Who really killed Jesus?
What crime did Jesus commit?
Just how badly did Jesus suffer?
Why did Jesus die?
Couldn’t there have been another way?
How now shall we live?
Good Friday: What did He say and when did He say it?
How now shall we live?
Series: The Passion of the Christ: True or false?
Text: Selected
hello
By God’s grace and for God’s glory…
1. … I will rebuild my relationships.
Who are you at war with? Your husband? You wife? Your ex? Your parents? Your kids? Your boss? A former friend? Who are you at war with? Do you understand that Jesus died to bring people who are at war with one another together?
Jesus [died] for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.
John 11:51-52 (NIV)
The primary emphasis in this passage is national, racial, and cultural. Jesus died to bring Jews and Gentiles together – to make them one.
But a secondary application of this passage is personal. Jesus died to bring all of us together – even the people you are struggling with.
What you have to know is that the ground is level at the foot of the cross.
The cross is where…
…somebodies become nobodies.
Some of you here today might think you’re hot stuff. That you’re really together. That you’re better than others. But when you look at the cross, you realize that it was your sin that put Jesus there. I won’t think more highly of myself than I ought to think.
… nobodies become somebodies.
Some of us here today might think we don’t matter too much. That we aren’t worth very much. That nothing I do ever really works out right. That God doesn’t really give a rip about me. But when you look at the cross, you realize that He really loves you. I won’t think les of myself than I ought to think.
The ground is level at the foot of the cross. It’s at the cross that we’re all the same. We all are humbled and lifted up there.
Jesus [died] for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.
John 11:51-52 (NIV)
Recently, I received one of the most moving letters I’ve ever received. A woman has been attending this church for several months and has been able to hear from God for the fist time in many years. She’s come to know Christ in a personal way. I can’t share all the details of the letter. But here’s a little:
I begin my spiritual journey as a survivor of domestic violence. My children and I left our home in the middle of the night after a beating. We went to the police department where I filed charges.
The children and I settled into our modest apartment. The children shared the one bed we had. I slept on the floor until I was able to purchase a mattress. I slept on a mattress on the floor for over a year.
I saw the movie “The Passion on Christ” today. In Mathew 27, the chief priest decided to put Jesus to death. In Mark 14, they struck him with their fists. If the chief priests would strike Jesus with their fists and condemn him to such a violent death, what would men do to men? What would man do to woman?
There is a sound that is made when a fist hits flush – when your face is slapped, when your body receives a punch. During the movie when I heard those agonizing sounds my body revolted. I actually ducked as if the punches and slaps were directed at me. I found myself curled up in a ball in the theater seat. The girlfriend I brought to the movie held my hand and comforted me. The brutality of the film at times overcame me and I had to shield my eyes. I cried as I saw Jesus take those punches that were meant for me. The suffering that I experienced was small and insignificant compared to what my Lord and Savior endured for me.
When the movie was over, I got in my car and called my ex-husband. I told him that I forgave him. He cried on the phone and told me that he was truly sorry for what he had done to the children and me. He asked for my forgiveness. He said he would work with me to raise our children.
When I hung up the phone, I felt an unspeakable joy. Not an earthly joy but a deep-seated peace. I know that things will not always go as I want them to. But I am assured that God is in control and he will take care of my children and me.
Jesus said, “Father, forgive them…” Something happened at that cross to bring people together.
The cross is a bridge. It’s a bridge God made so we could come to Him. And it’s a bridge between you and the people who’ve hurt you. So, let the Jesus of the cross do His work in your life to bring you first to God and then to others.
By God’s grace and for God’s glory, I will rebuild my relationships, and …
2. … I will forsake my sin.
It was your sin – and mine – that nailed the holy sinless One from heaven to the cross. Are you ever truly sorry for causing the death of Jesus? Are you sorry enough – broken enough – that you are wanting to stop sinning?
Jesus didn’t die to just forgive us. He died make us righteous.
He personally carried away our sins in his own body on the cross so we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. You have been healed by his wounds.
I Peter 2:24 (NLT)
Think of what your sin cost the most pure, loving, and gracious One who ever lived.
The bloody violence is excruciating to watch. Gibson wasn’t shy about showing the physical abuse much the way it’s described in Scripture and history.
