Father, we confess before you that sometimes we don't really know how to read your word
in the context of the opinions of others.
They can make us maybe a little bit hesitant or a little bit embarrassed
when passages of your word seem to go against what people around us want to be true.
So, Father, we can confess before you that there can be a hesitancy and a timidity in our Christian walk.
Father, we ask that you help us not to be timid.
We ask, Father, that you would gently but deeply pour out your Holy Spirit upon us
and help us to be humble and bold, that you would help us, Father, to be gracious but also very clear,
that you would help us, Father, rather than being intimidated by our context,
that you would help us to pray for those around us.
Father, pour out your Holy Spirit upon us.
Lead us and guide us into all truth.
Help us, Father, to seek to hear your word clearly and simply
so that it might come into our lives and bear much fruit in our daily lives, all for your glory.
And this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior.
Amen.
Please be seated.
So here's the problem with this text.
Are the Jewish people Christ killers?
Quite simply, bluntly.
Are the Jewish people Christ killers?
And is the Gospel of Luke inherently anti-Semitic?
Now, some of you are maybe a bit shocked that I would even raise this question in a church.
But you know what?
Given what's gone on in Western history over the last 2,000 years,
given the well-documented history of anti-Semitism by many, many people,
but unfortunately, regrettably, also by people who call themselves Christians,
how can we not listen to a text like this, which seems to illustrate the Jewish people
overriding the justice of Rome to demand the death of Jesus?
How can we not listen to this text within the context of a history of anti-Semitism?
At the same time, we have to be very, very aware as we read this text that we live in a city
where it's probably the case that anti-Semitism is on the rise.
And as I mentioned several weeks ago, we're virtually next door to the university,
and unfortunately, in Canada and in North America at this time,
universities are often hotbeds of anti-Semitism,
places where, in fact, there are attempts to silence, marginalize, and intimidate people who are Jewish.
One of the things I was very conscious of this week is not only that I have Jewish friends as I was reading this text,
but also that I have people that I know that in conversation with them,
I suspect that they have a fair amount of anti-Semitism.
Fortunately, these aren't people who are Christians, but still.
And I think to myself, if I was to sit down in a Bible study and we were to read this text,
how would I feel if there were lots of Jewish friends listening in?
And how would I feel with people who have anti-Semitism coursing through their veins and in their minds as we read this text?
So let's look at the text with this big question in the back of our mind.
In fact, this text raises lots of other questions, but we begin with this one.
So is this text showing that the Jewish people are Christ killers,
which is part of the ancient roots in Christian circles or justification in Christian circles for anti-Semitism?
Let's look at the text.
Luke 23, in case you were wondering where the text was.
Then the whole company, as I explained a few minutes ago,
that's all of the people who, I didn't turn my watch on, sorry about that.
I will do that right now.
So that's the Sanhedrin, the Jewish leaders.
Then the whole company of them arose and brought Jesus before Pilate.
And they began to accuse Jesus, saying,
we found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar
and saying that he himself is Christ a king.
Just sort of pause here.
There are two types of things to understand, two things to understand as we're going forward.
The first one is that at that time, the Jewish people are a subject people under the Roman power.
And so the Jewish people, as an over what, only I think one exception,
did not have the ability to perform a capital sentence.
And this was definitely, Jesus didn't come under any type of even remote thing for Jewish power
to have him executed.
And so they're going to have to get the Romans to find Jesus guilty of something that the Romans cared about
so that Jesus could be executed.
So that's what's going on.
And so what they've done is they take these,
and Luke is very, very carefully summarized in one little verse,
the three charges that they bring against Jesus that they hope will make Pilate very, very concerned about Jesus.
And the three charges are, in verse 2,
we found this man misleading our nation.
That's the first thing.
In other words, he's causing trouble.
He's leading the nation astray.
He's causing unrest and uncertainty.
And, of course, within this, with this idea that he's leading them astray and causing turmoil,
the Romans who are concerned with peace and Romans who are concerned that the Jewish people
would contentedly stay under Roman rule,
they're hoping that that would get Pilate's attention.
