If you would open your bibles to John chapter 11 as we continue our study in John. I think in your worship guide, it begins in verse 45, but I'm going to backtrack a couple of verses, and we're going to begin in verse 43. When Jesus had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out. The man who had died came out, his hands and his feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with cloth. Jesus said to them, unbind him and let him go.
Joel Brooks:Many of the Jews, therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did believed in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priest and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, what are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him.
Joel Brooks:And the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation. But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, do you know nothing at all? Nor do you understand that it is better for you, that one man should die for the people, not the whole nation should perish. He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation. And not for for the nation only, but also to gather into 1 the children of God who are scattered abroad.
Joel Brooks:So from that day on, they made plans to put Him to death. Pray with me. Our father, we ask that you would honor the very reading of your word. And in this moment, you would begin to do your work. Bring conviction where there needs to be conviction, healing where there needs to be healing.
Joel Brooks:But have your way in our midst. I pray that my words would fall to the ground and blow away and not be remembered anymore. But Lord, may your words remain and may they change us. We pray this in the strong name of Jesus. Amen.
Joel Brooks:Now before Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead, he was already very famous. He'd already been doing a number of public miracles, had 1,000 following him around. Every time he would speak, there'd be an enormous crowd. But after he raised Lazarus, things really just kinda got out of control. His popularity got out of control.
Joel Brooks:Not only was raising Lazarus his greatest miracle, but it was done just 2 miles outside of Jerusalem. And so all of Jerusalem would have heard this. And this was also the week before Passover, and so you would have had a couple 100 thousand people flooding into Jerusalem at this time. And so the entire city would have been abuzz about what Jesus had just done. The popularity terrified these religious leaders.
Joel Brooks:They were thinking Jesus with all of his power and with all of his popularity, He could become King. As a matter of fact, when I look at this in a couple weeks, it certainly seems like that as He's entering Jerusalem and the crowds are there, and they're waving their palm branches, saying, Hosanna, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. This is a king's welcome. And this terrified these religious leaders, because they they thought this would be disastrous for them. It'd be disastrous and Rome is gonna send legions and legions of soldiers, and they're just going to destroy this place.
Joel Brooks:This is what they mean in verse 48, when they say, if we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him. And the Romans will come and they will take away our place and our nation. This is the first and the only time that the the word Romans is used in the Bible. And so that's the fear here that these Romans, these Romans are gonna come in and destroy us if we let Jesus continue this way. And this was a well founded fear.
Joel Brooks:There was a number of people around who still had a living memory of when Rome had already come in and done this, and they had mass crucifixions of the people. 100 of people crucified because of the last political uprising. Well, we know that 400 year or 40 years from this moment, Rome was gonna come in. It was gonna pretty much level the place. So their fears are real.
Joel Brooks:So the high priest, Caiaphas, he gathers this meeting together so they could decide what to do. And Caiaphas, and maybe nicer language in this, he basically says, you're a bunch of idiots. You're a bunch of idiots. No. No.
Joel Brooks:We don't let him go on like this. Don't you know it's better for him to die than for all of us to die? It's better for him to die than for the nation to die. Now, when Caiaphas says this, know he's being completely cynical. He's not saying this out of a good heart.
Joel Brooks:This is this is a cynical sinful heart. But John makes it a point to record these words because he wants you to know that these words are actually true. And we need to have these words in our head as we are looking forward to the crucifixion of Jesus to know that, yes, indeed, one man is going to give his life for many. In other words, here we see the high priest in his cynicism making a real prophecy about Jesus. Jesus who is going to lay down his life for his sheep in order to gather all the sheep together into one fold.
Joel Brooks:There there's a lot of irony here in this. I mean, someone amusing that they're now plotting to kill the person who just showed a mastery over death. Later, they're actually going to try to kill Lazarus, which is comical. It's like, you know, you're dead once, and now we're going to try to kill you again. But they knew you can't have Lazarus just walking around.
Joel Brooks:So they're trying to put an end to this. Another thing that I just think is very ironical here is that the high priest the high priest who is supposed to do the day of atonement for all the people, the sins. He's actually going to do that unwittingly. He's going to make the sacrifice of the true lamb of God, the only one that matters. And so we see God here is using even the evil intentions of people's hearts to bring about His purpose.
Joel Brooks:And so John, he records this prophecy because he wants us to know what is the meaning of the cross as we begin heading there. The theological word we have for that is, atonement. At the cross, Jesus will make atonement for us. Now, the cross is the most universally recognized symbol in all of the world. The cross is everywhere.
Joel Brooks:Yet, what does the cross actually mean? We know what the cross meant before Jesus. The cross meant defeat. It meant death. It meant total humiliation.
Joel Brooks:That is what all over the Roman Empire, you saw a cross. That's what you thought. Total humiliation, defeat, death. To forgiveness and to victory and to triumph? How did we get there?
