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Why? Pt 1: Save Thyself
Why?:
Save Thyself
Matthew 27:33–40
33 And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull, 34 They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink. 35 And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. 36 And sitting down they watched him there; 37 And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 38 Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left. 39 And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, 40 And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.
I have been a Christian now for almost thirty years.
I have been preaching the word of God every Sunday for more than eight years, shared the Gospel, I can only guess how many times I have read the Bible through…. And yet I find myself unqualified to preach on the cross of Christ.
I have certainly done so before, but to give consideration to it as a sermon series is somewhat overwhelming.
But WHY?
Why must I give consideration to this topic as a series of sermons? Why “The Cross”?
Because the Church has lost sight of it and needs to repent.
Because multitudes are walking by us each and every day who are headed to an eternity in hell and we are doing so little to intervene.
Because we have misunderstood why Jesus came, why he died.
Because we are too comfortable with our sin.
Because we have lost the wonder….
In a word, APATHY.
If we only truly understood the Gospel, if we only could comprehend the wonder of it, the miracle of it, the wisdom and the love associated with it.
If even we could see but the smallest aspect of it, a mustard seed even, O how it would change our lives, how we might live in the light of it, especially if we understood our place and our privilege in the sharing of its wonderful truth.
I have no doubt that we will be in heaven but a short time and we will have a full comprehension of some of the most controversial doctrines of the Bible.
Eternal Security? In a minute we would know the fullness of its truth.
Eschatology? No sooner had we got there, all would make sense. Pre Trib, Post Trib, Premil, A-mil….the answer will be give and all will be understood by all.
KJV for the English speaking People? Done in a second.
Even the sovereignty of God and the Free Will of Mankind will be reconciled in short order.
A FULL COMPREHENSION OF THE CROSS?
AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE GOSPEL?
We will be studying the wonder of it for all eternity and still not plummet the depth of the wisdom of God.
Romans 11:33
33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
And thereby I feel that I am out of my depth.
In over my head
Yet I truly feel at this time I cannot but preach the wonder of Jesus Christ, without whom none of us would have a hope ever of escaping the eternal wrath of God in hell.
What would happen to our JOYFULNESS if we truly did have even the smallest comprehension of The Cross?
What would happen to our relationships?
How would it affect our patience with one another?
Our love for one another?
In the scope of eternity, would it really matter if we left the lid off the toothpaste occasionally?
Would it matter which way the toilet roll hangs?
Would it matter if we forgot to properly screw the lid on, or wrap the cheese, or empty the garbage, or turn off all the lights, or fill the tank before we left on that trip?
In light of The Cross, would loving your enemy be too hard?
What about forgiving your father, your son, your mother, your daughter….your mother in law, your daughter in law? If we truly began to understand the Cross and our place in it, would loving your enemy really be easier than loving a loved one?
There are eighteen verses in the Bible that use the phrase “The Cross“. All of them in the New Testament.
Nine of them from the Gospel accounts.
Nine of them from Paul’s Epistles, eight of which are written to gentile Churches, one to the Hebrew Church.
All of them are about Jesus and all of them I feel unqualified to do justice.
My desire is to feed you with the full loaf but I truly fear that the best I will do is give you crumbs…and pray Jesus can do with the crumbs I present what he did when he fed the thousands in the wilderness.
PRAY
The Mouth Of Mockers
Matthew 27:39–40
39 And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, 40 And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.
The first time we see the phrase used it is heard of in the mouth of mockers.
For three years Jesus had testified of his Gospel, for three years miracle after miracle emanated from him. Crowds followed him, children were healed by him, the blind were made to see, the deaf to hear, the lame to walk.
Disciples followed him and his fame went abroad to all the land. Kings and Governors enquired of him and rulers were jealous.
They feared the Romans would come and take their place and nation (Jn 11:48), the feared the people would follow him and not them. They denied the miracles, the cursed those who were healed, astonished that their own wisdom excelled their learning (Jn 9:34).