The second is that he is claiming to, he's forbidding to give tribute to Caesar.
In other words, that he's saying that they shouldn't pay taxes,
especially taxes that show that Rome are the nation over the Jewish people.
And then, finally, that he's claiming to be Christ, a king.
These are the three charges that they bring.
In summary, Luke summarizes them.
I'm sure it probably took 20 minutes or whatever for them to talk about it,
but Luke summarizes it for us.
And these are all, in fact, things which, in fact, Pilate would be concerned about.
But before we go any further,
and this is part of us having a bit of a hint that this whole story isn't, in fact,
painting the Jewish people as Christ killers.
But if we're very, if we think about it for a second,
I bet that for many of us, if we were to be very, very painfully honest with a mentor
about some of the concerns we have about being a more committed follower of Jesus,
or if we were to actually ask some people around us what were some of the things
that would keep them from being a Christian, okay?
And if they were to actually be very, very comfortable and honest with us,
what are the three, what are three things that many people would say would concern them
about becoming a follower of Jesus, a fully committed follower of Jesus?
Well, you know, one of the things is that if they followed Jesus,
he would lead them in directions that they don't want to go
in terms of certain things about how they lived their lives.
That he would mislead them about sexuality.
That he would probably mislead them
and make them have to end up doing things with their time
that they didn't really want to do.
Like, I don't know, like go in a small group,
or, you know, like read the Bible, or good grief,
go to church on a Sunday morning
when there's so many better things that you could possibly do.
And so for many people, their concern would be
that Jesus would mislead them.
The second thing is that many people would be concerned
that if they became a follower of Jesus,
that it would have an impact on how much money they had
under their own control.
I mean, good grief, those Christians are going to pass the offering plate.
I mean, good grief, some churches actually talk about tithing.
Good grief, maybe if I followed Jesus,
I'll have to end up being like Mother Teresa
and having absolutely no money whatsoever.
And how dare, you know, this whole thing about,
you know, my money's my own.
If I give myself to Jesus, if I get closer to Jesus,
it might mean that I have less money to spend it the way that I want.
And what's the third thing?
The third thing is that Jesus is going to demand
some type of control of my time.
That he's going to, and I don't want to have,
you know what, I'm trying to, many people will say,
I'm trying to regain control of my own life.
Maybe I'm trying to regain control of my life
because of the wounds which haunt me,
because of my fear of failure or my fear of success,
or trying to get over things that my parents said about me,
or trying to overcome limits to growth.
And I'm trying to get control,
and I have a sense that if I get closer to Jesus,
he's going to demand control.
And isn't it very, very interesting that the three things
that Luke summarizes as the Jewish charges,
the charges that Rome should be interested,
in fact, if you think about it for a second,
are three of the things that keep many of us
from wanting to get closer to Jesus
and keep many people from wanting to think about Jesus
as being the Savior and the Lord of their life.
You see, here's the thing about the Bible.
Here's the thing about the Bible.
The Bible goes after the control center of our life
in the context of the living God.
And if we let it, and if we listen to it very carefully,
we'll realize that it's constantly challenging motivations,
motivations that keep us from Jesus,
and for those who are followers of Jesus,
keep us still a little bit worried
about being even more trusting and committed
to following Jesus.
And with this, we realize one moment,
there's probably something else going on here
than justifying anti-Semitism,
because this is talking about my pagan heart.
And I'm of Irish descent.
That means I don't think I have any Jewish blood in me.
My ancestors, as I like to joke,
you know, when we first met the Romans,
we would like to strip our clothes off,
get naked, paint blue, and paint ourselves blue,
and fight the Romans.
That's my, you know, my cultural heritage.
But the Bible is actually sort of pinning me in this spot.
And so verse 3, let's see how it goes.
And Pilate asked Jesus,
are you the king of the Jews?
And Jesus answered him,
you have said so,
which is a polite form of Jesus saying,
yes, I am.
