WHY?
Why? That’s everyone’s favorite question when it comes to the will of God. Why did the Lord allow this terrible thing to happen? Why did he let death take my family member? Why did he bring about this destructive catastrophe? Why did he sit back and watch me go through so much pain? Why did he find it necessary to wipe out almost an entire country? Why would a loving God seem so unloving at times? Why? We want to know the reason. We want an explanation. We want to somehow connect the dots so that this life and the horrible things that happen in it make some sort of sense. And it bothers us a little bit when we don’t get a satisfactory answer.
A 7.0 earthquake devastated the country of Haiti a month a half ago. It is estimated that well over 100,000 people died because of it and many more are still without food or water or electricity. And the question immediately asked by Christians and non-Christians alike was “Why? Why did God let this happen or even cause this mass destruction himself?” A few answers were attempted - some spiritual, some not - but any answer was just a guess. Recently an 8.8 earthquake struck Chile followed by a large tsunami and a 6.8 aftershock and then a 6.6 and then a 6.0. A few hundred people died in the quake and another 10,000 - 20,000 are now homeless. And again the question is asked: why? Suicide bombers in the Middle East, extreme poverty in Africa, physical persecution of Christians in China, thousands of babies legally aborted right here in this country every year … And we wonder, “Why, Lord? Why? Why do you let these things happen? Why do you allow your children to suffer? Why do you do things that seem to be contrary to the God you have shown yourself to be in your Word?”
And this is not just a question that has popped up in contemporary cultures. This one word inquiry of God’s will has been asked by his people for millennia. Christians have always wanted to see the blueprint behind the plan, and so when terrible things happened during Jesus’ day it was natural for his following to go to him for answers. One of the tragedies during that time had to do with the Roman government. Pontius Pilate had apparently been a little upset with a few Christians from Galilee and so he had them killed while they were offering sacrifices to the Lord. Around that same time a tower in Siloam fell and killed 18 people. And although these two tragedies were unrelated, the same question remained: why? And so the believers confronted Jesus with that very question hoping to get a satisfactory explanation.
Jesus gave them an answer, but it probably wasn’t the kind of answer they were looking for. And Jesus gives us the same answer to our “why” questions too - even though we are usually looking for something more. Because Christ’s answer here doesn’t get into the details. He doesn’t give us a bullet list of reasons that describe the specific intentions of the Lord for every person in every way in every situation. And that annoys us a little bit, doesn’t it! We are of the opinion in this world that if we can’t figure out why a person is doing something, if we can’t see the end goal, if we can’t understand the reason behind it, then it shouldn’t be done! If a parent asks a child why he/she is doing something, “because” is not a good enough answer. If a child asks a parent why a chore needs to be finished, “because I said so” does not put the child’s curiosity to rest because it doesn’t really answer their question. If “why” is asked in the business world, a financial goal better be in plain view or the plan will quickly be done away with. When “why” is asked about this world and the way things work in it, theories and best guesses and assumptions are made because “I don’t know” is an answer that is too unsettling to admit. We do not like to accept things without a convincing reason why. We want the proof; we don’t like to be left in the dark. Which really isn’t a bad thing until we begin to apply that way of thinking to what God does.
The Lord doesn’t need to run his plans by us for our approval. The Lord doesn’t need our advice, our insight, or our recommendations. The Lord doesn’t have to explain himself to us either. He doesn’t have to justify his actions to us nor is he obligated to give us enough information in Scripture so that we can understand it all. And because God has to answer to no one, we have no right to be frustrated with God when he doesn’t give us an answer we are satisfied with. We are not allowed to question his judgment, his will, or his power. We are not given the authority to determine whether or not he made a good or a bad decision. Because he is God and we are not. We are his creatures and he is the Creator. And so to demand an answer because we aren’t satisfied with what the Lord tells us in his Word is a very egotistical question to ask. Who are we to play supervisor to his decisions and demand an accounting from the Lord himself?
When God told Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac, he didn’t explain to him the reason why, he just told him to do it. When Satan ripped every earthly possession away from Job leaving him destitute and in severe physical pain, God never told Job why his life was disrupted, he just allowed it to happen. When the Christian church during the time of the apostles was persecuted so severely that believers had to run away from the capital city of the Promised Land, God didn’t sit them down and inform them why he was letting so many of his children be murdered, he simply permitted these things to continue and pointed the rest of the Christian church back to the promises of his Word. Rarely does God give specific rationale for his actions. Rarely does he gives us a detailed explanation of his plans. But he always gives us at least one reason why. And it is the same reason he gave to the followers in Luke 13.