But this does not even come near scratching the surface of the responsibility of the railers. These mocking ministers denouncing the Lord of lords and King of kings, were undercut by a pagan governor in three languages;
Turn to
John 19:19–22
19 And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. 20 This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin. 21 Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews. 22 Pilate answered, What I have written I have written.
But long had they rejected all that was written.
Far too comfortable had these self aggrandising critics of Christ become that they had ignored all that was written aforetime concerning Christ.
It was not that they COULD NOT SEE, it was that they WOULD NOT SEE.
God will not hold them accountable to their ability, but to their WILL. And so it is to be for all who reject the cross of Christ to this day.
They mocked the Cross at the first, they will mock it at the last, but it will speak and it will reveal reality in the time appointed.
40…Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.
It is astonishing to consider how temporal the mind is when the big picture alludes us.
What is in the mind of these men is but the temporary satisfaction of being proved right…for a time.
They have no knowledge of what they have done, no thought for a moment of the one who was so long ago promised to come.
They ignored the miracles, ignored the signs, ignored the date of his presentation as The Messiah the Prince (Dan 9:25). Incredible, they had the VERY DAY of his coming written of about 483 years earlier.
The jews had long celebrated the Command to Restore and to Build Jerusalem, even stamping the image of King Cyrus to commemorate on coinage, even to this very day almost 2500 years later.
They know who gave the command even better than many of todays Prophecy Prognosticators who don’t care to watch for Christ now let alone back then.
On that day, it was the common man who cried out to him as he entered in on that triumphal day;
Matthew 21:9
9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.
He entered both on the day and in the manner described by their prophets, and the common people heard him gladly. (Mrk 12:37)
Yet the first time the short phrase “The Cross” is uttered it is in the mouth of mockers.
Men who little comprehend the value of The Cross.
Men whose minds are to the temporal satisfaction of a limited view and who WOULD NOT see the infinite value of that which was before their eyes.
Isaiah 53:1–3
1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? 2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
What think ye of Christ?
The mockers thought so little of him as he was hanging there. What think you of The Cross as you sit here?
How do you live your life in the light of it? Or have you kept it long in the shadows, so long that your life is barely touched by it…let alone transformed.
It is difficult to consider which is worse, mocking The Cross or ignoring it.
They Missed The Message
Matthew 27:34–38
34 They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink. 35 And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. 36 And sitting down they watched him there; 37 And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 38 Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left.
Matthew 27:39–44
39 And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, 40 And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. 41 Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, 42 He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. 43 He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God. 44 The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth.
The entirety of the passage we have just read is given its first account in the Old Testament, and it is astonishing how it was that we read of none who acknowledge it, nor see themselves represented by the words of God.
Beloved, this could be true for you and I. The events that occur in our churches from time to time are often attended to by people who are well represented in the Old Testament; Jezebels have come and gone, so too the Judas’s of this world and many more.
Yet here we have men who quite literally represented the fulfilment of specific Old Testament Prophecy.
Imagine dying of thirst and being given Gall to eat and Vinegar to drink? What is in the minds of these people as they do so? Was it to satisfy his hunger or to quench his thirst, or was it to torment his spirit?
A messianic prayer that turns to an imprecatory prayer, one that calls on the Lord to pour down scorn upon the wicked.
Turn to
Psalm 69:19–21
19 Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee. 20 Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. 21 They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
Gall is the bile secreted in the liver, it is also seen in the scripture as a bitter render from a poisonous plant such as wormwood.
In the gospel of Mark 23 And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: Mark 15:23
But they missed the message, they would not see.
That was verse 34 of Matthews account,
Suddenly we come to verse 35 in our passage in Matthews Gospel and it is difficult to wonder how it is that those who read their Bibles and lead their people have left a passage aside as they consider both the crucified one whom they have pierced, and the parting of his garments below the cross.
Matthew 27:35-36
35 And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. 36 And sitting down they watched him there;
When we cannot see ourselves in the wickedness we do, it is a great shame. But even more so when the wickedness of the wicked is written in a book near a thousand years before.
