Why Did Jesus Die?

Question; What do the following people have in common – Madonna, Bono, Naomi Campbell, the Pope, and the Archbishop of Canterbury? – One answer is that they all wear a cross.
Its interesting how many people wear a cross. I don’t think we are as shocked by it as we might be, because when you think about it, it’s quite an extraordinary thing to do. I mean, suppose I was to come in wearing a very nice gallows, I wonder what you would have felt if you had seen me wearing that as you came into the church. You might have thought it was a little macabre, or a little strange to do. However the gallows, and the electric chair are forms of execution, and the cross of course, is a very cruel from of execution. In fact the cross is such a cruel form of execution that the Romans abolished it in AD 337 because they thought it was too cruel a way to kill people.
The cross is a symbol of Christianity.

A third of the gospels are about the death of Jesus Christ.
Half of Marks gospel is about his death.
Much of the rest of the New Testament is explaining why Jesus died.
The central service of the Christian Church is a service that centres on the broken body and the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
Many churches are built in the shape of a cross. Why is that?
St Paul, when he went to Corinth said; “I was determined.. I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” Why? Most leaders or those who have influenced nations or even changed the world are remembered much more for their life than their death. And yet Jesus, who more than anyone else changed the face of world history, is remembered more for his death than for his life.
Why is there such a concentration on the death of Jesus? What’s the difference between the death of Jesus, and, say the death of Socrates or one of the great martyrs, or a war hero? Why did he die? Why is it so important? Why is it so relevant to every single one of us?
The answer in a nutshell is because; God loves you.

John Chapter3:16. “For 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”
1) THE PROBLEM
The first question is this; what is the problem?
Sometimes people say “I have no need of Christianity”. They say; “I’m quite happy, my life is full. I try to be nice to other people, And I lead a good life”
Now its true of course that all of us were created in the image of God. That there is therefore something noble about all human beings. But there is another side to the coin as well. If we are honest, I think we would all admit that there are things that we do wrong, things that we say wrong, and things that we think wrong.
Romans Ch3:23. Paul sums up in this verse the whole of the argument of Chapters one to three of the book. “For all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God”. First thing to note is that he says it’s all of us who have sinned!
I don’t know about you but I find it very hard to admit that I do things that are wrong. The words that I find hardest to say are the words “I was wrong”.
I don’t know why that is but I find it easy to try and make excuses or to blame someone else. You see it often when two cars collide. The owners get out and don’t say “I am so sorry that was entirely my fault”. They start to blame one another and to make excuses and to try to explain away why the accident happened.
Here are some of the things that people have written on their actual accident claim forms that they sent off to the insurance company. Making excuses, explaining away why the accident happened.

“Going home I drove into the wrong house and drove into a tree that wasn’t there”.
“The other car collided with mine without giving warning of his intention”.
“The guy was all over the road, I had to swerve a number of times before I hit him!”
“In an attempt to kill a fly I drove into a telephone pole”
“I’ve been driving my car for 40 years when I fell asleep at the wheel and had an accident”
“The pedestrian had no idea where to go, so I ran over him”
Finally this “I pulled away from the side of the road, glanced at my mother in law, and headed over the embankment”
We are good at making excuses but if we are honest I think we would all admit that we do things, we say things, we think things that we know are wrong.
Now what does it mean when it says that all have sinned?
Sometimes, when people say; “Well I lead a good life” I wonder to whom they are comparing themselves.
A Godly man used to use this illustration;
Imagine a pillar from roof to ceiling -on this pillar is a line of all the people who have ever lived. The very best are at the top, and the very worst are at the bottom. & he would ask; ‘Who would you put at the bottom?’
And people would say; mass murderers, Child molesters, people who had battered children that kind of thing. And he would say; ‘well who would you put at the top?’ and the reply would be Mother Theresa, their mother, that kind of thing.
Then he would say; I think you’ll agree, that all of us are somewhere between the very bottom and the very top. And because humble guy, he would say ‘well I’m probably somewhere near the bottom, and your somewhere near the top’ and they would nod and say that’s probably true.
Then he would ask; ‘now what do you think the standard is? And people would say ‘I suppose the standard is the ceiling’. – And he would say; ‘no the standard is not the ceiling. Look at the verse, the standard is the sky! Paul says; “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”’ If we just compare ourselves to the child molesters and bank robbers, we might think that we are slightly better. But if we compare ourselves to Jesus Christ – then actually all of us are in the same boat. All of us, whether we are supposedly at the bottom or supposedly at the top, we are all in the same boat.
I suppose that someone might say; “well if we are all are in the same boat why does it matter?”
It matters because there are consequences.