Joel Brooks:Before we take communion, I want to take just about 10 or so minutes, and I want us to unpack what exactly happens or happened at the cross. How is it that one person could die for the sins of the world? Now it's when I was in college that I really began to wrestle with this question, this this whole issue of atonement. And I began to question what exactly happened on the cross. I mean, we hear it all of the time.
Joel Brooks:Jesus died on the cross for your sins. I mean, we always hear that. Jesus died on the cross for your sins. It is basic Christianity, Christianity 101. What does it mean when we say that?
Joel Brooks:Does it mean that because we have all sinned, we all need to literally our punishment should have been to literally, physically have died on a cross. But instead, Jesus, he died on a cross for us. Is that what it means? That's doesn't seem right. We certainly don't don't see that spelled out for us in the bible.
Joel Brooks:Yet, we say that all the time. The more I began to think about this question, the more I began to realize that my theology of the cross was at odds with my understanding of how God punishes sin. What is his punishment for sin? My my theology of the cross was at odds with God's punishment for sins. Because I'm looking through scripture, and I see that the punishment for sin is an eternity in hell.
Joel Brooks:And yet, Jesus was on the cross for half a day. And then he went to paradise. You know, he told us the thief on the cross, this day you'll be with me in paradise. So so how does that compute? The penalty for our sin was supposed to be an entire eternity in hell.
Joel Brooks:Jesus hangs on a cross for 6 hours, and then it's over. It's done. Penalty paid. And and not just the penalty paid for our sins, but for 1,000,000 and 1,000,000, if not over a 1000000000 other people paid for in full. How?
Joel Brooks:And now I know that crucifixion is a horrifying experience. It's it's painful beyond my imagination. I mean, if you've ever watched Mel Gibson's Passion of Christ, I mean, you see that. That movie focuses in on the physical agony of Jesus. And so it's excruciating.
Joel Brooks:And so it's excruciating. But still, but still, many people were crucified. Many people have been crucified, and yet we don't say that they were paying for their sins. We might say that the people who were crucified, they paid their debt to society, but they've not paid their debt to God. Something more must be going on.
Joel Brooks:Sin demands a greater punishment than any physical death can bring. Because when we sin, we are rebelling against the very one who created us. And when we do that, we are essentially spitting on the glory of God. We're saying we don't want you to rule over us. We wanna set up our own self rule, and we just trample over his glory.
Joel Brooks:And this crime, this sin is so heinous that the only punishment, the only punishment that is fitting is an eternity in hell. To get just a painful death on a cross would be a slap in the wrist compared to what we deserve for our transgressions. The wrath of God being poured out on sin looks like hell, not just physical torment on a cross. So as I'm wrestling with these questions, I began to realize I had such a superficial understanding of what was happening on the cross. I also had a superficial understanding of what was really hell.
Joel Brooks:My understanding of the cross needed to go deeper. My understanding of hell needed to go deeper. But whatever was happening to Jesus on the cross had to be so much more than just physical pain. He didn't cry out, my feet, my feet. He didn't cry out, my head, my head.
Joel Brooks:What Jesus cried out was, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? That was the source of his pain. The pain for Jesus was the emotional, the psychological, the spiritual pain of abandonment. Abandonment was the real pain that Jesus felt on the cross and abandonment is the real pain of hell. Yes.
Joel Brooks:There is physical pain on the cross. Yes. There is physical pain in hell, but these do not hold a drop in the bucket compared to the emotional, spiritual and psychological pain of being forsaken by God. The psalmist says these words that in thy presence is fullness of joy, and in thy right hand are pleasures forevermore. It's one of my favorite Psalms.
Joel Brooks:It's a beautiful picture, actually, of heaven. In thy presence is fullness of joy, and in thy right hand are pleasures forevermore. The opposite of that is actually a great picture of hell. In thy absence is fullness of wrath. And in the absence of your hand is pain forevermore.
Joel Brooks:The pain on the cross that Jesus bore was abandonment. He felt abandoned. The wrath of God being poured out on Jesus felt like forsakenness. That's how Jesus bore hell on the cross. And when he had finally bore all hell, not just for us, but for 1,000,000 and 1,000,000, if not over a 1000000000 people, bore it on him.
Joel Brooks:He cried out, it is finished. I have bore it all. But still, you have to ask the question, how is it that Jesus could still only suffer for a few hours and that be the equivalent of an eternal abandonment or separation by God. How is that? And I wanna just give two reasons, and we'll take communion.
Joel Brooks:I want you to keep in mind that what I'm giving you is a drop in the bucket. There is an entire well for which you should draw on for the rest of your life when you go to the cross. Hear me now. You will never ever, ever go to the depths of the cross. Let me give you two reasons of how Jesus could suffer for 6 hours, and that is equivalent, not just my hell, but the hell for the world.