And so we see it as the Psalmist writes of a Crucified Christ more than five hundred years before such a form of punishment was ever invented by the Phoenicians, then practiced by the Carthaginians until adopted by the Roman empire.
Designed for two purposes, to extract both the most extreme levels of pain and suffering before death, and to do so with the highest level of shame and contempt.
Turn to
Psalm 22:11–18
11 Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help. 12 Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. 13 They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. 14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. 15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. 16 For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. 17 I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. 18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.
They Missed The Message.
Matthew 27:37
37 And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
We give consideration to another message.
Another passage missed by the Jews for whom he came to save. It was known, it was understood, and written down and taught.
It is the second Psalm that must have given at least one or two of the scribes some pause. There are passages in the Bible that speak of the Son of God, we see it in
Proverbs 30:4
4 Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou canst tell?
But it is there, in Psalm 2 where we have both the Son and the ruling king of the Jews; It ought to have been fulfilled when Christ came, but it will be fulfilled when he comes again and does in deed physically rule.
Psalm 2:5–12
5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. 6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. 8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. 9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.
10 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. 11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
They Missed The Message, a vail was beginning to cover their hearts because they would not see the truth they crucified.
And yet while we thought to have taken some rest we see yet another ancient prophecy fulfilled. The prophecy extends beyond the cross and to the grave, yet it is difficult not to miss the message.
It was first written of some 700 years before the cross and it is one of the most famous messianic passages of the Bible that so clearly point to Jesus Christ, one could only be ignorant or wilfully ignorant not to have seen it.
But it is that related to the wicked whom he shall be with in his death;
Matthew 27:38
38 Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left.
Turn to Isaiah 53
Isaiah 53:8–9
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. 9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
Killed with the wicked, and buried in a rich mans tomb.
There comes a point where you begin to wonder how they had Missed The Message.
But this is not where this passage ends beloved.
For even the scorning of their lips was photographed before they uttered them. As if God had a recording of it, he captured both the attitude and the address, the scorn and the script.
But for this we role a little further down to the second use of the phrase “The Cross” and again it is found in the mouth of the mockers;
Verse 42-44
Matthew 27:42–44
42 He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. 43 He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God. 44 The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth.
To see it matched, turn to
Psalm 22:7–8
7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, 8 He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.
And for it all;
– the timing of the coming of Christ,
-the work of the miracles of Christ,
-the testimony of the people of Christ when he entered the City,
-the authority by which he spake and the words and works that appeared around him as the mockers mocked, the entire event was lost on the rulers of the people. They Missed The Message.
It was lost upon them all as every inch of Prophecy was being fulfilled before their very eyes as they took NOTHING SERIOUSLY.
And what are we to say of the times we are living in brethren?
Prophecy concerning the last of the last days being fulfilled right before our very eyes and yet APATHY curtails our ATTESTATION, weariness restricts our witness.
We are filled with the worries of the day and turn our hearts away from the Lost and the Lord who died for them.
We have lost sight of The Cross!
They Misunderstood The Motive
Matthew 27:37–40
37 And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 38 Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left. 39 And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, 40 And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.
“Save thyself“
If there was one phrase that completely testifies to a Misunderstanding of the Motive of Christ, it is the words “Save Thyself“.
While man has no other thought in his mind for most of his life other than himself, that is the complete opposite of Jesus Christ. It was NOT himself he came to save.
Turn to Matthew 18:11 and tell me who he came to save?
Matthew 18:11
11 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.
The rulers of the people display their wantoness of care for those they govern and rule, for had they truly cared for the people they would have watched for his coming.
They would have been excited that the time is drawing near, they would have searched the scriptures to find eternal life and they would have seen Christ on every page.
All they needed to do was watch and wait, for the coming of the King of Israel as THE TIME drew near.
Here they have him. The King of the Jews AS TESTIFIED TO BY THE heathen of all people. Here they have him nailed to a Cross and they think he thinks like they do, caring only for himself.