Now, here's the first thing.
And so from now on,
from the rest of the text,
as we read this text,
we have to read the rest of the text,
everything that happens
with the fact that Jesus claims
to be the king of the Jews.
And in fact, later on,
if you go and you read through
all of Luke chapter 23,
to emphasize it,
Luke records,
there's probably a variety of things
that were put on the cross.
And the way Luke summarizes
what was put on the cross
over the head of Jesus
as Jesus is dying on the cross
is that this is the king of the Jews.
Andrew, if you could put up the first point.
Jesus is the king of the Jews,
so I need to pray
that God will cleanse my heart
from all anti-Semitism
and all other types of prejudice
and racism as well
while we're at it.
Jesus dies as the king of the Jews.
Jesus accepts the title
of the king of the Jews.
When Jesus returns in glory,
he will, of course,
be revealed as what he is,
which is king of kings
and lord of lords,
but he will also be revealed
as king of the Jews.
He never renounces
that role or that title.
He bears it to the cross.
He bears it to that place
which is the power of God
for salvation
for all who believe,
whether pagan or Jew.
And so,
if we, in fact,
have entrusted ourselves
to the king of the Jews,
how can we have within us
any anti-Semitism at all?
How could that possibly be?
And so,
if we find any slight type
of prejudice there about it,
and once we become,
and see,
this is the powerful thing,
this is the way the gospel works,
that as the gospel convicts us
of a certain type of prejudice,
it convicts us of prejudice
in general,
because it's not saying,
okay,
I can be prejudiced against Jews,
but I can be prejudiced
against blacks
or Chinese people
or women
or, you know,
or gays,
or I can be prejudiced
against all these other,
no, no, no, no, no,
you see,
this is the power of the gospel.
This is the power of Jesus.
It isn't as if Christianity
needs some infusion
of some other type
of philosophy
to make us realize
that prejudice
and racism is wrong.
We just listen
to the scriptures.
In fact,
I would maintain
it would be a whole other topic
that the most powerful force
against racism
and prejudice
historically and to this day
is the Christian faith.
Even though many Christians
fall short of it,
it is the power of the gospel.
And so,
for the rest of the stuff
that we read,
all of the different dynamics
that go on,
remember that our own hearts
have the same fears
of these actors
and that we are
reading the story
of the death
of the king of the Jews,
whom I,
as a follower of Jesus,
have put my hope
and faith and trust in
and therefore
all anti-Semitism
must be cleansed from me.
God have mercy upon me.
So the story continues,
verse five.
But they were urgent.
That's the Sanhedrin
in the crowd.
He stirs up the people
teaching throughout all Judea
from Galilee
even to this place.
When Pilate heard this,
he asked whether the man
was a Galilean.
And when he learned
that he belonged
to Herod's jurisdiction,
he sent Jesus over
to Herod,
who was himself
in Jerusalem at that time.
This is just a very,
very classic thing.
How does a bureaucrat
often deal with a problem?
You have a problem,
you've discovered
that it could actually
be somebody else's jurisdiction,
and then you discover,
oh boy,
it's somebody I don't like.
So you kick the problem
over to the person
with the other jurisdiction
to get it out of your hair.
That's what Pilate does.
And so he sends him
over to Herod.
And verse eight,
when Herod saw Jesus,
he was very glad,
for he had long desire
to see him
because he had heard about him
and he was hoping
to see some sign.
That means a miracle
done by him.
Now just sort of pause here.
One of the things
which you're going to see here
is that one of the things
which often happens
for Christians
is that they think,
you know,
I'm really bothered
and troubled by this idea
that Jesus' death
was a sacrifice for sin.
It seems very old-fashioned.
It seems pagan.
It seems antiquated.
It seems inhumane.
And, you know,
isn't it like,
you know,
what we should really think
is we should have a desire
for Jesus.
We should portray Jesus
as a great teacher,
as a great example,
as a great model
of how to live.
And we should just think
of all of the marvelous
things he does.
