SHE DID - HE DID
MARK: THE SERVANT WHO WAS OUR SAVIOR • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 47:35
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SHE DID WHAT SHE COULD DO BECAUSE JESUS DID FOR HER WHAT SHE COULD NOT DO.
SHE DID WHAT SHE COULD DO BECAUSE JESUS DID FOR HER WHAT SHE COULD NOT DO.
Jesus did for her what she could not do. What could she not do? As we celebrate Easter today how many of us have considered this to be a celebration of what we could not do?
Jesus did for her what she could not do. What could she not do? As we celebrate Easter, how many consider it a celebration of what we could not do? We, Americans, don't like to confess our ineptitudes and inabilities because we can do anything. Our culture indoctrinates us with a mantra of "work on your weakness until it becomes your strength." If we possessed strength enough to do what only Jesus can do, Easter would not be necessary. John Newton, a converted slave trader, reinforces our genuine estate actually in his beloved hymn;
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound.
That saved a WRETCH like me.
I once was lost, but now I am found.
I was BLIND, but now I see.
As beloved as these words are too many, they are believed by fewer still. Newton did not find His understanding of human nature in a dictionary, but in Jesus' words found in Revelation 3:17, Jesus reveals our actual heart condition;
For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.
Like a criminal sketch artist, Paul, in Romans 3:10-18, graphically portrays the wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked life.
as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;
no one understands; no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
“Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.”
“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
in their paths are ruin and misery,
and the way of peace they have not known.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Have plainer words ever been penned? And just in case you attempt to argue your way out of this condition, Paul clarifies those who fit this category in Romans 3:23.
No one can escape such a designation because their condition is DNA-infused. David establishes our wretchedness to our moment of conception (Psalm 51:5). You did not become a sinner the moment you sinned; you sinned because you have been a sinner since birth. Children in their earliest days must have their behavior corrected. Where did such behavior originate? Where does all behavior begin? Jesus taught all behavior begins in our heart.
Every human being bears God's image and possesses immense dignity, value, and worth. Yet, though we bear His image, we do not retain His perfection. Unfortunately, our first parents forfeited this position when they chose to be god rather than worship the God whose image they bore. As a result, our first parents sinned, and we, their offspring, have been sinning ever since.
Let me pause 30 seconds and answer the question; what is sin?
It is the glory of God, not honored.
The holiness of God not reverenced.
The greatness of God not admired.
The power of God not praised.
The truth of God not sought.
The wisdom of God not esteemed.
The beauty of God not treasured.
The goodness of God not savored.
The faithfulness of God not trusted.
The commandments of God not obeyed.
The justice of God not respected.
The wrath of God not feared.
The grace of God not cherished.
The presence of God not prized.
The person of God not loved.
That is sin."
There are no good people. People can do good, and we often see and experience their goodness because they bear God's image. Yet their goodness is not pure and without defilement. Do you feel the hopelessness in your efforts to earn God's favor? Do you see that even your "good" works are not and will never be sufficient?
The Bible is a book of good news because it is a book that reveals to us the bad news of our condition. Listen to one of the Scriptures, most religious people describe humanity's actual condition.
Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—
remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
When God tells us that our sins have separated us, He is not bidding us to come up to him. Instead, he is telling us that He is coming down to us. Here is an essential difference between Christianity and all other paths that supposedly lead to God. All other paths are bottom-up, while Christianity is unique for it is top-down. In the person of Jesus Christ, only God can span the separation and bring us back to himself.
Only Jesus possesses those qualifications necessary to be our Savior. First, he was born of the woman's seed
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
This means He was conceived supernaturally because women possess no seed. Therefore, the Virgin birth of Jesus tells us that Jesus was born without sin.
Secondly, he must be tempted in all ways like us yet without sin.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Pilate said of Jesus in
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.”
Jesus was tempted like us in every way except that He never sinned. He was accused of sin, yet no charge ever levied against him was proven credible. He was, as John described him, "the spotless lamb of God come to take away the sin of the world."
Possessing the proper credentials to save Jesus went to the cross. God required an innocent to die for the criminals. He required sinlessness to die for the utterly sinful. God's wrath against sinners could only be satisfied by crushing His Son, who had never participated in sin's curse. The cross of Christ saves because God's wrath has been satisfied.
He trusts in God; let God rescue him now—if he takes pleasure in him! For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ”
Yet the Lord was pleased to crush him severely. When you make him a guilt offering, he will see his seed, he will prolong his days, and by his hand, the Lord’s pleasure will be accomplished.
God did not recuse His Son because He was pleased by Him. Jesus died to satisfy His Father's wrath against sinners so that those He created in His image could become children. To summarize, Adam failed his test in the Garden of Eden, and we died. While, Jesus passed his test in the Garden of Gethsemane, and we live.
She has done what she could do because Jesus did for her what she could not do. Wait for a minute, preacher. Are you saying she acted based on what Jesus did on the cross? If you are, then you are wrong because Jesus has not yet died. I'm not saying she acted in light of the cross. I'm saying she acted in light of her sins having been forgiven, and her enlightened understanding of what was to happen. This woman acted extravagantly because all her sins had been forgiven. Jesus said in Luke 7:47
Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”
If someone could love Jesus so extravagantly before the cross image how great that love might be after it.
No one who has met the real Jesus ever responds to Him mildly.
In his classic Basic Christianity, John Stott says, "We must realize that the only possible way to respond to Jesus is extremely. If you read the Bible, you'll see that nobody who ever met Jesus Christ had a moderate reaction to him. There are only three reactions to Jesus: they either hated him and wanted to kill him, they were afraid of him and wanted to run away, or they were absolutely smitten with him, and they gave their whole lives to him”…
Jesus calls His followers to a life of extravagance sacrifice because He gave His life. Therefore, Christianity cannot be something I say I possess; it must be something that possesses me. Christianity does not make us perfect it puts us in the process of perfection, which means a process of change.
Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of — throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.
In our gathering on this Easter Sunday, varied are our situations.
Some are hearing of their awful position and Christ's incredible sacrifice for the first time. If this is true of you, then heed the Bible's warning,
As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”
Today, hear Jesus's words to you,
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
How do you come to him - "by faith." What does that mean? It means you believe everything that Jesus says about you and everything He says about Himself. He says you're a sinner and that He alone can forgive sin. He says if you will believe with everything you are that He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords and confess that with your mouth you will be saved. He is inviting you into heaven's courtroom this morning not to try you as a criminal but to adopt you as His child.
I thought I would have a witness I’m glad I brought my own (thief on the cross - the man on the middle cross said I could come)
For those considering their unworthiness; know this, He did not die because you were worthy. He died because satisfying God's wrath was a worthy act. In the Old Testament, blood was placed on the doorposts so that the Death Angel would pass over. Never once did the Lord check to see if those inside were worthy; He checked only for the blood of the worthy sacrifice.
Others have long claimed Christian status and yet find nothing akin to true Christianity within themselves. So often, they have blamed those who also claim Christ and yet persist in their hypocrisy as a reason for their state. Jesus will not accept such a claim on The Day of Judgment. Jesus calls us to follow Him, not what others are not doing. Furthermore, those who claim Christian status often reject participation in Christ's church. Paul reminds us in Ephesians 5 that Christ for His church.
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
How can we claim Christ as our Savior and refuse participation in that for which he died? If you do not participate in God's family on earth, do not expect to find yourself among them in heaven. Church membership is not required for salvation, but it results from salvation. When you truly love Jesus, you will love what He loves!
True Lovers of God, has your love grown cold? Where is the person whose zeal for Christ once consumed you so much that it left no doubt who your first love was? Has your love grown cold because you have forgotten His command to remembered His sacrifice for your debt of sin? Spiritual maturity is marked by a greater understanding of our sin and even greater the sacrifice of our Savior. At the cross is not where love for Christ begins; it is where our love grows big.
Return to Calvary.
Look again upon the cross where Jesus died
Be humbled by His mercy and be broken inside
Look once again and pour out your life
Jesus was asked on several occasions, what must I do to be saved? We do nothing because Christ has already done everything. The man on the middle cross said we could come. Though we do nothing to be saved, our salvation puts us doing. In our text, Jesus said of the woman, "she has done what she could do." Mary of Bethany did what she could do. What could we do for Jesus today? Jesus said to be His witness. We witness with our mouth, our hands, and our feet. We do it everywhere and with everyone. Easter's message frees us from internal, self-absorbed, selfish lives. Jesus paid it all, and all to Him we owe. Easter reminds us that we were not meant to be somebody - we were meant to know somebody. Do you know Him? I'm not asking if you know about Him. I'm asking whether you know Him.
The Bible says
He’s the King of the Jews
He’s the King of Israel
He’s the King of Righteousness
He’s the King of the Ages
He’s the King of Heaven
He’s the King of Glory
He’s the King of Kings
and He is the Lord of Lords
No barriers can hinder Him from pouring out His blessing
No means of measure can define His limitless love
No far seeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of His shoreless supply
He’s enduringly strong
He’s eternally steadfast
He’s immortally graceful
He’s imperially powerful
He’s impartially merciful
He’s God’s Son
He’s the sinners’ Saviour
He’s the centerpiece of civilization
He’s unparalleled
He’s unprecedented
He’s pre-eminent
He’s the loftiest idea in literature
He’s the fundamental doctrine in true theology
He’s the miracle of the age
He’s the superlative of everything good
He’s the only one able to supply all of our needs simultaneously
He supplies strength for the weak
He’s available for the tempted and the tried
He sympathizes and He saves
He heals the sick
He cleansed the lepers
He forgives sinners
He delivers the captives
He defends the feeble
He blesses the young
He serves the unfortunate
He regards the aged
He rewards the diligent
And He beautifies the meek
He is the key of knowledge
He’s the wellspring of wisdom
He’s the doorway of deliverance
He’s the gateway of glory
He’s the pathway of peace
He’s the roadway of righteousness
He’s the highway of holiness
His promise is sure
His life is matchless
His goodness is limitless
His mercy is everlasting
His love never changes
His word is enough
His grace is sufficient
His reign is righteous
His yoke is easy
and His burden is light
He’s incomprehensible
He’s invincible
He’s irresistible
Do you know Him?
The heavens cannot contain Him
Let alone a man explain Him
You can’t get Him out of your mind
You can’t outlive Him
And you can’t live without Him
The Pharisees couldn’t stand Him
but they found out they couldn’t stop Him
Pilate couldn’t find any fault in Him
And Herod couldn’t kill Him
Death couldn’t handle Him
And the grave couldn’t hold Him
He always has been
And He always will be
He had no predecessor
and He’ll have no successor
There was nobody before Him
and there’ll be nobody after Him
You can’t impeach Him
and He’s not going to resign
He’s the Master of the Mighty
He’s the Captain of the Conquerors
He’s the Head of the Heroes
He’s the Leader of the Legislatures
He’s the Overseer of the Overcomers
He’s the Governor of the Governors
He’s the Prince of Princes
He’s the King of Kings
And He’s the Lord of Lords.
If you do know him, are you doing what you could do?
If you don’t know him, what are you going to do with him this morning?