“Twelve legions of angels” at his disposal, all it took was a call to the father (Mt 26:53). If his motive was ever to save himself, there would be nothing any man could do to stop him.
Imagine how quickly their mocking mouths would have closed.
To you and I perhaps it would have been worth seeing, to the one who cam to “save that which was lost“, his motive was not himself.
“Save thyself” they cried to him. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.
But they misunderstood the motive.
Jesus is not a Jennie, he is not here to grant you three wishes, to make you love this world more than you do him.
If you think this is true, you misunderstand his motive.
Jesus is not a good example of a moral man, to make you think you can ascend to heaven if you can be good to.
If you think this is true, you misunderstand his motive.
Jesus did not come to make bad men good, he came to give dead men life.
If you think otherwise, you misunderstand his motive.
If Jesus chose to Save Himself, you and I would have no hope.
We would be yet in our sins.
The Cross is everything.
If it were not for The Cross, how we live our lives in this life would make NO difference whatsoever.
Indeed, what can matter for the threescore and ten years we live in this world when we have eternity in hell at the end of our days?
If it were not for The Cross, we would all be damned, with nothing we can do and no good news to share.
The Cross changes everything.
Suddenly, the life we now life has value for all eternity IF WE LIVE for him.
Now, EVERYTHING CHANGES. Now EVERYTHING, even our suffering, HAS eternal value and worth.
Now, life has purpose, joy & hope.
All because of THE CROSS OF CHRIST.
Now, while it is true that we shall endure difficulties in the physical form for the sake of The Cross, we also know that it is a joy as we turn our eyes to Christ our Lord.
If there be any here, yet to see the wonder of The Cross, yet to know why Jesus came, why he endured the cross and died. It was ALL FOR YOU.
YOU ARE THE REASON Jesus endured the shame and pain of the Cross. Your sins were nailed there as Jesus hung on the tree.
If you will believe it, it is your sins he paid for.
Your case before the judge of all the earth, dismissed.
All this, because he did not come to save himself, but you.
Hebrews 12:2
2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
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Save Thyself
Matthew 27:33–40
33 And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull, 34 They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink. 35 And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. 36 And sitting down they watched him there; 37 And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 38 Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left. 39 And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, 40 And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.
I have been a Christian now for almost thirty years.
I have been preaching the word of God every Sunday for more than eight years, shared the Gospel, I can only guess how many times I have read the Bible through…. And yet I find myself unqualified to preach on the cross of Christ.
I have certainly done so before, but to give consideration to it as a sermon series is somewhat overwhelming.
But WHY?
Why must I give consideration to this topic as a series of sermons? Why “The Cross”?
Because the Church has lost sight of it and needs to repent.
Because multitudes are walking by us each and every day who are headed to an eternity in hell and we are doing so little to intervene.
Because we have misunderstood why Jesus came, why he died.
Because we are too comfortable with our sin.
Because we have lost the wonder….
In a word, APATHY.
If we only truly understood the Gospel, if we only could comprehend the wonder of it, the miracle of it, the wisdom and the love associated with it.
If even we could see but the smallest aspect of it, a mustard seed even, O how it would change our lives, how we might live in the light of it, especially if we understood our place and our privilege in the sharing of its wonderful truth.
I have no doubt that we will be in heaven but a short time and we will have a full comprehension of some of the most controversial doctrines of the Bible.
Eternal Security? In a minute we would know the fullness of its truth.
Eschatology? No sooner had we got there, all would make sense. Pre Trib, Post Trib, Premil, A-mil….the answer will be give and all will be understood by all.
KJV for the English speaking People? Done in a second.
Even the sovereignty of God and the Free Will of Mankind will be reconciled in short order.
A FULL COMPREHENSION OF THE CROSS?
AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE GOSPEL?
We will be studying the wonder of it for all eternity and still not plummet the depth of the wisdom of God.
Romans 11:33
33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
And thereby I feel that I am out of my depth.
