Sermon 9th September 2007
Our Associate Vicar, John Itumu's sermon is based on the reading from Romans 3: 21-26
Why did Jesus die?
Arrested in the middle of the night, Jesus is brought before the Sanhedrin and Caiaphas, the High Priest. He is beaten up and taunted the whole night and early the following morning, condemned to scourging and crucifixion.
Stripped of his clothing and his hands tied to a post above his head, the Roman legionnaire steps forward with the flagrum; a short whip consisting of several heavy, leather thongs with two small balls of lead attached to the ends of each. This heavy whip is brought down with full force again and again across Jesus’ shoulders, back and legs. Every lash tears and extracts body tissue as the balls of lead sink deeper and deeper; turning his body into a huge continuous bleeding wound.
When the centurion in charge determines that the prisoner is near death, the beating is stopped. They throw a robe across his shoulders and place a stick in his hand for a sceptre and then a small bundle of flexible branches covered with long thorns is pressed into his scalp. A huge heavy wooden cross is placed on his shoulders – he stumbles and falls from weakness; someone else helps to carry it.
At Golgotha, the beam is placed on the ground and Jesus is placed backward against the wood. The legionnaire feels for the depression at the front of the wrist then drives a heavy, square, wrought-iron nail through the wrist and deep into the wood. The other hand too. The left foot is then pressed backward against the right foot, and with both feet extended, toes down, a nail is driven through the arch of each. He dies an agonising death – and to be sure that he is dead, a lance is driven through his ribs.
Well that was crucifixion; the Roman method of dealing with criminals which served as a great lesson to would be offenders. 2000 years on, the cross(crucifix) is a jewellery item – adorned by folk from all over the world – and which often means nothing to the wearer. When you look at the cross again, or if you wear one, be reminded that it was symbol of shame, scandalous; and such a cruel form of execution that Romans abolished it in AD 315, because even they, thought it was inhumane.
And so why did Jesus have to die on a Roman cross? If he was as kind, loving, compassionate; if he healed the lame, blind, fed crowds of hungry people, stood up with the marginalised in society; he didn’t murder, steal or molest children.
Why do you kill such a man? Why did Jesus die? That is the question we will be asking and answering this morning.
We have a huge problem in our world today – recognizing our sinfulness. Coming to terms with our sinfulness is the single greatest revelation that can happen to a human being. It is a revelation that wealth, status or education cannot offer; only a simple broken heart full of humility will admit this. And that is when life begins. You and I need to admit that we are sinners.
Paul reminds us in Romans 3: V23 …for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…
The root cause of sin was a broken relationship with God right at the garden of Eden. The bible paints a multi-dimensional picture of the weakness of humankind. It starts with a couple but spreads to a family, a dynasty, a city, an entire nation and indeed all humanity. To declare oneself to be without sin is to deny being human.
But we have hindrances that blind us from recognizing this:
Hindrance 1:
When we look out -there is always a worse person than us.
I get annoyed when cars zoom past at 70mph down a 30mph road and think to myself– surely it’s dangerous and they should get caught.
But when I get flashed at by the 30mph sign – slow down… I think but surely, I am rushing to an important service or whatever…
Talk about different standards for ourselves! All is sin regardless.
Humanly speaking of course, there are degrees of sinning and therefore differences – but all fall short of God’s expectations.
No one even approaches God’s standards. We all fall short of God’s image in which we are all made but which we all fail to live up to. Someone once put it this way:
The prostitute, the murderer, the liar, paedophile are short of it; but so are you. Perhaps they stand at the bottom of a mine, and you on the crest of Mt Everest; but you are as little able to touch the stars as they.
All have sinned – in Paul’s world, Jews and Gentiles, in our world the black, white and yellow people. All means everyone who answers to the description of human being.
Hindrance 2:
We have an awesome capacity for making excuses, an art we perfect with time – it is always the other person’s fault…
Here is a record of actual things written on accident claim forms:
· 'The guy was all over the road. I had to swerve a number of times before I hit him.'
