Jesus – Mocked and Crucified

Jesus – mocked and put on the cross Matthew 27:27-44

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Originally preached at Poulner Chapel 25 March 2012

Introduction

Here is a complete outline of this event from all 4 gospels! We will look at briefly the events as recorded by Matthew!

• Pilate’s soldiers crown and mock Jesus – Matthew 27:27-30, Mark 15:16-20, John 19:1-3
• Pilate tries to release Jesus – John 19:4-7
• Pilate questions Jesus again – John 19:8-11
• Pilate attempts to free Jesus again – John 19:12
• Pilate sentences Jesus – John 19:13-15
• Pilate delivers Jesus to be crucified – John 19:16
• Jesus carries the cross – John 19:17
• Simon of Cyrene bears the cross – Matthew 27:31-32, Mark 15:20-21, Luke 23:26,
• Jesus speaks to weeping women – Luke 23:27-32,
• Jesus is brought to Golgotha – Matthew 27:33, Mark 15:22, Luke 23:32-33, John 19:17
• Soldiers offer Jesus sour wine mix – Matthew 27:34, Mark 15:23
• Jesus is crucified at the 3rd hour – Mark 15:25
• Soldiers divide the Lord’s clothes – Matthew 27:35-36, Mark 15:24, Luke 23:34, John 19:23-24
• Accusation written by Pilate – Matthew 27:37, Mark 15:26, Luke 23:38, John 19:19-22
• 2 Robbers are crucified with Jesus – Matthew 27:38, Mark 15:27-28, Luke 23:33, John 19:18
• “Forgive them…” – Luke 23:34
• “Behold your mother.” – John 19:25-27
• Multitude mocks Jesus – Matthew 27:39-43, Mark 15:29-32, Luke 23:35-37
• Robbers mock Jesus – Matthew 27:44, Mark 15:32, 29:39
• One robber rebukes the other – Luke 23:40-41
• “…you will be with me in Paradise” – Luke 23:43

As you know from the reading we are looking at this event in the life of Jesus Christ, as recorded by his friend and disciple, Matthew. Tonight we look at Jesus mocked, Jesus crucified, and the implications and challenges we are presented with. Matthew, throughout his Gospel, presents Jesus as King – and it is probably his main theme as he writes his gospel. In Chapter 27 alone, Matthew ascribes Jesus as king 7 times. He uses Old Testament imagery from passages such as Psalm 22, Psalm 69 and parts of Isaiah to build his story.

Even if you are new to this story, nobody here should really be shocked by this macabre tale. I don’t think anybody could really be that naïve about human history and some of the horrors it contains. Human history is full of incidents of people treating others in less than a human and dignified way. The horrors of the killing fields of what was Cambodia, the systematic brutality of Nazi Germany and the macabre excesses of Uganda in the last century, have often been repeated throughout history.

—-more—-

1. Looking back to look forward

As a further introduction, Jesus has pointed forward to this point throughout his ministry. Jesus knew what we call the Old Testament. Jesus knew that originally there was no sin or evil in the world. Jesus knew that humanity had once enjoyed a perfect relationship with God and His creation. Jesus knew humanity chose to disobey God and caused sin and evil to enter the world. Jesus knew that God had promised that one day the relationship between God and his creation would be restored.

Jesus knew the story of the Patriarchs, the calling of a nation of people separated out for God and that nation’s subsequent travels, jubilations, trials and tribulations! Jesus knew these people were waiting for this messiah or saviour to come.

Some of Jesus’ first recorded words were “Repent! The Kingdom is near!” Jesus continually affirmed who he was – the long awaited for messiah! Throughout his ministry Jesus has pointed to that day, this specific moment, of his being on the cross. For example, in Matthew’s gospel, let alone the other 3 gospel writers, Matthew 16:21; 17:22-33 and 20:17-19, there are three occasions where Jesus has been explaining what all this means.

2. Mocked

Now after that introduction, we return to our passage. Jesus has been found guilty and we looked at his trial several weeks ago from Matthew. Let’s now go to look firstly at the mocking of Jesus, before going on to look at his crucifixion.

Jesus is mocked, ridiculed and scorned by several groups of people – Jew and Gentile alike – before his crucifixion and while he was on the cross.

Matthew 27v27-30 mocked by the Romans

Firstly the Roman soldiers, who mock Jesus in some sort of game. These men could have come from across the Roman Empire, to a place they didn’t want to be, with a people they couldn’t care less about. Their mocking is borne from ignorance rather than malevolent knowledge of Jesus. Jesus was convicted of being a king, so the soldiers mocked him as a king!

Jesus to them was simply part of the Jewish rabble they had conquered in extending the Roman empire. The Romans, beating Jesus with the staff and spitting upon him, as part of some perverted game of degradation, with the cape, the staff and crown continuing the mocking of this would be king. It was quite possibly a form of stress relief for them. There was precedence for this sort of mockery as seen in other documents of the time, so it was probably a normal part of the Roman crucifixion process.

