A volcanic ash cloud, a taxi-ride and the job interview

 

This is a true story about how, by God's grace, I arrived at a job interview in Melbourne, Wed 22 Jun 2011.

On 21 Jun, Tuesday evening, I found out 15 minutes before my department meeting that all flights into Melbourne were cancelled due to the ash cloud from a Chilean Volcano. By the time the meeting ended, I was too late in securing train, bus or coach tickets. But with much supernatural help, I got to central station after some wavering; I prayed that some kind soul would sell their ticket to me at a good price.

But because of my wavering, I was too slow to the train, and I also missed the last GreyHound bus that had left for the night. I didn't like the idea of just driving up myself: a 1000 lonely km in the dead of the night, at least with a companion, I had the chance of broken rest in preparation for my job interview. I had found out from a colleague earlier that the going rate for a cab-ride to Melbourne was $1200 (AUD). It was 10pm, I was semi-desperate and I had the next day off so I chose the cab option, over hiring a car and driving solo (I was unwilling to disturb friends at this last minute).

After a few rejections from 3 Subcontinental cab drivers, I was down to a Middle-eastern and an Asian (Indonesian) driver at the taxi-rank. I asked this Indonesian cab driver whether he would take me to Melbourne? He replied "how much", and I said "$1200". Without a pause he agreed and said "Hop in mate". And so the deal was struck. It turns out that his cab had just been tuned up, he had relatives in Melbourne that he had wanted to visit and had always wanted to visit.

The terms were I would take the wheel when he got tired, so after a long, rainy, cold journey - including 3 stops and 2 cans of coke - we got there. He drove 750km and I did about 200km into Melbourne. I was dead tired as it was very hard to sleep: the taxi made much turbulent and high-pitched noise throughout night at high speeds.

He even took me into his relative's place where I was served tea, used their shower, shaved and even got some reading done. They didn't serve lunch, but I had 2 more Cokes and LCM bars.

He was willing to stay the whole day for extra $350, since he had to pay his boss, who incurred losses from a day's worth of cab-rental. But when I got to the hospital, Melbourne flights were back on that afternoon. I paid him, a handsome total of $1550 (AUD) as promised and bade him Godspeed.

I then wandered into the anaesthetics library, looking a bit under-the-weather. I had a friendly yarn with someone there, with whom I had to share the tale of my awesome joyride. I showed him the docket, and he said I was crazy.

Soon, I found out that I was chatting to the director, who was on the interview panel. He shared the story with the Deputy on panel. They were somewhat impressed, but definitely bemused and humoured by this.

A couple of hours after the interview at 4:15pm, whilst I was at the airport, they offered the Fellowship Job in Cardiac Anaesthesia! Thank God!!! I definitely don't deserve it, but I will receive it with a smile.

I talked to my closest and dearest first, mentors, department head and others before I said yes. So Melbourne is the go for 2012 : D. There is a great cost in going, directly for others and so indirectly to me, but hopefully God will provide. A very sad thing will be leaving our present church, which is gospel-centred, loving and our home.

But I thought it was a $1550 well-spent. God even gave me a new friend! Although the next time round, I'd just hire a car, because it's near impossible to sleep in a noisy cab, or I would call-up some bored friends to come down with me.

Anyone for a Joyride?

p.s. It turns out my driver is also a Christian, and he repeatedly asked me to pray for his strength on the way there! He rang me to make sure I did get a job offer, commenting how much we had both sacrificed to get me there. I hope it has encouraged him in his faith.

 

grace, random selection or other?

"Thank God, they passed me",

is what I common say to people when I pass an exam. I actually mean it, and mean it literally. I know language is imprecise, but we can't interpret my meaning that wildly here.

"Thank God." Because He gave me all things, life, breath, body, brain, work, opportunity, support, family, friends, nice examiners, safety from accidents, mental blanks, colleagues, children, wife, freedom, financial security, praying friends, and much more.

"They passed me." I know I did do some study, but I know what I don't know, I know how much I've done, I know what I said and what I wrote.  I know the quality of other candidates, etc. Though I don't deserve to pass, "they passed me." I will take this, with gratitude and thanks.

It really is another small act of graciousness that I experience daily, as a Christian, and have experienced in ways much, much greater than passing my Fellowship today. Just to name the forgiveness of all my sins at the price of God's own Son by a just and all-knowing God for the explicit purpose of enjoying Him and His goodness forever. Some graces are greater than others, but it's all grace and I receive it all with THANKS!!!

p.s. I'm not inebriated, I did have 7 in the course of the afternoon, but I have been boring and stayed in my hotel tonight.

Philippians 2:12-18 "Work out your Salvation"

Recap Philippians 2:1-11

Last week we heard about God’s incredible humility as lived out by Jesus. Though He was fully God, the Son of God, He became a servant, lowering Himself and letting go of HIs own face, and looked after the interest of us humans, above His own. Our majestic God became nothing and even died for us and our sins by crucifixion, so that we may be made right with God, and be given His righteousness, guaranteed God’s life and benefits through Jesus’ sacrifice.

