The Load of Sin
Was the Heaviest
Christ
carried everything for us. During these
past six weeks of the season of Lent we have talked about how Christ carried
rejection for us, pain, hatred, loneliness, injustice, and guilt. Last night we looked at how Jesus carried
sorrow for us in the Garden of Gethsemane.
And tonight we once again focus our attention on something that Jesus
carried on our behalf. But tonight what
Jesus took on his shoulders is far more devastating and a whole lot heavier
than anything we have talked about so far.
In fact, there is really no comparison.
Because tonight he carries our sins.
That is
something difficult to picture in our minds though, isn’t it? How do we comprehend Jesus carrying our
sins? Even the movie “The Passion of the
Christ” doesn’t cover that topic. I know
that most of you have seen that movie about the suffering Jesus had to undergo
at the hands of his enemies during the last hours of his life. And it’s brutal, isn’t it? It’s bloody and gory and horrifying. In fact, it’s so graphic that you might not
even like watching it. The beating that
Jesus received and the scourging and the crowning… it’s not a pleasant thing to
think about your Savior having to go through.
But no matter how bad that physical torture was for him, no matter how
excruciating the suffering Jesus experienced in those hours, no matter how
heavy that cross was on his back as he trudged up the hill of Calvary, it was
nothing compared to the sins he would carry while he hung on that cross.
That
movie just touches the tip of the iceberg.
It certainly shows some very explicit scenes of Jesus’ suffering, but
that isn’t even close to the kind of pain Jesus underwent in the end. Because the pain Jesus carried for us in the
end was the punishment for sins of all people of all time on the cross; and that
eternal sentence poured out on him by his own Father completely overwhelmed any
cut or bruise or puncture leading up to it.
And how do we know it was that bad?
We know because of what Jesus said while he was hanging there on the
cross: From the sixth hour until the
ninth hour darkness came over all the land.
About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi,
lama sabachthani?”—which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Jesus hadn’t
cried out in pain when the Jewish leaders blindfolded him and struck him in the
face. Jesus hadn’t cried out in agony
when the Roman soldiers tortured him.
Jesus hadn’t even cried out in terror when being nailed to the
cross. But once on the cross and after
hanging there for hours, only then did Jesus cry out in misery: “My God, my
God, why have you forsaken me?” Because
that is when he truly suffered. That is
when he really went through something that no one else could. That was the point he was carrying our sins. The punches and the beatings and the scourges
and the nails certainly wasn’t pleasant; but they were nothing compared to the
wrath of his Father.
Wrath is
what his Father had promised after all.
God promised that every sin had to be punished, every sin had to be
accounted for, every sin deserved an eternal torture in hell. And if Jesus was going to take our place, if
Jesus really wanted to be our substitute, then the punishment was his too. And so his Father left him on the cross. His Father abandoned him in his darkest hour. His Father turned his back on the Son he
loved so that Jesus was forced to suffer the eternal torments of hell for every
single sin ever committed all within the span of a few hours. And so does it surprise you that Jesus cried
out: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” at that point? We may know pain; we may know misery; we may
know what it’s like to go through some intense suffering for a long period of
time, but when we consider the wrath of God that Jesus went through because of
what we deserved, there is no comparison.
This Act of
Love was the Greatest
There is
no comparison to what happened on Good Friday.
Not only because of what Christ carried for us, but also because of the
extent of his love.
Now there
are plenty of ways that great amounts of love are shown by people to others in
this world. A husband and wife exchange
rings on their wedding day as symbols of their life-long love; heart-felt gifts
are given at various times for various reasons; kind words are said; time is
spent; efforts are made to express love for another. But rarely are those actions of love
self-sacrificing. On occasion you will
hear of a woman spending every last ounce of energy and every last second of time
and every last penny in their savings account just to care for her dying
husband; that’s a self-sacrificing kind of love in a way. Every once in a while you might hear of a
relative offering one of their kidneys to a family member who needs a transplant;
that’s a self-sacrificing kind of love in a way. Every once in a while you will hear of a
fireman or a soldier or an ordinary citizen who puts their life on the line to
save the life of someone else; that’s a self-sacrificing kind of love in way
too. But when you consider the
self-sacrificing kind of love that Jesus showed to us, there is no comparison.
Because
think of what he did: he hung on that cross and carried those sins not only for
those who loved him, but for those who hated him. He hung on that cross and carried those sins
not for those who had earned it, but for those who didn’t even know him yet. He hung on that cross and carried those sins
not for those who had done something for him, but for those who had not done a
thing and could not and would not - including us. Jesus went into it knowing that the pain
would be more intense than anything any person would ever have to experience;
and he did it anyway. Jesus went into it
knowing that most people would despise him for what he would do; and he did it
anyway. Jesus went into it knowing that
he didn’t have to do it; and he did it anyway.
Jesus was willing to put himself into the eternal torture chambers of
hell - the place he prepared for those who disobeyed him - so that those who
disobeyed him wouldn’t have to go there!
Try to wrap your mind around that act of love... Do you realize what Jesus gave up for
you? Do you realize the sacrifice he
made for you? Do you realize how much
Jesus loved you and how much he still does?
We talk
about Jesus’ suffering and death every Sunday.
We go back to his crucifixion and his sacrifice every single week to be
reassured of our forgiveness. But there
is no comparison to tonight. There is no
comparison to the day on which our Savior died.
There is no comparison to the afternoon he carried our sins. There is no comparison to the hour in which
he was buried. There is no comparison to
the very moment of our forgiveness.
There is no comparison to Good Friday because there is no comparison to
this single act of love.
But this
night will pass. Morning will come. Weeks will roll by. And if the Lord allows it: spring will turn
to summer, summer to fall, fall to winter, and another year will come and go just
like they always do. And you will have
ups and downs. You will have moments of
joy and periods of sorrow. You will
undoubtedly go through a range of emotions and a spectrum of experiences just
like everyone does. But no matter what
happens - no matter how bad, no matter how good - Good Friday is the most
important night in your life. Because
this night was the lowest point in the life of Christ, which means it is the
highest point in yours. This is it. This night changes everything. It is the night Jesus carried your sins. It is the night he showed you the full extent
of his love. This is the night of your
forgiveness. And there is no comparison.
Amen.
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