Pastor Tony's sermon could be summed up with the title "Do you even love me anymore?" He began with an anecdote about a crazy incident where he ultimately flipped out in a crazy rampage and hair-sprayed his wife's entire closet of clothes. However, the point of the sermonwas not the anecdote and I will go no further into it as it is not my place to tell other's stories. The part of the sermon I wish you could have heard yourself - the part I'm so hesitant to try to replicate in text - is as follows.
For those who grew up in church, John 3:16 is not an unfamiliar passage. In fact, it was probably so ingrained into the heads of those who were forced into memorizing it that they probably remember it to this day, regardless of if they've fallen from God along the way. For those of you unfamiliar with the passage, it goes like this:
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. (NKJ)[Note from the author of this blog] For those of you who paid attention to what version of the Bible I used in the last post, you noticed I switch to New Kings James. Two reason. One, I like the word "begotten" (meaning "only" for those of you who didn't know that already). Two, this passage is so ingrained in my head this way, it almost hurts to try to read it differently (For those of you that feel the same, you're welcome).
Upon hearing this verse, most Christians' reaction is along the lines of "Yeah, Jesus died for my sins. I get it." Do you? How about the phrase from Isaiah 53, "By His stripes we are healed." Again, "I get it. Jesus was scourged, and because of that I am saved." Do you really get it? By my repetition, you can see I have doubt. I'd like to share with you - to the best of my ability - a scene. I will do my best to present this like Pastor Tony did, and by the influence of God alone, I might get the picture through.
I wish I could ask you to close your eyes, but that would make this very hard to read. Still, I want you to picture what I describe. Use your imagination a little. Reread sections if you can't get the full picture. I want you to feel what Jesus did that day of the crucifixion.
(Most of this is a paraphrase, section in italics are Pastor Tony's words as best as I remember them)
So Jesus was given a sham of trial. There were no witnesses, no jury of his peers. He didn't even commit a crime. But he was found guilty. So he was scourged. This consisted of tying his hands to a wooden pole with leather straps, while he is told to hold his back taught. [Take a second to picture that. Once you have that clear in your head, continue through this.] An executioner, trained for this sort of thing, then takes a cat o' nine tails. This isn't your traditional Indiana Jones whip. This device consists of leather straps with pieces of bone, broken glass, lead, and other things attached to it. The executioner then strikes Jesus with this whip. As the whip hits Jesus' back, the pieces of bone and glass and other objects embed themselves into his back. The executioner then pulls the whip back, but it's embedded into Jesus's flesh, so the bone and glass and whatever else is on it rips out chunks of flesh as it is torn off his body. The whip comes down again and again from all different angles, turning Jesus' back, basically, into hamburger. Internal organs can be seen; muscle and tissue are ripped to pieces.
Take another moment to process this. Reach past the desensitization of this world, and feel this for a moment. Jesus Christ. Not the figure you think of robbed with a smile on his face. Welcoming. This is the man, who was once a child. Who grew up in this world, felt the same pains as you and me, had a mother who raised him and watch him become a man. Now, picture him, tied to a wooden post, his back torn into hamburger. If this wasn't enough, now they put him in this scarlet robe. To mock him. But imagine that robe for a moment as it comes in contact with Jesus' back. The fabric on his raw back, the skin desperately trying to heal itself the robe right there, molding into his skin.
Then comes the crown of thorns. Now, these aren't your average rose thorns. These thorns are about an inch long. Have you ever had someone pull your hair? It hurts, right? That's because there is nervous tissue there. So these thorns are pounded into Jesus head, right into that tissue. Blood then begins to flow into his face, into his eyes, all down his back. [Again, take a moment to imagine this] Isn't this enough for the people? Isn't this pain and mockery enough for the man who had done nothing wrong? That's what Pilate thinks. He thinks, the people will see that this is enough. They'll feel pity for Jesus and we'll throw him in prison for a while, then this will all blow over. Instead, when Jesus is presented to the masses - as if possessed by a demonic force - the people cry out "Crucify him! Crucify him!" For those of you that didn't know, crucifixion is one of the worse ways to die. The way your body sits on the cross, you can't breathe. You slowly suffocate to death.