And in the context of the Letter to the Philippians, Jesus’ life of humility and service, is the good news and basis of the Fellowship or Friendship. When God’s Spirit is given to His people - we who believe in our hearts that Jesus has died and rose again during that Easter and confess with our lips that Jesus is now Lord and God’s Exulted King - this Spirit gives unity to the Fellowship of God’s people:

“Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. “ (Phil 2:1-2)

The Gospel, wins for God a whole new people, united by the Spirit of Jesus, that display and work out a unifying humility, like that of Jesus, within the community, and which is so different, so distinctive that the whole world around the church community are left speechless when they see God’s people living out their Gospel-changed lives. This is the theme of today’s passage and can be split into 3:

1. [God’s People] Working out [our] Salvation
2. [God’s People living] Pure and Blameless lives [marked by humility with grumbling or arguing], and lastly
3. [God’s People] Joy[fully] Serving [each other]

1. Work out your salvation (12-13)

“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” (Phil 2:12-13)

Paul uses “Therefore” because he wants us to know that the reason, the example and the power behind us living Gospel-changed lives is Jesus’ humble service and sacrifice for God’s people, shown in Phil 2 above, and the unifying Spirit that lives in believers. He says, “Therefore”, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. To “work out” is to be active, to produce, to achieve, to labour, to try our best, in order to gain something and in this case, we are working out “our salvation”.

Woh, woh, wait, are you thinking that you have just heard me say that we are saved by our good works? Are your alarm bells ringing? They should be. But listen to me carefully, Andrew has, last week, and I have, earlier, said that it’s all God’s grace when He chose to come in His Son, to humbly die for humans on a cross for our sins, serving us and so wins salvation for us sinners, who are made right with God and receive the full blessings of a restored relationship with God. SO you guys need to work out, what Paul means by “work out your salvation, with fear and trembling.”

You see, Jesus initiates, sustains and guarantees salvation by HIs life, death, resurrection and return as Lord and Christ [aka God’s chosen King]. He starts by turning us, sinful enemies of God into a saved people in God’s community, His death effectively, sufficiently and absolutely guarantees - “on the day of Christ” when God returns to judge the whole world - that we will not die or be condemned for our sins. That’s simple, and it’s a huge part of the Gospel. You must not forget that even on your death bed. Salvation is finished in this way: we know that those in Jesus Christ will be saved from God’s wrath on that day! But salvation is also a journey towards that day, it is a relational process in a life, which shows that someone is saved and changed and is in relationship with the God who saves!

And remember again, who and what is the power behind our working out? It is “God, who works in [us] to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose.” (Phil 2:13) God initiates, works and sustains our Christian lives to will and act so that He achieves a community that displays HIs power and likeness so that He gains Glory. In fact Jesus did that during the first Easter. He died, in obedience to God, humbled Himself for you and I, and God raised HIm to life again and gave Him a name above all names, so that everyone will acknowledge Him and give Glory to God the Father. (Phil 2:6-11)

We work out because it’s God who works! We are not lazy, compromising, or complacent because we have God Himself, changing our wills - that is our hearts and motivation - and God helping us by grace to act - that is using our bodies, hands and feet, in order to live out godly lives. We no longer live for our selves, seeking our selfish ambitions and interests, but seeking what God wills. Our purpose is to identify God’s good purpose in our lives. And let’s no forget that obedience is the ongoing attitude of God’s people. (Phil 2:12a) Jesus obeyed, we obey. He was obedient to the Cross, i.e. death, we too are obedient with our whole lives to God.

[Fear and Trembling]

2. Blameless and pure (14-16)

“Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.” (Phil 2:14-16)

Together, we are to look so different in the middle of our world. The world around us is a wee-bit troubled in Paul’s days, it’s not so different today. It’s “warped and crooked”, that’s twisted, perverse and wandering away in disobedience and way from God’s moral, ethical and social standards. How are the people of God to be different, especially in our relationships with each other? Well, as we individually and collectively work out our salvation, we will look out for the interest and humbly serve each other, just as Jesus did, and do “everything without grumbling or arguing.”

Grumbling may be against each other, or against Paul and other leaders in the church, or even against God. Israel, God’s original people and now us, are fabulous grumblers. Grumbling in Egypt, grumbling in the desert, grumbling with Manna from heaven, grumbling with meat, grumbling when thirsty, grumbling before entering the promised Land, grumbling at Moses their leader all the way, grumbling when in the promised land, grumbling when they had no king, grumbling when they had a king, grumbling when prophets told them to obey, grumbling when God punished their disobedience, grumbling when they return from Exile to a diminished Israel, grumbling when God takes HIs time in return to save them, grumbling even when Jesus shows them the way and offers salvation by Grace: grumbling is a major trait of the people in the OT. And it is also in the NT, most likely in the Philippian church, which you’ll see in chapter 4, and we too are a grumbling nation and people, even our Christian churches here.

