Jesus Crucified

[00:00:00] This audio sermon is provided by AnabaptistSermons.com and may be freely copied and distributed. You may not sell or edit this sermon. Our prayer is that you would be blessed by this ministry. Where do you begin speaking about the single most important event of all time? Of where our destiny is hinged upon? Where we would be lost without, how can we grasp the enormity of the love that our Savior has shown? [00:00:41] As I simply read the verses where Christ instituted this ordinance of communion, There's a phrase that especially in its simplicity struck me and found in Luke 22, 19 and also in 1 Corinthians where Paul gives that occasion of where Christ instituted communion or the Last Supper. And Jesus asks that we are to break bread, to drink of the cup, in remembrance of me. [00:01:20] Now that's quite simple, in remembrance. To remember is to bring to mind, to call attention to, to remember, to remind, to keep it fresh on my mind. Now in our human flesh, we're very forgetful, at least I am. You know, sometimes my wife can ask me mornings before I leave for work or even call me mornings and ask if I can stop somewhere on the way home from work. [00:01:54] And if nothing's interfering there, I'll say, yeah, of course I can. But by the end of the day I can be with the day's activities and I might be driving home thinking of different things that I should accomplish or what we're going to do tonight or different things that may be on my mind I can drive right through ship and never think about stopping and getting something. Because my mind is preoccupied, it's filled up with other things [00:02:29] And I can completely forget Now there's things that we can do to remedy that I often write notes or I have my wife call me just before I go home or different things But I wonder if that's not what God realized as well is that in the busyness of life that we have a tendency to forget. Maybe time has lapsed and years have gone by or so. [00:03:03] We tend to forget. Well, sometimes it's good to forget things. But we dare never forget and lose focus or forget to place value on those things that God has given for our provision. In the Old Testament, God recognized the forgetfulness of man and instituted different memorials. The first one that I thought of was the Feast of the Passover, [00:03:35] one that they held yearly to remember their deliverance from Egypt, of where they took the lamb and they slain it and put the blood on the doorposts so that the death angel would pass over. And they observed it yearly so they would never forget that deliverance. And even Orthodox Jews still hold that tradition today. [00:04:05] There was others. In Exodus we read how they were supposed to keep manna. After the manna had ceased, they kept an omer of manna, I think it was in the Holy of Holies, as a reminder to them, as a memorial of how God cared for them, provided their daily needs during the time in the wilderness. The priest carried two stones on his shoulders that were inscribed the names of the twelve tribes [00:04:42] as a reminder to him that he is a representative, he is a priest, a mediator for these tribes. And as the tribes of Israel saw him, it reminded them that he was the man that appeared to them, appeared before God on their behalf. Something that reminded them each time they saw those stones. The people were asked also to have fringes on their garments. [00:05:16] Again, a memorial, a reminder to them that they were to obey all the commandments of the Lord. And there's even more. We think of when they passed through Jordan on dry land. They were to gather twelve stones from the center of the river, and they placed them on a pile where they had lodged. And he specifically says that it's for a memorial, so that when their children see this, that they'll ask, what happened? [00:05:50] and they can use this as a time to again show God's faithfulness and his provision for them in stopping the waters there. This is a memorial too that we want to commemorate today. Just before his death, he instituted this memorial so that we don't forget, so that it remains fresh in our minds in remembrance of Him. And so this morning, in simple terms, or in short, I'd like to reminisce about the life and death of Christ, of Jesus. [00:06:33] And I think at the beginning, I think we need to be reminded of the reason of His coming. At the beginning of time, God created the earth and man. And there was a perfect relationship there. It was without sin, but man fell. And there was a separation. For with a holy God, when there is sin, there is a separation. [00:07:07] There's a gap that cannot be bridged by man. There's condemnation and the wrath of God against sin. Man was lost. He had no way back. No way to reconcile. No redemption. No way to be restored to God. And I think in order to appreciate our deliverance, we need to see the depth of where we were lost and without hope. [00:07:46] I don't know, can we imagine the school children this past week talked about how they saw that space station out there in one night that they went to. and I'm not sure what the name slips me right now, observatory or planetarium. And I don't know, can we imagine if we were on that space station and somehow due to our mistake or our neglect, we cut off all communications and it was lost. [00:08:23] They have no way of coming back by their own selves. I don't know, can you imagine the utter hopelessness if you or I would be there and they had no way of coming back unless someone from earth went there. That's not even close to the depth that we were lost and the gap that is formed when there is sin against a holy God. And it was only that God in His mercy provided a redemption for us through His Son, the Lamb. [00:09:04] It was through the seed of a woman and it was prophesied, it was promised that the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the longed for Messiah. I know it's been alluded to already, but let's remember how he came. He came in a manger, a deliverer, one that came from the glories of heaven to a manger, a barn, a cave. [00:09:43] I'm not sure where it was, but to the lowliest place you could find. And you know, there is no one that can say, He's too high for me. In complete humility He came, even in the detail of His birth. You see the humility of Christ. The lowly shepherds came. They were the only ones, at least at the beginning. [00:10:20] We don't read much of his young years, and Brother Glenn alluded to that as well. But following his time in the temple, there's only a few words that describe, I don't know how many years, from 12 to when he began his ministry. And it says after they came home from Nazareth, it says he was subject unto them in reference to his parents. [00:10:54] So even in his childhood, we see that there was obedience and we can remember the life that he lived as an example. Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. Before his ministry, he asked John to baptize him. He was without sin, yet he set an example for his followers. [00:11:31] As he did so, he was recognized from God. In that voice that came from heaven, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And as we remember the time that he was in the wilderness, The temptations that he faced, do you remember the outcome? [00:12:04] I imagine those were real. I don't imagine, I know those were real temptations. For it says in Hebrews 4.15 For we have not a high priest that cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, But he was in all points tempted like as we are. He felt a temptation like we do. Those temptations were real. But he stayed true and faithful. [00:12:38] He would not be moved. He responded with using Scripture. Showing by us the authority of the Word of God and the strength by which we can use it to be victorious. Many people followed him. And on the mountain where he delivered the Sermon on the Mount, he had at least ten points in the Beatitudes that we call them, outlining what his kingdom is like and what his followers, how his followers should live. [00:13:15] He used illustrations that we could understand or that they could understand and we today. Salt, light, sand and rocks, flowers, sheep and wolves, fruit He taught us how to pray and how to respond when mistreated He did not paint an easy life, but it would be blessed He preached and taught with authority because He had authority [00:13:49] He was the Son of God. Can we remember as the multitudes followed Him all day what a distress that it could be on a human or a physical body. And yet, even though He was tired, He was moved with compassion. and he continued on. Do we remember how the multitudes as they came, [00:14:24] various different people, different classes of people, and yet he healed them all. He helped them. He had no respect of persons. He sat with the publicans, the sinners, There were many that were spiritually deaf and blind, and he spoke to them in parables so they could understand. The parable of the sower, the good Samaritan, the wedding feast, ten talents, and many others. [00:15:04] so that not only they could understand, but so that I can understand today. Do you remember the time He had for children? He brought them and blessed them. We don't hear of one negative word He says about children. They weren't a bother. [00:15:36] He used them for examples. And as Brother Glenn mentioned as well, there were many who opposed him. The scribes, the Pharisees, the lawyers tried to trip him up. How did he respond? Do you remember? He didn't ignore their questions but answered them, but also warned them, was firm and showed them their error. Eventually, knowing that His time was coming, He forewarned the disciples of His return, the second coming. [00:16:14] And He asked them to be watching and ready. And then it was time for the Passover. And as they gathered for that last supper, that last time that those 13 men had together in that way, he instituted the Lord's Supper. And I'd like to read that account in Luke 22, beginning in verse 15. And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. [00:16:49] For I say unto you, I will not eat any more thereof until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took the cup, and he gave thanks, and said, Take this, divide it amongst yourselves. For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God shall come. And he took the bread, and gave thanks, and break it, and gave it unto them, saying, this is my body which is given for you [00:17:19] do this in remembrance of me likewise also the cup after supper saying this cup is the New Testament in my blood which is shed for you and I'm not sure did the disciples I don't think they fully understood at this point what he was saying that his body was to be broken His blood was going to be shed for them. And then, He kneeled down and He washed their feet. [00:17:59] By example, He showed service. And in John we can read, after Judas left, He seemed to bear His heart to His disciples, and He told them that they should love one another, that the world was going to watch them, and that's the way they were going to know that they were going to be His disciples if they have love one to another. He encouraged them that He was going to leave and was going to go to prepare a place. [00:18:35] And then when He was to come again, He would receive them unto Himself. He comforted them by telling them that the Holy Ghost was to come to lead them, to teach them, to be a comforter. He said if we want to maintain in the Christian life, he used again an example of the vine. He says we must abide in him. Abide on the vine. It's the only way that we can bear fruit is to be connected to the vine. [00:19:14] He also warned them of coming hard times, persecutions, difficulties. But his final words were, be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world. And then lifting up his eyes, he prays, Father, the time has come. Glorify thy Son. And he prayed that they could be one, that the church could be one, and that prayer reaches you and I today. [00:19:56] that we would be one in Him, behold His glory. Why? So that the world would believe on Him. Let's turn to Matthew 26. I think I'll read the account because I don't want to miss anything. Matthew 26, verse 36. Then cometh Jesus with them into a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto his disciples, Sit ye here while I go yonder and pray. [00:20:36] And he took with him Peter and his two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. And he said unto them, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death. Tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went