And that's the thing
which should draw us to Jesus.
And it's a very,
very common move
in Christian circles
and in Christian churches
to downplay,
to in fact actually
maybe even deny
that there's anything
sacrificial about
the death of Jesus
upon the cross
and focus on his life.
Focus on the red letter
parts of the Bible.
Focus on what he has to say
about the poor.
Focus on the wonderful things
that he says
about this and that
and the miracle,
you know,
the wonderful things
he did.
And in a sense,
Herod is that person.
He's heard about
the wonderful things
that Jesus does
and he'd like to see
Jesus do some
wonderful things.
And then the story
continues
because Jesus
actually doesn't
satisfy him
by trying to just do
those wonderful things
for him.
Verse 8 again,
when Herod saw Jesus,
he was very glad
for he had long
desired to see Jesus
because he had heard
about him
and he was hoping
to see some miracle
done by Jesus.
So Herod questioned
Jesus at some length,
but Jesus made no answer.
The chief priests
and the scribes
stood by vehemently
accusing Jesus
and Herod with his soldiers
treated him with contempt
and mocked him.
Then arraying him,
that's Jesus,
in splendid clothing,
he sent Jesus back
to Pilate
and Herod and Pilate
became friends
with each other
that very day
for before this
they had been at enmity
with each other.
Now just sort of
pause here for a second.
Is it reasonable
to think that Jesus
is primarily
a good teacher,
that he's primarily
a wonderful example
of how to live?
Well, let's see
how Pilate and Herod
understand Jesus
within that perspective
in the next verse.
Pilate then called together
the chief priests
and the rulers
and the people
and said to them,
you brought me this man
as one who is misleading
the people
and after examining
him before you,
behold,
I did not find
this man guilty
of any of your charges
against him,
neither did Herod,
for he sent him
back to us.
Look,
nothing deserving death
has been done by him.
I will therefore
punish him
and release him.
Now just sort of
pause here for a second.
This is something
which is very significant,
both that he find
Jesus completely
and utterly innocent
but also that
they're just going
to casually
mock him
and that they're
going to casually
just have him whipped.
And here's,
and Andrew,
if you could put up
the next point,
here's what Pilate found
and I just used Pilate.
I could have said
Pilate and Herod
but it sort of
upset the flow
of the sentence.
But Pilate found Jesus
to be an innocent,
impractical,
harmless fool.
In other words,
someone that no one
would want to follow
or listen to.
Pilate and Herod
found Jesus
to be an innocent,
impractical,
harmless fool.
In other words,
someone that no one
would want to follow
or listen to.
Now this might sound
a little bit shocking
to you,
but if you think about it
for a second,
if Jesus is actually
primarily an example,
then why on earth
did he die?
Like what is that showing?
And how is it that
his whole behavior
right now
is showing anything
worthy of us to follow?
Like he doesn't say anything,
he doesn't do anything
to protect himself,
is that the type of example
that we want to model?
Like do we want to
actually model somebody
that when it comes down
to the crunch
is on one hand
is recognized
to be innocent
but on the other hand
given that he's also
impractical,
harmless and foolish
and therefore we can do
whatever we want with him,
then why on earth
would this actually
be somebody
that we actually
wanted to follow?
Like, you see,
what often happens,
there's a very,
very common claim
about Christians
that Christians
are just always
trying to model Jesus
after their age
and that's primarily
the case
when people want
to turn Jesus
no longer into
the power of God
for salvation
to all who believe
but want to make
Jesus primarily
an example
for how to live
and when people
want to turn Jesus
into an example
about how to live
and how his teaching
is wise,
they focus,
we focus,
on those parts
of the teaching
of Jesus
that agree with
the wisdom
of the world
and we focus
on the examples
of his life
that are examples
that our culture
already teaches us
and all of the
other things
in the Bible
and all of the
other things
about Jesus
that don't fit in
with that,
we ignore
and in fact,
we even lose
any real desire
to follow Jesus
in his words
because it'll keep
bringing us up
to these awkward,
inconvenient things
like the fact
that he seems
to be impractical
and foolish
and harmless
and doesn't even
take normal types
of means
to defend himself.
