A Final Gift

When our daughter,  Deborah,  was preparing to depart for Odessa in Ukraine in 2008 she had to sign a form stating how she wished to have her remains disposed of if anything happened to her while she was overseas.  Pretty heavy stuff for a twenty-one year old.  But practical. 

But what do you do with your body if you are far from home when you die? 

When we were living in Australia I remember telling Angela that is anything happened to me to have my body cremated and to bring it home in the video camera case to avoid shipping charges.  Video cameras were much larger then. 

We don’t like to talk about things like that.  When I was pastoring in Truro I had a great idea, we made “funeral information” forms available.  It covered all the things that would need to be taken care of when a person died.  Did they want to be buried or cremated, did they have a preference for who performed the service, what songs were to be sung, favourite scripture passages.  I thought it was a great idea, we would keep them on file in the office and when they were needed  it would save the family a lot of grief.  We handed out 150 and got 4 back.  It’s almost as if by talking about it we will make it happen but it’s going to happen whether you fill out the silly form or  not. 

My parents have told me that everything has been arranged in regards to their funerals, all I have to do is open the envelope.  We have talked to our children about our funeral arrangements, Angela wants cake and balloons. 

Last week was Easter and we focused on the death of Christ and on his resurrection, and we often talk about Jesus being laid in the tomb and then the tomb being found empty, but have you ever stopped and thought about the tomb that Jesus was laid in.

Funeral arrangements are never easy but they are more difficult when the death is sudden and unexpected.  I wonder at what point it dawned on Mary that something was going to have to be done with the body of her son when he was taken down from the cross.  Remember Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem but his home was in Nazareth which was over a hundred kilometres away in a time when there were no trains or planes or hearses for that matter to move the body from point “a” to point “b” 

We’ve all seen photos of the sculpture by Michelangelo with Mary holding the body of her son, there was a similar scene in the Passion of the Christ.  I wonder what was going through her mind at that point?  If she was wondering what was going to happen to her son when she let go?

Actually the scriptures tell us that by that time there was already a solution and as often happen that solution was provided by an individual who made a conscious decision to help.  We read the account earlier but to refresh your memory.  Luke 23:50-52 Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph. He was a member of the Jewish high council, but he had not agreed with the decision and actions of the other religious leaders. He was from the town of Arimathea in Judea, and he was waiting for the Kingdom of God to come. He went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body.

We don’t know a lot about this man called Joseph.  We know from this account that he was from the town of Arimathea, which was a suburb North West of Jerusalem. We know that he was wealthy, and from reading Mark 15:43 . . ,Joseph was an honored member of the high council, and he was waiting for the Kingdom of God to come.   We know that he was part of the Sanhedrin and he that was Kingdom minded.  Matthew tells us in Matthew 27:57-58 As evening approached, Joseph, a rich man from Arimathea who had become a follower of Jesus, went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. And Pilate issued an order to release it to him. Here we discover that Joseph was rich and when we read John 19:38 Afterward Joseph of Arimathea, who had been a secret disciple of Jesus (because he feared the Jewish leaders), asked Pilate for permission to take down Jesus’ body.   We discover that up to that point Joseph had been a secret disciple, whatever that was. It’s interesting to see how each of the four authors view Joseph from a different perspective.   And then we can add to all we know for sure details from that tradition and legend.

Tradition tells us that Joseph was Mary’s uncle and was a tin merchant.  Because of his business legend says that had travelled to the mining community of Cornwall England which was renowned for its tin. As a matter of fact some legends even say that he took his Great Nephew Jesus to Cornwall when he was still a child.    And that’s why William Blake’s poem says:  And did those feet in ancient time, Walk upon England’s mountains green: And was the holy Lamb of God, On England’s pleasant pastures seen!

Legend continues to say that because of that connection and history that Joseph was later recruited by the apostles to take the gospel to England and that on the journey he took the cup that Jesus had used at the last supper, which of course began the legend of the Holy Grail. And the legend tells us that he founded the first British church at Glastonbury where he planted his staff which miraculously flowered into a tree.  The tree is called the Glastonbury Thorn, whose offshoots may still be seen today, flowering every Christmas. (A sprig or cutting is sent to Buckingham Palace every year from this tree),  But all of that is just legend.  But what is it that we actually learn from this story?

