OPEN: A little boy was not exactly happy about going to church on Easter Sunday morning. His new shoes were too tight, his tie pinched his neck, and the weather outside was just too good to be cooped up inside. As he sulked in the back seat of the family car, his parents heard him murmuring: “I don’t see why we have to go to church on Easter anyway. They keep telling the same old story, and it always comes out the same in the end.”
APPLY: Many wonder why there are so many Christmas and Easter Christians. People who only darken the doors on those specific holidays to hear the same old story again and again - but who never fully respond. I think it’s because, though it is the same old story, but they don’t understand it. They don’t understand its implications and importance. They aren’t the only ones.
ILLUS: I read of an informal survey a minister took of 100 Christians from several churches. He asked: “Would it have made any difference in your life as your are now living it, if Jesus had not died on the cross?”
45% said they did not think so
25% said they thought so, but not sure how
20% said it made all the difference in the world
10% said they had no idea.
What difference did it make that Jesus died on a cross? Many of these people didn’t know. AND as I prepared this sermon, I asked myself that question again and again…
I. What difference did the cross make?
One answer I came up with was "It fulfilled prophecy. It told me God had a plan."
In Luke 24 we’re told "He said to them, ’How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?’ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself."
In the Bible - all way from Genesis thru whole Old Testament prophets - there are over 300 prophecies. These prophecies declared:
That the Messiah was coming
What He was to do when He got here
How He was to die
And that he was to be sent to overcome death’s power
Some of the prophecies are obvious, others are subtle.
For example, one the more subtle prophecies was pointed out to me just this week:
Look at vs. 33. Where does it tell us that Jesus was crucified? (Golgotha).
What does Golgotha mean? (The place of the skull).
Now turn with me to Genesis 3:14-15… What does that tell us God was going to do to Satan? (Crush his head). Interesting isn’t it that the place where Satan’s head was crushed, was called the "place of the skull."
That was a subtle statement from God – now, let’s visit a passage where God’s more obvious:
Ps. 22:1-19
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent.
3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel.
4 In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them.
5 They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed.
6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads:
8 "He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him."
9 Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you even at my mother’s breast.
10 From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
11 Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.
12 Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
13 Roaring lions tearing their prey open their mouths wide against me.
14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.
16 Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet.
17 I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me.
18 They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.
19 But you, O LORD, be not far off; O my Strength, come quickly to help me.
This passage in Psalms is almost an exact description of what Jesus endured on the cross, and Jesus deliberately quoted its first line "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"
So, why did Jesus die on the cross? Part of the answer was: to fulfill prophecy. To declare that God had a purpose and a plan Jesus was not a victim of some tragic mistake, He was a victorious King marching forth to free His people from chains of sin
But that wasn’t all!
II. What difference did the cross make?
It declared that God cared for us. John 3:16 declares "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever should believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
ILLUS: Jesus was not an angel or a man. If He had been an angel or a man, John 3:16 would make no sense. For God to have sent an angel - or even a man of influence or power - to accomplish His objective… Well, it would be like me telling wife: “I love so much that I’m going to send Charlie, or Dave, or Juanita to die for you! Do you sense the emptiness in that?
Yet when Jesus died on Cross – even Centurion declared "Surely this was the Son of God!"
Why would the Centurion be effected like that? Because of how Jesus reacted on the cross – as you’d expect God to act. The Centurion had seen men die on cross before:
· cursing
· crying out in anguish and pain
· responding in anger to their tormentors
BUT Jesus was like who bore the pain of cross with nobility and purpose.
So, what significance was there in the cross? It declared that Jesus was the Son of God and that He died on the cross because He cared for us/ He loved us
III. Lastly, what difference did Jesus’ death on the cross make?
ILLUS: When you really love someone - spouse, friend, child - what do you most want to do? You want to spend time with them. This had been God’s desire had been from the very beginning of creation.
In Genesis, God created Adam & Eve in His image. He created a garden for them to live in. And every evening God came down from Heaven… why? To walk in the garden with them/ spend time with them. There was a peace, contentment, & fulfillment in Garden - because man and God were as one.
But that closeness was shattered by sin. So that Paul later wrote: "By that one man (Adam) sin entered into the world." Sinfulness of man became a barrier between God and His creation.
AND SO, when God gave man the design for the Tabernacle - and later the Temple - He found a way of symbolizing this barrier…
You see, the Tabernacle had 2 rooms. The 1st room was called "the holy place" where any priest could enter. The 2nd room (called the Holy of Holies) was a place of God’s presence, and only 1 priest was allowed to enter (the High Priest) and he could come in only once a year offering sacrifice for sins of the people. Something separated those two rooms - a veil. It literally served as a barrier between God and man. But notice what took place when Jesus died.
"And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom." (Matthew 27:50-51a) When Jesus died - the barrier was taken down.
Hebrews 10 tells us that - because Jesus had offered up His perfect sacrifice for us - we now have a confidence to enter into God’s presence, into the Holy of holies. AND we can now draw near to God with full assurance.
In other words: Jesus’ death on the cross gave us back the opportunity for closeness with God that sin had robbed from Adam & Eve.
It was that closeness that God had always desired. And that He willing to sacrifice everything for… because He loved us
CLOSE: Using verses from “The Old Rugged Cross”
SERMONS IN THIS SERIES
What Will You Do With Jesus? = Matthew 27:11-27:25
Welcome to Golgotha = Matthew 27:32-27:56
Resurrection Power = Matthew 27:62-28:15
