Illus: A magician was performing on a cruise ship. Each night while performing, he would wave his magic stick and “pouf,” something would disappear. However, his parrot kept telling on him saying,
• “It's up his sleeve!”
• “It's in his pocket!”
• “It's in his shoe!”
• “It's in his pants!"
This annoyed the magician greatly. One night, while he was doing his tricks, the ship's boiler blew up and the ship sank. The magician was able to grab on to a table and survived. The parrot also made it to the table and survived.
The parrot and the man were drifting at sea when the parrot said, "I give up... what did you do with the ship?"
A misconception is to interpret something incorrectly. As we read the New Testament, many of the Jews had wrong ideas about Christ’s coming. They thought that Christ had come to set up His Kingdom on earth. This is not what He had come to do!
The Jews failed to understand the two-fold ministry of Christ.
• His first coming was to die for the sins of mankind.
• His second coming would be to set up His Kingdom on earth during the millennium
The Jews and even the Lord’s own disciples had a difficult time understanding that:
We can see the MISCONCEPTION in Matthew 20:20-24, we read, “Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him. And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom. But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able. And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father. And when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brethren.”
They literally thought He had come to set up His Kingdom.
• He was doing all kinds of miracles
• He was drawing large crowds to follow Him
On what we call Palm Sunday, they literally cheered Him and waved Palm branches as He rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey.
His popularity was widespread, and the politicians and the religious leaders knew that He could have the multitudes vote Him in as their king. HE WAS THAT POPULAR!
But then something happened only a short time later. We see -
I. THEY NAILED JESUS TO THE CROSS
Look at Matt. 27:35 “And they crucified him...”
• Often we come to church and the preacher preaches about Jesus being nailed to a cross, and we do not think that much about it.
• Often we hear Sunday School lessons on Him being nailed to a cross and we do not think that much about it.
• Often we sing about Him being nailed to a cross and never shed a tear.
The mention of these four words should cause all of us to stop and meditate on this simple statement, “And they crucified Him…”
WHO DID THEY CRUCIFY? They crucified the Son of God! Listen, it would have been bad had they crucified the most honest citizen in Jerusalem, but they CRUCIFIED THE SINLESS SON OF GOD!
WHO DID THIS AWFUL THING? The Bible said, “And THEY crucified Him…” Who is the “they” referring to?
Illus: In March of 2004 four Americans were killed in Iraq. They were viciously attacked while driving in their car. After they were killed, the news showed what looked like thousands of people rejoicing over their death as they dragged the bodies down the street and hung them from a bridge. The American military is studying the videos of this horrendous crime and they are going to find the culprits and make them pay for what they did.
We do not have a video to show us who nailed Jesus to the cross, but we do have the Word of God.
The Word of God said, “And THEY crucified Him…” They are many people; but one group of people were the Jews.
Illus: When the Mel Gibson movie about “The Passion Of The Christ” came out, the Jews protested the movie vehemently. They felt that it might cause anti-Semitic feelings in this country toward the Jews. They did not want us to think that the Jews were the reason for His death on the cross.
DID THE JEWS CRUCIFY HIM? According to the scriptures they certainly had a part in it.
The Bible says this about the Jews:
(1) John 1:11 “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.”
• If he had come and set up His Kingdom they would have accepted Him.
• If He had been born in a royal palace instead of a stable they would have accepted Him.
• If He had ridden a white stallion into Jerusalem instead of a donkey they would have accepted Him.
The Bible tells us that, “He came unto His own, AND HIS OWN RECEIVED HIM NOT.”
The Bible also says something about the Jews concerning His death.
(2) Matthew 27:24-25 “When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it. Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.”
The Jews can try and wash their hands of His crucifixion if they want to, but the Word of God makes it clear they are part of the crowd that crucified Him. They had a very significant part in having Him crucified.
The Jew’s rejection of the Son of God as their Messiah brought HIS BLOOD ON THEM AND THEIR CHILDREN.
But they are not the only ones who are guilty of CRUCIFYING HIM! There were others, such as:
• The guards
• The politicians
• The religious leaders
• The crowd
WHY DID THIS TRAGIC THING HAPPEN? This tragic event has to go down as the worst case of injustice that has ever happened on the face of the earth.
Illus: We sometimes hear about men who spend 20 or 30 years in prison for something they did not have a thing to do with. This is certainly an INJUSTICE!
But still it can’t compare to the INJUSTICE done to the Lord Jesus.
Illus: Innocent people have been executed for crimes they have not committed. Even though they have been executed for something they did not do, yet their life is filled with evil things they did do and were never punished for. So in a sense they are not completely innocent.
Illus: If a highway patrolman pulls me over and gives me a speeding ticket when I am not speeding, it would be an injustice. But in another way it would not be an injustice because many times I have been speeding and never got caught.
The reason this is the worst case of injustice is because the Lord Jesus lived a perfect life, a sinless life, and still they NAILED HIM TO A CROSS!
WHY DID GOD ALLOW THIS INJUSTICE TO TAKE PLACE?
He certainly could have stopped it. He could have stopped it …
• During the trial
• During the mocking
• During the time they were nailing Him to the Cross
• During the time He was hanging on the cross
At any given time, God the Father could have stopped the crucifixion of His beloved Son.
