Thank you.
Good morning, everyone. We're going to be looking at 2 Corinthians chapter 13.
So if you'd like to turn your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 13, we'll be reading from there in a moment.
It's page 1167 if you're using the red church Bible.
Sorry, it's actually my first time preaching from this new fancy stand, so I'm just getting myself a little orientated.
No, wrong way.
Thank you, Jonathan, for leading this morning and for musicians for leading us in song and singing.
As Jonathan shared, we're going to be looking at Christ in particular this morning and the death of Christ on the cross.
As we start, I just want you to think about daily life for a moment.
And life, daily life can feel like a series of testing situations and trying to figure out how to respond.
If you're the parent of a young or maybe not so young child, it's typically a battle of wills.
That's the test, isn't it?
Who can be more stubborn about the plate of dinner and whether it's going to get eaten or not?
In your work setup, maybe you're facing the frustration of a boss whose main contribution just seems to be nagging you for estimates and deadlines.
How are you going to respond?
How are you going to manage your manager?
Even in church, with all of our spiritual brothers and sisters, with all that the Lord has done for us in saving us by his mercy and grace,
we can still experience grievance.
We can have complaints.
We can have conflict with one another.
So how are you going to respond to that latest issue that's come up?
You see, in each of these situations, our natural self will want to win out in some way.
We want to be strong in ourselves, to stand up, to advocate for our rights,
and to use whatever power or influence we have in that situation to make it better.
Now, that's not always the wrong instinct.
Think about trying to ensure your little child is finishing their dinner.
But here's the thing.
Here's the thing that I want us to remember this morning.
That as Christians, we have alternatives that nobody else has.
We as Christians have alternative ways and means that nobody else has.
We can choose weakness over power.
We can choose, in a sense, to lose out for the good of others and for God's glory.
Weakness, not strength, is often the right choice.
And to help us this morning, I want you to zoom in.
And this is not typically what we would do as we're preaching.
It would be through a longer passage.
But I do want to zoom in on one part of one verse this morning.
And from that one verse to understand weakness through the eyes of Jesus.
Weakness through the eyes of Jesus.
And the scripture is this.
He was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God's power.
The Lord, the Lord Jesus, was crucified in weakness.
And the spectacle of the cross that we sung about was one of utter, utter weakness.
Yet the weakness of Christ achieved all that is needed for our strengthening and our power.
So let's read the scriptures together where we find these words.
It's 2 Corinthians chapter 13.
We're going to read verses 1 to 4.
And the key verses is verse 4.
And the surrounding verses give us a sense of why Paul is looking to Jesus in verse 4.
Paul is looking to Jesus in verse 4.
And he is writing here what is actually probably his fourth letter to the church in Corinth.
We call it 2 Corinthians, but it's probably his fourth letter.
And in this letter, he's really defending his leadership against critics and encouraging the believers, the church, to see his own weak life as displaying the strength of God among them for their good.
So let's read with that in mind.
Chapter 13, verse 1.
This will be my third visit to you.
Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
I already gave you a warning.
When I was with you the second time, I now repeat it while absent.
On my return, I will not spare those who sinned earlier or any of the others,
since you are demanding proof that Christ is speaking through me.
So Paul is dealing with a situation of sin in the church.
And when it comes to sin, Paul isn't messing around.
He will come with the power of God, with the strength of God.
And the proof that Jesus is working through him is how he will respond to sin.
So since you are demanding proof that Christ is speaking through me,
he, that is Christ, is not weak in dealing with you, is powerful, but is powerful among you.
And our key verse, verse 4.
For to be sure, he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God's power.
Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God's power we will live with him in our dealing with you.
Now we probably have some intuitive sense what weakness means.
Weakness, just to say, it's an inability, isn't it?
It's a lack.
Weakness implies that something naturally needed is somehow missing.
It's not there.
We don't have the literal strength to do what apparently needs to be done.
And just to say, I think it's important not to confuse weakness with sin directly.
You know, we might hear someone confess or say,
I have a weakness for gambling.
I just can't say no.
Now weakness can leave us prone to sin, but being weak in itself is not sin.
Jesus was weak.
