TRANSFORMED BY THE CROSS
THE IMPACT OF THE CROSS – PART 5
INTRODUCTION: “THE SAINT OF AUSCHWITZ” FROM “SIX HOURS ONE FRIDAY.” PAGES 64-66
QUESTION - WHAT WAS IT THAT CAUSED MAXIMILIAN KOLBE TO SACRIFICIALLY GIVE HIS LIFE SO THAT ANOTHER HUMAN BEING MIGHT LIVE? THE ANSWER IS SIMPLE, HE WAS TRANSFORMED BY THE CROSS OF CHRIST.
PRAYER
THE APOSTLE PAUL WROTE IN 1 CORINTHIANS 1:18,
“FOR THE MESSAGE OF THE CROSS IS FOOLISHNESS TO THOSE WHO ARE PERISHING, BUT TO THOSE OF US WHO ARE BEING SAVED IT IS THE POWER OF GOD.”
LISTEN - THE CROSS HAS AN AWESOME POWER NOT ONLY TO FORGIVE US OF OUR SINS, BUT TO TRANSFORM OUR LIVES! THAT’S GOOD NEWS, AND NOT JUST FOR A PRISONER IN A CONCENTRATION CAMP, OR FOR THE THIEF DYING ON THE CROSS AS WE DISCUSSED LAST SUNDAY, BUT THAT IS GOOD NEWS FOR ALL OF US.
UNDERSTAND – THAT NOT ONLY CAN YOUR SINS BE FORGIVEN THROUGH THE CROSS, BUT THROUGH THE POWER OF THAT CROSS: SINFUL HABITS CAN BE OVER COME. NEGATIVE ATTITUDES CAN BE REVERSED. STRAINED RELATIONSHIPS CAN BE MENDED. TALENTS CAN BE SHARPENED. POOR PERSONALITIES TRAITS CAN BE REFINED. AND DANGEROUS TEMPTATIONS CAN BE RESISTED.
THE BIBLE SAYS, “THEREFORE, IF ANY MAN IS IN CHRIST, HE IS A NEW CREATION; THE OLD HAS GONE, THE NEW HAS COME!” 2 CORINTHIANS 5:17
IF YOU ARE JIONING US FOR THE FIRST TIME TODAY, WE’RE IN A MESSAGE SERIES ENTITLED: “THE IMPACT OF THE CROSS.” AND WE’RE LOOKING AT THE CROSS FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THOSE WHO GATHERED THERE THAT DAY, 2,000 YEARS AGO WHEN JESUS WAS CRUCIFIED.
ROMAN SOLDIERS – UNMOVED BY THE CROSS
DISCIPLES – DISTRESSED BY THE CROSS
THE ENEMIES OF JESUS – DELIGHTED BY THE CROSS
ONE OF THE THIEVES – SAVED BY THE CROSS
TODAY I WANT FOR US TO LOOK AT THE CROSS FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF SOME BYSTANDERS WHO’S LIVES WERE COMPLETELY TRANSFORMED BY THE CROSS.
NOW UNDERSTAND - THAT THESE PEOPLE DID NOT HAVE ANY IDEA WHEN THEY GOT UP THAT FRIDAY MORNING, THAT ANYTHING DIFFERENT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN TO THEM. THEY HAD NO IDEA, THAT THEY WERE ABOUT TO BE COMPLETELY TRANSFORMED BY THE CROSS OF CHRIST. THEY HAD NO IDEA THAT THEIR LIVES WOULD NEVER BE THE SAME.
AND LISTEN - THAT SAME TRANSFORMING POWER IS AVAILABLE TO YOU TODAY. AND IT IS MY PRAYER AND IT WAS THE PRAYER OF 30+ PEOPLE THIS PAST THRUSDAY NIGHT AND ____ + THIS MORNING THAT MANY HERE TODAY – IN THE FUTURE WILL LOOK BACK AT APRIL 15TH AS THE DAY THAT CHRIST BEGAN A TRANSFORMING WORK IN YOU.
THE FIRST BYSTANDER I WANT US TO LOOK AT TODAY IS A MAN NAMED SIMON. WE MEET HIM IN MARK 15:21. AND AS WE TAKE A LOOK AT HIM THIS MORNING WE WILL SEE THAT THE CROSS TRANSFORMED FROM;
A CASUAL OBSERVER TO AN ACTIVE PARTICIPANT.