In over my head
Yet I truly feel at this time I cannot but preach the wonder of Jesus Christ, without whom none of us would have a hope ever of escaping the eternal wrath of God in hell.
What would happen to our JOYFULNESS if we truly did have even the smallest comprehension of The Cross?
What would happen to our relationships?
How would it affect our patience with one another?
Our love for one another?
In the scope of eternity, would it really matter if we left the lid off the toothpaste occasionally?
Would it matter which way the toilet roll hangs?
Would it matter if we forgot to properly screw the lid on, or wrap the cheese, or empty the garbage, or turn off all the lights, or fill the tank before we left on that trip?
In light of The Cross, would loving your enemy be too hard?
What about forgiving your father, your son, your mother, your daughter….your mother in law, your daughter in law? If we truly began to understand the Cross and our place in it, would loving your enemy really be easier than loving a loved one?
There are eighteen verses in the Bible that use the phrase “The Cross“. All of them in the New Testament.
Nine of them from the Gospel accounts.
Nine of them from Paul’s Epistles, eight of which are written to gentile Churches, one to the Hebrew Church.
All of them are about Jesus and all of them I feel unqualified to do justice.
My desire is to feed you with the full loaf but I truly fear that the best I will do is give you crumbs…and pray Jesus can do with the crumbs I present what he did when he fed the thousands in the wilderness.
PRAY
The Mouth Of Mockers
Matthew 27:39–40
39 And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, 40 And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.
The first time we see the phrase used it is heard of in the mouth of mockers.
For three years Jesus had testified of his Gospel, for three years miracle after miracle emanated from him. Crowds followed him, children were healed by him, the blind were made to see, the deaf to hear, the lame to walk.
Disciples followed him and his fame went abroad to all the land. Kings and Governors enquired of him and rulers were jealous.
They feared the Romans would come and take their place and nation (Jn 11:48), the feared the people would follow him and not them. They denied the miracles, the cursed those who were healed, astonished that their own wisdom excelled their learning (Jn 9:34).
But this does not even come near scratching the surface of the responsibility of the railers. These mocking ministers denouncing the Lord of lords and King of kings, were undercut by a pagan governor in three languages;
Turn to
John 19:19–22
19 And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. 20 This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin. 21 Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews. 22 Pilate answered, What I have written I have written.
But long had they rejected all that was written.
Far too comfortable had these self aggrandising critics of Christ become that they had ignored all that was written aforetime concerning Christ.
It was not that they COULD NOT SEE, it was that they WOULD NOT SEE.
God will not hold them accountable to their ability, but to their WILL. And so it is to be for all who reject the cross of Christ to this day.
They mocked the Cross at the first, they will mock it at the last, but it will speak and it will reveal reality in the time appointed.
40…Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.
It is astonishing to consider how temporal the mind is when the big picture alludes us.
What is in the mind of these men is but the temporary satisfaction of being proved right…for a time.
They have no knowledge of what they have done, no thought for a moment of the one who was so long ago promised to come.
They ignored the miracles, ignored the signs, ignored the date of his presentation as The Messiah the Prince (Dan 9:25). Incredible, they had the VERY DAY of his coming written of about 483 years earlier.
The jews had long celebrated the Command to Restore and to Build Jerusalem, even stamping the image of King Cyrus to commemorate on coinage, even to this very day almost 2500 years later.
They know who gave the command even better than many of todays Prophecy Prognosticators who don’t care to watch for Christ now let alone back then.
On that day, it was the common man who cried out to him as he entered in on that triumphal day;
Matthew 21:9
9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.
He entered both on the day and in the manner described by their prophets, and the common people heard him gladly. (Mrk 12:37)
Yet the first time the short phrase “The Cross” is uttered it is in the mouth of mockers.
Men who little comprehend the value of The Cross.
Men whose minds are to the temporal satisfaction of a limited view and who WOULD NOT see the infinite value of that which was before their eyes.
Isaiah 53:1–3
1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? 2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
What think ye of Christ?
The mockers thought so little of him as he was hanging there. What think you of The Cross as you sit here?