But serving each other with humility, seeking the other’s interests without bickering or arguing is the mark of a Gospel-community. The goal of this is that we be “blameless, pure and without blemish” against an entirely crooked world.  God’s working out a perfection within this community that even in the unfinished work, the world can tell the difference. “Blameless” is living of a standard that the world can’t fault, “pure” is the state of our inward and outward life, shown in how we use our minds, hearts, eyes, hands feet and most of all tongues and “without blemish” is similar to blameless, that to the outside world the way we behave appears like a perfect community, even though we are being perfected and are not perfect yet as God’s people.

The difference is like the stars, moons and heavenly bodies, standing out in a dark sky. Our world is dark, and we are to look completely different and attractive, in the midst of all this.  What thrives in God’s people is obedience, thankfulness and generosity: lives which are godly and faultless, and most of all, filled with mutual service and giving that’s done willingly, without seeking our own benefit and face. There is no university, work, volunteer or interest group that compares to a living Gospel-community, with God working within each and everyone’s wills and bodies.

Look, I’m not saying we are sinless right now, Paul has said that we are working it out and God is working it out. Our individual lives and collective fellowship is not complete yet. We still depending on God’s forgiveness, His grace, and His Spirit daily. But I am saying that we strive for that goal, which will be complete on the Day of of Christ (2:16). Another thing is that not only do we work and trust in God’s work, we need the Gospel, the constant reminder and teaching and explanation and spiritual digestion of “the word of life”. If we for one week or a day, forget what Jesus the Lord God did for us in His life, death and resurrection, or put another way, if Easter Friday/Sunday is not our holy day every  day, then we can’t work out this Gospel-community. Christ is the power, the example, the standard, the reason for what we do. We have to have the mind of Jesus, we must continually feed on the Good News of Jesus’ humble service for mankind. That safeguards us all from falling into perverse and twisted darkness. That changes us into God’s Gospel-community.

3. Joy in serving God’s People (17-18)

“But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. 18 So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.” (Phil 2:17-18)

The Philippian pyramid that Andrew used had 3 layers: the context or situation of the Philippians is suffering, that’s the bottom, the reason is the Gospel and the outcome is Joy. And Joy again is the result for Paul’s labour and also the Philippians. Paul serves, having the mind of humble Jesus Christ and so do the Philippians, the result is Joy in each other and because of each other. Paul brought the gospel to the Philippians, and has been lovingly praying for them, teaching them, sending messengers like Timothy to check up on them and even in prison,  He is writing with instruction and encouragement and, of course, prayerfully giving thanks for them. (Phil 1-2)

But their Friendship is not one way. The Philippians have responded to Paul’s work with faith and obedience (Phil 2:12a), they have been generous to Paul in sending Epaphroditus and financial gifts (Phil 4). They have been a source of Joy for Paul in their ongoing faith - trust in God - and even in their suffering for their faith (Phil 1:27-30). Most of all they have been Partners in the Gospel, in supporting Paul, in prayer for Paul’s work and giving toward the work in personnel (Epaphroditus) and money. That is the mark of this Gospel-friendship. So much so, that Paul describes their work as a sacrifice and service, like that of the OT priest or Jesus’ own sacrifice and service for God’s people, and Paul’s own service is like a “drink” poured out, emptied out, again like Jesus, in addition to the Philippians’ work in the Gospel. Paul and the Philippians have been Christ-like to each other in their Gospel-friendship. And the result is mutual Joy in each other and ultimately in God’s glorious grace.

