INTRODUCTION
In last week’s message I preached from verses 24-26, and showed you briefly some of the powerful symbolism that was found in the events leading up to the cross. Today I want us to continue that look as we notice more of this symbolism, and I want you to take note of this – it is no small coincidence that the events unfolded the way they did. Everything that happened that day had been carefully orchestrated by God Himself down through the centuries so that all the events of all of history culminated in this one man Jesus Christ on this one day that He purchased the salvation of all mankind.
I’m looking for one of three responses out of you today, knowing full well that God may choose to work in other ways should He so choose. First, there are some among you today who have never chosen Jesus Christ to be your Savior. For whatever reasons, your faith is not in Christ, but is instead in your own ability to be good or earn God’s favor. Maybe you’re even a bit skeptical about all this Jesus stuff anyway. You need to come to Christ today. You may be here just because its Easter and you need to get somebody off your back. I’m glad you came, and I trust that since you have come that you will at least give the Lord a chance. Second, there are some among you today who know Christ as your Savior but you’re nowhere near where you ought to be in your relationship with Him. He is distant and you may even like it that way. Your relationship with Him has waned and He has taken a back seat to other things in your life. You need to repent and ask the Lord to forgive you and then you need to get back on the right track. Third, there are some of you today who know and love the Lord with all your being – and the words I speak on God’s behalf today are words for which to praise His holy name. You do that today as I share with you these powerful symbols on and around the cross.
Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knew before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head. And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him. And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross.
THE SCARLET ROBE & THE CROWN OF THORNS
Last week we read from Leviticus 16 about the sin offering. I want to read that to you again.
Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat: and he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins…[then] he shall bring the live goat: and Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: and the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.
You remember that the priest would take these two goats and kill the first. He would cut its throat and sprinkle the blood on the altar and on the mercy seat inside the Most Holy Place. This goat’s blood was shed for the sin of the people. Then the priest would take the second goat and place his hands on its head and confess over it the sins of the people, then a fit man would lead the goat into the wilderness never to be seen again.
The Scriptures tell us that after Pilate released Barabbas, he had Jesus scourged, or beaten with whips. His back and body were ripped to shreds and in that bloody moment, they stripped Jesus and put on Him a scarlet robe. Now I want you to think about what is happening here. Isaiah said,
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
The scarlet robe was symbolic of sin, and in our look back at the sin offering, it was specifically symbolic of the first of the two goats. Jesus took our sin upon Him that we might be cleansed, that our sins should be as white as snow. Jesus shed His rich, red, royal blood on the cross of Calvary in our place. He took our sin upon Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says,
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Child of God, you’ve been made clean by the blood of Christ! You’ve been made the righteousness of God by His shed blood! He took your sins, though they be as scarlet, and made them white as snow!
Not only did that scarlet robe represent your sin, it represents royalty. If you look back to Matthew 27:11, Jesus was asked if He was the King of the Jews. The robe and other things that were about to happen to Jesus were all done in mockery of His claim to be the King of the Jews. What kind of king was this man? What kind of leader was He? Here Jesus stood at the mercy of the Jews and Roman soldiers as they pushed Him around and mockingly dressed Him in the clothes of royalty.
We’ve all seen paintings of kings and royalty dressed in their long, flowing purple or crimson robes. "If you’re a king well let’s dress you up like one and parade you around in front of all the people." Little did they know that they couldn’t have put a more fitting piece of clothing on the Savior! Revelation 19, verses 13 & 16 say,
And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called the Word of God…And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
Its no wonder that the Bible says that when "he comes with clouds…every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: [and I might add they that mocked and beat and put on Him the scarlet robe] and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him…"
Brother let me tell you that on that day every eye is going to behold the King of kings and the Lord of lords wearing a scarlet robe and they won’t be laughing! There’s going to be weeping in that day by those who mocked and rejected the Son of God, and there’s going to be great rejoicing from those who accepted the blood sacrifice He made for our sins.
Now think back to that sin offering. The first goat was killed and its blood shed, but the second goat lived. Remember that the priest put his hands on its head and symbolically transferred the sins of the people to the head of that goat. Before they crucified the Savior they platted a crown of thorns and put it on Jesus head.
The crown of thorns takes us all the way back to Genesis 3, where Adam and Eve sinned against God in the Garden of Eden. You remember that God came and found them, and began to tell them the results of their sinful rebellion against Him. One of the results of sin is found in Genesis 3:18, "Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat of the herb of the field."
Now let’s put all this together. Thorns were a part of the curse of sin, placed upon the head of the Savior, symbolically transferring the curse of sin to the head of Christ, like the priest did the goat, and Christ took those sins upon Him never to be brought up again. That’s why Isaiah could write,
He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
He bore your griefs, He carried your sorrows, He was wounded for your transgressions, He was bruised for your iniquities, the chastisement of your peace was upon Him, and by His stripes you are healed. Yes, that day Jesus was crucified He wore upon His head a wicked crown of thorns to show that He was taking the sin curse upon Himself, but when He returns, it won’t be a crown of thorns He’s wearing. Revelation 19:12 says,
His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
These are the crowns of royalty, the crowns of the King, the Lord and Master of us all, and praise God He’s returning one day to establish that kingdom where He will sit on the throne!
THE REED IN HIS RIGHT HAND
The men that day put a scarlet robe on Jesus’ back, a crown of thorns on His head, then verse 29 tells us that they put a reed in his right hand. Way back in Genesis 49, Jacob was telling his children what would become of them. To his son Judah, Jacob made this statement,
Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise; thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow down before thee. Judah is lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes: his eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.