Matthew 27v 38-42 mocked by others & Jewish leaders

Now we move to the mocking by others, including some Jewish leaders, as Jesus hangs on the cross. These people challenged Jesus to come down from the cross if He was really the Son of God and to save himself. They had possibly heard what Jesus had said earlier in his ministry, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” Or they may well have heard the rumours about Jesus, or been there when Jesus entered the city, as recorded in Matthew 21.

What these people didn’t realise is that it was precisely because He was the Messiah they were expecting, that he couldn’t come down from the cross. Jesus could have come down from the cross with legions of angels to help him. But he chose not to.

As if to complete the mockery, the criminals he is crucified with join in. Though as Luke records, one of them later becomes penitent.

Jesus, mocked by ignorant Romans, irreligious Gentiles, religious Jews, religious Jewish leaders and finally, common criminals – from the breadth of society, Jesus is rejected, mocked, insulted and scorned.

3. Crucified Matthew 27v31-37

Lets’ now move to Jesus being crucified

As was normal practise, prisoners due for crucifixion were whipped and scourged. Pieces of stone and metal attached to the whips in order to inflict as much damage as possible during the flogging. Then if they were still alive, prisoners were forced to carry their own cross to their execution. Crucifixion had been used by civilisations in various forms and the Romans had adopted it for their own purposes.

Following his beating and scourging, as Jesus couldn’t bear his own cross, the Roman soldiers forced this man Simon of Cyrene to carry it. Simon was probably a peasant, held neither in public esteem or rank.

Then, the Romans offered a form of drug for Jesus to drink, but Jesus refused it. Some speculate that He didn’t drink it because he wanted to be fully conscious during his suffering, but as I said, that is only speculation.

Then lastly, before sitting down to keep watch, they divided Jesus’ clothes. There is Jesus on the cross. Beaten. Flagellated. Ridiculed. Naked. A sign, with the accusation against him “this is Jesus, the king of the Jews”, was placed on the cross, and as Matthew alone points out, above his head – almost like another crown on a king. In the eyes of the Romans, Jesus was guilty of trying to make himself a king. So the sign was to be a deterrent to others who would make such claims, because they would suffer the same punishment.

Matthew sees Jesus as a king and writes his gospel with that in mind. Jesus the king – mocked and crucified. But what does that mean for us?

What does Jesus being on the cross mean for us?

In the Old Testament, we read of how the nation of Israel was looking forward to the day when the Messiah would come and a permanent sacrifice was to be made. Well here it is. This is what Jesus’ mission was – to be the perfect and permanent sacrifice.

That permanent sacrifice is what occurred on the cross of Jesus Christ! That is why Jesus suffered as he did, humiliated, beaten, mocked and scorned. It is only through Jesus Christ being on that cross that the stain of sin can be taken away, because Jesus is the permanent and ultimate sacrificial substitute!

The cross of Jesus Christ is the climax of human history. All of time before it, was looking forward and waiting for this event. All of time after this event of Jesus on the cross looks back upon it. For the Gospel writers, Jesus on the cross was the climax of their story, because they knew what it meant!

Jesus on the cross bore the consequences of all sin, of all the earth over all periods of time – past, present and future. Jesus on the cross became sin for humanity and it was His blood that finally fulfilled God’s requirements permanently.

Jesus on the cross was propitiation or an offering to turn aside God’s anger towards sin. All of God’s anger and judgment of sin fell on Jesus, and He alone as an innocent sufferer, instead of falling upon sinful and guilty humanity. How is that for a Jesus WOW factor?

Jesus, on the cross, is a peace offering to God. Another Jesus WOW factor!

Even further, it was an act of redemption! WOW!! Jesus on the cross meant that God had paid redemption, so that humans could be freed from sin.

Those 4 things are not an exhaustive list but examples of what it means for Jesus to be on the cross! WOW! You will probably be very pleased to know that I don’t have time to go further!

Because of the cross, and the cross alone, humanity can choose to be back in relationship with God. It is not forced upon anybody, but there is a compulsion! We have the option to take up Jesus’ cross and sacrifice or not to take it. It’s our choice! What have you decided?

We can have a relationship with God, because of Jesus being on the cross. Because of the cross, we can choose to be declared cleansed from sin and free from the slavery to sin! The cross also means that Jesus intercedes for us, we are given the Holy Spirit to dwell inside us and we are granted direct access to God the Father, through Jesus the Son in the power of the Holy Spirit. But it’s a choice! Have you chosen to take up Jesus’ offer?

The Cross is God’s glory

The cross is God’s glory! The events on the cross are not meant to portray Jesus as some form of sado-masochistic ‘tragi-hero’ as some people try to make it out to be, particularly in some popular musical theatre.

The cross of Jesus Christ, rather epitomises God’s glory, and if there were any other way that God could restore people into relationship with Himself, then surely He would have done it that way. But there was no other way – Jesus Christ, as the Son of God, hung on a Roman cross. This Jesus took on the sins of the world, paying the greatest price, so that you and I can be restored into a peaceful relationship with God the Father. That is for all people, of all nations, ages, generations, statuses and gender. The cross is amazing love in action! The cross is the wisdom of God displayed. The cross is a WOW Factor of God! WOW!