First is this; THE POLLUTION OF SIN (Mark 7:20-23)

These are the words of Jesus “What comes out of you is what makes you ‘unclean’. For from within, out of your hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, *murder, *adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and *folly. All these evils come from inside and they make you ‘unclean’.”
[*Murder -You will remember that Jesus said; “whoever is angry with his brother has already committed murder in his heart”. Adultery – “Whoever looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery in his heart” Folly – The bible says; ‘the fool says in his heart there is no God’.]
Now you probably can look down that list and say ‘Well I don’t do most of those things’ and that probably is right. But one of them is enough to mess up our lives.
Its not enough to say ‘Well I keep Seven of the Ten Commandments… I’m not so good on adultery, a little bit of that, a bit of theft and an occasional murder – but I do keep seven of the Ten Commandments!’
It was Lord Russell who once said he wished the Ten Commandments were more like an exam paper; “just attempt any four of them!”. But they are not. If we break one of them, we are guilty of breaking the whole law.
That’s how Jesus brother James put it in one of his letters; whoever keeps the whole law, and yet stumbles at just one point, is guilty of breaking all of it”.
Its not just our actions or words but also our thoughts. Its an extraordinary fact, but God reads our thoughts. I wouldn’t want you all to be able to read my thoughts. Supposing on this screen behind me there came up the ten worst things that I’d ever thought. Who would want to stand and have you all look at those ten things. Because all of us have things about which we are ashamed.
That’s the pollution of sin. Secondly there’s

THE POWER OF SIN.
The things that we do wrong have an addictive power. Jesus said “everyone who sins is a slave of sin”. Its easier to see in some areas. We all know that the person who takes hard drugs like Heroin, on a regular basis is likely to become an addict!
But its equally as true of things where its less obvious. For example; bad temper, or envy, or pride, or arrogance, or selfishness, or slander, or sexual immorality – these things can get a grip on our life and they can have a destructive power.
So – Sins Pollution – its Power and thirdly

THE PENALTY OF SIN
Something within our nature cries out for justice when we see some of the awful things that we read about in our newspapers. Some of the terrorist atrocities, or some of the horrible things that happen. We say; “that’s wrong! The person who did that should be brought to justice, and there should be a penalty”. But that is true not just of the big things, but its also true of the little things.
You know when some people pick up friends from the flats opposite our house and pip their horns – I am incensed – I think how selfish that person is – not thinking of anyone else in the street they cant be bothered to get out of their car to knock the door. But some days I have to pick up my children from their friends, and I’m running late so I simply have to pip the horn. Because I always apply a very different standard to myself than I apply to other people. But if we applied the same standards to ourselves as we apply to other people – then I think we would say it is only right that the things we do wrong also deserve a penalty.
Romans 6:23 Paul tells us what the penalty is. He says “The wages of sin is death”
That brings me on to the forth ‘p’

THE PARTITION OF SIN
Because the death that Paul speaks about is not only physical but spiritual, and by spiritual death I meant being cut off from God. Spiritual death, which results ultimately in eternal isolation from God.
The prophet Isaiah speaks of this. He said; “your iniquities (the thing you do wrong) have separated you from your God, your sins have separated his face from you so that he will not hear you.”
So that’s why it matters so much.
- Now all that is the bad news if you like, but the word ‘Gospel’ means ‘Good news’. The good news is that God loves us. That verse we looked at; God so loved you and me, so loved the World , that he did something about it. That he provided a solution.