Do you remember at the end of the 40 days of fasting in the wilderness,
Jesus was weak and Satan came to tempt him?
Yet Jesus didn't sin.
So weakness isn't sin, but can leave us more prone to temptation.
And Jesus, sorry, I need to, I'm going to forget the slides, aren't I?
Jesus lived with weakness through his life.
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
His death on a cross was his ultimate example of that personal weakness.
Through his crucifixion, he came under unbearable attacks.
Attacks that physically and psychologically and spiritually assaulted him
and weakened Jesus to the point of death.
Those words again, Jesus was crucified in weakness.
And I wish for us this morning, brothers and sisters,
to dwell here for a moment on this Lord's Day at the cross.
To ponder over these words in Scripture, in verse 4,
that he was crucified in weakness.
Jesus was weakened in his body and his spirit
as he took each of those conscious steps to the cross.
Christ was stretched and stressed beyond his limits.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, it started from the inside out,
almost like a D-Day soldier.
The ones that are there in the boat shaking just minutes before the boat ramp drops
and they have to storm the beach.
Christ knows what's about to come when that door drops.
He tells his friends, the disciples, that he's overwhelmed and sorrowful to the point of death.
And his stressed body begins to react and he lies face down on the ground
and he's prostrate in prayer before his Father
and sweat as drops of blood begin to form and to pour out of him.
He weakens and he pleads with heaven to take this cup of wrath that is coming from him.
And it's at that very moment, at his lowest ebb,
that an angel is dispatched from heaven to strengthen our Lord.
But it was a strengthening only unto death.
For Jesus wasn't destined to die in the garden.
He was destined to die on a hill outside city gates.
The angelic strengthening was brought to extend the weakening
and to extend the agony of Jesus.
And Christ's remaining strength is sucked away now by the onslaught of the evil one.
Satan, from the wilderness, he's back.
This is Satan's hour.
This is the hour of darkness.
He tempted Christ before in the wilderness.
Forty days and nights of fasting had weakened Christ back then.
But the attacks and the weakening now in the garden
are the crashing sea compared to an afternoon shower of rain.
This time Satan would succeed in killing the Holy One of God.
Satan, he inspires the actions of evil men
who brutally rain attacks down on our Lord.
After his arrest in the garden, do you remember,
he goes before this night court, the Sanhedrin, the high priest,
bring this court and they convene to convict Jesus.
And at the end of that farce of a court,
they turn and it says that they spat in his face.
They struck him down with their fists.
They slapped him and they mocked him with,
prophesy, who hit you?
Who hit you?
Prophesy, come on.
This dehumanizing, mocking and brutality is repeated
and ramped up by a company of Roman soldiers later on under Pilate.
Then follows that slow, painful march
outside the city walls to the hill where he is crucified,
where the nails and the cross await him.
And scarcely can we imagine a man more weakened in a sense
than Christ in his body and his soul on that cross.
You see the words,
Christ was crucified in weakness.
Now when we're weak,
maybe we will look to the law,
maybe we'll look to the courts,
maybe we'll look to our leaders,
those in the community for help.
But no strength from the system would come to help weak Jesus.
In fact, the opposite.
The system itself was a means of further emptying and weakening Jesus.
The powers of the state came that night for him.
They were led by Judas, a betrayed friend.
They brought in their hands into the garden clubs and spears
so that there would be no chance of escape for Jesus.
There's going to be no waiting for dawn to come.
They'd set up an illegal night court.
The high priest would come with trumped up charges,
backed up by false witnesses who contradicted each other.
What a spectacle.
Jesus, the prince of heaven, the lawgiver,
he would find no comfort in this court of Satan.
This was going to be no fair trial.
This was a miscarriage of justice.
Better indeed, said the high priest,
that this one man should die for the whole nation.
He put a bullseye on Jesus' back,
even if he was going to be found guilty
by the contradictory testimony of those false witnesses.
Better that he dies.
There'd be no defense allowed.
This is no somber court.
Imagine passing a death penalty on another human.
He would weigh that very seriously.
It would be a slow and somber decision.
No.
It was a piss of murder from every angle.
You see, brothers and sisters,
Christ was crucified in weakness,
without any rights or sense of justice.