So what Herod and Pilate
find and what
the gospel shows
is that when we
on one hand
think that we are
exalting Jesus
and making him
more culturally relevant
by holding him up
as an example
and as a guru
and as a wise teacher,
what we're really doing
is demoting him
and making him
something which is
someone who is
very comfortable
in whatever the culture
has to be saying
in this particular day
and actually doesn't
fit with the evidence.
The evidence
of Herod and Pilate
is that Jesus
is innocent
which is significant
to us
but he's harmless.
He's impractical.
You know what?
He's a fool.
And Herod
acts like a typical
Canadian.
A typical Canadian
is utilitarian.
Some of you
have been to university
and you know
that's a particular
ethical theory
by which you say
that amongst
other things
that what you do
is you take
the course of action,
the moral action
that you take
is the one
that creates
the less pain.
And so what we're
going to see
in the rest of the text
is that Herod,
Pilate,
is a utilitarian.
That there's going
to be a contrast
between the potential
of a riot
starting up
and even more importantly
that people
aren't going to
like him
and are going to
undermine his authority
and they're going
to try to cause
some trouble for him
and on one hand
you have that,
on the other hand
you have the death
of an innocent
harmless fool
that no one
in their right mind
would want to follow.
And so Herod
as a utilitarian
is going to say
it causes
far less distress
and far less pain
in general
if I can end
and prevent a riot
by the death
of one innocent man
who doesn't even
have any followers
around him anyway.
They've all fled,
they're all in hiding.
And that's what we're
going to see happen
here in the rest
of the text.
But they all cried
out together,
verse 18,
away with this man
and release to us
Barabbas,
a man who had been
thrown into prison
for an insurrection
started in the city
and for murder.
Pilate addressed
them once more
desiring to release
Jesus but they
kept shouting,
crucify,
crucify him.
A third time
he said to them,
why,
what evil has he done?
I have found in him
no guilt
deserving death.
I will therefore
punish and release him.
But they were urgent
demanding with loud
cries that he should
be crucified
and their voices
prevailed.
So Pilate decided
that their demand
should be granted.
He released the man
who had been thrown
into prison
for insurrection
and murder
for whom they asked
but he delivered
Jesus over to their will.
Just this final thing
about the anti-Semitism.
If you go back
and,
this is sort of
the second to last,
if you go back
and look at Acts chapter 4,
it's very,
very clear that
the Bible says
that it's
Pilate,
Herod,
everybody.
In fact,
it's ultimately humanity
which is implicated
in the death of Jesus,
not any particular group.
Even looking for
a particular group
is actually an indication
of anti-Semitism
to actually even try
to ask that type of question
and apportion the blame
and it's to completely
and utterly misunderstand Jesus.
Here we see
that Pilate
and the crowd
are at one,
that Pilate
and the crowd
are being cynical,
they are being unjust,
they are being immoral
and they are being cruel.
They are being cynical
because many in the crowd
know that the charges
against Jesus
are false.
Pilate knows
that Jesus
is an innocent man.
They have a cynic,
everything that's going on
is just reeking
with cynicism
and it's unjust
and it's cruel
and it's immoral
that they would go
and that they would choose
a person who actually
is guilty of murder
and is actually guilty
of insurrection
and is actually guilty
of rebellion
and that Pilate
would even offer that
as a choice to the crowd
and that the crowd
would choose that man
and that Pilate
would go along with it.
Everything about this
whole story
just reeks
of cynicism,
cruelty,
immorality
and injustice.
But here
is the profound question
for us.
Andrew,
could you put up
the next one?
Is God the Father
the same as Pilate
in the crowd?
Unjust,
cynical,
immoral
and cruel?
I mean,
that's one of the things
which motivates people
who say
that the whole idea
of Jesus dying
as a sacrifice
is just not right.
