He Gave It All Up.
Prayer:
I
know that this isn’t the first time you have heard the story of the arrest,
trial and crucifixion of Jesus. When we hear it so many times we’re inclined to
think of the injustice and the tragedy of an innocent man dying, but overlook
the violence that lies behind the Gospel accounts. "… the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest
him … and kill him …"
They
did kill him in a particularly cruel, painful and violent way. The Gospels
don’t give us much of the detail about what happened to the man who was beaten
to a pulp with the cruel whip with balls of lead or pieces of bone on each
strand of the whip, was spat on, a crown of thorns pressed on his head, hands
and feel nailed to wood, side pierced with a sword, and hung up to bleed and
suffocate in utter agony.
The
violence of the cross wasn’t something short and swift, it went on for hours.
The Gospel writers simply give us the barest outline of what happened that
awful day some 2,000 years.
Today
when we think of the cross we are more inclined to think of the cross of smooth
polished wood, or a piece of jewelry we wear around our necks rather than
blood-soaked wood. It’s easy to read this story and miss the violence it
contains. But the events leading up to Good Friday were anything but violent.
Today
Palm Sunday we hear of the magnificent occasion when Jesus entered Jerusalem.
Jesus riding on that humble donkey, into the city of Jerusalem while children
spread palm branches on the street in front of him and those on the side
shouting "Hosanna, Hosanna! Blessed
is he who comes in the name of the Lord".
Perhaps
Palm Sunday didn't make much of an impact on the city of Jerusalem. These were
festival days. Jerusalem was crowded. During the Passover it became a large
city with the addition of pilgrims and worshippers. And this man riding on a
donkey and the cheering crowd probably didn't make a big impression on the
City.
But
those people who stood on the side knew that something special was happening.
Someone special was entering their city. And so they shouted
"Hosanna". Amid all the happiness, cheering, and waving of palm
branches there was only one who knew that this week would end in violence.
The
one who rode the donkey was fully aware that "… the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest
him … and kill him …". In just a few days he would experience the pain
and cruelty reserved only for the worst and most hardened criminals.
As
he stood before the Jewish Council, was beaten and mocked by the soldiers and
then died on a rough wooden cross outside Jerusalem one would could hardly
imagine that this bleeding and forsaken man is truly God, the King of kings,
Lord of lords, Wonderful Counselor, and Prince of Peace.
As they drove the nails in his hands and feet and his blood soaked the wooden beam of the cross, one could hardly believe that they were shedding the blood of God himself, they were wounding the man who had come to save the very people who was striking the blows and driving in the nails. He was dying to save the people who raised the cross so that all Jesus weight pulled on the nails.
He was dying for those people who called out, laughed and made fun of him, taunting him to come and down save himself. This man on the cross did not look like God. But he is God. The apostle Paul summed it up like this,
"He (Christ Jesus) always had
the nature of God … Of his own free will he gave up all he had, and took the
nature of a servant. He became like a human being and appeared in human
likeness. He was humble and walked the path of obedience all the way to death—
his death on the cross" (Phil 2:6-8).
He
had it all my friends in Christ. But gave it all up. And what sometimes is
devastating for us to realize is that he did it for us and because of us.
When the great artist Rembrandt came to paint the scene of the crucifixion, he
painted his own face on one of those people in mob.
He
knew that it was for his sins that Jesus was nailed to the tree. It can be
easily said that Rembrandt could have painted every one of our faces in the
crowd that day as they called for Jesus death, not just any death, but the
worst kind of death. There was nothing sweet and gentle about the crowd that
called for Jesus death – they called for the violent and excruciating death on
a cross.
That
African-American spiritual song "Were
you there when they crucified my Lord?" haunts us. One verse says,
"Were you there when they nailed him
to the tree?" There is only one answer to that question. Yes! It was
my sin that crucified Jesus on the first Good Friday.
When
we look at the figure stretched out on the cross, or read the story of Jesus
death in the Gospel accounts God wants us all to see that it is our sin that is being paid for. He wants
us to see that through the violence, the suffering and death of Jesus our peace
was being made with God. He wants us to see what lengths God had to go to get
rid of the punishment we deserve and to restore our friendship with him again.
The
Son of God, Lord of all lords, the creator and ruler of the universe, had it
all, and he gave it all up just for us. He became a human like us. God came
down to us as Jesus: like a lamb led to the slaughter, he died on our account.
I’d guess that’s why the Gospel writers don’t give us a lot of detail about the
violence that happened that day.
They don’t want us to get sidetracked from the real issue. They want us to focus on the reason for all the pain and suffering. They want us to see that it was for us that he died. They want us to realize that this death has brought about reconciliation between God and us.
The
year was 1927 a man named Asibi, a native of West African, was stricken with
the deadly disease, called yellow fever. Thousands perished from this dreaded
disease. However, Asibi lived. It seems that his body had conquered the
disease. Asibi's blood contained the antibodies from which to begin to develop
a successful vaccine.
Today
doctors and drug companies have developed an efficient vaccine against yellow
fever, and their cure has saved the lives of untold numbers of people around
the world. Each dose of vaccine, though, can be traced back to one original
blood sample - that of Asibi.
You
might say that one man's blood saved the lives of millions of people.
You
can see how this relates to Jesus. The blood of this one man has saved us and
million upon millions of others. In a mysterious way, we have been saved by the
death of Jesus through faith in his finished work on the cross.
As
we enter Holy Week once again and recall again the love, the suffering, the
dying and the rising of our Saviour, let us do so first of all with a humble
spirit. It is our sin that put Jesus on the cross. If it were not for our sin
God's would not have been compelled to go to such lengths to ensure that we are
his forever.
And
secondly, let us enter Holy Week with a repentant heart, ready to turn away
from the things in our lives that grieve God and those around us. Let us take
the time to reflect on what kind of relationship we really have with God. Let
us recommit ourselves to following Jesus more closely in everything we say and
do.
And
thirdly, as we enter Holy Week, we do so with an attitude of praise and
thanksgiving for this act of God. Because of the cross and the resurrection,
God has given us the assurance that we have complete pardon for all of our sin,
and that we have a place in his eternal kingdom.
God
bless us all as we reflect on and
celebrate
the passion of our Lord.
Amen.
Rev. Samuel King-Kabu
April 13, 2003