Well, good morning everyone. As some of you will be aware, I've been away on long service
leave and this is the first time I've preached since June. That could be dangerous. But to
come back in, in this series and to preach in this series at the most crucial point of
it, I consider to be a great joy and privilege. I was listening to Dennis earlier, I was listening
earlier, coming to Christ in his 20s. I was 23 when I discovered the answer to the crucial
question that we are looking at today. When I looked at this text, there's multiple different
angles that you could take on it. I considered maybe doing a sermon on political power, given
that we were at elections yesterday and I've considered a whole range of different things.
But the crucial question of this passage is why did Jesus of Nazareth have to die?
Why did he have to die? And I was 23 when I discovered the answer to that question for the first
time. I had grown up attending churches like potentially you. I had read the Bible, in fact,
a number of times up to the age of 23. I knew a bunch of Christian practices and rituals.
I knew many Christian truths. And I knew that Jesus was central to everything. But my overall
impression was that if I served Jesus, then Jesus would serve me. If I approved of him, he
would approve of me. If I said sorry to him, then he would forgive me. And if I kept saying sorry to
him and providing at the point of my death, I'd said sorry more than I'd had sins, then I would be okay.
I was 23, sitting in a scenario not unlike this, and I discovered for the first time in my life,
it was actually about him and not about me. It was all about what he had done and not what I was trying
to do. So what we're looking at over the next three Sundays is what is central to the Christian faith.
And I make no assumptions whatsoever, at all. You could have walked into this building for the first time,
or you could have been sitting in a building like this all of your life, and you still may not get it.
Why did Jesus have to die? That's the crucial question. Lord Tennyson, the 19th century English
poet, described Jesus' life as more beautiful than the greatest of his miracles. Very few people in
history have ever dared to question the outstanding nature of the character of Jesus of Nazareth.
And on top of an exemplary life, his teaching gave rise to the values of Western civilization and have
impacted virtually every culture across the globe for over 2,000 years. Transforming lives and cultures.
Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Love your neighbor as yourself.
Love your neighbor as yourself. His influence is without doubt greater than any other human being that has ever lived.
So why did Jesus of Nazareth end his life on a Roman cross like a hardened criminal?
It makes no sense. And it's the answer to that question that drives us to the very heart of the Christian faith,
the heart of this church, and why we declare that we treasure Jesus above all else.
So I've got three points on this sermon on the St. Paul's app.
The wickedness of humanity, the will of God, and the willingness of Jesus.
That's the trajectory for us today.
These words in front of us are the account of the Apostle John,
one of Jesus' closest followers.
They are an eyewitness account of his trial and his death.
One of the noticeable differences with John's gospel,
Passion of the Christ,
noticeable in his, compared to Matthew, Mark and Luke,
is how much time
John gives to the recording,
the actual trial of Jesus.
And scholars say the difference with John and the others
is that John wants to put an awful lot of focus
in implicating all of humanity
in the crucifixion of Jesus.
First half of chapter 18,
Judas betrays Jesus out of greed.
In the middle of chapter 18,
the disciples desert him out of cowardice
and disillusionment.
Chapter 19,
the religious authorities murder him out of envy.
The soldiers torture and mock him
out of heartless ignorance.
And Pilate washes his hands of him
in order to please his constituents.
Greed,
envy,
cowardice,
people-pleasing,
holding Jesus at arm's length.
Everyone here is implicated in his death
despite the fact that his innocence
is without doubt.
Three times,
which if you know biblical language,
three times is a word,
is an emphasis.
Three times,
Pilate insists that Jesus is innocent.
1838,
I find no basis for a charge against him.
1904,
I find no basis for a charge against him.
1906,
I find no basis for a charge against him.
The innocence of Jesus is beyond doubt.
1906,
but also through this account,
as we've seen through the rest of John,
the status of Jesus is well attested.
From the very first chapter of this gospel,
he's been declared as the creator God
entering this world to fix it.
He's healed the sick.
He's turned water into wine.
He's raised the dead.
He's fed the hungry.
He's walked on water.
At every point,
his words are not mumbled at all.
He declares himself equal with God.
He says that he and the father are one
and that anyone who has seen him
has seen God himself.
He declares that he is the way,
the truth and the life.
And despite the evidence of his life
and his works,
everyone joins together
to rid the earth of him.
For instance,
the religious elite
do what the religious establishment
over the world always do.
And that is they maintain the status quo.
They're interested in their power
and their influence.
Their hypocrisy is revealed
as they cry out,
we have no king.
We have no lord.
We have no master,
but Caesar himself.
They hated Caesar.
