PALM SUNDAY 07 c

The account of the death of Jesus is one that is hard to hear. We don’t want to think about the suffering he endured. We don’t want to think about the pain he suffered. While we can’t help but think about that today, I want to redirect our focus to another question – Who is this man who endured all of this punishment and death?

We are told in the letter of Paul to the Philippians that Jesus existed with God the Father before he was born on earth. He was in the form of God, in other words, He was God. Elsewhere the Bible says, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Later in the first chapter of John the apostle continues… “and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” St. Paul wrote to the Colossians “For in Christ all the fullness of God lives in bodily form” (Col. 2:9).

The New Testament is very clear in its proclamation that Jesus was and is God. In our Old Testament lesson today God speaks through the prophet Isaiah, “And there is no god besides me, a righteous God and a savior, there is none besides me” (Isaiah 45: 21-25).

In other words, there is only one God. Now, if there is only one God and Jesus is proclaimed to be God, then Jesus must be God. However, the Father is called God in the Bible as is the Holy Spirit.

If there is only one God and yet the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all set forth as God, then in some way we cannot comprehend, there are three persons in the Godhead and the three persons are the one God.

Why is this significant? The significance is found in the fact that God had to find a way to reconcile His sinful human creation to Himself in a way that would not compromise His holiness; for in His Word He tells us that He cannot dwell with anything that is unholy. At the same time, He must not compromise the free will of human beings nor give them salvation without it costing something. In order for God to do this He would have to relate to His human creation as a human being.

Only a perfect human being could satisfy the need to maintain the holiness of God and the free will with which human beings were created. This perfect human being must be faced with the possibility of failure, of sinning, as well as the possibility of living a completely holy life. In other words, this human being must have the ability to react, to live as any other human being would. He would have to endure suffering, face temptation (with the real possibility that he might sin), have emotions, have an intellect which must grow, and not avail Himself of His own supernatural powers, but rather use the power of God that is available to each believer through the Holy Spirit.

That is why Jesus, who was in very nature God, emptied himself of all His rights, powers, and privileges as God and became a man.

Jesus came to this earth and became the only human being to be completely free from sin. Because He was completely sin free, He was the only one that could take upon Himself the sin, all the wrongs we humans have done, without compromising God’s holiness.

In the Old Testament we read about the way God established for the Old Testament people to have their sins covered over. This was done by the offering of animal sacrifices to be killed on an altar as a sacrifice to God. Jesus became the last and perfect “animal sacrifice.” He is, in fact, called the Passover Lamb of God. St. Paul said, “For Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us.” God sacrificed Christ on the altar of the cross in order to have Jesus pay the penalty for sin, which was physical and spiritual death. When John the Baptist first saw Jesus he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

Thus, Jesus made it possible for us sinful human beings to be accepted by the holy God. By the shedding of the blood of Jesus we can be made clean from the guilty stain of sin.

Why did Jesus lower Himself or humble Himself to become a man? Why did He endure the severe flogging? Why did He endure the beatings, taunts, spitting, and crown of thorns? Why did He have to suffer the agony of hours of crucifixion? Why did He have the sins of the world (as well as your sins and my sins) placed upon Him causing Him to say as a suffering human being “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?”

The answer, the reason why he did all this, was to show His great love for you and me and the world. Did you realize that Jesus died in order to give everyone in the world and opportunity to receive His forgiveness? Tragically, many people do not even realize they need a savior. Many think they are fairly decent people and that God should and will accept them because of that.

Still others think that Christianity is fine for Christians but that there are many ways to God, so Christians should just keep their faith to themselves. If Jesus came to this earth specifically to die on the cross to pay the penalty of the sins of the world, and if there are many ways to God, why did Jesus have to die on the cross?

“God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whosoever believes in the Son will not perish but have life everlasting.” These words from John’s gospel remind us that the only way for a person to get to the Holy God is to come via his Advocate and Mediator, Jesus Christ.

Do you realize that even if you were the only person on earth, Christ would have died for you? Jesus said, “Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.” If you were to boil down all of the commands of Jesus into one, it might be this: Believe in me! “I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life” (John 6:47-48); or, “For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:40).

You are the friend of Jesus if you believe in who He is (He is God in human flesh) that you believe that you are separated from God because of your sins, and that only through Jesus’ sacrifice can you be forgiven and made worthy to stand before God. And you believe this is true because he arose from the dead to validate what he had done and said. To believe all these things and to accept them by accepting Jesus into your life is the way you show yourself to be a friend of Jesus.

You may say, “I don’t feel worthy to be the friend of Jesus.” Good, you shouldn’t feel worthy. His free gift is not based on our worthiness. “I don’t feel like I am forgiven.” Feelings have nothing to do with forgiveness. We trust that Jesus has forgiven us, His followers, because we trust his promise of forgiveness. If Jesus forgave the repentant thief on the cross, and if he forgave the apostle Peter who denied Him three times, don’t you think He can forgive you?

I want to close this sermon with a Lenten Hymn:

Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side;

Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;

Leave to thy God to order and provide;

In every change he faithful will remain.

Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend

Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake

To guide the future as he has the past.

Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;

All now mysterious shall be bright at last.

Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know

His voice who ruled them while he dwelt below.

Be still, my soul: when dearest friends depart,

And all is darkened in the vale of tears,

Then shalt thou better know his love, his heart,

Who comes to soothe thy sorrow and thy fears.

Be still, my soul: thy Jesus can repay,

From his own fullness, all he takes away.

Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on

When we shall be forever with the Lord,

When disappointment, grief and fear are gone,

Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.

Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past,

All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

-von Schlegel, Hymns Old & New, Complete Anglican Edition,

2000.