· 'My car was legally parked as it backed into the other vehicle.'
· 'The pedestrian had no idea which way to go, so I ran over him.'
Does that language sound familiar? All have sinned.
The bible says a few things about sin.
Sin pollutes - Mark 7:20-23
Jesus said that our problem is not on the outside - what we eat - but the inside:
'What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean'. For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean'.'
It’s all in our hearts.
Supposing on a flip chart now, for any one of you, is going to appear all the things that you have thought and said and done this week – all the secret things. Promising to show it the following week to all who appear on it today and every Sunday –
I think in consequent weeks church would increasingly become an unpopular place to be. These things on the inside pollute us.
And maybe it was only one or two things you could identify with in the list, but however little sin pollutes.
Sin is powerful
These things take a grip on our lives. Jesus said, 'Whoever sins is a slave to sin.' John 8:34
We have seen alcohol, heroin, shoplifting, or stealing cars and other habits easily get a grip on people's lives. It is equally true of the less obvious things. A bad temper or lust or greed or slander, gossip can get a grip on our lives.
There is a penalty for Sin
These things have consequences. Romans 6:23: 'the wages of sin is death'. This means all sin regardless of its magnitude. The bible frequently reminds us that one day we will stand before God in judgement. (Matt 25:14-30; Luke 19:12-27; 1 Cor 3:12-15 etc)
Sin separates us from God
The prophet Isaiah (59:1-2) says that the things we do wrong cause a partition between us and God. And ultimately that leads to an eternal separation from God.
But thank God, Christianity doesn't end there - that's where it starts. Christianity is good news because despite God’s wrath upon sin, he so loved the world that he did something about it.
And all are justified freely by his grace through redemption that came by Christ Jesus. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.
That is why Jesus had to die on the cross. Christ shed his blood in a sacrificial death for us sinners. In the OT God had instructed that sin be dealt with sacrificially and blood was involved.
Leviticus 16 describes what happened on the Day of Atonement
God instructed Aaron to bring two goats. One was slaughtered for the sin offering for the people; blood was sprinkled on the cover of the ark in the Most Holy Place - tabernacle. On the second goat, Aaron would lay hands on its head and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion and sin of Israelites, and send the goat into the wilderness and release it. The need for shedding of blood ingrained an understanding of the holiness of God and the consequences of sin.
In Hebrews 9 we read that Jesus entered the tabernacle, the most holy place once for all by his own blood, so obtaining redemption for you and me. That is why we declare that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Jesus died for you and me, in our place, as a substitute. Let’s try and make sense of that with an illustration:
Two great friends were at school together, all the way to college. But after College, they went totally separate ways. One went on to become a judge, the other went on to become a criminal. And one day, the criminal appeared before the judge. He'd committed a terrible crime to which he had to plead guilty.
The judge loved his old friend, and at the same time he was a judge. He couldn't simply say, 'Don't worry, I'll let you off' - that wouldn't have been justice. But he couldn't simply impose a penalty on him, because that wouldn't have been love.
This is what he did - he fined him the appropriate amount for the offence – which was huge. And then he took off his wig and gown, and he came down and wrote out a cheque for the fine and he gave it to his friend.
Because God loves us, he has come down to earth in the person of his Son, Jesus Christ and paid the penalty for us. We were captives, slaves in bondage to our sin but Jesus has brought us out of captivity, by shedding his blood, out of love as the ransom price.
The love, the idea, the initiative and the action are all God’s gift to us. We can say that God gave himself to save us from himself. Jesus said on the cross – it is finished, accomplished! This demands a personal response because we can only receive this gift by faith.
You see when the judge came down from his position as judge and handed his friend the cheque, his friend had every right to say, 'sorry, I don’t need it' – but with grave consequences.
I want to offer you a chance to respond to the love and mercy shown by Jesus at the cross. You know your life – the delights and the mess. Here is an opportunity to offer them all to God. Your doubts, pain, un-forgiveness, finances, children …everything
At the foot of the cross we find restoration and wholeness. Amen.