They are jealous
that more and more people
are turning their allegiance to Jesus.
And so they wanted him dead.
They are told quite clearly by Pilate
that he's innocent.
Pilate offers us to release him
in verse 29,
verse 39,
and they demand instead
the release of a convicted criminal.
Barabbas,
much more than some translations say
he was a robber.
He was much more than a robber.
He's guilty of insurrection.
He has led an uprising
against the Roman Empire.
He wanted to be king himself
and he's got blood on his hands.
He committed murder in the process.
The soldiers here treat Jesus
as a comic figure to be ridiculed,
nothing more than a swear word
when things don't go white.
Pilate does what politicians
the world overdo.
He knew Jesus was innocent
and at the end of the day
his reputation was more
that was things
that was on the line for him.
That's the thing
that he cared about.
When expedience demanded otherwise,
he caved in.
He abandoned principle
for popularity.
He's a people pleaser.
He knew what truth is
but showed he hated truth
and sided with a false head
because truth was going to cost him too much.
John is trying to help us see here
if we were there,
we would have joined in too.
That's what John wants us to see.
You and I are as guilty as they.
And the dark secret
that is being pointed to here
is that it was the wickedness of humanity
that resulted in the death of Jesus.
There is something in every one of us
that is unable to side with truth
and righteousness
at the crucial moments in life.
You see, the death of Jesus
reveals the deepest, darkest secrets of us all.
John mentioned it really clearly
back in chapter 3, verse 19.
This is the verdict,
talking about Jesus.
Light has come into the world
of all the world
of all the world views
that exist in our world.
The Christian faith presents
the most negative of the human condition.
The most negative.
Another part of the New Testament
puts it like this.
Ephesians chapter 2.
As for you,
you were dead
in your transgressions and sins
in which you used to live
when you followed the ways of this world
and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air,
the spirit who is now at work
in those who are disobedient,
all of us who lived among them
at one time,
gratifying the cravings of our flesh
and following its desires and thoughts.
That's the human condition.
Spiritually dead.
Not dying, not crippled.
Dead.
Unable to do anything
to help ourselves.
And it's universal.
All, it says there.
He's not describing here
some decadent, depraved segment
of society,
but all of humanity
from top to bottom.
All, spiritually dead
apart from Jesus.
What does it mean
to be dead in transgressions and sins?
Well, I would suggest here
from Ephesians 2,
it means to be enslaved.
Notice the word followed there
in verse 2 and verse 3.
The word means mastered
to be controlled by something.
The reason we are dead
in transgressions and sins
is that we are as helpless
as a dead body.
Completely controlled.
Completely mastered.
Unable to move.
Unable to act on our own.
The key idea,
it's there in verse 3,
gratifying the cravings
of our flesh
and following its desires
and thoughts.
The term our flesh
in verse 3
is literally referring to
not bones and skin and stuff,
but it's referring to
self-centered human nature.
That's the thing that drives us.
That's the thing that masters us
and controls us.
According to the Bible,
the reason we are dead
in transgressions and sins,
the reason we are slaves to sin,
the reason we are bound by sin,
is because the human heart
is profoundly centered upon itself
and not its creator.
The 16th century church reformer
and theologian Martin Luther
put the condition of the heart
quite succinctly.
He described it
as curved in on itself.
Luther said that our nature
is so deeply curved in on itself
that it wickedly,
curvedly,
and viciously
seeks to use
all things
and all people,
even God himself,
for its own sake.
Now it's pretty obvious
when you listen to that statement
from Luther
that self-centeredness
can make you into a cruel person.
It's not hard to identify
the dictators,
the tyrants in history.
They want to get things done their way
and they'll do whatever it takes,
even immoral things,
in order to make sure
that they consistently stay on top.
What is less obvious for us
is that self-centeredness
also makes us,
for the majority of us,
moral people.
If everything is about
my need to feel good about myself,
there's no better way
to feel good about yourself
than to be a good person.
Self-centeredness
drives most people
into being good,
trying hard to serve the needy,
being a good child
to a parent
or a good parent
to children,
a good friend
that is always there
to assist
whenever I'm needed.
What lies beneath
all of that
is a self-centeredness
where the driving motive
of the heart
is I am trying
to make myself
feel good.
I want to receive
the applause
of others
or I want to fill
this aching void
in my heart.
But here's the other one
for us.
Self-centeredness
could also make you
quite a religious person.
We can devote ourselves
to obeying God
and turning up to church,
reading the Bible,
praying,
giving and doing
the sort of things
that we are doing
right now.
Did you see the irony
and the hypocrisy
at the beginning
of what was just read out
to us by Aidan?
