Come to LIFE this Easter Friday

Speaker: Chris Jones

Date: 2nd April 2015

00:00:00 --> 00:00:03 a person with malicious and malevolent intent
00:00:03 --> 00:00:06 drove an aircraft at speed into the ground.
00:00:07 --> 00:00:09 There was no hope of survival.
00:00:10 --> 00:00:12 He calmly ended his own life.
00:00:13 --> 00:00:18 He killed 149 other random people who got dressed that morning
00:00:18 --> 00:00:21 and boarded an aircraft that he was responsible to fly.
00:00:22 --> 00:00:27 He ignored the impassioned pleading and demands of the captain
00:00:27 --> 00:00:29 who was trying to rescue the situation.
00:00:30 --> 00:00:34 He turned a deaf ear to the terrified screams of his passengers.
00:00:36 --> 00:00:39 It was an act of unspeakable evil.
00:00:40 --> 00:00:43 It was conceived in the mind of a person.
00:00:44 --> 00:00:48 It was enacted with callous disregard for anybody else.
00:00:50 --> 00:00:54 And I don't think it sits easily with us as human beings this morning
00:00:54 --> 00:00:57 that another human being would carry out such wickedness.
00:00:57 --> 00:01:03 What a horror that another person would disregard your life or mine.
00:01:06 --> 00:01:08 Today is Good Friday.
00:01:09 --> 00:01:16 We've just read John's account of the trial, crucifixion and burial of Jesus Christ.
00:01:16 --> 00:01:22 The ultimate expression of human evil.
00:01:23 --> 00:01:27 And the scale of the act is defined by who the victim is.
00:01:27 --> 00:01:32 So if I was killed by a Viking gang bullet in Chatswood in the next couple of days,
00:01:33 --> 00:01:34 and may that not be true,
00:01:35 --> 00:01:39 it would be newsworthy for a couple of days, maybe even a week.
00:01:40 --> 00:01:43 If it happened to Tony Abbott, it would be newsworthy for years.
00:01:45 --> 00:01:51 If it did happen to Jesus, and his death still matters this morning because of who he is.
00:01:51 --> 00:01:59 John 19 verse 7 tells us that people want him dead because he made himself the son of God.
00:02:02 --> 00:02:04 His accusers are certain that Jesus was an imposter.
00:02:05 --> 00:02:07 John tells us he is no imposter.
00:02:08 --> 00:02:09 He is God in the flesh.
00:02:09 --> 00:02:10 He is the real deal.
00:02:11 --> 00:02:16 When you read John's gospel, you don't read every bit of gore that the other gospels reveal.
00:02:16 --> 00:02:23 He tells us enough to reveal an act of unspeakable evil is being carried out.
00:02:24 --> 00:02:28 A plan which is conceived in the hearts of the religious aristocracy, the God-men,
00:02:29 --> 00:02:32 the men who controlled the temple and the worship of God's people.
00:02:34 --> 00:02:41 And John lays out a series of carefully chosen signs to prove that Jesus is the son of God.
00:02:41 --> 00:03:05 The religious leaders have all seen those signs, and they have drawn their own conclusions.
00:03:05 --> 00:03:12 And after Jesus lovingly raised Lazarus to life, the leaders just could not cope.
00:03:12 --> 00:03:14 They went into meltdown.
00:03:14 --> 00:03:17 Their whole religious view of the world was threatened.
00:03:18 --> 00:03:20 And so they made a decision.
00:03:20 --> 00:03:22 We're going to kill Lazarus, and we're going to kill Jesus.
00:03:23 --> 00:03:27 In fact, Caiaphas, the high priest, said in John chapter 11,
00:03:27 --> 00:03:44 So the leaders determined that God's son would die.
00:03:44 --> 00:03:53 You almost need to be an alien, somebody from outside this world,
00:03:53 --> 00:03:57 to understand just how evil this act is.
00:03:59 --> 00:04:03 There's a story of an alien who came to Earth, and he landed in Sydney,
00:04:04 --> 00:04:08 and he talked to a young couple in Pitt Street Mall, trying to understand where he was.
00:04:09 --> 00:04:10 And he said to them,
00:04:10 --> 00:04:13 Tell me something special about planet Earth.
