Easter

THE CUP, THE CROSS, AND THE CRYPT

 REMEMBER THE ALAMO!  We have all heard the line at one time or another. It is the battle-cry of Texas.  I have been to that little mission is San Antonio where in 1836, 183 Texans, under the command of Colonel William B. Travis, fought with an army of several thousand Mexicans under the command of General Santa Anna for 13 days.  When all but six of the men in the garrison had been killed, the Mexicans took the place by storm and the six survivors were ordered shot by the general.

 In the years since that fateful conflict, “Remember The Alamo” has been a battle-cry of free men throughout the United States. That cry eventually led to the defeat of Santa Anna at San Jacinto, just outside of Houston, and freedom for the Lone Star State.  

 We who are Christians likewise have our Alamo--it is called Calvary!  “Remember the Cross,” is our battle-cry! Jesus pointed to the cross, the Apostle Paul likewise directed our attention there as did each of the writers of the Gospels. In fact our Lord on the occasion of His Last Supper held up the bread and the wine, symbols of His death, and said, “Do this as often as you do it in remembrance of me.” He was saying, “Remember Calvary. Remember the sacrifice. Remember the love that was to drive Jesus to that awful place. Don’t ever forget! REMEMBER THE CROSS!”

 This morning we are going to remember His agony as we look at:

·        THE CUP

·        THE CROSS

·        THE CRYPT

 FIRST, AGAIN, THE CUP

Are you aware of the fact that there is only one recorded instance where Jesus sang? This is true. The writer Mark captures the moment. It was at the Last Supper just before He left for the garden where He would be betrayed.  Mark writes (Mark 14:26), “When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.”

 ·        Jesus sang because He knew the purpose of His coming to this strange planet was about to be realized. 

·        He sang for salvation or redemption for mankind was about to be achieved.

·        Yes, He knew where He was going and He what He was to do, and He was going with a song!

 The Lord left the supper, the Bible says, and went with His disciples “to a place called Gethsemane.” The Cross was the place of physical suffering; the garden was the place of mental suffering. Both were bad -- real bad. 

 Listen to these words from the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 26:37-38). Jesus “took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.’”

He was in agony of body and soul.  He was at this point the loneliest person and the saddest soul that the world had ever seen. The Amplified Bible speaks of His:

·        sorrow,

·        grief, and

·        distress of mind. 

·        It also notes that He was “deeply depressed.”

 Someone might dare ask why was He going though such a terrible emotional struggle? 

·        Some have suggested that perhaps He was afraid of the torture of the Cross. 

·        Others have hinted that He may well have been afraid of death. That He was going through this awful agony due to His fear of dying. 

 While I understand both of these theories, I do not accept either one of them. In my opinion, they miss the mark. I think the agony of body and soul that Jesus experienced in the garden was due to something other than any pending pain or death. I PERSONALLY BELIEVE THAT WHICH HE WAS DREADING WAS THE CUP!

 Luke 22:42 records His words here,  “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”

This was the moment when Our Blessed Lord, in obedience to His Father's will, took upon Himself the iniquities of us all and became for each of us the Sin-Bearer. The cup, you see, was filled with sin; dirty, rotten, filthy sins! Your sins; my sins! They were all there for Him to drink down as some fatal cocktail.       

 He who had remained sinless throughout the temptations in the wilderness:

·        He who had never cursed,

·        lied,

·        stolen,

·        raped,

·        murdered,

·        or had committed any other sin of any other sort was to become as if He had done all of these hideous things and more. 

IN THAT CUP: (Hold up a cup)

·        Were the sins of Adam and Eve,

·        the sins of Cain, the first murderer,

·        the sins of those who were so violent and profane in the days of Noah,

·        the abominations of Sodom and Gomorrah were there,

·        David's sin with Bathsheba,

·        Samson's sin with Delilah,

·        Israel's sin with the golden calf

They were all there!

 ·        Sins of both the young and the old,

·        Sins of the rich and the poor,

·        Sins of darkness,

·        Sins that time had forgot and that had never been uncovered!

They were there too.

·        Sins that make even the wicked shutter,

·        Sins too awful to be mentioned in polite company,

·        Sins that would cause even Hollywood to blush,

They were all in the cup!

 Then, too, He took the sins of the future. He saw that which was to come upon the world:     

·        The soon treachery of Judas,

·        The curses and betrayal of Peter,

·        Hitler's extermination of 6,000,000 Jews,

·        Countless wars and other like atrocities,

·        Jeffrey Dalmer’s cannibalism,

·        Timothy McVey’s bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City,

·        Abortion,                         

·        Incest.