Chapter 18,
verse 28,
the religious leaders
won't go into the palace,
a Gentile palace.
They wanted to hand
Jesus over
to the Gentiles
so that they could
rush off to church.
You kill him,
we've got some
ceremonies to do,
we've got some
religion to practice.
Their lives are about
rules in order
to please God,
all good and right
things to do.
Religion is about
doing good things
and expecting God
to come through
for you
in the way
you want him to.
Religion puts you
at the centre
and leaves God
to one side.
It's so ironic
that so many people
even get into
the Christian faith
in order to have
God serve them
rather than
for them to serve God.
How do you know?
When things don't
work out,
before them too,
you draw back
from God.
And yet Christianity
is the only
world religion
that has
as a central
belief,
we don't do
anything for salvation,
he's done it all
for us.
And self-centeredness
clicks to every
aspect of your
life.
And if you see
any of it in your
heart,
it's a revelation
of just deeply
how wicked
the human heart
is.
C.S. Lewis,
the Oxford
professor and author,
wrote,
there is nothing
more enslaving
and miserable
than self-centeredness.
He wrote that
it is hell
which has begun
in us
that will
ultimately
take us
to hell.
So why did
Jesus have
to die?
Because of the
wickedness of
humanity.
And we need to
see ourselves
in this narrative.
But secondly,
Jesus also
died because of
the will
and the purpose
of God.
The narrative
of John's
gospel is
that Jesus
suffered as
God's royal
king and
that it was
God's intention
for Jesus
to die
on the cross.
That is,
the crucifixion
of Jesus
is not a
travesty
of justice
or he was
in the wrong
place at the
wrong time.
It was no
mere accident
of human
history.
It was the
climactic hour.
It was the
crowning purpose,
the moment
of Jesus'
glory and
of God's
glory.
That's what
it was.
In John
12,
he speaks
of the
hour of
his death
and he
indicates
that he
will be
lifted up
on a
cross
for which
he says
will be
the hour
of my
glory.
It will
be the
moment
where the
magnificence
and the
beauty
and the
worth
and the
character
of God
would be
on full
display.
It's going
to go
viral in
this moment.
You want
to know
who God
is?
You will
see him
on a
cross.
You want
to know
what he's
like?
You'll
see him
on a
cross.
John
13,
he washes
the feet
of his
disciples
and tells
them that
he will
die out
of love
for the
whole
world.
John
17,
as he
speaks
of his
death,
he declares
again,
it will be
the hour
of his
glory.
John
18,
as the
soldiers
come to
arrest him,
the soldiers
themselves,
did you notice
this last
week?
The soldiers
themselves,
when he
says,
I am the
one you're
looking for,
they bowed
down in
front of him
immediately.
Get up,
guys,
you've got to
arrest me.
That's what
you're here
for.
he shows
himself to
be one
of absolute
authority
over all,
including the
arresting
party.
And yet,
he allows
them to
bind him.
And as we
just read in
John 19,
Jesus says
to Pilate,
you have no
power over
me if it
were not
given to
you from
above.
Pilate,
the
representative
of the
largest
empire,
the most
powerful
empire in
the world
at the
time.
As you
read through
the Gospels,
you see
again and
again that
Jesus heads
to his
death,
knowing it
is the
purpose and
the will
of God.
It was
the deliberate
desire of
God throughout
history that
his son,
Jesus,
would come
into his
creation and
suffer and
die and
rise and
reign.
It was no
mistake.
It wasn't a
tragedy.
God's intention
was for his
glory to be
displayed through
the wicked
plans of
humanity to
nail Jesus
upon a
Roman cross.
In chapter
19,
verse 5,
Pilate thought
Jesus was a
joke,
made a
spectacle,
dressed him
up.
And when
he brought
Jesus,
when Jesus
came out
wearing the
crown of
thorns and
the purple
robe,
Pilate said
to them,
to the
gathering
crowd,
not,
here's your
man,
here is
the man.
Definite
article,
the man.
Pilate's
mocking Jesus
to the
crowd,
dressed up
with all
these fake
robe,
look at
the man,
the
quintessential
human being.
And then
in verses
13 and
14,
the drama
concludes,
out on the
pavement,
Pilate takes
the official
seat,
declaring his
judgment on
behalf of the
Roman Empire,
and what
comes out of
his mouth?
your king.
Not this
pathetic loser,
your king.
At every
point here,
Jesus is in
control.
We are told
his final
pronouncement
came at
the sixth
hour, that
is Pilate's
final pronouncement,
on the eve
of the
Passover,
the very
hour,
the very
hour that
the priest
began to
slaughter the
Paschal
lambs,
the Passover
lambs at
the temple.