“A CERTAIN MAN FROM CYRENE, SIMON, THE FATHER OF ALEXANDER AND RUFUS, WAS PASSING BY ON HIS WAY IN FROM THE COUNTRY, AND THEY FORCED HIM TO CARRY THE CROSS.” MARK 15:21
NOW CYRENE WAS A CITY IN LIBYA, NORTH AFRICA AND IT HAD A LARGE JEWISH POPULATION. SIMON A JEW, HAD COME ALL THE WAY TO JERUSALEM FOR ONE REASON, TO CELEBRATE THE PASSOVER FEAST.
PERHAPS SIMON HAD SAVED UP FOR YEARS AND MAYBE HE HAD A DREAM OF ONE DAY BEING ABLE TO EAT THE PASSOVER MEAL IN THE HOLY CITY. BUT ON FRIDAY MORNING AS HE MADE HIS WAY INTO THE CITY HE GOT CAUGHT UP IN THE PEDESTRIAN TRAFFIC.
PEOPLE HAD LINED THE STREETS TO WATCH 3 MEN MARCH DOWN THE WINDING AND DUSTY STREETS OF JERUSLAEM TO THE PLACE OF EXECUTION.
AND SIMON AND HIS CHILDREN WERE FORCED TO STOP AND WATCH WHAT WAS TAKING PLACE.
RAY BOLTZ VIDEO – “WATCH THE LAMB…”
EVIDENTLY JESUS HAD BECOME SO WEAK BECAUSE OF THE TREMENDOUS BEATING HE HAD ENDURED THAT SIMON WAS FORCED BY THE ROMAN SOLDIERS TO CARRY HIS CROSS. NOW, THE ROMAN SOLDIERS HAD THE AUTHORITY TO ASK ANYONE THEY CHOSE TO, TO CARRY THE CROSS BEAM OF A CONDEMNED MAN, THAT CROSS BEAM COULD WEIGH UP TO 100 POUNDS. AND SIMON TOOK THE CROSS FROM THE LORD AND CARRIED IT UP A HILL CALLED CALVARY.
UNDERSTAND – THAT THIS CLOSE ENCOUNTER THAT SIMON HAD WITH JESUS TRANSFORMED HIS LIFE FOREVER. HE SAW JESUS EXPRESSION. HE LOOKED INTO HIS EYES. HE FELT JESUS’ BLOOD ON HIS BODY. MAYBE, JESUS EVEN WHISPERED, “THANK YOU MY FRIEND” AS SIMON TOOK UP THE CROSS.
AND AS SIMON WATCHED JESUS , AS HE - “WATCHED THE LAMB OF GOD,” BEING EXECUTED THAT DAY, HIS LIFE WAS TRANSFORMED FROM A CASUAL OBSERVER TO AN ACTIVE PARTICIPANT. AND LISTEN – HE WAS AN ACTIVE PARTICPANT NOT JUST ON THAT FRIDAY BUT FROM THEN ON.
AND, WE KNOW THIS TO BE TRUE BECAUSE MARK, WHEN HE MENTIONS SIMON BY NAME SAYS, “HE WAS THE FATHER OF ALEXANDER AND RUFUS” WHO WERE EVDIENTLY WELL KNOWN BY THE CHURCH BY THE TIME MARK WROTE HIS GOSPEL. IN FACT, IN ROMANS 16:13 PAUL WRITES, “GREET RUFUS, CHOSEN IN THE LORD, AND HIS MOTHER, WHO HAS BEEN A MOTHER TO ME TOO.”
WARREN WEIRSBE WROTE IN HIS COMMENTARY ON MARK, WRITES, “IT SEEMS LIKELY THAT THIS HUMILIATING EXPERIENCE RESULTED IN SIMON’S CONVERSION AS WELL AS THE CONVERSION OF HIS ENTIRE FAMILY. SIMON CAME TO JERUSALEM TO SACRIFICE HIS PASSOVER LAMB AND HE MET THE LAMB OF GOD WHO WAS SACRIFICED FOR HIM.
PERHAPS YOU KNOW SOME PEOPLE LIKE SIMON, WHO INITAILLY WERE INVOLUNTARILY FORCED TO BECOME AN ACTIVE PARTICIPANT. MAYBE EVEN SOME OF YOU HERE THIS MORNING, ARE NOT HERE BY YOUR OWN CHOICE.
TONY EVANS A CHRISTINA PASTOR AND SPEAKER SAID, “I HAD A DRUG PROBLEM AS A TEEN-AGER.” “MY PARENTS DRUG ME TO CHURCH ON SUNDAY MORNING, DRUG ME TO CHURCH ON SUNDAY NIGHT, DRUG ME TO CHURCH ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT.” MAYBE YOU PARENT DRUG YOU HERE TODAY.
OR MAYBE YOU’RE HERE BECAUSE YOUR SPOUSE BEGGED YOU TO COME WITH HIM OR HER THIS MORNING, AND LIKE SIMON, YOU FEEL AS IF YOU’RE BEING FORCED INTO THE LORD’S PRESENCE.