And that’s our second main heading
2: THE SOLUTION
So what’s the solution? The good news is that because God loves us – he didn’t leave us just to make a mess of our lives. He came to earth, in the person of his Son Jesus Christ, to do something about it.
1Peter 2:24 – (Note the juxtaposition of the personal pronouns.)
“He himself (that is Jesus Christ) bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.”
That is what John Stott describes as the self-substitution of God – What does that mean?
On 31st July 1941 a prisoner escaped from Austvich.
And as a reprisal the Gestapo selected 10 men arbitrarily to die of starvation in an underground bunker. One of the men selected was a man called Francis Gajinistec. The moment he was selected he cried out my poor wife & children. At that moment there was a Polish man – Little man with wire frame glasses, & he stepped out of line and said “I’m a Roman Catholic Priest, I want to die for that man, that man has a wife and children – I have no one”. To everyone’s amazement the offer was accepted .
That mans name was Maxamillian Colby, he was 47 years old at the time. He went with the other nine to the starvation bunker .and apparently there was an amazing atmosphere in that bunker – he got them all praying and singing and they survived far longer than anyone anticipated – in fact they didn’t die of starvation but they needed that bunker for other people and so gave them a lethal injection on the 4th August 1941.
41 years later on October 10th 1982 in St Peters Square, Rome Maxamillian Colby’s death was put in its proper perspective. Present in a crowd of 150,000 people together with 26 cardinals, 300 Archbishops and Bishops was Francis Gajinizdek. And his wife Ganina, his children, and his childrens children. The many who had been saved by that one mans sacrifice.
And the Pope on that occasion described what MC had done like this; He said; “it was a victory like that won by our Lord Jesus Christ”.
Recently, aged 93– Francis Gajinizdek died and his obituary said this “In gratitude for the self sacrifice of Maxamillian Colby – Gajinizdek spent much of the rest of his life to telling people about what he had done and how he had saved his life”

He died as a substitute – and in an even more amazing and wonderful way, Jesus died for you, and for me.
He endured crucifixion for us.

Cisero described crucifixion as the most cruel and hideous of tortures. Jesus was stripped, tied to a whipping post, he was flogged with four or five thongs of leather that were knotted with sharp fragments of bone & lead.
Ucebius; the third Centuary Roman historian described Roman flogging in these terms; “the sufferers veins were laid bare and the very muscles sinews and bowels of the victim were opened to exposure. He was then taken to the Preatorium where a crown of thorns was thrust onto his head. He was mocked by a battalion of 600 men and was hit about the face and head. He was forced to carry a heavy crossbar on his bleeding shoulders until he collapsed, then Simon of Syrene was press ganged into carrying it for him. When they reached the site of crucifixion he was stripped naked, laid on the cross and six inch nails were driven into his forearms just above the wrist, his knees were twisted sideways so that the ankles could be nailed between the tibia and the Achilles tendon. He was lifted up on the cross which was then dropped into a socket in the ground. There he was left to hang in intense heat and in unbearable thirst. Exposed to the ridicule of the crowd, he hung in unthinkable pain for six hours while his life ebbed away. It was the height of pain and the depth of shame.
• Interestingly the New Testament does not dwell on the physical pain, the trauma & torture of crucifixion.
Neither does it dwell on the emotional pain of being rejected by the world and deserted by his friends.
• What the NT concentrates on is the spiritual agony for Jesus of being separated from his Father at that time.
Someone once explained it like this; Isaiah 53:6
The prophet Isaiah – hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus prophesied what would happen and said this; “We all like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid upon him the iniquity of us all”
Imagine it like this.
Imagine this hand represents you and me. All of us have done things that are wrong (place book in hand) Imagine this book represents those things. Those things cut us off from God.
All we like sheep have gone astray. We’ve turned every one to his or her own way.
& Let this hand represent JC – Jesus never did anything wrong – there was no barrier between hm and his Father. What this verse says is we all like sheep have gone astray – turned every one to his own way – and the Lord (that is God in heaven) has laid upon him (that is on Jesus Christ) the iniquity, the sin of us all.
That’s why Jesus on the cross cried out; “my God, my God why have you forsaken me?” At that moment he was God forsaken, he was cut off from God for us. Not because of his own sin but because of our sin. Do you see where that leaves us? That leaves us free to have a relationship with God.
That was Gods Solution.
Thirdly; lets look at
3) THE RESULTS of that
“God so loved that world that he gave his one and only son so that all who believe in him might not perish but have eternal life”
The cross is like a diamond – Know what a diamond is like – hold it up to light and can see so many beautiful facets – can see how on the cross God showed his love for us, that on the cross Jesus showed us an example of self sacrificial love. God showed that he was not a god who is aloof from suffering. That on the cross, God was in Christ suffering himself. Martin Luther describes him as the Crucified God. So he knows about suffering, he has suffered for us and he suffers with us.
And – at the same time he has made it possible for one day all suffering to be removed.
Because on the cross the powers of evil were defeated. Death and demonic powers were disarmed and defeated.
I want to finish with concentrating on four images in the NT.

