The topic is, THE WOUNDS OF JESUS.
Just a little history about crucifixion: Crucifixion was invented by the Persians in 300-400BC and developed, during Roman empire times, into a punishment for the most serious of criminals.
It was thought of as the most horrible, painful, tortuous, and humiliating form of execution possible, for low-life criminals (mainly runaway slaves who resorted to crime) and enemies of the state.
There most important reason as to why they subjected them to such a tortuous, slow, and humiliating death, was to warn any other slave who was thinking about escaping or committing crimes, and any enemy of state, of what could happen to *them*.
Enemies of the state had to be shown what the power of the state was. And crucifixion was how it was done. If you were a resistor to Roman military action – crucified. If you were caught attacking Roman troops – crucified. If you plotted to overthrow the local Roman government – crucified.
They would take you, strip you naked, and drag you to a public place. Your hands and feet would be nailed securely to wood and you would be left to hang in a position where you cannot fend for yourself. You would not be able move your body. You would not be able to wave off the scavenging birds. You would not be able to kick away the roaming dogs; and they would set you up as a public spectacle for people to see and mock. And this, is exactly what happened to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
And therefore, this will probably be among the most beautiful sermon I will ever preach; and the most difficult to preach. May God grant to me the Mercy and the strength to get through it.
Let us pray; “Father in Heaven, we pray, that may we, today, see Jesus. We recognise that He no longer hangs on a cross. Today, Jesus ministers as a High Priest in the Heavenly Sanctuary. He is there when we pray. He is there to forgive our sins. But today Lord, we want to see Him as He shed his blood for us. So, as we open the word of God, let the Spirit guide us in all truth. I also pray Lord, that may every Heart recognise the truth and be changed by it. This is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.”
Our objective today; is to understand, not just that He died, BUT why, He died.
Revelation 20:6 says, “Blessed is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on such, the second death hath no power; but they shall be Priests of God and of Christ, and shall rein with him a thousand years.”
The first death is what we know about; the result of sin. All of us will die someday. But when you die in Christ, it is a sleep. It is a sleep because you will wake up when you hear the voice of Jesus.
The second death, is the eternal death for those who refuse Jesus. So, why did Jesus die on Calvary? The reason that Jesus died, is so that you and me, can avoid the second death.
And because He died in Calvary, no longer are we under the Ceremonial laws, but under the Grace of our Lord Jesus. The burdens of the ceremonial laws ended at Calvary.
Those ceremonial laws said that if you – the sinner; If you have sinned, you take a sacrifice to the temple, then you, the sinner, would have to cut open, the throat of an innocent lamb. There would be shedding of blood.
Leviticus 4:27-31 “‘If any member of the community sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord’s commands, when they realize their guilt 28 and the sin they have committed becomes known, they must bring as their offering for the sin they committed a female goat without defect. 29 They are to lay their hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it at the place of the burnt offering. 30 Then the priest is to take some of the blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. 31 They shall remove all the fat, just as the fat is removed from the fellowship offering, and the priest shall burn it on the altar as an aroma pleasing to the Lord. In this way the priest will make atonement for them, and they will be forgiven.
So, what was the function of the Ceremonial laws? The ceremonial laws were pointing forward to the real sacrifice. For one day, when Jesus finally went to the cross, the Priest was still there in the temple; knife in hand; a lamb about to die. But when Jesus declared, “It is Finished.” The priest’s hand began to tremble. The knife fell. The lamb lipped off the place of sacrifice and scampered away. Why? Because the real lamb of God had gone to the cross.
Colossians 2:14 confirms that there were laws that were nailed to the cross. These were not the ten commandments. The bible confirms that the ten commandments are the perfect law of Liberty, and they last forever. Jesus himself said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17). “For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (verses 18-19).
How about this question; if God is omniscient, if He knows everything; then God knew before man was created, that man would sin, and that the wages of sin would be death. So why would God make us in the first place, if He knew we would sin, and be guilty, and punishable by death.
The answer to this I may not know fully, but this I now; Yes, I was born with a cancer of sin. But Jesus has power over sin. And the blood of Jesus, puts my sin into remission.