There’s too much here to try to pick it all apart, but I want you to notice the phrase, "the scepter shall not depart from Judah…" The scepter is the symbol of authority. It means power and the one who holds the scepter is the one in control. The scepter was not ever going to depart from the tribe of Judah. The men that day put this reed in Jesus hand, again mocking Him and His claim to be the King, but just like they didn’t know He was going to return one day wearing a crimson robe or crowns of gold, they didn’t know that when He returned Jesus would also "rule them with a rod of iron." What’s that mean? It’s referring to that scepter – that symbol of authority and power.
When Jesus came the first time He came as a Lamb led to the slaughter, but when He returns He won’t be some meek and lowly Lamb – He’s returning as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah to rule and reign and exercise power and authority over the nations! John said in Revelation 19:15,
And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
THE BOWED KNEES
Well, now we have Jesus all dressed up. He’s wearing the robe, the crown, and He has this reed in His hand. The people have paraded Him around in front of everyone while they take cheap shots at Him. Now that He’s all dressed up like a King, verse 29 says,
And they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head. And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him.
I really don’t want to say that much here, but I do want to read to you from Philippians 2:7-11. The people mockingly worshipped Jesus before His death, but one day they will worship Him in a different way.
But [Jesus] made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Every human that has ever been born or ever will be born is going to worship Jesus. They may do it like the soldiers and Jews did during this life, but there will come a day when they’ll see Jesus for who He really is and they’ll be on their knees confessing that He is the Lord! You name anyone you want to, you, me, Billy Graham, Hitler, Madeline Murray O’Hair, Charles Darwin, or anybody else, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord!
THE TREE OF DEATH
The last thing I want you to see comes a little later in the account. The people are through with their mockery of Jesus kingship. They have stripped Him of the royal garments and have placed the cross upon His back. Jesus is led through the streets of Jerusalem to a place called Golgotha where He will be crucified. They get Him on the hill called Calvary, lay the cross down, drive the nails into His hands and feet, and stand the cross up. He hangs there for several hours and then He dies on what I have chosen to call a tree of death, the cross.
Jesus told Nicodemus just a few years earlier that it would happen. He said,
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
The statement Jesus made was about a story with which Nicodemus would be familiar. While the Israelites had wandered around in the wilderness, they began to complain and anger the Lord, so He sent serpents into the camp that began to bite the people. They began to die, and as they did, the people cried out to Moses. The Lord gave Moses the instructions to make a brass snake and put it on top of a pole and lift it up in the middle of the camp. If they looked to the brass serpent with faith they would be healed. Some of you who are familiar with the pharmaceutical industry should recognize the snake wrapped around a pole that is used as the industry’s icon. Now think about how foolish that must have seemed to the people. "I’m snake bit and dying, and you want me to look at a metal snake on a pole? Give me a doctor!" But foolish or not, that’s what God told them to do, and those who looked were healed. I often wonder how many people either refused to look because they thought they knew better, or how many looked with despising eyes and bitter hearts.
Jesus said that just like that snake was lifted up in the wilderness, so would He be lifted up on a cross on Calvary to heal all men everywhere of the sin curse that brings physical and spiritual death to all. However, some won’t look, and others will look in mockery and spite. However, those who look, believing in Christ will have eternal life. Jesus was lifted up on a tree of death to bring life to all who believe.
That may sound foolish to you, but you’re not the first person to ever think that. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:17,
For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross is foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
It didn’t start out with a tree of death – in the perfect garden that God created there was another tree, the tree of life. Of that tree Adam and Eve were instructed to eat freely, but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil they were strictly forbidden to eat, for the consequences of such an action would lead to death, separation from God. They did indeed eat of the forbidden tree and lost access to the tree of life – now they were condemned to die. But because of the tree of death Jesus made the way possible for you to live.
This morning if you will look to that tree of death with believing hearts, understanding that Jesus hung there to pay for your sins, if in looking at that tree of death you understand that and you’re sorry for your sin, for what you caused Jesus to have to go through and you confess that to Him, if you can do that and call on Him to save you my friend you can have eternal life.
I know that to many people the cross is a foolish thing – Jesus hanging on a tree of death may seem very insignificant to you, but I call on you to reason with God this morning about your condition. Without Jesus Christ you are lost and undone, you are condemned to die and be eternally separated from Him. But today, if you will place your faith in Jesus the Bible promises you not death but life! The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Revelation 22 starts out…
And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve Him.
CONCLUSION
Let’s just pull up here and let me ask you something. Can you see that all the events leading up to the cross and the cross itself are more than merely coincidence? The Lord God has been working since before the world began to bring this Savior to you. He knew before you were ever born that your greatest need is Jesus, and He has made it abundantly clear that this Jesus is to be not just your Savior, but also your Lord!
Has Jesus been on trial in your life? Have you been questioning and trying Him only to find Him guilty in your eyes? Maybe today you are like those men who were so full of anger and bitterness and wrath that you too have been blinded to who He really is. Jesus didn’t come so you could live on easy street. He didn’t come with a pot of gold and a lot of luck to help you through life. He didn’t come so you could enjoy problem free living – He came to save you from your sin and to give you an abundant life that is found only in Him!
What will it be for you today? Will you accept Jesus as your Savior? Will you bow before Him in repentance and faith, or will you wait and bow in judgment? If you are saved today, will you return to Jesus with a life of love and devotion? Will you repent and return to the One you walked away from? How is God leading you this morning? What decision do you need to make for Him? As we close, turn your heart to Him and yield to the Holy Spirit’s prompting in your heart and mind during this invitation.