ALL OF THESE CRIMES WERE LAID UPON HIM AS IF IN FACT HE WAS THE VERY ONE WHO HAD COMMITTED THESE EVIL DEEDS!

Evil desires were given to Him as if He had conceived them within His own heart.

·        Lies and factions rested in His mind just as if they had been birthed in His own spirit.

·        Blasphemies seemed to be on His lips as if He had Himself spoken them.

·        FROM THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH, FROM THE EAST AND THE WEST, EARTH'S SINS RUSHED UPON HIM LIKE A giant tidal wave!

 Jesus bore the weight of the sin, shame, and guilt to such an extent that it forced blood like sweat to flow from his pores!

 Saints, this cup almost killed Jesus before He ever saw Calvary! Luke, the Physician wrote in Luke 22:43, “An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened Him.” He simply could well have died right there and then! He knew it; God in Heaven knew it too thus He dispatched the angel to support Him!

 I want to now make this up-close and personal.

Let us suppose that someone were to come into Janesville, and go on a terrible crime spree:

·        This evil person molests and murders several children.

·        He robs and rapes some older ladies.

·        He disfigures and then kills a beautiful young woman.

·        He robs a bank,

·        He steals a car, and finally

·        He burns down this church and in the process a number of innocent people lose their lives including several members of your family.

The grief due to this reign of terror is almost unbearable!

 (Call someone up from the audience)

The police carry out a long and through investigation, and in the end YOU are arrested. The prosecutor points his finger at you, and says that you are the one who did these awful things.

 You know that you are totally and completely innocent.

·        You are a born-again Christian.

·        You faithfully attend this assembly.

·        You are repulsed by these evil deeds.

·        Some of your very own family members were among the victims!

 Then too, you cannot even begin to comprehend life in prison:

·        The induction,

·        The strip search,

·        The prospect of spending the rest of your life in a tiny room surrounded by bars,

·        The other inmates,

·        much less the prospect of death via capital punishment.

And yet the jury returns after a few hours of deliberation and says that you are guilty as charged. The judge bangs down his gavel and solemnly sentences you to death by lethal injection. Your family cries. I offer up a prayer. And then you, shackled and in leg irons, are led away by two guards to deal with your appointed fate.

 Think of it, friends.

·        Everything within you appeals for justice,

·        for vindication,

·        for release! 

 "NO!  NO!  NO!"  you cry! "I'm not the one." But, finally the truth dawns on you, there is no way out. The sins are yours just as if you had in fact committed them! You will have to bear the shame of them; you will have to die due to them, even though you know you are going to die for what someone else did!

 (Have the person return to his seat.)

 That's the cup that Jesus had to drink -- and He drank it down to the very last drop! Salvation which had been lost in one garden was in the process of being regained in another!

 LET US NOW Leave the garden and journey to the cross.

The place which had been set aside for His crucifixion was known as Golgotha, or the Place of the Skull. Legend has it that it was the burial place of Adam. It was a common place of execution located at a crossroads just on the outskirts of Jerusalem. It has otherwise been known as Mount Calvary.

 It was here that the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, was to have:

·        A cross for His throne,

·        Thorns for His crown,

·        Nails for His scepter,

·        Blood for His robe, and

·        He was to die a death that was reserved for the worst of thieves, criminals and aliens. 

Furthermore, His death was the most violent, cruel form of execution which had been conceived in the diabolical mind of demented man!

·        The weight of the body resting on the nails,

·        The crown of thorns,

·        The spear that was thrust into His side,

·        The thirst,

·        The mocking and the jeering,

·        The shame of hanging there naked,

·        Oh, the tearing, wrenching pain!

History teaches us that death by decapitation or by fire was actually preferred by those who were facing capital punishment.

 Although the Lord's death was preordained and necessary, it was nonetheless as if nature was repulsed by what mankind was doing to creation’s creator. Amos, the Old Testament prophet noted in Amos 8:9, “In that day,’ declares the Sovereign LORD, ‘I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.’”

 Matthew confirmed in Matthew 27:45, “From the sixth hour (noon) until the ninth hour (three PM) darkness came over all the land.” One ancient church historian noted that "complete and universal darkness" covered the earth although there was no storm and the sky was without a cloud! This unexplained phenomenon threw the population into a panic. Birds flew to their roosts and animals prepared themselves for the night.