on a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt. And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What? Could ye not watch with me one hour? [00:21:13] Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation. The Spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. And he went away again the second time and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. And he came again and found them asleep again, for his eyes were heavy. And he left them and went away and prayed the third time, saying the same words. Then cometh he to his disciples and saith unto them, Sleep on now, take your rest, behold the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. [00:21:55] Do you remember the final words of his cry to the Father? The physician Luke says that his sweat was like great drops of blood. His body was resisting what he knew was coming. And yet it always ended. Thy will be done. Verse 46 Rise, let us be going. Behold, he is at hand that doeth betray me. [00:22:29] And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people. Now he that betrayed him had given him a sign, saying, Whosoever I shall kiss, that same as he, hold him fast. And forthwith he came to Jesus and said, Hail, Master, and kissed him. And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? And they came to him and laid hands on Jesus and took him. [00:23:01] And behold one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck a servant of the high priest and smote off his ear Then said Jesus unto him put up again thy sword into its place For all that take the sword shall perish with the sword Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray unto my father and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled that thus it must be? [00:23:32] In the same hour Jesus said to the multitudes, Are ye come out against me as a thief with swords and staves, or to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me. But all this was done that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him and fled. I see no resistance here. I see only brokenness. Even though he was forsaken of his very own, there is brokenness. And he took this time to yet give us another, a little example of what it means to be a follower of Christ. [00:24:17] and that is not to fight back, to be broken of ourselves. And they that had laid hold on Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest where the scribes and elders were assembled. But Peter followed him afar off into the high priest's palace and went in and sat with the servants to see the end. Now the chief priests and the elders and all the council sought false witness against Jesus to put him to death, but found none. [00:24:51] Yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses, and said, This fellow saith, I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days. And the high priest arose and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? What is it which these witness against thee? But Jesus held his peace, and the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, tell thou us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. [00:25:25] Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said, Nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting in the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rend his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy. What further need have we of witness? Behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death. And they did spit in his face, and buffeted him, and others smote him with the palms of their hands, saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ. [00:26:04] Who is it that smote thee? Can you think of any other way that is more degrading than to be spat in the face? Artie Libwer, being beaten, but you see his brokenness, his broken body. mockery bearing it for you and I [00:26:34] now Peter sat without the palace and the damsel came unto him saying thou also was with Jesus of Galilee but he denied before them all saying I know not what thou sayest and he was gone out into the porch another maid saw him and said unto them that were there This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man. And after a while came unto him they that stood by and said to Peter, [00:27:09] Surely thou art one of them, for thy speech bereath thee. So he began to curse and swear, saying, I know not the man, and immediately the cock crew. And Peter remembered the words of Jesus, which said unto him, before the cock crow thou shalt deny me thrice and he went out and wept bitterly when the morning was come all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death and when they had bound him they led him away and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor [00:27:40] then Judas which had betrayed him when he saw he was condemned repented himself and brought again The thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? See thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed and went and hanged himself. And the chief priests took the silver pieces and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood. [00:28:11] and they took counsel and brought with them bought with them the potter's field to bury strangers in wherefore that field was called the field of blood and to this day then it was fulfilled which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet saying and they took the thirty pieces of silver the price of him that was valued whom they of the children of Israel did value and he gave them for the potter's field as the Lord appointed me And Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the king of the Jews? [00:28:44] Jesus saith unto him, Thou sayest. And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? And he answered him, Never a word. Insomuch that the governor marveled greatly. Now at that feast the governor was wont to release unto the people a prisoner whom they would And they had then a notable prisoner called Barabbas [00:29:17] Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate saith unto them Whom will ye that I release unto you, Barabbas or Jesus, whom is called Christ? For he knew that for envy they had delivered him When he was set down to the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man? For I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him. But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas and destroy Jesus. [00:29:53] The governor answered and said unto him, Weather of the twain, will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas! Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus, which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified. The governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified. When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, [00:30:25] He took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person, see ye to it. Then they answered all the people and said, His blood be on us and on our children. Then released he Barabbas unto them, and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. There's only one word there that says scourged, but it means an awful lot. It's not just an ordinary spanking or whipping, but they laid open his back. [00:30:59] Again we see the broken body of Christ, the shed blood. As they scourged him, they stripped him, put on him a scarlet robe. And when they had plaited a crown of thorns, they put it on his head. And a reed in his right hand, and they bowed the knee before him and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! [00:31:31] A crown of thorns on his head. Sometimes we see pictures of an artist depicting Christ with a crown of thorn, and there's maybe a drop of blood. But that's not how it is when you place a crown of thorns on someone's head. What happens when you're injured in the head? There's a lot of blood flowing, especially as they took a reed and beat him over the head. His shed blood. [00:32:04] And after that, they mocked him. They took the robe off from him and put on his own raiment on him and led him away to crucify him. and as they came out they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name, him they compelled to bear his cross and when they were coming to a place called Golgotha, that is to say a place of a skull they gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall and when he had tasted thereof he would not drink [00:32:34] and they crucified him and parted his garments casting lots that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lot. The first four words speak an enormous amount that we can't even, in that verse, that we can't even grasp. And they crucified him. [00:33:05] The most horrible death. The most degrading death. Excruciating pain. The body fighting for breath, drawn out. I can't imagine the nails tearing through tendons. He was lifted up, naked, in pain, while others watched and mocked. We see the broken body of Christ. [00:33:38] The blood that flowed for you and I And sitting down they watched him there And set up over his head an accusation written This is Jesus, the King of the Jews Then were there two thieves crucified with him One on the right hand and another on the left And they that pass by reviled him, wagging their heads and saying, [00:34:14] Thou that destroyest the temple and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests, mocking him with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others, himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God, let him deliver him now, if he will have him, for he said, I am the Son of God. [00:34:50] What would have happened if he would have called 10,000 angels? He could have come from down from that cross, but then there would have been no redemption for you and I. The thieves also which were crucified with him cast the same in his teeth. And now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. The middle of the day, and about the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabbatani, that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? [00:35:38] Some of them that stood there when they heard that said, This man cries for Elias, calleth for Elias. And straightway one of them ran and took a sponge and filled it with vinegar and put it on a reed and gave him to drink. The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him. Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. [00:36:11] In the Gospel of John, he says he cried, It is finished. It's done. In the Greek it means teleo, meaning the work was performed, completed. The debt has been paid in full for our redemption. What He had come to do was finished. [00:36:42] We had been so utterly lost. Man had been lost. But now that ransom was paid, I cannot grasp that, that the Lamb, without spot, without blame, He was taking my place. He took my sins upon Himself. And He didn't just do this to show love to us. [00:37:14] He did this. He died. He shed His blood. Because that blood was the only blood that was worthy, that was to be accepted. of the Father. The only way for our atonement. He could have showed love in other ways, but He had to die for that redemption to take place. To think that He bore all this for me, [00:37:47] this poor, wretched, undeserving sinner, is more than what I can grasp. And it's something that none of us can ever repay. The debt we owe cannot be paid. I'm glad the story doesn't end there. The grave couldn't hold him. The chains of death were broken as he burst from that grave. [00:38:21] The resurrection speaks to me of power, of new life, a relationship that we can have with our Savior that is fresh and can be renewed day by day. Because He lives, He's alive today, He's interceding for us. There are different ways of where the power of the resurrection can be recognized today. It can be evidenced in the life or the transformation that takes place in the life of a man who is but rags, but he becomes riches, one that is very weak, unable to having strength by the grace of God. [00:39:14] from defeat to victory by the power of the resurrection, the power of the new birth. As we remember, what is our response? As we break the bread and drink the cup, we can never pay back. But I wonder if our response shouldn't be that of worship. of utter, total surrender to our God, to the Savior. [00:39:52] Let Him be Lord of our life. May it be our highest goal, our highest aim to live like Him, to live for Him. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4 verse 10 That the life of Jesus can be made manifest in my body That we show the Lord's death till He come As we break the bread and drink the cup [00:40:23] What do we remember? And what is our response?