When the followers of Jesus told him about the Galileans who had died at the hands of Pilate, Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish." Why did the Lord allow some of his children to be martyred by Pilate and other people to be crushed by the tower in Siloam? Not because they were such horrible sinners and not because they needed to be punished, but God allowed those things to happen in order to bring people closer to him! He wanted others to see these events, confess their own sins, and turn back to Christ. Now, notice that Jesus doesn’t deal with the reason for allowing these specific people to die or why he decided that they should die in these specific ways; he simply gives the reason why these events happened for the sake of others. He wanted to bring others closer to him. And this reason can be applied to every event that has ever happened in the history of this world.
Why did God ask Abraham to sacrifice his son? To bring Abraham closer to him by testing his faith. Why did God allow Satan to attack Job from every direction? To bring Job closer to him by strengthening his trust in the Lord’s love and his will. Why did God permit his new Christian church to be scattered from Jerusalem after Stephen’s death? To bring other people in other countries closer to him through the Christians who were forced to travel to those far away places. The Lord’s goal is always to bring people closer to him and his Word. And that’s exactly what he did through the things that happened to him personally while he was on this earth.
Many of his disciples and even his own brothers wondered why Jesus wouldn’t publically proclaim himself to the world through the incredible signs and miracles that they all knew he could do. The reason? People would not have been brought closer to the gospel in that way; it would have simply fed people’s greed for material blessings - as his miracles did on a number of occasions. At one point the apostle Peter critically questioned why Jesus would ever say that he would betrayed and suffer at the hands of the chief priests and elders. The reason? Because that was a way in which Jesus would bring people closer to him. And I’m sure all of the believers during the last few days of Jesus’ life were struggling with the reason why Jesus would allow himself to be arrested and tried and convicted and tortured and nailed to a cross when he could have easily prevented any of that from happening as he had done before. It wasn’t until after that fact that they figured out the reason why: that was the way in which Jesus would bring all people closer to himself. That was the way in which he would mend the relationship between sinful human beings and the perfect Father. That was the only way in which Jesus could forgive all of our sins and make it count. That was the greatest way he could show us the extent of his love.
And that’s really the reason why. When it gets right down to it, when a simple answer is needed for the reason why God does whatever he does in this life, the answer is this: Because he loves us. That is the reason behind everything that God allows, everything God creates, everything God does, and everything God decides. Because he loves us. There may very well be other specific reasons that fall under that broad category, but when it comes to God’s will with his children, you can be sure that everything he does he does because he loves you.
Why does God allow you to hurt? Because he loves you. Why does he allow you to suffer? Because he loves you. Why do you struggle or fail or lose? Because he loves you. Why don’t things work out the way you planned them? Because he loves you. Why don’t your prayers get answered with a “yes” even though they are good, godly, Christian prayers? Because he loves you. Why have you experienced the things you’ve experienced? Why have you seen the things you’ve seen? Why do you sometimes have to deal with sadness? Why are you sometimes suffocated by loneliness? Why do you sometimes feel overwhelmed? Because he loves you. God loves you and so whatever he lets you go through is meant to bring you closer to him in some way every time. It may be to remind you of your sinfulness like it was for those who witnessed Pilate’s persecutions and the tragedy of the tower in Siloam. It may be to remind you of your weaknesses so that you will trust in God’s strength and not your own. It may be to remind you of your blessings so that you thank your Lord for everything he has given you. It may be to keep you humble. It may be to give you comfort. It may be to supply you with peace. In any case, whatever God does in this world and whatever God allows in your life is because he loves you.
How do some things work out according to his love? “How” is another question - another question that God doesn’t always reveal a detailed answer to either. But the “how” shouldn’t bother us if we know the “why.” Because the fact of the matter is: there will be things that happen in this life that are ugly and unpleasant and downright painful. And we won’t always know how they will be worked out for our good. But we do know the reason why God lets them happen: because he loves us. Why would we need a better answer than that?
