Closing In On The Cross Of Jesus Christ: Part 1 Series

Closing in on the Cross of Jesus Christ: Part 1

The Gospel of Matthew

Matthew 26:1-16

Sermon by Rick Crandall

(Prepared March 25, 2023)

BACKGROUND:

*In today's Scripture Jesus was just two days away from dying on the cross for our sins. And here, the Holy Spirit shows us some of the most important things happening in those days. With this brief background in mind, let's begin by reading Matthew 26:1-16.

MESSAGE:

*What things matter the most? It's easy to forget. A dad named Glenn Adsett got a unique wake-up call on this truth. Glenn and his wife were missionaries in China when the Communists took over in the late 1940s. Glenn, his wife and their two children were placed under house arrest while they waited to hear what the Communists were going to do with them.

*Then the soldiers came one day and said, "You can return to America." They went into a wild celebration, but it was cut short when the soldier gruffly said, "You can take only 200 pounds with you!"

*The family started rushing around. They had been in China for many years. How can you limit the possessions of a lifetime to 200 pounds? They got the scales and began to argue about what to take. All four of them had their own ideas about what was most important: A typewriter, a vase, some keepsakes they treasured.

*Finally, they got it down to 200 pounds on the dot. The soldier asked, "Ready to go?" -- "Yes!" they replied. Then the soldier asked, "Did you weigh the children?" Suddenly the typewriter, the vase, and the keepsakes all became trash. They were garbage compared to the children! Glenn and his wife were strongly reminded of what matters the most. (1)

*That's what God's Word is doing in these verses. And it matters to us, because the same things that mattered two days before the cross, still matter two thousand years later.

1. HERE GOD SHOWS US HIS SURE PLAN FOR OUR SALVATION.

*God has a perfect plan for our salvation, and we get a glimpse of His plan in vs. 1-2:

1. Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, that He said to His disciples,

2. "You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.''

*Jesus knew what was coming. Nothing takes Him by surprise. He didn't stumble into the cross. From the beginning, the cross was God's plan to save the lost. Psalm 33:11 in the NKJV says, "The counsel of the Lord stands forever, The plans of His heart to all generations."

*And the crucial key in God's plan was the cross of Jesus Christ. In Acts 4:24-28, the church was under the pressure of growing persecution, and they cried out to God in prayer, saying:

24. "Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them,

25. who by the mouth of Your servant David have said: 'Why did the nations rage, and the people plot vain things?

26. the kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ.'

27. For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together

28. to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done."

*In 2 Timothy 1:8-10, Paul confirmed that God had planned the cross from before the beginning of time. Here the Apostle said,

8. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God,

9. who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began,

10. but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

*Before time began, God planned to give us the grace we have in Jesus Christ, and He planned to give it through the cross. God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit always had a plan for Christ to die on the cross, and rise again from the dead 3 days later. Jesus is the Lamb of God who planned to sacrifice His life, so that we could be saved by His blood.

*This is why 1 Peter 1:18-21 says that Christians should be:

18. knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,