Sunday, October 31, 2010

Jesus: The Basics, Talk 2 - Jesus Died (Luke 23)

1. That Jesus Died

I think that even the most skeptical or critical of us agree that Jesus, of Nazareth, died. That He died on a Cross. That Christians believe His death to be significant and important. I don’t need to convince people of the plausibility of Jesus death as much as the plausibility of Jesus’ life because it is totally believable. Everyone dies, at some point. I had to work hard last week, to establish the plausibility of Jesus doing the things He did, performing the miracles he did, claiming the wild things that He did. But this week, most people can believe that if a man is public sentenced to death by a Roman Governor, brought before Roman soldiers, nailed on a cross that Jesus really did die, that day, in around 30 AD, on a place called Golgotha/Calvary or the “Skull” (Luke 23:33)

desert-cross-798497.jpg

The First thing we need to find is the significance of Jesus’ death. That’s where the clincher is. There are many minor variations on the specific details, such as mechanism of the Crucifixion, but the main divergence is on WHY, or what is the significance of His Death? So what that He died. This question, when answered, actually forms the basis of everyone’s religious viewpoint or faith commitment. No matter who you are, the answer you give  to WHY Jesus died determines your viewpoint on God, what and who He is, how we relate to Him or get to Him and on the cause and purpose of your life today. Really? Is my answer to WHY Jesus died that important? Luke, along with other eye-witnesses of Jesus’ Life, Death and [Resurrection] would have you say yes. I agree with them. Because if your answer, by the end of my explanation, is not something along the lines: “Jesus died for me, personally, for my good and my sake” then you have placed your faith commitments on something other than the Christian God, someone other than the Centre of Christianity. Your faith is probably placed in yourself, your work or some other thing you have done.

The Second thing to note is that the historical fact that Jesus died was actually more shocking to Jesus’ followers, His enemies, the critical public than it is to us today. It was completely unexpected. If I walked up  to someone on George St (Sydney) and said, “do you think that Jesus died on the Cross?” their answer would be, “Yes, very probably. It is entirely conceivable”. But this was not the case to His disciples, His followers, His Critics and even HIs enemies. I’ll explain in detail but every witness to His death you’ve heard in the Scriptures today, were shocked by the fact that this Man Jesus died and at HOW He died. It all to do with expectation. Did they expect Him to live forever? Given that He had displayed many signs of God’s power, given His teaching with wisdom and authority, given His love for the sickest and the worst in Society, given His claim that He was God’s Son, representative and chosen King [Christ]... given all things He said and did in His life HisDeath on the Cross is Inconceivable to everyone around Him, it was merely impossible that Jesus should die, in that fashion, like a criminal on the Cross, it is completely paradoxical if this Man really were the Son of God or God’s Chosen King.

Yet can I tell you that God was not shocked? That Jesus was not shocked? That throughout His Life Jesus had tried really, really hard to tell His disciples, his friends and even his enemies that He was going to die? Like that time after feeding the 5000, Jesus asked His disciples (Luke 9:18-22) who He was, Peter answered “You are the Messiah or Christ” and Jesus then began to start telling them He must suffer and die at the hands of Jerusalem leaders. And He kept on dropping hints, reminding them, over and over again, but still they didn’t think He was serious. No one really thought that the total sum of Jesus’ Life and His raison d'être was that He would give up His body, blood and spirit to be executed at the hands of men and God? Did you ever have such ambitions as a child, when someone asked: “So Will, you’re a pretty okay boy, what do you want to be when you grow up”, “I want to be betrayed by friends and countrymen, sentenced publicly, be humiliated and beaten, then experience the worst sort of execution preserved only for criminals and cursed human beings: I want to die like that.” What, are you crazy? Is this a shady side of Jesus that is so incompatible with the rest of His life? Well, it’s not. As we look at HOW Jesus Died and WHY He did, we ought realise that God had meant it and revealed it in the OT [explain under point 3 - Isaiah 53] for a long time. Jesus was always going to die, the OT expected it, God planned it and His Life mission was to Die.

