Introduction:
What would you do if you were a high school football player and your coach sent in a play which called for you to run backward to your opponent’s goal line? It has happened!
At the end of the 1988 football season, Tishimingo High was playing Faulkner High. The outcome of that game would determine one of the teams in the Mississippi state playoffs. With seven seconds left in the game, Tishimingo was winning 16-14. They had the ball on Faulkner’s 40-yard line. All they had to do was run out the clock on the next play, and they would win the game by two points.
The coach sent in a play to the quarterback, who was his son. The play called for a handoff to the tailback and for him to run backwards as fast as he could for the opponent’s goal line.
When the play was given in the huddle, one of the players told the quarterback, "Your daddy must be crazy!" They argued in the huddle so long that a delay-of-game penalty was called against them. Finally, the team lined up, the ball was handed off to the tailback, and he ran 55 yards in the wrong direction. He laid down in the opponent’s end zone and waited for the clock to run out with practically everybody on the field and in the stadium confused. A two-point safety for Faulkner. Score tied. Time expired.
Would you say the coach was a fool? Not exactly. You see, there’s one more thing you need to know. In order for the team to reach the playoffs, Tishimingo had to win by four or more points. After thinking about the chances of going 40 yards in one play or kicking a field goal from that distance, the coach decided overtime was his best bet. So he gave the other team two points to send the game into overtime.
The result of the game was that Tishimingo won in overtime, 22-16, on a run by the tailback. That tailback finished the game with minus 29 yards for the night. But his team won and went on to the playoffs.
I don’t know about you, but that sounds a bit like the cross to me. God became a man, was pushed around by his enemies, and was executed by a Roman governor of Palestine. Satan appeared to have won. Jesus of Nazareth was dead. His disciples were scattered. God had suffered defeat. Or had he?
Three days later, Jesus was alive from the dead. Over a period of 40 days, he showed himself alive to hundreds of people. Then 51 days later, Peter explained that it had all been part of God’s plan. He said Jesus was "delivered by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God." (Acts 2:23). Those words tell us that what happened on the cross was not an accident. As foolish as it may have seemed at the time, it was God’s plan from the very beginning of time.
It was a plan that didn’t seem to make much sense. A plan that looked to all the world like craziness. But the Son did exactly what the Father wanted him to do. And he died on the cross for the sins of the human race.
Paul explained it best of all when he wrote, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." (I Corinthians 1:18).
I. The Scene at the Cross
I want you to go back in your minds for a few minutes to the scene of the crucifixion. There was Jesus hanging on a cross, just outside the city walls of Jerusalem at Golgotha, the "place of the skull". It was a rocky hill that some people say was shaped like a skull. It was a grim name for a grim place where grim things were done.
Imagine, if you will, the men who stood around Jesus as he hung there -- his enemies. They could finally breathe a sigh of relief. Yes, it was true that Jesus had attracted quite a gathering of people. And it was true that Jesus had undeniably performed miracles. It was even true that Jesus had made fools of them all as they tried to trap him in his words. But they could grant him the triumphs of yesterday because this day, they felt confident the victory was theirs!
They had managed to capture Jesus without a fight, rush him through the mockery of a Jewish trial, and even have him convicted by the Roman authorities, all in one night, before most of the Jews in Jerusalem even knew what was going on. They had succeeded in finding him guilty of treason, a crime punishable by death -- death on the cross.
So there they stood at the foot of the cross, watching Jesus....eyes filled with hatred, eyes filled with vengeance, eyes filled with contempt for a man who had made life uncomfortable for them for three years.
They stood mocking him, accusing him, words of scorn and ridicule. "And those who passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads and saying, ’You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.’" (Matthew 27:39-40).
"Well, Jesus, things aren’t looking so good for you, right now, are they? You were a big talker while you were down here with us. What have you got to say for yourself now? Do you still have plans to rebuild the temple? You’re a carpenter, you’ve got nails in your hands, you’ve got wood at your disposal, go build your temple."
"Perform a miracle now, Miracle Man! Come down from the cross, and we will believe you. Just one miracle and all of us will be believers. We’ll never doubt you again. Just come down from the cross."
In verse 42, they said, "If he is the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now if he will have him; for he said, ’I am the Son of God.’" (Matthew 27:42-43).
"Come on , Jesus, if you’re really the Christ, come down from the cross! Our Savior, the Messiah that has been prophesied for so many years could never find himself humiliated on a cross. He’s to be our King. If you’re truly the Christ, come down from the cross!"
They probably shouted till they were hoarse. The noise was so great that perhaps only a few of them standing near the cross heard what he said when he moved his lips in prayer, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." (Luke 23:34).
There were a lot of things that were said that day that were cruel, and there were a lot of things that were said that were untrue. But there was one thing that his enemies said to him that day that had a great deal of truth to it. "Likewise the chief priests, also mocking with the scribes and elders, said, ’He saved others; himself he cannot save.’ (Matthew 26:41-42).