And so many might say,
George,
okay,
yeah,
maybe I,
you have some problems
in me trying to mainly
say that Jesus,
I should be like
primarily a red-letter Christian
and mainly concerned
with some of the teaching
of Jesus that I like
and an example in Guru.
But gosh,
I mean,
so it's that God's
going along with this?
God just goes ahead
and lets the crowd do this?
That Pilate's being cynical,
unjust,
immoral and cruel
and that's like,
isn't God picking Jesus
as well?
And for many of us,
and by the way,
questions like this
are often raised
in academic literature.
It's maybe not as much
heard in certain church circles
as well.
Maybe some of you
have never come across
this as a complaint
and it can be a bit staggering
to think about.
Here's the thing.
One of the problems
that we Christians have
is that we've lost
the habit
of reading Bibles
as,
we read it
as a series of quotes.
I'm all in favor
of things like daily bread
and stuff like that
but often we just get
a little bit of a snippet
of a text
or a bit of a chapter
of a text
and we move on
to something else.
And we've lost this habit
of reading a book
as a book.
You know,
we read movie,
we watch movies,
you know,
most people,
we try to watch
the movie at the beginning
and we watch it
right through to the end
and we see how themes develop
and how things are prefigured
or certain things
are set in motion
or certain comments
reveal intentions
in what's going on
and we've lost that habit
often when it comes
to reading the gospel.
And so many of you,
if you've been here
over the months
that we've been going
through Luke,
I've said that
ever since Luke chapter 9
when Jesus says
that he's going to go
to Jerusalem
to die upon the cross
and rise from the dead,
that every single thing
in the gospel of Luke
after that point,
you have to realize
that it's to be read
in the context
of Jesus'
repeatedly saying
that he's going
to Jerusalem
to die upon the cross
and then he will rise
from the dead.
And that's still at work here
because he's in Jerusalem.
But even more specifically,
if you just turn back
in your Bibles,
on my page,
I have to turn it back
to Luke chapter 22.
And Luke chapter 22
beginning at verse 39.
And Jesus has explained
what's going to be happening
to him in the institution
of the Last Supper.
Judas has gone off
to betray Jesus
and gather the soldiers.
And Jesus is in the garden.
And I talked about this
a couple of weeks ago,
but we have to,
everything that's happening
right now,
if we don't,
this question that's on the stage,
if this part of Luke's gospel
wasn't there,
then this would be a very good,
that's an unanswerable question.
But look what happens to Jesus.
And he came out and went,
verse 39,
as was his custom
to the Mount of Olives.
And the disciples followed him.
And when he came to the place,
he said to them,
pray that you may not
enter into temptation.
And he withdrew from them
about a stone's throw
and knelt down and prayed,
saying,
Father, if you are willing,
remove this cup from me.
Nevertheless,
not my will,
but yours be done.
Nevertheless,
not my will,
but yours be done.
Everything that's happening
after this,
you will see,
if you keep on reading,
and there appeared to him
an angel from heaven
strengthening him
and being in agony,
he prayed more earnestly
and his sweat
became like great drops
of blood
falling down to the ground.
See,
if Jesus is all
just merely about love
and teaching and examples,
then it's really,
the death of Jesus
makes no sense.
It's really,
literally like,
like some person
coming up to you,
you know,
some guy coming up
to a girl and says,
I love you so much.
And the girl says,
really?
I love you so much.
I'm going to show you
how much I love you.
And then takes out a gun
and shoots himself in the head.
That would be completely
crazy and cruel
if the woman would be
in therapy maybe for years,
need profound inner healing.
And she would just say
the man is sick.
And if,
if the death,
if Jesus just says,
you know,
I love you so much
and then boom,
kills himself,
that's completely crazy.
But you know,
if,
if you see somebody,
if you,
you know,
periodically every,
unfortunately about every year,
there's several people
who drown in the Ottawa River
right near Ottawa.
And if,
and when you read about somebody
who they don't even know
the person,
but they see a person
in distress
and they,
they dive in
and they swim
and they get them back,
we call them a hero.