4. Challenge!

So if that’s part of the meaning of Jesus and his cross, what challenges are there for us from Matthew 27:27-44? How are we to react to this passage from Matthew? What challenges face us from this scene of execution as we go through this evening series for Easter?

4a. We also mock Jesus!

Even as Christians living today we have the capacity to mock Jesus. How do we do that?

We Christians mock Jesus today, by engaging in sin – either actively or passively. Particularly those times where at the back of our mind we say “oh it will be ok. I shall ask forgiveness after it.” That is mocking Jesus because we are cheapening grace and are effectively crucifying him all over again.

As a result of Jesus going to the cross, we have been declared holy because we now wear Jesus Christ’s robe of righteousness! It was given to us as a gift of grace! When we sin, it’s as if we are casting lots for that robe and tearing it up.

As Christians, we are to live a life of obedience to God. When we sin against God, either through active or passive disobedience, it is almost like we are throwing Jesus’ death back in His face and saying “You up there! If you are the Son of God, come down here and show us!”

Sin is that serious. Sinful acts, thoughts, words and attitudes grieve the Holy Spirit who lives within us. Its why when we come to God to ask forgiveness for the sins we commit against Him, against humanity and against our own self, we should ask to be filled anew with the Spirit.

But even more, how do we react to being mocked because we are followers of Jesus? How do we react when we see our Jesus and our God mocked? Because it does happen and increasingly so in Britain today. Either in the media, on our television screens, on the internet and in our workplace, social activities and schools. Perhaps I am not alone in having been around when Monty Python’s Life of Brian was released – and despite their claims that it wasn’t meant to be mockery, it was indeed blasphemous mockery.

Is our reaction to mockery of ourselves or of our Jesus, with an attitude of ‘ignorance is bliss’ or a shrug of the shoulders? Is it with reactionary anger and indignation? I don’t know! I am not that clever.

I do know one way to react, is the Jesus way. After all, Jesus did say love your enemies and bless those who curse you. So we are to love!

4b. Exhibit a love, which is sacrificial 1 John 3:16,

We all know John 3:16, probably off by heart most of! Our active response to that love of God can be found in 1 John 3:16, which states: “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.“

I asked some people to say some things they have done for others. One had all their bills paid by family when her husband was found to have cancer. Another saved the life of a stranger by giving CPR. Another spent time listening to somebody. Another person was helped by her daughter, to dress and have her hair washed. A couple I know, have over the last 20 years opened their house, love, time and family to 38 foster children.

All those were some measure of sacrifice, including time, money or talents. But those exhibitions of love were not acts towards enemies or mockers, but rather friends, family or unknown strangers. We are called, by Jesus to love our enemies – just as Jesus did on the cross.

We are called, not just to love each other, but to love all others including those who mock and scorn. This is a love which speaks of sacrifice, mirroring that of Jesus who we claim to love. If Jesus’ love is truly in our hearts, we should be eager to reciprocate that love to others. Jesus’ love as exhibited in his life and on the cross was a love which was without any thought of return, without any thought of it being deserved by others and a love without self-interest. This town of Ringwood would be changed, if we loved each other and those outside the churches, like that. Let’s show some God given creativity to show sacrificial love to others!

How can we love like that? That kind of love is always available to us through Jesus, who is the source of such love. We can’t do it in our own strength, but the more we are open to receive it from Jesus our master, and ask him for it, then His love will overflow from us to others. Each of us here, has been given by a generous God, in differing quantities, amongst other things: talent, time and money. The way to show gratitude to Jesus is to love others sacrificially – not just with words but with actions.

4c. We have a God who is not immune to suffering.

Lastly, we can know that God is personal because Jesus being fully God and fully human, God Himself has suffered. The awesome and Almighty God, who was outside of time and space, entered time and space, to intimately know what suffering was, because of the suffering Jesus endured on the Cross. Matthew’s Innocent Suffering King, is the reason why we who are Christians, have a hope. Because the God we serve, personally knows suffering and has endured suffering just as we do.

God isn’t an inanimate and passive carving placed on a shelf or a wall which is immune to the suffering of the world. No! Our God is a personal, dynamic and active God who knows the suffering we ourselves endure – because He Himself has suffered. Not some pathetically lifeless, unemotional and unresponsive statue but an intimate, dynamic, responsive and living personal being who has shared in our sufferings through Jesus on that cross.

I don’t know how you or those you love are suffering today. I don’t need to know. But I do know that God knows, and that He knows about personal suffering, because this great and awesome God, suffered on a Roman cross, 2000 years ago.

Let’s go from here, determined to live a life worth of Jesus Christ, determined not to mock him still by our sinful desires and actions.

Let’s go out from here, determined to love others sacrificially as a response to Jesus on the cross and as a response to those who mock Him and us for following him.

Let’s go from here willing to be generous in all aspects of life, and so reflect a generous God who has given everything that people may know Him.

Let’s go from here determined to blow our cover and be known as a people who love.