1) Joseph Saw a Need.    Actually Joseph saw two needs in this story.  The first was a spiritual need.   You will recall from the accounts we read that although Joseph was a believer he was not a Christ Follower in the public sense.  In his heart and in his head he knew and accepted the claims of Jesus but nobody else knew about his decision.  The scriptures said he was a secret disciple which I would kind of think is an oxymoron.   Being a disciple means being a follower and I would think at some point you would have to make a public declaration.  As Joshua was leading the people of Israel into the Promised Land he issued them with this challenge.  Joshua 24:15 “But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve . . . But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.” 

Story is told about a small town that had an awesome fisherman, during fishing season he always caught piles of fish, even when they weren’t biting for anyone else he would arrive back in town with all kinds of fish.  Well the game warden got curious about how he was doing it so one day he invited himself along to go fishing with Buddy.  Well they got in the middle of the lake and the fellow opens up the tackle box, pulls out a stick of dynamite lights it and tosses it into the water, boom.  Fish float to the surface and the warden freaks out, starts screaming about the law and how big the fine would be and even possible jail time.  Well, buddy looks at the warden, reaches back into the tackle box pulls out another stick of dynamite lights it and hands it to the warden and says: “you gonna talk or you gonna fish?”

Well there comes a time that we have to make a decision when it comes to following Jesus and it shouldn’t be put off, Jesus was pretty clear when he said Matthew 10:32-33 “Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven.

But it was more than simply a spiritual need that Joseph saw there was a practical need as well and that was; what were they to do with Jesus’ body? 

We are told that three things could have happened.  1)  The Romans were notorious for simply leaving the body of executed criminals on the cross as an example for others.  Birds of prey would feed upon them and eventually they would decay and fall off the cross to be picked at by animals.  Some scholars even thought the reason Golgotha was called the Place of the Skull had nothing to do with the shape of the hill and everything to do with the skeletal remains left lying about. 

2) That didn’t apply if the person who was executed was Jewish.  We read in Deuteronomy 21:22-23 “If someone has committed a crime worthy of death and is executed and hung on a tree, the body must not remain hanging from the tree overnight. You must bury the body that same day, for anyone who is hung is cursed in the sight of God. In this way, you will prevent the defilement of the land the Lord your God is giving you as your special possession.  The Jewish authorities felt that applied as well to those crucified and so the bodies had to be taken down before sunset.  That is why the thieves on either side of Jesus had their legs broken, to speed up their deaths.  But it was already determined that Jesus was already dead.  But if there was nobody to claim the body than it was simply disposed of in the garbage dump. 

3) A relative or family member could claim the body. 

So from a practical point of view something had to be done for Jesus burial, his body wasn’t just going to bury itself.

Being a Christ follower doesn’t just involve a spiritual need it also involves a practical need.  From the very beginning of Christianity believers have gathered together in local churches and those churches have had needs that were met through those who followed Christ.  It’s not up to the world to meet the needs or the church, or the government and the early church didn’t do it through fund raising and bean suppers and bingo. 

In the case of Cornerstone we have a mortgage, power and heat bills, maintenance, snow plowing and salary costs.  And as the church grows some of those costs will increase. 

And that brings us to the second point.  2) Joseph Made a Decision.  Joseph filled the first need by publicly declaring himself a disciple of Christ.  Have you publicly declared your allegiance to Christ?  Part of doing that is when you choose to obey his command and be baptized as a believer.  The purpose of baptism was not to get wet it was to make a public declaration of a personal decision to follow Christ. 

And understand there is no example given in the New Testament of people waiting for a significant period of time after becoming a Christ follower to be baptized.  If you have chosen to follow Jesus and you have never been baptized then we need to talk.   

Matthew 27:57-58 As evening approached, Joseph, a rich man from Arimathea who had become a follower of Jesus, went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. And Pilate issued an order to release it to him.   I don’t know how many people were there that day who could have done something, but Joseph didn’t wait for them to do something he did it.   He went to Pilate and asked for Jesus body.  He didn’t hope that someone else would do it, he didn’t assume one of the apostles or Jesus family would take care of it, he did what had to be done. 