Joel Brooks:1, Jesus could suffer more because he was eternal and he had an eternal relationship with the father. Jesus could suffer more be because he was eternal, and he had an eternal relationship with the father. So if I'm preaching here and one of you gets up, you know, calls me a heretic or whatever and just walks out, I'll be a little hurt, but not much. Honestly, I'll get over it. If one of my elders got up and said that, I'm done.
Joel Brooks:I'm sorry, and walked out, I'd be pretty hurt. I'd be pretty hurt. If my wife got up in the middle of a service and said, Joel, I'm done. I'm done. I'm sorry.
Joel Brooks:I'm out. And then she left. I'd be devastated. Absolutely devastated. And the reason is this, Lauren and I have been married for about 20 years.
Joel Brooks:We've I mean, we started dating when when we were 15, 16. It's hard for me to remember a moment of my life apart from Lauren. So this is a relationship that has deep roots, and it goes way, way back. Therefore, the pain of separation is so much greater than if just one of you just left. It's just so much greater because of the the the depth of the relationship going so far back.
Joel Brooks:Hear me. Jesus, for before there was time, for all of eternity, had a perfect relationship with his father. Unbroken communion, unbroken love, a joyful giving back and forth to one another for all of eternity. And for the father to forsake the son, for him to feel that forsakenness, we cannot imagine the pain when he cries out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? The second reason that Jesus was able to suffer more was because he was divine.
Joel Brooks:He was the Son of God. If you step on an ant, you don't really feel that bad. Ant probably didn't feel anything. Not ant, but I just assume. If you see like a little chipmunk going on and a hawk come and pick it up and fly away, first you think that's really cool.
Joel Brooks:But then you think, you kind of feel a little bit bad for the chipmunk. Because you realize, well, the chipmunk has the ability to kind of suffer and feel pain. If you see a dog maybe get hit by a car, I mean, that hurts. That hurts as you watch that because you know that that dog can suffer. But that is nothing compared to if a child were to walk in front of a car and get hit.
Joel Brooks:If if you were to see that, you would witness such pain. And the reason is this. The greater the being, the greater the ability to suffer. The greater the being, the greater the ability to suffer because you can process all that is happening. You can feel all of these things.
Joel Brooks:Listen, we are the ant and Jesus is the child. As the unique son of God, Jesus had an almost infinite ability to suffer. And all that suffering was piled on him on the cross. So when Jesus, when He was in the garden before He was heading to the cross, and as He's thinking, he's thinking of the suffering that's about to happen, the abandonment that's about to happen. He's, he is so scared.
Joel Brooks:He's so scared. 1st he starts praying, Lord, if there's any other way, even though one of the first words out of his mouth was, I was sent for this purpose. He knows he was sent for this purpose, but he's like, if there's any other way, can we possibly not do this? And then he's he's so scared, he is so anxious, his capillaries actually begin to bust. He is sweating drops of blood.
Joel Brooks:And it's not because he's thinking of a physical torment that's about to happen to him. He's thinking that hell is about to be unleashed on him. For you, but for all. We cannot imagine the pain and the agony inflicted on him. Like I said, your understanding of the cross is a well that has no bottom.
Joel Brooks:You will go to it over and over again for your entire life. We simply cannot fathom the depth of God's love for us and what He endured on the cross. And He did all of this for us so that we might never never know separation, so that we could be given his status as a child of God. I want us to remember this as we take communion together. The Lord gave us a meal in which we can remind ourselves of this truth.
Joel Brooks:He He said, this is my body broken for
Jeffrey Heine:you. In the same way, he took the cup and he said, this wine is
Joel Brooks:my blood poured out for the forgiveness of many. And he is my blood poured out for the forgiveness of many. Paul would later say, as often as you eat of this bread and you drink of this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. And that's what we are doing. We are proclaiming the Lord's death until he comes again.
Joel Brooks:I want us to take communion this way. We're gonna have some deacons who are gonna come up here and serve. We're gonna have 4 stations up here. If we could use these middle aisles for coming and the outer aisles for returning back to your seat, that would be helpful. And, for those of you who are in the balcony, maybe if y'all could just wait, for a little bit and let some of those go ahead and go down here first.
Joel Brooks:That's a lot easier. It keeps things from being too crowded. Maybe after the first song, y'all can come on down. When you come, come as the Lord leads. And if you would just break off a piece of bread and just dip it in the wine.
Joel Brooks:Pray with me. Our Father, we ask right now that you would bless this bread and this wine, that these symbols will become powerful symbols, reminding us, Jesus, of the almost, or it is, the unimaginable cost that you paid. The words thank you seem very hollow, but it's all we have, and so we say, thank you. Thank you for your broken body and your blood. Thank you for what you endured for us to make us children of God.
Joel Brooks:We remember that sacrifice now and the new life that you have wrought in us. And now as we take communion, I pray we would indeed through your spirit commune with you. It's in your name, Jesus. Amen.