The Lutheran Hour
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"The Cross That Came As No Surprise"
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Text: Luke 24:36-39
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PRAYER: Blessed heavenly Father, as we enter Holy Week and as we focus tightly on the suffering and death of Your Son, Jesus Christ, by Your Spirit enable us to see the love of Your Son, our Savior and our Lord. As He traveled this Palm Sunday toward His death and resurrection, so also, heavenly Father, enable us to walk with Him. Remind us that it was for our sins that Christ went to the cross. And, blessed heavenly Father, make us daily mindful His love was voluntary – greater love hath no man than Your Son has had for us sinners. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.
Twenty years ago a book was published titled, “An Illustrated Documentary of Jesus and the Four Gospels.” This 200-page book focuses primarily on the life, death, and resurrection of our blessed Savior. However, the author, a professor of theology, highlights comments made by Dr. Albert Schweitzer, the famous musician and missionary to Africa.
Dr. Schweitzer believed and taught that Jesus Christ did not intend to die on the cross. Instead, Schweitzer claims that Jesus had glorious plans for Himself. According to Schweitzer, “Jesus traveled to Jerusalem hoping to arrive in glory. But then, when Jesus clashed with the authorities, the result was that Jesus was arrested, put on trial, and tragically sentenced to death.” “Our Savior’s life ended,” Schweitzer said, “with a cry of despair in defeat from the cross.”
Furthermore, this professor of theology then explains that “Schweitzer’s views were published in a book titled ‘The Quest of the Historical Jesus.'” This book is still regarded, by the way, by some scholars as one of the great theological classics of all time.
Well, Schweitzer’s views on the crucifixion – that Jesus did not die voluntarily or willingly – may be a “classic” to some people. However, if it is a classic, then it is a classic example of what is wrong. To say that Jesus died unwillingly is a classic example of false doctrine, blatant heresy, and utter blasphemy.
Yes, friends, take the words of Albert Schweitzer yourself. Then compare Schweitzer’s words with Jesus’ own Words. Determine for yourself whether Jesus died willingly as the Bible says or against His will as some scholars would like to claim. Jesus said, “I lay down My life so I may take it again. No one has taken My life away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again” (John 10:17-18).
Again, “The Son of Man,” Jesus said, “did not come to be served but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). Jesus was nailed to the cross for your sins, but the idea this happened against Jesus’ own will is absurd. This, however, is not the first bizarre and un-Biblical theory set forth trying to explain why Jesus was crucified on the cross. Fifteen years earlier, Dr. Hugh J. Schonfield published his book titled “The Passover Plot.” In his fanciful theory about what happened to Jesus, Schonfield says Jesus “planned a fake trial. He planned a fake crucifixion.” Yes, according to this British author, “Jesus even planned a fake resurrection.”
Now, at first, Schonfield says, “Everything went OK.” Jesus was nailed to the cross. But then, the British author conjectures things got out of control. At that point, the unplanned occurred: a Roman soldier thrust a spear into Jesus’ side and, as a result, Jesus died. Then another unknown disciple-a look-a-like-took Jesus’ place for a while. This then is how Jesus’ resurrection was allegedly faked!
This book, with this bogus Christ-hating theory, sold thousands and thousands of copies. Yes, it is a shocking thing to hear about all these attempts to discredit our blessed Savior who willingly died for our sins. Nevertheless, only a few years ago, Newsweek Magazine had across its front cover, a picture of Jesus hanging on the cross. The headline said, “The Death of Jesus – New Insights on His Last Days.” The lead article contained even more human theories about the “why” of Jesus’ death. You see, people simply never seem to hear enough about the man called Jesus. Those who love Him and follow Him want to hear more about Him. But those who hate Him and are indifferent to Jesus, are always thirsty for religious gossip or other theological heresy, which then undermines God’s glorious message of His Good News to you.
St. Paul summarizes this GOOD NEWS when he writes in 1 Corinthians 15, “Now I make known unto you, brethren, the Gospel, which I preached unto you which also you received, [the Gospel] in which also you now stand, [and the Gospel] by which you are saved. For I,” St. Paul says, “delivered unto you as of first importance what I also received, that Jesus Christ died for our sins [not by accident] but according to the Scriptures and that He was buried and was raised on the third day [not by accident but] according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).
When God the Father saw this loving act, this supreme act of voluntary, not coerced, sacrifice by His Son Jesus, then our heavenly Father accepted this blood sacrifice as a full and complete payment for all of your sins, your mistakes and all of your failures. Because of what Jesus did voluntarily on the cross for you, your heavenly Father has now granted you a perfect, complete and total pardon.
So, friends, so much of your future hangs in the balance over this key and crucial question: Did Jesus die on the cross voluntarily to pay for your sins? Or, was Jesus’ death a sham, a mistake, or even a fake? Are you, therefore, forever lost in your sins? In Romans, chapter five, St. Paul writes: “While we were still helpless at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” This is you and me. Again, St. Peter says, Jesus Christ “Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross” (1 Peter 2:21, 24). The apostle Peter writes, “Christ died for our sins once for all the just, for the unjust so that He [Jesus Christ] might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).
Therefore, don’t let your faith falter around foolish theories that spring up overnight like mushrooms. Rather, shove aside all doubts. Rest your faith instead upon the solid foundation of the facts of history. Turn away from speculation. Trust only in God’s divine revelation. Not only do the Scriptures support every intentional step that Jesus took toward the cross, but even more, the Scriptures also reveal the words Christ spoke to His followers immediately following His resurrection from the dead. On Sunday evening Jesus said, “These are My words, which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms [had to be] fulfilled.” And, this fulfillment of prophecy, Jesus said, included His voluntary “suffering and death,” for you.