Amen.
“Oh the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.” - Romans 11:33,36
Monday, March 08, 2010
3/3,10/10 - Midweek Lent - Matthew 27:1-8
HIS BLOOD BOUGHT LIFE
We have before us one of the most depressing endings to one of the most tragic figures in all of Scripture tonight. There seems to be nothing positive that one could say about this story because it is filled with such heart-breaking sorrow and irreversible mistakes. It is the account of the guilt-induced misery and the unfortunate suicide of Judas Iscariot. And it is sad. It’s awful. It’s so depressing that it’s almost uncomfortable to talk about. But even here in the midst of this appalling situation of betrayal and guilt and despair, we can still find Christ. Because although Judas could see no way out but death for what he had done, the blood he betrayed actually bought life.
1Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people came to the decision to put Jesus to death. 2They bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate, the governor. 3When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. 4"I have sinned," he said, "for I have betrayed innocent blood." "What is that to us?" they replied. "That's your responsibility." 5So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself. 6The chief priests picked up the coins and said, "It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money." 7So they decided to use the money to buy the potter's field as a burial place for foreigners. 8That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day.
No one wanted the money. That’s the ironic part of this sad story. In the end no one wanted the blood-money that was paid for Jesus’ betrayal. Judas himself, the one who regularly stole money from the disciples’ treasury, the one who once rebuked a woman for pouring perfume on Jesus’ feet because he wanted to keep the profits from the sale of that perfume for himself, the one who sold out his Lord for a chance to fill his pockets, threw those 30 pieces of silver on the floor of the temple in disgust after he realized what he had done. And the chief priests and the elders, leaders of the people who loved to see large amounts of money put in the collection plate, some of whom were Pharisees that Scripture says loved money and valued their expensive robes, didn’t want to touch these coins. They didn’t even think that God himself would want this money because it had been used in a corrupt and sinful way - even though they had a hand in the whole ordeal! And so they used this money to buy a section of ground near Jerusalem in which foreigners could be buried. This graveyard soon became known as the Field of Blood because Judas had used the money to betray the innocent blood of Christ.
Those 30 silver coins that nobody seemed to want certainly made a life and death impact on the events of the day. They led to Jesus’ death and supplied for the deaths of others. But they also supplied Jesus with the opportunity to buy life for all people through his blood. This “blood money” is literally the “price of blood.” And this price of blood that bought death led to the price of blood that bought life. It’s a shame that Judas didn’t understand that.
I almost feel sorry for Judas in a way. Yes, he betrayed my Savior and sold him out because of his greed - and I despise Judas for that. But he seems so pitiful and vulnerable here that I have a hard time hating him. Because in this story he truly regretted what he had done, he felt tremendous sorrow because of his sins; he felt so bad that he even hung himself in despair. Judas doesn’t seem like such a bad guy in the end. He seems more like a man who made an awful, awful mistake and just couldn’t find his way out. A sinner whose conscience bothered him so much that he didn’t know what to do to fix the problem. He tried to fix it, of course! He ran back to those who had given him the money and confessed his sins. He admitted that he was not only guilty, but that Jesus himself was innocent. And after the chief priests and the elders told him that they didn’t care about his sudden moral dilemma, he tossed the coins on the floor in a vain attempt to rid himself of the dirty money he had accepted to the Lord’s detriment. But his desperate plea to the chief priests to make things right and the immediate return of the 30 pieces of silver did nothing to soothe his guilt; it did nothing to fix the problem. Instead of throwing the coins at the feet of the elders, he should have thrown himself at the feet of Christ. Instead of confessing his sins and appealing to the ones who paid him off, he should have confessed his sins and believed in the one he had betrayed. Judas should have gone to Christ. Even though Christ was in that position because of Judas, Jesus was in that position for Judas as well. And Jesus would have loved to see him come back! He would have accepted him with open arms and would have given Judas the forgiveness he so desperately needed. But unfortunately Judas didn’t see that as an option. And this disciple regrettably hung himself for his sins just hours before Jesus hung on the cross for those very same sins.