PERHAPS YOU HERE BECAUSE YOU ARE VSITING FAMILY…AND THEY SAID WE’RE GOING TO CHURCH.
OR MAYBE YOU ARE HERE BECAUSE YOU ARE DATING SOMEONE AND THEY ASKED YOU TO COME OR YOU KNOW NYOU BETTER IF YOU WANT TO KEEP DATING THEM…
MY POINT IS PERHAPS FOR VARIOUS REASONS YOU MAY BE HERE TODAY BECAUSE YOU’RE PRESSURED TO BE HERE. BUT MAYBE THAT’S THE BEST THING IN THE WORLD FOR YOU.
WHY? BECAUSE YOU JUST MIGHT BECOME LIKE SIMON WHO TOOK UP THAT CROSS ON THAT FRIDAY - BECAUSE HE WAS FORCED TO. BUT WHO VOLUNTEERED FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE TO NEVER PUT IT DOWN.
MAYBE – TODAY IS THE DAY THE CROSS WILL TRANSFORM YOU FROM A CASUAL OBSERVER TO AN ACTIVE PARTICIPANT….
THERE IS ANOTHER BYSTANDER AT THE CROSS WHO WAS TRULY TRANSFORMED AND HE WAS A ROMAN CENTURION. MARK 15:39
“AND WHEN THE CENTURION, WHO STOOD THERE IN FRONT OF JESUS, HEARD HIS CRY AND SAW HOW HE DIED, HE SAID, “SURELY THIS MAN WAS THE SON OF GOD!”
THE CROSS TRANSFORMED THE ROMAN CENTURION FROM
A HOSTILE SKEPTIC TO A HUMBLE BELIEVER.
THIS CENTURION WAS THE COMMANDER OF THE ROMAN EXECUTION SQUAD.
NOW, THE GOSPELS TELL US THAT THE ROMAN SOLDIERS BRUTALIZED JESUS ABOVE BEYOND WHAT WAS NORMALLY DONE. THEY STRUCK HIM WITH THEIR FISTS IN THE FACE. THEY SPIT ON HIM. THEY WHIPPED HIM AND MOCKED HIM.
AND THIS CENTURION HAD DONE NOTHING TO PREVENT THAT. FOR SOME REASON HE ALLOWED HIS MEN TO BRUTALIZE JESUS.
THIS MAN ALLOWED HIMSLEF TO GET TOO CLOSE TO THE CROSS AND AS HE WATCHED THE WAY JESUS ENDURED THIS TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE, HE WAS BLOWN AWAY…
HE THOUGHT TO HIMSELF, “HERE’S A MAN OF COMPOSURE.” “HERE’S A MAN OF DIGNITY EVEN IN SUFFERING.” HERE IS A MAN OF A STRENGTH, COURGAE AND SELF-CONTROL LIKE I HAVE NEVER SEN BEFORE.
NOW, IT WAS COMMON FOR HIM TO HEAR - MEN WHO WERE BEING EXECUTED CURSE THEIR EXECUTIONERS, BUT HE’D NEVER HEARD A MAN PRAY FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF HIS EXECUTIONERS THE WAY JESUS DID. AND HE’D NEVER WITNESSED THE SKY GETTING SO BLACK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY IT WAS ERIE. AND WHEN THE GROUND BENEATH HIS FEET BEGAN TO QUAKE HE LITERALLY BECAME A TREMBLING SOUL.
AS HE LOOKED AT JESUS DYING HE HAD NEVER HEARD A MAN SAY WITH SUCH CONVICTION, “FATHER INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT, IT IS FINISHED!”
LISTEN - THE MANNER IN WHICH JESUS SUFFERED AND DIED WAS SO IMPRESSIVE THAT THIS HARDENED SOLDIER WAS PERSUADED THAT THE CLAIMS OF JESUS WERE TRUE. AND HE CRIED OUT, “SURELY THIS MAN WAS THE SON OF GOD!”
AND UNDERSATND THAT THIS MAN WAS NOT THE LAST HOSTILE SKEPTIC TO BE TRANSFORMED TO A HUMBLE BELIEVER THROUGH THE POWER OF THE CROSS OF THE CROSS OF CHRIST..
