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Sunday, December 16. 2012 am                Life of Jesus Index

 

THE LIFE OF JESUS 38
The Cross of Christ – 4
Mankind At the Cross

 The past few weeks we have been examining the cross of Christ.  Not the actual torture device but what happened, why it happened and what it accomplished.  As we conclude our study of the death of Jesus on the cross, today we want to examine the reaction of mankind surrounding the cross.  While Jesus willingly went to the cross, it was because of man that He did so.  There were many individuals who had a part in the events of that day.  We want to notice some of these and ask, where do I stand.

 I.                    Sin At the Cross

a.        We have established that it was because of sin that Jesus died.  He died for all mankind with an offering that once and for all took care of the problem of sin.  What is interesting is that when you study the account, you find that there were a multitude of sins that were responsible for the death of Jesus. Let us notice a few of them.

b.       At the cross we see the sin of:

                                                   i.      Hatred – what a terrible attitude for one to possess in life.  Yet, hatred was one of the underlying sins of the crucifixion.  You see it in the conduct of the Jewish leaders in all that they did.  John 11:46-50 records the response of these leaders after Lazarus was raised from the dead.

You also see it in Matt. 27:20 where Pilate presented to them Barabbas, a convicted insurrectionist and murderer.  They would rather see him released than to let Jesus go.
As Jesus taught and prepared His disciples, He warned them of the hatred of these leaders – John 15:18-19, “If the world hates you , you know that it hated Me before it hated you…”

                                                  ii.      Hypocrisy – seen in the attitude of the leaders.  Their conduct was NOT consistent with their teachings.  In Matt. 23, the week of His death Jesus gave one of His strongest condemnation of the scribes and Pharisees calling them hypocrites some 7 times.
When they sought to entrap Him about paying taxes to Caesar (an accusation with which they could accuse Him of rebellion), Jesus called them hypocrites and silenced them - Matt. 22:18-19.
Throughout His teachings, Jesus exposed their hypocrisy. 
Also, you cannot excuse Pilate of hypocrisy when he KNEW Jesus was innocent yet allowed Him to be crucified anyway.

                                                iii.      Selfishness – Matt. 26:14-16 – as Judas seeks opportunity to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver you see one who said, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?”
We have also shown how the council, and especially the political High Priesthood also had personal stake if Jesus were not dealt with.  Their selfishness was also exposed in Matt. 23.

                                                iv.      Greed and worldliness – can also be attributed to the behavior of Judas on that occasion.

                                                  v.      Revenge – Jesus had exposed the hypocrisy, greed and corruption of the religious leaders.  Do you suppose they saw this barbaric form of execution as revenge against Him?  Consider the things they said to Him while upon the cross, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe.  He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” (Matt.27:41-43)
That such was sinful is revealed in passages such as Rom. 12:19, “Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay’ says the Lord.”  We are to let God take care of our enemies.

                                                vi.      Envy – Matt. 27:17-18, Mark 15:10 – One of the reasons Pilate gave them the option of Barabbas, the CONVICTED criminal, was because “he knew they had handed Him over because of envy.”
You also have the fear of the leaders because the crowds were following Jesus (cf. John 11:48)

                                               vii.      Deceit and Lying – one of the things we have seen in the unfolding events was the blatant dishonesty of the Jewish leaders.  They tried to entrap Jesus with inquiries leading up to His arrest.  They changed the charges from blasphemy to insurrection when He was delivered to Pilate.  They even admitted this as recorded in  John 18:29-33 (cf. Lk. 23:1-2), John 19:7

                                             viii.      Disobedience and Rejection – You may recall that at the begging of this week that led to the crucifixion of Jesus, He taught a series of parables dealing with how the Jewish leaders had rejected Jesus.  Since Jesus was from God (and He had proven it, made appeals for them to consider, etc.), their rejection was outright disobedience toward God.  Jesus said in Matt. 21:42, “Have you never read in the scriptures: ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.  This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”  When one rejects the truth, it involves sin because there is a failure or refusal to obey God.    Matt. 7:21-23 says we must do the will of the father or we are guilty of lawlessness.  And lawlessness, according to 1 John 3:4 is sin, “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.”

                                                ix.      Denial – we are reminded that Peter denied Jesus 3 times (Matt. 26:69-75).    
We are also told that all His disciples forsook Him – Mark 14:50.
Preaching in the temple after the church had been established, Peter said of the people, “But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Prince of life…” (Acts 3:14-15)

                                                  x.      Cowardice – Pilate’s refusal to defend an innocent man, because he feared the Jews (cf. John 19:11), was a cowardly act.  Rev. 21:8 describes the state of the cowardly.

                                                xi.      Mocking and hateful speech – hateful names and teasing are never acceptable to God.  (Col. 4:6, Prov. 10:19)  Yet the crowds surrounding the cross jeered all kinds of hateful sayings – the soldiers, those passing by and the leaders.

                                               xii.      Injustice – we have seen that the trials were illegal and full of serious irregularities.  From the outset there was a determination to get Jesus.  It was not intended to be a fair trial.  Even before Pilate, who declared the innocence of Jesus over and over, he let Him be executed, not just like a common criminal, but in barbaric fashion reserved for only select classes of people.

                                             xiii.      Ignorance – there is no doubt that the reaction of the crowds was a heated response based upon the moment.  I am convinced that many who were there didn’t know everything they needed to know.  As is usually the case with ignorance, it was still their fault and it was still their sin.
Peter, in Solomon’s portico in the temple preached, “Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers.” (Acts 3:17)  But not all the leaders could profess ignorance (cf. John 9:22)

                                             xiv.      Murder – some in the crowd were guilty of the shedding of innocent blood – always a travesty and always sin!  Sadly, this wasn’t manslaughter, but pure, mean, premeditated conduct.  The Jewish leaders even admitted to Pilate that they took responsibility (Matt. 27:25), though they would later deny this (conveniently – Acts 5:28).

                                               xv.      Perhaps other sins could be added to these, but these are sufficient to demonstrate the tremendous amount of sin that surrounded the cross.  Jesus didn’t have to look far to see the need to fulfill His sacrifice.

  

At the Cross of Jesus, SOMEONE represented you.  In your sinful conduct, may the cross of Jesus accomplish what He intended for it to do.  May the blood of His cross cleanse you of all your sins.  BUT that will only happen if you have the attitude of the repentant thief.  We encourage you to obey the gospel today, or if you as a child of God have rebelled against Him, turn around and return to His fold before it is too late.  Whatever your need, let us help you, right now!