Binding And Loosing The Hands Of Jesus

May, 2007

Binding and Loosing the Hands of Jesus

Mark 15:1-15

INTRODUCTION: In Mark 15:1 we read about how the enemies of Jesus bound Him in preparation for sending Him to Pilate. They bound Jesus and took Him to Pilate. The song says, “He could have called 10,000 angels,” or He could have called His disciples, or He could have broken their bands. But if you look at it another way, He couldn’t do anything if He were to carry out God’s plan because He would have been defeating the purpose of God. He had a task to do for the salvation of humankind--He needed to go through the steps. Being bound was a part of the process, and He completed His work on Calvary. How do we know this? He said, “It is finished!” (John 19:30).

As we read this, it is easy for us to be quick to say, “that’s terrible for them to do that to Jesus. Did they think He would try to get away?” The Message Bible reads, “after tying Jesus securely…” What did he do to deserve that? Have you ever thought of it this way that people today are still doing the very same thing? You might say, “Well, yes, the SINNER is binding the hands of Jesus by refusing to obey the gospel. This is true. In His great love He stretched out His hands and died for the sins of the world. When people refuse to listen to and obey the gospel, the hands of Jesus are bound by that refusal. There is no way that a person can then receive the benefits of Jesus’ death on the Cross. For that person the death of Jesus was in vain. Jesus did not want anyone to suffer for the guilt of their sins. II Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promises, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” In Matthew 11:28 His invitation is still being extended to people today. “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

There is no reason for His hands to be bound today, but we bind his hands today every bit as much or more so than the people who bound Him and led Him to Pilate. This includes Christians.

Here are some ways that we, as Christians, are guilty of binding His hands. We may not even be aware that we are doing it. How do you and I bind the hands of Jesus?

1. Not Making Him Top Priority: We bind His hands in our lives when we don’t make Him our top priority. You have heard people say, “Make Jesus A PART OF your life?” What part? A little sliver, a ¼, half, 75%, 99%? He is our life. Scripture says that “in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). If He is not at the center of our lives, we bind His hands because He is excluded from areas He should be involved in. Other things are taking the place He should be filling. We may need the Lord in the part He is not a priority. For example, if He is not included in your finances, you are missing His help.

Illustration:

Make a pie chart. What percent is Jesus in it?

Make a wheel. Put Christ at the center and the spokes out from it filling up the entire wheel.

How do we make Him top priority so that He is at the very center of our life? There are several scriptures that refer to His priority in our life.

Psalm 78:1 says to “Give ear, O my people to my law; INCLINE (or lean) your ears to the words of my mouth.”

How do we do that? If you were trying to overhear some gossip about someone, you LEAN TOWARD the person, YOU STRAIN YOUR EAR to hear--your fullest intent is on hearing every word. If someone interrupts you, you say, “Shush! I’m trying to hear this!”

Proverbs 2:2 says, “…Incline thine ear unto wisdom and apply thy heart to understanding.”

Psalm 119:112, “I have inclined mine heart to perform (to hear and do) thy statutes (laws) always even unto the end. I have made it a point to do this.

Joshua 24:23 says, “Now therefore put away the strange gods which are among you and INCLINE your heart unto the Lord God of Israel.”

We make the decision in our hearts to go God’s way--WE MUST SETTLE THIS. Joshua exemplifies this when he said to the people, “Choose you this day whom you will serve…”(Joshua 24:15).

Paul says in Romans 12:2, “Be not conformed to this world--Don’t let the world squeeze you into its mold.”