Why Did Jesus Die?
Antioch
Church, Palm Sunday, April 1, 2013
Introduction
Why
did Jesus die?
Could God forgive sin some other way?
Does the cross have any meaning for us
today?
1. Because the Scriptures
foretold it.
Redemption through
blood was not an afterthought…Jesus is seen in Revelation as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the
world…!
“All inhabitants
of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in
the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the
world.” (Revelation 13:8, NIV84)
We do not have enough
time this morning to fully trace the theme of redemption through the
sacrificial death of Jesus throughout Scripture. Instead, we are going to look
a few examples of how God was speaking to and through His people, preparing the
world for redemption through the shedding of Jesus’ blood.
· After
the first humans (Adam and Eve) committed the first sin and became aware of
their guilt before God, the Lord made them “garments of skin.”
“The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam
and his wife and clothed them.” (Genesis 3:21, NIV84)
Notice how God acted redemptively instead of judgmentally through the taking of innocent life and the shedding of blood.
· Cain
and Abel, their sons, offered two very different sacrifices to the Lord, one
involved the taking of innocent life and the shedding of blood. Only the blood
sacrifice was accepted.
“Adam lay
with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said,
“With the help of the Lord I have
brought forth a man.” Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept
flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of
the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord.
But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his
offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was
very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the Lord
said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is
right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is
crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.””
(Genesis 4:1–7, NIV84)
“By faith
Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was
commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by
faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.” (Hebrews 11:4, NIV84)
· When God then established a key covenant with Abraham, it required the sacrifice of innocent life and the shedding of blood.
“After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not
be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.” But Abram said, “O
Sovereign Lord, what can you give
me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer
of Damascus?” And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in
my household will be my heir.” Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son
coming from your own body will be your heir.” He took him outside and said,
“Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then
he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as
righteousness. He also said to him, “I am the Lord,
who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take
possession of it.” But Abram said, “O Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?” So
the Lord said to him, “Bring me a
heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young
pigeon.” Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the
halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. Then
birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. As the
sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful
darkness came over him. Then the Lord
said to him, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a
country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred
years. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they
will come out with great possessions. You, however, will go to your fathers in
peace and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation your descendants
will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full
measure.” When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with
a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and
said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the
great river, the Euphrates— the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,
Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and
Jebusites.”” (Genesis 15:1–21, NIV84)
In order to drive this
point home and make it extremely clear for all who consider these matters with
an open heart, on Mount Moriah God actually tested Abraham’s willingness to
offer up Isaac, his only son, on an altar, sending an angel to stop him at the
last moment and setting the stage for a powerful prophecy,
“But the angel of
the Lord called out to him from
heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. “Do not lay a hand on the
boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God,
because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” Abraham looked
up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and
took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So
Abraham called that place The Lord
Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”” (Genesis
22:11–14, NIV84)
· Moses (Passover)
“Then Moses
summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go at once and select the
animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of
hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top
and on both sides of the doorframe. Not one of you shall go out the door of his
house until morning. When the Lord
goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on
the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will
not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.” (Exodus
12:21–23, NIV84)
· Isaiah
“See, my servant
will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.
Just as there were many who were appalled at him— his appearance was so
disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness—
so will he sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths
because of him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have
not heard, they will understand. Who has believed our message and to whom has
the arm of the Lord been revealed?
He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He
had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that
we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows,
and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was
despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and
carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and
afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our
iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his
wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has
turned to his own way; and the Lord
has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet
he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a
sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By
oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his
descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the
transgression of my people he was stricken. He was assigned a grave with the
wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was
any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the Lord’s
will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering, he
will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After the
suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his
knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their
iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he
will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto
death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.” (Isaiah 52:13–53:12, NIV84)
· John the Baptist
“He is
the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to
untie.” This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where
John was baptizing. The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look,
the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:27–29,
NIV84)
“The next
day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing
by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”” (John 1:35–36, NIV84)
· Jesus Himself
“Just
as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted
up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. “For God so
loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him
shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the
world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes
in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already
because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” (John
3:14–18, NIV84)
“Now
there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast. They
came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they
said, “we would like to see Jesus.” Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and
Philip in turn told Jesus. Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man
to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the
ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces
many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates
his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must
follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the
one who serves me. “Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father,
save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.
Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified
it, and will glorify it again.” The crowd that was there and heard it said it
had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him. Jesus said, “This voice
was for your benefit, not mine. Now is the time for judgment on this world; now
the prince of this world will be driven out. But I, when I am lifted up from
the earth, will draw all men to myself.” He said this to show the kind of death
he was going to die.” (John 12:20–33, NIV84)
“When the
hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them,
“I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I
tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of
God.” After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it
among you. For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until
the kingdom of God comes.” And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and
gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance
of me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup
is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” (Luke
22:14–20, NIV84)
2. Because our sin required it.
Why was the shedding of blood and the
taking of innocent life so necessary?
The shedding of blood shows us how
awful sin really is…so terrible that God cannot forgive us without punishing it
in some way through judging someone else in our place…!
God forgives sinners, but He never forgives sin…!
