The stage was set. The Time had finally come. The characters were all in place. All of history had been pointing to and expecting this specific time and day.
History and creation had been anticipating this day since the Fall. The Words that God spoke back in Genesis 3:15 were finally about to pass.
God, speaking to the devil disguised as a serpent in the Garden, said, "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."
Since Adam and Eve had disobeyed God and eaten what they were not supposed to, mankind, and all of creation had been cursed. Sin abounded. The Bible does not gloss over the sinfulness of man from that point on. Murder, infidelity, rape, incest, lying and deception, theft, idolatry. All in varying degrees. And you know the offenders of each of these crimes against God. Even a person who has not actively read the Bible, knows some, if not all, of the people who committed these crimes who are found in the pages of Scripture.
But where sin abounded, God's Grace abounded even more. Romans 5:20.
Many ask the question, and rightfully so, "why did Jesus have to endure what He did? I mean, men and women are basically good." Unfortunately, their premise is faulty from the start. "Mankind" is not good; only God is good (Mark 10:18 and Luke 18:19). Men and women are depraved. Just look around. Look in the mirror. God's standard is Holiness. We fall far short. In fact we fall so short that there is absolutely nothing we can do, nothing we can say, to redeem ourselves. We were all born in sin, and without God's direct intervention, we would all die in sin and eternal separation.
There is nothing that could or can appease God for our sinfulness. You could sacrifice every bull and every ram and pigeon and every lamb, and God would not be satisfied. The stench of the blood of these innocent animals would sicken us. Their mutilated and burned bodies would do nothing to take our sin completely away. Human works, no matter how sincere or outrageous, could and never can, remove our sin and restore our relationship with a Pure and Holy God.
That was all to change. Forever.
Almost two thousand years ago, in a back-water part of the Roman Empire, in a second class city, events that had been set into play from ages past, from the very foundation of the world, were finally coming to pass.
The God and Sovereign of the Universe, the Creator Himself, had taken on human flesh and dwelt among His creation for a brief time. The Members of the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit had been integrally involved in the Redemption story from the Beginning.
1 Peter 1:20 tells us, "He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake." The Plan of Redemption was put into place. It had been worked out through the ages. There was no changing of plans, no manipulation of events. Job and Abraham and Moses and onward, God's prophets and Old Testament saints, wrote and spoke of His Plan. Those who followed and read and understood, lead by the Holy Spirit, could watch and participate in this Plan. Nothing, I repeat nothing, would stop or prevent the Passion of Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice.
For us, History grinds slowly. For God, He sees the end from the beginning. Being that our lives are like a vapor or a mist (James 4:14), unless we are in God's Word daily, we may miss or misinterpret the signs. Regardless, God's Plan moved; and it is still moving.
And so we come to the life of Jesus. Born of a virgin in a poor and backward part of the Roman Empire at just the right time, He lived. He entered the world gloriously; at least to shepherds and a few wise men. To the rest of the world, His creation, it was a non-event. For the next 30 or so years, Joshua ben Joseph, would follow in his adoptive father's footsteps as a young carpenter. He wold interact with His half brothers and sisters. He would most likely be considered an "odd child" by the neighbors. He was perfect. In every sense of the word, Jesus was, and is, Perfect.
When called to His Ministry, Jesus would continue in His Perfection. He would never sin. We can't fathom that. He never murdered anyone (even in His heart or mind) or committed adultery (even in His heart or mind). Jesus never lied (even a white lie), never stole (not even a grape). He honored His parents. He honored God. He kept the Sabbath Holy. Jesus never used God's name (it was His own name) in vain. He never worshiped an idol (why would God worship something He created). He loved God. He never even coveted (Jesus owns the universe). Jesus was the only person in all of history to keep the Law perfectly. He kept the Ten Commandments.
I don't know about you, but not sinning is impossible. Now you may make it through a day or two, being, thinking, speaking, acting "good", but then it falls apart. The temptation and the desire to sin is too great. The only time that we come close to "not sinning" is probably when we're sleeping and unconscious.
