A Birth, A Suffering, A Cross, A Tomb, And A Resurrection

A Birth, A Suffering, A Cross, A Tomb,

And A Resurrection

Text: Matthew 1:21; John 1:29;

F.A.G. 4/5/2015

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I. A Birth

Matthew 1:21, "And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." (NKJ)

A. Before there could ever be a resurrection, there had to be a birth. Not just any birth but a supernatural birth.

1. Mary give birth to a son without having sexual relations with anyone because the Son inside of her was conceived by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:20-21).

B. Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit. Consequently, He was born without sin.

1. Eve was deceived – Adam was not. Because he was the husband, and because he was not deceived, Eve’s sin was accredited to Adam.

2. That’s how Jesus was born without sin.

II. A Suffering

Mark 8:31, “And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.” (NKJ)

A. Before a Cross there had to be suffering.

1. The religious leaders of the time rejected Him. How do you think that made Jesus feel?

a. The very people who He came to save – cut Him off!

b. That is emotionally draining and it caused Him much pain.

B. If that wasn’t enough, the Roman solders made a crown of thorns and thrust it on His head. Why? To break the curse on mankind all the way back to the Garden of Eden. It says in Genesis 3:17-18, “Then to Adam He said, "Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat of it': "Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life.” Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field.” (NKJ)

1. The blood from the thorns broke the curse.

B. Matthew 27:29a-30 says, When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand.

C. Then they spat on Him and struck Him on the head. Verse 30 says,

“Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head.” Why?

D. Also in Mark 15 they also scourged Him. Then in Isaiah 53:5 it tells us that, “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.” (NKJ)

1. The word wounded in the Hebrew means to wound (fatally), to bore through, to pierce, to bore; to pierce.

2. He was wounded (fatally), to bore through, to pierce, to bore; to pierce.

a. for our transgressions (rebellion).

3. He was bruised (crushed or shattered)

a. for our iniquities (perversity, depravity, guilt).

E. He beaten about His back for our healing. Isaiah 53:4a-5 (TMSG) says,”But the fact is, it was our pains (Or Yet it was our sicknesses / it was our diseases) he carried— our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us. 5But it was our sins that did that to him, that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins! He took the punishment, and that made us whole. Through his bruises we get healed.”

F. The crown, the beatings, all had to do with the shedding of blood.

1. Hebrews 9:21-22 says, “Then likewise he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. 22 And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.” (NKJ)

G. The chastisement (beating/punishment) for our peace (shalom- completeness, soundness, welfare (health and prosperity), safety, soundness (in body) was upon Him.

H. So we see that everything that happened to Jesus after His arrest – but before the cross - all the beatings, etc. were all about the fact that when he uttered the words, “It Is Finished!”, everything was done for mankind. Nothing else was needed except . . . A Cross.

III. A Cross

Romans 5:19, For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous.”

A. Paul tells us in Colossians 1:19-22 about the invisible events taking place, beyond the physical realm during the time Jesus was dying on the cross.

Colossians 1:19-22 (NLT) says, “For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, 20 and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. 21This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. 22Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.”