 

2. How Jesus Died

 

So How did Jesus die? What was His manner? How did He approach His death? I am not asking you to see Him like Socrates and use Jesus as an example. Firstly, you can’t. Jesus, as remembered by eye-witnesses showed superhuman composure and wisdom. Secondly, that’s not the significance of His death. If you walked away from today and thought: I am going to follow Jesus’ example and try to be like Him, you have completely missed the Christian answer to the question. Yet How He died is revealing of who He really is and makes the question of WHY even more urgent.

Jesus held onto the Truth claims he spoke of in His Life. Look with me at the preliminary hearing of Jesus’ trial in front of the Chief Priests and Teachers:

22:67"If you are the Christ," they said, "tell us."

Jesus answered, "If I tell you, you will not believe me, 68and if I asked you, you would not answer. 69But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God."

70They all asked, "Are you then the Son of God?"  He replied, "You are right in saying I am."

71Then they said, "Why do we need any more testimony? We have heard it from his own lips."

23:1Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. 2And they began to accuse him, saying, "We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a king."

What Jesus says here before his death sentence, is entirely consistent with the rest of His life and also the signs, teachings and testimony of those around Him. No one missed the point that He claimed to be God’s chosen King the Messiah or Christ. He is not going to deny what He knows is true, though to some of you He is probably closer to a lunatic than the real thing. To His accusers, they didn’t really care whether He was the Messiah, but they had been personally insulted, and they were thrown off their positions of authority when Jesus criticised their behaviours. This trial was merely a legal ploy to get rid of Him for standing up for truths about God. [One of their gripes was Jesus’ healing lepers, cripples, diseased persons on the Sabbath or Day of Rest. Jesus repeatedly did this to proclaim that God’s day of salvation has arrived, but because this Good News trumped the traditions of the Elders, it started an animosity between Jesus and what He taught about God and the Old School of Chief Priests.] Jesus did not back down from proclaiming the reality of God’s kingdom and neither did He backdown from claiming that He really was from God, that He was God’s chosen King the Messiah.

From a human level, what Jesus did was NOT convincing. I am expecting you guys to not be convinced yet. Why? Because like the Chief Priests our expectation of God’s chosen king is not the portrait of a poor, homeless, average man who befriended sinners, losers, outcasts. He had no class, no status, no worldly importance. He talked about spiritual things not visual, tangible, immediate gains or victory and He didn’t seem like a boss, or successful leader by our standards. May I challenge you now that you are practising what the Chief Priests did? That you are not viewing Jesus as God of the Bible would? That your expectations are way, way, way off compared to the expectations of Kingship in the Scriptures? Let me show you, firstly by looking at HOW Jesus died: Innocently and with Love.

Pilate was the Roman Governor who eventually signed the papers for Jesus’ execution. He could find nothing wrong in Roman Law against Jesus:

23:3So Pilate asked Jesus, "Are you the king of the Jews?"  "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied.

4Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, "I find no basis for a charge against this man.

Pilate repeatedly told the crowd of Priests and Jerusalem Leaders that He could not legally execute Jesus. He even sent Jesus to the corresponding Judean King Herod, who “hoped to see him perform some miracle.” Jesus didn’t allow him that pleasure and was handed back over to Pilate for a final judgment. And this is what Pilate says:

23:14and said to them, "You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. 15Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. 16Therefore, I will punish him and then release him."

Pilate says: He’s innocent, I’ll punish him, i.e. flog him to a pulp, then I’ll let him go. But even this level of injustice was NOT enough for the priests and leaders. They shouted, crucify him, crucify him, and Pilate resisted a third time, saying I’ve got no grounds to execute this guy, man, just let me and let him go? Isn’t this punishment enough. It wasn’t, so Pilate “surrendered Jesus to their will.”

Despite being innocent and falsely condemned, and ridiculed, what sort of composure did Jesus exhibit? Something in the realm of the divine, something PERFECT.

23:33When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

How could Jesus say this? This is non-sense. Jesus of all teachers of the OLD Testament Law knew the heart of God. God is one who loves justice, urges His people to practice mercy and humbly obey His righteous law. God is the one who keeps His eye on the oppressed, who upholds justice for the defenseless. How could Jesus, who claims to represent God as His King, let this injustice go? Because God is able to absorb the Injustice within Himself at His own cost [more on this later]. In forgiving His enemies, however hurtful or bitter they were, He shows a divine Love that is impossible for a mere man. Jesus is stripped bare, devoid of dignity, tortured and beaten, tired and fatigued, thirsty and in physical pain. He is placed with criminals who are likely murderers, rotten and ugly. Yet He is starts to demonstrate just a fraction of the depths of God’s love for all Humankind. He says: Father forgive them, even though I am innocent, Father forgive them; they don’t know the extent of their evil deeds in crucifying the Christ, Father forgive them for they do not know just whom they have sentenced to Death.