Now multiply that feeling of "wanting" to sin and yet never sinning for a week. Then a month. Then a year. Two years. It's impossible. Yet that's exactly what Jesus would do. He was sinless and spotless. He was Perfect.
As God, Jesus was part of the Trinity maintaining the universe and all of its delicate balances. He held, and holds, everything together. He would demonstrate His power over the natural elements. He would even demonstrate His power over Life and Death themselves.
As Man, Jesus would live and function as one of us. He would model how we are to live. He would model how we are to worship God and to love Him. He would model how to have perfect relationships with everyone around us. Jesus would demonstrate Grace and Mercy and Justice. He would model for us what it means to be a true leader. He would model a parent's love for their children.
I'm just thinking out loud, but as you watch Jesus live and interact with His creation, the men and women of the world made in God's (His) image, you have to wonder what He was thinking. And what He thought about our sinful lives. For more than three decades, He would live with sinful men and women. He even allowed Himself to be touched by sinful man. That's what He was here to do was for us - to touch us and to love us. Where sin abounded, Grace abounded all the more.
And so we come to this moment in History. Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem almost as a conquering hero. (Actually, He was. He was about to conquer sin and death). The Jews of that time were looking to their Messiah to overthrow the Romans and restore God's Kingdom and David's throne. Jesus would teach in the temple precincts and grounds. He would heal the sick and blind and lame. All around Him there was pain and suffering, all because of sin. He would dine with His friends, His disciples, one last time. One last time, Jesus would take His disciples and go out to pray. And still He was sinless in all that He said and did.
Jesus' "last" prayers with His Father would model for us how we are to continually engage God with our needs. God's silence is still an answer. Yet Jesus is not in a last minute change of plans with God. The Plan is set. Jesus has His face set like flint toward the day ahead. Although Jesus could have brought forward a legion of angels to defend Himself, He didn't. (Matthew 26:53). There was a job to do. Nothing would or could interfere or dissuade Him. He knows exactly what awaits Him. He knows the hearts and minds of the people He will encounter. They see Him, yet they don't SEE Him.
At His arrest in the dark of night, Jesus would continue His ministry. He would speak of God. He would heal - even those who would accost Him or His friends (Luke 22:51). Jesus would endure the unlawful trials of the Sanhedrin. He spoke truthfully - never sinning or coming close to it. Jesus lived what He had preached. He turned the other cheek (Matthew 5:39, Luke 6:29). He gave up His cloak (Matthew 5:40, Luke 6:29). He rightly accepted worship, although it was given in a mocking manner (Mark 15:18).
Pilate considered Jesus innocent, and proclaimed Him so (Luke 23:4, 14 - 16). Yet Pilate feared men more than he did God (Luke 23:22 - 25). As Jesus is beaten, we are astonished, and maybe the guards too, at what He is able to physically endure. Many did not survive the Roman scourging. Jesus didn't even complain. He was God's Lamb who was silent before its shearers (Isaiah 53:7, 9). Moment by moment and step by step, Jesus is continuing to fulfill prophesy. Prophesy about Himself.
But they didn't understand.
Then Jesus would take His own cross. We can be sure it wasn't a pine 2 by 4. It was heavy. It was rough. It had to be strong enough to hold a grown man for hours or days. His back was already a mass of shredded skin and muscle. His head was pounding in pain from the loss of blood in His body as well as the crown of thorns. He would stumble and fall. Another man, possibly a gentile or Jewish proselyte, from Cyrene would help Him carry it the rest of the way (Mark 15:21). As Jesus passed by those who believed in Him, He would comfort them. And He would also warn them to pray for themselves and not for Him. (Luke 23:27 - 31).
Still, they didn't or wouldn't understand.
Finally at Golgotha, the Place of the Skull, Jesus' sinless body would be attached to the cross. He would be manhandled by the Roman soldiers who had performed this same routine too many times before, as His body was placed on the cross. His hands and feet would be pierced by iron nails. The soldiers were probably dull to this act of brutal and barbaric punishment.