Implications

1. God uses the Gospel to work in our Lives Today
   1. Fear and Trembling. This attitude is not natural. People don’t fear (in their hearts) and despise fear, because it basically means a submission to one in authority. We would rather be feared than to fear. But this is the natural Christian response from the Gospel. God is an awesome judge and our fear of Him draws us closer to Him, not away from Him. So the fear is different to earthly fear. It means a lot for our lives, having a fear of a righteous, loving, generous Father who is behind us and working in us. It actually motivates us to work harder in our lives, because we know the one working in us and what He is like. We also need to treat all our lives as serious projects, where God is the Architect, Engineer, Resource Manager: it is ultimately His work: me, you, the guy you’re sitting next to, we are ultimately God’s work! Thinking like that instills a healthy fear as we relate and serve.
   2. Work Out. It’s clear that we need to work hard at our lives. We often put more effort working in our homes, our university work, our career, our holidays our next meal than we often do in our lives. I think the use of “I can’t change myself, only God can” is a sign of laziness. But why don’t we place the same thought, planning, effort, money, intention, worry, contemplation, reflection and evaluation in our godliness and in our church-friendships? Remember it’s God who’s working in us for His good purpose, we have God-given resources to do that: His Spirit, His people, the Word of Life, Christian Books, Others’ Experiences. All these things help us. And the end goal is Christ-likeness and Christ-like living in our church! It’s going to look really, really impressive, it’s happening and will be complete on the Day of Christ. Hear my encouragement from God Himself, let’s work hard at our Gospel-living Today!
   3. Pure and Blameless. And this of course means privately and publicly. Publicly we usually have no problems, we are not yet so individualistic and often face-saving helps mould the appearance of purity and blamelessness. But I must confess, before everyone else, that innermost purity and blamelessness in the knowledge of God is hard. Again, God’s Gospel, His Spirit of Fellowship and His present help and forgiveness is wonderful in helping me strive for purity.
2. Mutual Service, Generosity makes Church truly attractive
   1. Without grumbling but with filled with Grace. This is the distinguishing mark of our church. May I tell you that at most churches in Sydney that believe and preach the Gospel, I know it happens. When compared to working in even public health, it’s even worse in private health, often what drives relationships is material good, mutual monetary benefit and asking people, even your assistants for assistance, which they are paid to do, is filled with grumbling, retaliation, delay, there is no enthusiasm, no seeking the others’ (i.e. patients’, colleagues’) benefit or generosity. But we are not to be like that. They are often dark, perverse, without God’s love, but we are to be filled with Grace, that is people experiencing God’s grace in HIs full measure in Jesus, so we serve each other, happily, out of our freewill and with creativity and joy! We are all God’s work, together we are in this enterprise of working out our salvation. If we did this, I know, our churches will be filled with those who hear the call of God. We will be marked with love and by this the world will know that we are God’s people and give Him praise.
3. We are Friends in the Gospel
   1. More than Friends. In our churches we have great friendships. In general friendships are not hard to build. Time, fun, food, lots of outings, interesting stunts make good friendships. But Gospel-friendships are more than this. We are in partnership of Gospel-building-lives together. We are building each other’s lives and helping the sending of the gospel to other gospel-communities. That’s the relationship between Paul and the Philippians: it’s one of mutual service. That will be the relationship between your leaders and Andrew and yourselves and between you and me. We are really good at maintaining, spicing up our friendships; let’s be even more adventurous in our gospel-friendships. Pray, with thanksgiving and this frequently for each other, give and raise funds together to help gospel ministries, serve communities, especially needy non-Christian ones, together.
   2. True Joy. We will have this if we are Friends in the Gospel. There is nothing sweeter. Even secular projects or work gives off much satisfaction, as I know when I’ve worked well with my team at say a resuscitation, at a horrible case or something similar. In normal friendships, traveling is often the essential element to some common joy. But I’m talking of True Joy.  The Joy of seeing the Gospel work in lives, completely changing your own, each other and even stranger’s lives with the Gospel of God. If your friendship is based on this and you hold firm to the Gospel yourself, your friendships will be so satisfying, it’s a prelude to our satisfaction and the filling of our appetites when we meet God face to face on the Day of Christ. Make it a point, that your friendships are based on the the Gospel and work for the Gospel.

These are just some ways to work out our salvation with all of God’s heart, mind and strength.

Jesus: The Basics, Talk 3 - The Resurrection

(Link to full talk)

1. All History, not just Christian History, but all human History even your own History, hangs on the answer to this question: did Jesus rise from the dead? I have been using Luke [I refer people to Talk 1 for why we use the Gospels as History] in the last few weeks to show that the most reasonable and plausible explanation of the witnessed events is that Jesus truly lived, truly died as God’s Messiah (the Christ) and that He truly rose in history. And this History has personal, relational, spiritual and universal consequences. Christianity depends on Truth, if it was shown that Jesus did not Rise from the dead then there is no Christian answer to anything anymore, there is no Messiah, there is no answer to Sin and Death, there is no sign of a living God acting in History, there is no hope: we have been duped, and we are worse off than unbelievers because we have been sold a false Gospel. But that is NOT the case. The Resurrection of Jesus is another externally, verifiable truth which has stood the test of time and much opposition and still stands today. He rose and that means for us who have been convinced, God’s Messiah - His chosen and anointed King - lives, that He is Lord of all History and Humanity, that He has defeated Sin and Death our last enemies and that we will Rise just as He has Risen. Do you see the importance of this question: Did Jesus Rise?

We have here many facts presented to us by Luke the Historian/Doctor that combine up into an whole account of Jesus’ Resurrection. Firstly we know for sure that Jesus died. The Centurion (Luke 23:47) was with other soldiers (23:26) made sure of that [...] He was DEAD.

