JESUS DIED FOR OUR SINS Matthew 27:32-61 Key Verse: 46

“ About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’– which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’”

Someone said, “I’m not afraid of dying. I just don’t want to be there when it happens.” We try to avoid thinking about dying and death. We don’t even like to use the word death. Instead, we say, “passed away” or “passed on.” A man who lost his mom wrote a poem, “If tears could build a stairway, and memories a lane, I’d walk right up to heaven and bring you home again.” Death leaves a heartache, sorrow, nihilism and meaninglessness. But death is reality for everyone. From the most extra ordinary to the most ordinary, death is the universal equalizer. Today, we are going to study the death of Jesus. Jesus shared the common experience of death that we all must encounter one day. But his death on the cross was very different from others’ death. It doesn’t seem to be a funeral service, but a glorious life-giving event. Most of all, Jesus’ death brought life, hope, freedom and joy to others. May God pour out his grace upon us as we study today’s passage and may we offer thanksgiving to Jesus who died in our places.

In the last week’s passage, we learned that Jesus was tried and condemned to death by the Roman governor Pilate, although he was innocent. Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the common hall and mocked him. After then, they led Jesus away to crucify him. On the way to the execution site, Jesus fell again and again under the weight of the heavy cross that he was carrying. Due to the floggings, Jesus was physically too weak to carry the cross. So the soldiers saw a man named Simon from Cyrene and forced him to carry the cross. When they came to a place called Golgotha, they began to do their routine work--first offering Jesus wine to drink mixed with gall. It was pain relief drink. Crucifixion was a deliberately slow and most painful execution. There was no word to express this horrible pain correctly. So English language came up with the word “excruciating” which literally means “out of the cross.” Before crucifixion, the criminals needed painkiller. These days there are numerous painkilling drugs. We don’t like to bear even a small bit of pain. So we take Tylenol or Aspirin to escape from pain. We also do our best to avoid pain and suffering but to live a life of comfort and ease. But Jesus who tasted the pain killer, refused to drink it. Why? Jesus did so to bear the full extent of all our pains. He refused anything that would diminish his suffering, for he had to drink the cup of God’s wrath on guilty sinners to the full extent. 2

Finally, the soldiers crucified Jesus by driving nails through his hands and feet. Now observe Matthew’s portrayal of the crucifixion site in verses 35-44. There were the soldiers, the two criminals, the passers-by and the religious leaders all hurling insults at Jesus. First the soldiers were casting lots to divide up Jesus’ clothes. They were laughing and talking coarse and vulgar jokes after doing their duty to crucify Jesus and two other criminals. Then they sat down and watched over him there, keeping anyone from interfering in the execution. The two crucified criminals were on his right and left. Jesus was in the middle, between the two rebels to shame and humiliate him all the more. The passers-by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” (39-40). They intended to hurt him as if they were throwing rocks at him. The religious leaders also mocked him saying, “He saved others, but he can’t save himself! He is the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” Even the rebels heaped insults on Jesus.

It is an irony that they were all speaking the truth. As they insulted, Jesus is the Son of God. He is the King of Israel. He saved others, but he couldn’t save himself. He trusted in God. The real irony was that they spoke the truth that they themselves didn’t see. The point of their taunting was “He can’t save himself.” They meant that the nails securely held him there, and the soldiers prevented any rescue attempt. They thought that it was now impossible for Jesus to save himself physically. But those who know who Jesus is know that nails and soldiers cannot stand in the way of the Son of God. Jesus himself said in John 10:17-18a, “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again…” As a matter of fact, Jesus could not save himself, not because of nails, soldiers or any other physical constraint, but because of God’s will to save sinners in that way. Jesus had the power to save himself but he did not use his power to save himself. Instead he used His power to save us and all mankind from our sins.

In our natural instinct, we all want to save ourselves. We all want to avoid pain and suffering, and enjoy fun and pleasure. Because of this, we struggle daily to deny our desire to save ourselves. We struggle to take up the cross and follow Jesus. But Satan tempts us along the way saying, “Come down the cross! Save yourself!” So our struggle is whether we save ourselves or we save others in Christ. But Jesus said in Matthew 16:25, “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life will find it.” The truth is that if we save ourselves cannot save others. On December 2006, an army specialist Ross McGinnis was on a mission in Baghdad to find an area suitable for housing a generator to provide power to local residents together 3 with other soldiers. But his convoy was attacked and a hand grenade was thrown into his armored vehicle. Ross then threw himself on the grenade, saving the lives of at least four others in the vehicle. He could have jumped out of the vehicle to save himself. But he sacrificed his own life for other fellow soldiers. Though it’s uncommon for someone to sacrifice his or her life for a friend, as we see with the story of Ross McGinnis, it does happen very rarely. But it would be nearly impossible to find examples of people sacrificing their life for an enemy. Surprisingly Jesus didn’t save himself but save sinners, the enemies of God. Here we learn that those who try to save themselves first and serve God and others later can never save even one lost soul in Jesus. We thank Jesus who did not save himself in order to save us from our sins.

Let’s get back to Golgotha. From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. About three in the afternoon something very unusual happened on Golgotha. Let’s read verse 46. “About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ (which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’)” Until now, Jesus was silent. Even when nails were driven into his flesh and bones he was silent. But this time he shouted in a loud voice. It was his prayer to God. Jesus was going through this ordeal not in the sight of people beneath the cross, but in the sight of the living God. This verse is the quotation of David in Psalm 22:1. David uttered these words when he was in deep distress and felt forsaken by God. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” It was the darkest moment of Jesus’ life. He was forsaken by everyone. The crowds who welcomed him when he entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey forsook him and shouted, “Crucify him!” Even one of his disciples sold and abandoned him, and the other ones ran away and forsook him. Most of all, his Father God turned his face from him and abandoned him because of the guilt transferred to him. Because of our sin, we are the one who should have been forsaken by God. But surprisingly, God forsook Jesus in order to save us.

