James A. Harnish (Tampa, Florida), in his 1993 Easter sermon, tells the story of a little boy who was not exactly happy about going to church on Easter Sunday morning. His new shoes were too tight, his tie pinched his neck and the weather was just too beautiful to be cooped up inside ... As he sulked in the back seat, his parents heard him mutter: ’I don’t know why we have to go to church on Easter, anyway; they keep telling the same old story and it always comes out the same in the end.’
EASTER — Is it baby bunnies, yellow ducks, easter eggs,
& lots of chocolate?
Hebrews 12:2KJV
2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
- What did He endure, and what shame did He suffer?
- How are we to understand the cross?
- EXCRUCIATE: to cause great agony, torment
- Latin : ex : out of, from cruciate : cross "from the cross"
- "from, or out of, the cross"
Jesus started the evening in the Upper Room, with the Last Supper
- His body and His blood were to be given for them.
(Matt 26: 26-29)
- Gethesemane. - (Oil Press)
- "Oil" symbol of the Holy Spirit, here "the Spirit of God was
crushed". - Mt 26:37-38
- No-wonder His sweat was blood - Lk 22:44
- Betrayed by a kiss - Judas - Mt 26:50
- His disciples deserted Him, even at the expense of running away
naked (Mk 14:51-52)
- Trial by the council with false witnesses - Mt 26:59-62
- Tried - trials could not occur on the eve of the Sabbath or Feast Days or at night
- A sentence of ’guilty’ could only be pronounced on the day following the trial
- Found to be guilty of blasphemy - proclaiming Himself the Son
of God. - Mt. 26:65
- The Religious spit & hit & mock - Mt 26:67-68
- Blindfolded him & struck him - Lk - 22:63
- Peter denies Him three times - Mt 26:69-75
- The charge before Pilate was that Jesus was a King & would not
pay taxes to the Romans - Lk 23:1-3
- Romans were the ones who executed criminals
- Pilate did not find anything wrong - Lk 23:22
- Sent to Herod , Mocked by his men - Lk 23:7, 11.
- Pilate, pressured by the crowd, ordered Jesus flogged untl you
could not recognize him - Mt. 27:26 (Is 53)
- He was sentenced to the death penalty. Mt 27:26
- Mocked spit upon beaten, beard ripped out (Is. 50:6) and crown
of thorns - Mt 27:27-31
- Carried his cross (crossbar) 80-110 lbs. - Jn 19:17, Lk 23:26
- Then crucified at Calvary with 7" spikes - Mt 27:35
- Humiliated - Taking His clothes from Him - Mt 27:35
- Being raised upward his weight could cause dislocation
of the shoulder and elbow joints
- His position on the cross made it extremely difficult to
exhale, and impossible to take a full breath
- Crucified with criminals - Mt 27:38
- Continued mocking - Mt 27:39-44
- Now thirsty because of dehydration - Jn 19:28
- Alone & abandoned by God - Mt 27:46
- Now he said — “It is finished” - Jn 19:30 - Mt 27:50
- His death confirmed by a spear into his side to the heart Jn 19:34
The Arms Outstretched
- Do they a demonstrate justice done, victory won, and life begun? - Are they a symbol of pain, anguish, and sin?
- Or are they a expression of welcoming love?
- How could they possibly be any of these things, anyway?
Traditional Answers
Gustaf Aulen Swedish Hymn writer & Theologian
- What was Christ’s Death
- Called Atonement - At-one-ment
- The work Christ what he did in his life & death to pay for our
salvation
1 A Ransom
- "Jesus Paid it All - All to Him I Owe"
SATAN enticed two of God’s innocent, trusting children with the temptation in the Garden, thereupon kidnaping them, imprisoning them and their descendants in sin, and perpetually holding humanity as hostage until God paid the ransom.
- Satan demands God to make the final, releasing payment: a dead Son.
- Voluntarily, Jesus Christ agrees to pay that price.
- Christ’s virtual suicide was the price for our freedom
- Satan can’t demand anything
- He was the one thrown out of heaven
2. The Substitutionary Sacrifice
- "Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross, There a Precious Fountain"
- Jesus doesn’t offer his life to the Devil for our freedom.
- He offers his life to his Father for our freedom
- Jesus the Son came to save us from God the Father
- The Father is seen as a legalistic heavenly headmaster who keeps a tally of all the times the rules are broken.
- One day the bookkeeping is audited and the sins are toted up, God discovers that God’s honor r justice has been grossly offended and violated.
- His justice requires payment - a pound of flesh for a pound of sin
- That means His love is not omnipotent:
- God’s justice is.
- To "satisfy" and pacify God’s honor, the innocent must suffer for the guilty.
- Jesus became a man and "substituted" his shed blood on the cross for what should have been sinners’ blood debts.
3. As An Example
- When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
See from his head, his hands, his feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down:
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown.
- Showing man how much he loved us
- Drawing from us our gratitude & how we should live for him
- This does not speak of Christ dying for our sin
- If Christ did not die to pay for our sins, we have no right to trust in him for forgiveness of sins
- What does the cross of Christ have to do with you?
- What does the cross of Christ mean to you?
a. We deserve to die as the penalty for sin
b. We deserve to bear God’s wrath against sin
c. We are separated from Go by our sin
d. We are in bondage to sin and to the kingdom of Satan
To save us from the consequences of sin
To Understand & experience the wonderful love of God
House Of A Thousand Terrors
In the market place of Rotterdam, Holland, stood for many years an old cornerhouse known as “The House of a Thousand Terrors.” The story:
During the 16th century, the Dutch people rose in revolt against the cruel King Philip II of Spain. Philip sent a great army under the Duke of Alva to suppress the rebellion. Rotterdam held out for a time but finally capitulated.
From house to house the victors went, searching out citizens and then killing them in their houses. A group of men, women, and children were hiding in a cornerhouse when they heard soldiers approaching. A thousand terrors griped their hearts. Then a young man had an idea. He took a goat in the house, killed it, and with a broom swept the blood under the doorway out to the street.
The soldiers reached the house and began to batter down the door. Noticing the blood coming out from under the door, one soldier said: “Come away, the work is already done here. Look at the blood beneath the door.” And the people inside the house escaped.
- Do I see the wretchedness of sin?
- Have I fallen at His feet in worship and thanksgiving?
