Selling Self To Caesar

They cried: “We have no king but Caesar”, and where did this giving of allegiance to the world lead them? Where it always leads — to destruction. God handed them over to the world they claimed that day. In the years that followed this terrible day of the crucifixion of Jesus, the Caesars became tyrants to Israel until, in 70AD, Jerusalem was sacked, and the Temple was destroyed.

Jesus had foreseen that event and He wept over Jerusalem you will recall. He said in LUKE 19:41-44 ... [READ].

It is highly likely that some of these who were present on the day Jesus was crucified lived to witness Jerusalem lying in ruin and ashes, and I wonder if they recalled the day; and I wonder if their own words didn’t come back to haunt them: “We have no king but Caesar”. They signed on with the world — turning their back on Christ — and the world destroyed them. Caesar turned on them.

And friends, I see a day not long from now, when men and women will finally come to their senses in the fires of Hell, and will be haunted with the decision they made in life. “Will you turn and look to Jesus the Saviour; will you receive Him as the Son of God?” “No ... we have no king but this life, this world; no king but money, fashion, pleasure; we have no king but our royal selves.”

CONCLUSION:

I began this message by asking whether it’s really appropriate to call this day “GOOD Friday”. As we read the Scriptural accounts of what happened on that Friday in Jerusalem 2000 years ago, it seems such a horrific occasion. There doesn’t seem to be anything “GOOD” about it at all.

But then it all depends upon your perspective. if all you usee is a man bloodied and scorned, dying a barbaric death before an angry crowd — then surely you’ll find it hard to call it “GOOD Friday”; and if in your own life you have decided that you will have no king but yourself or worldly interests, then you had better call it something else — like “Dark Friday”, because it will yet prove to be the day that judgment against you was sealed.

BUT if, on the other hand, you see in Jesus not just a man, but truly God’s eternal sacrifice laying Himself down for your sins, and if you have looked to Him trusting Him as your only Saviour — believing that the pain and the scars He bore were for you, THEN it truly is “GOOD Friday”. The day you went free from the bondage of sin, and came out from under the wrath of God. The day Caesar lost control in your life — and the God who loves you was restored as your rightful King.

“VERY GOOD FRIDAY.”