It maybe that you are not a Christian here tonight, then please do make yourself known to us afterwards and we would love to talk to you more about this Jesus and the God who suffered. Take the opportunity while you can.

But Jesus being mocked on the cross is not the end of the story, and we look forward to the rest of this series over the next couple of weeks! Hopefully I haven’t pre-empted anything that is due to be said!

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Psalm 66

Psalm 66 – True Joy!

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Tonight we are to study Psalm 66, which is a prayer of joy. The reason for this is, because where ever hope can be found, there is always joy. This is particularly true of the Christian life. As christians, our great hope is knowing that through the Lord Jesus Christ we will have salvation. Salvation is freedom. Freedom from injustice, freedom from sin. It is freedom from our prison of looking after our self, to a new life of entrance into self-forgetful worship & service to God. It is freedom from the limits of pain, decay, death, and entrance into a new world of life, immortality, beauty and joy without end. That is the hope of the Christian, and that is why we can have joy as Christians. But joy, is not just for the future. Joy is also for the present, for the here and now. But, what is joy, and what place should joy take in our life today. But first we will look at Psalm 66, and see where joy fitted into the life of the Psalmist.

All together now-applause for God!

Sing songs to the tune of his glory,

set glory to the rhythms of his praise.

Say of God, “We’ve never seen anything like him!”

When your enemies see you in action,

they slink off like scolded dogs.

The whole earth falls to its knees-

it worships you, sings to you,

can’t stop enjoying your name and fame.

^5-6 Take a good look at God’s wonders-

they’ll take your breath away.

He converted sea to dry land;

travelers crossed the river on foot.

Now isn’t that cause for a song?

⁷ Ever sovereign in his high tower, he keeps

his eye on the godless nations.

Rebels don’t dare

raise a finger against him.

^8-12 Bless our God, O peoples!

Give him a thunderous welcome!

Didn’t he set us on the road to life?

Didn’t he keep us out of the ditch?

He trained us first,

passed us like silver through refining fires,

Brought us into hardscrabble country,

pushed us to our very limit,

Road-tested us inside and out,

took us to hell and back;

Finally he brought us

to this well-watered place.

^13-15 I’m bringing my prizes and presents to your house.

I’m doing what I said I’d do,

What I solemnly swore I’d do

that day when I was in so much trouble:

The choicest cuts of meat

for the sacrificial meal;

Even the fragrance

of roasted lamb is like a meal!

Or make it an ox

garnished with goat meat!

^16-20 All believers, come here and listen,

let me tell you what God did for me.

I called out to him with my mouth,

my tongue shaped the sounds of music.

If I had been cozy with evil,

the Lord would never have listened.

But he most surely did listen,

he came on the double when he heard my prayer.

Blessed be God: he didn’t turn a deaf ear,

he stayed with me, loyal in his love.

1. Psalm 66 and joy

a. Joy and the Earth (vs. 1-4) Listen again from another translation to that beginning! ” Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth! Sing to the glory of his name! Offer glory and praise! “. The majority of scribes and leaders of Israel normally only gave praise to God silently and in meditation. This was of course acceptable to God. But here among a great number of peoples the whole earth is encouraged to shout with great joy to God. This also was acceptable to God, and it is quite natural for great crowds of people to shout in harmony. If praise is to be widespread, it must be vocal; joyful sounds stir the soul and cause great thanksgiving spread throughout the people.

God is to be praised with both the voice and the heart. Oh, great joy when all the earth will worship God in joyful harmony. One day, all the earth will sing the praises of God, in every language. The whole earth, everyone, is encouraged to sing of the glory and power of God. The psalmist encourages the worshipers to turn their praises to God. The honour of God should be the focus of our praises. It is our glory to give God glory. We turn in joy and admiration to a God who one day will cause all the earth to fear and tremble before him. One day all the earth will bow down to worship God. For those who are enemies of God, who have never believed in him, they too will be forced into submitting worship to Him They are forced to worship Him out of His power and submission, not because they choose to. But their worship will not be like the saints. The worship of the saints, of those who truly believe in Him, will be of truth, love and pure joy and service. The joy of the earth will be to praise God.

b. Joy and the nation of Israel (vs. 5-12). After the selah, possibly a brief pause in the song, the psalmist now exhorts joy because of what God has done for Israel. He has done mighty works for his people the nation of Israel. Did not God start the nation from Genesis 12 and Abraham? Did not God lead His people out of the Egyptian exile by parting the Red Sea with His mighty hand so that his people could walk to freedom? Does not God rule forever by his mighty power? God watched over that nation of Israel, making covenants with Abraham, Moses and David promising that He will be their God and they will be His people.