Why did Jesus die?
Arrested in the middle of the night, Jesus is brought before the Sanhedrin and Caiaphas, the High Priest. He is beaten up and taunted the whole night and early the following morning, condemned to scourging and crucifixion.
Stripped of his clothing and his hands tied to a post above his head, the Roman legionnaire steps forward with the flagrum; a short whip consisting of several heavy, leather thongs with two small balls of lead attached to the ends of each. This heavy whip is brought down with full force again and again across Jesus’ shoulders, back and legs. Every lash tears and extracts body tissue as the balls of lead sink deeper and deeper; turning his body into a huge continuous bleeding wound.
When the centurion in charge determines that the prisoner is near death, the beating is stopped. They throw a robe across his shoulders and place a stick in his hand for a sceptre and then a small bundle of flexible branches covered with long thorns is pressed into his scalp. A huge heavy wooden cross is placed on his shoulders – he stumbles and falls from weakness; someone else helps to carry it.
At Golgotha, the beam is placed on the ground and Jesus is placed backward against the wood. The legionnaire feels for the depression at the front of the wrist then drives a heavy, square, wrought-iron nail through the wrist and deep into the wood. The other hand too. The left foot is then pressed backward against the right foot, and with both feet extended, toes down, a nail is driven through the arch of each. He dies an agonising death – and to be sure that he is dead, a lance is driven through his ribs.
Well that was crucifixion; the Roman method of dealing with criminals which served as a great lesson to would be offenders. 2000 years on, the cross(crucifix) is a jewellery item – adorned by folk from all over the world – and which often means nothing to the wearer. When you look at the cross again, or if you wear one, be reminded that it was symbol of shame, scandalous; and such a cruel form of execution that Romans abolished it in AD 315, because even they, thought it was inhumane.
And so why did Jesus have to die on a Roman cross? If he was as kind, loving, compassionate; if he healed the lame, blind, fed crowds of hungry people, stood up with the marginalised in society; he didn’t murder, steal or molest children.
Why do you kill such a man? Why did Jesus die? That is the question we will be asking and answering this morning.
We have a huge problem in our world today – recognizing our sinfulness. Coming to terms with our sinfulness is the single greatest revelation that can happen to a human being. It is a revelation that wealth, status or education cannot offer; only a simple broken heart full of humility will admit this. And that is when life begins. You and I need to admit that we are sinners.
Paul reminds us in Romans 3: V23 …for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…
The root cause of sin was a broken relationship with God right at the garden of Eden. The bible paints a multi-dimensional picture of the weakness of humankind. It starts with a couple but spreads to a family, a dynasty, a city, an entire nation and indeed all humanity. To declare oneself to be without sin is to deny being human.
But we have hindrances that blind us from recognizing this:
Hindrance 1:
When we look out -there is always a worse person than us.
I get annoyed when cars zoom past at 70mph down a 30mph road and think to myself– surely it’s dangerous and they should get caught.
But when I get flashed at by the 30mph sign – slow down… I think but surely, I am rushing to an important service or whatever…
Talk about different standards for ourselves! All is sin regardless.
Humanly speaking of course, there are degrees of sinning and therefore differences – but all fall short of God’s expectations.
No one even approaches God’s standards. We all fall short of God’s image in which we are all made but which we all fail to live up to. Someone once put it this way:
The prostitute, the murderer, the liar, paedophile are short of it; but so are you. Perhaps they stand at the bottom of a mine, and you on the crest of Mt Everest; but you are as little able to touch the stars as they.
All have sinned – in Paul’s world, Jews and Gentiles, in our world the black, white and yellow people. All means everyone who answers to the description of human being.
Hindrance 2:
We have an awesome capacity for making excuses, an art we perfect with time – it is always the other person’s fault…
Here is a record of actual things written on accident claim forms:
· 'The guy was all over the road. I had to swerve a number of times before I hit him.'
· 'My car was legally parked as it backed into the other vehicle.'