SAUL OF TARSUS WAS A MAN WHO ONCE PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS. HE KILLED THEM AND HAD THEM THROWN INTO PRISON FOR THEIR FAITH BECAUSE HE CONSIDERED JESUS AN IMPOSTURE. BUT THEN SAUL WAS CONFRONTED BY THE RESURRECTED JESUS OUTSIDE A CITY CALLED DAMASCUS. AND HE WAS TRANSFORMED FROM AN ARDENT ENEMY OF JESUS INTO THE ZEALOUS APOSTLE PAUL WHO LATER WROTE THESE WORDS,
“MAY I NEVER BOAST EXCEPT IN THE CROSS OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, THROUGH WHICH THE WORLD HAS BEEN CRUCIFIED TO ME, AND I TO THE WORLD.” GAL 6:14
“I HAVE BEEN CRUCIFED WITH CHRIST AND I NO LONGER LIVE, BUT CHRIST LIVES IN ME. THE LIFE I LVE IN THE BODY, I LIVE BY FAITH IN THE SON OF GOD WHO LOVED ME AND GAVE HIMSLEF FOR ME.” GAL 2:20
YES, MANY WHO WERE SKEPTICS HAVE COME TO BE BELIEVERS OVER THE YEARS MEN LIKE: ARCHEOLOGIST SIR WILLIAM RAMSEY. C.S. LEWIS, A BRILLIANT AUTHOR AND PROFESSOR. JOSH MCDOWELL WHO WROTE THE BOOK “MORE THAN A CARPENTER” AND EVIDENCE THAT DEMANDS A VERDICT.” BILL MURRAY, SON OF MADELYN MURRAY O’HAIR. AND HUNDREDS OF OTHERS WHO STARTED OUT SKEPTICAL OF THE FAITH AND BECAME DEVOTED BELIEVERS.
WHEN I WAS IN BIBLE COLLEGE ONE OF TMY EXT BOOKS WAS AUTHORED BY DR. PHILLIP JOHNSON A HARVARD GRADUATE. AND PROFESSOR OF LAW AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKLEY. HE TERMED HIMSELF A NOMINAL AGNOSTIC IN EARLIER YEARS. BUT IN 1987 HE PICKED UP A BOOK IN LONDON ON DARWINISM, WHICH IS THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION, AND AS HE READ IT HE FOUND IT TO BE FULL OF FLAWS. HE BEGAN TO STUDY AND BECAME FASCINATED WITH CREATION. HE BECAME A BELIEVER IN CHRIST AND IN THE INTEGRITY OF THE BIBLE AND HE WROTE A BEST SELLING BOOK ENTITLED, “DARWIN OF TRIAL.”
AND NOW HE IS SPENDING HIS LIFE LEGITIMIZING CREATION. HE SAID, “IT’S MY GOAL TO RAISE A PEACEFUL ARMY OF CHRISTIANS WHO ARE PREPARED INTELLECTUALLY TO CHALLENGE DARWINISM.” FROM A HOSTILE SKEPTIC TO A FIRM BELIEVER.
JUST A FEW YEARS AGO THE SPORTS PAGES CARRIED THE REMARKABLE CONVERSION OF PROFESSIONAL ATHLETE DION SANDERS. WHO HAD LIVED AN EGOTISTICAL PARTY LIFE, BUT NOW HE’S BEEN BORN AGAIN AND WAS BAPTIZED AT THE “POTTER’S HOUSE CHURCH” ON OCTOBER 19TH 1997. “I BURIED THE OLD DION SANDERS THERE’S A NEW ONE WALKING STRONG AND HEALTHY BECAUSE OF WHAT THE LORD HAS DONE IN MY LIFE,” HE SAID.
AND BACK IN THE 1930’S A BRITISH LAWYER BY THE NAME OF FRANK MORRISON SET OUT TO PROVE ONCE AND FOR ALL THAT RESURRECTION WAS A JUST A FABLE, SHEER FANTASY. AS A LAWYER HE FELT HE WAS WELL QUALIFIED TO WEIGH THE EVIDENCE AND COME UP WITH A VERDICT. BUT AS HE RESEARCHED HE DID NOT FIND THINGS AS HE EXPECTED... THE 1ST CHAPTER OF HIS BOOK IS CALLED "THE BOOK THAT REFUSED TO BE WRITTEN..." IN IT HE DESCRIBES HOW HE BECAME CONVINCED OF THE BODILY RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST.. THE BOOK IS CALLED "WHO MOVED THE STONE..."
WHEN PEOPLE TODAY CONSIDER AND WEIGHT THE EVIDENCE...
WHEN THEY CONSIDER THE FACT THAT JESUS LIVED -- THE PROPHECIES THAT HE FULFILLED (AND WE HAVE MSS THAT DATE BEFORE HIS BIRTH..)
