#2: True or False: The Jews Killed Jesus?
¡°He was wounded for our transgressions...¡±
¡°I could ask my Father and he would give me. . .¡±
¡°Cancelled the handwriting. . .¡± Col. 2:15?
Could Jesus have prevented his death?
I used to think that Jesus couldn¡¯t have stopped it. That God had decided that He would die, and that was all there was to it. However, I had to change my position when I encountered this verse:
Mt 26:53 "Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly?¡±
Do you realize the IMPACT of that? Jesus really could have stopped this from happening! Every strike of the whip, every time the hammer struck the nails. . . all of it he could have prevented! What would it be like to go through a crucifixion, knowing that if you would just ASK, you could stop it??!
Jesus even said it himself as he stood before Pilate:
Joh 19:10 Then Pilate said to Him, "Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?" 11 Jesus answered, "You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above.
So the real question is:
If he could have prevented it, why didn¡¯t he?
On February 15, 1947 Glenn Chambers boarded a plane bound for Quito, Ecuador to begin his ministry in missionary broadcasting. But he never arrived. In a horrible moment, the plane carrying Chambers crashed into a mountain peak and spiraled downward. Later it was learned that before leaving the Miami airport, Chambers wanted to write his mother a letter. All he could find for stationery was a page of advertising on which was written the single word "WHY?" Around that word he hastily scribbled a final note. After Chambers’s mother learned of her son’s death, his letter arrived. She opened the envelope, took out the paper, and unfolded it. Staring her in the face was the question "WHY?"
After watching the Passion of the Christ, you just kind of walk around and heave an occasional SIGH for the rest of the day. It feels like the wind has been knocked right out of you.
The only question really left in your mind is a great big ¡°WHY???!¡± The Bible answers that question for us:
¡°Jesus, because of the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross...¡± Hebrews 12:2
JOY?! What would give Jesus JOY about going through the horror of torture and death that he went through? What would inspire him to go through that, if he could be delivered from it?
Why did he have to die? There are three reasons why he had to die, and these three reasons show us what the JOY was that Jesus found in dying on the cross.
1. I have sinned.
A few minutes ago, you received a blank piece of paper. Here¡¯s what I want you to do with that. I want you to think something that you¡¯ve done that you knew was wrong. I want you to write that on your paper. If you¡¯re worried about someone else seeing, just a word or a picture or something that reminds you of it would be fine.
¡ñ It might be the name of someone that you¡¯ve treated wrongly.
¡ñ It might be a lie that you¡¯ve told.
¡ñ It might be something that you¡¯ve stolen.
¡ñ It might be a time that you disobeyed your parents.
¡ñ It might be the time you cheated.
Whatever it is, I want you to write something down, and then fold it over. Everyone of us in here, no matter how good we are, has a paper with something written on it.
2. Because I have sinned, I deserve to be separated from God forever.
Did you know that in heaven, there is a book that has a record of everything that you¡¯ve done wrong?
Re 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Did you know that what you just wrote on that paper is IN THE BOOKS? You may be a really good person today...
You may give a lot to the church. . .
You may treat your wife well. . .
You may pay your bills. . .
But what are you going to do about what¡¯s IN THE BOOKS?
¡°The wages of sin is death...¡± Rom. 6:23
Did you know that what you just wrote on that paper is enough to send you to hell ¨C to make you miss heaven? The word death here means both physical death and eternal separation from God. . .eternal death!
But let¡¯s get on to the good news:
3. Jesus died to remove the sins listed against me.
Colossians 2:14 ¡°He canceled the record that contained the charges against us. He took it and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ’s cross.¡±
You know what this means? It means that the Jews DIDN¡¯T kill Jesus. It means that the Romans didn¡¯t kill Jesus. It means that I did it. . .and you did it. It means that Jesus went through that because it brought him joy to save YOU from paying the penalty of your sin!
I think Mel Gibson really understood this. Here¡¯s why I think so: In the movie, ¡°The Passion of the Christ¡±, as Jesus is stretched out and ready to be nailed to the cross, there is a close-up of the hands that hold the nails in place, and drive them in. Those hands are not the hands of the Roman soldier. Those are Mel Gibson¡¯s hands. I don¡¯t know Mr. Gibson. . . but I think he understood what we¡¯ve discovered here this morning. It wasn¡¯t about the Romans ¨C it was about MY SIN.
Let me tell you what¡¯s going to happen when I get to heaven and stand before God, and the books are opened. They¡¯re going to turn to the page where all of the bad things I¡¯ve done are ¨C and it¡¯s going to be a BLANK PAGE!!!
You know why?
- It¡¯s not because I¡¯ve been a good person.
- It¡¯s not because I¡¯m a preacher.
- It¡¯s not because I¡¯ve never done something wrong.
It¡¯s because ¡°HE CANCELLED THE RECORD THAT CONTAINED THE CHARGES AGAINST ME, and took it and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ¡¯s cross.¡±
If you want that to be true of you, you have to confess to God that you have sinned and you are sorry, ask Him to forgive you, and tell him you want to live like he wants you to for the rest of your life.
¡°Do you want to have the charges against you cancelled?¡±
I¡¯d like everyone to bow their heads and close their eyes for a moment. Is there anyone here who says, ¡°I don¡¯t know that the charges against me have been cancelled, but I sure would like to!¡± If you¡¯re like that this morning, raise your hand quietly. I won¡¯t single you out, promise.
For those that raised their hands, I want you to pray. You might say something like this:
If you prayed that prayer, or if you have prayed it in the past, I want you to do something right now. When you received your piece of paper, you also received a nail. I want you to write across that piece of paper, CANCELLED, and then I want you to drive that nail through it!
HANDOUT
___________________________
Did the Jews Kill Jesus?Could Jesus have ______________ his death?
Mt 26:53 "Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly?¡±
Joh 19:10-11 Then Pilate said to Him, "Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?" Jesus answered, "You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above.¡±
If he could have prevented it, _________ didn¡¯t he?
¡°Jesus, because of the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross...¡± Hebrews 12:2
Why was it that Jesus had to die?
1. I have ______________.
Romans 3:23 ¡°_______ have sinned, and fallen short of the glory of God.¡±
Revelation 20:12 ¡°And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the __________ were opened: . . . and the dead were _____________ out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.¡±
2. Because I have sinned, I deserve to be _____________ from God forever.
¡°The wages of sin is death...¡± Romans 6:23
The word ¡°death¡± means both physical death and spiritual death, which is ______________ ________________ from God.
3. Jesus died to _____________ the sins listed against me.
Colossians 2:14 ¡°He canceled the record that contained the charges against us. He took it and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ’s cross.¡±