But just as we are sure that Jesus was dead, we can be sure that the Tomb was empty on the Sunday morning and that Jesus met His disciples firstly around Jerusalem and later Galilee and again in Jerusalem: this happened over a period of 40 days, inclusively. Because, secondly, we have witnesses of the women disciples. I think it’s a wonderful thing and one that smacks of Truth: that we trust in the eye-witness confessions of humble women, among whom included the ex-prostitute Mary Magdalene [Matt 28:1] and Jesus’ own mother, both of whom were grieved to the core because of Jesus’ life with them. Why is it wonderful truth? Because women were the lower, second-rate class of the day but Christians uphold their testimony as trustworthy and equal in standing with other accounts; in fact they were the first-ones to find the tomb empty, the stone rolled away, it was to them that the angel reminded and reaffirmed what Jesus had promised to him: “The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again” [Luke 24:6-7]. It was to women, the lowly and despised, that God chose to announce that: “Jesus is Risen, He is not [laying dead in the tomb]!” Even the Eleven did not believe them [Luke 24:9]. But the women knew what they saw. This is embarrassing literature, embarrassing admission and an inconvenient truth because people didn’t trust women in those days! Yet because it’s embarrassing it’s therefore True. There is no way the disciples would have preferred it - it’d been nicer if Peter got to the tomb before they did [Luke 24:12], or if not Peter, then John, who was close to Jesus’ Crucifix at Mary’s side [John 19:26] but for sake of truth-keeping and honest recollection, we have women, the first witnesses of Jesus’ Resurrection, starting with the empty tomb.

Thirdly, there were multiple attestations of Jesus’ physical bodily Resurrection at various times, places and to different people [...] Similarly there’re multiple attestations to Jesus’ Resurrection, so good, so many, so closely documented in time in relation to Historical events that we have more evidence for this than any other figure in ancient history? For most of you, if you disappeared from the face of the earth today, there won’t be as good proof of who you are, what you do, where you live, what you are like or what you said compared with that of Jesus and His life, death and resurrection. None of us will have a biography written about ourselves and our highlights in life, let alone four?! [...]

Jesus then dined with the Eleven along with other disciples (Luke 24:36-44). He showed them and they touched him on His hands, feet and side [...] These witnesses were unsuspecting witnesses, they did not have in their hearts and minds to expect and let alone create a risen Jesus from their imagination. For a long time they were frightened, then amazed, then realised and finally became joyful (Luke 24:41) because of Jesus’ resurrection. You would have been too, if you were there, at the time.

Fourthly, there are silent witnesses in Luke’s account, that negatively support the Empty Tomb of Jesus and His Resurrection. These weren’t believers, they were equally afraid, stunned, but they didn’t have joy with their knowledge. These were the Roman authorities and the Jewish Leaders. There were guards at Jesus’ tomb, they’re silent. Why? Matthew does give an account that Jewish leaders bribed the Roman authorities to say that the disciples stole the body (Matt 28:11-15). Which means at least there was an empty tomb. The opponents are silent on why the tomb was empty, in that they don’t have an alternate, plausible explanation. Also, if there was a body, why couldn’t they just show it, why not contest, why not gather all the Jerusalem disciples and show them, I mean that’s where they were, why not stop another potential trouble right where it started? But History tell us, they were silent, they couldn’t overcome the witnesses and News of Jesus’ Resurrection, His appearances and as a result the early Church rose, just as Jesus rose.

The fifth and biggest fact which subsequently supports the Resurrection of Jesus is the Rise of the early Church. Luke gives an explanation (Luke24:44-49):

⁴⁴ He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”

⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. ⁴⁶ He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷ and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. ⁴⁸ You are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹ I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

You see, these people were once frightened, hopeless and lost. They had lost the one person whom they thought had brought God’s new age or His Kingdom that much closer. They had hoped in the rescue by God for them and others, in their personal, spiritual, moral and social lives. They were longing for a time where God who again be their God and they would be His own people. They wanted salvation in every sense of the word. They wanted a king who would lead them and teach them form God and lead them to God. But this person on whom all their hopes had laid was crucified and laid in a tomb himself. What good is a dead Saviour, what good is a cursed corpse, what good is a Messiah who was dead? Yet for some reason, some gaping event in history they were changed, literally over a short space of time, something like 40 days and nights. They were empowered (Luke 24:49). They began to call Jesus their Lord again. They had renew trust in Jesus as the Messiah. They started to worship this Jesus as God. They then called others from the outside in, so that they may know the Jesus they know, and preached repentance and the forgiveness of sins in Jesus’ name. A small group, but convinced group of several hundred, slowly and steadily, overcame the Roman empire with their message, that Jesus is the Resurrected Messiah. What could cause this? A lie? A hoax? A mass common delusion? What else can explain the conviction of enemies of Jesus, Paul, unbelieving brother of Jesus, James, such that they would become leaders, teachers and martyrs for the fact of Jesus’ Life, Death and Resurrection. Only the Resurrection can explain this.