WHEN THEY CONSIDER THE BIRTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, WORSHIP CHANGED FROM SATURDAY TO SUNDAY, THE CHANGE IN THE WORLD’S CALENDARS. LISTEN - ALL OF TIME REVOLVES AROUND JESUS (AD/BC), EVERY TIME WE DATE A LETTER OR A CHECK WE ARE TESTIFYING TO JESUS CHRIST, WHEN WE CONSIDER THE EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY OF OVER 500 PEOPLE WHO SAW JESUS OVER A PERIOD OF 40 DAYS. WHEN WE CONSIDER THE EMPTY TOMB AND THAT NO ONE COULD EVER PRODUCE A BODY TO PUT OUT THE FIRE OF CHRISTIANITY -- WHEN WE CONSIDER THAT MEN AND WOMEN BY THOUSANDS DIED FOR THE FAITH -- THERE CAN BE NO OTHER CONCLUSION, BUT THAT JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD....
MOHAMMED AND BUDDHA ARE IN THE GRAVE - BUT JESUS IS ALIVE!! WHAT HE SAYS IS TRUE!!
IF YOU ARE SKEPTICAL I CHALLENGE YOU TO HAVE ENOUGH INTEGRITY TO EXAMINE THE EVIDENCE OF THE CROSS AND THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST UP CLOSE (DON’T HAVE TO CHECK YOUR BRIANS AT THE DOOR – PICK THEM UP).
AND ONCE YOU BECOME A BELIVER - ALLOW THE CROSS TO TRANSFORM YOUR THINKING AND YOUR BEHAVIOR.
THERE’S AN OLD TURKISH PROVERB THAT SAYS, “NO MATTER HOW FAR YOU’VE GONE DOWN THE WRONG ROAD, TURN BACK.”
NOW LET’S LOOK AT WHAT HAPPEN TO TWO OTHER BYSTANDERS AT THE CROSS. JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA AND NICODEMUS; WHO WERE TRANSFORMED FROM
SECRET DISCIPLES TO BOLD DEFENDERS.
JOHN 19:38-40 READS,
LATER, JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA ASKED PILATE FOR THE BODY OF JESUS. NOW JOSEPH WAS A DISCIPLE OF JESUS, BUT SECRETLY BECAUSE HE FEARED THE JEWS. WITH PILATE’S PERMISSION, HE CAME AND TOOK THE BODY AWAY. HE WAS ACCOMPANIED BY NICODEMUS, THE MAN WHO EARLIER HAD VISITED JESUS AT NIGHT. NICODEMUS BROUGHT A MIXTURE OF MYRRH AND ALOES, ABOUT SEVENTY-FIVE POUNDS. TAKING JESUS’ BODY, THE TWO OF THEM WRAPPED IT, WITH THE SPICES, IN STRIPS OF LINEN. THIS WAS IN ACCORDANCE WITH JEWISH BURIAL CUSTOMS.”(NIV)
NOW THESE TWO MEN WERE BOTH MEMBERS OF THE SANHEDRIN, THE HIGHEST COURT IN ISREAL (THEIR SUPREME COURT) IT WAS A GROUP OF ABOUT SEVENTY MEN.
THEREFORE THEY WERE RESPECTED. THEY WERE WELL OFF. THEY WERE INFLUENTIAL. BOTH OF THEM HAD BEEN IMPRESSED WITH JESUS’ MINISTRY, BUT ONLY AT A DISTANCE, BECAUSE THEIR PEERS ALL HAD A CONDESCENDING ATTITUDE TOWARDS JESUS. JESUS DIDN’T GO TO THEIR SCHOOLS. JESUS APPEALED TO THE BLUE COLLAR CROWD. JESUS CAME FROM GALILEE THE OTHER SIDE OF THE TRACKS.
THAT’S WHY JOSEPH AND NICODEMUS KEPT THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS A SECRET.
JOHN CHAPTER 3 TELLS US THAT NICODEMUS CAME TO JESUS AT NIGHT, THAT’S WHY I LIKE TO CALL HIM, “NICK AT NIGHT.” HE CAME TO JESUS AT NIGHT BECAUSE HE DIDN’T WANT TO RISK BEING SEEN BY SOME OF HIS FELLOW SANHEDRIN MEMBERS.