The people of Israel were people of joy, because they could look and see what God had done for them, and have a sure hope of what He will do for them in the future. God took Israel through hard trials and exiles. The psalmist here continues to encourage the people to loud praise and joyful noise of God because silver and gold do not become pure without some refining, without being put through fire. God kept the feet of Israel from slipping, even though they turned their back on him. God always kept a remnant of believers for himself. In Israel, God sent them into exile to their enemies for punishment of their rebellion against him, but finally He led them into the promised land, flowing with milk and honey (v 12). That is why Israel could have joy, because of the hope they had in their God.

c. Joy and the psalmist (vs. 13 -20) The psalmist’s joy starts with a sacrifice. Something that cost him. A sacrifice of vows and burnt offerings. What he said he would do, he will do. He gave God promises, and he wants to fulfil his promises before God. Because of his great joy, the psalmist tells others of the source of his joy. He gives testimony to the love of God: how he confessed his sins to God, and how God had listened to him and answered his prayers. The Psalmist told the people to come and hear his story. Listen to what God has done for me. They had all seen God’s work, but they also needed to hear that He was a gracious god, So the joy of the psalmist involves sacrifice, testimony and praise,

2. Applying it to ourselves.

As we have just seen the psalmist’s joy involved sacrifice, testimony and praise, So how can we apply these things to ourselves,

a. Sacrifice – As christians we should always give our best to God. The psalmist never presents a starving goat to God as a sacrifice, but well fed animals (v 15) of the best fields, Of all we have, whether small or large, we are actively encouraged to give God the best of it. It was not a waste to burn the fat upon the altar of God, nor to pour out the precious ointment upon the head of Jesus. Sacrifices show our heart love to God. Making sacrifices, shows gratitude to God in action, Joy comes from giving to God.

b. Testimony, – Giving our testimony to people should cause us to have great joy. Telling people what God has done for us, should cause everyone of us to have even greater joy than we have already. Telling others of God’s mercy, grace and love is all part of our joy. When we lead someone to Jesus for the very first time, not only do they feel great joy and peace in their heart, but we feel great joy inside of us. The joy of God bubbles up inside of us and demands that we praise our God the Father.

c. Praise, – Praising God lifts our heart, soul and spirit when we are feeling down. The whole earth one day will praise Him and have great joy; the nation of Israel praised Him for the things He had done for them and had given them much joy, The psalmist praised God, and there was great joy in his heart. He had many reasons to praise God, God listened to His prayers, took his sacrifices and worship, forgave him when he had confessed his sins, God had not withheld his love from him. Surely the praise of God’s people causes great joy to be spread amongst them.

Now that is all very well you may be thinking, but just what is joy? Is joy happiness, or is it more? Here are what some people have said of joy. “We are all strings in the concert of God’s joy” – Leon Bloy. “The joy that Jesus gives is the result of our being at one with Him” – Oswald Chambers. Many people, including some Christians confuse joy with happiness, however there is a vast difference. As C.S. Lewis once wrote: “Joy is never in our power, and pleasure is. I doubt whether anyone who has tasted joy would ever, if both were in his power, exchange it for all the pleasure in the world.”

As humans we only feel happiness or pleasure depending on our circumstances, while joy is always separate from our circumstances. Happiness is a surface emotional response to good things; while joy is a deep-down heartfelt response that endures whether good or bad things happen to us. The world says happiness is looking out for number one and negotiating your personal good in all you do. The greatest good is their own happiness, however the happiness doesn’t last long so the search for happiness continues in its circle.

Joy however, is the result of sacrificial love. It is for the good of others, not for ourselves, which is to be our judge of joy. When we give away our will, for the sake of others, we receive the joy that Jesus desired for us. Happiness and joy are radically different. In his autobiography, Surprised by Joy, C.S. Lewis described his pursuit of joy. He tried to find it in humanism, communism, eroticism, and lots of other human philosophies and searches. But they only led him to places where joy had already been. He did not find joy for himself until he realised that joy would come only as a result of putting Christ first in his life. Joy, unlike happiness, is never an end in itself. It is only as we make Christ our overwhelming first priority that joy, almost without our knowing it, comes. If we seek joy, we will lose it, because it cannot be caught. People of the world seeks happiness not joy. Joy is given only by Christ and serving him. Hebrews 12:2 says, “Let us fix our eyes upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Jesus had the endurance to go through the pain and suffering because he had the end in view. He was affirming his purpose for the redemption of the world, and so he never lost sight of the joy that was set before him. Joy would come to him out of suffering because he gave himself for the redemption of mankind.

Jesus prayed that his disciples would have joy: “I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they (his disciples) may have the full measure of my joy within them.” (John 17:13). The joy of Christ is transferred to us as we go about the task of serving him in this world. Joy is the second fruit of the Spirit. Joy is to be a quality about us just as it was a quality of the Lord Jesus Christ.

However, sometimes we don’t feel as if joy is part of us. We begin to ask ourselves if we have lost the joy of our Christian lives. We look around at the world we live in and see all the misery and injustices; we see the waste of human life in cancer and HIV Aids, and we don’t feel very joyful. But when we do that, we are confusing happiness and joy. If we have lost the joy of our Christian life, we need to put back into perspective what God is calling us to do and consider if Christ is still truly first in our lives. Joy is Jesus Over Yourself. We can never truly lose joy, but we can misplace it if our priorities get out of line. Joy is not something to be worked at or toward. It is not a goal to be reached, nor is it an end in itself. Joy is the result of our relationship with Christ. A relationship of Jesus Over Yourself. Joy was sacrifice, testimony and praise to the Psalmist. It is for us too in the last days before His coming again.