How do you live your life in the light of it? Or have you kept it long in the shadows, so long that your life is barely touched by it…let alone transformed.
It is difficult to consider which is worse, mocking The Cross or ignoring it.
They Missed The Message
Matthew 27:34–38
34 They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink. 35 And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. 36 And sitting down they watched him there; 37 And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 38 Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left.
Matthew 27:39–44
39 And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, 40 And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. 41 Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, 42 He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. 43 He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God. 44 The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth.
The entirety of the passage we have just read is given its first account in the Old Testament, and it is astonishing how it was that we read of none who acknowledge it, nor see themselves represented by the words of God.
Beloved, this could be true for you and I. The events that occur in our churches from time to time are often attended to by people who are well represented in the Old Testament; Jezebels have come and gone, so too the Judas’s of this world and many more.
Yet here we have men who quite literally represented the fulfilment of specific Old Testament Prophecy.
Imagine dying of thirst and being given Gall to eat and Vinegar to drink? What is in the minds of these people as they do so? Was it to satisfy his hunger or to quench his thirst, or was it to torment his spirit?
A messianic prayer that turns to an imprecatory prayer, one that calls on the Lord to pour down scorn upon the wicked.
Turn to
Psalm 69:19–21
19 Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee. 20 Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. 21 They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
Gall is the bile secreted in the liver, it is also seen in the scripture as a bitter render from a poisonous plant such as wormwood.
In the gospel of Mark 23 And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: Mark 15:23
But they missed the message, they would not see.
That was verse 34 of Matthews account,
Suddenly we come to verse 35 in our passage in Matthews Gospel and it is difficult to wonder how it is that those who read their Bibles and lead their people have left a passage aside as they consider both the crucified one whom they have pierced, and the parting of his garments below the cross.
Matthew 27:35-36
35 And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. 36 And sitting down they watched him there;
When we cannot see ourselves in the wickedness we do, it is a great shame. But even more so when the wickedness of the wicked is written in a book near a thousand years before.
And so we see it as the Psalmist writes of a Crucified Christ more than five hundred years before such a form of punishment was ever invented by the Phoenicians, then practiced by the Carthaginians until adopted by the Roman empire.
Designed for two purposes, to extract both the most extreme levels of pain and suffering before death, and to do so with the highest level of shame and contempt.
Turn to
Psalm 22:11–18
11 Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help. 12 Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. 13 They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. 14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. 15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. 16 For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. 17 I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. 18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.
They Missed The Message.
Matthew 27:37
37 And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
We give consideration to another message.
Another passage missed by the Jews for whom he came to save. It was known, it was understood, and written down and taught.
It is the second Psalm that must have given at least one or two of the scribes some pause. There are passages in the Bible that speak of the Son of God, we see it in
Proverbs 30:4
4 Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou canst tell?
But it is there, in Psalm 2 where we have both the Son and the ruling king of the Jews; It ought to have been fulfilled when Christ came, but it will be fulfilled when he comes again and does in deed physically rule.
Psalm 2:5–12
5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. 6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. 8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. 9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.
10 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. 11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
They Missed The Message, a vail was beginning to cover their hearts because they would not see the truth they crucified.
And yet while we thought to have taken some rest we see yet another ancient prophecy fulfilled. The prophecy extends beyond the cross and to the grave, yet it is difficult not to miss the message.
It was first written of some 700 years before the cross and it is one of the most famous messianic passages of the Bible that so clearly point to Jesus Christ, one could only be ignorant or wilfully ignorant not to have seen it.
But it is that related to the wicked whom he shall be with in his death;
Matthew 27:38
38 Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left.
Turn to Isaiah 53
Isaiah 53:8–9
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. 9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
Killed with the wicked, and buried in a rich mans tomb.
There comes a point where you begin to wonder how they had Missed The Message.
But this is not where this passage ends beloved.
For even the scorning of their lips was photographed before they uttered them. As if God had a recording of it, he captured both the attitude and the address, the scorn and the script.
