Move #1: Introduction
- Every year, Ozark Christian College puts together an Easter program that’s filled with drama and music highlighting the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And for several years in a row, I was a part of the production. Not as a singer! But as one of the actors. In fact, two of the three years that I was in it, I was Pontius Pilate and I actually had the same lines both years. I was the one who questioned Jesus, who spit on him, who knocked him around. And I remember one year, towards the end of the scene, after I am done addressing the crowds, saying something like,
"Shall I crucify your King?"
And the crowds yell back, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!"
- It’s a powerful scene taken straight from the Scripture. And then I walk over to the bowl of water, dip my hands in it, and wash them saying, "I am innocent of this man’s blood." And the way we did it, was after I said those words, in disgust, I would grab the bowl and flip it in the air for dramatic intensity. Well the 2nd year I did this, I really got into it, and I washed my hands, and I grabbed and flipped it in the air, and water went all over the place, but almost of it ended up on the servant girl who was on her knees holding up the bowl for me. The funny part is that the servant girl that year happened to be my girlfriend, who is now my wife. And I doused her with water. Poor Stacey!
- It’s hard to get those images out of our mind when we see them. If you have ever been to an Easter Pageant that is well done, then you can see it, you can see Jesus being led, being put on trial, being crucified. Or if you have seen movies that portray all the events of this coming week, it’s hard to get those images that we see out of our mind.
Move #2: Palm Sunday
- But this morning instead of seeing, I want us to hear. I want us to listen to all the sounds that fill this final week of Jesus life. As you know, this Sunday is Palm Sunday. It’s the day that Jesus came strolling in to Jerusalem riding on the donkey. And you can hear the crowds in the streets, yelling, "Hosanna! Hosanna in the highest! Save us, rescue us, deliver us! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord." You can just hear the desperation in their voices, as they plead with Jesus to rise up and become their King, to overthrow the Roman oppression. To establish himself as Messiah. You can hear what they wanted, they wanted a King, an Earthly King. Like King David of old.
- But that’s not what Jesus came to do. In fact, listen to what Jesus said about himself shortly before Palm Sunday... "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
- Did you hear it? Did you hear who he was, what he came to do?
Move #3: Thursday Night
- But now I want us to fast forward a few days. Sunday he enters on a donkey. On Thursday he gathers his disciples, shares a final meal with them. He indicates that Judas will betray him, and then Jesus stands up and goes over to the basin. The water used by the slaves. He takes off his outer garment, kneels down at the feet of each disciple and gently washes their dirty, grimy, smelly feet. He then rises, breaks the bread and lifts the cup and you’ve already heard what he said,
"Take and eat, this is my body. Drink from it, this is my blood which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."
- You can almost hear the astonishment, the confusion in the disciples gasps as they watch and listen to Jesus. Then later that night, you can hear Jesus in the garden, laying prostrate on the ground, sweating drops of blood. His disciples asleep. And did you hear what Jesus prayed,
"My father, if it is possible, may this cup, this suffering I am about to experience, may it be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.
Move #4: The Cross
- Then comes the guards, the betrayal, the arrest, the trial. It’s Friday morning, Jesus has been beaten and mocked, and now comes time for his death. I want you to hear it this morning. It’s important that we not only see the cross, we must also hear the cross.
- Jesus is there. Nails in his wrists, nails in his feet. Thieves on each side of him, a crowd of women below him. An entire nation despising him, his own disciples have abandoned him. And there he is, on that cross. Can you hear him. Listen closely... vss 45-46
- Did you hear the groans of Seperation? In his moment of agony, Jesus quotes, prays Psalm 22. And I am convinced that he quoted more than just the first line of that prophetic Psalm. As he hung on that cross, listen to what Jesus said, listen closely... 22:1-21 from the Message.
- Can you hear the feeling of separation, of loneliness. Maybe you’ve felt that separation in your life.
- A young lady goes off to college. Hundreds of miles from home, she doesn’t know anybody. She doesn’t have a car, or much money. She has a roommate she has never met before. She calls home, her mother asks how she is doing, she says to her, "Oh, I’m fine I guess." But she can hear it in her daughter’s voice, she can hear the loneliness, the separation.
- A widow wakes up in the middle of the night, it’s the first time she has slept alone for... it’s so long she can’t even remember. Instinctively, she reaches her hand beside her, but finds nothing but crumpled sheets. In a panic she sits up and wonders where her husband has gone, and then she remembers, she’s alone, she’s separated.