A) The LAW COURT
Paul say that through Christ’s death we have been justified. Justification is a legal term which means, if you went to court accused of some crime or misdemeanour, but you were acquitted – the legal term would be Justified.
Imagine two friends – went through school and university together and developed a very close friendship. After left they went in totally different directions. One of them went into a life of crime. The other one went on to become a lawyer and eventually a judge. One day when sitting there as a judge – his old friend appeared before him charged with a crime. And as he sat and listened to the crime and had to pass sentence on his old friend the Judge was in a dilemma. Because couldn’t just let him off – had to do what was right and just – but this was his old friend and he loved him. So what he did was he fined him the appropriate amount for the crime. Then he took off his robe and went around to his friend and signed him a cheque for the exact amount of the fine. That’s love.
God in his justice cant just say O lets just forget about it. There are consequences to the things we do wrong, but in his love he has come down in the person of his son Jesus Christ and said I will pay the penalty myself for you.
And because of that the result of that is that we can go free.
That’s not a perfect illustration by far. Our situation is far worse, the penalty is not just a fine – its death, and the relationship is not just as friends but the love the Father has for us is far greater than even a human father can love.
And the cost paid was not just money but God gave his one and only son to pay the price. And the result is that the penalty is paid, our guilt is removed, it is possible for us to be forgiven.
That the Law court – the second image is
B) THE MARKET PLACE.
Debt was a problem in the ancient world as much as in the modern world. And one of the things you could do was sell yourself into slavery – and you would be found down in the slave market with a price on your head. And for that price your debts would be paid but you would go into a life of slavery.
Now supposing you were in the market with price on head and someone comes by and feels sorry for you and says will pay the amount – and instead of enslaving you says set you free. He will have paid the ransom price – you would have been redeemed.
What the NT tells us is that Jesus came to redeem us. He paid the ransom price in order that we might go free. Jesus said “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed!”
Its not that you will never sin again – but sins hold over you will be broken.
Story of Russ – grew up in Camberwell – drugs and drink – Came to Christ and came to one meeting where he went forward saying wanted to stop drinking. Prayed for him and told us that week that he literally could not down a pint….within weeks he was reconciled with his wife and daughter.
Jesus death gave us freedom from the power of the things that grip and destroy our lives

C) THE THIRD IMAGE IS THE TEMPLE
The OT laid down very careful laws as to how the things that we do wrong are to be dealt with.
There was a whole system of sacrifices which demonstrated how serious sin is, and the need for cleansing. In a typical case you would go and confess your sin over an animal – it was a picture of the sin leaving the sinner to the animal, and then the animal would be sacrificed.
The NT writer of book of Hebrews says that it was impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin. That was only a shadow, but we have been made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ.
You may remember the reaction of John the Baptist who when he saw Jesus said “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”
The OT testament sacrifices tried to have an animal that was as perfect as possible, but perfection was never possible under that system.
But in Jesus there was a perfect sacrifice. One perfect sacrifice – once and for all – for all time – for all people!
And that makes it possible for the pollution of sin to be removed.
St John says that the blood of Jesus cleanses us – like the windscreen wipers of a car, washing and washing and washing. It’s a kinetic word – goes on and on and on. The blood of Jesus cleanses us, cleanses us, cleanses us.
The forth image is

D) THE HOME
The result of sin is a broken relationship with God.
The result of the cross is the possibility of a restored relationship.
2Cor5:19 Paul puts it like this; “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself”
Sometimes caricature the NT teaching and suggest that God is somehow unjust. How can God punish an innocent third party on behalf of other people!
Well if it was like that it would be unjust but its not like that. What Paul tells us is that God was in Christ
God came himself n the person of his son Jesus Christ to die for us. And to make it possible for us to be reconciled. And reconciliation is just such a wonderful thing. You know how awful it is if you fall out with someone – particularly in a family.
Two people fall out and they can’t look each other in the eye and there’s uncomfortable feeling between them. And then maybe one of them says; “I’m sorry please forgive me” – and there’s reconciliation. And they are back together again as friends.
That is what Jesus was making possible on the cross. That we should be reconciled and have a relationship with God restored.
That the Partition of sin should be removed
SO the result of the cross is that