 It was at this same moment something of great significance was taking place in the temple.

Three of the four Gospels talk about it. I speak of course of the tearing of the veil. The veil that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. We know that this great veil was made from the very best of materials and was the thickness of plush velvet. It was perfectly woven on both sides so that there was no wrong or rough side. We understand that it was some 60 feet long and 30 feet wide. The veil was a curtain of division which segregated man from God, that kept the common person from the place of sacrifice and worship.

 According to Matthew’s Gospel, at three in the afternoon, the High Priest was in the temple preparing to offer the Passover lamb. Little did the priest under-stand that the real sacrifice, the greatest sacrifice the world was to ever know, was hanging outside the temple on a cross!

 As Jesus hung there, He could see the smoke of the sacrifice circling up to the sky from the brazen altar. He knew that now everything that had been prophesied in the Law and the Prophets had been fulfilled. Matthew then records that Jesus cried with a loud voice “It is finished.” Thus He ordered His Spirit to God, and He died.

 It was at this instant, the great veil of the temple – the veil that was so woven together that two

pairs of oxen attached to either side and driven in opposite directions could not cause it to tear – began to tear “FROM TOP TO BOTTOM” as if it were held in the grasp of two giant unseen hands! It was! Only the hands were the very hands of Jehovah God Almighty!

 No longer do sinners need earthly temples,

·        altars,

·        sacrifices,

·        or priests,

in order to be saved – for the veil has been rent!

 ·        No longer do saints need some earthly man to take their place before God.

·        No longer is there a barrier between the Lord and His people.

·        No longer do we have to depend on lambs, doves, and rams to appease His Holiness.

No. The veil has been rent!

 Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:12 (The New Living Translation), “Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come fearlessly into God’s presence, assured of his glad welcome.”

The King James Version says here, “we have boldness and access with confidence.” 

Saints, the veil of separation has been done away with for time and eternity. Our Heavenly Father therefore welcomes us to come to Him with:

·        Our needs,

·        Our fears,

·        Our sicknesses,

·        Our sins,

·        Our praise,

·        Our worship,

·        Our love and adoration.

The veil of separation is gone once and for all!

 Isn’t it ironic that while mankind was doing the worse possible thing to God’s Son, God was doing the best possible thing for mankind?

·        Why?

·        Why did God do it?

·        Why did He put Himself through this torture?

·        Why did He place His own Son in such circumstances?

·        Why did He subject His creation to such upheaval?

 The answer is a four-letter word; love!

·        Love so amazing caused God to give.

·        Love so amazing caused Jesus to go to the Cross and love held Him there much more securely than ever could any nails made by man!

“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” John 3:16.

 His love went beyond the natural to the supernatural. 

·        His love for fallen mankind defied all reasoning and understanding.

·        It went beyond that which could be expected to that which could not possibly be expected.

·        The Bible calls it the very greatest of loves!

·        Love for You; love for me!

Yes, remember the Cross for it is a giant plus sign; the greatest symbol of love the world has ever known!

 LET’S NOW JOURNEY ON TO THE BURIAL CRYPT -- THE TOMB

Do you realize that in the long history of man only one tomb has ever had a rock rolled in front of it so as to keep the dead man that had been placed therein from coming out!  THAT WAS THE TOMB OF JESUS CHRIST!

 Notice with me Matthew 27:63-66, “Sir,’ they said, ‘we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.’ ‘Take a guard,’ Pilate answered. ‘Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.’ So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.”

What spectacle could possibly be more ridiculous than having a group of armed soldiers keeping watch over a corpse? Nevertheless, under the orders of Pilate, the guard was set.

 ·        You see, the people remembered how He had called His body the temple and had declared that in three days, after they destroyed it, He would raise it back up.

·        They remembered too that He had compared Himself to Jonah and had noted that as Jonah had been in the belly of the whale for three days, so He would be in the belly of the earth for three days, then He would rise again.

·        They remembered that for three days darkness had covered Egypt, and

·        It was on the third day Moses had come down from Mount Sinai.

Now, once again, there was concern about the third day.

 Listen:

Low in the grave He lay,

Jesus my Savior!

Waiting the coming day---

Jesus my Lord!

Vainly they watch His bed

Jesus my Savior!

Vainly they seal the dead---

Jesus my Lord.

Up from the grave He arose,