WHY DID HE ALLOW THIS INJUSTICE? The reason He did not stop it was because His crucifixion was planned before the foundations of the world.
Before one sinner was born, God in is Omniscience knew he would sin and God made provision for his sins before he ever sinned.
Look at Rev. 13:8, “…THE LAMB SLAIN FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.”
Who are the “they” that crucified the Son of God? Every sinner that has ever lived on this earth had a part in it. Our sins put Him on that cross as much as the Roman soldiers that drove the spikes in his hands.
While this may be the greatest INJUSTICE to ever take place, it was also JUSTICE IN PROGRESS! How could that be? He was the sinless Son of God. When He was on that cross He was bearing your sins and my sins. JUSTICE WAS BEING DONE!
There was no earthly way to pay the price of redemption for mankind, but there was a heavenly way – God’s way! It was through the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
1 Pet. 1:18-19, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:”
We see that THEY NAILED JESUS TO THE CROSS and ...
II. THEY GAMBLED OVER HIS GARMENTS
Matt. 27:35, “And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots:”
It is interesting that these soldiers are gambling over a piece of the clothing of Jesus. As a reward for being the executioners, they get to keep the belongings of the one crucified.
We read in John 19:23-24, “Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did.”
Everything the Lord did was to fulfill prophecy. As He cried out from the cross, “It is finished,” He was saying, “I HAVE FULFILLED ALL PROPHECY CONCERNING MY COMING.”
When these soldiers gambled over his garment, they were fulfilling prophecy. Look at what was prophesied of the Lord hundreds of years before He came and died.
Look at Psa. 22:16-18, “For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.”
The soldiers don’t realize it, but they were fulfilling scripture as they divide the clothing of Jesus!
Illus: Again, when the Mel Gibson movie of “The Passion Of The Christ” came out, look how the evil elite crowd of Hollywood began to protest this movie.
LET ME TELL YOU WHY THEY PROTESTED THIS MOVIE ABOUT CHRIST! One of the things we heard was it was so violent.
Since when has Hollywood been concerned about making movies that do not contain violence? It is only when they began to show how evil men mocked Jesus, tortured Him, and whipped Him that they begin to protest violence.
The reason they wanted this movie to be a failure at the box office was because they DO NOT WANT THE NAME OF CHRIST MENTIONED.
Remember, in Acts 4:18 Peter and John were forbidden to speak the name of Jesus. We read, “And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.”
Listen, evil men have not changed. They do not care what is put on the television screen, BUT DO NOT SHOW HOW THE LORD SUFFERED FOR OUR SINS!
When that movie came out, the name of Jesus was being talked about every day. This ungodly world wants Jesus DEAD, BURIED AND FORGOTTEN!
They are just like those soldiers that gambled for the Lord’s clothing.
• They are gambling that God will not notice their sin
• They are gambling that God will not punish them
• They are gambling that God will bless them in spite of disobedience
• They are gambling that their children will grow up and turn out well without the Lord in their life
• They are gambling that God will not hold them accountable for their words
When it comes to Christ, men not only gamble with His clothing, they are gambling with the false idea that they can put Him out of their life and everything will turn out all right!
Illus: But sinful man had better remember the old adage: Never gamble with more than you can afford to lose! And if they continue the route of rejection they are going to lose more than they can afford.
We see that THEY NAILED JESUS TO THE CROSS, THEY GAMBLED OVER HIS GARMENTS, and ....
III. THEY GAVE A TESTIMONY
They had ample proof that that Jesus was the Son of God.
Look at Mark 15:31 “Likewise also the chief priests mocking SAID among themselves with the scribes, HE SAVED OTHERS; himself he cannot save.”
These were some very foolish people. Notice, they admitted that He had power beyond theirs. They said, “He saved others”.
• They knew He had saved some from sickness
• They knew He had saved some from deformity
• They knew He had saved some from death
• They knew He had saved some from demon possession
• They knew He had saved some from a life of sin
They said that He could not save Himself. The fact is, He could have saved Himself. He could have called ten thousand angels down to rescue Him from the cross. But had he saved Himself, He could not have saved us!
Many people, even those sitting in church pews today all across this country, are going to die and go to a Christ-less eternity because they KNEW ABOUT JESUS but did not BELIEVE IN HIM.
Illus: Someone once said that the difference between knowing about Jesus and knowing Jesus is about 16 inches - the distance from the head to the heart!
You can know about the salvation of the Lord, and not possess it.
Conclusion:
Jesus died for you and for me. The price has been paid, but the transaction is not completed for all people.
This is a day of rejoicing. Yes . . .
• They crucified Him
• They buried Him
But on the third day He came from the grave proving to us that He was the Son of God.
Today on Palm Sunday we celebrate His triumphant entry, the time He came into Jerusalem. But even more, we look forward to the day when He will return to this earth to rapture His church.
Some have:
• Refused to accept the sacrifice
• Refused to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior
I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes when they die!
I. THEY NAILED JESUS TO THE CROSS
II. THEY GAMBLED OVER HIS GARMENTS
III. THEY GAVE A TESTIMONY