In too many cases “Everyone thought someone would do it and in the end no one ending up doing it.” 

There is no magic pot that we dip into at Cornerstone to meet the financial needs that we have as a congregation.  If we are going to minister to this community, if we are going to provide a place for you and your family to worship, if we are going to be able to continue to teach your children and be there for weddings and funerals, than those needs will have to be met by those who call Cornerstone their church home.

And we do it a little differently than most churches do it, we allow you to determine what type of church you want to have.  At the end of today’s service we will ask each of you to make a commitment as to what you will give on a weekly basis for the next church year.  We do it by giving each of you a commitment card to fill our and return, and my personal promise to you is that I won’t embarrass you or put you in an awkward situation. 

But the bottom line is that my pay cheque, the mortgage payment, which by the way is $6,500.00 a month, the heat, the lights and everything else right down to the toilet paper is paid for by people who love Jesus and love Cornerstone.

And every person who is connected with this church will have to decide how much they are willing to invest in what we do.  Because you will spend your money somewhere.  And you will choose what investments you make, and Jesus said it would be litmus test of who we are, in Matthew 6:21 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.  And you will make a decision about Cornerstone when you fill the card out and make a commitment.  And you will make a decision about Cornerstone if you choose to not fill the card out and make a commitment 

3) Joseph Made a Sacrifice  Understand that this wasn’t some nebulous theoretical decision that Joseph made.  When he publically identified himself with Jesus it wasn’t the popular thing to do, those who had followed Jesus for three years were hiding in the shadow and for good reason.  Jesus had been crucified for being a traitor to the Roman Empire and to his religion.  And Joseph was basically saying “I'm with him”. 

When you take a stand today to seriously follow Jesus, not just call yourself a Christian because you aren’t a Muslim or a Hindu or a Jew, than there will be consequences.  You will have to make decisions that may not be popular with your friends or your family; you may have to make choices that are at odds with your employment.   I don’t know the price that you will be called to pay but there will be a price.

But it wasn’t just a personal cost that Joseph had to pay, there was also a practical cost. 

Luke 23:52-53 Joseph went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body.   Then he took the body down from the cross and wrapped it in a long sheet of linen cloth and laid it in a new tomb that had been carved out of rock.

So you understand that this wasn’t just a loan this was a gift.  It wasn’t like giving someone a book to read and then getting it back, or letting someone use your car for the afternoon.  When Joseph put Jesus body in the tomb then Joseph no longer had the tomb.  He was going to have to go out and buy himself another tomb.  Don’t know what the tomb had cost, but it had cost something and people weren’t lining up offering their tomb.

Ultimately if Cornerstone is your church home and you want all the benefits that come from having a church home it will cost you something.  Or at least it should cost you something.  Otherwise you are parking on someone else’s quarter.  It would be like going to McDonalds and picking up a tray of food that someone else had paid for and eating it.

And I have heard people say through the years, “But pastor I tithe elsewhere.”  That would be like eating at McDonalds and paying at Burger King.

And please don’t think that those who give to Cornerstone give without making a sacrifice.  Sometimes we think “Well they can afford it more than I can.”    Every dollar that someone gives to Cornerstone could have been spent somewhere else, and yet someone made a sacrifice to give it here and not spend it elsewhere. 

Now sometimes we get the impression that God wants it all and He doesn’t care what happens to us or our families.  That isn’t the plan, God doesn’t ask for 100% of our finances or 90 or 50 or 40 or 25.  In the scriptures it speaks of God’s people returning 1/10 of our income to God.  Note I said returning because the assumption is that all that we have comes from God.  And so we have scriptures like Malachi 3:10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!

God doesn’t want us to lose our homes, he isn’t interested in us not feeding our children or defaulting on our taxes, that’s what the 90 % is for.  And speaking of taxes, I did mine the other day and before I put in my donations from Cornerstone the government wanted me to send them a whole bunch of money, but after I put in my donations the government sent me a whole bunch of money, I like that better.

And tithing isn’t something that kicks in when you are an adult.  We have children and teens at Cornerstone who tithe their babysitting money and their allowance and it is easier to be obedient with a lot when you have already been obedient with a little. 

