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The Resurrection as Judgement (The Inescapable Story of Jesus #6A) (CCD)

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INTRODUCTION

It doesn’t take long in a child’s life for them to begin to expound on matters of justice.“That’s not fair!” is learned early. And indeed the world is littered with seemingly senseless instances of unjust suffering, evil persecution of the righteous, and unfair weights and measures. The question must be asked, “What is God gonna do about it?!”

THE TEXT

And he went out from thence, and came into his own country; and his disciples follow him. And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him. […]

Mark 6:1ff

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

The residents of Jesus’ hometown demonstrate themselves to be the sort of unfruitful soil He described in His earlier parable (Mk. 4:16-17). They too, like the residents of the Decapolis, are astonished at Jesus’ teaching and choose to reject Him. (vv1-3). While the multitudes were crowding round to hang on Jesus every word, and upon His very person, the hometown crowd had trouble apprehending their local carpenter, Mary’s boy, was a great prophet, let alone the promised Messiah; this lack of faith hinders the healing (vv4-5). His teaching caused astonishment, while their unbelief, in turn, caused Jesus to marvel (v6).

Jesus sends out the Twelve in pairs; according to Luke 10:1 another 70 were also sent out on this urgent mission (v7). Their manner of travel was to be marked by swiftness; they should travel light and not linger in towns that wouldn’t hear the sown Word (vv8-11). Their task consisted of three components: preaching repentance, for Yahweh’s Messianic Kingdom had come (v12), demonstrated this by driving out demons from Israel (v7,13), and marking judgement on the unreceptive (v11). When they return to Jesus to report how this mission went, they, like Mark’s narrative, are breathless; so Jesus whisks them off again by ship to what is intended to be a bit of a breather (vv30-32). But we’ll see that when they arrive the work will continue, for the seeds of the kingdom are growing rapidly.

But in between the disciples’ going out and coming in, Mark interrupts the narrative with the grisly tale of John the Baptist’s martyrdom at the hands of Herod. The rumors about the prophet from Nazareth were turning into rumbles; this stabs terror into the heart of Herod and his conclusion is remarkable: John the Baptist was risen from the dead (v14). Others put forth alternate opinions as to Jesus’ identity, but the consensus is that he was a prophet (v15). Herod, though, insists upon it being a resurrected John (v16). John’s imprisonment was the signal for Jesus to begin His ministry (Mk. 1:14). Now, Mark fills in the details of John’s martyrdom. Herod had seized John because John had rebuked Herod’s adultery with his brother’s wife, Herodius (vv17-18). Herodius despises John for this and seeks for his death, while Herod respected this pious man and was intrigued (vv19-20).

Nevertheless, during his birthday feast, Herodius’ daughter dances so pleasantly that Herod makes a rash promise to her of up to half his kingdom; at her mother’s counsel she straightway asks for John’s head on a platter (vv21-25). Herod is grieved at this but not enough to break his foolish oath, and immediately gives the order for John’s beheading. He gives the head to the daughter who gives it to her mother; John’s disciples bury him in a tomb (vv26-29).

WHAT HAUNTS HEROD

We’ve seen how Mark is anticipating the crucifixion, resurrection, and Great Commission a number of times. The disciples’ mission anticipates what Jesus will send them out into the whole world to do after His resurrection. Their mission consisted of a call to repentance, the expulsion of evil (exorcisms and healings), and a warning of judgement. Sodom will have it better off than those who reject this kingdom message. What Jesus is doing in Israel is about to invade the whole world.

Word of this mission, and the success of it, gets back to Herod. His monarchy was founded on politicking with the Romans, but he desired legitimacy with the Jews. He wanted the Jews to receive him as their lawful king. So then, the rumors of this prophet from Nazareth, whose message was that He was ushering in God’s kingdom was frightful news to this puppet King. Coupled with wondrous signs backing up His claims and gathering ever-growing crowds following Him and you have a terrifying combination for this pretender King.