We see soldiers hitting and spitting at Jesus. Guards enjoy the punishment they’re dishing out.
The camera lingers as what begins as a mean-spirited flogging turns into an inhumane scourging that tears the flesh from Jesus’ and body. He is literally shredded, then is dragged across the floor through pools of His own blood.
We see the guards beat a crown of thorns into His scalp, drawing blood – lots of it.
We see Jesus carrying His cross through the streets and falling under the weight of it.
Nails are driven through his hands and feet and into the cross. Blood drips through the wood.
We wince when the beam is dropped into its hole. A soldier thrusts a spear into Jesus’ side.
For followers of Christ, this ought to be personal. As I watched the film, I felt an emotional paradox. Each hit to His face, each blow to His back, each nail through his flesh was sickening to see because it was my sin that made it happen but it was also an indisputable testimony of Jesus’ love for me.
And it we aren’t moved in some way to say, “I don’t want to sin any more. I want to live a holy life in honor of this One who loved me that much,” then we’ve missed the point of the cross.
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
I Peter 2:24 (ESV)
Are we sometimes sorry for our sins? Yes. But many times our sorrow over our sin is a sorrow that we were caught. So, we are really sorry for selfish reasons. Self-pity. Self-preservation. Selfishly thinking about our reputation. What we have to realize is that we’ve offended God! He made us. Any good thing we have is from Him. He gives us life. He died to forgive us and then give us a hunger for holiness. And when we sin and act like it’s not really that big of a deal, we show the grossest form of ingratitude.
Think about a child who enjoys all the benefits of being in a family. He eats the food sacrificially provided by a mom and dad who work 50-60 hours a week. He was educated by a mom and dad who said “no’ to themselves to provide for that education. His clothes and entertainment have been provided for him by mom and dad. What would you think about a child who never thanks his mom or dad, who rejects any suggestions they make about his life, who ignores their rules for living in the home, who thumbs his nose at the sacrifices that the parents have made over the years?
As bad as that sounds, it’s worse when we live in sin before the God who made us and sustains us and gives us every good thing we have. We are infinitely worse than a rebellious child when we live in sin before the Savior who died on the cross to forgive us.
Pursue holiness! What is a sin that you know God has been dealing with you about? What is that sin you know that Jesus died for and you are still making excuses for it? Today is the day to give it up!
By God’s grace and for God’s glory,
I will rebuild my relationships,
I will forsake my sin and …
3. … I will carry my cross.
In the Passion of the Christ, one of the prominent is Simon of Cyrene. The filmmakers spend a lot of time with this man who was commanded to carry Jesus’ cross when the weight became too much for Him. Much of that interaction is speculation, but the point is made that those who carry His cross are forever changed.
I wonder… are you carrying a cross for Jesus? You say, “What do you mean?” Let me ask it another way: What are you doing for Jesus that costs you?
If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross daily, and follow me.
Luke 9:23 (NLT)
Some people say that any trouble they are facing is their cross. “My husband is my cross!” “My tough stuff at work is my cross!” “My cancer is my cross.” No. These are burdens or trials or troubles. But not crosses.
A cross is something that you willingly choose to do that costs you and helps others come to know Christ or grow in Christ. It’s getting out of your comfort zone on purpose to help somebody spiritually. It’s the mark that you really are saved – that you really know Jesus.
If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
Luke 9:23 (ESV)
I’ll sacrifice to serve some food to hungry people at a food bank. I’ll go to prisons to tell some people about Jesus. I’ll purpose to take time out of my schedule to serve in a ministry of the church. I’ll go on a short-term mission trip. I’ll leave my family and go to seminary to study to be a spiritual leader. I’ll quit my six figure income job to become a full-time vocational Christian worker.
What will you sacrifice to serve Jesus?
Through our missions giving here at CVCC, we support missionaries with the International Mission Board. About two weeks ago, five of our IMB missionaries were in Mosul, Iraq coordinating efforts to distribute 3 million pounds of food, setting up water purification systems, and helping the Iraqi people rebuild their lives. On March 15, these five were investigating sites for future humanitarian relief efforts when their vehicle was hit with a rocket propelled grenade and gunfire. Four of the five – Karen Watson, David McDonnall, Larry and Jean Elliott – were killed. McDonnall’s wife, Carrie, survived the attack and is recovering in Texas.