J.D. Rockefeller Sr. One of the richest men in the world in his day said "If I had not tithed the first dollar I made I would not have tithed the first million dollars I made.  Tell your readers to train the children to tithe, and they will grow up to be faithful stewards of the lord."

I came across a neat saying that kind of sums up this point, You should give according to your income, lest God make your income according to your giving.  So here’s a question, could you live on 10 times what you give to the church each week?  What type of house would you live in?  What type of car would you drive, what would you eat?

God Why Don't You Do Something

Matthew 27:46 At about three o’clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”

How many times have we asked ourselves the same question that Jesus asked as he hung dying on the cross?  “God, why have you abandoned your son?  God why don’t you do something?” 

Surely if we had of been standing by watching as this man of peace, as the Son of God was humiliated in a sham of a trial, as he was scourged and beaten in front of a jeering crowd, as slowly the soldiers of Caesar stripped away the last remaining pieces of his human dignity.  Surely we would have asked ourselves and those who stood nearby, “Why doesn’t God do something?  How can God allow this to happen?”

And as they took this battered and bleeding Nazarene Carpenter and laid him against the roughly hewn cross, drove home those great dull spikes through his hands and feet and then stood the cross upright with the son of God suspended on it like a broken discarded marionette and dropped it into the hole prepared, jarring all of his body weight down unto those bleeding wounds in his hands.  And there he was left, hanging between heaven and earth.

Surely as we watched this travesty of justice, surely the rage welling up inside would compel us to demand of the Almighty, “God why don’t you do something, don’t just let him die like some common criminal.”

Surely that question must have been on the lips of John, Mary, Martha and others who loved Jesus as they stood and watched, repulsed by what was happening but unable to turn away and unable to comprehend the injustice of what they were witnessing. 

If you have ever watched the Passion of the Christ, then I’m sure you are familiar with the feelings of helplessness and frustration that seemed to overwhelm me when I first watched the movie.  How could God have allowed that to happen. 

And so his friends watched, totally helpless, unable to do anything for the one who had done so much for them.

We don’t ask in unbelief, instead it is as believers that we find our voice and demand “How? How could You allow your Son to die in such a horrible way?”  It is only because we have so much faith in the power and justice of God that we find it so remarkable and difficult to believe that he chose to not to exercise that power.

The first thing we need to note is that God Could Have Done Something.    Christ acknowledged that when they came to arrest him in the garden.  The group that the High Priest sent to arrest Jesus was more like a lynch mob then a posse.  You can just imagine the group standing in the flickering, smoky light of the oil torches.  Unveiled hostility showing on their faces as they reach to seize the one who had displeased their masters. 

And when the crowd attempted to grab Christ, Peter the brave, Peter the impulsive, Peter the insane drew a single sword and took a swipe and cut off the ear of one of the High Priest’s servants.  Now all I can say is that it was lucky for the servant that Peter was a fisherman and not a swordsman, because I don’t think for a minute that Peter wanted to separate the guys ear from his head as much as he wanted to separate his head from his shoulders.  You can almost hear Peter now, “I’ll hold them off boss you make a run for it.”

But Pete had misread the situation.  He thought that Christ was helpless when that was far from the truth.  Jesus set the record straight in Matthew 26:53 Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly?

In the New King James Version it gets a little more specific.  Matthew 26:53 Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?

Now what Jesus was saying was “Peter if I wanted I could have a legion of angels, and you could have a legion of angels and John could have a legion of angels and Thaddeus could have a legion of angels and the other eight guys could have a legion of angels each to command.

And we’re not talking those cute little sissy angels people seem to be worshiping today.  No we are talking big mean angels, angels with attitude, angels who could level the entire city of Jerusalem with no problem at all.

When we think of a legion we think of a place where old soldiers go to play darts, but this was a different type of legion. The legion that is spoken of here was the largest single unit in the Roman army and was comprised of six thousand men.  Now I would suspect that seventy two thousand angels with a hate on could have done a pile of damage, even Christ conceded that.

On Calvary when you heard them taunting Jesus wouldn’t you have prayed with all your might, “Yes God, bring him down, teach them a lesson God, please God, don’t let him die like this.  Send the angels and mop the floor with this bunch.”

