Title: The Hinge
Place: BLCC
Date: 4/5/15 Easter
Text: Matthew 10.38-39; John 19. 17-18; Colossians 2.13-14; John 3.16
CT: Jesus and the cross is the hinge that brings life to what once was dead.
FAS: Some years ago, a 14-foot bronze crucifix was stolen from Calvary Cemetery in Little Rock, Arkansas. It had stood at the entrance to that cemetery for more than 50 years. The cross was put there in 1930 by a Catholic bishop and had been valued at the time at $10,000. The thieves apparently cut it off at its base and hauled it off in a pick-up. Police speculate that they cut it into small pieces and sold it for scrap.
The thieves figured that the 900-pound cross probably brought about $450. They obviously didn't realize the value of that cross.
That is the problem, of course—understanding the value of the cross. As the gospel writers relate the story of Jesus' crucifixion, the theme that runs through them all is rejection. Not only did people not see the value of Jesus, they also didn't understand the value of his death. May we not be so blind!
Author Max Lucado describes the pivotal nature of the cross in history and in each of our lives.
It rests on the time-line of history like a compelling diamond.
Its tragedy summons all sufferers.
Its absurdity attracts all cynics.
Its hope lures all searchers. History has idolized and despised it, gold-plated and burned it, worn and trashed it.
History has done everything but ignore it. How could you ignore such a piece of lumber? Suspended on its beams is the greatest claim in history.
A crucified carpenter claiming to be God on earth. Divine. Eternal. The death-slayer. Never has timber been regarded so sacred. No wonder the apostle Paul called the cross event the core of the gospel even in it’s foolishness to some.
It's bottom line is sobering: if the account is true, it is history's hinge. Period. If not, the cross is history's hoax.
Which is the cross for you, hinge or hoax?
I. If there were ever anything in this world that changed the way it is viewed over time, it would be the cross. It began as a symbol of suffering. Jesus used the image of the cross to prepare his disciples for the struggle they were about to face.
Matthew 10.38-39, Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.
This verse applies to us here today. Being a Christian brings opposition when we identify with Christ. When we take up our cross, there will be struggles and sacrifice.
Verse 39 teaches us to not cling to the things of this life that cause us to forfeit the best from Christ in this world and the next. If we love our leisure, power, popularity and money more than Christ, we will end up empty, lifeless.
So in the time of Jesus’ walk on this earth the cross meant struggle and sacrifice.
II. The cross as a symbol of death. The cross for the average person in Jesus’ time was a reality of the most horrific death imaginable. Jesus faced this cross willingly for all of us.
John 19.17-18, Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). There they crucified him. Jesus was killed by the worst man had to give him.
Perhaps the most cruel, vindictive, torturous death anyone at anytime in history could have ever experienced was to be crucified. There is nothing that is even remotely close to such a barbaric death penalty as crucifixion was. The Romans had stolen the idea from the ancient Persians and Alexander the Great introduced the idea to the Greek Empire, but these forms of death were given only to pirates and the worst of criminals.
In the Roman Empire, the crucified person would be left hanging on the cross for several hours of torture. They were crucified completely naked and well above the ground and usually on main thoroughfares and on high ground so that everyone could see the penalty for committing crimes or insurrection. It was meant to be a deterrent. It was meant to instill fear into the people being oppressed. At Jesus’ crucifixion, which took place on Golgotha there must have been thousands who witnessed it. The chances for survival were next to impossible.
When we read about the nails that pierced Jesus’ hands and feet, these were not nails as we think of them. They were much like railroad spikes but much longer. They resembled what are called garden spikes and they were about ¾ inch wide and around 6 to 8 inches long. When they were driven through the hands and feet, they were hammered flat on the back side of the wooden beam so that they would keep their impaled victims in place. These nails were not driven into the hands but actually into the wrists because the wrists were considered to be part of the hand and the palms of the hands were insufficient to hold up the weight of a person. There were enough tendons to support the body weight of a man if these were driven through the wrist between the radius and ulna, which is where these had to be hammered in order to hold him up on the cross.
The cross, up until this time, was the symbol of death, humiliation and extreme torture. It was not something we would want standing here in our church.
