Entering A New World Of Excruciation
Introduction
We have been looking in our Sunday morning services at some of the various texts of transition that we find in the Bible. These transitional situations all involve the idea of changing worlds, of moving from one arena to another. I've been building on something that I heard a preacher say some years ago. The statement that he made was this: "Whenever you come to water in the Bible, there is a changing of worlds." And we find several transitional situations in the Bible based on that criteria.
We waded into the waters of the Jordan River in John 3, where there was a transition that was taking place as Jesus' public ministry began to gain popularity while the ministry of John the Baptist was moving towards increased obscurity and increased opposition with Herod. And our subject was "Entering A New World Of Experience." We watched the watery mass of creation in Genesis 1 where the Spirit of God moved and God spoke and transitioned and transformed darkness into light, and disorder into logic, and destitution into life. We likened this process to salvation, and our subject was "Entering A New World Of Existence." Last week we went with Isaac and dug some wells and found water in the desert, and our subject was "Entering A New World Of Excavation."
As we begin in John 18:1 today, I want us to follow Jesus and His disciples as "He went forth with His disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which He entered, and His disciples." And this journey that would lead into Gethsemane, would ultimately lead to the cross at Calvary. And so Jesus is "Entering A New World Of Excruciation."
Now the word "Excruciate" means, "to cause great agony or torment." It is from the Latin: ex: meaning "out of," or "from," and cruciate: meaning "cross." So "Excruciate" literally means "From the cross," and it would primarily refer to the great agony or torment that came from the cross. And that is the world that Jesus is crossing into as He crosses over the brook Cedron. He is advancing towards agony. He is traveling towards torment. He is crossing over into the world of the cross.
This morning, we celebrate Easter and the message of the gospel, that is, "how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). And as we celebrate these truths, we are confronted by some transitions. Of course, there is a lot of crossing over into new worlds as far as Jesus is concerned. But this morning, I want to highlight the fact that.
- Jesus Crossed Over Into Our Humanity
He experienced a human birth. He was "born of water" as He described the human birth in John 3:5. As one songwriter put it, "We always knew men went to Heaven, but now God had come to earth." I would further highlight the fact that...
- Jesus Crossed Over Into Our Hell
Years ago, Dr. Harold Sightler preached a message entitled "Calvary: The Sinner's Hell In Review." And as he asserted in that message, we see very clearly that everything that Jesus suffered upon the cross is what you and I would have suffered in Hell. Another songwriter described it like this: "None of the ransomed ever knew how deep were the waters crossed, nor how dark was the night that the Lord passed through ere He found His sheep that was lost." I also want to highlight the fact that...
- Jesus Crossed Over Into Our Hope
Robert Lowry wrote these wonderful words...
"Low in the grave He lay,
Jesus my Savior,
Waiting the coming day,
Jesus my Lord!
Up from the grave He arose,
With a mighty triumph o'er His foes,
He arose a Victor from the dark domain;
And He lives forever, with His saints to reign.
He arose! He arose!
Hallelujah! Christ arose!"
And when He arose, our Hope was resurrected with Him. First, let's notice that...
I. He Crossed Over Into Our Humanity
(John 1:14) "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."
A. Notice His Identity
"...And the Word..."
1.Jesus Is The Divine Essence - He Is The Creative Word
(John 1:1-5) "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. {2} The same was in the beginning with God. {3} All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. {4} In him was life; and the life was the light of men. {5} And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not."
2. Jesus Is The Divine Expression - He Is The Communicated Word
He was not just some Word on a cosmic billboard to be admired from afar. No, He was the Word articulated, the Word spoken to mankind. It was a Word "full of grace and truth."
(John 1:14) "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."
It was a Word that "declared" God.
(John 1:18) "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him."
B. Notice His Incarnation
"...the Word was made flesh..."
1. We See The Supernatural Here
(John 1:14) "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."
"made" - Greek 1096. ginomai, a primary verb; meaning to cause to be ("gen"-erate), to become (come into being).