But WHY, WHY would Jesus die? WHY die He willingly choose this career path? WHY if He claims to be God’s King would He die? Remember He’s not just your example, He’s not your local hero, He’s not going to be featured on Oprah as inspiration for humankind because simply He isn’t that sort.

 

3. Why Jesus Died

 

To put simply. Jesus died for you, Jesus died for us. For you. For me. Jesus died for you and me. That’s why.

When I ask WHY I don’t mean what are the factors, causes and human players and decisions that led to Jesus’ execution. That is plain for all to see, it’s there on the surface, in all the accounts. I have already given you the human cause: in jealousy, in personal vengeance, in cowardice of governance and in people acting unjustly for the sake of convenience. It’s there. When I ask WHY, I mean, for what purpose did Jesus die? It is a question you don’t ask these days. A lot of you still are affected by philosophical movements that says: in life, there is no real purpose, what happens just happens and what is just is and the purpose is that you learn and be “good” [whatever stand of good you can conjure up] as a result of what happens in life. Life is existentially fluffiness for some of you and the purpose may be maximising short-term pleasures for tomorrow you die.

But not in God’s world. In God’s world there is purpose, He has plans He has power to enact them and He has reasons for making things happen the way they are: Jesus as God’s Son has a purpose in resolutely heading to His Crucifixion which He knew in advance, spoke of repeatedly to His disciples and actually FINISHED His work by dying on the Cross for you and me. How do I know? Because God laid down the plan long before Jesus came. Throughout the OLD Testament [which is a book that spans at least 1800 years of various writers and genres as God acted in Human History], God laid down a blueprint or if you like a Resume for the Role that the Christ, God’s chosen king. Let me read you from Isaiah, prophet in 700BCs, and what he saw as the portrait of the Christ. It is commonly know as the Suffering Servant passage:

[Context: God is speaking of the One who is to come, referred to as He. We know Jesus is that He for He fits the portrait. We bystanders feature in this song or vision, we are the ones who look on the Servant, who benefit from the Servant’s suffering and understand what is happening to Him. We are right in the middle of this Song, we are NOT innocent, we are the cause...]

Isaiah 53

1 Who has believed our message  and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,  and like a root out of dry ground.  He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,  nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

3 He was despised and rejected by men,  a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.  Like one from whom men hide their faces  he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he took up our infirmities  and carried our sorrows,  yet we considered him stricken by God,  smitten by him, and afflicted.

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,  he was crushed for our iniquities;  the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,  and by his wounds we are healed.

6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,  each of us has turned to his own way;  and the LORD has laid on him  the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed and afflicted,  yet he did not open his mouth;  he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,  and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,  so he did not open his mouth.

8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away.  And who can speak of his descendants?  For he was cut off from the land of the living;  for the transgression of my people he was stricken.

9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,  and with the rich in his death,  though he had done no violence,  nor was any deceit in his mouth.

Let me show you only 4 features of the Suffering Servant that fits Jesus [there are thousands more, not just from this passage, but alas, we lack the energy]

    1. The Christ has to Suffer (Isaiah 53:3-6, Luke 9:18-22, Luke 22:37), for the People
    2. Facing God’s Judgment (Isaiah 53:8:, Luke 22:42, Luke 23:44, Crucifixion Curse 23:33), for the People
    3. He the Righteous took the punishment for the Sinner [the People] (Isaiah 53:9, Luke 23:40-42)
    4. He was Passover Lamb (Isaiah 53:7, Luke 22:13-20).

[I will expand each of these points if there is time. Explain the Judgment of God, why He is angry at Sin and is just to judge. That His judgment is fierce and complete and deserved. Must mention that’s why Jesus so wanted to celebrate the Passover with His disciples and asked them to continually remember His death in that light: He is the Passover Lamb that God prepared for rescue of His people. By the blood shed, God’s people are saved from judgment and are rescued by His might into His kingdom.]

