Crucified King

Well, good morning everyone. As some of you will be aware, I've been away on long service

leave and this is the first time I've preached since June. That could be dangerous. But to

come back in, in this series and to preach in this series at the most crucial point of

it, I consider to be a great joy and privilege. I was listening to Dennis earlier, I was listening

earlier, coming to Christ in his 20s. I was 23 when I discovered the answer to the crucial

question that we are looking at today. When I looked at this text, there's multiple different

angles that you could take on it. I considered maybe doing a sermon on political power, given

that we were at elections yesterday and I've considered a whole range of different things.

But the crucial question of this passage is why did Jesus of Nazareth have to die?

Why did he have to die? And I was 23 when I discovered the answer to that question for the first

time. I had grown up attending churches like potentially you. I had read the Bible, in fact,

a number of times up to the age of 23. I knew a bunch of Christian practices and rituals.

I knew many Christian truths. And I knew that Jesus was central to everything. But my overall

impression was that if I served Jesus, then Jesus would serve me. If I approved of him, he

would approve of me. If I said sorry to him, then he would forgive me. And if I kept saying sorry to

him and providing at the point of my death, I'd said sorry more than I'd had sins, then I would be okay.

I was 23, sitting in a scenario not unlike this, and I discovered for the first time in my life,

it was actually about him and not about me. It was all about what he had done and not what I was trying

to do. So what we're looking at over the next three Sundays is what is central to the Christian faith.

And I make no assumptions whatsoever, at all. You could have walked into this building for the first time,

or you could have been sitting in a building like this all of your life, and you still may not get it.

Why did Jesus have to die? That's the crucial question. Lord Tennyson, the 19th century English

poet, described Jesus' life as more beautiful than the greatest of his miracles. Very few people in

history have ever dared to question the outstanding nature of the character of Jesus of Nazareth.

And on top of an exemplary life, his teaching gave rise to the values of Western civilization and have

impacted virtually every culture across the globe for over 2,000 years. Transforming lives and cultures.

Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Love your neighbor as yourself.

Love your neighbor as yourself. His influence is without doubt greater than any other human being that has ever lived.

So why did Jesus of Nazareth end his life on a Roman cross like a hardened criminal?

It makes no sense. And it's the answer to that question that drives us to the very heart of the Christian faith,

the heart of this church, and why we declare that we treasure Jesus above all else.

So I've got three points on this sermon on the St. Paul's app.

The wickedness of humanity, the will of God, and the willingness of Jesus.

That's the trajectory for us today.

These words in front of us are the account of the Apostle John,

one of Jesus' closest followers.

They are an eyewitness account of his trial and his death.

One of the noticeable differences with John's gospel,

Passion of the Christ,

noticeable in his, compared to Matthew, Mark and Luke,

is how much time

John gives to the recording,

the actual trial of Jesus.

And scholars say the difference with John and the others

is that John wants to put an awful lot of focus

in implicating all of humanity

in the crucifixion of Jesus.

First half of chapter 18,

Judas betrays Jesus out of greed.

In the middle of chapter 18,

the disciples desert him out of cowardice

and disillusionment.

Chapter 19,

the religious authorities murder him out of envy.

The soldiers torture and mock him

out of heartless ignorance.

And Pilate washes his hands of him

in order to please his constituents.

Greed,

envy,

cowardice,

people-pleasing,

holding Jesus at arm's length.

Everyone here is implicated in his death

despite the fact that his innocence

is without doubt.

Three times,

which if you know biblical language,

three times is a word,

is an emphasis.

Three times,

Pilate insists that Jesus is innocent.

1838,

I find no basis for a charge against him.

1904,

I find no basis for a charge against him.

1906,

I find no basis for a charge against him.

The innocence of Jesus is beyond doubt.

1906,

but also through this account,

as we've seen through the rest of John,

the status of Jesus is well attested.

From the very first chapter of this gospel,

he's been declared as the creator God

entering this world to fix it.

He's healed the sick.

He's turned water into wine.

He's raised the dead.

He's fed the hungry.

He's walked on water.

At every point,

his words are not mumbled at all.

He declares himself equal with God.

He says that he and the father are one

and that anyone who has seen him

has seen God himself.

He declares that he is the way,

the truth and the life.

And despite the evidence of his life

and his works,

everyone joins together

to rid the earth of him.

For instance,

the religious elite

do what the religious establishment

over the world always do.

And that is they maintain the status quo.

They're interested in their power

and their influence.

Their hypocrisy is revealed

as they cry out,

we have no king.

We have no lord.

We have no master,

but Caesar himself.

They hated Caesar.

