and Rebekah in Southern California, we were walking in this outdoor mall and I saw a slide sitting there. But it wasn’t a slide, it was just a drawing of a slide on the pavement. From where I was standing, it was a perfect, 3D slide that looked like you could climb up and slide down. But from Rebekah’s perspective, it was just a 2D picture that looked weird. Have you ever seen one of these things? Using shading and angles, the picture changes depending on which perspective you see it from.

In photography, there is a fun way of taking pictures using what is called, “forced perspective”. Forced perspective is where you use the distance between objects to change the perception of an objects size. It’s how you get all those pictures of people holding up the leaning tower of Pisa, or pictures of people holding the sun.

Perspective is a fascinating thing. Different people can look at the same thing, and have different interpretations of what it is or what it looks like, depending on your perspective. When you see a car accident on the side of the road, you might look as you approach it and thing, “It’s not that bad.” But then, as your position changes, you see it differently and you notice the whole passenger front end is crumpled and all of a sudden you are shocked and you wonder what happened and then hope no one was seriously injured.

Perspective is the cumulation of a variety of factors that affect how you see something. Your level of knowledge about what’s going on, your natural levels of fear and worry, the cultural milieu you grew up in, your theology (view of God), your anthropology (view of people), and even your emotional state at the time can all factor into how you perceive a situation

There's a cute story that Thomas Wheeler, who at the time was the CEO of the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, tells on himself.

He and his wife were driving along an interstate highway when he noticed that their car was low on gas. Wheeler got off the highway at the next exit and soon found a rundown gas station with just one gas pump. He asked the lone attendant to fill the tank and check the oil, then went for a little walk around the station to stretch his legs.

As he was returning to the car, he noticed that the attendant and his wife were engaged in an animated conversation. The conversation stopped as he paid the attendant. But as he was getting back into the car, he saw the attendant wave and heard him say, "It was great talking to you."

As they drove out of the station, Wheeler asked his wife if she knew the man. She readily admitted she did. They had gone to high school together and had dated steadily for about a year.

"Boy, were you lucky that I came along," bragged Wheeler.

"If you had married him, you'd be the wife of a gas station attendant instead of the wife of a chief executive officer."

"My dear," replied his wife, "if I had married him, he'd be the chief executive officer and you'd be the gas station attendant."

Perspective in life is important. As it relates to Christianity, your perspective of God will invariably affect how you relate to him. In Mark’s gospel account of Jesus’ crucifixion, you see a variety of people with a variety of perspectives. So let’s read from the gospel of Mark, chapter 15, verses 21-41

Mark 15:21–41 NLT

A passerby named Simon, who was from Cyrene, was coming in from the countryside just then, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. (Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus.) And they brought Jesus to a place called Golgotha (which means “Place of the Skull”). They offered him wine drugged with myrrh, but he refused it. Then the soldiers nailed him to the cross. They divided his clothes and threw dice to decide who would get each piece. It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. A sign announced the charge against him. It read, “The King of the Jews.” Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. “Ha! Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. Well then, save yourself and come down from the cross!” The leading priests and teachers of religious law also mocked Jesus. “He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself! Let this Messiah, this King of Israel, come down from the cross so we can see it and believe him!” Even the men who were crucified with Jesus ridiculed him. At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. Then at three o’clock Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah. One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on a reed stick so he could drink. “Wait!” he said. “Let’s see whether Elijah comes to take him down!” Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. When the Roman officer who stood facing him saw how he had died, he exclaimed, “This man truly was the Son of God!” Some women were there, watching from a distance, including Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James the younger and of Joseph), and Salome. They had been followers of Jesus and had cared for him while he was in Galilee. Many other women who had come with him to Jerusalem were also there.

Different Perspectives:

Simon of Cyrene - Didn’t know what was going on - dragged into it.

Roman Soldiers - A work day chore - Jesus was irrelevant to them

Chief Priests, some “passer-bys” and those who were crucified with Jesus- they mocked Jesus and saw him as impotent and weak for being crucified.

Some people who watched - they were hopeful God would rescue Jesus

The Roman Officer - A gentile who sees the truth of Jesus

The women - they had cared for Jesus.

What about you? What is your perspective this Good Friday? Are you so busy that even this joint service is just one more obligation to get through? Are you emotionally drained and looking for something to feed your soul? Are you filled with doubt, or grief, or just apathy? Or are you thriving in your faith, and this is one more great opportunity to remember and worship Jesus?

Whatever your perspective is about the death of Jesus I would love to challenge you to embrace three things:

Embrace Second Chances

Embrace Gratitude

Embrace Sacrificial Love

Conclusion