? You’ll probably recognize this photo on the screen, which went viral this week. It’s the picture of a cross still intact and vibrant in the midst of the rubble of Notre Dame Cathedral. And it’s amazing that this picture has captured the world’s attention on Easter week, a week when we remember the cross of Jesus and his resurrection.
? Whatever you think of the Christian faith this morning, it’s difficult to argue against the impact that the cross of Jesus has made. Right across the world this morning, Christians from Sydney to Rio, from Alaska to Cape Town, will be remembering the cross, many with elaborate ceremonies where people walk through city streets carrying a cross just like Jesus did 2000 years ago.
o But the cross is not just a symbol. It’s a historical fact. All modern historians accept that Jesus of Nazareth really did die by crucifixion, in around AD33, under the Roman governor Pontius Pilate.
o The big question is ‘why?’ What is the cross all about? What was happening at the cross that has made such an impact of the world?
And these few verses from Isaiah 53 tell us. These verses are what we call prophecy. They are a prediction of the future. This passage was written 700 years before Jesus ever came, and it tells us what was happening at the cross.
At the cross God was
• Giving us his Son (v.10)
• The chapter as a whole tells us how horribly Jesus would suffer on the cross. He would not be recognizable as a human being.
? He would be despised and rejected. People would hide their faces from him. And eventually he would be led like a lamb to the slaughter. It’s pretty strong stuff but if you have seen Mel Gibson’s movie, ‘the Passion of the Christ’, you’ll know that death by crucifixion was about as brutal as it gets.
o So it’s shocking to read in (v.10) that God planned all this suffering for his own Son. ‘It was the will of the Lord to crush him. He has put him to grief.’
• Now that raises all kinds of questions about God. How can we believe in a God who planned the horrific death of his son? But John’s Gospel gives us a fuller picture. John 3:16 says ‘God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only son.’
o The cross reveals the depths of God’s love. God gave us his Son at the cross, not because he didn’t love his Son, but because he loves us so much, and this was the only way to save us.
? God loves Jesus more than any father has ever loved a son. So God choosing to crush his own Son for us, shows the passion of his love for you and me.
? God isn’t some kind of monster. He is a passionate lover who was willing to sacrifice the person who was dearest in the world to him, so that he could rescue us. Divine passion flames from the cross.
And maybe it’s time that you and I thought again about who God is. Richard Dawkins calls the God of the Bible ‘the most unpleasant character in all of fiction.’ Many people think about that incredible painting of the final judgement, by Michael Angelo in the Sistine Chapel, where there is lightning and demons are dragging people down into the abyss.
If that’s your image of God, then you need to think again. This is the God who created our dazzling universe, with everything from starry constellations, to Mediterranean sunsets, and the delicate eyelashes on a new born baby – that God is not a villain.
? The very best things you enjoy in life are gifts from God.
And his supreme gift is God giving us his Son to die on a cross. Maybe it’s time we all re-thought our image of God. He’s not a criminal, he’s a creator. He’s not a fiend, he’s a father. He’s not a bully, he is beautiful. And he has performed the greatest act of love the universe has ever seen, giving us his Son to die on a cross.
At the cross, God was giving us his Son. Secondly, at the cross God was
• Dealing with our Sin (11)
• You’ve got to ask the question, ‘why did Jesus have to die on a cross for us? What’s the problem that needed such a drastic solution?’
• (v.10) tells us that Jesus was doing something for us on the cross that we desperately needed. It says ‘his soul makes an offering for guilt.’ At the end of (v.11) it says ‘he shall bear, or carry their iniquities’, which is another word for sin.
? At the cross, Jesus was dealing with our sin. Now we don’t like to hear this, but we need to. It’s a bit like going to the dentist. No one really likes going to the dentist. But we know we need to.
? I had to book an emergency appointment last week, because all through the Easter holidays I had pretty awful tooth ache. (I was hoping to receive a little more sympathy). Anyway I made the phone call and arranged an emergency appointment. The dentist said ‘where is the pain?’ I said ‘everywhere, but particularly upper left.’ And she started tapping on my teeth, but it wasn’t clear which tooth was causing the problem. They all hurt.
So she took an x ray. There was a dark shadow on a tooth at the back of my mouth. A clear sign of decay.