Now I know that some would object and say “Preacher God doesn’t work that way!” Oh yes he can and you can’t deny it.  God works exactly that way and the history of the Bible confirms it.  Time after time God has directly intervened in the affairs of mortals, what else do you call the parting of the Red Sea and the collapse of the walls of Jericho? 

God not only made the Sun but he made it stand still for Joshua.  Who do you think closed the lion’s mouth for Daniel in the lions den, or made the fiery furnace bearable for Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego?  Who sent the fish to swallow Jonah and the star to guide the Magi? 

The truth of the matter is that God does answer prayer and often does it in miraculous ways.  If he didn’t then why bother to pray at all?  If God didn’t care and if God didn’t act then why waste our breath asking him? 

You see,  the truth of the matter is that God could do something because He had done it before throughout the course of history.

Could God have stepped in and averted this tragedy, in a way that was consistent with His saving grace throughout scripture?  Jesus must have believed he could or why would he have cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  “Dad, why aren’t you doing something.”

And so it is because we believe that we aren’t afraid to ask, “God why don’t you do something?”

Second when we stand before the cross and ask why doesn’t God do something? The answer comes back, God Was Doing Something.

We have to remember that the crucifixion didn’t happen in a vacuum.  Instead it took place in a very specific moral and spiritual setting.  We have to realize that the cross was set at the pinnacle of more than two thousand years of revealed history. 

And for the past thousand years God’s prophets had been pointing to a Messiah.  And if the people of God had of been true to their religion and to the word of God then they would have welcomed and enthroned Jesus as their messiah, but instead they crucified Him.

We shouldn’t blame God because he did not step in to intervene to save the Jews from the most colossal blunder in their history.  Let’s face the facts; it was their fault, not God’s.  In the same way that we can’t blame God when he doesn’t intervene to save the human race from the blunders that imperil their very existence.

God has done something, he has shown us the way that we should walk and the laws that we must obey.  One of my favourite stories is about a man who lived in a town that was flooded and as the water got up to the front step a fellow shows up in a canoe and offers him a lift.  “No thank you” says the first man “God will provide.”  Well when the water got to the second floor another Good Samaritan arrived, this time in a speed boat with an offer to rescue the man, to which he gave the same response, “No thank you, God will provide.”  Finally the water reached the roof where the man perched precariously on the peak. A helicopter passing overhead dropped a ladder to the man but he still insisted that he would trust God.

Well you know what happened, the water continued to rise and the man drowned.  When he got to heaven he was furious, stalked up to God and demanded “what happened, I thought you were going to provide.”  “Hey” God said “I sent two boats and a helicopter, what more do you want?”

Even today God is saying to us as He said to His people through the prophet Jeremiah: Jeremiah 6:16 This is what the LORD says: “Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls.

 But the response today is the same as it was 2500 years ago, But you reply, ‘No, that’s not the road we want!’  Proving the reality of Proverbs 14:12 There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.
God had done something, He spent well over a thousand years preparing the way for His Son but the people chose their own way and nailed the Son of God to a cross. 

And today we need to understand that God has done something.  He has broken into human history and come to us and said, John 14:6 "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Jesus is standing at the cross roads and pointing us in the direction we should go and still people choose to ignore both Christ and His message.  And that shouldn’t surprise us, Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14 “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.

When we demand of God, “Why don’t you do something?” we are ignoring the fact that he was doing something and He was ignored and denied just as he is treated today.
Thirdly as we stand at the foot of the cross and demand to know why God doesn’t do something we discover that God is Doing Something.  We have come to the place that we realize that the cross was not some tragic mistake, God wasn’t pacing the floor of heaven saying, “Well I guess we totally blew it on that one didn’t we?”  The cross was part of the plan, but to be frank I don’t think it was plan A.  I think God’s perfect plan was for his people, the people of Israel to accept Christ as their Messiah two thousand years ago, but man in his sinfulness thwarted that plan. 

You say that you don’t believe that man can stand in the way of God’s will.  Read your bible, from day one God’s plan was that man would exist with him in complete harmony and fellowship but that plan was destroyed when man choose  to step out of the will of God and to reject and disobey God’s commands.  2 Peter 3:9 The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.