It is human nature to try to fix a problem by ourselves - especially the problem of sin. There are times when we may look back into our past and still feel a little bit guilty about all those sinful things we did in years one by. And prompted by our uneasy conscience we try to make up for it now by being a little nicer, by helping out a little more, by walking the “straight and narrow” a little more faithfully. And it doesn’t cross our minds that we should fall at the feet of our Savior, take our sins to his cross, and ask for his forgiveness again and again and again. We know that Jesus died for our sins, of course, but when that guilt is still lingering after so many years we think that we need to do something ourselves to get rid of that nagging shame so that we can somehow feel better.
But that’s exactly what Judas tried to do! He tried to make things better by doing something himself. He first of all tried to reverse the decision of the chief priests and the elders - which was the right thing to do. And then he returned the money that he never should have taken in the first place - which was also a commendable action. But he did not take his sins off his shoulders and put them on the shoulders of Christ. He did not take the innocent blood with which his hands were stained and wash it off in that same innocent blood of the cross. Judas did not go to Christ. And so Judas died without Christ. And Jesus died without him.
Jesus was murdered probably just a few hours after Judas committed suicide. A lone hanging happened unnoticed on the south side of the city at almost the exact same time Jesus was marching out to a very public crucifixion on the north side. If Judas would have only known that Jesus’ blood on that cross would forgive his sin of betraying Jesus’ innocent blood! But it was a ransom price that Judas would never enjoy. If Judas would have only known that Jesus’ blood would buy life for him later that afternoon, but Judas would be dead by the time it happened. It is a sad story of a fallen disciple, but it is a wonderful story for us.
And it’s a wonderful story for us because this blood-money really was blood-money! These coins led to Jesus pouring out his blood on the cross! These 30 pieces of silver made it possible for our sins to be forgiven! And so because of how the Lord used Judas’ greed and the chief priests’ hate, because of how the Lord took sin and worked it out for our good, now all of our offenses, all of our mistakes, all of our errors, all of our guilt, and all of our shame have been drowned in the innocent blood of Christ. Your conscience does not have to bother you again. The weight on your shoulders has been lifted! The chains on your ankles have been shattered! The dark clouds over your head have been parted! The noose is no longer around your neck! You do not have to grieve like Judas and you do not have to die like Judas because you know what Jesus’ death accomplished later that afternoon. You know that he bought you life with his blood. And you know that you will live with him forever.
Amen.
“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” - 1 Cor. 15:55-56
We have before us one of the most depressing endings to one of the most tragic figures in all of Scripture tonight. There seems to be nothing positive that one could say about this story because it is filled with such heart-breaking sorrow and irreversible mistakes. It is the account of the guilt-induced misery and the unfortunate suicide of Judas Iscariot. And it is sad. It’s awful. It’s so depressing that it’s almost uncomfortable to talk about. But even here in the midst of this appalling situation of betrayal and guilt and despair, we can still find Christ. Because although Judas could see no way out but death for what he had done, the blood he betrayed actually bought life.
1Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people came to the decision to put Jesus to death. 2They bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate, the governor. 3When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. 4"I have sinned," he said, "for I have betrayed innocent blood." "What is that to us?" they replied. "That's your responsibility." 5So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself. 6The chief priests picked up the coins and said, "It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money." 7So they decided to use the money to buy the potter's field as a burial place for foreigners. 8That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day.
No one wanted the money. That’s the ironic part of this sad story. In the end no one wanted the blood-money that was paid for Jesus’ betrayal. Judas himself, the one who regularly stole money from the disciples’ treasury, the one who once rebuked a woman for pouring perfume on Jesus’ feet because he wanted to keep the profits from the sale of that perfume for himself, the one who sold out his Lord for a chance to fill his pockets, threw those 30 pieces of silver on the floor of the temple in disgust after he realized what he had done. And the chief priests and the elders, leaders of the people who loved to see large amounts of money put in the collection plate, some of whom were Pharisees that Scripture says loved money and valued their expensive robes, didn’t want to touch these coins. They didn’t even think that God himself would want this money because it had been used in a corrupt and sinful way - even though they had a hand in the whole ordeal! And so they used this money to buy a section of ground near Jerusalem in which foreigners could be buried. This graveyard soon became known as the Field of Blood because Judas had used the money to betray the innocent blood of Christ.