(Luke 1:34-37) "Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? {35} And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. {36} And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. {37} For with God nothing shall be impossible."
2. We See The Submission Here
(Galatians 4:4-5) "But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, {5} To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons."
Here is the same Greek term ginomai. He submitted Himself to the mission of incarnation (to redeem them that were under the law), to the mode of incarnation (made of a woman), and to the meekness of the incarnation (made under the law).
C. Notice His Identification
"...the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us..."
1. He Identified With Us In Our Dwelling Places
"dwelt" - Greek 4637. skenoo, skay-no'-o; from G4636; to tent or encamp, i.e. (fig.) to occupy (as a mansion) or (spec.) to reside (as God did in the Tabernacle of old, a symbol of protection and communion):--dwell.
Literally, this means that He tabernacled among us. He was a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, leading His followers through the wilderness of life.
The idea is that He got down to where we live. Consider the following situation as an example...
(Luke 5:27-31) "And after these things he went forth, and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he said unto him, Follow me. {28} And he left all, rose up, and followed him.
{29} And Levi made him a great feast in his own house: and there was a great company of publicans and of others that sat down with them. {30} But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners? {31} And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick."
2. He Identified With Us In Our Dark Places
(John 18:1) "When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples."
Cedron - Greek 2748. Kedron, ked-rone'; of Heb. or. [H6939]; Cedron (i.e. Kidron), a brook near Jerus.:--Cedron.
6939. Qidrown, kid-rone'; from H6937; dusky place; Kidron, a brook near Jerusalem:--Kidron.
6937. qadar, kaw-dar'; a prim. root; to be ashy, i.e. dark-colored; by implication it means to mourn (in sackcloth or sordid garments):--be black (-ish), be (make) dark (-en), X heavily, (cause to) mourn.
(Isaiah 53:12) "Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."
(Mark 15:27-28) "And with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left. {28} And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors."
There was no Mount Olympus where the Divine One hovered above us. There was a Mt. Calvary where he hung for us.
Next, let's notice that...
II. He Crossed Over Into Our Hell
Here in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus mentioned "the cup" several times. He said, "The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?" (John 18:11). As He prayed in the garden, He said, "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt ... He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done" (Matthew 26:38 & 42).
The Barnes' Notes Commentary says that "the cup" referred to "these bitter sufferings, these approaching trials. The word cup is often used in this sense, denoting sufferings. To drink of a cup, in the Scriptures, often (has the idea of being) afflicted, or punished. The figure is taken from a feast, where the master of a feast extends a cup to those present. Thus God is represented as extending to his Son a cup filled with a bitter mixture - one causing deep sufferings.
A. As He Drank This Cup, He Tasted Of Our Defilement
Let's Notice The Awful Process Of What Happened Here
(Matthew 26:36-38) "Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. {37} And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. {38} Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me."
"sorrowful" - Greek 3076. lupeo, means to distress; to be sad: --cause grief, grieve, be in heaviness, (be) sorrow (-ful), be (make) sorry.
"very heavy" - Greek 85. ademoneo, from a derivative of adeo, (to be full to the point of loathing); to be in distress (of mind): --be full of heaviness, be very heavy.
It almost suggests that as He drank of this bitter cup, He has had His fill of it. What is happening here that causes Him such sorrow, and grief, and heaviness of spirit? God is making Him to be sin for us...
(2 Corinthians 5:21) "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."
2. Let's Notice The Ancient Parallel Of What Happened Here
(Leviticus 16:21-22) "And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: {22} And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness."
In Gethsemane, God is speaking our sins upon the head of His Son, and He bears all our iniquities unto a land not inhabited. As this takes place, He who knew no sin (who had never known the bliss and pleasure of sin) begins to feel the burden and pain of sin. He begins to feel the burden of my lifetime of sin, and the burden of your lifetime of sin. He drinks the dregs of our defilement. Is it any wonder that He began to be "very heavy" and full of this bitter brew?