00:04:13 --> 00:04:15 And they said,
00:04:15 --> 00:04:18 Well, our cities emit so much light,
00:04:18 --> 00:04:20 they light up the sky,
00:04:20 --> 00:04:22 and they can be seen from the International Space Station.
00:04:24 --> 00:04:25 And the alien said,
00:04:26 --> 00:04:27 Well, I've just come from the Crab Nebula,
00:04:28 --> 00:04:33 which has a total luminosity of 75 times your sun.
00:04:37 --> 00:04:41 Well, we've got aircraft that can travel up to five times the speed of sound.
00:04:43 --> 00:04:49 I've just travelled 4.2 light years from Alpha Centauri in the last 10 minutes.
00:04:51 --> 00:04:54 Tell me something that's really special, that's different.
00:04:56 --> 00:04:59 And the couple stopped and they thought for a moment,
00:04:59 --> 00:05:05 the creator God of the universe came and visited us.
00:05:08 --> 00:05:11 And the alien was wide-eyed in amazement.
00:05:13 --> 00:05:15 We've never met our creator.
00:05:16 --> 00:05:17 What was he like?
00:05:18 --> 00:05:19 When did he come?
00:05:19 --> 00:05:20 What did he do?
00:05:20 --> 00:05:22 What's happened to him?
00:05:22 --> 00:05:28 And the Aussie couple dropped their eyes to the ground and they said,
00:05:29 --> 00:05:31 We killed him.
00:05:31 --> 00:05:43 The crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
00:05:43 --> 00:05:47 is the ultimate expression of human evil.
00:05:48 --> 00:05:52 It is an act where we are completely and utterly culpable
00:05:52 --> 00:05:57 and we have no defence and no one else to blame.
00:06:02 --> 00:06:06 But the really strange, if not amazing thing,
00:06:06 --> 00:06:08 is that despite our malevolence,
00:06:09 --> 00:06:12 God was achieving an act of unfathomable love.
00:06:12 --> 00:06:16 Jesus is never out of control.
00:06:17 --> 00:06:22 He voluntarily gave himself to God's mission in the Garden of Gethsemane.
00:06:22 --> 00:06:23 He knew the dread,
00:06:24 --> 00:06:28 but he also trusted his Father for the good that would be achieved.
00:06:30 --> 00:06:32 Father, take this cup from me,
00:06:32 --> 00:06:35 but not my will, but yours be done.
00:06:38 --> 00:06:40 And in the trial before Pilate,
00:06:40 --> 00:06:44 James has already said this morning,
00:06:44 --> 00:06:45 but Pilate says,
00:06:45 --> 00:06:47 Do you refuse to speak to me?
00:06:48 --> 00:06:52 Do you realise that I have power either to free you or to crucify you?
00:06:54 --> 00:06:56 And Jesus answered,
00:06:56 --> 00:07:00 You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.
00:07:04 --> 00:07:06 See, there is a much bigger play going on here
00:07:06 --> 00:07:09 than what is merely happening at a human level.
00:07:09 --> 00:07:13 These events have been anticipated for more than a thousand years.
00:07:14 --> 00:07:16 When the soldiers cast lots for Jesus' clothing,
00:07:16 --> 00:07:19 John sees that as the fulfilment of Psalm 22.
00:07:20 --> 00:07:23 When the soldiers pierced his side and didn't break his legs,
00:07:23 --> 00:07:28 John sees that as the fulfilment of Numbers 9 and Psalm 34,
00:07:28 --> 00:07:32 where the Passover lamb was not to have any of its bones broken.
00:07:32 --> 00:07:35 In verse 28,
00:07:35 --> 00:07:37 Jesus knew that everything was accomplished.
00:07:37 --> 00:07:41 He fulfilled Psalm 69 by receiving sour wine.
00:07:42 --> 00:07:44 And in Psalm 69, if you read that in detail,
00:07:44 --> 00:07:47 you see that the afflicted one is actually setting a table
00:07:47 --> 00:07:50 that will become a snare to his enemies.
00:07:53 --> 00:07:56 John is very careful not to say that Jesus died.