But for this we role a little further down to the second use of the phrase “The Cross” and again it is found in the mouth of the mockers;
Verse 42-44
Matthew 27:42–44
42 He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. 43 He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God. 44 The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth.
To see it matched, turn to
Psalm 22:7–8
7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, 8 He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.
And for it all;
– the timing of the coming of Christ,
-the work of the miracles of Christ,
-the testimony of the people of Christ when he entered the City,
-the authority by which he spake and the words and works that appeared around him as the mockers mocked, the entire event was lost on the rulers of the people. They Missed The Message.
It was lost upon them all as every inch of Prophecy was being fulfilled before their very eyes as they took NOTHING SERIOUSLY.
And what are we to say of the times we are living in brethren?
Prophecy concerning the last of the last days being fulfilled right before our very eyes and yet APATHY curtails our ATTESTATION, weariness restricts our witness.
We are filled with the worries of the day and turn our hearts away from the Lost and the Lord who died for them.
We have lost sight of The Cross!
They Misunderstood The Motive
Matthew 27:37–40
37 And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 38 Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left. 39 And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, 40 And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.
“Save thyself“
If there was one phrase that completely testifies to a Misunderstanding of the Motive of Christ, it is the words “Save Thyself“.
While man has no other thought in his mind for most of his life other than himself, that is the complete opposite of Jesus Christ. It was NOT himself he came to save.
Turn to Matthew 18:11 and tell me who he came to save?
Matthew 18:11
11 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.
The rulers of the people display their wantoness of care for those they govern and rule, for had they truly cared for the people they would have watched for his coming.
They would have been excited that the time is drawing near, they would have searched the scriptures to find eternal life and they would have seen Christ on every page.
All they needed to do was watch and wait, for the coming of the King of Israel as THE TIME drew near.
Here they have him. The King of the Jews AS TESTIFIED TO BY THE heathen of all people. Here they have him nailed to a Cross and they think he thinks like they do, caring only for himself.
“Twelve legions of angels” at his disposal, all it took was a call to the father (Mt 26:53). If his motive was ever to save himself, there would be nothing any man could do to stop him.
Imagine how quickly their mocking mouths would have closed.
To you and I perhaps it would have been worth seeing, to the one who cam to “save that which was lost“, his motive was not himself.
“Save thyself” they cried to him. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.
But they misunderstood the motive.
Jesus is not a Jennie, he is not here to grant you three wishes, to make you love this world more than you do him.
If you think this is true, you misunderstand his motive.
Jesus is not a good example of a moral man, to make you think you can ascend to heaven if you can be good to.
If you think this is true, you misunderstand his motive.
Jesus did not come to make bad men good, he came to give dead men life.
If you think otherwise, you misunderstand his motive.
If Jesus chose to Save Himself, you and I would have no hope.
We would be yet in our sins.
The Cross is everything.
If it were not for The Cross, how we live our lives in this life would make NO difference whatsoever.
Indeed, what can matter for the threescore and ten years we live in this world when we have eternity in hell at the end of our days?
If it were not for The Cross, we would all be damned, with nothing we can do and no good news to share.
The Cross changes everything.
Suddenly, the life we now life has value for all eternity IF WE LIVE for him.
Now, EVERYTHING CHANGES. Now EVERYTHING, even our suffering, HAS eternal value and worth.
Now, life has purpose, joy & hope.
All because of THE CROSS OF CHRIST.
Now, while it is true that we shall endure difficulties in the physical form for the sake of The Cross, we also know that it is a joy as we turn our eyes to Christ our Lord.
If there be any here, yet to see the wonder of The Cross, yet to know why Jesus came, why he endured the cross and died. It was ALL FOR YOU.
YOU ARE THE REASON Jesus endured the shame and pain of the Cross. Your sins were nailed there as Jesus hung on the tree.
If you will believe it, it is your sins he paid for.
Your case before the judge of all the earth, dismissed.
All this, because he did not come to save himself, but you.
Hebrews 12:2
2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
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