And,
and,
and the greater,
that the,
the greater the risk
and the greater self-knowledge
before the act,
the more that we consider it
to be something completely
and utterly praiseworthy.
That a person who knows
that in that particular area
that there are dangerous currents,
but still they are going
to do what they can
to risk their own life
to save that other person,
we marvel at their courage.
We marvel at their sacrifice
and at their risk.
And when we hear of people
who've gone into a house
that's burning to rescue children
and,
and maybe even at the end
they save all of the children,
but then they are overcome
by smoke themselves,
we are overcome
by their willingness
to sacrifice themselves
for children.
And what we see here
in the garden
is Jesus understanding
understanding completely
and fully
and massively
the act of sacrifice
and rescue
and what it is going
to cost him
to undertake.
And part of him says,
Father,
if there's any way
that this can be taken from me,
please take it from me.
And it is so,
the magnitude
of the fact
that he is going
to bear the wrath
and justice of God
in his very person,
that he is going to,
it's going to entail
him no longer
being at one
with the Father,
that it is going
to entail
him taking upon himself
the doom
that human beings deserve
and he will offer
human beings
the destiny
that he deserves.
He takes upon
the doom
that I deserve,
he offers me
the destiny
that he deserves.
And we see
that full,
clear-eyed struggle
and the conclusion
of it is,
not my will,
but yours be done.
And so,
Andrew,
if you could put up this,
in the suffering
and death
of Jesus Messiah,
we see revealed
the deep justice,
mercy,
and grace
of the living God
working in perfect harmony
with saving power
for fallen humans.
in fact,
Jewish people
would see
in this text
a very,
very powerful
Old Testament
image of atonement,
of the scapegoat,
that they would see
within this
that,
in a sense,
Jesus becomes
the scapegoat
by which the sins
of the people
are put,
sorry,
that the sins
of the people
are put on Jesus
who dies
and the scapegoat
goes free,
that Barabbas
goes free,
that the justice
which is deserved
in a sense
falls upon
another person
so that the one
who voluntarily
takes that place,
sorry,
the one voluntarily
takes that place
of having the sin
and the wrath
and the punishment
fall on them
so another can go free.
That's what we see here
in the text.
It's clear-eyed love.
It's clear-eyed grace.
It's clear-eyed mercy.
And at the same time,
a just and holy God
is able to punish
sin and rebellion
and evil.
That in the suffering
and death
of Jesus Messiah,
we see revealed
the deep justice,
mercy,
and grace
of the living God
working in perfect harmony
with saving power
for fallen humans.
In a sense,
every single one of us
is Barabbas.
only rather than
having a crowd yell
that Barabbas
would be freed,
Jesus willingly
takes our place
so that we can be free.
We're going to see
this very powerfully,
not next week
because we're going to have
a sermon on the Trinity,
but the week after
when we look at Jesus
as death upon the cross,
that the hint
of the Barabbas story
is seen far more clearly
when Jesus says
to the thief
dying upon the cross,
today you will be
with me in paradise.
That we see Jesus
dying,
fulfilling the justice
of God
and displaying
the deeper grace
and mercy of God
for all who put their
faith and trust in him.
So in conclusion,
is Jesus an example?
Only if we receive
the gospel
and only in a very,
very particular way,
but in a very powerful way
that will actually
completely and utterly
change and transform
our lives.
If you could put up
the final slide.
When we receive the gospel,
we truly receive
new life from God.
As we are gripped
by the gospel,
we are nudged
and drawn
and shaped
and grounded
in a new way of living
for the glory
of the living God.
You see,
when we put our faith
and trust in Jesus,
it's not just that
we put our faith
and trust in a story
or an example,
but Jesus actually
did something for us.
The book of Romans
describes it
that Jesus is the,
the death of Jesus
upon the cross
is the power of salvation
that comes from God
that's available
to all who believe.
And so that when we put
our faith and trust
in Jesus,
we actually receive
new life.
We receive
a new relationship
with God.