III. So why are we here today? The cross after Jesus’ death became something much different. The cross became the hinge for the door that opened to life. The cross became the one thing that everything else depended on.
The rest of mankind’s future would be based on the cross. All we do and say as Christians is to done in the shadow of the cross. That beautiful cross you see behind me that was made with such love and skill is not back there to just make this sanctuary beautiful. It is to remind us of the gift we have been given through the cross of Jesus Christ. It is to remind us to live in the shadow of the cross.
Colossians 2.13-14, When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. NIV
Colossians 2.13-14, When you were stuck in your old sin–dead life, you were incapable of responding to God. God brought you alive––right along with Christ! Think of it! All sins forgiven, the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant canceled and nailed to Christ's Cross . Message
I always think of when I was about nineteen years old when I read this text. I was working in Lexington. I often was not done unloading trucks till about two in the morning. I was living in Carlisle and driving back and forth. Needless to say I pushed the speed limit a bit a couple of times going home and got one too many tickets. I lost my license. I did not know it for 2 years because as a student I was moving a lot and I guess they couldn’t find me. But when renewal time came. They tore up my license. Had to take the test again.
About 10 years later I got a letter from Frankfort that said, “ Your driving record is wiped clean. The slate is clear.”
That’s what Jesus did for us all on the cross.
The penalty of sin, death, died with Jesus on the cross!
God has declared us not guilty and we no longer live as condemned by sin and its power.
Doesn’t mean we are perfect or won’t continue to fall short.
What it means is when we are identified with Christ, connected to Him, we are regarded by God as perfect. No longer a slave to sin, but now we are free to live for Christ without the regrets of our past failures.
We can now join Him in his resurrection life.
Our relationship with God is fixed.
God has made the way through the cross to bring life to what was once dead.
We are given an inheritance that will not perish, spoil, or fade.
This is the “GOOD NEWS”! This is why we are here today to celebrate the risen Savior. The empty tomb that couldn’t hold Him.
Jesus did the work for us on the cross. He took our pain and suffering on Him.
A preacher told this story.
Recently I was sitting in a doctor's office with one of my young sons, and the nurse wanted to draw blood from him for a test. As you can imagine, he did not want to have blood taken from him. Who does? So he told me, "Dad, I can't do it. I just can't do it."
The nurse said, "Here's the deal, buddy. We've got this numbing spray. We'll spray the numbing spray on you, and then we'll stick the needle in you, and you won't even feel it."
But my son kept saying, "I can't do it. I can't do it."
Finally I said to the nurse, "Ma'am, I know what I'm about to ask you may be out of bounds, but can you stick me first? Can you do it without the numbing spray? I just need to show my son."
She said, "Yes, I'll do it. We'll keep this between us."
So I put my son on my lap, and I said, "Watch Daddy."
I rolled up my sleeve and stuck my arm out. Then the nurse stuck me and drew blood. A smile came over my son's face. Yes, he was still a little nervous, but when he saw that Daddy already went through what he was about to go through, with no numbing spray, he stuck his arm out. It gave him courage.
In the same way, when you find yourself in the midst of hard times, look to the place where they drew Jesus' blood. Look to the cross. The turning point of history. The hinge upon the door to our future opens. God rolled up His sleeve and said, “Watch Me.”
The cross, from Jesus’ resurrection on became the hinge: The one thing that everything else depended upon.
That turned the world around.
On which the door to the light opened from the darkness.
That opens the eyes of our heart.
That reveals the way. The one and only way.
That heals the broken.
That pardons the guilty.
That took my shame.
That rights my wrongs.
That breaks my chains.
That conquers death.
That gave me life.
That overcomes.
That removes my fear.
That brings grace to me.
That makes me free.
HOW CAN IT BE?
HOW CAN IT BE?
LOVE. Pure unconditional love of a Father for His children. Of the creator for His creation. How can I be so sure. Its right in here. ( Hold up Bible)
John 3.16, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life
The cross is not a hoax. It is the love of God demonstrated in the One, The Person, Jesus Christ who saves us through His resurrection.
Won’t you come and know Him this day as we celebrate His resurrection.
Invitation: Just As I Am
