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A Close Look at the Cross
Matthew 27:11-54
Sermon by: Rick Crandall
Grayson Baptist Church - March 25, 2012
(Revised from sermon preached at McClendon Baptist Church - April 1, 2007)
*Today we will look at the darkest day in human history, the day when the holy Son of God was nailed to a cross for our sins.
*Max Lucado wrote: "The Cross: It rests on the time line of history like a compelling diamond.
Its tragedy summons all sufferers.
Its absurdity attracts all critics.
Its hope lures all searchers.
*My, what a piece of wood!
History has idolized it and despised it, gold plated it and burned it, worn it and trashed it.
History has done everything to it but ignore it.
That’s the one option that the cross does not offer.
No one can ignore it!
You can’t ignore a piece of lumber that suspends the greatest claim in history.
A crucified carpenter claiming that he is God on earth!
The cross: Its bottom line is sobering.
If the account is true, it is history’s hinge.
Period."
(1)
*Today I want to ask you to move closer to the cross of Jesus Christ, but it is not always and easy journey.
We are bound to see some things that are hard to look at: the suffering of our innocent Lord, and the ugliness of the sin that put Him there... -- the ugliness of our sin.
*It may be hard, but we must move closer to the cross to see the greatness of our Savior.
We must move closer to the cross to find the life God wants us to have.
1.
So come close today and first take a look at the Lord’s serenity.
*Look for the Lord’s calmness and composure in vs. 11-14:
11.
Now Jesus stood before the governor.
And the governor asked Him, saying, "Are You the King of the Jews?''
So Jesus said to him, "It is as you say.''
12.
And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He answered nothing.
13.
Then Pilate said to Him, "Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?''
14.
And He answered him not one word, so that the governor marveled greatly.
*Pilate was amazed by Christ’s serenity in the face of His murderous accusers.
Jesus uttered not one word of protest, when a word was all it would have taken to end that travesty of a trial.
*Earlier in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus had asked the disciples: “Do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than 12 legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:53)
*Church that’s over 70,000 angels!
-- And in Revelation 7:1 we see just 4 angels holding back all the winds of the earth.
Jesus could have easily called for help.
For that matter, He could have handled all the armies of Rome on His own.
*But Jesus was serenely silent before His accusers, because back in the Garden, He had already confirmed His commitment to die for us.
There Jesus made the most difficult decision anyone has ever made.
*Matthew 26:37-39 tells us that,
37. . .
He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.
38.
Then He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.
Stay here and watch with Me.''
39.
He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.''
*Luke 22:44 tells us that Jesus was in agony in the Garden, and as He prayed "His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground."
But Jesus prayed three times.
"Father, Thy will be done."
And after that, His heart was settled, even as the Lord stood before that mob.
*Come closer to the cross of Jesus Christ, and see the Lord’s serenity.
2. But also see His purity.
*Even a hard-hearted, Roman politician like Pilate could see the Lord’s purity in vs. 15-24:
15.
Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to releasing to the multitude one prisoner whom they wished.
16.
And they had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas.
17.
Therefore, when they had gathered together, Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want me to release to you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?''
18.
For he knew that because of envy they had delivered Him.
19.
While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, "Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him.''
20.
But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus.
21.
The governor answered and said to them, "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?''
They said, "Barabbas!''
22. Pilate said to them, "What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?''
They all said to him, "Let Him be crucified!''
23.
Then the governor said, "Why, what evil has He done?''
But they cried out all the more, saying, "Let Him be crucified!''
24.
When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this just Person.
You see to it.''
*Pilate knew that Jesus was innocent.
He knew that the chief priests wanted to kill the Lord, because of their envy.
And at least three times Pilate declared that Jesus was not guilty.
*But if the Lord’s purity was so obvious, why were the people so easily persuaded to scream for His death?
It was because the Lord was so different from who they expected the Messiah to be.
*Wayde Wilson explained: "From the time he was born until the day he died, [Jesus] was always doing things differently than people expected.
He was a man on a mission.
But the mission was one few could understand.
*Jesus taught us how to love like no man has ever loved.
He was full of compassion.
He extended grace when others were casting guilt.
He said, 'The Son of Man has come to seek and to save those who were lost.'
And that is what he did.
He sought out the lonely, the hurting, the destitute, the forgotten ones, the guilty, the hopeless, the rejects of society.
And his love transformed them.
Everywhere he went, Jesus changed lives.
*But his methods were unorthodox.
People kept trying to squeeze him into a box, and he was unwilling.
He had obvious power.
He could heal the sick, the deaf, the blind, the crippled, the diseased; it seemed his power was limitless.
He even raised the dead.
*He claimed to be the Messiah, but about the time you’d expect him to put on a crown and take the throne, he’d pick up a towel and a bowl and wash his disciple’s feet.
The Jews were looking for more power and less humility and love.
They wanted fewer parables and more politics.
They didn’t want a Savior, they wanted a deliverer.
They wanted a warrior; they got what seemed to be a wimp.
He wouldn’t play by their rules, so they crucified Him." (2)
*God is not always going to play by our rules.
As He told us in Isaiah 55:8-9:
8. "My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD.
9.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts."
*We may not understand what the Lord is doing in our lives, but He always does the right thing!
God is good all the time!
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