“…without
the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” (Hebrews 9:22, NIV84)
“For the
life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make
atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement
for one’s life.” (Leviticus 17:11, NIV84)
“The law
is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities
themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated
endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it
could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have
been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their
sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is
impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore,
when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not
desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings
you were not pleased. Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the
scroll— I have come to do your will, O God.’ ” First he said, “Sacrifices and
offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you
pleased with them” (although the law required them to be made). Then he said,
“Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to
establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the
sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Day after day every priest
stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same
sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered
for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.
Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by
one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.”
(Hebrews 10:1–14, NIV84)
It is easy for us, with our clean
communion cups and the taste of bread and grape juice in our mouths, to fail to
understand how keenly aware every Israelite was of the awful price required to
atone for their sin.
When the Israelites,
especially, to take the most beautiful, spotless lamb and kill it to atone for
their sin, they became keenly aware how their guilt required a sacrifice to be
cleansed.
Note what one write has
said about the Jerusalem Passover celebration…
At certain times during the Passover celebration there were over 250,000 lambs slain with blood everywhere, all over the Temple, with so much blood flowing down the brook Kidron that it was called a "horrifying sight." Seeing the lamb which had become a household pet for four days, and then watching it kick and scream and be slaughtered in the presence of the family and the children was an object lesson that would forever make your skin crawl.[1]
“The
soul who sins is the one who will die....” (Ezekiel 18:20, NIV84)
“Just as
man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was
sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a
second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting
for him.” (Hebrews 9:27–28, NIV84)
“For the
wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord.” (Romans 6:23, NIV84)
If God just forgave our sin without
punishing it, then He would cease to be just.
Because only a perfect sacrifice could
perfectly atone for our sins, Jesus Christ is the only way.
“God made him who
had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness
of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21, NIV84)
How could the righteous act of one
person bring life? The same way that the unrighteous act of one person brought
death (First and last Adam)
Out of reverence for the role of the blood, from the time
of Noah forward, even though humankind was allowed to eat meat, they were
forbidden to eat blood.
““But you
must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it.” (Genesis 9:4, NIV84)
“ ‘Any
Israelite or any alien living among them who eats any blood—I will set
my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from his
people.” (Leviticus 17:10, NIV84)
“And
wherever you live, you must not eat the blood of any bird or animal. If
anyone eats blood, that person must be cut off from his people.’ ”” (Leviticus
7:26–27, NIV84)
The role of the blood is so crucial to God’s plan that the special
protection given to human life was phrased in terms of “shedding blood”:
““Whoever
sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of
God has God made man.” (Genesis 9:6, NIV84)
Seen from this light, the blood of Jesus has special meaning and power…!
“He did
not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most
Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal
redemption.” (Hebrews 9:12, NIV84)
They overcame
him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did
not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.” (Revelation 12:11,
NIV84)
3.
Because
Jesus choose it.
Jesus is the one who
taught us to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done…” and He is the one
who modeled that very thing for us through His conscious, willful decision to
go to the cross on our behalf.
“Going a
little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if
it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you
will.”” (Matthew 26:39, NIV84)
“No one
takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it
down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my
Father.”” (John 10:18, NIV84)
“It was
now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth
hour, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in
two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit
my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.” (Luke 23:44–46,
NIV84)
Conclusion
He was nailed to the cross for me...!
"If He be God
and died for me, there is no sacrifice that I could make that would be too
great for Him." (C.T. Studd)
How do we appropriate (apply) the
value of His death to our own lives?
Did Jesus die for everyone? Is everyone going to be saved? Is everyone already saved but just not know it?
If Jesus died for my
sins, does that mean that I am already forgiven? No...like the Israelites in
the Old Testament when the bronze serpent was made at God’s command and lifted
up on pole for them to gave upon with faith-filled hearts, we, too, must look and live.
Think again of the Passover Lamb in
Egypt. The Lamb was first slain and its
blood shed, but as long as it was in the
basin, it could not protect the household against the death angel. It had to be
sprinkled on the doorposts and the lintel
of the house…!
This was also true when God called
Moses and the Elders of Israel up on the mountain to commune with Him…
“When
Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took
the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop,
and sprinkled the scroll and all the people.” (Hebrews 9:19, NIV84)
“Then he said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu,
and seventy of the elders of Israel. You are to worship at a distance, but
Moses alone is to approach the Lord;
the others must not come near. And the people may not come up with him.” When
Moses went and told the people all the Lord’s
words and laws, they responded with one voice, “Everything the Lord has said we will do.” Moses then
wrote down everything the Lord had
said. He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the
mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of
Israel. Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and
sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the Lord. Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and
the other half he sprinkled on the altar. Then he took the Book of the Covenant
and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.” Moses then
took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the
covenant that the Lord has made
with you in accordance with all these words.” Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu,
and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel. Under his
feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself.
But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they
saw God, and they ate and drank.” (Exodus 24:1–11, NIV84)
Now, our hearts are “sprinkled” with
the blood of Jesus and cleansed from an evil conscience when we repent of our sins
and take Him as our Savior and we can boldly come into God’s presence…!
““Therefore,
brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood
of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that
is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us
draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having
our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having
our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we
profess, for he who promised is faithful.” (Hebrews 10:19–23, NIV84)
Simply offering the sacrifice was not
enough…it had to be done from a heart of faith!
In the same way today,
it is by grace that we are saved through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord.
“For it
is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it
is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8–9,
NIV84)
“That if
you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe
in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For
it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your
mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts
in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and
Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him,
for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.””
(Romans 10:9–13, NIV84)
