Who Killed Jesus Christ?
John 12:23-24
http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/WhoKilled.html
Jesus died and was buried, and sprung up in everlasting life!
He begins now to give the disciples some teaching about what they are about to witness in a just a few days. This is all new to them, but the cross was in the mind of God long before this day...long before Jesus was even sent to the earth. Isaiah spoke of it 700 years BC. Exodus predicted it 1500 years BC. Even in the garden of Eden it was referred to:
Genesis 3:15
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
And we can go back even further...
Revelation 13:8
... the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Bill O'Reilly is a great writer, and is very good at what he does on TV, so long as he doesn't make an attempt at the spiritual. "Killing Jesus" is a sad representation of the story of the cross, with many inaccuracies, and a glaringly obvious overtone that it is written by a person who has not been born again. It just goes to show how until a person's eyes are opened, they cannot understand the things of God!
Who killed Jesus Christ? Was it the Jews? The Romans? Ultimately it was God who offered that sacrifice. But since it was our sins laid on Him there, it is most accurate to say that WE killed Him.
Isaiah 53:5-6
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
We are not getting deep into the text just yet. This is just an introductory message...an overview of all we will be studying for the next months to come.
From earth's perspective:
1. Self-righteous religion killed Jesus.
The Pharisees took everything to the extreme in their pursuit of God. They wouldn't eat an egg laid on the Sabbath, because they would be condoning the work of the chicken.
And it was a religious crowd that conspired to crucify Jesus. Religion and salvation are not the same at all.
2. Cold-eyed hypocrisy killed Jesus.
Why did Judas betray Jesus for a little silver? He was a hypocrite! He wore a mask like the old Greek play actors. Are you wearing a mask?
None of the disciples suspected him. He was so trusted he held the money for the group! And some in our number are that good ... but deep down you know you are a play actor.
I'm not talking about a Christian who struggles with sin. If you hate your sin, you're on good ground. I worry about those who can sin and it doesn't bother them, and they just hide it away and play pretend church in public.
To the world I say, don't let the hypocrites keep you from church. It's between you and God.
ill.--I bet you've gone to some baseball games where there were people there who weren't really fans of baseball. They had other motives for being there. So, you'll never go again?
A counterfeit validates that which is genuine and valuable. Money is counterfeited because it has genuine value. No one counterfeits gum wrappers.
The Bible says all religious hypocrites go to hell, so don't be one of them...don't let them take you with them. It needs to be done right, so be part of the solution!
ill.--years ago a trash worker saw something moving in a dumpster...it turned out to be a baby. He saved it and she was named baby Grace. She was found in the midst of rubbish. She was a diamond in the rough.
If you are gonna find the truth about God, it's not likely to be a pretty thing with everyone dressed up and holy with stained glass windows and a big pipe organ. You'll find the truth at the foot of a blood covered cross!
3. Cowardly compromise killed Jesus.
As demonstrated by Pontius Pilate. He was a fence-straddling, spineless, wishy-washy, weak-kneed politician. He was the consummate compromiser...a coward. He stated publicly that Jesus was innocent, finding no fault in Him. He knew the Jews were acting out of jealousy. His wife had even been warned in a dream by God, that Jesus was not worthy of death.
He rejected the voice of conscience, reason, and revelation. He listened instead to the voices of the crowd. Sound like any politicians you know today?
He tried NOT to decide. He tried to have it both ways. "I give Him to you, His blood be on YOUR hands."
When it comes to making a decision about Jesus, it is impossible to not decide. To remain neutral is a vote against Him.
Luke 11:23
He that is not with me is against me...
Christ rejecters to this day do so in opposition to their conscience, which tells them it is true. They reject reason, because when all the evidence is laid out, the most reasonable conclusion you can come to is that it is all true! They reject the revelation of the Word because they don't like so much of what the Word says about them and their lifestyle.
An atheist can't find God for the same reason that a criminal can't find a police officer.
They don't have an intellectual problem, they have a heart problem. It's a moral thing. They wouldn't mind God's existence so much, if it didn't mean that they are answerable to Him.
To reject Christ, you have to do what Pilate did, and drown out all the voices of conscience, reason, and revelation.
It's cowardly compromise. And the same principle applies to those of us who are saved, but not really living the Christian life. We need some believers who make a decision to follow Christ with all their heart. "Tho' none go with me, still I will follow!" To not decide, is to decide against.
Pilate compromised in order to save his job. Secular history records that Pilate took his own life not long after the crucifixion. He traded his royal robes for grave clothes. As far as we could know, he is in hell today.
Mark 8:36
For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
4. Thoughtless conformity killed Jesus.
On the part of the crowd.
Every year at Passover a convicted criminal would be set free as a demonstration of mercy. So Pilate schemes, picking Barabbas, the most notorious criminal of that day, a robber and a murderer...thinking they would never want to free him, and will choose to free Jesus.
In spite of the fact that Jesus had done nothing but good, the crowd demanded that a murderer go free. Why? Because of a mob mentality. Their leaders had stirred their emotions to a frenzy, chanting, crucify Him, crucify Him, and they all jumped on the bandwagon of popular opinion. That many people can't be wrong, can they?
When it comes to spiritual matters, the worldly crowd is always wrong.
Exodus 23:2
Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil...
Matthew 7:13
Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
Don't follow the crowd, they will lead you to hell!
ill.--which line is longest?
The biggest cult in America isn't the Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, or any other wackos. The biggest cult in America is the cult of conformity, which says, just go with the flow.
The crowd says that following Jesus is boring. The crowd is wrong. Jesus said I have come to give you life, and life more abundant. It's the best life you can live on earth!
The crowd says, hell is not real, and if it were, no loving God would send you there. The crowd is wrong. There is a heaven to gain and a hell to shun, and God has made a way to avoid hell BECAUSE He loves us.
5. Hard-hearted cruelty killed Jesus.
The soldiers who crucified Him mocked Him cruelly, from the inscription they placed atop the cross, to the robe and crown and reed [scepter] they gave Him. They beat his face unrecognizable before they whipped His back and crucified Him. And He didn't resist. The same Jesus who walked on water could have resisted and overcome, but He sacrificed Himself like a sheep. He spoke the words "I AM" in Gethsemane when they came to arrest Him and they fell backward as dead. He had the power to save His own life, but He also had the power to lay it down!
6. Casual indifference killed Jesus.
The onlookers. Crucifixion back then was a form of entertainment, like throwing Christians to lions in the coliseum. Some would bring their lunch. Some would yawn, having seen it all before.
And many people today have developed a casual indifference toward precious things of God. We've all been guilty of complacency, especially during a preaching service like this. Let's be on guard against it. You should see the view from up here, as some play with a baby while I preach about the cross. Some look at their cell phones while I'm talking about Jesus. How about bathroom breaks? I've seen some do business with their fingernails in solemn moments, and it reminds me of the crowd gathered on that sacred hillside.
7. Cynical skepticism killed Jesus.
One thief believed, and the other mocked, saying, if you are really God, save yourself! A cynic knows the price of everything but knows the value of nothing. They talk big, but they don't have the skills to pay the bills.
"The Bible is full of contradictions." I say, show me one! Because they've probably never read it. They are just parroting someone else. When someone gets to that place of cynicism, just pray for them, and don't argue with them. They are closed minded.
"Cast not your pearls before swine." Shake the dust off your feet and move on to a seeker.
These 7 attitudes are what Christ died for. If you have these attitudes, you can be saved from it.
Who killed Jesus? Each and every one of us.
The good news: God looked down when it was finished, and accepted the sacrifice of His Son as sufficient payment for our sins, and we can be saved!
http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/WhoKilled.html
