1 Corinthian 2:2
The death of Jesus Christ is the central focus of the Christian
faith.
"Born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried..."The Apostles' Creed, goes straight from the birth of Jesus to his death. From the mother who gave him birth to the judge who condemned him. Pilate was a notorious governor of the Roman province of Judea. He was an efficient but ruthless administrator. When the Jewish leaders brought Jesus to Pilate, he knew that Jesus did nothing wrong to deserve the death penalty. But in order to please the religious leaders, he sentenced Jesus to die. And to show his innocence in this matter, he publicly washed his hands. But history would not separate him from the suffering and death of Jesus Christ.
When we go from the birth of Jesus to his death, we see the centrality of death. Jesus was literally born to die. During his 3 years of public ministry, Jesus repeatedly fore told the disciples about his suffering and death. When he had his last supper with them, he did not talk of his birth and life, neither did he talk of his work or teaching. Instead, the predominant theme was his death. He used the breaking of bread, to symbolize how his body would be broken, the wine, a symbol of his blood which he would shed in order to establish the new relationship between men and God.
Later, the apostles understood the centrality of Jesus' death. 1 Corinthians 2:2, “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” 15:3,"For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures," The death of Jesus Christ occupies the central stage of our belief. And because of his death, the cross which was the ugly instrument of death, became the symbol of Christian faith.
But what is the meaning of the cross? Why is Jesus's death so important in the Christian faith? The Apostles' creed does not give us a answer, but the New Testament does.
I. Jesus died as a martyr.
Acts 2:23,"This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross."Acts 4:27 "Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed." Jesus did not commit any crime deserving to be punished by death. Pontius Pilate was a witness to that. But the religious leaders of that day could not accept Jesus' claim that he was the son of God, he was God. So they conspired together to get rid of him. He was a victim of man's prejudice and evil hearts. He was a martyr.
II. Jesus died as an example.
1 Peter 2:21-23,"To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly." These words clearly tell us that Jesus Christ's suffering and death were an example for us.
When we follow Christ, we often think of how he can help and satisfy us. He’ll make our lives easier. He will help us in our study, work and relationships. Yes, we also don’t mind having him as an example for our ethical behavior, we all want to be better person, but death…?
What kind of an example? Certainly several aspects of his death can never be our example. We cannot die to save others from sin. We cannot die to satisfy God’s righteousness. However, the one area mentioned in this passage is that His suffering was unjust, yet he did not retaliate. He did not defend or explain himself.
It sounds very strange to us, right? We hear so much emphasis on personal rights. When my rights are violated, we yell,"unfair". When others mistreat us personally, making untrue statements about us, hurting and damaging our credibility, what do we do? It’s natural for us to burn with anger. We want an opportunity to air out, to have our side of the story be heard. We even want to get even. Jesus was treated unfairly and unjustly, but he did not retaliate. In the words of Isaiah 53:7, “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.”
He trusted the God who would judge justly. He believed that God is the final judge. There are times we may need to give up our right to be understood, our rights to explain ourselves, and trust our situations into God’s hand.
III. Jesus died to reveal God's love for us.
Romans 5:8,"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." In this passage, we learn that Jesus’ death was associated with God's love.
"The tale of the two cities" was a story about the French Revolution. How one man secretly changed places with a friend who was imprisoned. Later, he was executed. The author quoted Jesus's words,"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends"
About 20 years ago, Chuck Colson was imprisoned because of his role in the Watergate incident. While in prison, a crisis occured in his family. One Christian Congressman offered to serve the rest of Colson's sentence so he could go home to care for family matters.
Its rare to be willing to take a friend's place in prison, its even rarer to die for a friend. In Romans 5:8 we read,"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." You see, the bible tells us that while we were still sinners, his enemies, still kicking and yelling against him, when we neither knew nor worshipped him, he loved and died for us. He loved us even before we responded to him. His love is independent of any merit we may have. It is a total and unconditional love.
When we see the cross, we see God's love. This is grace.
IV. Jesus died to be our Saviour.
Jesus died as a martyr, as an example, to reveal God's love. Moreover he died to be our saviour. In the Nicene Creed, also found at the back of our hymnal, are these words,"..for us men and for our salvation, he came down from heaven." He came down from heaven to be our saviour. What does it mean? To see Jesus as the Saviour, we first need to understand one key concept:
1. Propitiation.
1 Jon 4:10," This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." The words 'atoning sacrifice' is also translated as 'propitiation'. "God sent his son as a propitiation for our sins." To understand this, we need to recognize:
First the reality of the human condition. Simply put, we don't love God, we only love ourselves. We become independent of God, we deliberately put aside his standards. We worship success and financial gain instead of the maker of heaven and earth. There is one word to describe such human condition: SIN.