SO important was this Resurrection, it became part of an oral Creed that circulated within years of the event in 30AD, that Paul could refer to, as you and I would refer to a pop-song, say Viva La Vida by Coldplay, or Teenage Dream by Katy Perry [try to sing these, Will]. Paul wasn’t even arguing the case but simply referring to something COMMONLY known, held to heart and publicly proclaimed, 1Corinthians 15:3-8:

³ For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance:

that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

⁴ that he was buried,

that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

⁵ and that he appeared to Cephas,

and then to the Twelve.

⁶ After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.

⁷ Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,

⁸ and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born...

To put simply, nothing explains all these things from these witnesses, unless Jesus Rose, physically, bodily from the Dead. You need more blind scepticism to believe any other explanation. There is no better alternative explanation [I’ll leave your questions to Q&A time]. Jesus simply Rose for all to see and hear. And now we must ask...

2. Did the Messiah (aka the Christ) have to rise from the dead? Jesus referred Himself as the Messiah, or more correctly, the Messiah portraits or predictions from the Old Testament fit Jesus perfect, especially in hindsight, especially after Jesus’ resurrection. [Again, I refer people to Jesus’ life, his teachings, his miracles, his explanations of the OT teachings in Talk 1] I can’t have created these, neither could Jesus, or the New Testament witnesses because the predictions were in the Old Testament, written before 400BC. If you know that God is an all powerful agent in History, who acts, saves, speaks to and changes people in History, then it isn’t a surprise that Jesus came with an introduction and explanation, from God Himself. Look with me through Luke 24:25-27:

²⁵ He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the

prophets have spoken! ²⁶ Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then

enter his glory?” ²⁷ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to

them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

[...]

 

Simply, the Old Testament Law, Prophets and Psalms - “all Scripture”  - portrayed a Messiah who had to suffer all that Jesus did, die, be buried, and then raised on the third day and enter into “glory” as the Resurrected Messiah. And Jesus is the one who lived proclaiming the Good News as the Messiah, died for our sins as the Messiah and Rose from the dead as the glorious King-Messiah, in accordance with all Scripture.

Isaiah 53 [remember it’s written in 700BC, by a prophet, seeing the picture of a Suffering Servant, who looks remarkably like Jesus at the Cross] is useful once again, this time we’ll look at the second half in detail, we know that Jesus the Messiah, died on the Cross in our place for our sins to take away the death penalty deserved for us so that we don’t die and we don’t pay and we don’t receive God’s judgment in order that we may have forgiveness of sins (Isaiah 53:7-12):

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 its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
⁸ By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was punished.
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.

¹⁰ Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
¹¹ After he has suffered,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
¹² Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.

Verse 11 in particular says that after the Servant Messiah suffers, “He will see the light of life and be satisfied; and by His knowledge [the] righteous servant will justify [make right in God’s sight] many, [because] He will bear their iniquities [or sins].” After suffering for sins of the world, our sins, your sin my sin, the Messiah will rise and see life and the joy of life, forever. Isn’t this Jesus who was crucified, cursed by God for sin, buried, and rose on the 3rd day? ...

Why is it so important that Jesus is the Resurrected Messiah? It’s because only then is Jesus truly the Messiah and that the Messiah has truly come. You don’t know what I’m saying, I probably don’t grasp the entirety of the HUGENESS of this Good News either. But if Jesus is that Resurrected Messiah, then it means that God’s Kingdom has come, it means that today is the day of Salvation [Isaiah 61:1-2, Luke 4:18-19], when you hear Jesus and see Him and trust in Him and turn around to follow Him, you are personally saved and belong to God and are made His daughter or son, that not only you but the whole world can be reconciled to God the Father through the Life, Death, and Resurrection of the Messiah, Jesus! and it also means that...

3. The Resurrection put an end to our last enemy: Death and Sin, its sting. Death has died, because sins have been paid for and death’s no longer an eternal Enemy or Tormentor of Life for those whom Jesus has died and rose. Jesus’ own Resurrection, vindicates Him as the Lord who is at God’s [the LORD’s] right hand, the position of triumph, power, victory and majestic rule, look at Psalm 110’s opening with me:

¹ The LORD says to my lord:

“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet.”

² The LORD will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying,
“Rule in the midst of your enemies!”
³ Your troops will be willing
on your day of battle.
Arrayed in holy splendor,
your young men will come to you
like dew from the morning’s womb.

How are you to interpret the Resurrection of Jesus if you believe in God’s word in the Old Testament? Use this Psalm [most quoted Psalm in NT, Peter, Paul, writer of Hebrews, all use to to point to the Resurrected Jesus]. Jesus used this to point to Himself even before His death and Resurrection. It’s because the suffering, substitutionary and dying Messiah was TO BE the mighty, ruling and glorious Messiah. That’s what it means that He had to suffer these things and enter into His Glory. [...] He has defeated the Greatest Enemy of All: Sin and Death - that ugly, two-headed rabid beast that will consume and feast on you if you are not under this glorious Messiah.