LATER IN JOHN 7:51 WE SEE AN ACCOUNT WHERE THE SANHEDRIN, THIS HIGH COURT, MET TO DISCUSS THIER PLOT AGAINST JESUS TO HAVE HIM KILLED. BUT NICODEMUS SPOKE UP AND SAID, “DOES OUR LAW CONDEMN ANYONE WITHOUT FIRST HEARING HIM TO FIND OUT WHAT HE IS DOING?” JOHN 7:51
NOW AT THE TIME - NICODEMUS DIDN’T BOLDLY DEFEND JESUS, HE JUST TIMIDLY SAID, “LET’S LOOK AT BOTH SIDES OF THE COIN.” IN THE NEXT VERSE THEY REPLIED, “ARE YOU FROM GALILEE, TOO? LOOK INTO IT, AND YOU WILL FIND THAT A PROPHET DOES NOT COME OUT OF GALILEE.” JOHN 7:52 NICODEMUS GAVE NO RESPONSE…
YOU SEE, NICODEMUS WAS STILL STRADDLING THE FENCE. INSIDE HE WANTED TO DEFEND JESUS, BUT ON THE OUTSIDE HE REMAINED INDIFFERENT.
BACK DURING PROHIBITION, SENATOR EVERETT DIRKSON, OF ILLINOIS WAS A SKILLFUL POLITICIAN WHO KNEW HOW TO RIDE THE FENCE. THE REPEAL OF PROHIBITION BECAME AN ISSUE FOR DIRKSON WHEN HE WAS A YOUNG CANDIDATE. THIS IS WHAT DIRKSON SAID WHEN THE OPPOSITION TRIED TO CORNER HIM ON THAT ISSUE. “WELL ONLY LAST NIGHT WHILE MY WIFE WAS FINISHING A NEEDLE POINT OF THE AMERICAN FLAG. WE HAD A LONG TALK ABOUT THIS VERY SUBJECT AND I SAID TO HER AND I SAY TO YOU KNOW WITHOUT HESITATION OR QUALIFICATION SOME OF MY FRIENDS ARE FOR PROHIBITION AND SOME OF MY FRIENDS ARE FOR REPEAL AND I SAY LET THE CHIPS FALL WHERE THEY MAY, I STAND WITH MY FRIENDS.”
THAT’S HOW NICODEMUS WAS. “WELL SOME OF MY FIRNEDS ARE FOR JESUS AND SOME ARE AGAINST HIM – AND I STAND WITH MY FRIENDS…
BUT THEN HE SAW THE COURAGE OF JESUS DYING PUBLICALLY ON THE CROSS. AND THE CROSS BROUGHT OUT A ‘NEW’ BOLDNESS IN THESE MEN.
PERHAPS THEY REALIZED THAT HAD WAITED TOO LONG, THAT THEY HAD BEEN COWARDS AND THAT IT WAS NOW TIME TO MAKE THEIR LOYALTY TO JESUS APPARENT. IT WAS TIME FOR THEM TO START WORRYING MORE ABOUT THEIR SOULS THEN THEIR OWN SKIN.
YOU KNOW, I WONDER IF WHEN NICODEMUS SAW JESUS LIFTED UP ON THAT CROSS THAT FRIDAY IF HE REMEMBERED THE CONVERSATION HE HAD WITH JESUS THAT IS RECORDED IN JOHN 3. IN THEIR CONVERSATION WHEN NICK CAME AT NIGHT JESUS SAID TO HIM,
“JUST AS MOSES LIFTED UP THE SNAKE IN THE DESERT, SO THE SON OF MAN MUST BE LIFTED UP, THAT EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM MAY HAVE ETERNAL LIFE. 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.” JOHN 3:14-16
I WONDER IF NICODEMUS REMEMBERED THOSE WORDS AS HE SAW JESUS LIFTED UP.
JESUS WAS TALKING TO NICODEMUS ABOUT AN EVENT THAT IS RECORDED IN NUMBERS CHAPTER 21… MOSES AND THE NATION OF ISRAEL AFTER BEING DELIVERED FROM EGYPT – CROSSING THE RED SEA – GETTING THE TEN COMMNAMDNET AND REFUISNG TO GO INTO THE PROMISE LAND ARE WANDERING IN THE WILDERNESS.
AND THEY GOT KIND OF IMPATIENT AND BEGAN TO CRY AGAINST GOD AND MOSES….
“WHY HAVE YOU BROUHGT US UP OUT OF EGYPT TO DIE IN THE DESERT? THERE IS NO BREAD! THERE IS NO WATER! AND WE DETEST THIS MISERBALE FOOD…!” NU 21:5
AND BECAUSE OF THIS REBELLION – GOD SENT VENOMOUS SNAKES THAT BITE MANY PEOPLE – AND MANY PEOPLE DIED… THEN THE PEOPLE CRIED OUT – “WE SINNED WHEN WE SPOKE AGAINST THE LORD AND AGAINST YOU. PRAY THAT THE LORD WILL TAKE THE SNAKES AWAY ROM US…” MOSES PRAYED FOR THE PEOPLE. THEN GOD SAID TO MOSES, “MAKE A BRONZE SNAKE AND PUT IT UP ON A POLE, ANYONE WHO IS BITTEN CAN LOOK AT IT AND LIVE.” SO MOSES MADE A SNAKE AND PUT IT UP ON A POLE.