Isaiah 53 proves that we will be in better shape after sin and the cross, than we were before. Isaiah 53:5. “But He was wounded[k] for our transgressions, He was [l]bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes[m] we are healed.”
So, when I surrender my life to Him, Jesus wipes my sinful record clean, and put His clean record in my place. He did this by dying for me at Calvary.
But what really happened at Calvary?
In March of 1986, the American Medical Association; a scientific organisation, tried to explain what they saw, in the death of Jesus.
They began in Luke 22. Indeed, we all know, from the bible, that there were certain physiological signs, that Jesus was in trouble as He began to face the spectre of Calvary.
The moment that must have been the most telling was when Jesus went to wash the disciples’ feet. There was no servant that day. No disciple was humble enough to get on his knees and wash anybody’s feet. So Jesus took the towel, knelt down, and washed their feet.
Jesus comes now, to the feet of Judas, and takes his foot in His hands. A shock of love must have gone up Judas’ legs. He must have felt the love of Christ. And when it came to his heart and his head, Judas didn’t know what to do. And so he fought; because had he not fought, he would have surrendered; and his plan would have changed.
In the same way, Jesus will come and touch each one of you. He will do it before this sermon is over. And you’ve got a choice. You can let Him keep his hands on you, and His touch will change you; or you can pull away. The only way you will be able to resist Him, is to get up, and walk away.
Luke 22:44. “And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”
The physicians say that this phenomenon, called hematidrosis, occurs when blood haemorrhages into the tiny blood vessels of the body; so that instead of perspiration coming out through the pores, the blood would mingle in the vessels with the perspiration, so that when the face begins to have droplets on it, they are not clear droplets, but bloody droplets. Most studies suggest that excessive stress and involuntary nervous system reactions cause hematidrosis or bloody sweat.
In Gethsemane, the disciples of Jesus are looking at Him, and he frightens them. Dots of blood in Jesus face. Then the guards came. And when they came, Judas went and put a kiss! What a terrible kiss!
The soldiers came and took Him. Peter then took out his sword and cut-off a guard’s ear. And even in the midst of His trial, Jesus puts the ear back. But nobody seemed to have paid much attention to that.
After that, Jesus goes from one judge to another. He went first to the Jewish judges; from Caiphas the high priest to the religious Sanhedrin - and this is what they did; they put on him symbols that represented Kingship; then they blind folded Him. They filled their mouth with saliva, and spat on Him.
When He went before the political Sanhedrin, they convicted him again. He goes first to Pontious Pilate who confirms that He is indeed innocent. They then take Him to Herod the tetrack of Galilee who did not know what to do with the innocent man.
Finally, when no wrong could be found, the people in their crowd began to chant; crucify Him! crucify Him! crucify Him! The chant spreads through the crowd; and in order to make the people to go away, this terrible Roman judge makes a decision to scourge Jesus Christ.
Now, the scourging was death! It was dreadful! It was done by special Roman soldiers known as ‘ lictors’. The Roman scourge, also called the "flagrum" or "flagellum" was a short whip made of two or three leather thongs.
The leather thongs were knotted with a number of small pieces of metal, usually zinc and iron, attached at various intervals, to give weight. The leather was also knotted with bones, or broken teeth of sheep in other lashes. And so, as the scourging was done, the iron or zinc balls gave weight, the broken teeth would cut into the skin. The lash was given the terrifying name "the scorpion."
They would tie the supposed criminal on a long pole and strip him of all his clothes. Then either one or two lictors would take turns, making an inverted V on His back. It would start from the shoulders to the waist and down to the buttocks, cutting open the skin. According to Jewish law (discipline of the synagogue) the maximum number of stripes was forty. (Deut. 25:2-3).
Those terrible leather lengths went underneath the skin that had been cut. They would pull flesh from underneath the cut skin; coming down the same way, the flesh, of the Son of God; was torn away; and then; He was left; at a moment; when He was almost dead. But here, is the power moment: “With His stripes, we are healed!”
"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. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." - Isaiah 53:5-6. And today I am saved, by His blood, and healed, by His stripes.
They also took those 2 to 4 inch thorns; twined them together into a crown; and put them on His head, and pressed it down. The thorn dug into the flesh of His head, and it bled. They then took a stick, and gave to Him as a sceptre. They spit on him, and took the staff from His hands and struck him with it on the head again and again.