B. As He Drank This Cup, He Tasted Of Our Damnation
"Truly, Calvary was The Sinner's Hell In Review. As He went from Gethsemane to Golgotha, we see very clearly that everything that Jesus suffered upon the cross is what you and I would have suffered in Hell."
We believe in the "vicarious" suffering and death of Christ, and the word "vicarious" means that which is felt or endured or done by one person substituting for another. It has the idea of acting or serving in place of someone else as a substitute. Jesus was my substitute. He suffered and died in my place.
1. Let's Consider The Pains Of Calvary (Of The Hill)
- Notice The Torments Of The Hill
(John 19:16-18) "Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away. {17} And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: {18} Where they crucified him, and two others with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst."
Without getting into a lot of graphic physical and medical description concerning crucifixion, let me just read the words of Joe Zias who wrote:
Undoubtedly, one of the cruelest and most humiliating forms of punishment in the ancient world was, according to ancient sources, crucifixion. The Jewish historian Josephus best described it following the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 66-70 as "the most wretched of deaths."
(Joe Zias - http://www.uncc.edu/jdtabor/crucifixion.html)
- Notice The Thirst Of The Hill
(John 19:28) "After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst."
- Notice The Tragedy Of The Hill
(Matthew 27:46) "And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
- Notice The Travail Of The Hill
(Isaiah 53:11) "He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities."
2. Let's Consider The Pains Of Condemnation (Of Hell)
Luke 16:19-31
- Notice The Torments Of Hell----vs. 23
- Notice The Thirst Of Hell----vs. 24
- Notice The Tragedy Of Hell----(A Total Separation From God)----vs. 26
- Notice The Travail Of Hell----vs. 27-30
Somehow in those few hours upon Calvary, Jesus suffered the concentrated, compounded pains of my hell and your hell.
C. As He Drank This Cup, He Tasted Of Our Death
What was in this cup that Christ drank of? It was the burdensome taste of defilement, it was the blazing taste of damnation, it was the bitter taste of death.
(Hebrews 2:9) "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man."
1. He Descended For The Purpose Of Death
"...made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death..." This was His purpose in coming. He was born to die.
2. He Drank Of The Poison Of Death
"...that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man..."
(John 18:11) "Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?"
The extended cup was not only seen in a feast or a party, but it might have also been seen in punishment.
Adam Clarke said...
The word cup is frequently used in the Sacred Writings to point out sorrow, anguish, terror, death. It seems to be an allusion to a very ancient method of punishing criminals. A cup of poison was put into their hands, and they were obliged to drink it. Socrates was killed thus, being obliged by the magistrates of Athens to drink a cup of the juice of hemlock. There seems an allusion to death by the poisoned cup in Hebrews 2:9, as Jesus TASTED death for every man. The whole world are here represented as standing guilty and condemned before the tribunal of God; into every man's hand the deadly cup is put, and he is required to drink off the poison - Jesus enters, takes every man's cup out of his hand, and drinks off the poison, and thus tastes or suffers the death which every man otherwise must have undergone.
And I might add that He drank the undiluted poison of death...
(Matthew 27:34) They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.
This mixture was meant to deaden the senses, to relieve the suffering. But he refused it, choosing instead to drink deeply from the cup of 100 proof death.
(Matthew 20:20-23) "Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him. {21} And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom. {22} But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able. {23} And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father."
Certainly, the sons of Zebedee drank and we will all have to drink of the cup of death, but Christ drank the poison.
(1 Corinthians 15:55) "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" The word "sting" figuratively means poison. Death, where is thy poison?
Socrates' Uncertainty
Four hundred years before the birth of Christ, Socrates, the renowned Greek Philosopher, drank the poison hemlock and lay down to die.
"Shall we live again?" his friends asked. The dying philosopher could only reply, "I hope so, but no man can know." - Gospel Herald
Oh Socrates, how foolish you were! One man knew, long before his death, that He would live again.