With a certain uneasiness, the cross would be raised from the earth and with a thud it would shudder, as well as His body, as it was set into the ground. Pain would radiate throughout His body. Every nerve and fiber would scream in abject agony. He had been awake probably for the better part of 36 hours. Jesus was exhausted both physically and mentally beyond imagination, yet He was in complete control of the entire situation.
As His body hung there, Jesus was placed between two criminals who deserved their punishment. These two men symbolized all of us: those who are damned and those who are saved. Jesus also hung between Heaven and earth. Heaven was what He longed for. Earth was where He had to be to redeem His creation. And then...
And then God heaped upon the already broken body of Jesus the sins of the world. We say it so tritely. The sins were - are - innumerable. How many sins have I committed in my 50 some-odd years? How many sins have you committed in your life to date? How many per day? Then by months and years. Now multiply that by the billions of people who have trod and will trod this piece of rock floating in space. That gives a new understanding to sin abounding, doesn't it?
And as Jesus hung there, His ministry continued. He forgave sin. (Luke 23:34). He fulfilled prophesy. He spoke of the will of the Father. He accepted worship - some real, some contrived and false. In His pain, this ultimate pain, Jesus did these things. Go and read all four of the Gospel accounts and be smitten by the Spirit.
To all who were present, this was a strange day. Evil was in the air. It was palpable. All that was evil was celebrating the death of Jesus. They thought their side had won. And Divine Providence was also there. The "heel was struck", but the head was about to be crushed.
Then Jesus said, "It is finished." (John 19:30). It was finished. God was satisfied with the sacrifice.
As amazing as all of this is, there is one thing even more amazing yet to behold. Jesus was about to do something that no other man had ever done before or since. As sin had been piled upon His broken body and Jesus presented Himself as the final, all-atoning sacrifice for mankind's sin, He would be separated from God. My feeble mind doesn't comprehend or apprehend that fact. And in that separation, Jesus would die. He would literally die. No heart beat, no breath, no brain function. Dead. The amazing part is that Jesus willing did this. Jesus willingly gave up His life. No one took His life. He gave up His spirit. No one took His spirit. (John 19:30). He presented a perfect and blameless sacrifice to God (Hebrews 10).
Whenever I think of this scene, I remember my days growing up at St. Mark's Catholic Church. I remember the Mass and the presentation of the Eucharist. Most memorable are the words that the priest uses at this presentation, and it is applicable here. "Behold, this is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Happy are those who are called to His supper." In that moment, when Jesus hung between Heaven and earth, between saved and unsaved man, God was shouting, "Behold, this is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Happy are those who are called to His supper."
The righteous had been sacrificed for the unrighteous. Forever God would be satisfied with the sacrifice. The Apostle Peter says it best: "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." 1 Peter 3:18. No further sacrifices would be needed for all time. It was finished.
Why did Jesus do all that He did? In my opinion, Jesus did what He did because He is full of Grace. And when you are full of Grace, you are full of Passion as well as Compassion. Jesus was - and is - compassionate for His creation. He is compassionate for the souls of every man, woman and child that ever was, is and will be, until He comes again. In His compassion, He is so passionate that He is willing to chase us down as it were, so that we would know who made us and who truly loves us.
And so we celebrate Jesus' Passion. We celebrate Good Friday. On the surface, nothing is "good" about that day. It is a day of remembrance and sorrows. It is the Christian's "day of atonement". And it is still good. In fact it is very good. We have a Savior and High Priest who can sympathize with all that we are and do. Hebrews 4:15.
And all we have to do is believe on Him. Believe that Jesus' death was an atonement for our (mine and your) personal sins and because of that death, our relationship is restored to God. That is what makes Good Friday "good".
If you have never accepted this free gift of God, this brutal, yet atoning sacrifice from Jesus, believe and receive right now. Right now in the quiet of your heart and mind.
Jesus, I am sorry and I turn away from my sins. Thank you for dying in my place. I receive you as my Savior. Come and be the Lord of my Life. Amen.
Many of us avoid the Cross. It is anathema to us. But it wasn't to Jesus.
This is the end of this Lesson. But it is not the end of the story.
To return to "The Trinity & the Passion" study, click here.
Mark Schultz - "He Is"