00:07:56 --> 00:07:59 Yes, he did die, but he's very careful not to say it.
00:07:59 --> 00:08:02 He tells us that he gave up his spirit.
00:08:03 --> 00:08:04 He relinquished his life.
00:08:04 --> 00:08:06 He yielded himself to death.
00:08:07 --> 00:08:08 Life was not taken from him.
00:08:09 --> 00:08:11 And even as he dies,
00:08:11 --> 00:08:14 he is exercising control over his circumstances.
00:08:14 --> 00:08:15 Seems ridiculous.
00:08:16 --> 00:08:18 A condemned man in control,
00:08:18 --> 00:08:19 even as he dies,
00:08:19 --> 00:08:21 and then he dies with this triumphant cry,
00:08:22 --> 00:08:22 it is finished.
00:08:26 --> 00:08:27 It's finished.
00:08:27 --> 00:08:28 I've run the race before me.
00:08:29 --> 00:08:29 Mission accomplished.
00:08:32 --> 00:08:33 And straight away,
00:08:33 --> 00:08:35 my mind goes back to John 12,
00:08:35 --> 00:08:36 where Jesus says,
00:08:36 --> 00:08:38 now is the time for judgment on this world,
00:08:39 --> 00:08:41 and now the prince of this world will be driven out,
00:08:41 --> 00:08:44 but I, when I am lifted up from the earth,
00:08:44 --> 00:08:46 will draw all people to myself.
00:08:46 --> 00:08:53 C.S. Lewis draws a dramatic picture of the crucifixion
00:08:53 --> 00:08:56 in the line, the witch, and the wardrobe.
00:08:56 --> 00:08:59 The hounds of hell and every baying creature of evil
00:08:59 --> 00:09:02 are salivating at the demise of the lion king, Aslan.
00:09:04 --> 00:09:07 And he humbly and nobly walks into their domain
00:09:07 --> 00:09:09 and into their abode.
00:09:09 --> 00:09:11 They scream for his blood.
00:09:12 --> 00:09:13 They go berserk with joy
00:09:13 --> 00:09:16 as the wicked queen drives a dagger into his heart.
00:09:16 --> 00:09:21 And at the very moment
00:09:21 --> 00:09:23 when evil seems to have totally triumphed,
00:09:24 --> 00:09:26 God wins a magnificent victory
00:09:27 --> 00:09:30 and evil does not even know that it is defeated.
00:09:37 --> 00:09:40 Now is the time for judgment on this world.
00:09:40 --> 00:09:43 Now the prince of this world will be driven out,
00:09:43 --> 00:09:45 but I, when I am lifted up from the earth,
00:09:46 --> 00:09:47 will draw all people to myself.
00:09:51 --> 00:09:54 The crucifixion of Jesus is a divine drama
00:09:54 --> 00:09:56 which is played out in a heavenly realm.
00:09:58 --> 00:10:00 Satan throws every bit of malevolence
00:10:00 --> 00:10:01 that he can muster at God,
00:10:01 --> 00:10:04 and God stares him down
00:10:04 --> 00:10:09 and he responds with the most amazing sacrificial love.
00:10:09 --> 00:10:11 He trumps evil with love.
00:10:11 --> 00:10:16 So this is not cosmic child abuse.
00:10:16 --> 00:10:18 This is God, the Son,
00:10:18 --> 00:10:19 stepping up to the mark
00:10:19 --> 00:10:22 and ripping Satan's domain away from him
00:10:22 --> 00:10:23 with great power.
00:10:25 --> 00:10:27 And our great enemy's sin and death
00:10:27 --> 00:10:28 totally defeated,
00:10:29 --> 00:10:30 conquered in such a way
00:10:30 --> 00:10:31 that we can be forgiven
00:10:31 --> 00:10:33 and safe with Jesus forever
00:10:33 --> 00:10:34 and ever and ever.
00:10:34 --> 00:10:39 John told us near the beginning
00:10:39 --> 00:10:40 what this was all about.
00:10:41 --> 00:10:42 John 3.16,
00:10:42 --> 00:10:43 For God so loved the world
00:10:43 --> 00:10:46 that he gave his one and only Son
00:10:46 --> 00:10:48 that whoever believes in him
00:10:48 --> 00:10:51 would not perish but have eternal life.