As this is now the night before Easter week, let us end with that comment from the writer to the book of Hebrews in regards to Jesus and joy. “Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” As E. Underhill said: “This is the secret and meaning of joy, We shall no longer strive for our own way; but commit ourselves, to God’s way, submit to His will, and in doing so find joy and peace, -.

Go out with joy, today!

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Developing a Strategy to Cope

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How can we, as 21^st century Christians, keep from falling away. I would call it the COPE strategy: Consider, Persevere and Encourage.

Keep Considering! (Hebrews 3:1-6)

The first thing we do is to consider Jesus or as the NIV here puts it “fix our thoughts”. Now remember, that these are Hebrew believers. I guess we would call them Messianic Jews today. They believed that Jesus was their Messiah, Saviour and Lord. They were obviously coming under pressure from their Jewish friends and leaders to deny this Jesus and return to the fold. They would have been told how great Moses was. In the previous chapter we read how Jesus is greater than the angels, because He is God, but was made a little lower than the angels when he became a man.

Moses was cool

In this chapter, we read a comparison between Jesus and Moses. Moses to the Jews was like a super-hero. Moses was revered because it was to him that God revealed His will. Moses was the key figure in the establishment of Israel as a nation – God’s chosen people! Moses suffered persecution and rejection from the rest of the family of Israel. He had great zeal for God and was willing to sacrifice everything for God. He had fellowship with God. Yet all this is merely a shadow and a prophetic sign of what was to come in Jesus. Moses, we read in Numbers 12:7, was faithful to God’s house, God’s people. The house of God is the people of God. It was this Moses who was held in such high regard by the Jews, that some might well have been tempted to renounce Jesus and go back to the old ways.

God’s Messiah would need to be greater than Moses, and Jesus is and was this Messiah. Later on in the book of Hebrews, we discover that Jesus is greater than Aaron through whom the law was ministered; but here we see that Jesus is greater than Moses, the lawgiver, the servant of the house of God.

Moses and Aaron represented God’s house in Israel; Moses was the Apostle or Prophet and Aaron was the High Priest. Jesus, an Apostle and Prophet as well as being the High Priest, joined the two together. By Apostle, I mean as a Messenger – that’s what an apostle is – a messenger or representative. As the Apostle of our faith, Jesus was faithful. Jesus was God’s representative for us, making God known to us. Jesus was totally faithful, means to be both trusting and to be capable of being trusted.

Moses was the one to whom the Law was given – the Mosaic covenant under which the Jewish people lived. This covenant with Moses commenced with the stipulation “Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me.” (Exodus 19v5). This covenant was to Israel in order that those who believed God’s promise to Abraham, could know how to live rightly in accordance with how God wanted them to live.

This covenant with Moses covered the three areas of life:

• The commandments were given so they would know how to relate socially to God (Exodus 20v1-6)
• The judgments were given in order that they could relate socially to each other (Exodus 21v1 – 24v11)
• The decrees dictated their religious life so that God could be approached by humanity on His terms (Exodus 24v12 – 31v18).

This covenant that God made with Moses and the ancient nation of Israel was never meant to be as a means for providing salvation. It was given so that they could realize the helplessness and futility of their own efforts and their need of God’s help. It was to serve only as a protective fence until the promised Messiah came; the long waited for Saviour of all humanity, so that the whole world, Jew and Gentile, could be made right with God through faith and faith alone.

In Comes Jesus

And that is where Jesus comes in. As their Messiah and Saviour, Jesus ushered in the New Covenant, which was promised by God through the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel.

What are the features of this New Covenant or promise?

Four features of this covenant are:

• Regeneration -God will write His law on the hearts of people.
• Restoration – God will be their God, and they will be His people.
• Promised Holy Spirit – God will indwell people and they will be led by Him
• Justification – Sins will be forgiven and removed eternally

This new covenant is sealed only through the perfect sacrifice of the God-Man Jesus on the cross. His blood ensures the truth of this New Covenant. His death pays the penalty for the sins of all people who say yes to God and are ready to run the race and travel the course. This New Covenant finalizes what the Mosaic Covenant could only point to: the follower of God living in a relationship with God conforming to God’s holy character. That is one very specific way of Jesus being superior to Moses! The original readers of this letter being God-fearing Jews would be aware of all this.

They would also be aware that it is sin, which separates humans from God and as a consequence leads to both a spiritual and physical death (Romans 3v23, Romans 6v23, Isaiah 59v2). In the Old Testament, sins were dealt with by blood sacrifices of atonement as coverings for sin (Leviticus 17v11), for without the shedding of blood there could be no remission of sin (Hebrews 9v22). A blood sacrifice is God’s way of dealing with sin. These blood sacrifices of the Old Testament signified several things:

• It provided a covering for sin.
• It showed the great cost of sin.
• It was an exchange or substitution.
• It was only always going to be a temporary measure, as it pointed forward to Jesus’ death and it needed to be done over and over again.