? So she did the injection, and froze me up, and then got out this drill that looked like something from a serial killer movie. And she drilled, and I was gripping hold of the arm of the seat, and only started to relax when she put the filling in.
Dealing with decay isn’t a pleasant experience. But the sense of relief was enormous. For the first time in a fortnight I didn’t feel any pain.
? And the cross is a little bit like that. I don’t want to think that I am a sinner, and that my sin needs dealing with. But if God ran an x ray of my soul, it would be full of decay.
And God wants to get that decay out of us. To deal with it ruthlessly like a dentist with a drill. And the way he has done that, the incredibly loving and gracious way he has done that, is to send Jesus to pay the price for our sin.
That’s what the verse says, ‘His soul made an offering for guilt’. ‘He carried our iniquities on the cross.’ Which is a Bible way of saying Jesus’ death has the power to remove the decay in your heart, and make you right with God.
That’s why we need to confess our sin. Realize that we have decay in our heart, and ask Jesus to fix it. That’s what it means to become a Christian.
It’s not about becoming a better person, or more religious. It’s about admitting that you have a problem in your heart, and asking God to fix it through the cross.
And he will. And the sense of relief is enormous.
At the cross God was giving us his Son, he was dealing with our sin. Thirdly he was
• Planning for our Future (12)
• 3 days after Jesus died, the Bible says, He rose again from the dead. That may sound incredible, and highly unlikely. But we have all 4 Gospels telling us how it happened, we have Paul describing the 500 people who saw Jesus alive, and we have the 12 men, Jesus’ disciples, who gave their lives to tell the world Jesus had risen.
? Some of you will know the name Charles Colson. He was part of the Watergate scandal, when President Nixon and his staff were caught tapping peoples phones in the White House. Colson, who was Nixon’s Chief of Staff, ended up in prison, where he became a Christian. And this is what Colson said about the resurrection,
• ‘I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Every one was beaten, tortured, stoned and put in prison.
• They would not have endured that if it weren't true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world - and they couldn't keep a lie for three weeks. You're telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely impossible.”
? And we don’t just have the preaching of the disciples. These verses from Isaiah 53, written 700 years before Jesus was even born, predict that he would rise from the dead.
(v.10) says ‘when his soul makes an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days.’ That’s another way of saying Jesus will rise from the dead – his days will be prolonged - and a whole group of people called the church will believe in him and follow him- he shall see his ‘offspring.’
? This was promised 700 years in advance. It’s like Christopher Columbus, back in 1400, predicting Brexit, and exactly what would happen to Teresa May. There is plenty of evidence to believe that Jesus truly rose from the dead.
? But Isaiah mentions the resurrection here, because it is the basis of our future hope. (v.12) ‘therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong.’
? This verse sees Jesus like a victorious military leader. After he was won his victory through his death and resurrection, there will be ‘spoil’. There will be a huge reward. And that reward, according to the rest of the Bible, is heaven.
It says here Jesus will ‘divide the spoil with the strong.’ He will share the joys of heaven with his followers. So (v.10-12), written 700 years in advance, are predicting the death of Jesus for our sins, his resurrection, the rise of the church, and the promise of heaven for everyone who believes in Jesus. Through the resurrection Jesus was preparing for our future.
? This is God’s big picture plan. We live in an amazing, but messed up world, and it’s hard to imagine that a place like heaven even exists. But the Bible insists it does. And just occasionally we get a glimpse of what heaven will be like. We see an idyllic sunset, or we have a wonderful meal with friends, or we feel the ecstacy of an amazing piece of music.
? There are certain moments where we get a fleeting glimpse of absolute perfection. And CS Lewis said that those moments of life are a promise that one day God will remake the world into all that he intended it to be.
The resurrection of Jesus has the power to give us a new world. Do you want to be a part of that world to come? You can be. Right here, right now you can be. You can receive Jesus into your life, and have peace with God, freedom from guilt, and hope forever. You can have it now.
Come and confess your sins, and ask Jesus to fix you, and all these promises of heaven and future glory, will be yours.
At the cross God was giving us his son, dealing with our sin, and planning our future. And he invites you to walk into that future with him today.