00:10:54 --> 00:10:57 The mission of God is driven by his love for us.
00:10:59 --> 00:11:00 Jesus went to his death
00:11:00 --> 00:11:02 trusting his Father for victory.
00:11:02 --> 00:11:04 When he raised Lazarus,
00:11:05 --> 00:11:05 he said,
00:11:06 --> 00:11:08 I am the resurrection and the life.
00:11:08 --> 00:11:10 Whoever believes in me will live
00:11:10 --> 00:11:12 even though he dies
00:11:12 --> 00:11:14 and whoever lives and believes in me
00:11:14 --> 00:11:15 will never die.
00:11:21 --> 00:11:22 This great drama,
00:11:23 --> 00:11:24 the crucifixion of Jesus,
00:11:25 --> 00:11:27 is a very personal expression
00:11:27 --> 00:11:29 of God's love for you
00:11:29 --> 00:11:30 and also for me.
00:11:32 --> 00:11:34 Hopefully,
00:11:34 --> 00:11:36 none of us will ever do anything
00:11:36 --> 00:11:38 as unspeakably evil
00:11:38 --> 00:11:40 as the German pilot did last week.
00:11:44 --> 00:11:46 But evil is still personal
00:11:46 --> 00:11:48 and it's at hand in all of us
00:11:48 --> 00:11:50 and it's seen any time
00:11:50 --> 00:11:51 that we say to God,
00:11:52 --> 00:11:53 stay out of my life,
00:11:53 --> 00:11:56 it becomes an expression
00:11:56 --> 00:11:58 of rejecting our creator.
00:11:58 --> 00:12:00 it is ultimately an expression of evil.
00:12:03 --> 00:12:04 Leave me alone.
00:12:04 --> 00:12:06 I don't want God interfering
00:12:06 --> 00:12:07 in my relationships.
00:12:08 --> 00:12:09 Leave me alone.
00:12:09 --> 00:12:11 I have my own plan.
00:12:12 --> 00:12:13 Leave me alone.
00:12:13 --> 00:12:15 I don't want to say sorry to anybody
00:12:15 --> 00:12:16 even though I know I've hurt them.
00:12:18 --> 00:12:18 Leave me alone.
00:12:18 --> 00:12:19 It's my wealth.
00:12:19 --> 00:12:20 Leave me alone.
00:12:20 --> 00:12:21 They're my possessions.
00:12:21 --> 00:12:29 It's a remarkable end to John 19.
00:12:29 --> 00:12:31 The resurrection hasn't yet happened.
00:12:31 --> 00:12:32 Come back on Sunday.
00:12:33 --> 00:12:34 But there's great grief
00:12:34 --> 00:12:36 and there is devastation
00:12:36 --> 00:12:37 for Jesus' followers.
00:12:38 --> 00:12:39 They can't see the end game yet.
00:12:40 --> 00:12:40 We can.
00:12:42 --> 00:12:43 But two believers come forward,
00:12:43 --> 00:12:45 Joseph of Arimathea
00:12:45 --> 00:12:46 and Nicodemus
00:12:46 --> 00:12:47 and they're Pharisees.
00:12:48 --> 00:12:49 They're Bible men.
00:12:49 --> 00:12:50 They're God men.
00:12:50 --> 00:12:52 They're members
00:12:52 --> 00:12:54 of the Jewish religious elite.
00:12:55 --> 00:12:57 And they have believed
00:12:57 --> 00:12:58 in Jesus in secret.
00:13:00 --> 00:13:01 Nicodemus was the man
00:13:01 --> 00:13:02 who had come to Jesus
00:13:02 --> 00:13:03 clandestinely at night
00:13:03 --> 00:13:05 to suss him out.
00:13:07 --> 00:13:08 He wasn't bold back then
00:13:08 --> 00:13:10 but now he is emboldened.
00:13:11 --> 00:13:12 And these guys
00:13:12 --> 00:13:14 effectively out themselves.
00:13:14 --> 00:13:16 They show what they believe
00:13:16 --> 00:13:17 by their actions.