 

So how is Jesus better than Moses? The answer lies in the solution to sin. The ultimate solution to sin lies not in the continual animal sacrifice under the Covenant with Moses, because as the writer later in Hebrews 10v4 stipulates the blood of animals cannot take away sin but was only ever going to be a veneer or a covering. That was why it was necessary to repeat time and time again!

It is only through the victorious death of Jesus, that sin is permanently taken away (Hebrews 9:v11-15, 26-28), because Jesus is the permanent sacrificial substitute! It is as if the writer is saying give up on Jesus, stop considering Him and you would still be in your sins – that’s the way the original readers would have understood it!

And as for us?

As followers of Jesus Christ we are built together so that the Spirit of God may join us together in love. Both individually and as a group, we are the house of God. Jesus said, “We will come and make our home in you”. We know Jesus has been faithful as a Son over God’s people. We celebrate His faithfulness at Easter, when we acknowledge and rejoice at the sacrifice He made for us. We remember it in the act of Communion, which we will have later. Jesus suffered persecution and rejection from his peers. We know Jesus was godly and full of zeal for God, and was willing to sacrifice everything for God and his people. We are the house of God. And yet, do we not reject Jesus sometimes, or do we keep on considering? Do we give Him and trust in His faithfulness to complete the good work he has started in us?

This NIV translation has “fix your thoughts”. Here is how the New King James Version puts verse 1 “Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus”. I personally think that that is a better way of putting it. And not only because it has the word partakers in there!

To “consider” has a much broader meaning than just “fixing your thoughts” as the NIV puts it. It means to seek, to fully understand or comprehend as well as fixing thoughtfully. To consider means to contemplate, to think about, to persevere with, to concentrate on and to fix eyes and thoughts upon. We have to allow Jesus Christ to permeate every aspect of our life, if we are to be partakers of Him. To consider not just how Jesus would do something, but how Jesus would think. What attitude would Jesus take? What would Jesus not do? Just as the Hebrews receiving this letter were told to do, in their race of the life following Jesus, we too are to hold fast to our courage, but only by considering Jesus and trusting in Him relying on the Holy Spirit to help us as we ask Him.

This phrase “to consider” is perhaps the central theme of the book of Hebrews. We are to consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession. Jesus was faithful to the purpose of His Coming to be among people. His purpose in coming to earth, as a mere man, was to die for sins and be raised up on the third day so as to be victorious over death and sin. This Jesus perfected our human nature in His life of simplicity, suffering, devotion and obedience. He now lives at the right hand of the Father in heaven, to communicate to us His life and blessedness through the indwelling Holy Spirit. We must therefore consider Jesus in everything we do, every thought we think and in every attitude. This is the aim of the writer to persuade these Hebrew Christians that if they knew Jesus to be the faithful, compassionate Almighty apostle and priest in Heaven, then they would find everything in Him that they needed for life. Moses couldn’t help them, but Jesus could! Moses had died, they could perhaps visit his tomb if they wanted to. But Jesus, well, Jesus’ tomb was empty! Jesus is alive! The life of these Hebrew Christians would be united with their faith, and united with the life of Jesus whom their faith would glorify God. To these Hebrew Christians their salvation was based on Jesus, but to renounce Jesus and go back to following Moses was apostasy. Moses couldn’t offer salvation because the Law was not meant as a means of salvation! But what about you? Are you trusting in this Jesus for salvation or are you even subconsciously relying on your own good works or something else?

That was what these believing Hebrews were to do – consider how vastly superior Jesus is to Moses. We also are to consider how superior Jesus is to all other things that would try to entangle us and allure us away with false promises.

 

Keep Persevering!

 

 

(Hebrews 3v7-12, 15-19)

And then after considering Jesus, these Hebrew Christians were to do something! They were to persevere in believing. The writer now warns these Hebrew believers against the sin of unbelief, which is the hardening of their hearts. The writer quoting from Psalm 95 reminds them of the way Israel rebelled against God in the desert. He warns them not to be like their forefathers, who did not trust fully in the Lord their God. From Psalm 95, he proceeds to remind them of their ancestors’ deeds of unbelief. The privilege of the house of God is in hearing God’s voice. By choosing not to listen to God’s voice, peoples’ hearts grew hard and cold. These words are of course written to believing Christian Hebrews, not unbelieving Jews, and are as appropriate for us today, as it was for them when they received it.

As the people of God today, the Church, we need to be ready to listen to God’s voice. As we see God working in us, our trust and belief in Him grows. If we do not believe in Him to help us, then of course our hearts will harden against him. As we grow and run the race, willingly sacrificing what needs to be sacrificed, we realize the glory and majesty of God, His holiness and perfection, His love and tenderness, and gladly listen to hear what He says to us, and willingly receive what He gives us.

When you pray, do you have your Bible open? When you read your Bible, do you do so prayerfully and considerately? Bible reading and prayer go together! Unbelief stops a person from holding fellowship with God. Our God is alive, not a dead idol on the shelf or in the bank. This church of Hebrew believers, for all their Christian profession and religious exercises, were in danger of falling away from God, due to their not believing totally in Him. God would not abandon them, but they would abandon God!