They are jealous

that more and more people

are turning their allegiance to Jesus.

And so they wanted him dead.

They are told quite clearly by Pilate

that he's innocent.

Pilate offers us to release him

in verse 29,

verse 39,

and they demand instead

the release of a convicted criminal.

Barabbas,

much more than some translations say

he was a robber.

He was much more than a robber.

He's guilty of insurrection.

He has led an uprising

against the Roman Empire.

He wanted to be king himself

and he's got blood on his hands.

He committed murder in the process.

The soldiers here treat Jesus

as a comic figure to be ridiculed,

nothing more than a swear word

when things don't go white.

Pilate does what politicians

the world overdo.

He knew Jesus was innocent

and at the end of the day

his reputation was more

that was things

that was on the line for him.

That's the thing

that he cared about.

When expedience demanded otherwise,

he caved in.

He abandoned principle

for popularity.

He's a people pleaser.

He knew what truth is

but showed he hated truth

and sided with a false head

because truth was going to cost him too much.

John is trying to help us see here

if we were there,

we would have joined in too.

That's what John wants us to see.

You and I are as guilty as they.

And the dark secret

that is being pointed to here

is that it was the wickedness of humanity

that resulted in the death of Jesus.

There is something in every one of us

that is unable to side with truth

and righteousness

at the crucial moments in life.

You see, the death of Jesus

reveals the deepest, darkest secrets of us all.

John mentioned it really clearly

back in chapter 3, verse 19.

This is the verdict,

talking about Jesus.

Light has come into the world

of all the world

of all the world views

that exist in our world.

The Christian faith presents

the most negative of the human condition.

The most negative.

Another part of the New Testament

puts it like this.

Ephesians chapter 2.

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

As for you,

you were dead

in your transgressions and sins

in which you used to live

when you followed the ways of this world

and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air,

the spirit who is now at work

in those who are disobedient,

all of us who lived among them

at one time,

gratifying the cravings of our flesh

and following its desires and thoughts.

That's the human condition.

Spiritually dead.

Not dying, not crippled.

Dead.

Unable to do anything

to help ourselves.

And it's universal.

All, it says there.

He's not describing here

some decadent, depraved segment

of society,

but all of humanity

from top to bottom.

All, spiritually dead

apart from Jesus.

What does it mean

to be dead in transgressions and sins?

Well, I would suggest here

from Ephesians 2,

it means to be enslaved.

Notice the word followed there

in verse 2 and verse 3.

The word means mastered

to be controlled by something.

The reason we are dead

in transgressions and sins

is that we are as helpless

as a dead body.

Completely controlled.

Completely mastered.

Unable to move.

Unable to act on our own.

The key idea,

it's there in verse 3,

gratifying the cravings

of our flesh

and following its desires

and thoughts.

The term our flesh

in verse 3

is literally referring to

not bones and skin and stuff,

but it's referring to

self-centered human nature.

That's the thing that drives us.

That's the thing that masters us

and controls us.

According to the Bible,

the reason we are dead

in transgressions and sins,

the reason we are slaves to sin,

the reason we are bound by sin,

is because the human heart

is profoundly centered upon itself

and not its creator.

The 16th century church reformer

and theologian Martin Luther

put the condition of the heart

quite succinctly.

He described it

as curved in on itself.

Luther said that our nature

is so deeply curved in on itself

that it wickedly,

curvedly,

and viciously

seeks to use

all things

and all people,

even God himself,

for its own sake.

Now it's pretty obvious

when you listen to that statement

from Luther

that self-centeredness

can make you into a cruel person.

It's not hard to identify

the dictators,

the tyrants in history.

They want to get things done their way

and they'll do whatever it takes,

even immoral things,

in order to make sure

that they consistently stay on top.

What is less obvious for us

is that self-centeredness

also makes us,

for the majority of us,

moral people.

If everything is about

my need to feel good about myself,

there's no better way

to feel good about yourself

than to be a good person.

Self-centeredness

drives most people

into being good,

trying hard to serve the needy,

being a good child

to a parent

or a good parent

to children,

a good friend

that is always there

to assist

whenever I'm needed.

What lies beneath

all of that

is a self-centeredness

where the driving motive

of the heart

is I am trying

to make myself

feel good.

I want to receive

the applause

of others

or I want to fill

this aching void

in my heart.

But here's the other one

for us.

Self-centeredness

could also make you

quite a religious person.

We can devote ourselves

to obeying God

and turning up to church,

reading the Bible,

praying,

giving and doing

the sort of things

that we are doing

right now.