"He saved others, himself he cannot save. Sure, he healed the lame and made them walk again. And yes, he gave sight to the blind. He made withered hands whole again. He even brought back the dead, but look at him now, he can’t save himself!"
II. Jesus Could Not Save Himself
And it was true. He saved others, but he couldn’t save. In one sense, they were absolutely right. But they were also wrong. You see, he could have saved himself if he wanted to.
He could have compromised with the priests or made a bargain with Caiaphas. He could have talked things over with Pilate who was looking for any excuse not to crucify him. He could have made his kingdom political instead of spiritual and gained a greater and more influential following. He could have chosen the easy thing to do instead of the right thing. He said to Peter in the garden of Gethsemane, "Do you not think that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he will provide me with more than twelve legions of angels?" (Matthew 26:53). He said, "All I have to do is say the word."
Yes, Jesus had the ability to avoid the plotting and devices of wicked men. He could have saved himself. He had the power. But then he would never have been our Savior! Because had he chosen to save himself, there would have been no hope for saving us.
That’s one of the great paradoxes about salvation! He saved others, but to do that, he couldn’t save himself. It’s a truth we recognize in different areas of life. An acorn must be willing to die if it is to produce an oak tree. A soldier must be willing to die if he intends to save his country. A shepherd must be willing to die if he wants to save his sheep.
So when Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, sought to bring about the salvation of his sheep, there was no other way to save us than to lay down his life for us. He said, "I lay down my life for the sheep." (John 10:15). And a few verses later, he added the words, "No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself." (John 10:18).
And that’s so true. In a sense, it wasn’t the nails that held Christ to the beams of the cross. It was his love for us that held him there. For to love is to be willing to give oneself for the one we love. As Jesus said the night before his crucifixion, "This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that to lay down one’s life for his friends." (John 15:12-13). And so Jesus loved us and gave himself for us. He saved others, but he couldn’t save himself.
But couldn’t Christ have saved us without the shedding of his precious blood? Why did he have to die as he did -- cut off in the prime of his life at the age of only 33? Could he not have sat, like the Greek philosophers before him, in the shade of some garden to seek the wisdom that would save the world?
If he had been only a teacher of men, a philosopher, he might have done these things. But he came to be our Savior. "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." (Luke 19:10). And salvation had to come by the shedding of blood. "Without shedding of blood there is no remission." (Hebrews 9:22).
Yes, Christ had a deeper work to do. He came not only to teach, but to redeem. "....You were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold....but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." (I Peter 1:18-19).
Let me be a little more specific and a little more personal. Suppose I suddenly became very penitent and wanted to make atonement for all the wrongs I have ever done....What a tremendous task that would be.
Because I would first think of yesterday, and I would remember the things I had said that had hurt someone else. And I would say, "Let me take the pain that I caused you and bear it myself." And I would go to everyone whom I had hurt with words, and I would gather up the pain and lay it on my own heart.
And then I would remember the deeds that I did yesterday which were wrong....deeds that hurt other people, and deeds that hurt God. And I would say, "Let me bear the consequence of my actions. Let me suffer for my wrongdoings."
Then I would remember the day before yesterday and do the same thing....then the day before that....and last week....and last month.... and last year. And if my conscience laid upon me the just punishment for all my sins, my heart would be crushed beneath the weight of it....I simply couldn’t bear it.
In fact, I couldn’t go very far into the yesterdays to make restitution without being crushed. So that, no matter how much I loved you, I could never take your sorrow or your punishment, having so much of my own.
So what we need to do is to find someone whose burden is light, someone whose life is not weighed down with sin, someone who "was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin." (Hebrews 4:15).
Jesus Christ, of course, is the only one who meets our needs because he had no sin of his own. And because he loves us -- because he loves you and me -- he says to us, "I will take your burden, and I will take the pain that you have caused, the sorrow, the disappointment, the disgrace, the shame. I will take them and carry them for you, and the punishment that you cannot bear, I will bear." And he gathered it all up.
Paul said, "For he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him." (II Corinthians 5:21). I don’t know the specifics of how Jesus became sin for us. But I do know that because that happened, he found himself separated from God as he cried out on the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46).
And that explains the mystery of Christ on the cross. "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:5-6).
And the amazing fact is that Jesus would have made that sacrifice if I was the only person in the world. That’s how much he loved me.
I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time understanding that kind of love. I have a hard time understanding why Jesus would leave heaven in the first place. In Philippians 2:6-7, we read that Jesus, "being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, and coming in the likeness of men." Jesus has always been God. He lived in heaven, had angels serving him, a place of prominence and power and he gave it all up to come to earth.
Rubel Shelly once told about a time when he was 16 years old. It was the practice of the Ladies’ Bible class in his congregation to fix up food baskets with grocery items at Christmastime to take to needy families in the area. Then the teen-agers would deliver them around the community.