I WONDER IF NICODEMUS MADE THE CONNECTION THAT JESUS WHEN HE WAS LIFTED UP ON THE CROSS - WAS THE SAVIOR FROM THE DEADLY BITE OF SIN.
“JUST AS MOSES LIFTED UP THE SNAKE IN THE DESERT, SO THE SON OF MAN MUST BE LIFTED UP, THAT EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM MAY HAVE ETERNAL LIFE.
MARK TELL US THAT JOSEPH ‘BOLDLY’ WENT TO PILOT AND ASKED FOR JESUS BODY SO THAT HE COULD PREPARE IT FOR BURIAL. AND THEY BOTH TOOK JESUS DOWN FROM THE CROSS AND WRAPPED HIS BODY IN LINEN AND SPICES AND LAID IT IN A TOMB, PROBABLY JOSEPH’S OWN TOMB.
NOW, I WANT YOU TO UNDERSTAND THAT THIS WAS AN UNPLEASANT TASK. THESE WERE SOPHISTICATED MEN, AND TO TAKE A GORY BLOODIED BODY OF A CRIMINAL OFF A CROSS AND PREPARE IT FOR BURIAL WAS NOT THE WORK OF RICH MEN. BUT THEY DECIDED THAT JESUS WAS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THEIR DIGNITY.
THEY ALSO KNEW THAT BY DOING THIS THEY WOULD NOT BE PERMITTED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PASSOVER FEAST BECAUSE THE LAW OF MOSES STATED, “IF YOU TOUCHED DEAD BODY YOU WERE CONSIDERED UNCLEAN, NOT ELIGIBLE TO EAT THE PASSOVER AND THEY COULDN’T EVEN ASSOCIATE WITH THEIR LOVED ONE’S THE NEXT DAY UNTIL THEY WENT THROUGH THE CEREMONIAL CLEANSING. BUT THEY DECIDED THAT TAKING CARE OF JESUS WAS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THEIR FAMILY.
THIS WAS A COSTLY TASK GRAVES COST MONEY AND SO DO LINEN AND SPICES. BUT THEY DECIDED THAT JESUS WAS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THEIR MONEY.
AND THIS WAS A RISKY TASK. THIS WAS NOT NIGHT TIME IT WAS BROAD DAYLIGHT AND EVERYONE WOULD KNOW WHO TOOK THE BODY TO BE BURIED. I CAN HEAR THE MEMBERS OF THE SANHEDRIN WHISPERING AMONG THEMSELVES, “CAN YOU BELIEVE OUR FELLOW MEMBERS? THEY BURIED THAT TROUBLE MAKER.” “THEY MUST BE TRADERS.” “WE’RE SO DISAPPOINTED IN BOTH OF THEM.” - BUT NICODEMUS AND JOSEPH DECIDED THAT JESUS WAS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THEIR PEERS OR THEIR POSTION…
LISTEN - THE CROSS OF CHRIST, TRANSFORMED THESE MEN FROM SECRET DISCIPLES TO BOLD DEFENDERS. AND THE CROSS WILL DO THE SAME FOR YOU IF YOU ALLOW IT TOO.
2 CORINTHIANS 3:12 SAYS, “THEREFORE, SINCE WE HAVE SUCH A HOPE, WE ARE VERY BOLD.”
UNDERSATND – WHEN YOU REALLY GRASP – WHEN REALLY GET A HOLD OF THE COURAGE OF JESUS DYING, PUBLICLY, UNASHAMEDLY FOR YOU ON THAT CROSS IT CREATES, IT DEVELOPS, IT BIRTHS A NEW BOLDNESS IN YOU.
IN THE BOOK OF ACTS PETER AND JOHN WERE TOLD THAT THEY COULDN’T SPEAK PUBLICLY ABOUT JESUS ANYMORE AND THEY SAID, “BUT WE CAN’T HELP AND SPEAK ABOUT WHAT WE HAVE SEEN AND HEARD AND THEY WENT OUT IN THE STREETS AND THE PREACHED ABOUT JESUS BOLDLY. AND THE BIBLE SAYS,
“WHEN THEY SAW THE COURAGE OF PETER AND JOHN AND REALIZED THAT THEY WERE UNSCHOOLED, ORDINARY MEN, THEY WERE ASTONISHED AND THEY TOOK NOTE THAT THESE MEN HAD BEEN WITH JESUS.” ACTS 4:13
LISTEN - THE CLOSER YOU GET TO JESUS THE BOLDER YOU WILL BE IN YOUR TESTIMONY OF HIM.
