Jesus the Savior November 25, 26, & 29 2007
Jesus Who?
The cross as the symbol of Christianity
It is very surprising that Christians use the cross as their main symbol.
I have mentioned before that the cross was not a symbol of a victorious king – it was only the symbol of a failed messiah. Of all the so-called messiahs that came before Jesus, and the ones that came after, their messianic movement had an abrupt stop at the cross. The cross was an indisputable sign that this guy was not the messiah. Those that had followed them went home with their tails between their legs, embarrassed that they had read the signs wrong. Kill the shepherd and the sheep scatter. But not the Christians – their movement grew after the crucifixion of their messiah. It grew in leaps and bounds! Historians have trouble explaining the speed of the growth of followers of this tortured to death messiah.
Most horrific of deaths – only foreigners could be crucified, it was too terrible for Romans.
Roman soldier would use the symbol of the cross to instill fear in the hearts of the people they were trying to control. To wear a cross around your neck would be like wearing a miniature machete during the Rwandan genocide.
Constantine abolished Crucifixion. It was too barbaric for his civilized empire
It was only after there was no one alive who had seen an actual crucifixion that Christians took it as a physical symbol of their faith. Now, 2000 years later, it is the most recognized symbol of the faith. Even people with little or no faith wear crosses as jewelry.
From the very beginning, if it wasn’t yet a physical symbol, it was an important verbal symbol of the faith.
Paul says… May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” - Galatians 6:14
Did this new faith grow out of a fascination with the gruesome and macabre? Was it like an early version of slasher movies?
No, whenever the crucifixion is mentioned, it is never described – the word was enough, people had seen it, they didn’t need Mel Gibson to describe it in all its gruesome detail.
Then why this emphasis on the sad end of their supposed Messiah?
Because of the bigger picture of what the cross meant. The Christians believed that much more happened at Jesus’ cross than the horrific death of a great man.
Early Christian’s understanding of Jesus’ death
The problem
Almost immediately after Jesus death, followers of Jesus began to see that their previous expectations of Jesus were two small. They had the typical expectations of a Messiah, concentrated in the removal of foreign powers and restoration of Israel. They soon saw that the problem that Jesus came to solve was much larger than Israel. It was a whole creation that was separated from the God who created it. It was the whole of humanity, living separately from the God who desired intimate community with them. – a people separated from their God – all people
Paul talks about how the whole of creation is waiting eagerly; like a prisoner waiting to be released, or like a pregnant woman waiting for the child to come. She is waiting eagerly for this full reconciliation with God.
The separation began with people turning their backs on God.
To quote the patron saint of the “Jesus Who?” Course, Bono:
My father is a rich man
He wears a rich man’s cloak
Gave me the keys to his kingdom coming
Gave me a cup of gold
He said I have many mansions
And there are many rooms to see
But I left by the back door
And I threw away the key
And I threw away the key
Yeah, I threw away the key
Yeah, I threw away the key - The First Time - U2 - Zooropa
We are so deeply connected with the whole of creation, that when we leave by the back door and throw away the key, we drag the rest of the cosmos with us.
The problem is that we all left, no matter how much we think we are okay, we are part of the whole of humanity that left. And we, each in our own little way, live the life of leaving.
I think that Matchbox Twenty grasp this problem in their song, “Back 2 Good.”
And everyone here, hates everyone here for
Doing just like
They do
Its best if we all keep this quite instead
And I couldn’t tell, why everyone here was
Doing me like
They do
But I’m sorry now, and I don’t know how
To get it back to good – Matchbox Twenty, Back 2 Good
Everyone here, hates everyone here for
Doing just like They do – we might get frustrated with the evil in the world around us, but if we look close, the evil is in us as well – we often hate most that which we see in ourselves
So in the minds of the early Christians, the problem was not just how to get Israel back to good, and it was not just about how to get individuals back to good. It was about how to get humanity, and all of creation, back to good.
Some how, they viewed the crucifixion of Jesus, not as a symptom of the problem, but as a solution to the problem!
The solution
They explain how Jesus is the solution through a number of metaphors
The temple – Hebrews 10:1-4
Remember when we talked about Jesus the Christ or the Messiah, how Jesus understood that he would be the replacement for the temple and all it symbolized: the presence of God, forgiveness through sacrifice, would reside in himself
Since we don’t live in a culture of ritual sacrifice, we might not get this, but the Jews of Jesus day, annually and daily, with the understanding that our wrong deeds lead to death, would take an animal as a substitute for themselves and symbolically place their sins on the animal before they killed it. The writer to the Hebrew Christians says that these things in the temple were only a shadow, of God himself coming and taking everyone’s sins upon himself and then sacrificing himself for the forgiveness of those sins. To take on the sybol of the temple was not an easy thing for Jesus.