- A child goes to the mall with his father. The dad takes his son in the bookstore, and begins looking at a new book that he might buy. While he is on page number 4, the son sees the toy store across the hall. Instead of bothering his dad, the child wanders over without telling anyone. After looking at the toys for a little while, the child notices the arcade, then he notices the candy store. And before he knows it, he’s all alone. He looks to his left, then to his right, but his dad is no where to be seen. So he starts to cry, and cry, uncontrollably, he’s lost, he’s afraid. Can you hear it in his sobs? He’s alone, he’s separated.
- A husband and wife sit across the kitchen table from one another. The kids are in bed, but certainly not a sleep. For an hour they have listened to their parents fighting and arguing, screaming and yelling. First about one thing, then another, then another. Curses have been used, threats have been issued, hope has been lost. The kids quietly sob, the husband looks down in disgust, the wife wonders what to do next. And then they look at each other, and he finally says what they have all been thinking, "Maybe we should get a divorce." Can you hear the loneliness, can you sense the separation?
- Life is filled with such moments. Moments of pain, moments of agony. Days when you feel alone, when God seems so distant, so far removed. You promised God, never again, but another mistake, another slip-up, another temptation that gets the best of you. And in that hour of guilt, you feel that loneliness, that seperation. We’ve all been there, we’ve all experienced it.
- And as Jesus hangs on that deadly cross. For three hours, darkness fills the land. The sin of the world on his shoulder, my sin, your sin on his shoulders. And in the darkness we can hear his voice breaking the silence. Listen closely to what he says...
- As they nail him to the cross, you can hear him say...
"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
- As the thief begs for forgiveness, you can hear him say...
"Today you will be with me in paradise."
- As he looks down on his mother and on the Apostle John, you can hear him say...
"Dear woman, here is your son, here is your mother."
- As the burden of our sin bears down on him, you can hear him say...
"My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?"
- In his ultimate humanity, you can here him say...
"I am thirsty."
- As the end of the 3 hours approaches, the end of his life, you can hear him say...
"It is finished"
"Into your hands I commit my spirit."
- Did you hear it? Did you hear the loneliness, the separation?
- But as you hear the cross. As you listen to the separation that Jesus experienced. Remember all that you heard leading up to that cross. The triumphal entry, the last supper, the prayer at Gethsemane. Nobody forced him, nobody tricked him, nothing was out of his control. He willingly came to this earth as a baby, he willingly grew up to be a man, he willingly died upon the cross.
- His separation was intentional. He died on purpose. Why? So that one day he could hear us say, "Surely this is the Son of God." And when he hears us say those words, when he hears us say, "I accept you as the leader of my life, and as the savior of my soul," then something changes us. When he hears us acknowledge him then suddenly the separation between us and him is no longer there. Then, even when we are all alone, we are really never alone. Has he heard you say that lately? You’ve heard him, you’ve heard what he went through, but has he heard you say, "Surely you are the Son of God." Have you allowed him to change your outlook, your perspective on life.
Move #5: Conclusion
- A father took his family for a Sunday afternoon drive. As they were driving, enjoying the scenery, the two kids cried out: "Daddy, stop the car! There’s a kitten back there on the side of the road.!" So he turns the car around, pulls over to the spot of the kitten: "You kids stay in the car. I’ll check it out."
- He goes over to the kitten, sees that its just skin and bones, sore-eyed, full of fleas. When he reaches to pick it up, with it’s last bit of energy, it hisses at him, hair standing up on its back, showing its teeth and claws. Lunging for his wrist, scratching him, even drawing blood. Nevertheless, he picks it up, brings it back to the car.
- They drive home, the children give the kitten several baths, feed it some warm milk, and when night time comes, they beg their father to let it sleep in the house: "Just one night they say, tomorrow we’ll fix a place in the garage."
- The father says, "Sure, take my bedroom." He fixes a comfortable bed fit for a king. Several weeks pass by. Then one day the fathers walks in, feels something rubbing against his leg. He looks down and there is the cat. He reaches down to pick it up. When the cat sees his hand, it doesn’t show it’s claws and teeth, it doesn’t hiss. Instead it purrs, and it arches its back towards him wanting to be caressed.
- Is this the same cat? It couldn’t be the same cat. Well, in a way, it isn’t that same frightened, hurt, lonely, separated kitten on the side of the road. Something has changed, something is different. Of course, you and I know exactly what made the difference. Don’t we?
- It’s the same difference that God can make in all of us. As he reaches his hand down, we see that it’s scratched and bloody, but nevertheless, he continues to love us, to care for us, to watch over us. Hoping that someday, he will hear us say, "My Lord and My Savior."