Did you see the irony

and the hypocrisy

at the beginning

of what was just read out

to us by Aidan?

Chapter 18,

verse 28,

the religious leaders

won't go into the palace,

a Gentile palace.

They wanted to hand

Jesus over

to the Gentiles

so that they could

rush off to church.

You kill him,

we've got some

ceremonies to do,

we've got some

religion to practice.

Their lives are about

rules in order

to please God,

all good and right

things to do.

Religion is about

doing good things

and expecting God

to come through

for you

in the way

you want him to.

Religion puts you

at the centre

and leaves God

to one side.

It's so ironic

that so many people

even get into

the Christian faith

in order to have

God serve them

rather than

for them to serve God.

How do you know?

When things don't

work out,

before them too,

you draw back

from God.

And yet Christianity

is the only

world religion

that has

as a central

belief,

we don't do

anything for salvation,

he's done it all

for us.

And self-centeredness

clicks to every

aspect of your

life.

life.

And if you see

any of it in your

heart,

it's a revelation

of just deeply

how wicked

the human heart

is.

C.S. Lewis,

the Oxford

professor and author,

wrote,

there is nothing

more enslaving

and miserable

than self-centeredness.

He wrote that

it is hell

which has begun

in us

that will

ultimately

take us

to hell.

So why did

Jesus have

to die?

Because of the

wickedness of

humanity.

And we need to

see ourselves

in this narrative.

But secondly,

Jesus also

died because of

the will

and the purpose

of God.

The narrative

of John's

gospel is

that Jesus

suffered as

God's royal

king and

that it was

God's intention

for Jesus

to die

on the cross.

That is,

the crucifixion

of Jesus

is not a

travesty

of justice

or he was

in the wrong

place at the

wrong time.

It was no

mere accident

of human

history.

It was the

climactic hour.

It was the

crowning purpose,

the moment

of Jesus'

glory and

of God's

glory.

That's what

it was.

In John

12,

he speaks

of the

hour of

his death

and he

indicates

that he

will be

lifted up

on a

cross

for which

he says

will be

the hour

of my

glory.

It will

be the

moment

where the

magnificence

and the

beauty

and the

worth

and the

character

of God

would be

on full

display.

It's going

to go

viral in

this moment.

You want

to know

who God

is?

You will

see him

on a

cross.

You want

to know

what he's

like?

You'll

see him

on a

cross.

John

13,

he washes

the feet

of his

disciples

and tells

them that

he will

die out

of love

for the

whole

world.

John

17,

as he

speaks

of his

death,

he declares

again,

it will be

the hour

of his

glory.

John

18,

as the

soldiers

come to

arrest him,

the soldiers

themselves,

did you notice

this last

week?

The soldiers

themselves,

when he

says,

I am the

one you're

looking for,

they bowed

down in

front of him

immediately.

Get up,

guys,

you've got to

arrest me.

That's what

you're here

for.

he shows

himself to

be one

of absolute

authority

over all,

including the

arresting

party.

And yet,

he allows

them to

bind him.

And as we

just read in

John 19,

Jesus says

to Pilate,

you have no

power over

me if it

were not

given to

you from

above.

Pilate,

the

representative

of the

largest

empire,

the most

powerful

empire in

the world

at the

time.

As you

read through

the Gospels,

you see

again and

again that

Jesus heads

to his

death,

knowing it

is the

purpose and

the will

of God.

It was

the deliberate

desire of

God throughout

history that

his son,

Jesus,

would come

into his

creation and

suffer and

die and

rise and

reign.

It was no

mistake.

It wasn't a

tragedy.

God's intention

was for his

glory to be

displayed through

the wicked

plans of

humanity to

nail Jesus

upon a

Roman cross.

In chapter

19,

verse 5,

Pilate thought

Jesus was a

joke,

made a

spectacle,

dressed him

up.

And when

he brought

Jesus,

when Jesus

came out

wearing the

crown of

thorns and

the purple

robe,

Pilate said

to them,

to the

gathering

crowd,

not,

here's your

man,

here is

the man.

Definite

article,

the man.

Pilate's

mocking Jesus

to the

crowd,

dressed up

with all

these fake

robe,

look at

the man,

the

quintessential

human being.

And then

in verses

13 and

14,

the drama

concludes,

out on the

pavement,

Pilate takes

the official

seat,

declaring his

judgment on

behalf of the

Roman Empire,

and what

comes out of

his mouth?

your king.

Not this

pathetic loser,

your king.

At every

point here,

Jesus is in

control.