Law-court Romans 5:1
We are “justified” through the cross – declared not guilty
Nicky’s story about the Judge and the old friend/criminal
God as Judge declares the just sentence, and then in Jesus, comes and pays it for us.
Why can’t God just forgive?
Bill Hybles – someone has to pay for the damage
Redemption of Slaves Romans 3:24
Slavery still alive and well – see Amazing Grace Sunday’s message, read, “Not For Sale” Most are children & Women in sex trade – many are indentured slaves – they owed money that they could not pay, so they gave themselves and/or their children to work until the debt is paid – usually the interest is so high that it is impossible to pay. There are Christian groups who go and the debt, so that the slaves can go free.
This is the picture that is being used when Christians say that Jesus’ death redeems us. The idea is that there is an addictive side to the wrong behaviors/attitudes in our life. We are enslaved to sin was the old way of saying it. The picture is that Jesus’ death pays the debt that we owe, and frees us from slavery to the wrong way of doing things.
‘till death do us part – Rom 6&7
The idea is that our sins have a legal hold on us like an abusive spouse, or a slave-master. Just like a spouse has a hold on us “til death do us part,” our sins have a hold on us until we die. Paul says that, when we believe, we are united to him, and therefore united in his death. Our abusive spouse or slave-master no longer has a hold on us if we have died!
Many people have experienced this as they put their faith in Jesus and addictions or attitudes or compulsive behaviors no longer have the hold on them that they once did.
This is how the early church understood Jesus horrific death. No wonder they could say things like, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” - Galatians 6:14 No wonder people can write songs that sing “O the wonderful cross…”
But this course is about Jesus’ life, not about the beliefs of the early church, or modern worship songs, so the question should be, “How did Jesus understand his death?”
Jesus understanding of his death
If you scour the gospels, you will discover that Jesus doesn’t talk much about his death. As a bit of a side note, this gives me even more faith in the authenticity of the accounts of the Gospels – they were the last books to be written in the New testament save revelation. But time they were written, there was a full theology of the cross developed, but little to none of this is written back into the Gospels – they were writing what Jesus actually said and did, not what they wanted him to say and do.
Jesus predicts his death three recorded times, but he doesn’t place any meaning on it, he just says it is going to happen
Predictions
Matthew 16:21-23
Jesus Predicts His Death
From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. "Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!"
Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns."
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
He says the same thing two more times in each gospel.
To find Jesus understanding of the meaning of his death, you have to look in a few other places:
In Luke’s gospel, Jesus first words are a reading from the prophet Isaiah:
He says
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor."
In Isaiah’s prophesies there is a character who is called the suffering servant, one of the most famous passages about the suffering servant is found in Isaiah 53:4-6
Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
By quoting the passage about the servant, Jesus is saying, this is me. He had the understanding that he would be killed as a sacrifice for people’s sins.
Remember that he said, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." And remember that he was talking about himself – he was saying that forgiveness through sacrifice would come through him. Think that this is how Jesus the Jew best understood his death. The other metaphors that Paul and others use (court, slavery, marriage) are there for the benefit of his Gentile readers, who like us might not get the whole temple thing so well. But Jesus understood his death as a sacrifice made to cover the sins of the people.
John 3:14-15
Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him."
Explain
Good Shepherd
John 10:11 "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
Last Supper – Passover – Lamb of God
Matthew 26:26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body."
27 Then he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom."
Explain Passover – from the Exodus story
In these words, Jesus creates a new Passover meal, so that if you are covered by his blood, the angel of death will Passover you as well, so that even if you die, you will live.
This is why Jesus accepts John the Baptist’s prophetic declaration “Look the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the word!”
Challenge
Some of you will relate well with Jesus’ death dealing with your own person sin – you are weighed down and heavy with the need of forgiveness. Jesus is your savior – like the woman in the re Jesus video
Some might hear about the plan to save all of creation, and think, I could get into that – that’s a movement I need! Jesus is your savior too – he’ll start with some personal clean up, and then you can partner with him and us to see the redemption of all of creation.
Jesus is your savior – come to him.
In church and Thursday, play Chris Rice “Come to Jesus”