RICK CHASE A RADIO SHOCK-JOCK OF KMEL-FM IN SAN FRANCISCO, WHO WAS COMPARED TO THE NOTORIOUS AND VULGAR HOWARD STERN, MADE A LEAP OF FAITH THAT SHOCKED HIS LISTENERS IN THE BAY AREA. IN EARLY 1998, CHASE STARTED AIRING SOUND BITES OF A CHRISTIAN MINSITER.
LISTENERS AND MANAGEMENT TOOK IT IN STRIDE AT FIRST. AFTER ALL, THIS WAS RICK CHASE WHO HAD BEEN FINED $20,000 BY THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION FOR SIRING AN OBSCENE SONG, AND WHO APPEARED ON ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT WEARING A T-SHIRT WITH THE WORDS “GO TO HELL” ON THE FRONT.
WHEN CHASE, 41, KEPT UP THE ON-AIR TALK OF GOD, IT ALMOST COST HIM HIS JOB. NOT ONLY WAS HE TELLING HOW HE WAS NOW FREE OF A 25 YEAR COCAINE HABIT, BUT HE WAS CITING SCRIPTURE ON MORAL ISSUES. HIS BOSSES FINALLY AGREED THAT HE COULD SPEAK FREELY IN THE OPENING AND CLOSING OF HIS DAILY SHOW, BUT NO CHRISTIAN MINSTER CUTS.
“I REALIZE IT IS NOT MY RADIO STATION,” CHASE CONCURRED. “BUT I THINK THAT IT IS MY DUTY TO GOD TO SAY WHAT I CAN, WHEN I CAN.” CHASE SAID HE MADE A COMMITMENT TO CHRIST AND IT HAS ENDED HIS DRUG HABIT.
ON SUNDAYS, CHASE HOSTS THE KMEL GOSPEL MUSIC SHOW, WHERE HE GETS TO TALK MORE DEEPLY ABOUT GOD AND TAKE PRAYER REQUESTS. “IN MY HEART,” HE SAID, “I WOULD LIKE TO BE IN CHRISTIAN RADIO, BUT RIGHT NOW I AM AMAZED AT HOW GOD IS USING ME WHERE I AM AT.”
IN THE WORDS OF PAUL, “I AM NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL, BECAUSE IT IS THE POWER OF GOD FOR THE SALVATION OF EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES. ROMANS 1:16
LISTEN - YOUR BOLD WITNESS MAY BE IN A SCHOOL CLASSROOM WHERE AS A TEACHER YOU SPEAK UP FOR BIBLICAL VALUES. OR AS A STUDENT YOU SPEAK UP FOR CREATIONISM. IT MAY BE IN A RELATIONSHIP WHERE YOU SPEAK UP FOR CHRISTIAN VIRTUES. OR IN A POLITICAL ARENA WHERE YOU SPEAK UP FOR TRUTH.
JESUS SAID,
“IF ANYONE IS ASHAMED OF ME AND MY WORDS IN THIS ADULTEROUS AND SINFUL GENERATION, THE SON OF MAN WILL BE ASHAMED OF HIM WHEN HE COMES IN HIS FATHER’S GLORY WITH THE HOLY ANGELS.” MARK 8:38(NIV)
JESUS TRANSFORMS US FROM SECRET DISCIPLES TO A BOLD DEFENDERS THE CLOSER WE GET TO THE CROSS.
HOW CLOSE ARE YOU TO THE CROSS?
ARE YOU A CASUAL OBSERVER OR AN ACTIVE PARTICIPANT?
ARE YOU A HOSTILE SKEPTIC OR A HUMBLE BELIEVER?
ARE YOU A SECRET DISCIPLE OR A BOLD DEFENDER?
HOW HAS THE CROSS OF CHRIST IMPACTED YOUR LIFE?
SIMON OF CYRENE, BECAME AN ACTIVE PARTICIPANT AND IT TRANSFORMED HIS LIFE AND THE LIVES OF HIS FAMILY. AND IT’S RECORDED IN SCRIPTURE.
THE ROMAN CENTURION WAS TRANSFORMED FROM A HOSTILE SKEPTIC TO A HUMBLE BELIEVER. AND HE’S MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE.
JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA AND NICODEMUS WERE TRANSFORMED FROM SECRET DISCIPLES TO BOLD DEFENDERS OF JESUS. AND WE READ ABOUT THEM IN GOD’S WORD.
IF THE BIBLE WERE STILL BEING WRITTEN TODAY WHAT WOULD BE WRITTEN ABOUT YOU?
LET’S PRAY!