He recalls going to one shack which was well off the beaten path. It was just a run-down little shack, but there were 3 generations of family living in it, 9 people in all. When the door was opened, a terrible smell came out -- a smell of sickness, of rotting food, of soiled bedclothes. They quickly mumbled something about being from the church of Christ and wanting to help them out, and they gave them the groceries. As soon as they got back to the car, they took a big, deep breath of fresh air, just trying to get the odor out of their lungs.
Imagine someone telling you to go visit that family. Or suppose that someone suggested that to really help them out, you should move in with them for a few weeks and help them clean up and take care of their sickness. Breathe that air and live in that filth. I’ll be honest with you. I don’t think I have that kind of love.
But that’s exactly the kind of decision Jesus made when he emptied himself and became a man. The simple thing would have been to come down to the earth for a short while to teach. It wouldn’t take long. Then he could go back to heaven, take a deep breath of fresh air and say, "I’m glad I didn’t have to stay in that any longer."
But he had a love great enough that only a divine being could possess it, that caused him to literally move in with us. So he was born, kicking and screaming into this world. He grew up to sweat and get blisters, to get hungry, to get thirsty. He knew what it meant to get hot, to have to go to work.
He knew what it meant to have people misunderstand his motives and lie about him, to have his friends turn on him and his best friend to deny him three times, to stand up and say three times, "I don’t even know the man." He moved into our smelly, stinky situation and he took our sin, our frailty, our weakness upon him and he carried it to the cross.
He "made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross." (Philippians 2:7-8).
Let me ask you this morning, what can you do with a Savior like that? What can you say in the face of that kind of love? His enemies at the cross said, "He saved others; himself he cannot save." And they were right. Because Jesus could not save himself -- if he was to save us.
II. We Cannot Save Ourselves
But I think it’s important that we recognize that the law of sacrifice which demanded the life of Christ must also be the law in our own lives. For it is certain that if we desire to follow him and do as he commands us, we also must be willing to give up our lives.
Indeed, Jesus said, "If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." (Matthew 16:24). Like Jesus, we too must be willing to give of ourselves.
Our goal is to reach the point where we can say, as Paul did, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20). And it’s easy to think that that’s what we do until we come face to face with the cross of Jesus.
Christians have been known to say such things as, "Well, I don’t believe we have to attend every service; after all, a fellow’s got to rest sometime", or "I just really don’t feel like being involved in the work of the church; I’m too busy with other important things." But then we see Jesus hanging on the cross, shedding his blood for us. Brethren, a Lord like that deserves our full commitment and support.
If our souls are to be saved in eternity, they must be lost to this age. If they are to be saved for the treasures that rust does not corrupt, they must be lost to the riches of this world. And, if they are to be saved for heaven, they must be lost to this world, for "Whoever desires to save his life will lose it: and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." (Matthew 16:25).
To the early martyrs, the world said, "You can’t save your bodies if you refuse to worship Caesar." And they were right. Those early Christians couldn’t save their bodies. It was because they were living in such a way that they might save their souls.
Society says today, "You can’t follow the riches and pleasures of this life if you want to follow Christ." And that’s true. That’s why Moses "refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt...." (Hebrews 11:24-26).
The world says, "You can’t be popular if you continue to hold to that narrow-minded view of Christianity." And they’re right; you can’t. Because to achieve certain goals, you have to be willing to give up certain things.
What they said at the foot of the cross was true: "He saved others; himself he cannot save."
He was a King who failed in the eyes of the world, in order to gain eternal victory in the eyes of God. And we have to be willing to do the same thing if we desire to spend an eternity with him.
I understand that it seems to be the foolish thing to do. The world wants to live it up. The world wants to enjoy its pleasures. The world wants to laugh and have a good time.
And those things have their place. But Christ reverses things -- the cross comes before the crown. The sorrow comes before the joy. The lowly shall be exalted. The mourners shall be comforted.
It’s a plan that doesn’t seem to make much sense. And I would agree, were it not for the fact that it’s a plan that has come from our heavenly Father. "Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." (I Corinthians 1:25).
There is a song entitled "God’s Own Fool" by Michael Card which is about this very idea. The chorus of that song says:
"When we in our foolishness thought we were wise,
He played the fool and he opened our eyes.
When we in our weakness believed we were strong,
He became helpless to show we were wrong."
Conclusion:
The love that Jesus showed us through his death is difficult to understand. But it is a death that deserves our full commitment in return. The question I raise as we close the lesson this morning is this: how will you react to the one who loved you so much?
If you’re not yet a Christian, you can bring that blood of Jesus into contact with your life by dying to the sin that is in your life, through faith being buried in a watery grave of baptism to be raised to walk in newness of life.
If you’re already a child of God this morning, be reminded that you owe a tremendous debt to that one who gave his life for you. It’s a debt that can never be repaid, but one which demands your full allegiance and service.
He saved others, but he couldn’t save himself. That was true because he died for you. Won’t you make up your mind that you’re going to live for him?