Other translations say that He is not willing that any should perish.  God’s will and God’s desire is that we should all go to heaven but some choose not to accept the salvation offered by Christ and they die and go to hell, out of the will of the Father.

And the truth is found in Romans 5:8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.   2000 years ago God was looking down the tunnel of time and saw a young fisherman who needed his grace, and he was taking the steps even then for Denn Guptill’s salvation.

So while I don’t believe that the crucifixion was in Plan A it was still within the will of God as He allowed His Son to die on Calvary as a sin offering for the world.  God’s will and His love for mankind were being worked out even in this the darkest chapter of the history of men, when they tried to kill the son of God.
God had not forsaken Jesus in his hour of greatest need.  God was there, suffering with His Son on Golgotha.  That Good Friday morning 2000 years ago God was doing something, something decisive and conclusive.  He was making His ultimate response to human sin.  It was there at the place of the skull that God carried the burden of the world’s sin and it was not only a burden of love but also a burden of judgement. 
Justice says that if there is a right and wrong then there needs to be a reward for doing right and a penalty for doing wrong.  And each one of us has done wrong, each one of us has in some way failed the God who created us and who loves us.  We are reminded over and over again in God’s word that we have missed the mark.  And if it was just God’s justice that had to be fulfilled we would be punished.  But the story of the crucifixion isn’t about justice, it’s about grace.

The story is told in John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

It’s not about getting what we deserve, it’s about us getting what we don’t deserve, forgiveness, salvation and absolution.
We see only a small portion of the whole picture if we see the cross as simply the martyrdom of one man.  But the reality is that it was here at Golgotha that the greatest battle in the universe was being waged.  The scene of the last decisive struggle against all the forces of evil that crucified Christ and that threatened our very existence.
Evil was judged at Calvary and from that point on evil had no future in God’s world.  Evil is still our enemy but it is a defeated enemy.
Finally when we stand in the shadow of the cross demanding why God doesn’t do something, the answer comes back God Did Do Something.  Had the story ended when Jesus was laid in the tomb, if the closing of the grave had been the closing of the book, then Christianity would have had the same beginnings as the rest of the great religions of the world, a charismatic leader, a small group of devoted followers and a shrine located over the leaders grave.
And the truth of the matter was that on that Good Friday when Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea took down the body of Jesus of Nazareth and laid it in a borrowed grave, that at that point then Christianity was no different then Buddhism or Islam or Hinduism or any other ism. 
And at that point when they took the body of Jesus of Nazareth and laid it in the ground, at that point Christ had been right, His Father had forsaken him and when he needed God the most God had turned his back on his only son.  For all intensive purposes as we look at the empty cross for three days we would have to ask ourselves, “God, why didn’t you do something?” 
But God did do something, because today is not Friday, today is Sunday.  Today is the third day, today is the day that we celebrate Resurrection Sunday.
Because when the women went to Jesus’ tomb on Sunday morning, they went with heavy hearts to prepare the body of their friend. And each one of them was struggling with the question “God why didn’t you do something?”  And He answered them with the empty tomb.
 Jesus Christ the Son of God, the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings did what no other man had ever done before and what no other man has done since.  He rose from the dead to die no more.  You see in answer to our demands God says “Look at the empty tomb and then you will know that it was all for you.”

      

Just as the Serpent was Lifted Up, Good Friday 2014

Just as the Serpent was lifted up

The first time he had met Jesus it was in the dark, and there was just him and the master. 

We see him at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and then we hear him speak in defence of Jesus halfway through the story and then we don’t see him again until the day that Jesus died on the cross.  His name was Nicodemus and we are told that he was one of two men who came to claim the body of Jesus from the cross.

And now the crowd that had demanded the death of Jesus had faded into the night and once again Nicodemus meets Jesus in the dark. 

And as Nicodemus and Joseph took Jesus body from the cross, not an easy task seeing it had been nailed there, I wonder if Nicodemus’ mind drifted back to the first time he had met the young preacher from Galilee. 

