By Pastor Greg
While
driving through town, a motorist saw a fortune teller
sitting in front of her shop smiling and laughing. The driver came to a screeching halt, walked
up to her, and started slapping her across her face. A policeman passing by wrestled the man to
the ground. After cuffing the motorist, the officer asked, "What do you
think you're doing?" After a moment, the man replied, ... "Well, I've
always wanted to strike a happy medium."
I
suspect right now you would like to strike someone else.
Although
that story was a terrible pun, it does
share one particular truth: we certainly like to hit one another. There seems to be an awful lot of hitting
going on nowadays. And this violence is a reminder that we
humans are poisoned by sin.
The
Bible teaches us that Jesus came to address that sin; that His death on the
cross is God’s solution to sin.
John
19:28-37 28 Jesus knew that his mission was now finished, and to fulfill
Scripture he said, “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar of sour wine was
sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and
held it up to his lips. 30 When Jesus had tasted it, he said,
“It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and released his spirit. 31 It
was the day of preparation, and the Jewish leaders didn’t want the bodies
hanging there the next day, which was the Sabbath (and a very special Sabbath,
because it was the Passover). So they asked Pilate to hasten their deaths by
ordering that their legs be broken. Then their bodies could be taken down. 32 So
the soldiers came and broke the legs of the two men crucified with Jesus. 33 But
when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead, so they didn’t
break his legs. 34 One of the soldiers, however, pierced his
side with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out. 35 (This
report is from an eyewitness giving an accurate account. He speaks the truth so
that you also can believe.) 36 These things happened in
fulfillment of the Scriptures that say, “Not one of his bones will be broken,” 37 and
“They will look on the one they pierced.”[1]
Apparently, there was some “Fake
News” being circulated that Jesus had not actually
died (suggesting He had merely fainted or passed out) because John insists that
he was an eyewitness to this whole event
(John 19:35). John saw Jesus give up His
spirit. He saw Jesus pierced all the way
through the heart. The fact that Jesus physically died is
confirmed by eye witnesses, Roman authorities, and Jewish historians. The Man died.
End of discussion.
But why did He die?
See, that’s the real question we
should be asking; not debating whether He did die or not, but understanding the
significance of His death.
To understand the death of Jesus,
we must first understand what happened in
the Garden of Eden. What happened to the
first man and woman helps us understand why Jesus died, why it was necessary
for Him to die.
In the beginning, God gave
humanity blessing after blessing. The man had freedom to live in the Garden and
make choices for himself. I mean, it’s
not like God was a dictator. He didn’t
watch Adam’s every step (Watch out for
the log. There’s a log up here! You run too fast, that’s your problem. Why do you have to run through this garden so
quickly?
You never listen to me.). The
only restriction God gave the first man was a command against eating the fruit from one particular tree; the
Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. God
knew this knowledge would destroy the man, which is why He gave such a stern
warning. God said the consequences of
disobedience would be death (Genesis 2:17).
I suspect you know what the man
did. He
and his wife disobeyed. Satan came along and changed God’s command
ever so slightly, and Adam and Eve fell for his deception. And since God is faithful to His word (and He must be, or else He isn’t God), they
suffered the consequences. Adam and Eve
became sinful creatures marked for death.
This event is called “The Fall of
Humanity”; it marks a change in mankind’s relationship with God and a biological shift in the
nature of humanity. From this point forward, human beings would
die. They would die because they had a
sin nature. Humanity lost its innocence,
became poisoned; became infected with a disease which was transferred to the
children. It’s obvious their son Cain
was infected. He killed his brother
(Genesis 4:8). Actually, this
“infection” – this disease – has been
passed along from one generation to the next.
Even today, we are suffering from this disease
called sin, and we know this is true because people are still dying today. Death is still part of our reality, which
means Sin is still present in our
lives. The words of Paul are still true today.
“The
payment for sin is death.”[2]
(Romans 6:23a). We die, not because we
are old, but because sin is still present.
Humanity has been poisoned –
bitten by sin and destined to die. But
what if God could break that curse somehow?
What if God could provide a way to atone
for our sin – a way to make that payment for us? What if God could justify us in some way – take away the sin, so we appear Just as if
we never sinned? Well, God can do
this, and He did. Jesus volunteers to
become one of us and die in our place.
His death becomes the payment for our sin.
This payment is legitimate because
physically, Jesus was just like you and me.
Physically, He could be killed, but spiritually He was different. You see, because of His miraculous birth, Jesus
did not inherit the disease. Jesus did
not have a sin nature like you and me.
Jesus was born without the curse,
which means He would not suffer the penalty.
He was not marked for death. Yet
He chose to die in our place. He took
upon Himself the sins of humanity – all of humanity
– and provided a way to be healed.
Because of this, anyone who trusts in Jesus – anyone who believes His
death pays the penalty for their sin - will not perish, but have eternal life
(John 3:16). It’s like Jesus became the
cure. He takes away the disease. You and I don’t have to pay the penalty for
our sin because He did, and because of that, we no
longer must suffer the consequences; we don’t need to die.
What I am sharing this morning is
not deep theology. It is simply
logic. It is the only reasonable answer
to the question “Why did Jesus have to die.”
Jesus died to provide a way to undo the effects of sin. He died so we might have a choice; we could
choose to remain poisoned by sin and suffer the consequences (not just physical death, but spiritual death as well),
or choose to accept the sacrifice of
Jesus and experience eternal life.
If you believe Jesus was the
sinless Son of God sent to free us from sin, and if you believe His death on the cross paid the penalty for your sin, you
have an opportunity to experience eternal life … even if you die
physically. Even if you or I die a
physical death, we will not experience a
spiritual death. We will continue to
live and exist even though our body dies.
Which is something we will talk about the next time.
But for now, please know this: By
allowing Himself to be killed, Jesus rewrites our story. Before He died, it looked like the story
would end in hopelessness and death.
Humanity had no hope of ever escaping the chains of death. Sin held us captive. But all along God kept hinting about a day
when the captives would be set free
- a day when His suffering servant would bear our sins; a day when He would be
punished for all the things we did wrong (Isaiah 53). And that day came when Jesus rode into
Jerusalem on a donkey, headed for the cross.
He gave Himself over to death so we could be set free. On the cross, our debt was paid. Because of the cross, humanity now has hope.
Without it, we only have death.
[1] Tyndale House Publishers.
(2007). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (3rd ed., Jn 19:28–37).
Carol Stream, IL.
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