It is good to be with you again for the Weekend Sermon during this Holy Week period. Yesterday, I posted a few brief thoughts about what Jesus did on Maundy Thursday. Jesus demonstrated His great love and commanded us to love one another.
On that same night when Jesus washed His disciples' feet and instituted the sacrament of Holy Communion, Jesus and His disciples left the Upper room and they went to the Garden of Gethsemane. There, Jesus prayed the words, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt."
I can't even begin to imagine what went through Jesus' mind as Good Friday approached. As the divine Son of God, Jesus knew that in just a few short hours He would face mocking, beating, scourging and ultimately death on the cross. He also knew that on the cross He would bear our sins in His body as the spotless, sinless Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
In His humanity, Jesus would have of course wanted to avoid the pain and the humiliation of the cross. However, Jesus was obedient to the will of the Father. Out of His great love for the world that He made, Jesus went to the cross to be the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world.
I like the way that Paul explains what Jesus did in Philippians 2:6-8 where it says, "Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus suffered a great betrayal and a great abandonment. First, He was betrayed by Judas, and then he was abandoned by all of His closest followers. As the events of the night progressed, Peter would deny that he knew Jesus three times.
Jesus was brought before the High Priest, Herod and Pontius Pilate. He was mocked all the way. Jesus could have called the hosts of Heaven to rescue Him, but he didn't. His love for us led Him on.
Finally, on Good Friday, Jesus was nailed to the cross where He suffered in agony for the sins of the world. He went through so much.
Isaiah told about Jesus and what He would suffer in Isaiah 53:5-6 where he says, "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."
Jesus had to die on the cross because every person that has ever lived has sinned. Romans 3:23 states, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." There was nothing that fallen humanity could do to obtain salvation. We were separated from God.
However, God loved us and wanted to save us. But, God is a God of justice and holiness as well. In order to satisfy the demands of justice and the demands of love, the Father sent His son into this world. Jesus led a perfect, holy and sinless life. Because of this, He could take our place. He could be our substitute. Jesus bore our sins and took the punishment for sin that we deserved on Calvary.
John puts it this way in I John 4:10, "Herein is love not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sin."
Jesus died and was buried in the borrowed tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. Jesus' followers thought that it was all over. Jesus was dead and gone.
However, Jesus would rise triumphantly from the grave on Easter Sunday. Many people only concentrate on the cross when they consider the redemptive work of Christ, but Jesus had to rise from the dead in order to overcome the consequences of sin. When sin entered into the world, death came into the world. Death was the consequence of sin. When Jesus rose up from the the dead on Easter morning, He defeated death. Through the redeeming work of the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, our sins are forgiven and we can live forever with Jesus.
Because Jesus rose up from the grave on Easter morning, those who put their faith and trust in the finished work of Christ don't have to fear death, because death is not final. It has been conquered by Jesus.
Many of you know that even though I am not an old man, most of close family members are dead. Thankfully, all of them had placed their faith in Jesus. They were members of the family of God, and when they died, that wasn't the end. Because of the resurrection of Jesus, my Mom, Dad, my grandparents and my aunts and uncles are in the presence of their Lord and Savior. One of my favorite passages of Scripture is John 11:25-26 where Jesus says, "I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And he that believeth in me shall never die."
Thanks be to God, I put my trust in Jesus when I was a young boy. I am looking forward to a great reunion day because of what Jesus has done.
You may be reading this blog today, and you have never come to Jesus for salvation. You have never accepted Him as your Savior and Lord. Jesus died and rose again for you because He loves you. You can know Him today. Romans 10:9 explains how to trust Jesus as Savior. It says, "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." You can do this right now. I pray that you will.
If you know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, rejoice that your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Give praise to the Lord for what He has done by taking away your sin and giving you eternal life. May the name of the Lord be praised.
Next week, we will return to our study in the Sermon on the Mount. I will also post another chapter of the book on Wednesday. Have a wonderful Easter. Amen.
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