It had been early in Jesus’ ministry and Nicodemus wasn’t even sure that he wanted to be associated with this radical young preacher, so he met him after dark.  It is a very familiar story that has very familiar scriptures attached it it.  It was there that Jesus told Nicodemus John 3:3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”   And probably the most memorized portion of scripture ever is found in that account, John 3:16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

But I’m pretty sure those weren’t the words that Jesus had spoken that night that came back to Nicodemus as he took the battered body of Jesus down from the cross where he had died so violently. 

Instead I would think that at that point that Nicodemus was probably thinking of a fairly cryptic thing that Jesus had said at their first meeting and that was when Jesus told him,  John 3:14-15 And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.   And perhaps it was at that moment that Nicodemus had an aha moment.

Now Nicodemus had an advantage over us and that is he probably knew exactly what Jesus was talking about when he mentioned the bronze snake on the pole, where most of would have been saying, the bronze what on the who? 

It’s a fairly obscure story for us, but it would have been familiar to Nicodemus who John tells us was a religious leader.  The story is told in the book of Numbers which gives us an account of the Exodus of the people of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land. 

And so very close to the beginning of Jesus ministry he compares himself and his sacrificial death to a brief interlude in the 40 year journey of Moses and the people of Israel that had happened 1500 years before. 

And not in a clear and concise way, instead in a way that would only make sense after the fact.  And so a couple of years after Jesus made the statement it suddenly becomes clear to Nicodemus what Jesus was talking about.

 John 3:14-15 And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.   

And is so often the case, first we need the back story. In this case the back story takes only five verses in the book of Numbers.   The Israelites have been free from Egypt for two years, but they have yet to come to the place that they would settle, instead they have been wandering through the desert, eating manna and quail and defending themselves against the nomadic tribes that lived in the area. 

And we are told that the people began to speak out against God and Moses, grumbling and complaining about their situation.  Which seems pretty typical.  But then the story takes a bizarre twist and we read in Numbers 21:6 So the LORD sent poisonous snakes among the people, and many were bitten and died.   That’ll learn em.  I hate snakes, Remember this (Video from Indiana Jones)  I’m sure Moses was thinking, “Why did it have to be snakes?”

And we pick up the story again in Numbers 21:7-9 Then the people came to Moses and cried out, “We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take away the snakes.” So Moses prayed for the people. Then the LORD told him, “Make a replica of a poisonous snake and attach it to a pole. All who are bitten will live if they simply look at it!” So Moses made a snake out of bronze and attached it to a pole. Then anyone who was bitten by a snake could look at the bronze snake and be healed!

So people complain, God sends snakes to bite people, people repent snakes disappear.  But for those who have already been bitten God tells Moses to create a replica of a poisonous snake, put it on a pole and anyone who looked at the snake would be healed.  Weird.

One commentator wrote, Among the Jews, the brazen serpent was considered a type of the resurrection—through it the dying lived; another commentator said The healing power lay not in the brazen serpent; it was only a symbol to turn their thoughts to God; and when they did that they were healed.

And so it was at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, when he is defining who he is and what he will do to a religious leader named Nicodemus that Jesus reaches back to this obscure story and compares himself to a bronze snake on a pole. 

So the question is if Jesus had to be lifted up like the bronze snake was lifted up, why was the bronze snake lifted up?

It Was Because Man’s Rebellion  The reason that the people of Israel had to deal with poisonous snakes was because of their rebellion.  God delivered them out of Egypt from slavery, during their travels their clothes and their sandals never wore out, he provided them with food that all they had to do was bend over and pick it up, and they whined and complained and cursed God.  And they were punished.  And this wasn’t the first time that God punished the people for their rebellion, they knew the consequences of their actions and yet they willfully rebelled against God.

But the story doesn’t stop with the Israelites in the desert.  Throughout the history of man we find man rebelling against God’s will for his life, each of us every day find ways to do what we want to do even if it is in direct violation of God’s will for our lives.  We are walking proof of Proverbs 14:12 There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.

The Bible tells us over and over again that all have sinned, that none can measure up to the God standard.  That God sent direction in his word and it was ignored, he sent prophets and they were at the best ignored and often times killed. 

1500 years before the birth of Christ the people of Israel were punished with snakes, I hate snakes. 

But that was a here and now punishment, the there and then punishment, has always been an eternal separation from God.  Not just a separation from God but a separation from all that is good, a separation from love, a separation from light a separation from hope.  For ever.