Even when found guiltless later on by the Roman leader Pilate,
he still condemned and executed.
Jesus brought outside those gates to die as a common criminal.
Christ had no rights.
He had no power.
Peter, his disciple who witnessed this,
he said this,
when he suffered at their hands,
he made no threats.
Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.
We face issues at times,
if you haven't, you will,
of dispute and injustice.
How much confidence do you, believer,
have that God, your Father,
sees all, knows all,
and will judge all?
Because it won't always go our way in this life.
Instinct and self will boil our blood
to sometimes murderous or violent action.
But Christ remains silent
in the face of injustice,
entrusting himself to the one who judges justly.
You see, we can confidently follow Christ,
the path of weakness,
with regards to our own rights.
One final observation on the death of Christ.
His body beaten,
his rights trampled on.
Surely Christ could,
he could look to his friends,
his community,
to his God
in this situation
to vindicate him,
to be with him.
But it was not to be, was it?
Disciples are,
they're too tired to pray with him.
Christ says to them,
the soul is willing,
but the body is weak.
Just pray with me.
But in his hour of need,
they chose to sleep,
over support him.
Judas betrays him with a kiss.
Peter disowns him three times.
The disciples flee the scene.
The Garden of Gethsemane
and the court of the high priest
are crucibles of fire
and violence against Christ,
with demonic and human forces
working their evil together.
And Christ is all but alone
through that long, dark night.
And then he goes before
the crowds in Jerusalem
and the leaders and the crowds,
they shout,
we have no king but Caesar.
Crucify him.
He is alone,
save at his crucifixion
for some few brave and caring women
that tended to him right to the end.
And surely God, his Father,
will vindicate and empower him
in his hour of need.
No intervention comes
to stop his march to death.
The sky does turn pitch black.
The temple curtain is torn in two
and the ground shakes
and God is angry.
And that's visible.
But there's no voice of comfort
from heaven for the sun at this time.
Have you dwelt here, dear believer?
Have you spent some time
reading the Gospels?
And dwelling on the weakness
of Christ at the cross?
And what do you see
or what did you hear
even this morning?
A beaten and pitiful man?
Yes.
A victim of injustice?
Yes.
A lonely figure that was cast
on the pile?
Yes to it all.
Yet at each of those moments
of weakness,
they were each chosen by Christ.
Christ could have turned
the rocks and the stones
and the ground
into bread
to feed and strengthen his body.
He could have healed himself
after each of those blows
struck him.
Think back to the garden
that night
and the high priest servant
Malchus,
he's named for us,
he was there in the garden
and his ear was cut off
by a sword
in the melee.
And Christ reaches out
and instantly heals
a severed ear.
The irony is this,
Amy Carmichael says,
that the last thing
that the Lord Jesus did
before his hands were bound
was to heal.
You see, Christ,
he could have restored
his own soul
with the comfort
of a thousand angels.
The heavenly host
that sang to the shepherds
in the fields
on the night he was born
could have been summoned again
to light up that dark night
and Jesus could have,
he could have come down
off that cross.
But Christ actively chose
the path of a weakening
body and soul.
Take this cup for me,
he prays,
but not my will
but yours be done, Father.
Think about it.
What if Christ had chosen
the path of power
in each of these moments?
He had every right to.
He could have saved himself
and ushered in his kingdom
right there on the spot
that very night.
But the power of healing
for himself
of angels of might
all for his own needs
would not have saved us.
In an instant,
he would have,
instant,
he just would have exposed
all of that sin
and all of that injustice
and all of that evil
would have been laid bare
for the whole earth to see
and it would have been judged
rightly on the spot
and everyone on the earth,
you and me included,
would have been condemned
before a holy God
because of our sin.
We would have had no savior,
we would have had no salvation,
no substitute,
no Christ on the cross
on our behalf
if Christ had chosen power
in each of those moments.
remember,
Christ crucified
in weakness.
It's for our strengthening
and ultimately
God's glory.
chapter 13
and verse 4
Jesus was crucified
in weakness
yet lives
by God's power
and Christ,
he moves
through weakness
into power
and the path
is the cross
before the crown.
you see,
what Christ referred to
in the Gospel of Luke,
he talks about
the hour of darkness
has come
in the garden,
the hour of Satan,
but he also calls it
his hour.