(John 2:19-22) "Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. {20} Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? {21} But he spake of the temple of his body. {22} When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said."
And in John 14:19, Jesus said, "Because I live, ye shall live also." When He rose again, He crossed over into our hope.
I said "HOPE," not "hype." The world thinks that the resurrection of Jesus is a bunch of hype, but for us it is hope.
So, let's notice that...
III. He Crossed Over Into Our Hope
1 Corinthians 15
Famous Tombs Versus Empty Tomb
The pyramids of Egypt are famous because they contain the mummified bodies of ancient Egyptian kings. Westminster Abbey in London is renowned, because in it rest the bodies of English nobles and notables. Mohammed's tomb is noted for the stone coffin and the bones which it contains.
Arlington Cemetery in Washington, DC, is revered, for it is the honored resting place of many outstanding Americans.
There is, however, all the difference in the world between the tomb of Christ and these places which we have just mentioned. They are famous and draw visitors from afar because of what they contain; while the Garden Tomb is famous because it is empty. - Christian Victory
A. Because He Lives, We Have Hope Concerning Our Guilt There Is Victory For Our Faith
1. Paul Said That The Resurrection Of Jesus Has To Be A Received Message
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
2. Paul Said That The Resurrection Of Jesus Has To Be A Real Message
1 Corinthians 15:12-22
He said if it's not real, then our preaching and faith are vain (vs. 14), which means empty. So there is either an empty tomb or an empty truth.
B. Because He Lives, We Have Hope Concerning Our Grave There Is Victory Over Our Finality
Joel Pankow says, "I have heard that possums are smart animals. You wouldn't think so because
you hardly ever see one except when it's dead on the road. There's a joke that goes, 'Why did the chicken cross the road? To prove to the possum that it could be done!' "But possums, it turns out, are smart. They won't enter a hole if there's just one set of tracks going into it. They know there's something in there. But if there are two sets of tracks (one set going in and another set coming out), the possum will enter and not be afraid.
"The message of Easter is that we can enter the grave - we don't have to fear death because there are tracks leading out of the tomb. Paul preached the proclamation of Easter... (1 Corinthians 15:55-
57) O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? {56} The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. {57} But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the message that we need to hear this Easter! Jesus is risen!" (www.sermoncentral.com)
1. There Is Going To Be A Transformation At The Grave
1 Corinthians 15:51-53
2. There Is Going To Be A Triumph At The Grave
1 Corinthians 15:54-57
C. Because He Lives, We Have Hope Concerning Our Glory There Is Victory For Our Future
1. Paul Said That There Is A Dying Process - 1 Corinthians 15:35-37,42-44
An April 5 story from Scripps Howard News Service says that a month ago, the Scripps Survey Research Center at Ohio University interviewed 1,007 adults and asked them this question: "Do you believe that, after you die, your physical body will be resurrected someday?" "Only 36 percent said 'yes' to the question. Fifty-four percent said they do not believe and 10 percent were undecided."
(http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfmaction=detail&pk=RESURRECTION-04-05-06) But believe it or not...
2. Paul Said That There Is A Dynamic Process - 1 Corinthians 15:45-49
Conclusion
"Because He Lives"
In the late 1960s, while expecting their third child, Bill and Gloria Gaither were going through a rather traumatic time in their lives. Bill was recovering his strength from a bout with mononucleosis. They, along with their church, were the objects of accusation and belittlement. Gloria was experiencing a time of torment, including fear of the future and of bringing children into such a crazy, mixed-up world.
As Gloria sat alone in a darkened living room, tormented, and fearful, the Lord sent a calm and peaceful rest to her. The power of the resurrection of Christ seemed to affirm itself in their lives once again. Gloria remembers the realization that "it was LIFE conquering death in the regularity of my day." The joy seemed to overcome and take precedent over frightening human circumstances.
And the song "Because he lives" came out of their personal bout with darkness: Because He lives I can face tomorrow!
Because He lives All fear is gone!
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living JUST BECAUSE HE LIVES!