Roger Spradlin, Karen’s pastor, asked a question at her funeral: “Does it pay to serve God ... [when] kindness is greeted by a hail of bullets? It pays if you value the attention of God more than the approval of men. It pays if you value others more than yourself. If we were to ask Karen, she would say, ‘Oh yes!’”
One of David’s missionary colleagues in Iraq said, “[David] went to Iraq to live among a people who needed to know Jesus’ story. He did not go to Iraq to die. The dying had been done years before, when he gave his life to Jesus Christ and he died to self. He went to Iraq to live. I’m sure there are some that have thought, ‘What’s wrong with those guys? Why would they do that? Why would they go?’ He didn’t have a death wish! He went with a life wish, a desire and a hope to live out the gospel among Iraqi people, so that they might know eternal life through Jesus.”
The president of the IMB, Jerry Rankin, spoke at the Elliott’s funeral and said, “It was worth giving their lives to them. They were led to go to the place of greatest need, of greatest urgency, a place that had been held in bondage for generations. The prospects of the gospel being planted drove them to give their lives with no concern for their own comforts or their safety -- that Jesus Christ might be glorified among the people. Years ago Larry and Jean died to self. They lived for the needs of others and the glory of God. Larry and Jean discovered long ago there was a cause worth living for and a cause worth dying for.”
* * *
Black slide. Rick will keep talking but go ahead and play the video now. He’ll talk over the music at first. He’ll stop when the video shows up on the screen.
Click on windows media player on the bar. Click on “Play” icon to the left of the screen. Then immediately click on the maximize arrow to the right of the screen. Hit the switcher button to show the clip. Rick will keep talking until the film shows on the screen. The clip is 2:15 long.
* * *
If any person wills to come after Me, let him deny himself [disown himself, forget, lose sight of himself and his own interests, refuse and give up himself] and take up his cross daily and follow Me [cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying also].
Luke 9:23 (Amp)
By God’s grace and for God’s glory,
I will rebuild my relationships,
I will forsake my sin, and
I will carry my cross.
The result of a
relationship-building,
sin-forsaking,
cross-carrying life?
Joy!
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross.
Hebrews 12:2 (NIV)
In the Garden, as He looked forward to the cross, he saw something beyond it. He saw joy! For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross.
Is this life we are now to live difficult, tough, demanding. You bet it is! Yet in it and through it and beyond it is joy! Incredible, awesome joy!
Some of us in this room won’t do the relationship-building, won’t do the sin-forsaking, and won’t do the cross-carrying because we are selfish. What we don’t understand is that we are not only selfish, we are short-sighted.
God’s way is a way that ends in delight and joy and hope and peace. You start forgiving others, living right, and serving Jesus sacrificially and you’ll find a joy that you’ve never known before.
Yesterday, I was talking with some friends at Evan’s baseball practice. We were talking about a tournament over the July 4 weekend. I mentioned that I’ll have to miss it because I will be in Ghana, West Africa in early July. I’ll be on our Teams to the Nations mission trip there. The coach’s wife asked, “Aren’t you sacred to travel like that with all the trouble and violence in the world?” I said, “Yes, a little.” But it’s one little way I can carry a cross. And the joy I know I’ll feel by being a part of helping start churches, showing the Jesus film, and training the pastors that we support far outweighs any sacrifice.
And by the way, I hope some of you will join me on that trip to Ghana. It will be a sacrifice to go. But you can never out-give God!
Did those martyred missionaries in Iraq have joy as they carried their crosses? Yes! Karen was famous for light-heartedly walking into her supervisors’ offices and saying “Hey, we gotta talk!” At David’s funeral, a missionary friend described David’s powerful laugh and comical exploits in the Middle East. An article I read about Larry Elliott said that he had a laugh so hearty it could fill the villages of Iraq and that when Jean smiled, she could light up an entire nation.
Joy! You don’t cheat yourself out of joy by carrying your cross or forsaking your sin or rebuilding your relationships. No! You fulfill it!
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross.
Hebrews 12:2 (NIV)
A point to ponder: There is no evil so bad that God cannot bring from it an everlasting good!
A verse to remember: But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Galatians 6:14 (NASB)
Questions to consider: What relationship am I to rebuild? What sin am I to forsake? What cross am I to carry?