No – Jesus did not die accidentally. Jesus was not ambushed. Jesus was not tricked into being murdered. Jesus died as a result of your heavenly Father’s love for you. God’s love resulted in Jesus’ obedience even unto death for your sake!
Listen to the apostle Paul as he writes, “Although [Jesus] existed in the form of God, He did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped. Instead, Jesus emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, Jesus humbled Himself by becoming obedient, even to the point of death – even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6-8).
Oh, no words are adequate to explain the love your heavenly Father has had for you which then moved Him to send Jesus to die a bloody death on Calvary. Greater love has never been shown. A greater sacrifice has never been made.
Think of the sacrifices your own parents made for you. For some of you, your father or mother took on a second job. For others, your mother perhaps drove you to sports practice or maybe music practice. Then, she waited repeatedly and patiently for you. Or when you became sick, one or both of your parents got up at night, sacrificed their sleep, or even drove to the doctor or a drugstore, at great discomfort to themselves. They put forth all this sacrifice of time and energy, all because they loved you. But the sacrifice Jesus made for you on the cross is a million times more.
The apostle John writes in the Bible, “See what great love the Father has bestowed upon [you] that [you] should be called [a child] of God” (1 John 3:1).
Again, St. John writes, “By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. The Bible says, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that God loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:9-10).
Through the prophet Jeremiah, God is saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3). Again, the apostle Paul says, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
Only when you, by God’s gift of faith, spiritually understand and Biblically comprehend the deep love your heavenly Father has for you, only then will the Spirit of God enable you to see that He sent His only Son to die willingly, not coerced, but willingly, to pay for your sins.
Yes, your heavenly Father has loved you with an everlasting love. He did this willingly. God sent His only Son, Jesus, to die on the cross voluntarily for you.
So, friends, live each day with the blessed assurance of God’s love and the certain hope of God’s total forgiveness in the blood of Jesus, and the absolute assurance that God will call you home someday to be with Him in paradise forever and ever. Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for March 24, 2002
ANNOUNCER: I’m Mark Eischer. Joining me is Dr. Wallace Schulz. Dr. Schulz, it is always sad to hear about scholars who set themselves up in judgment over Scripture. You talked today about Dr. Albert Schweitzer and his theory that the death of Jesus was a big mistake.
SCHULZ: Well, Mark, I know this might come as a surprise to many. However, about a year ago, a very well known theologian now teaching at one of the most famous graduate schools in our country, openly denied that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. In fact, he said Jesus’ body was put in the grave and it rotted there.
ANNOUNCER: But, if that were so, the enemies of Christ could have produced the body and squelched the early Church right at the outset. Do you suppose the Christian church today faces a large challenge from false teachers within?
SCHULZ: I certainly do. However, I am not the only one who feels this way. Some years ago, I read a small section of a work done by Dr. John Stephenson, a theologian from Canada. He wrote the Church has always had to fight for its life, even against those in its own ranks. Stephenson pointed out “that the apostles had to contend, not only with enemies outside the church, but also with foes within her bosom as pure doctrine was counterfeited by false teachings of all kinds.” You might say the church, if it were a wooden building, which it isn’t, of course, but if it were, would be like having a bunch of theological termites eating away at the structure while nobody really knows what is going on until it’s too late.
ANNOUNCER: How should our listeners then respond to all of this, and what words of encouragement would you have, not only for laypeople, but also for the clergy?
SCHULZ: First of all, for the pastors, I would simply say: Keep focusing on Jesus Christ. Proclaim His life, His death, and His glorious resurrection. Spend as much time as possible teaching your people the Good News of the Gospel. Don’t permit the devil to distract you into devoting all your time to arguing against all kinds of fancy ideas or false theories about religion that keep popping up. Just focus on the Gospel and let your people in the pew know how it applies to their life.
ANNOUNCER: And don’t spend precious time dispensing human advice and wisdom that people could get somewhere else?
SCHULZ: That’s right.
ANNOUNCER: Now, what about for the laypeople?
SCHULZ: To laypeople, I would say open your Bible. Open your Bible, at least as often as you turn on the television set. It is a well-known concept in the business world that the ideas that control the mind, control the person or the people. Therefore, if the devil can get you to spend all your time watching television programs and get your mind off the grace of God and the mercy of God in Jesus Christ, then the devil has won. Now, in his words to the Christians in Collasae, the apostle Paul says, “Set your mind on things above and not on things that are on earth.” In the same chapter, a little later in verse 16, St. Paul says: “Let the word of Christ dwell richly within you. Admonish one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
ANNOUNCER: What’s that old sports saying, “A good offense is the best defense.”
SCHULZ: This is not only a good sports quote, it is really quite a good concept for Christians to use in their life. If we abide in Christ, and He abides in us, as He promises, then we will be strong.
ANNOUNCER: What is the bottom line?
SCHULZ: The bottom line here, especially during this time of Lent, is that we focus on the suffering of Christ that He undertook for our sake and for our sin. And also, that we hear Him cry from the cross, “It is finished,” a cry that says Jesus provided a perfect sacrifice for all our failures of our past. Then we need to hear also during this season of the year, the words of Easter morning, “He is Risen!” These are the two sets of phrases we need to cling tightly to all year round: “It is finished,” and “Christ is risen from the dead.” Upon these few phrases the hope of all our listeners can be firmly established and they can look forward to an eternity, not only in this life, but also for their life to come.
ANNOUNCER: Thank you, Dr. Schulz. Look forward to the next Lutheran Hour message titled, “Easter Sunday-Christ’s Resurrection is Faith’s Foundation.”