They then put upon Him the cross. Unfortunately, Jesus could not carry the cross as God. He had to carry it as a man. He carried it until human power could do no more. Then there was this black man. Simon the Cyrene. This man must have showed sympathy to what Christ was going through, carrying that cross; and the Roman soldiers must have seen it; and they must have realised that he was powerfully built. He didn’t volunteer, but they called him, and Simon assisted Jesus to carry the cross. This experience changes Simon; and there is reason to believe that the same blessing has spread to the entire black nation.
And Jesus is then taken to a place called Golgotha. There, they reap his garments off. The blood has cemented the clothes in his back; so they tear it down.
They throw Him down onto the ground, and there, the blood stained dirt of Golgotha, where many had died, and their blood stained dirt is caked into the earth. Every disease causing germs must have been there. And there, they press Him down and stretch Him.
The Romans had trained physicians to find the place for the nails. Many people believe it was on the palm of His hands; but the American Medical association thinks otherwise. They say, it was somewhere below. They would find the exact place where the median nerve was. The median nerve, when touched and traumatised, would radiate a burning sensation in the arms, and into the chest. And that is where they targeted with a 4-6 inch spike/nail.
And they drove in the long nail in the location of the median nerve. And if the nail severs the median nerve, the hand would be forced into paralysis like a claw.
Then they took his feet, put them together, and pounded the spike there as well, severing the nerve in the feet.
Then they take off the cross from the ground, with Jesus nailed onto it, and made the cross to stand. The American Medical Association says that, hanging on that cross, insects would find the places in the back that had been cut open, and begin to burrow into the wounds.
The insects would get around His eyes and burrow into His eyes. He could feel the pain of the insects that had been made by His own hands, burrowing into His own flesh, but He could not wipe them away.
Even when they offered Him an analgesia, wine and ghoul, He put it away. He knew that unless He drank the dreads of suffering, He could not save me; and so, He would not accept a pain killer, because He had to save me.
There are many things said about how He died.
When He was hanging on the cross; legs twisted; body weight on His arms; his Diaphragm is pulled up. So the problem with breathing is, He cannot exhale easily. So His breathing is shallow. In order to exhale, He has to push up… Some people died on the cross because they could not exhale. And if Jesus said anything on the cross, like; Father forgive them…hhh…for they know not what they do….hhhh. Even when it came to the very end, …hhh… into Thy hands…hhh.. I commend my spirit.
It is 3pm in the afternoon on an ugly Friday. His head fell. When the Roman guards came to break His legs to make sure He was dead, they saw that He was gone.
A 6-feet spear was plunged into His side. Water and blood came out. And here is what the American Medical Association say; It was either from hypovolemic shock, which means, the blood level in your body is too low, and your heart struggles to find enough blood to pump; or it might have been some strange erythema; that is, the heart reaction trying to save you.
But because there was blood and water, it may have been a rapture of the heart. A heart rapture that would have allowed some plural fluid from the lungs to seep into the pericardial sack; or that the heart itself produced water because of its trauma. And when that spear went in, blood and water came out, signifying that it was His heart, that broke, for you.
I am a father. If my child’s life was in danger, If I have the power to save him, even if it means someone else would die, my son would be saved. Because that is my son! But God loved you so much; that God and all the holy angels, put on darkness like overcoats, and met down at the cross.
So God the father, and the Holy angels, dressed in darkness, came, not to take Jesus down. He had to die in my place. So God did not come to snatch Him away from the cross; He just came to stand with Him as He died in my place.
And so, on the cross, the king of glory died, searching for me. Not because of anything that I had done, but because of the blood covenant that had been made on a hill outside the city of Jerusalem, where His only begotten son bowed His head and bled and suffered and died for my redemption. His side was wounded and his hands were nailed to the cross. There was darkness at Calvary between noon and 3pm, just as there was darkness when Abraham received the covenant, why? Because God the father and the son, were standing in the blood of the cross reciting the contents of the covenant.
The father asked the son, what are the contents of the covenant? And the son sobbed in agony saying, father that their sin may be bloated out, and be buried into the deepest sea never to be remembered against them anymore. Though their sin may be as scarlet, they will be as white as snow.
