Jesus in the news:
• The Da Vinci Code
• The so-called gospel of Judas
THE APOSTLES’ CREED
(third-fourth centuries A.D.)
I believe in God the Father Almighty; Maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; the third day he rose from the dead; he ascended into heaven; and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from there he shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit; the holy universal Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.
1. FALSE: Jesus wasn’t supposed to die.
Some people claim that Jesus wasn’t supposed to die; and, as a result, His death had no meaning.
Jesus clearly stated that He came to this earth for the specific purpose of dying for the sins of the world. “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28).
Dying was His reason for living.
2. FALSE: Jesus wasn’t crucified.
This is known as the “substitution theory.” According to Islam, “Jesus Christ did not die on the cross. Various traditions say that He either miraculously substituted Judas Iscariot for Himself on the cross, or that God miraculously delivered Him from the hands of the Romans and Jews before He could be crucified. Most Muslims believe that Jesus Christ was taken bodily into heaven without having died” (The Kingdom of the Cults, p. 623).
Not only does this flatly contradict the Bible, but it also leaves open some big questions. For example, thousands of people knew Jesus, wouldn’t someone have noticed that the wrong man was being crucified? Jesus’ mother stood at the foot of the cross (John 19:25). Obviously she would have recognized her own son! If the wrong man was crucified, wouldn’t he have been yelling, “I’m not Jesus!”? Lastly, if Jesus wasn’t crucified, then what happened to Him after 30 A.D.? There’s no explanation for any of these problems.
3. FALSE: Jesus didn’t die on the cross.
This false claim is knows as the “swoon theory.” Some people say that Jesus was crucified and came very close to death but didn’t actually die—He just swooned. The theory goes on to say that after three days the coolness of the tomb revived Him, and He managed to roll away the immense stone and appear to the disciples, making them think He had risen from the dead.
If you saw The Passion of the Christ, you might wonder how Jesus even survived long enough to be crucified.
[Matthew 27:11-56] As I read this passage, notice the physical suffering He experienced.
• He was struck in the face and beaten during and after His trial before the Sanhedrin (Luke 22:63; John 18:22).
• He was flogged (Matt. 27:26; Mark 15:15; John 19:1). [PICTURE] He was flogged with a whip embedded with pieces of metal to the ends of the leather strips. Each lash was administered and pulled across the back so as to rip the back open. Often the back muscles were so badly shredded that the skeletal structure was exposed. People very often died from this punishment alone.
• A crown of thorns was driven into His head (Matt. 27:29; Mark 15:17; John 19:2).
• The Roman soldiers repeatedly struck Him on the head and face by a staff (Matt. 27:30; Mark 15:19; John 19:3).
• He was forced to carry His own cross during part of the walk to Golgotha (John 19:17). [PICTURE]
• His hands and feet were nailed to the cross (Luke 24:39; John 20:25, 28).
• He was crucified (Matt. 27:35; Mark 15:24; Luke 23:53; John 19:18). [PICTURE]
Many readers of the Gospels in the ancient world would have witnessed crucifixions and thus would have had a painfully vivid mental picture upon reading the simple words “And they crucified him” (Mark 15:24). A criminal who was crucified was essentially forced to inflict upon himself a very slow death by suffocation. When the criminal’s arms were outstretched and fastened by nails to the cross, he had to support most of the weight of his body with his arms. The chest cavity would be pulled upward and outward, making it difficult to exhale in order to be able to draw a fresh breath. But when the victim’s longing for oxygen became unbearable, he would have to push himself up with his feet, thus giving more natural support to the weight of his body, releasing some of the weight from his arms, and enabling his chest cavity to contract more normally. By pushing himself upward in his way the criminal could fend off suffocation, but it was extremely painful because it required putting the body’s weight on the nails holding the feet, and bending the elbows and pulling upward on the nails driven through the wrists. The criminal’s back, which had been torn open repeatedly by a previous flogging, would scrape against the wooden cross with each breath (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, p. 572).
Some experts believe the cause of Christ’s death was heart failure, not suffocation. This might explain why Christ’s death was quick compared to most crucifixions (Mark 15:44; John 19:33).
• His side was pierced with a spear (John 19:34). “Bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.”
• His executioners pronounced Him dead (Mark 15:44; John 19:33).
• His body was wrapped (Matt. 27:59; Mark 15:46; Luke 23:53; John 19:40). This wrapping was done tightly around the whole body from head to toe like a mummy. We learn from the resurrection of Lazarus that Lazarus needed help to get unwrapped (John 12:44).