You see,
the apparent weakness
was always revealing
actual power.
The apparent weakness
of Christ
was always revealing
his actual power.
This was Satan's hour
but ultimately
it was Christ's hour.
Satan came
with his ocean
of suffering
to overwhelm Christ
but you know what?
Christ is the master
of all the seas.
For a time
Christ chose weakness.
He chose
the very nature
of a servant
for you
and for me.
He did not grasp
that power
that was rightly his
for his own advantage
but as the scriptures say
he became like nothing
a humble servant
who became obedient
to death
even death
on a cross
but God
exalted him
to give him
the name
that is above
all names
so that at the name
of Jesus
every knee should bow
and every tongue
confess that he
is Christ the Lord
to the glory
of God the Father.
Verse 4
Jesus
was crucified
in weakness
yet lives
in power.
I just have some few
applications
this morning
from that
one verse
we've dwelt
on the weakness
of Christ
but so much
flows
from that truth.
we see in the death
of Christ
his setting aside
of power
for the sake
of saving souls
and we see
in Christ's resurrection
a power
that comes after
this weakness
and so we have
Jesus
the God man
and he
unlike us
but he retains
that perfect
equilibrium
between the two
between weakness
and power
and the use
and the correct
use
in every situation
of weakness
and power
and this
weakness
and power
combination
that's what's
filling the life
of Paul
and is central
and we haven't
gone through it
but that whole
argument through
this chapter 13
and actually
if you read
the book of Corinthians
weakness
and power
is really
the theme
of the whole
book
in many ways
the uncertainty
that is hanging
over Paul's
next visit
to the church
in Corinth
is this
is he coming
in weakness
and humility
to build them up
and encourage them
and to serve them
or is he going
to come
with the power
of the Lord
to correct
their serious sin
and both
are God
honoring approaches
by the way
it's not
trying to
push one off
against the other
and Paul
here in chapter 13
is laying out
the options
look at verse 3
they're demanding
that they see
Paul come in strength
but he says
since you are
demanding proof
that Christ
is speaking
through me
here it is
he is not
weak in dealing
with you
but is powerful
among you
Christ is not
weak in dealing
with them
but is powerful
among them
when it comes
to sin
in the church
and then
verse 4
Paul says
for to be sure
he was crucified
in weakness
yet he lives
by God's power
and the second
half of the verse
Paul sees his own
state
as being weak
in Christ
yet Paul too
can come
with God's power
likewise
we are weak
in him
that is
they're weak
in Jesus
yet by God's
power we will
live with him
in our dealing
with you
so the question
remains
when Paul comes
will he have
to deal
with them
harshly
or not
jump down
with me
to verse 10
this is why
I write
these things
when I am
absent
that when I
come
I may not
have to be
harsh
in my use
of authority
the authority
the Lord
gave me
for building
you up
not
for tearing
you down
Paul wants
to come
and to
build them
up
not to
tear them
down
but sin
needs to
be dealt
with
it simply
cannot
be ignored
and his
hope
is to draw
from the
weakness
of Christ
not power
in his
dealings
with them
so just go
back one
more verse
verse 9
this is his
heart
we are
glad
whenever we
are weak
but you
are strong
and his
prayer
and our
prayer
is that
you may
be
fully
restored
you see
Paul would
prefer that
people
the church
would deal
with their
sin
with the
power
of Christ
and he
would prefer
to be
weak
and for
them to
be
strong
and that's
his
heart
and his
disposition
in dealing
with them
and Paul's
confidence
in weakness
in
favoring
weakness
in these
situations
and throughout
this whole
letter
it was a
lesson that
he learned
the hard
way
didn't come
easy to
Paul
just look
back briefly
with me
to chapter
12
and verse
7
to 10
because of
the surpassing
great revelations
chapter 7
and verse
chapter 12
and verse
7
because of
these
surpassing
great
revelations
therefore