· 'The pedestrian had no idea which way to go, so I ran over him.'
Does that language sound familiar? All have sinned.
The bible says a few things about sin.
Sin pollutes - Mark 7:20-23
Jesus said that our problem is not on the outside - what we eat - but the inside:
'What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean'. For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean'.'
It’s all in our hearts.
Supposing on a flip chart now, for any one of you, is going to appear all the things that you have thought and said and done this week – all the secret things. Promising to show it the following week to all who appear on it today and every Sunday –
I think in consequent weeks church would increasingly become an unpopular place to be. These things on the inside pollute us.
And maybe it was only one or two things you could identify with in the list, but however little sin pollutes.
Sin is powerful
These things take a grip on our lives. Jesus said, 'Whoever sins is a slave to sin.' John 8:34
We have seen alcohol, heroin, shoplifting, or stealing cars and other habits easily get a grip on people's lives. It is equally true of the less obvious things. A bad temper or lust or greed or slander, gossip can get a grip on our lives.
There is a penalty for Sin
These things have consequences. Romans 6:23: 'the wages of sin is death'. This means all sin regardless of its magnitude. The bible frequently reminds us that one day we will stand before God in judgement. (Matt 25:14-30; Luke 19:12-27; 1 Cor 3:12-15 etc)
Sin separates us from God
The prophet Isaiah (59:1-2) says that the things we do wrong cause a partition between us and God. And ultimately that leads to an eternal separation from God.
But thank God, Christianity doesn't end there - that's where it starts. Christianity is good news because despite God’s wrath upon sin, he so loved the world that he did something about it.
And all are justified freely by his grace through redemption that came by Christ Jesus. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.
That is why Jesus had to die on the cross. Christ shed his blood in a sacrificial death for us sinners. In the OT God had instructed that sin be dealt with sacrificially and blood was involved.
Leviticus 16 describes what happened on the Day of Atonement
God instructed Aaron to bring two goats. One was slaughtered for the sin offering for the people; blood was sprinkled on the cover of the ark in the Most Holy Place - tabernacle. On the second goat, Aaron would lay hands on its head and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion and sin of Israelites, and send the goat into the wilderness and release it. The need for shedding of blood ingrained an understanding of the holiness of God and the consequences of sin.
In Hebrews 9 we read that Jesus entered the tabernacle, the most holy place once for all by his own blood, so obtaining redemption for you and me. That is why we declare that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Jesus died for you and me, in our place, as a substitute. Let’s try and make sense of that with an illustration:
Two great friends were at school together, all the way to college. But after College, they went totally separate ways. One went on to become a judge, the other went on to become a criminal. And one day, the criminal appeared before the judge. He'd committed a terrible crime to which he had to plead guilty.
The judge loved his old friend, and at the same time he was a judge. He couldn't simply say, 'Don't worry, I'll let you off' - that wouldn't have been justice. But he couldn't simply impose a penalty on him, because that wouldn't have been love.
This is what he did - he fined him the appropriate amount for the offence – which was huge. And then he took off his wig and gown, and he came down and wrote out a cheque for the fine and he gave it to his friend.
Because God loves us, he has come down to earth in the person of his Son, Jesus Christ and paid the penalty for us. We were captives, slaves in bondage to our sin but Jesus has brought us out of captivity, by shedding his blood, out of love as the ransom price.
The love, the idea, the initiative and the action are all God’s gift to us. We can say that God gave himself to save us from himself. Jesus said on the cross – it is finished, accomplished! This demands a personal response because we can only receive this gift by faith.
You see when the judge came down from his position as judge and handed his friend the cheque, his friend had every right to say, 'sorry, I don’t need it' – but with grave consequences.
I want to offer you a chance to respond to the love and mercy shown by Jesus at the cross. You know your life – the delights and the mess. Here is an opportunity to offer them all to God. Your doubts, pain, un-forgiveness, finances, children …everything
At the foot of the cross we find restoration and wholeness. Amen.
posted by Parish Administrator at 11:41 am
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