• His body was in the tomb for three days (part of Friday, all of Saturday, and part of Sunday). How could he have survived without medical attention? [PICTURE]
• A large stone was rolled in front of the entrance to the tomb (Matt. 27:60; Mark 16:4). The stone had to be large enough to cover an entrance big enough for people to walk into.
• Soldiers guarded the tomb (Matt. 27:65).
• He was worshiped by those who saw Him after His crucifixion (Matt. 28:9, 17; John 20:28).
One of the best replies to the swoon theory came from a lady who wrote into a question and answer forum:
Dear sirs,
Our preacher said on Easter that Jesus just swooned on the cross and that the disciples nursed Him back to health. What do you think?
Sincerely,
Bewildered
Dear Bewildered,
Bear your preacher with a cat-of-nine-tails with thirty-nine heavy strokes, nail him to a cross; hang him in the sun for six hours; run a spear through his side; put him in an airless tomb for thirty-six hours and see what happens.
Sincerely,
Charles
4. TRUE: Jesus died for you.
What was the reason for Christ’s death on the cross?
• God’s love
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believe in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
• God’s justice
God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justified those who have faith in Jesus (Rom. 3:25-26)
…the justice of God also required that God find a way that the penalty due to us for our sins would be paid (for he could not accept us into fellowship unless the penalty was paid). Paul explains that this was why God sent Christ to be a “propitiation” (Rom. 3:25 NASB) (that is, a sacrifice that bears God’s wrath so that God becomes “propitious” or favorably disposed toward us): it was “to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins” (Rom. 3:25). Here Paul says that God had been forgiving sins in the Old Testament but no penalty had been paid—a fact that would make people wonder whether God was indeed just and ask how he could forgive sins without a penalty. No God who was truly just could do that, could he? Yet when God sent Christ to die and pay the penalty for our sins, “it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies him who has faith in Jesus” (Rom. 3:26) (Grudem, Systematic Theology, pp. 568-569).
In the Gospel accounts of the crucifixion, people had many different reactions to Jesus. Most of the Pharisees and Roman soldiers were filled with hatred. Most of the disciples were fearful. One criminal on the cross mocked Jesus, while the other one repented. The centurion believed that Jesus was the Son of God.
Let’s consider Pilate’s reaction: When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!” (Matt. 11:24).
Pilate’s reaction is perhaps the most common one among people today. Most people don’t hate Jesus. Most people do what Pilate did—they admire Jesus, but they wash their hands clean of Jesus’ blood.
[PICTURE]
There is a phrase in the Apostles’ Creed that says Jesus “suffered under Pontius Pilate.” Other than Jesus, he is the only human named in the creed. It is almost as if he is being blamed for all the sufferings of Christ.
Why pick on Pilate? It was Herod the Great who tried to kill Jesus at His birth. It was the Pharisees who tried to trap Him. It was Judas who betrayed Him. It was the High Priest who brought him before Pilate charged with offenses against Caesar. Yet it was Pilate’s decision was the one that counted, and Pilate put his own safety, career, and reputation first.
Contrast Pilate’s response with Mel Gibson’s. Mel Gibson was the producer of The Passion of The Christ. Gibson took a lot of criticism for making that movie. Some said it would end his career in movies. But Gibson said he didn’t care about that. He said, “I’m not a preacher, and I’m not a pastor. But I really feel my career was leading me to make this. The Holy Ghost was working through me on this film, and I was just directing traffic. I hope this film has the power to evangelize.”
[TITLE SLIDE]
In the movie there is an obscure detail in the crucifixion scene that probably goes unnoticed by most people, but it is a detail that says so much. When Jesus is being placed on the cross, the camera comes close to watch as a large spike is positioned in the middle of Jesus’ hand. Then, a mallet comes into focus, and a rugged hand swings it to drive the spike. Those are all things you expect to see.
But there is something you don’t see. You never see the face of the one who drives that nail. You never get a glimpse into the eyes, or heart of the one who pounds away until the spike has passed through Jesus’ flesh and through the wood of the cross.
You might be interested to know that the person who plays that role in the movie is Mel Gibson. He wanted to identify himself as being guilty of putting Jesus on the cross. But why does he never show the face of the one who put Jesus on the cross?
It’s because we are all guilty of putting Jesus to death. It wasn’t just the Romans. It wasn’t just the Jews. It wasn’t just Pilate. It was our sin that nailed Jesus to the cross.
Now What? You have a choice before you. Jesus requires a response. You can do what Pilate did. Show that you admire Jesus, but ultimately wash your hands clean of Him. Or you can do what Gibson did; admit that your sins have nailed Jesus to the cross. But also repent and rejoice that Jesus forgave you of your sins.
Resources used:
Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem
A sermon by Brian Mavis posted on SermonCentral.com