00:13:17 --> 00:13:20 And their response
00:13:20 --> 00:13:20 to the wickedness
00:13:20 --> 00:13:22 of Jesus' execution
00:13:22 --> 00:13:23 is to step forward
00:13:23 --> 00:13:25 and to identify with him
00:13:25 --> 00:13:27 and to stand effectively
00:13:27 --> 00:13:28 against this injustice
00:13:28 --> 00:13:30 which has just been done to him.
00:13:32 --> 00:13:34 Their faith becomes public
00:13:34 --> 00:13:36 as they ask for Jesus' body
00:13:36 --> 00:13:37 and they bury him
00:13:37 --> 00:13:39 with great care
00:13:39 --> 00:13:40 and with great dignity.
00:13:40 --> 00:13:45 Friends, I don't know
00:13:45 --> 00:13:46 what brought you to church
00:13:46 --> 00:13:47 this morning
00:13:47 --> 00:13:48 but I'm really glad you're here.
00:13:48 --> 00:13:49 We're glad you're here.
00:13:50 --> 00:13:52 I hope that you can see
00:13:52 --> 00:13:53 that there is something
00:13:53 --> 00:13:54 magnificent
00:13:54 --> 00:13:55 and triumphant
00:13:55 --> 00:13:57 in the darkness
00:13:57 --> 00:13:58 of Good Friday.
00:13:58 --> 00:14:01 This is not evil
00:14:01 --> 00:14:02 out of control.
00:14:04 --> 00:14:05 Rather, the creator
00:14:05 --> 00:14:06 God of the universe
00:14:06 --> 00:14:07 stood in the midst
00:14:07 --> 00:14:08 of great evil.
00:14:08 --> 00:14:09 He stared it in the face
00:14:09 --> 00:14:11 with astonishing love.
00:14:14 --> 00:14:15 His love triumphed
00:14:15 --> 00:14:16 over evil.
00:14:17 --> 00:14:18 And Jesus said
00:14:18 --> 00:14:19 in John 12,
00:14:19 --> 00:14:21 but I, when I am lifted up
00:14:21 --> 00:14:21 from the earth,
00:14:21 --> 00:14:23 will draw all people
00:14:23 --> 00:14:23 to myself.
00:14:23 --> 00:14:29 It's a wonderful expression
00:14:29 --> 00:14:30 where we see
00:14:30 --> 00:14:31 that God is not
00:14:31 --> 00:14:32 in the business
00:14:32 --> 00:14:33 of driving people away.
00:14:34 --> 00:14:35 He is standing
00:14:35 --> 00:14:36 with steadfast
00:14:36 --> 00:14:38 and unfathomable love
00:14:38 --> 00:14:39 and he is calling
00:14:39 --> 00:14:41 everybody to himself.
00:14:43 --> 00:14:44 He has seen
00:14:44 --> 00:14:46 the worst of our evil,
00:14:47 --> 00:14:48 the darkest recesses
00:14:48 --> 00:14:49 of our hearts
00:14:49 --> 00:14:51 and he has responded
00:14:51 --> 00:14:52 with love.
00:14:53 --> 00:14:57 So you may have lived
00:14:57 --> 00:14:59 a very dark life
00:14:59 --> 00:15:00 running away
00:15:00 --> 00:15:01 from Christ
00:15:01 --> 00:15:04 and at the cross
00:15:04 --> 00:15:05 today
00:15:05 --> 00:15:08 he looks into your eyes
00:15:08 --> 00:15:09 with amazing love
00:15:09 --> 00:15:11 and he calls you
00:15:11 --> 00:15:12 to himself.
00:15:16 --> 00:15:17 So friends,
00:15:17 --> 00:15:18 stop telling God
00:15:18 --> 00:15:19 to get out of your life.
00:15:21 --> 00:15:23 Turn to our wonderful
00:15:23 --> 00:15:24 Saviour King
00:15:24 --> 00:15:26 and thank him
00:15:26 --> 00:15:27 for drawing you near.
00:15:29 --> 00:15:30 What a wonderful way
00:15:30 --> 00:15:31 to respond to the love
00:15:31 --> 00:15:32 of God today,
00:15:32 --> 00:15:33 this Good Friday.
00:15:35 --> 00:15:35 Amen.