Those 30 silver coins that nobody seemed to want certainly made a life and death impact on the events of the day. They led to Jesus’ death and supplied for the deaths of others. But they also supplied Jesus with the opportunity to buy life for all people through his blood. This “blood money” is literally the “price of blood.” And this price of blood that bought death led to the price of blood that bought life. It’s a shame that Judas didn’t understand that.
I almost feel sorry for Judas in a way. Yes, he betrayed my Savior and sold him out because of his greed - and I despise Judas for that. But he seems so pitiful and vulnerable here that I have a hard time hating him. Because in this story he truly regretted what he had done, he felt tremendous sorrow because of his sins; he felt so bad that he even hung himself in despair. Judas doesn’t seem like such a bad guy in the end. He seems more like a man who made an awful, awful mistake and just couldn’t find his way out. A sinner whose conscience bothered him so much that he didn’t know what to do to fix the problem. He tried to fix it, of course! He ran back to those who had given him the money and confessed his sins. He admitted that he was not only guilty, but that Jesus himself was innocent. And after the chief priests and the elders told him that they didn’t care about his sudden moral dilemma, he tossed the coins on the floor in a vain attempt to rid himself of the dirty money he had accepted to the Lord’s detriment. But his desperate plea to the chief priests to make things right and the immediate return of the 30 pieces of silver did nothing to soothe his guilt; it did nothing to fix the problem. Instead of throwing the coins at the feet of the elders, he should have thrown himself at the feet of Christ. Instead of confessing his sins and appealing to the ones who paid him off, he should have confessed his sins and believed in the one he had betrayed. Judas should have gone to Christ. Even though Christ was in that position because of Judas, Jesus was in that position for Judas as well. And Jesus would have loved to see him come back! He would have accepted him with open arms and would have given Judas the forgiveness he so desperately needed. But unfortunately Judas didn’t see that as an option. And this disciple regrettably hung himself for his sins just hours before Jesus hung on the cross for those very same sins.
It is human nature to try to fix a problem by ourselves - especially the problem of sin. There are times when we may look back into our past and still feel a little bit guilty about all those sinful things we did in years one by. And prompted by our uneasy conscience we try to make up for it now by being a little nicer, by helping out a little more, by walking the “straight and narrow” a little more faithfully. And it doesn’t cross our minds that we should fall at the feet of our Savior, take our sins to his cross, and ask for his forgiveness again and again and again. We know that Jesus died for our sins, of course, but when that guilt is still lingering after so many years we think that we need to do something ourselves to get rid of that nagging shame so that we can somehow feel better.
But that’s exactly what Judas tried to do! He tried to make things better by doing something himself. He first of all tried to reverse the decision of the chief priests and the elders - which was the right thing to do. And then he returned the money that he never should have taken in the first place - which was also a commendable action. But he did not take his sins off his shoulders and put them on the shoulders of Christ. He did not take the innocent blood with which his hands were stained and wash it off in that same innocent blood of the cross. Judas did not go to Christ. And so Judas died without Christ. And Jesus died without him.
Jesus was murdered probably just a few hours after Judas committed suicide. A lone hanging happened unnoticed on the south side of the city at almost the exact same time Jesus was marching out to a very public crucifixion on the north side. If Judas would have only known that Jesus’ blood on that cross would forgive his sin of betraying Jesus’ innocent blood! But it was a ransom price that Judas would never enjoy. If Judas would have only known that Jesus’ blood would buy life for him later that afternoon, but Judas would be dead by the time it happened. It is a sad story of a fallen disciple, but it is a wonderful story for us.
And it’s a wonderful story for us because this blood-money really was blood-money! These coins led to Jesus pouring out his blood on the cross! These 30 pieces of silver made it possible for our sins to be forgiven! And so because of how the Lord used Judas’ greed and the chief priests’ hate, because of how the Lord took sin and worked it out for our good, now all of our offenses, all of our mistakes, all of our errors, all of our guilt, and all of our shame have been drowned in the innocent blood of Christ. Your conscience does not have to bother you again. The weight on your shoulders has been lifted! The chains on your ankles have been shattered! The dark clouds over your head have been parted! The noose is no longer around your neck! You do not have to grieve like Judas and you do not have to die like Judas because you know what Jesus’ death accomplished later that afternoon. You know that he bought you life with his blood. And you know that you will live with him forever.
Amen.
“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” - 1 Cor. 15:55-56
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