May 2, 2004

 

It is a heart-breaking story. It’s hard to watch.Gory and gruesome.Painful and shocking.The message is a painful one to hear.But it is something infinitely important to your life.What am I talking about?Jesus Christ dying on the cross.The implications of the Son of God dying on a shameful tree are tremendous!One of the most important questions you will ever have to answer is this:Jesus Died for You – True or False?Because the consequences of Jesus’ death are so profound, some false beliefs have arisen in order to explain it away so those consequences don’t have to be faced.Let’s take a look at some of those false claims.

One false belief is that Jesus Wasn’t Supposed to Die.And as a result, his death had no meaning.For example, the Unification Church – also known as the “Moonies” – claims that Jesus’ mission was not dying; rather, his mission was to get married and establish a righteous family.In his “Divine Principle,” Reverend Moon teaches that Jesus’ death on the cross was not an essential part of God’s plan for redeeming sinful man.Rev. Moon says, “We must realize that Jesus did not come to die on the cross.”Jesus, according to Moon, was a failure, and Christ’s death was without effect.He says, “The cross has been unable to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth by removing our original sin.”Moon also believes that the death of Christ was a victory for Satan, saying, “Satan thus attained what he had intended through the 4000 year course of history, by crucifying Jesus, with the exercise of his maximum power.”

The Bible says otherwise! 1 John 3:8: “…The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.”The Bible plainly states that Jesus Christ came to this earth for the specific purpose of dying for the sins of the world.Jesus said, “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”Jesus died so that we may have life!As the Passion movie’s tagline correctly says, “Dying was his reason for living.”

Another false claim is that Jesus Didn’t Die on the Cross.This claim, known as the “Swoon Theory,” says that Jesus didn’t die on the cross; He just “swooned.”After three days the coolness of the tomb revived Him, and He managed to roll away the immense stone and appear to the disciples, making them think He’d risen from the dead.The Swoon Theory has been thoroughly refuted and very few continue to bring it up as a possibility.If you saw the Passion movie, you may have wondered how Jesus even survived long enough to be crucified!

Jesus was severely beaten with a scourge – “flogged” by the Roman soldiers.A scourge is a whip with several leather strips embedded with pieces of metal on the ends.There were usually 39 lashes from this in a Roman flogging, and each lash was pulled across the back so as to rip it open.Often the back muscles were so badly shredded that the skeletal structure was exposed.People very often died from this alone.

But then Jesus got to be crucified!His arms were pulled apart and nails driven through them.This dislocates the shoulders.The nails in the wrists sever the median nerve, resulting in a burning pain and paralysis in the hand.To breathe, Jesus had to press up on the nails in his feet, scraping his raw back on the wood.The body gradually drains of blood, causing the heart to beat faster and faster.Dehydration occurs.Breathing becomes more labored and intense, adding to the agony.The blood loss results in extreme thirst as the body craves water to restore the lost blood.The heart beats so hard trying to compensate for the loss of oxygen, due to lost blood, that it eventually ruptures.At this point the chest cavity fills with fluid.After Jesus died, a soldier thrust a spear into his side and out came blood and water, signifying that the heart had stopped beating and the blood was settling in the chest cavity.Jesus was dead.

For Jesus’ burial, his body was wrapped in linen, tightly around the whole body from head to toe like a mummy.When Lazarus was raised, he had to be unbound with help from others.The tomb was cold and Jesus laid in it for three days without medical attention.A large stone had been placed over the entrance to the tomb.Unless Jesus had some help, which isn’t mentioned, He would have had to move the large stone.It would have taken more than one person to do that.Jesus also appeared to several people after coming out of the tomb.Are we to believe that Jesus, who should have been in an ICU, managed to walk a long distance on pierced feet and appear to the disciples as a victorious conqueror of death?It makes no sense!They would have had to nurse Him back to health for months!

One of the best replies to the swoon theory came to a letter written into a question and answer forum:“Dear sirs, Our preacher said on Easter that Jesus just swooned on the cross and that the disciples nursed Him back to health.What do you think?Sincerely, Bewildered.”And the reply:“Dear Bewildered, Beat your preacher with a cat-of-nine tails with 39 heavy strokes, nail him to a cross; hang him in the sun for 6 hours; run a spear through his side…put him in an airless tomb for 36 hours and see what happens.Sincerely, Charles.”

One more false theory is that It Wasn’t Jesus Who was Crucified.This is known as the “substitution theory.”Some Muslims have proposed that someone else was crucified instead of Jesus.The Koran says: “They denied the truth and uttered a monstrous falsehood against Mary.They declared, “We have put to death the Messiah Jesus the son of Mary, the apostle of Allah.”They did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but they thought they did.Those who disagreed about him were in doubt concerning his death, for what they knew about it was sheer conjecture; they were not sure they had slain him.Allah lifted him up to his presence.”

