Evangelical Free Church of Embarass

Please pray with me.

Father I pray that, as we continue preparing to come to Your table, You would guide us in Your word. Remind us of the beautiful act of love, the wonderful choice that Jesus made with us in mind. In His name we pray. Amen.

On Monday, when we were in a store in Duluth, I noticed that they had Baby Ruth candy bars for 33 cents. I really like Baby Ruth candy bars, and 33 cents is a great price. So, I grabbed a candy bar and went to the checkout line. The line was really long, and all I had was a candy bar. I didn’t want to wait that long to buy one candy bar, so I put it back where I found it and left the store.

About a year ago in February, Jeannine and I headed down to the Twin Cities to see a comedy presentation. By the time we got to Cloquet, it was snowing badly. The roads had deteriorated and we decided to give up. We turned around and came home.

A young girl goes off to college. She finds out that the work is too demanding. After two or three months, she decides not to continue and leaves school.

A high school student, who is a Christian, experiences merciless teasing day after day for her Christian faith, to the point where she eventually decides not to live that faith any more.

In the last month, thousands of Iraqi soldiers quit, because the Coalition was winning the war. They just stopped fighting. Many of them went home.

Too often, we hear of people who decide that it’s too hard to be married. Instead of continuing to work on a marriage relationship, they file for divorce.

The pain and suffering of crucifixion was unbearable for Him, so Jesus did what? We know that He didn’t give up. We know that He didn’t come down from the cross, even though He could have. We know that He didn’t quit.

Why didn’t He make the choice that so many other people make in much lesser situations? What kept Him there on the cross? What held Him there to experience a long torturous day that led to His death? Was it the spikes the Romans pounded through His hands and feet, holding him to the cross? No, it certainly wasn’t those nails. No Roman nail could hold Jesus Christ on a cross if He didn’t want to stay there.

Loyalty and love

Last Sunday, I suggested to you that four “invisible nails” held Jesus to the cross and kept Him from coming down. We looked at two of them. The first invisible nail was loyalty – loyalty to His Father and His Father’s mission.

The second invisible nail was love for you and me. We talked about that love being present when Jesus made the choice to come to earth as a man, laying aside the wonderful privileges and glory of deity. That love for us continued all the way to the cross and kept Him there.

Sin – yours and mine

Tonight, as we prepare for the Lord’s table, we will look at the other two invisible nails that held Jesus to the cross. The third nail is sin. Your sin and my sin held Him there. The Bible says that we all sin, that because of our sin we are separated from God, that the wages of sin are death and judgment, and that there is nothing you and I can do on our own to change that.

Turn to 2 Corinthians Chapter 5. The last verse of the chapter talks about sin, the third invisible nail. “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” The Apostle Peter mentions the same thing in 1 Peter 2:24: “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness.” When God looked at Jesus on the cross that day, He saw our sins, as if Jesus had committed them. Jesus was judged for those sins in our place, so that now, when God looks at those of us who have received salvation through faith in Christ, He sees righteousness as though it is our own righteousness. But it really isn’t our righteousness – it is Christ’s. Our sin was placed on Him, and He paid the penalty for it so that His righteousness could be placed on us. That’s how God sees it.

In 1 John Chapter 2, verse 2 we are told that Jesus Christ is the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Jesus was the satisfying sacrifice, the substitute for us that met God’s demands. He took our place. He bore our sins on the cross, and He died for them. Those sins kept Him there.

Turn to Colossians Chapter 2, starting with the last statement in verse 13 and continuing into verse 14. “He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.” (One translation says “the record containing the charges against us” rather than “the written code…that was against us.”) Those charges were nailed to the cross with Jesus.

Let’s say there is a written record of all your sins and the charges against you, and it says that you deserve God’s judgment. You know which sins are on it. Paul says in Colossians 2 that the written charge against you was nailed to the cross. Picture Jesus being nailed to the cross. Between His hand and the cross is the record of the charges against you and me for our sins. Let me suggest that when Jesus was lying there, arms outstretched, He could see our sins nailed to the cross with Him. It was our sins that He was willing to pay for that kept Him on the cross. That’s why he had come – although He hadn’t sinned. He came to pay for our sins.

But, like Max Lucado said, “Jesus couldn’t bear the thought of eternity without you.” He knew that taking our sins on Himself and being judged for them would provide a way for you and me to spend eternity with Him. He knew that, and it kept Him on the cross. He stayed there, even if it wasn’t his own sin He was dying for. He was committed to paying the price. Our sin, which He was paying for, was the third nail keeping Him on the cross.

Joy – when it was finished

Joy was the fourth invisible nail holding Jesus on the cross. Hebrews Chapter 12, verse 2 tells us this. “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame.” Jesus endured the cross, and stayed there because of the joy set before Him.

Now, what’s the “joy” that the writer is talking about? We have to see the context. Hebrews 12:1 says, “Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” The writer is encouraging God’s people to run the race with perseverance, to hang in there, to put away the things that would slow us down and trip us up. He’s using the picture of a race – perhaps a marathon race, because a marathon takes perseverance. He tells us to run that race and to “fix our eyes on Jesus, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross.” What is the joy set before a person who is running in a race? The joy set before that runner is what’s waiting for him or her at the end of the race – when it’s finished.

There are thousands of people who run the Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth. That takes perseverance and endurance. I believe that many times along the route, there are temptations to quit. But many of the runners endure and keep going. Why? Because they like the feeling of achy muscles and their chests ready to explode, the sweat running down their face and the salt in their eyes? No, they endure because of the joy set before them.

They know when they get down to Canal Park and it’s all over, they will get a tee-shirt. For some of them, that’s what keeps them going. For others – the good runners – it’s a trophy, or a medal, or the prize money. That’s the joy set before them at the finish line. For others, it’s just the idea that “I did it. I trained for it, and I finished it.” That good feeling is the joy set before them. It’s something at the finish of the race that involves joy, and it keeps them going in the race. They don’t quit.

The Bible, using this picture of a race, says that Jesus endured the cross because of the joy set before Him. The joy at the finish line kept Him there. The Gospel of John says that the time came when Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “It is finished.” Jesus endured the cross, and He finished because of the joy set before Him.

What might that joy before Him have been? It might have been accomplishing the Father’s mission. He said that’s why He came – to accomplish and complete the will of His Father. Second, the joy might have been knowing that shortly after this was finished, He would joyously return to glory in heaven, where He came from. Maybe the anticipation of that joy held Him on the cross. Third, the joy set before Him might have been awareness that what He was doing on the cross would provide forgiveness and salvation for those He died for, and a personal relationship with them.

The joy set before Him was probably all three. He knew the big picture and He knew the ultimate purpose. He knew what would come of this, and it was joyful. That joy set before Him caused Him to endure the cross.

So, there you have four nails, albeit invisible, holding Jesus to the cross. As we come to the Lord’s Table to eat and to drink, we come to remember and give thanks for these nails – Jesus’ loyalty, His love, the sin He was dying for, and the joy set before Him. These were the reasons He stayed on the cross, seeing it through for you. Let’s pray.

Father, we thank You so much. What Jesus went through on our behalf is amazing to us. Father, You have caused us to think about the reasons He stayed on the cross and why He went through it. Thank You, Father. In Christ’s name, Amen.