And the father asked, “what else?” He said, that the veil of the temple be broken down at my death, so men can boldly come into the presence of God without a priest or a preacher in the authority of my name, and when they mention my name, angels would dispatch to them and bring them heaven’s answer.
And the father said, “what else my son?” The son said, father, Satan and his kingdom shall be defeated for ever. And the church to have power over the world, the flesh and the devil;
And the father said, what else? He said, father, that the Gentiles from this day forward shall be adopted into the family of God. They are no longer cut off outside the covenants of Israel. They shall be grafted into the olive tree as full partners in the family of God.
And the father asked, what else; that they are to receive all the inheritance they lost during the fall in Genesis. Their inheritance package is; I want you to give them eternal life for death; I want you to give them health and healing for sickness and suffering; I want you to give them prosperity for their poverty; I want you to give them my name. Let them be known by my name. Let them be called the covenant people.
And the father said, “is that all”, and the son said, “yes”.
And in the darkness of Calvary, a father and a son stood in a pool of blood, and the Lamb of God lifted His voice towards the throne of His father and sobbed with every ounce of energy He had left, “It is finished!” And the covenant was sealed and we were redeemed by the blood of the lamb.
Christ did all this for us. And he is inviting us into a relationship with Him that will never ever end. And He implores us to come to Him today.
But who is this Jesus? We do not know the real Jesus until we meet Him in the book of revelation.
In the Book of Mathew, Jesus Christ was the lamb of God, taken to the cross and slaughtered. But in book of revelation, He is the lion of the tribe of Judah.
In the book of Mathew, He is hanging on Roman cross between two thieves. But in the book of revelation, He is standing at the right hand of God, surrounded by angels singing Holy! Holy! Holy! Is the Lord God almighty who was, and is, and evermore shall be.
In the book of Mathew, in the Garden of Gethsemane, the face of Jesus is covered with blood. But in the book of revelation, His face is shining like the noonday sun. His eyes are like fire, and His feet is like fine brass, because He is the mighty conqueror; the undisputed champion of all eternity.
In the book of Mathew, He is wearing a crown of thorns that Rome sculptured to mock Him, slapped Him and said, “Hail king of the Jews.” In the Book of revelation He is wearing a crown of Glory; because He is the King of all kings, and the Lord of all Lords. He is the bright and the morning star. He is Jehovah Shamah, the God who is there; and of His Kingdom, there shall be no end. Every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
In the book of Mathew, He rides into Jerusalem on a donkey, and He is later crucified. In the book of revelation, he rides back to earth on a milk white stallion to His coronation. He is followed by the armies, which are in heaven. For He is the wonderful councilor, the mighty God, the everlasting father and the prince of peace.
Rulers come and go, but of His Kingdom, there shall be no end. The good news is, if you accept Him today, He is coming to take you home. And together with Him, you will rule the world. All you need is to open your heart and invite Him in as the Lord of all.
Jesus Christ says, “I have set before you life and death. Choose life.” That is why He went to the cross. And he continues to say, “what shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loose his soul?” This is the day to make that decision!
Choose Jesus today. In your tithes and offerings, put Him first. In your work, put God first. In your family, put God first and it will be well with you.
Indeed, as the bible closes its pages in the last chapter of the bible, Revelation 22:17, it says; And the Spirit and the bride says, Come!. And let him that heareth say, Come!. And let him that is athirst, come!. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely (KJV).
Jesus is the water of life. Choose Him today. And if you feel that in the sermon, He has touched, I beseech you child of God, don’t be afraid, come forward so we pray together. As the Choristers take us through song number 281 – I gave my life for thee, come up front, so we pray together, and do not be afraid.
Jesus called people publicly. “Come” is the greatest word in the Gospel. It first rang out in the days of Noah when God was about to pour out His wrath against the world. The ark was finished and a complete salvation provided, and God called out, “Come.” Again and again that wonderful word rings out and even before the Bible closes its pages, the Spirit sounds it out again. Come to Jesus. He is calling you today.
The bible closes its pages with these words of Revelation 22:20-21; 20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. 21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. (KJV).
Sermon by Elder Timothy Ogada at Mt. Olives SDA Church. 25th May, 2019 on Stewardship Sabbath.
