NAILED TO THE CROSS (Palm Sunday Message)
Acts 2:22-24
INTRODUCTON
This week begins what we call “Easter Week” and my message comes from a not so typical place for an Easter Message
Today is Palm Sunday, the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem with all the people shouting “HOSANNA, blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord” Matt 21:19
Hosanna means “save us”
They were expecting a worldly king to establish an earthly kingdom and to come and rescue them
When that didn’t happen, these same people are the ones that cried out “Crucify Him” and demanded the release of a thief and murder named Barabbas
It should have been Barabbas who was nailed to the cross...Jesus took his place
Pilate wanted no part of this man…so he washed his hands thinking he was innocent and clean
Yet, Pilate did not understand that he was only fulfilling what God had foreordained
That His Only Son Jesus was to be “NAILED TO THE CROSS”
This morning as we begin Easter Week, I want us to look at
1. Why Jesus was nailed to the Cross.
2. How Jesus was nailed to the Cross
3. What kept Jesus nailed to the Cross
Read Acts 2:22-24 / Pray
Trans: First, let’s look at…
1. Why Jesus was Nailed to the Cross
We must go back to the beginning of the Old Testament
Turn to Gen 1:26, 27, & 31
God said that all that He had created was good…but after man…very good
Why did God create man in the first place?
God made man for His good pleasure to live with Him forever
But, Gen 3 tells us that one day, in the Garden of Eden, SIN was born and that sin separated man from God
Man had to leave the Garden God had created for Him because God and sin could not be together
And because of that Sin, man was cursed from that day forward…but even then we see God already preparing the “Seed of Redemption” in Gen 3:15 “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your
offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
The bible calls the separation between God and man a great “chasm” in Luke 16
Isa 59:2 tells us that our sins have separated us from God
No longer can we be in His presence…man is now damned to eternal death to burn in the lake of fire
Jesus was nailed to the Cross because of the SINS of man
Jesus was nailed to the Cross because the only way to bridge the great chasm between God and man was through the way of the blood
Jesus was nailed to the cross because of You and Me and for You and Me
TRANS: We know now why Jesus was nailed to the cross but then…
2. How was Jesus nailed to the cross?
First, we must understand that the cross was used as a method of EXECUTION for the worst of the lawbreakers
It was considered one of the most gruesome ways to die AND it was an example for all to see
Yet, Jesus was not one of the worst lawbreakers…he was an innocent man
He had to endure the suffering of the cross and he had committed no crime
Isa 53:9-10 says “though He had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in His mouth, yet it was the Lord’s will to crush Him and cause Him to suffer.”
What kind of suffering?
Isa 53:5 says “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed…the Lord laid on Him the iniquities of us ALL.”
Isa 50:6 says “I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.”
Jesus’ face was beaten beyond recognition…He was constantly being beaten in the face
A crown of thorns was twisted and thrusted into His head and blood flowed from the puncture wounds
He was beaten across His back so much that flesh hung off in places
And yet, He was made to carry His own cross to be nailed upon
He had lost so much blood and was so weak that many times He fell under the weight of the cross
Then, once upon Calvary’s Hill, Golgatha, the place of the Skull it’s called in Matt 27:33
They drove SPIKES into His feet and hands…can you imagine the sound?
After they crucified Him, they mocked Him, and spit upon Him more
It was a horrendous event…That is how Jesus was nailed to the cross
TRANS: That is the horrible description of how he was nailed to the cross but…
3. What Kept Jesus Nailed to the Cross?
He is King of Kings, Lord of Lords,- created heaven and earth – command angels
Passer bys mocked him in Matt 27:40 "You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!"
The Chief Priests, teachers of the law, elders, even the thief on the cross mocked him with the same thing
He was nailed to the cross…but it was not the nails that kept Him there!
It was His love for you and me the KEPT HIM THERE!
John 3:16 (quote)
Rom 5:8 (quote)
He could have called down 10,000 angels to release Him but He didn’t
Heb 12:2 says for us to “Fix our eyes on Jesus…who for the JOY set before Him endured the cross…
What JOY? Of suffering? NO!!! but for the LOVE He has for You and Me
The JOY he had knowing that we no longer had to be separated from Him but could not be with Him forever
What kept Jesus nailed to the cross? His Love for you and me
John 15:13 (quote)
His great love for you and me is what helped Him endure the cross of suffering
CONCLUSION
This morning we have looked at three things of Jesus being nailed to the cross
1. Why Jesus was nailed to the Cross.
2. How Jesus was nailed to the Cross
3. What kept Jesus nailed to the Cross
Now I ask you…Do you see yourself as the ONE who nailed Jesus to the cross?
The Roman soldiers did not do it…YOU AND I DID! They were just instruments used for God’s purpose and to fulfill His plan of love
Is there something in your life today that HAS YOU CRUCIFIED instead of it
being CRUCIFIED?
Some sin in your life, bad habit, old ways, that keeps coming back…had you bound and can’t get rid of it?
It may be that you have never nailed it to the Cross!
(Explain, paper, hammer, nails) during invitation…come and nail it to the cross
It might just help you in symbolizing the sin…Jesus died for it…He crucified it by taking it upon Himself
Now it’s time for you to receive what He did for you…
NOTE THOSE WHO MIGHT USE THIS MESSAGE: I have about a 6 foot by 3 foot wooden cross at the front along with paper, pens, hammer, and nails and I invite people to come to the front and write their sin on the paper and then nail it to the cross.