We are told

his final

pronouncement

came at

the sixth

hour, that

is Pilate's

final pronouncement,

on the eve

of the

Passover,

the very

hour,

the very

hour that

the priest

began to

slaughter the

Paschal

lambs,

the Passover

lambs at

the temple.

Jesus,

the king of

the Jews,

the son of

God,

the lamb

of God,

who takes

away the

sin of

the world,

timed his

condemnation to

his death

and to

death

perfectly.

God's

will be

saved.

They were

all

poor

in God's

great drama

to save

the world.

As 1 Timothy

tells us,

here is a

trustworthy

saying that

deserves full

acceptance.

Christ Jesus

came into the

world to save

sinners.

Jesus died

because of the

wickedness of

humanity.

He died

because of

the will

of God.

Yet those

two observations

don't get to

the deepest

answer.

The

willingness of

Jesus out

of love for

humanity.

To get to the

heart of the

issue, I want

to turn to a

passage in the

first part of

the Bible.

It's

repeatedly

pointed to

for an

explanation of

Jesus'

death.

Isaiah

Isaiah 53 · chapter mention

chapter 53.

It's

writing, this

is Isaiah,

seven centuries

before the

crucifixion of

Jesus.

Isaiah 53

Isaiah 53:4

verse 4.

Surely he

took up our

pain and

bore our

suffering, yet

we considered

him punished

by God,

stricken by

him and

afflicted.

He was

pierced for

our

transgressions,

he was

crushed for

our iniquities.

The punishment

that brought

us peace

was on

him and

by his

wounds we

are healed.

We all

like sheep

have gone

astray, but

each has

turned to

our own

way and

the Lord

has laid

on him

the iniquity

of us

all.

What we

have in

Isaiah 53

is

substitutionary

language.

Did you

see it?

Pierced

for our

transgressions,

crushed for

our

iniquities.

The

punishment

that's

brought us

peace was

on him

and by

his wounds

we are

healed.

The Lord

has laid

on him

the iniquity

of us

all.

And did

you see

the language

of God's

purposes and

plan in

this?

Yet we

considered him

punished by

God, stricken

by him and

afflicted.

We all,

that is you

and me as

well, like

sheep have

gone astray,

each to his

own, turned

to our own

way, and

the Lord

has laid

on him

the iniquity

of us

all.

The word

transgression

is a word

that means

willful

rebellion

against God.

Iniquity

is a word

that means

to bend,

to bend

over, to

contort.

It's referring

to the

brokenness

of humanity.

Jesus is

carrying

God's

just

punishment,

his just

judgment

for our

human

rebellion

and iniquity

and sin

to the

cross.

That is

Jesus'

trades place

with us.

When

John

first points

to the

person of

Jesus,

as he

comes,

the very

first time

he gets

to identify

the person

of Jesus

in this

gospel.

In chapter

one, he

says,

behold,

the Lamb

of God

who takes

away the

sin of the

world.

That is a

reference to

this passage

in Isaiah

where Jesus

likened to

the sheep

going to

the slaughter.

He takes

upon himself

God's

judgment

for our

sin.

Jesus,

fully God,

fully man,

Jesus,

having lived

a perfect

life,

goes to

death on

a cross

and carries

God's

just judgment

for every

wrong,

every wrong

thing that you

and I have

ever done

or thought

and also

for all the

right things

that we have

failed to

do,

such as

love the

Lord your

God with

all your

heart,

soul and

mind.

And we

get a glimpse

of what he

does for us

in this

passage.

He trades

place with

Barabbas.

Barabbas was

the only man

in history

who could

ever see,

say,

Jesus has

taken my

place

physically.

But in

that,

we're

revealed here

that Jesus

takes our

place

spiritually.

Barabbas was

condemned to

die and he

was set

free.

I'm the

one who

deserves to

be on that

cross.

I'm the

one who

deserves God's

just anger.

I deserve

eternal

punishment for

my rebellion

against God.

And Jesus

instead was

delivered up

for my

offenses.

He was

handed over

to judgment

for my

sin.

Jesus

Christ is

my

substitute.

He was

satisfying

the debt

of divine

justice and

holiness.

The

innocent

one was

bound

and now

to the

cross.

condemned

to death

so that

the guilty

one deserving

of death

might go

free.

It's why

John 3

16 is

the most

famous of

Bible verses

in this

world.

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.

Such is

love.

The

wickedness of

humanity,

the will of

God,

the willingness

of Jesus

out of

love,

declares

that you

and I

are more

sinful and

deserving of

wrath,

more deeply

broken and

damaged than

we would ever

allow ourselves

to contemplate.

And yet at

the same time

we are more

loved and

affirmed than

we could ever

possibly dream.