Verse 1 of Psalm 110 declares that all enemies, including Sin and Death and all its vile consequences, are under Jesus’ feet. His enemies are DEAD. There is going to be no evil in God’s kingdom come, no injustice, no disease, no miscarriage, no abuse, no hurtful lies, no life-destroying habits or fatal mistakes, there is no inner failure and outward wasting, there is

NO Enemy left against God, Jesus the Messiah or the new Humanity His own Creation and Children on whom His Spirit rests. There will be no Eternal Death. There will only be Life as Jesus knows it best. Life as we have longed for all our lives but can’t attain no matter how technologically-advanced, culturally-savvy, spiritually-enlightened, morally-upright, relationally-successful or materially-rich we have become because all that doesn’t compare to God’s Resurrected Life. It stinks in comparison. The joy is so miniscule. The life is so flakey. It’s cheaper than 1980’s Chinese imitations of real Western goods. But Jesus has risen and His enemies are now pronounced dead: Sin, its effects, its curse, its limitations on life as we all know it and Death that drives us all in fear, frustration and grumbling - Sin and Death are Dead if Jesus is the Resurrected Messiah. He Lives, He Rules, He calls us now to enjoy and to follow and He will return to realise all the promises of History, God’s history as we have heard it in the OT and NT.

4. So, which side of Jesus’ Resurrection do you stand on?

First, let’s take the “No” side. What does saying “No” to the Resurrection mean? If you are saying no because you are seeking and you want to be more convinced, then great, because the disciples, witnesses, even Christians today, have found Jesus’ life death and resurrection hard-going. But may I encourage you that you don’t need to know everything in order to know something sure? If you know Jesus’ Resurrection, it’s a start, a great start and all that you need to start with. Turn, repent from sins, trust in Him and receive forgiveness, life and relationship with God the Father.

But, beware of being a silent witness, one who knows enough of the facts but is not changed or moved by it in anyway. Your silence in witness, will condemn you in the face of God. We are the same as the Roman and Jewish authorities, who for more convenient reasons of security, power, comfort ignore the Resurrection. It may well be more convenient for you to let this slip under the table, let this knowledge go by. The Romans and that old way of life, were gone, they have past. The Jewish leaders still to this day seek a different Messiah. I’m not sure who they’ll find. Jesus’ Resurrection though True, was not functionally or significantly true for them, so they have all come, lived, and died under Sin, Death and Judgement, probably worse off than they were if they’d never heard the eye-witnesses. The same warning goes for anyone, if convinced of the little that I’ve shown from Luke today, then don’t go back. Christianity is either Truth, the whole truth and everyone’s Truth or nothing at all. [...]

And more importantly, I don’t want anyone of you to miss out... [on the things below]

So, let’s take the other side. What if you believe in the Resurrection in head, heart and will? What does that mean for you? At least it means that though you die once, you will rise just as Jesus has to a glorious new life, with glorious bodies and all that, for the enjoyment of God, HImself, His Creation and all His goodness in the company of many witnesses and believers in a glorious party. It means you will see Him just as He is because you have united yourself with the Suffering and Rising Messiah, His own Son and Lord of all. It means you have hope, that you didn’t have before and not many friends have found and will ever find. Treasure this, my brother and sister, make it your heart’s delight, make it your turkish delight, your teenage dream, your viva la vida, your revolution, your purpose, your POWER in life because Jesus has died, suffered and risen in Truth, in History and in God’s Reality.

Where then, may I ask, is the sign of the Resurrected power in your life, if you claim to know this truth in Head and Heart? Where’s the “proof” of a sure win and defeat of Life’s greatest enemies in your life? [...] When you and I go through disease, separation, failure, physical torment {hopefully not torture, but even then] may be know the power of Jesus’ Resurrected life, so that our hope and joy shines out. I’ve seen it. I know it in part, for I am a pigmy when it comes to suffering. But that was what got the first Christians off the ground, through the Roman Empire and the rest of the known world: they could be sawed, chained, have homes confiscated, and still they remained as loving, as forgiving, as energetic as we are after a European vacation.

Sometimes our “joylessness” or “lifelessness” isn’t true, or not based on reality, but on lies. Lies can recreate a false joy, or it can snuffle true joy; lies can cover up emptiness with an imitation - very good imitations, almost as good as the real thing, or lies can smother true Life that we already have an enjoy. [...] If you like, good food, good friends, good relationships, good marriages, good businesses, and good world-changing accomplishments are shadows, shadows of a greater reality, and markers of greater longings, which are only met and now freely OFFERED to us, in the Resurrection of Jesus. Why is Heaven likened to a banquet? To a great city? To a Marriage between God and His people? Why do inhabitants of the new Jerusalem sing and dance with celebration and energy? Why is Life on that side of Jesus’ Resurrection one of joy and hope and perfection? Well, because, it is: it’s the nature of the things to come, to be fully realised when the Resurrected Jesus comes back to bring God’s kingdom on this world with full force. LG: Life’s good, JC: Resurrected Life is even better. Don’t buy the lie of life now, without Jesus, because the life without Resurrection is a phoney, it’s a sham, it’s an imitation, in the it’s DEATH without the Resurrected Jesus. But the truth is that Jesus Has Risen, He showed the witnesses and now to us a glimpse of GLORY of Resurrection. [...]