We enter into a new covenant
with the true
and living creator God.
And that's what we receive.
The Bible goes on
and says other things.
We receive the gift
of the Holy Spirit.
We are born again.
We are clothed
with the righteousness
of Christ.
That there's a range
of images
that portray
what happens
when we put our faith
and trust in Jesus.
But it's also then
as we are gripped
by the story
of the gospel,
as week by week,
and as day by day
as we read the Bible
and we come clear
and clear
that what Jesus does
upon the cross for us,
how he,
knowing every single thing
there is to know
about you and me,
knowing everything
to know about me,
still he died
on the cross for me,
that he would
take my place,
that he would
take my doom,
that he would offer me
his destiny,
that he does this
for me.
And as this story
grips us,
we're nudged
into saying,
well, you know,
maybe I should listen
to him about money.
when we know
that at the end
of the day
we are reconciled
to God,
that God's final word
about us
when we appear
before him,
not because of
our own righteousness,
is to be welcomed
into God's kingdom,
to spend eternity
in the new heaven
and the new earth
with the living God
because of what
Jesus has done for us.
When we know
that that's the end
of the story,
maybe we say,
you know,
maybe I can be
more generous.
You know,
because maybe
I don't have to think
that the one
with the most toys
at the end wins
because that actually
has nothing to do
with the meaning
and the direction
of life.
And if Jesus knows
me so perfectly
and still he died
for me,
maybe I should listen.
It draws me.
It nudges me.
And it makes me say,
you know,
if Jesus became poor
so that I can become rich,
maybe I should just
make do with
a little bit less money
so that,
you know,
maybe people in China
can hear the gospel
or people in India
can hear the gospel
or that the poor
in Ottawa
can hear the gospel.
Like,
maybe that makes sense.
Maybe that should shape,
that will shape my life.
Maybe that will ground
how I view money.
And the fact of the matter
is that my control
often,
you know,
often brings me
into trouble.
And maybe if Jesus
has loved me so deeply
and done this,
maybe as we're gripped
by that story,
it nudges us
into saying
that Jesus
should have more control.
It draws us into it.
It shapes us.
It grounds us.
That's why
the mission statement
of this church
is making disciples
of Jesus
gripped by the gospel
who live for his glory.
That when we receive
the gospel,
we truly receive
new life from God
as we are gripped
by the gospel.
And that means
not only what,
what the meaning
of what Jesus does
for us on the cross,
but all of the nuances
of the story,
as we're gripped
by that,
we are nudged
and drawn
and shaped
and grounded
in a new way
of living
for the glory
of the living God.
Please stand.
We're going to have
real time challenges.
Let's just pray
and then I'll tell you
about the time challenges.
Father,
you know,
even today,
how many of us
are worried about
drawing too close to you
because we fear
losing control to Jesus.
Father,
you know,
even today,
how many of us
fear drawing too close
to Jesus
because we think
he will mislead us
about certain things
like maybe sexuality
or
how we spend our time.
Father,
you know how many of us
are leery
and worried
about drawing close
to Jesus
because of the impact
he'll have
on money
and how we use money.
Father,
we thank you
that Jesus knew
everything like this
about us
and still he died
on the cross for us.
We thank you,
Father,
that Jesus had
a clear-eyed knowledge
of who we are
and yet he died for us.
And we thank you,
Father,
that his death
upon the cross
was your means,
your power,
for us
to become
your children forever
if we receive it.
Father,
we thank you for this.
We ask,
Father,
that you would help us
to receive
what Jesus did
for us on the cross
by trusting him
as our Savior
and our Lord,
this King of the Jews,
that he would be
the King of my life
and the King
of this congregation.
And we ask as well,
Father,
that you would bring
the story of Jesus
to us,
that we would be gripped
by the story of Jesus
and what he did
for us on the cross.
And Father,
as we are gripped
by the gospel,
make us,
help us to live
for your glory.
And this we ask
in the name of Jesus,
your Son
and our Savior.
Amen.