We don't hear this word used too often today. Instead, we have many synonyms. A person who is a serial killer or child molester, is a sick person. Mothers who kill their children are insane. Alcoholism and homosexual behavior are congenital behaviors, that is they are in my genes, I can't help it. In 1994 Newt Gingrich said in an interview: "Homsexuality is an orientation like alcoholism is an orientation...its like near-sightedness." We use orientation to legitimize our behavior. Marital problems are contributed to problems in communication, compatibility or personality. Or the person has a bent or fragmented personality. This person or his family is dysfunctional. Infidelity is a person's strong need for affection. No matter how we may explain them, they are expressions of our rebellion against God, manifestation of our sinful nature.
The scripture says,"We have all sinned and come short of God's glory. "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way..."
Not only do we need to know human conditions, but also to know about God's concern over men's sinfulness. What is God's attitude towards men's sin? When we read Romans chapters 1-3, the one main theme that shines through is the wrath of God. Man's sinfulness can only bring about God's wrath. John Stott writes,"The wrath of God is his steady,unrelenting, unremitting, uncompromising antagonism to evil in all its forms and manifestations. In short, God's anger is poles apart from ours. What provokes his anger(evil), seldom provokes ours."In other words, when the holy, righteous, just God faces the unjust, untrue and impure, the only possible response is his wrath. And none of us, no one is capable of standing under God's wrath. But there's more,
Even though we don't love God, we only love ourselves, God still loves us. How does he love us? 1 Peter 2:24,"He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed." He took our sins and put on Jesus Christ. When Jesus bore our sins, he also received the penalty, punishment for our sins, which is death, meaning, separation from God. While he was on the cross, Jesus cried out, “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” This was a cry of total emptiness, loneliness and abandonmnet. On that cross, carrying our sins, he was separated from God.
You see, we should have died because of our sins, but Jesus took our sins upon himself and died. He was punished on our behalf. He satisfied God’s righteousness. Because he died, we no longer have to die for our sins. This is PROPITIATION. He died in our place.
2. Reconciliation.
What does this lead to? 1 Peter 3:18,"For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit.." You see, because of our sins, we are enemies of God, separated from Him. There is no peace between us and God. When there is no peace between us and God, there is also no peace within ourselves and with people around us.
However, when Jesus Christ took our sins and died for us, having satisfied God’s righteousness, he brought us to God, to reconcile us with Him. This brings peace between us and God, brings peace to us and those around us and to bring peace to ourselves. This peace transcends all circumstances and human understandings. St. Augustine said,"our souls are restless until we find rest in God."
3. Redemption.
The saviour took our sins and died for us. He made peace between God and us. He also brings redemption to us . Ephesians 1:7,"In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace." Jesus bore our sins and their penalty, he brought peace between us and God. He also redeemed us. He paid a price to free us from sin's slavery, so that we are no longer bound by our sins.
Yes, we're still tempted to sin, to do things, entertain thoughts that are not pleasing to God. But we do not have to give in, we can say no. For sin has lost its grip on us.
Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate, crucified and buried. Every Sunday when we come to this sanctuary, seeing this cross, we are reminded of Jesus Christ. In this cross we see Jesus as a victim of human rebellion against God. An example for us, and being our Saviour. God took our sins and placed them on Jesus Christ. He died to forgive our sins, to remove God's wrath from us, bringing peace between us and God. This cross of Jesus Christ is the very essence of Christian faith.
This cross captured the attention of the apostles and millions that came after them. It touched the hearts of many causing them to make peace with their creator. It was also the source of inspiration for many hymns, poems and paintings.
Many of us were captured by the cross. We still remember that specific moment how our hearts were touched by God’s love as manifested by his death on the cross. Our hearts were stirred when we sang “On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, the emblem of suffering and shame, and I love that old cross where the dearest and best, for a world of lost sinners was slain.” This love brought us to Jesus, confessed our sins to him, and accepted him as our Lord and Saviour.
However, since then some of our hearts have grown cold towards Christ who died on the cross. We may have allowed secular values to blind us. Our priorities are muddled. The material world has overshadowed the spiritual world. Our hearts have become callous to Him who loved and died for us.
May we ask the Holy Spirit to once again open our eyes, soften our hearts to see and feel the love that was manifested on the cross. That we may echo the words of Isaac Watts:
When I survey
the wondrous cross
On which the
Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I
count but loss
And pour contempt
on all my pride.
Were the whole
realm of nature mine
That were an
offering far too small,
Love
so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul,
my life, my all.
Sunday July 11th, 1999, Rev. William Hsueh, Houston Chinese Church, Houston, Texas.