The Pollutions been removed
The Power has been broken
The Penalty has been paid
The Partition has been destroyed
It’s possible for us to have a relationship –
John puts it like this; “This is eternal life; to know God and to know Jesus Christ”
Eternal life starts now, and in fact one day – because that relationship is possible now – and goes on forever, we will be with him forever. And then even the Presence of sin will be removed.
He died for everyone – Jesus died for the world, but the world includes you and me. And its very very personal.
St Paul put it like this “ The son of God loved me, and gave himself for me”
If you had been the only person on the world, Jesus would have died for you.
John Wimbers story; “After I had studied the bible for about three months I could have passed an elementary exam on the cross. I understood that there is one God who could be known in three persons, I understood that Jesus is fully God and fully man and that he died on the cross for the sins of the world.
But I didnt understand that I was a sinner! I thought I was a good guy! O I knew I had messed up here and there – but I didn’t realise how serious my condition was. But one evening around this time, my wife said “I thinks its time to do something about all we’ve been learning.” Then to my utter amazement she knelt down on the floor and started praying – to what seemed to me to be that ceiling plaster. ‘O God’ she said ‘I am sorry for all my sin’ I couldn’t believe it – she was a better person than I, yet she thought she was a sinner. I could feel her pain in the depth of her prayers. Soon she was weeping and repeating; ‘I’m sorry for my sin’. I started sweating bullets. I thought I was going to die. The perspiration ran down my face and I thought I’m not going to do this, This is dumb, I’m a good guy. Then it struck me. She wasn’t praying to the plaster she was praying to a person. To a God who could hear her. In comparison to Him, she knew she was a sinner in need of forgiveness. In a flash the cross made personal sense to me. Suddenly I knew something that I never knew before. I had hurt Gods feelings. He loved me, and in his love sent Jesus. But I had turned away from that love, I had shunned it all my life. I was a sinner desperately in need of the cross. Then I too was kneeling on the floor, sobbing, nose running, eyes watering, every inch of my flesh perspiring profusely. I had this overwhelming sense that I was talking to someone who had been with me all of my life, but whom I had failed to recognise. Like her I began talking to the living God telling him I was a sinner. The only words I could say out loud were ‘O God, O God. O God’. I knew something revolutionary was going on inside me and I thought ‘I hope this works because I’m making a complete fool of myself.’
Then the Lord brought to mind a man I had seen in Los Angeles a number of years before – he was wearing a sign that said ‘I’m a fool for Christ, whose fool are you?’ I remember thinking at the time that was the most stupid thing I had ever seen. As I knelt on the floor I realised the truth of that odd sign. The cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.
That night I knelt at the cross and believed in Jesus.

That he sent his one and only son so that all who BELIEVE in him shall not perish.

Remember the cheque that Judge gave his friend – well God has made a cheque out on the bank of heaven. – paid in full with your name on it.
Its signed by the Lord Jesus Christ.
& its made out for forgiveness, freedom, cleansing, reconciliation and eternal life.
The date is today’s date. Because the offer is today.
The name place is blank – for your name because the offer is for all of us.
You could say no thanks – I don’t want your charity, & rip it up.
Or we can say thank you, I receive the gift that you offer.

There may be someone who wants to make sure that they have received that gift that they have believed in Jesus Christ. You can do that right now in a simple prayer saying sorry for the past, & turning away from those things that you know are wrong. Thanking Jesus for dying on the cross for you and asking him to come and fill you with his spirit.

Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, I am sorry for the things I have done wrong in my life (take a few moments to ask his forgiveness for anything particular on your conscience). Please forgive me. I now turn from everything which I know is wrong. Thank you that you died on the cross for me so that I could be forgiven and set free. Thank you that you offer me forgiveness and the gift of your Spirit. I now recieve that gift. Please come into my life by your Holy Spirit to be with me forever.
Thank you Lord Jesus, Amen.