Let's skip ahead just a little. Jesus is on top of Calvary (where he is going to be crucified). The cross, which actually resembles more of a capital "T" than the traditional lowercase "t" you're used to seeing, is laid down on the ground. And Jesus is told to lie on top of it. So he does. Let that sink in for a moment. Jesus, who at any point in this whole thing could just call it off and end his pain and suffering there, chooses to lie down on the cross. The executioners didn't force him there. He chose to lie down his life. [Let that sink in for a moment before continuing] So Jesus is on his back on the cross, and they stretch out his arm. Then, they drive an iron nail into his wrist between the radius and the ulna. Pastor Tony had us all do something at this point, and I'd like you to do it as well. On your wrist, find the place between your radius and ulna bones and apply pressure. Apply just enough so that your fingers begin to curl toward the middle. Why is this? Right between those two bones is the nervous cord that connects your arm to your spinal cord. Now imagine having a nail driven right through that. So the nail is driven through his wrist. His arm is now taut along the cross, paralyzed. Taking the other arm and stretching it out, the same thing is done. Then, the feet. When this is accomplished, the Roman soldiers then lift the cross. And with a thud, the cross comes to rest in a few feet deep hole in the ground. Imagine this moment as the cross comes to rest in the upright position. Jesus is forced from this T-shape position, down into a Y-shape. Imagine the raw flesh scrapping against the wood of the cross, and the sudden realization that you can't breathe like this. For each breath, Jesus must pull himself up from the Y-position into the T-position, the strength of the bones in his wrist being the source of support for his weight.
At this point, Pastor Tony said he could just imagine Jesus looking up, seeing his Father in Heaven. Looking to Heaven he would see the anger on the face of God, that these people would do this to His only son! The angel would be struggling not to break through the gates of Heaven and crush all the puny humans who dared to lay a hand on the son of God. But you can imagine this dialogue between God and Jesus, because with one word, Jesus could end this all, but he came to see this through. This was the plan all along. They knew from the very beginning that it would come to this. So Jesus, despite the mocking of the people, does not ask God to save him.
But then, Pastor Tony continued, a sort of demonic haze must have covered Heaven, blocking Jesus sight, because - pulling himself up into that T-position once more - he cries out "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani" saying "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" This is the one time in the Bible that Jesus does not call God, "Father." Just imagine the feelings of this man, as he hangs there in more intense a pain, and that in the final leg of this journey, he is blocked off from God. God has turned his back on him to finish this himself. But then Jesus says what's probably the most amazing thing in the history of the world. He says, "It is done," before breathing his last breath. The covenant is complete.
Before I close up with Pastor Tony's last thoughts on this, a very powerful message by Pastor Jason David comes to mind. Imagine Jesus on the cross. I, for one, can't begin to imagine what would inspire anyone - let alone a man without sin - to do something like this for a sinning people who have (and for the rest of the duration of this world would continue to) turn their backs on him. But Jesus came for love. Jesus is love. Imagine him on the cross, in almost insurmountable pain, and Pastor Jason said he could imagine Jesus' thoughts, "Now, they will see how much I love them. NOW, THEY WILL SEE HOW MUCH I LOVE THEM." The state of the people breaks the heart of God, and when your heart breaks, there is no pain out there that can be worse than that. You will do anything, and Jesus did just that.
Going back to Pastor Tony, he said how Christians' know that Jesus gave his life for them, but they do not stop to think about it nearly enough. Why?
Anytime you feel God doesn't love you, that God has abandoned you, I'd like you to imagine all of this again. Come back this post if you need to, but remember, the love of Jesus is perfect. He's proven his love to you and the one thing in this world you can count on is His perfect love. In the face of that love, everything else - all the evil of this world and the pain in your heart - fails.
Session 3 of Alliance will be coming soon.
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