Good afternoon Church family,
I hope that you enjoyed your labor day and got some rest! I’m still processing the message of the Cross and I hope you are too (John 19).
John Stott, in an awesome book called “the Cross of Christ” says that “the only authentic Jesus is the Jesus who died on the Cross.” (pg 56). And he builds upon the point that the Cross that Jesus died on is arguable the most important and unique aspect to our Christian faith. Sometimes we think that the resurrection is what is the central theme of Christianity, and that is, of course, very important, but it is simply fulfilling what Jesus began on the Cross. It’s a continuation of Christ’s work for us on the Cross.
I could on and on and on about the implications of the Cross and the way that New Testament writers tease out how the Christian ought to live in light of the Cross, but I’ll leave you with one thought that I didn’t have time to share this past Sunday:
Do you remember how Jesus said to Pilate in John 19:11?: “those who handed him over to death had the greater sin.”
Jesus was at this time, acting as Judge over His assigned ‘judge,’ Pilate. Jesus was operating as the one truly in charge of His death. Jesus was not merely being killed/murdered on the Cross, but He was willingly laying down His life for us (John 10:18, Acts 2:23). He as the Judge, was stepping into our place to be condemned as a criminal to thereby justify us (Rom. 3:26).
And in this case, Jesus is showing off His judicial mind and purpose within the Gospel as He is telling Pilate that the Jewish leaders were more guilty than Pilate because they had initiated the murder of Christ. They were the ones that truly wanted Him dead (While Pilate thought Him innocent).
It’s easy to think, though, that we are not in that category of the Jews. Therefore, I want to put this “greater sin” into perspective for you because it’s too easy to disassociate ourselves from the Jews and think that if we were there, we would NOT have done what they did.
However, I read this statement from somebody awhile ago and jotted it down for when I arrived to John 18-19 and here it is:
“It is not humanity at its worst that will crucify the Son of God but humanity at its absolute best.”
Here’s why:
Concerning the figures who crucified Jesus and had the “greater sin,” Jesus said,
“unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Scribes & Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven” -Matthew 5:20
Here in Jesus’ words, He uses the Pharisees—who were the religious leaders that plotted to kill Jesus—and He uses them as a high standard for righteousness, because they were the respected, highly esteemed and renown leaders of that day.
And it’s the pharisees and the chief priests who lead the way to crucify Jesus!
Therefore, these religious leaders who put Jesus to death are not models for how the vilest of sinners put Jesus to death, but they are examples of how the best (looking), most moral, most disciplined, most successful, most respected people are guilty for crucifying Jesus to the worst degree!
Therefore, far from offering us flattery, the Cross of Christ show us, moral looking & well-respected folks how low we can go if all restraints are removed.
So instead of the Cross being first meant to inspire us, its chief purpose is to humble us because:
(a) Jesus was being crucified for us and our sins, so how bad must our sins be?
(b) The criminal minds behind the crucifixion were well respected people, so what does that say about us (assuming that you are a well respected person)?
It means, at our best, we could be the ones who put Jesus to death on that day.
We see on display Romans 3:9-18 which says:
“9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? (or I would add, any worse?) No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
13 “Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 in their paths are ruin and misery,
17 and the way of peace they have not known.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Regardless of what we think of ourselves, we need to listen to and believe what God says about us. (And in Romans 3, it seems to imply that our true colors (dark ones) would come out in full flare if we didn’t have societal restrictions preventing us from stooping that low, which tells me that our motivations for acting like good people is often more people centered than God centered, and even that shows off our depravity!)
I often think that the reason people don’t understand just how bad they are is because they don’t think they are guilty of crucifying our Creator, and yet we all are BECAUSE He died for us (2 Peter 2:24, 3:18).
For an interesting verse that proves that, Hebrews 6:6 mentions that for those who turn away from Jesus after being uniquely enlightened, they cannot be restored again because they would be guilty for “crucifying once again the Son of God.”
That is to say that if we’ve received Christ’s gift of salvation for us, we have come to understand that we are guilty not of just breaking God’s law, but we’ve accepted that we put Jesus on the Cross because He died IN OUR PLACE. I would argue that at the very least we are guilty for “manslaughter”/ “godslaughter,”
That’s a depressing note to end on so I’ll finish with a more chipper tune. Although the Cross does show us just how bad we are, it also shows us how loved we are that our God would take on the worst pain and punishment in our place even though we don’t deserve it.
God gains nothing by gaining us. Remember that. And that’s what makes His love so Holy, set apart from the way we love because we as humans naturally do love for something in return. But God doesn’t need our praise (see John 5:41), and He was fine without us for eternity past. So marvel at the fact that you are chosen, loved, and deeply cared for by Christ Himself. BUT stay humble, because that’s what the Cross will do to us, remind us forever more that “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.”
Not only have we been crucified with Christ (in union with Him) but now only Christ can live through us and accomplish anything good. That is humbling but it should be oddly comforting too.
With love in Christ,