If God was like the Boss, interviewing an Apprentice who was going to inherit all that He had and be CEO of all His enterprise, this excerpt would be the on top of the contract. Jesus, He would say, you are my Son, whom I love, with you I am well-pleased (Luke 3:22). But you must do this in order to achieve my greatest and most spectacular Rescue Package. You must Suffer, as a Servant, as a Slave, as a nobody for EVERYBODY. Because everybody has sinned and face eternal judgment for their sins. I am their judge. You must be the Innocent One who takes on EVERYBODY’s debt, EVERYBODY’s punishment that they deserve. Why? Because I, you, we LOVE them. They can’t save themselves, I, you, we must do it FOR them. Die for them, die for their sins, die for their short-comings, die in their place so that they will not die. I know you are innocent, but die for them as we love them. Die for the undeserving, the helpless, the wicked, die for our enemies, though they may reject us, reject our plans, reject our LOVE, still break your body and pour out your blood FOR them. Die for them or else they die themselves. This was Jesus’ calling, HIs vocation, His task to be that Suffering Servant who was (Isaiah 53:5)

 

Pierced for our transgressions,

Crushed for our iniquities,

The Punishment that brought us peace was upon Him [Jesus],

And by His wounds we are healed.

To put simply, Jesus died for us, for our sins, took our punishment, He died in our place so that we may not die and suffer the eternal consequences of our sins. And the flip side says, it is Jesus who was pierced, who was crushed. It is only By Him that we have peace with God, each other and ourselves and are healed in all spheres of Life.

[Answer objections now? Or save ‘til point 4? Or save ‘til Question Time?]

[So I hear you say. Sin? What is that? I’ve never heard of it? It is a culturally and socially relative term. I know I am not perfect but to say that I, an upright, tax-paying, sometime law-abiding, is a SINNER? That’s just a scare tactic. One if there were sins in my life they are not that bad, not deserving of God’s punishment... Argue the point backwards: because we know Jesus the Christ who was perfect has Suffered wrath from God -> we know that sins are punishable and must be judged.]

[And some of you might ask: How could this be Just? God is the prime violator of Justice if He chooses to transfer SINS from the SINNER to an INNOCENT 3rd party: the Suffering Servant?]

[Why should God be angry at all, why can’t He just forgive and forget like all good people? Why does He feel at all when we reject Him and forsake Him and just want His own good things, isn’t He a bit of a megalomaniac? I think the answer lies int he question itself. Why should God burn with rage and jealous anger?]

 

4. So what that Jesus Died?

 

You might get the idea, by now, that I take the Death of Jesus most seriously. It’s one of those things that I and countless other Christians before have held dearest to my heart. [speak of my near death event? and how I could only remember John 3:16, may be not] It is a thing that I am most unashamed of, most vocal about and will not hesitate in holding to Death’s door if I was forced to choose. That Jesus freely, lovingly died for my, yours and our Sins, completely so that we may not. Point a gun at my head and ask me to recount and I cannot. I will not.

That Jesus Died is to the Christian, the most paradoxically beautiful event in History: both global and universal history and our personal and intimate history. It is the litmus test for true Christian Faith: if for some reason, for some doubt, for some other obstruction, that you find this act of God in Crucifying His Own Son not a beauty, not a majestic artwork, not a heart-enthralling arrow then I declare you still in the dark, still blind to our sins and lacking a living Spirit. It is something so true, so right, so just, so loving that if we don’t see it I’m afraid we are not seeing at all. It grieves me and God that anyone should reject Him in the first place, and it grieves me and grieves God even more when He, the Lover has poured out His heart, and soul by breaking His body and shedding His blood only to find a cold, recalcitrant heart.

Look at the two thieves:

23:38There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

39One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"

40But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? 41We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. B

ut this man has done nothing wrong."

42Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."

43Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

One saw a pathetic, contradictory miracle worker who was promising but failed to deliver God’s power. Jesus just didn’t convince the first thief. But the Other, his eyes lit up, HIs heart saw and was in awe of the awesome beauty of Jesus’ death. Both are looking at the same Suffering Servant Christ, only one went to paradise. WHY because only one saw the beauty of God’s love poured out on that Cross. Only one understood THAT Jesus died for him. Only one was guaranteed life with God everlasting in Paradise. Only one could link the portraits of a self-sacrificial loving, humble God and a majestic King. Only saw his own fallen nature that was repaid with undeserving love and generosity in Jesus’ death for him.