Look at verses 50-51. Once again Jesus cried out in a loud voice, then he gave up his spirit. At the moment Jesus breathed his last, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. Before Jesus’ death, the curtain of the temple separated God and sinners. No one was permitted to enter the other side of the curtain called the Most Holy Place, except the high priest who was allowed to enter it once a year with the blood of a lamb on the day of atonement. Jesus paid the wages of sin for us through his death. Through his death, God opened the access for sinners to come to him and have a right relationship with him.

When Jesus died on the cross, the earth shook, the rocks split, the tombs broke open and many holy people rose from the dead. Jesus’ death released life-giving power. It was a prelude of Jesus’ glorious resurrection. Seeing all these remarkable phenomena, the Roman centurion and his soldiers were terrified and exclaimed, “Surely 4 he was the Son of God!” The centurion’s testimony was short but it was powerful because he was the eye witness who saw Jesus’ extra ordinary death and was convinced that Jesus was indeed the Son of God.

In the evening, Joseph of Arimathea boldly went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. He took down the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut out of the rock which had been prepared for himself. Joseph was happy to dedicate his own tomb to Jesus. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb. In this way Jesus died and was buried. Jesus’ burial seemed very humble and quiet, but it set for his glorious resurrection.

So far we witnessed Jesus’ death on the cross and his burial. Jesus’ death was tragic because he died a cruel death, though he was innocent. Why did Jesus die in this horrible way? Why did Jesus who had authority and power to call the twelve legions of angels to come and rescue him die on the cross? Amazingly though Jesus’ death has changed the lives of numerous people in history. Jesus’ death changed my life as well. What is the meaning of Jesus’ crucifixion and death? What does Jesus’ death teach us?

First, Jesus’ death shows that he paid the wages of sin for us. According to Romans 6:23, the wages of sin is death. Sin and death have a long history. Death came to the world through Adam who committed a sin against God. Romans 5:12 says, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned.” But Jesus who had no sin died on the cross. As the sinless Son of God, Jesus could have ascended into heaven without facing death. But he died a cruel death. Why? Isaiah 53:5-6 says, “But 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, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Just like wandering and lost sheep we have gone astray and sinned against God again and again. But God has laid our iniquities and sins upon Jesus. So St. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Jesus became sin for us on the cross. By dying a cruel death on the cross Jesus paid the wages of sin for us. God crucified even his beloved one and only Son because Jesus became sin for us. Jesus on the cross became guilty of murder, rape, gossip, pride, envy, lie, hatred, rebellion, idolatry, fornication, pornography, gambling, despair, laziness, greed, slander, insolence, arrogance, selfishness, everything. So God’s infinite wrath was poured out upon Jesus. On the cross, Jesus endured the agonizing physical pain. On the cross he was left alone, totally forsaken by God. Jesus’ death was the ultimate testimony to God’s hatred at our sin. Many people today take sin very lightly, because they overlook the brutality of our sins. 5

So they don’t stop and change. They rename their sins into names that sound better. Adultery became an affair; Homosexuality an alternative lifestyle. Lie an exaggeration. Even Christians abuse Jesus’ forgiveness by continuing to indulge in sin. But we must know that our sins nailed Jesus and held him to the cross. Because of our sins Jesus suffered and died on the cross. We thank Jesus who paid the serious wages of sin. May we accept Jesus into our hearts newly and struggle against sin.

Second, Jesus’ crucifixion and death demonstrates the love of God so powerfully. When Jesus was on the cross, God forsook Jesus. God chose to save sinners like us, instead of choosing to save his only Son. Why? Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God laid all our sins and iniquities on his One and Only Son, and crucified him in order to forgive us. This is God’s redemptive love. Parents love their children so much and will sacrifice themselves on behalf of their children. On a winter’s day, a mother drove a car with her five year old daughter and her two year old son and had an accident. The mother and her daughter were found dead in her wrecked car, down the cliff, upside down in a cold mountain stream. But her two year old son was just barely alive in the freezing water. When rescuers arrived at the scene eight hours later, they found her locked in death in the steam, holding her little boy’s head just above water in the submerged car. She had held her beloved toddler afloat and had finally died, her body almost frozen in death in that position of self-giving love, hold her baby up to breathe. She died that her son might live. That’s sacrificial mother’s love. But no parent wants to sacrifice any of their children let alone a one and only son. Who would send his one and only son to die to save proud, selfish and wicked sinners? Who could allow his one and only son to die for his enemies? So in awe, Paul said in Romans 5:7-8, “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God demonstrated his love for us by nailing his only Son Jesus to the cross, not when we were good or at least okay to God, but when we were sinners or enemies to God. This is what God did. This is the unfathomable love of God. 1 John 4:10 says, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” God’s love is unfathomable. God’s love is sacrificial love. God’s love is sacrificial life-giving love. Love not just a feeling. Love is action. Love is not just action, but sacrificial action and sacrificial giving. Thank God for his great love to send Jesus to be forsaken and die on the cross for our sins. Jesus’ crucifixion and death has power to forgive and change sinners into God’s children. May we accept Jesus into our hearts who died for our sins. Amen.