Jesus’ Resurrection is POWER. It means we all are freed from sin and death, yes there are still cobwebs, a few tangles, a few knots, but the process of radical transformation, of a new life has started and will continue. Just as surely Jesus has Risen in Glory so will some of you one day. May that be your driving motivation, your pillar of strength, may it be what frees you to live by God’s Spirit in ways which are shocking to the world, but natural to your new Life. Have you considered giving? Giving lots of money? Away? To other people? For their good? Have you considered missing out on the best that this world has to offer so that at least others can have the best that God has to offer? I have, the disciples have, Paul has, but have you? I can’t drag you, you must be compelled by the Truth of His Resurrection. What has St Basil’s got to give to people in Artarmon? Something that they want, or something that they need and are looking for, they just haven’t found it, or Him. Offer them the Resurrected Jesus, who is Historically true, externally verifiable, and whose Rising changes the History of our world and everyone’s personal history as well.

Loneliness, Desires and other Voids of the Heart

 

 What do I think of human loneliness as a Christian?

Blaise Pascal (famous French philosopher and mathematician) is often quoted for saying inside each and every one of us is a "God-shaped" void or vacuum which is reserved for Him or only He can fill. In the same category as our universal sense of loneliness or alienation, are longings for home, for love, for significance, for permanence (oft called transcendence in philosophy) and for awe and beauty. It is so strange that this is really an innate thing, like some common experience built in our communal "DNA" or memory.

It's also strange that in our clearest and even happiest moments in the midst of friends and loved ones, we are acutely aware still of our need for a significant other, more significant than a lover, spouse, friend, family and even one identical to ourselves. Why is this so? I find that desires in their most raw forms all point to our need for a personal, loving Father God who knows and actively cares for and identifies with us in His Son and communes with His by His Spirit. [I will not explain this statement here, except it is part of His Triune nature] Most desires are good if fulfilled by the right object. The truest and most satisfying object of all our desires in sum and in parts is God Himself: our desires are perfectly matched by and in Him and Him alone. And the desire for fellowship, for communion and for deep belonging is fundamental to our sense of loneliness.

Where does my loneliness point? Will it be met in all its needs? A few of my friends are remarkably sociable creatures. It's great, honestly. But I know that still, all the best of us fail in providing for each other what only God Himself can do. I cannot replace my need for God with a significant other no matter how good he or she is. It is a universal experience again, and that's why romantic idealistic characters can never find that someone in movies. It's a funny experience most of the time because most people just get on with it and know and accept that a good marriage or friendship or relationship is as good as it gets. It's good when we DON'T take the relationship too seriously or exhaustively - I must qualify here - in the sense that we cannot place such a burden on the significant other to provide for ALL that we need. We can't, we don't want to, it breaks the other person and belittles the good that is already in them. A stable, faithful partner is good enough. But still, why this loneliness still, what good can it achieve?

As a Christian, I believe in something hideous called SIN. It is a personal betrayal of God our Father and Creator and Judge, the falling short of the perfect, the twisting of something good into something evil, and the essence of human pride against the goodness and trustworthiness of God. Sin is both against God and against others, usually, but always against God. One of the effects of sin is the separation of humankind with our natural owner or Creator or "husband" [if humankind is female-like] - God: it alienates us from His goodness and righteousness. And we live in it, we feel it, we sense it in loneliness and other cousins of this desire. It reflects a deep defect within us, for which we yearn an answer, a peacemaker.

God promises the deepest of reconciliation and communion with Himself, beginning with forgiveness, and all this freely through the Death and Resurrection of Jesus on our behalf for the sake of our sin. "He who knew no sin became sin for us so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God" (2Cor 5:21). The Bible has so many wonderful images on the relationship the Christian has with God, as his Children (Romans 8:9-11), as people with access to a glorious God (Romans 5:1-2), at peace with God (Romans 5:6-11), and so on. In Him, I truly find what I had been looking for and still long for, not perfectly yet, but fully realised in the future. It's true that though I may sense loneliness, I know it's a residue of the past, no longer a death-hold on my being or behaviour. I have great freedom now and confidence, knowing and tasting the love of God for us in Jesus, to serve and love others. By no means am I doing it right, anyone around me can tell that, but I know that it is a sure process. In Him the Christian is never alone, even if they are outwardly so in the world's eyes.

 

***

Ecclesiastes 3:11 "[God] has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end."

 

Psalm 43:5 "Why, my soul, are you downcast?

Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God,

for I will yet praise Him,

my Saviour and my God."

 

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)

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. 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.