[I am not saying we stop asking questions, I am not saying that we shouldn’t spend time to think and really digest what is going on. You think anybody so miraculously understood the beauty and Majesty of the Christ when they saw Him naked, ashamed, despised, weakened? Hardly anyone is as lucky as the believing thief who saw the Majesty of Jesus on His side. Most people take time. What I am saying is for those who have heard, who have investigated, who have decided and then finally rejected this Death of Jesus as a death for them: I have no solution, I have no more tears, I’m all out of argument and out of love. If I am not clear, then mea culpa, but if I have been clear then I truly grieve for anyone who rejects God the second time. Not even God Himself can further convince you if He appeared to you in person, because He already has. He has fully demonstrated His own love for us in this: that Jesus Died for You and Me.]

Ask yourself, do you need this Jesus to Die for you? Do you honestly think that before the eyes of God we are blameless, guiltless, perfect and should be received in His presence as we would be by the King or Queen or any other important person and dignitary on Earth? Are we really that good, that nice, that fitting for a Holy, Just, Awesome Creator God? Yes I know He’s a loving Father, but what about the whole person of God? Or do you feel just that tiny bit, even just a little bit of need for someone like Jesus, who Suffers as one who Serves us so that we might be made Right in God’s Sight? Free, blameless, guiltless and forgiven fully because He has Died for us? Can I encourage you feed that right desire, even if it’s just a little, because friends humility or poverty of Spirit: knowing I am no where near perfect and need forgiveness - that brings you and me closer to God than any of our righteousness because we will start to trust in this Jesus, who Died for Us.

 

Are you as cold and clinical as Pilate and Herod, who saw and talked with and judged Jesus to be just another teacher and miracle worker but not the Christ who Suffers for Us? To them He’s just another good role model, but if He doesn’t fit with our current well-being, our current status and state of happiness, if His words just reveal too much of our own guilt in Sin and hopelessness in Death, then we can conveniently wash our hands of guilt and say: He’s good for you, but not for me. Fine if you want Him, fine if you don’t want Him, as for me, I’ll have nothing to do with Him. I’ll just stay neutral, agnostic and forever in the middle. But you can’t. His Death doesn’t afford that neutrality. At the End of the Day, as I said in the Beginning, the answer you give to the question “WHY did Jesus die?” will place you in a definite position with regard to who you think God is, what He’s like, how you will relate to Him and whether you need Him. If your answer is not: I know for sure that Jesus died for Me, then you will answer for that. You will have determined your own destiny and be responsible for your own life, but at a cost of ALL of your Life. Friends, brothers, sisters, my prayer is that God may open your heart of hearts, your mind’s eye, that God would so have mercy on you because I know He has, and can melt through the hardest and the coldest of hearts.

 

What about for those for whom Jesus has Died, those of you who still are faithful and ever holding to this Truth? My words of encouragement to you. My thanks to God for you. Because you stand in such privileged positions, such enormous heavenly glory is waiting for you, for whom Jesus Died! Do you know your joy? Do you know how good it will be when God’s kingdom comes in full and you are in the middle of it with Him?! Do you know you have experienced and will forever know first hand the greatest love-act of all, better than love from a lover, a spouse, a child, a mentor, a friend, an admirer, love from no one less than God Himself? DO you not feel empowered and free to love as He does? What if you are rejected by friends who mistreat you or just use you, can you afford to forgive them? Of course. You have been forgiven more. What if you are tempted to abandon ship, to drop this Jesus because you have a greater offer elsewhere? Show me the Love from this other person, this other thing, this other object [achievement, award, pleasure, thrill, success], show me what Love there is in that thing and I will show you more in the Death of Jesus for you. We have no choice but to be faithful because Jesus has Died for Us. Are you unsatisfied with your position in life now, with your state now, with your lot now? Are you lacking that something to make you complete? Let me say that Jesus’ Death for you proves to me that your insecurity is a lie from the devil: because nothing is more beautiful and precious than what God has already offered: He has broken His body for you and poured

out His blood in Dying for you.

 

So what if Jesus Died? The significance is found in your answer. He died for me, He died for you.

 

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