Jesus,
the king of
the Jews,
the son of
God,
the lamb
of God,
who takes
away the
sin of
the world,
timed his
condemnation to
his death
and to
death
perfectly.
God's
will be
saved.
They were
all
poor
in God's
great drama
to save
the world.
As 1 Timothy
tells us,
here is a
trustworthy
saying that
deserves full
acceptance.
Christ Jesus
came into the
world to save
sinners.
Jesus died
because of the
wickedness of
humanity.
He died
because of
the will
of God.
Yet those
two observations
don't get to
the deepest
answer.
The
willingness of
Jesus out
of love for
humanity.
To get to the
heart of the
issue, I want
to turn to a
passage in the
first part of
the Bible.
It's
repeatedly
pointed to
for an
explanation of
Jesus'
death.
Isaiah
chapter 53.
It's
writing, this
is Isaiah,
seven centuries
before the
crucifixion of
Jesus.
Isaiah 53
verse 4.
Surely he
took up our
pain and
bore our
suffering, yet
we considered
him punished
by God,
stricken by
him and
afflicted.
He was
pierced for
our
transgressions,
he was
crushed for
our iniquities.
The punishment
that brought
us peace
was on
him and
by his
wounds we
are healed.
We all
like sheep
have gone
astray, but
each has
turned to
our own
way and
the Lord
has laid
on him
the iniquity
of us
all.
What we
have in
Isaiah 53
is
substitutionary
language.
Did you
see it?
Pierced
for our
transgressions,
crushed for
our
iniquities.
The
punishment
that's
brought us
peace was
on him
and by
his wounds
we are
healed.
The Lord
has laid
on him
the iniquity
of us
all.
And did
you see
the language
of God's
purposes and
plan in
this?
Yet we
considered him
punished by
God, stricken
by him and
afflicted.
We all,
that is you
and me as
well, like
sheep have
gone astray,
each to his
own, turned
to our own
way, and
the Lord
has laid
on him
the iniquity
of us
all.
The word
transgression
is a word
that means
willful
rebellion
against God.
Iniquity
is a word
that means
to bend,
to bend
over, to
contort.
It's referring
to the
brokenness
of humanity.
Jesus is
carrying
God's
just
punishment,
his just
judgment
for our
human
rebellion
and iniquity
and sin
to the
cross.
That is
Jesus'
trades place
with us.
When
John
first points
to the
person of
Jesus,
as he
comes,
the very
first time
he gets
to identify
the person
of Jesus
in this
gospel.
In chapter
one, he
says,
behold,
the Lamb
of God
who takes
away the
sin of the
world.
That is a
reference to
this passage
in Isaiah
where Jesus
likened to
the sheep
going to
the slaughter.
He takes
upon himself
God's
judgment
for our
sin.
Jesus,
fully God,
fully man,
Jesus,
having lived
a perfect
life,
goes to
death on
a cross
and carries
God's
just judgment
for every
wrong,
every wrong
thing that you
and I have
ever done
or thought
and also
for all the
right things
that we have
failed to
do,
such as
love the
Lord your
God with
all your
heart,
soul and
mind.
And we
get a glimpse
of what he
does for us
in this
passage.
He trades
place with
Barabbas.
Barabbas was
the only man
in history
who could
ever see,
say,
Jesus has
taken my
place
physically.
But in
that,
we're
revealed here
that Jesus
takes our
place
spiritually.
Barabbas was
condemned to
die and he
was set
free.
I'm the
one who
deserves to
be on that
cross.
I'm the
one who
deserves God's
just anger.
I deserve
eternal
punishment for
my rebellion
against God.
And Jesus
instead was
delivered up
for my
offenses.
He was
handed over
to judgment
for my
sin.
Jesus
Christ is
my
substitute.
He was
satisfying
the debt
of divine
justice and
holiness.
The
innocent
one was
bound
and now
to the
cross.
condemned
to death
so that
the guilty
one deserving
of death
might go
free.
It's why
John 3
16 is
the most
famous of
Bible verses
in this
world.
God so
loved the
world that
he gave
his one
and only
son that
whoever
believes in
him shall
not perish
but have
eternal life.
For God
did not send
his son into
the world to
condemn the
world but to
save the
world through
him.
Such is
love.
The
wickedness of
humanity,
the will of
God,
the willingness
of Jesus
out of
love,
declares
that you
and I
are more
sinful and
deserving of
wrath,
more deeply
broken and
damaged than
we would ever
allow ourselves
to contemplate.
And yet at
the same time
we are more
loved and
affirmed than
we could ever
possibly dream.