Not only does this flatly contradict the Bible, but also leaves some big questions to be explained.For example, thousands of people knew Jesus.Wouldn’t someone have noticed that the wrong man was being crucified?Jesus’ mother stood beneath the cross.Certainly she would have recognized her own son!If the wrong man was crucified, wouldn’t he have been yelling, “I’m not Jesus!”?But that didn’t happen.Finally, if Jesus wasn’t crucified, then what happened to Him after 30 AD?There is no explanation for any of these problems!

The truth about Jesus is that Dying was His reason for living.There are many different reactions that the people involved had to Jesus’ crucifixion.But look at Pontius Pilate’s reaction:“he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd.‘I am innocent of this man’s blood,’ he said, ‘It is your responsibility!’”I think Pilate’s reaction is the most common one among people today.Most people don’t hate Jesus or intentionally disrespect Him.Most aren’t afraid, and many don’t repent or come close to the cross.Most people do what Pilate did – they admire Jesus, but they wash their hands clean of Jesus’ blood.“I’m not responsible for that!” they say.

In the Passion movie, there is a poignant scene that says so much, a scene so brief, but so important.When Jesus is being placed on the cross, the camera comes close to watch as a large spike is positioned in the middle of Jesus’ hand.Then, a mallet comes into focus, and a rugged hand swings it to drive the nail in.But there is something you don’t see.You never see the face of the one who drives that nail.You never get a glimpse into the eyes or heart of the one who so assuredly pounds away until the spike has passed through Jesus’ flesh and into the wood of the cross.Most of you probably know by now that the person who plays that role in the movie is Mel Gibson.He wanted to identify himself as being guilty of putting Jesus to death on the cross.

But why does he never show the face of the one who put Jesus on the cross?It’s because we are all guilty of putting Jesus to death.It wasn’t just the Romans.It wasn’t just the Jews.It wasn’t just Pilate.It was our sins that nailed Jesus to the cross.

And we have sinned, haven’t we?Has worshipping God been the priority in your life at all times?Have you always stood up for God?Or have you let others talk Him down because you didn’t want them to think you were religious?Have you always used his name properly?Or have you used it to curse people and damn the circumstances you are in?Has the word “Jesus” usually been a prayer or a swear?Have you always been perfectly honest?Or have you told little lies from time to time, so people would still think you are alright?Did you obey your parents at every moment of your childhood?Have you ever hurt anyone? A slap? A shove? Or maybe just with an insult?Ever hated someone?Have you only used God’s gift of sex in marriage and only with your spouse?Or have you had even had a lustful thought?Have you ever taken stuff home from work that isn’t yours?Cheated on an expense sheet or tax return?Have you ever gossiped about others?Spread rumors that were juicy, but may have hurt someone’s reputation?Ever wanted something you shouldn’t have?Been jealous?We have failed, haven’t we!We have sinned!And the Bible says:“The wages of sin is death.” In other words, our sins mean we fairly deserve death from God.

But then there was Jesus.He always put God first.He always stood up for his Father.He always used God’s name properly and prayed often.He was always perfectly honest – no one could ever accuse Him of a lie.Everything He said came true!He was perfectly obedient to his earthly parents.He even made sure his mother was taken care of after his death.He never harmed a soul, or insulted anyone improperly.He went out of his way to show love and help people.His thoughts were always pure.He never stole, and made sure his taxes were paid, even though He didn’t really owe any.Instead of gossiping about others, He stood up for them and protected their reputations.And He was perfectly content.He never coveted something that wasn’t his.Jesus perfectly obeyed ALL those things that you and I have failed at!And so, He never should have died!He earned eternal life with God forever!

But He loved you too much.There was an outstanding debt for your sin.And someone had to pay it.Someone had to take care of it – because otherwise the wages of your sin would mean your death.So Jesus picked up the bill, the wages for all of your sins.And mine.We nailed Jesus to the cross.Dying was his reason for living.He had to die for our sins.And by doing that, He removed them from our account.We owe nothing for them!Instead, He gave us the credit for the way that He kept all of those laws perfectly!And that is the way God sees us now!Perfect – the way his Son lived!

Our text says: “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.”Jesus Died For You – True or False?I pray the Holy Spirit leads you to believe that that is TRUE!Because that means that your sins are gone!Nailed to the cross!That you’re forgiven!And have life forever with God!Because of the Cross of Life!Amen.

 

Back to the XXXX page
Back to the Pastor's Messages page