in order
to keep
me
from
becoming
conceited
I was
given a
thorn
in my
flesh
a messenger
of Satan
to torment
me
three times
I pleaded
with the
Lord
to take
it away
from me
but he
said to
me
my grace
is sufficient
for you
for my
power
is made
perfect
in weakness
therefore
I will boast
all the more
gladly about
my weakness
so that
Christ's
power
may rest
on me
that is
why
for Christ's
sake
I delight
in weaknesses
in insults
in hardships
in persecutions
and difficulties
for when I am
weak
then
I am strong
this is the
heart of
Christ
coming through
Paul isn't it
the words we read
there
and yet
we know
that for the
single
thorn
that was
needling
Paul's
flesh
Christ
endured
a crown
full of
those
thorns
for the
messenger
of Satan
that Paul
had to face
Christ
he took
on Satan
himself
the insults
and the
hardships
that Paul
faced
well they
they rain
down in a
torrent
on Christ
from all
sides
Paul had
learned
from Christ
from the
cross
that weakness
makes for
perfect
power
from God
our weakness
as is
Christ's
as we've
seen in
Christ
our weakness
is the
means for
others
strengthening
and for
God's
glory
finally
Christ
to you
acting in
weakness
and power
and you
to others
Jesus
can act
in each
circumstance
in your
life
from either
weakness
or power
he holds
that
perfect
equilibrium
between the
two
and he
knows how
to act
in your
life
to come
to you
in weakness
or power
what do I
mean
well his
spirit
the Holy
Spirit
he can
come and
he can
bind
your tender
conscience
he can
wrap it
up
and he
can
apply
a
balm
to
your
soul
or the
same
spirit
can
cut
through
your
heart
and your
soul
like a
double edged
sword
to
jolt
you
from
your
sin
Christ
can
come
to you
through
his
spirit
and
weakness
and
power
but know
this
his
heart
and his
disposition
towards
you
is
tender
it's
merciful
care
he
is
weak
so that
you
are
strong
he
comes
to
you
in
weakness
so that
you
can
be
strengthened
so that
you
can
be
bound
up
instead
of
torn
down
Isaiah
the
prophet
says
of our
Lord
a
bruised
reed
he
will
not
break
a
smoldering
wick
he
will
not
snuff
out
so the
question
then
for you
is
this
which
are you
going to
choose
in your
life
in your
relationships
with your
children
with your
work
colleagues
your
relationship
with this
church
family
can you
do good
to those
people
and glorify
God
by choosing
weakness
you see
both weakness
and power
are available
from Christ
to his
children
and to
his
church
our
default
choice
and our
default
position
should
match
that of
our
Lord
and
Savior
Jesus
Christ
whom
we
say
that
we
love
we
forgo
our
power
so that
we may
be
weak
in
ourselves
and
strong
in
Christ
Paul
wrote
earlier
in this
letter
chapter
4
we
have
this
treasure
speaking
of
Jesus
we
have
this
treasure
in
jars
of
clay
to
show
that
this
all
surpassing
power
is
from
God
and
not
from
us
your
first
thought
in
the
situation
that
is
boiling
you
from
the
inside
out
should
be
this
Christ
was
crucified
in
weakness
for
me
start
always
from
there
let
Christ
be
your
guide
and
strength
let's
pray
our
heavenly
father
we
we are
at the
foot of
the
cross
again
where
we
should
be
each
day
and
we
see
our
savior
crucified
in
weakness
for
us
and
we
thank
you
father
for
your
love
in
sending
christ
for
free
you
father
love
the
whole
world
that
you
sent
christ
to
save
us
and
we
thank
you
Christ for sending your spirit
to minister
to bind, to heal
to help and to comfort us
and when needed
to point out sin
and convict us
help us Father to take
Christ into our
hearts and live this
week in a way that
honors Jesus
magnifies Jesus
shows strength
from Jesus
to God be the glory
forever and ever
Amen
Thank you Ralph
just in response to that
we're going to sing
Jesus Christ
I think upon your sacrifice
just as we think
about what the Lord
did for us
in weakness
let's stand
to sing
Jesus Christ
I think upon your sacrifice
and the chorus goes
thank you for the cross
and isn't that where our focus
should be on the cross
for
that's what we have
in Christ
because he went
to the cross
for our sins
for
every nature
we are
happy to be on more