And because the people of Israel could not combat the snakes or the effects of the snakes on their own there needed to be a different solution.

In the same way, because mankind has found it next to impossible to bridge the gap that exisist between us and God there needed to be a different solution.

The Solution Came from God.  If you know the story as it is told in the book of Numbers, the people recognized that they were suffering the consequences of their actions.  It was because of their rebellion that they were being punished.  And they begged Moses to intercede on their behalf and he did. 

And the solution came in two parts, the snakes disappeared, which is good, but there was also provision for those who had already been bitten.  And it was a little strange. 

Moses was told to make a bronze replica of a snake and put it on a pole and those who wanted to be healed needed to look at the snake.  It was that simple.  And by looking at the snake they were acknowledging that it was God who was providing the solution.

And I would suspect, knowing people, that there were those who would not look at the snake.  Maybe they didn’t want to acknowledge their need.  Maybe they were telling themselves that eventually they would be all right, that others might die of the poison but they wouldn’t.  

Or maybe they figured that they knew the answer, that if they just did all the right things that they’d be all right.

Of maybe it was a pride issue, maybe they’d rather die than acknowledge that they needed God.

But the bottom line was that those who looked at the snake were healed, and those who didn’t look at the snake weren’t healed and they died.  It didn’t matter how much they denied their need to look at the snake, it didn’t matter whether they thought they should have to look at the snake or not,  all that mattered was that they looked at the snake.

And there was no power in the bronze snake, the power was in acknowledging that God had the power to heal them, and it was only through his Grace that he was extending that power to his people. 

When Jesus told Nicodemus that he would need to be lifted up he was talking about the death that he would suffer.  But the same as the power of the healing was not in the snake, the power of God’s Grace was not in the crucifixion of Christ. 

If Jesus had of simply been crucified on a cross and that was the end of the story it would make no difference in our eternity.  But the story didn’t end there, but it was were the last chapter would begin.

There is all kinds of theology wrapped up in the atoning death of Jesus.  How he paid a price that he didn’t owe, because we owed a price that we couldn’t pay.

It wasn’t just a man who was crucified that day; it was the Son of God.  And he died to pay the price of our sinfulness, and to pay the price of our rebellion.  The story is summed up by the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

In the same way that the people of Israel were powerless against the power of the poisonous snakes, we are powerless against the consequences of our sinful actions and attitudes. 

We can deny that we are sinners, but deep inside we know that we are.  We can maintain that we can fix it ourselves, but deep inside we feel the frustration of knowing that we can’t.   When our two year old grand-daughter Payson gets to the point that she finally acknowledges that she can’t do whatever it is she is trying to do, and she wants to do everything herself, she comes to me and looks up just says “help”.

You see Jesus didn’t just tell Nicodemus John 3:14-15 And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,  Verse 14 ends with a comma, not a period.  Jesus continues by saying so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life. And that is it.  It’s nothing that you can do on your own, and it’s everything he did for you.  We are told in Ephesians 2:8-9 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

 And that leads us to the next point which is It’s Our Choice  Moses could not force the people to look at the snake, even though I’m sure he wished he could make that decision for them, he couldn’t.

He could create the snake, and seriously if you have to make a “something” in a hurry a snake is a pretty good choice.   Give me some play dough and three seconds and I can make you a snake.  He could be obedient and put the snake on the stick and lift it up, he could tell the people that if they wanted to be healed they had to look at the snake on the stick.  But he could not look at the snake for them. 

And maybe there were people that he really liked, who were suffering the consequences of their rebellion against God but they refused to look at the snake, and while it would have broken Moses heart there was nothing he could do to force them to accept the gift of healing that was being offered to them.

When Jesus finished telling Nicodemus why he would have to be lifted up and how those who believed would be saved he finishes with the verse that sums up the whole Gospel.  John 3:16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” 

God loves us so much that he sent his one and only Son.  God loves us so much that he allowed his one and only Son to be crucified for us.  And he did everything he could do but he will not take away our free will.  He won’t force us to believe. 

Here is the reality, on that Good Friday Jesus didn’t wind up on a cross because of the Romans or because of the Jewish religious leaders.  He was on the cross because it was the only solution for our sinfulness.