We need to take care, in case we also fall into unbelief. Unbelief and falling away act upon and react to each other. If we have any unbelief in our hearts tonight, then let us ask God to give us a heart that believes in Him so that we may not fall away from Him. And what is one of the main ways we can stop from falling away or letting others fall away into unbelief?

 

Keep encouraging!

 

 

Hebrews 3v12-14

So we keep on considering Jesus. We persevere in our believing in Him. Now thirdly, to show we are considering Jesus and are persevering in our believing Him, we are to encourage and be encouraged! In verse 12, we read, “See to it, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God”. This means, that we are not only to take care of our own hearts, but as verse 13 goes on to say, we are to encourage and ensure no one is in danger of falling away. We who are believers, have to make sure that each one of us is staying on the path that leads to life, that is, the race towards Jesus.

This group of Hebrew Christians were to help and encourage each other! And so are we! For us, maybe it is by phoning somebody you haven’t seen in a while or to phone somebody you get a random thought about! If we see a brother or sister that we know is starting to fall out of the race, we need to do all we can to stop them falling away. We need to encourage them, to continue considering Jesus and believing in Him. We all know of people who are new believers, full of joy and zeal for God, that end up falling back into unbelief, unable to hold fast to the end. To some degree, it is because the Church body has failed to encourage them to continue on in the race. It is our duty, and our daily responsibility to encourage people on in the race or the journey.

However, to encourage is not just these easy things. To encourage can also mean to rebuke, to correct in love. I look back at my tutor, during my first stint of Bible College back in the 1980s. His name was Ed. Ed the head we called him. We had weekly tutorials then. Every week he would get me to read a chapter of Knowing God by JI Packer and a chapter of Mere Christianity by CS Lewis. Then during our tutorial I would have to try and explain what I learnt from both those chapters. It was a slog at times I tell you. Sometimes I would get a clip round the ear for being stubborn or just being plain thick! But it gave me a good grounding for my Christian thinking and life of discipleship to Jesus.

Or I think back to my dear friend Rose, a kind and dear elderly lady from the church I used to attend back in the 80s. She would have us young adults back to her house overlooking the ocean for coffee after church on a Sunday evening. She would always be showing love, caring and encouraging to all people – ready to lift them when they were down and eager to cheer from the sidelines. She was also a tough cookie at times and if we got out of line, she would say so in no uncertain terms! Not so much an arm around the shoulder then but a good swift kick! Both methods of encouragement when required!

When we see somebody sinning or contemplating Therefore in considering Jesus, believe in Him and encourage others to do the same. That is the purpose of encouragement mentioned here. Let all of us give ourselves to the service of Jesus to watch over other people: let all the fresh grace and deeper knowledge of Jesus we see, be for the service of those around us. Where will you and I be spiritually next year, in 10 years’ time, in 25 years’ time? Will you be able to honestly say to yourself at that time, I have grown spiritually and haven’t fallen away?

If you would call yourself a Christian, and you are unsure where you are, then do this. Look back and remember what Jesus has done for you. Consider Him as you look back to your first profession of faith in Him. Consider that just as He died, you died in the waters of baptism. Consider that just as He rose to physical life, you rose from the waters of baptism and will also rise again when you physically die. Consider that just as Jesus will be glorified, so too will you be glorified before the Father – if you hold out until the end. Be assured of who you are – you are a child of the living God – hold out to the end. He has a firm grip on you, so maintain your grip on Him! Remember who you are!

The way to cope with the rigours of 21^st century life as a Christian believer, is to keep considering, keep persevering and keep encouraging.

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Sermon – Jesus WOW Part 2

The Challenge Of

Jesus’ WOW Factor

 

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Introduction!

Last Sunday we reflected together about the WOW factor of Jesus. What does WOW stand for? Worthy of Worship! We saw together how as expressed in Colossians 1v15-20 Paul had a WOW factor about Jesus Christ!

I shared how the WOW factor of Jesus for me included his uniqueness, majesty, tenderness, wisdom, strength and loveliness. That this extraordinary Jesus loves us with an unparalleled and creative passion!

Then we looked at the WOW factor having an impact on communities by way of us as Christians being as Jesus, through loving, serving and giving to others! We saw that by using the power and strength of the Holy Spirit within us, meant that we would never tire of loving, serving and giving to others. Then finally, this Jesus will be returning and will do the most extraordinary thing to all those who persevere – Revelation 21v4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. That’s a WOW factor of Jesus! How has your WOW factor of Jesus been this past week?

It would be lovely to just stay there and bask in that WOW factor but that would not be the full picture! We have to live between the present and the future and Jesus has left us with a job to do! Anybody here find that following Jesus closely easy? Not just me then!

Four Portraits of Jesus Christ

Jesus in the Four Gospels

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In the New Testament, we have four accounts of the life of Jesus Christ which are Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. These are called Gospels. But what is a Gospel, how are the four accounts different or similar and what were the main points each writer sought to communicate.