While Mark has been doing a great deal of helping his readers look forward and see what lies ahead for Jesus, he now looks back to show us that Herod & Herodius stand in a long line of tyrant royal families. Mark calls to our mind the story of Ahab and Jezebel, persecuting Elijah and the other prophets of their day. Herod’s conniving wife had beguiled him into beheading John. Herod conclusion to the success of the disciples’ ministry is remarkably insightful. This phony king saw more clearly that most Jews did. He concludes that some sort of resurrection had taken place. Jesus had come to bring about the OT promises of life from the death. Job had foretold the resurrection even in the midst of his sufferings. Elijah (and later Elisha) had both resurrected the dead. The united voice of the OT prophets foretold the resurrection along with the sign of judgement it would be upon the wicked (Is. 26:19-21). All of this haunts Herod.

HOW DEATH MAKES WAY FOR YAHWEH’S COMING

Remember the key phrase throughout Mark’s Gospel: make straight. In the recounting of John’s martyrdom we see that word once more. Herodius’ daughter, after conspiring with her mother, goes straightway to make her wicked request and Herod immediately grants it (though grudgingly). The persecution of the righteous is not an impediment to God’s purposes but is the way in which He catches the wicked in their own net. This is made most clear in the Lord Jesus’ death.

Had the demon powers and earthly rulers known, they would not have put to death the Lord of Glory (Cf. 1 Cor. 2:8). But this was precisely the trap God was setting. God purposed that all injustice and evil would be brought upon Himself, in order that He might take into the grave and leave it there. In so doing, He would establish His universal rule of righteous judgement upon the whole earth. Beginning with Cain, the wicked have persecuted the righteous. So God sent His Son, in the flesh, so that the wicked could unleash all their injustice, indignity, and hatred of righteousness down upon His head. And now their kingdoms are all being overthrown by the increase of His righteous government in all the earth.

RESURRECTION GLORY

All of this shows why the resurrection is the certain hope of the meek, while being a holy terror to the wicked. How does God deal with our suffering? He takes it upon himself in the person of His Beloved Son. How does God deal with wicked men? He patiently calls them to repentance. But the Resurrection is a warning. Ahab & Jezebel will soon face Elijah before the judgement seat of the Risen Christ. Herod and his conniving wife will be confronted with John the Baptist who will be raised with Christ His Lord. All evil doers will be brought to justice. The resurrection is a certain sign that God will answer the martyrs’ prayer: “How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?”

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Resurrection Hope (King’s Cross)

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INTRODUCTION

Far too many people in the church are not truly converted to God. They are religious or maybe conservative, but they do not know Christ and the power of His resurrection. They know about Christ, and perhaps they know about the Bible and catechism answers. But they do not know Christ, and this is obvious because sin still has power over them. They are still dead in their sins, even while they may think they are serving God. This is what Saul/Paul thought until the Risen Jesus met him and gave him a new life. 

The Text: “My manner of life from my youth, which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews; which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers…” (Acts 26:4-23)

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

When Paul testified before King Agrippa, he gave his testimony as growing up as a strict Pharisaical Jew, and now standing trial for the hope of the promise God made to the Jews (Acts 26:4-7). That hope and promise to the Jews was the resurrection of the dead (Acts 26:8). Paul had thought he was serving God by persecuting those who followed Jesus, putting them in prison, and pursuing them in great anger (Acts 26:9-11). But it was while in that pursuit even to Damascus, that a bright light shone out of heaven, knocking him and his companions to the ground, and the Risen Jesus confronted that persecution and commanded Paul to become a minister and witness of Him (Acts 26:12-16). 

In particular, Paul was commanded to preach to the Gentiles that they might have their eyes opened, turning from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God, that they might have their sins forgive and become holy through faith in Jesus (Acts 26:17-18). Paul explained that he was obedient to the vision of Christ and that he had been arrested by the Jews for no other reason than the hope of the Jews that the Messiah should suffer and be the first to rise from the dead and bring light to all (Acts 26:19-23).

COVENANTAL CONVERSIONS

The Bible describes two basic patterns of conversion to Christ: the stark conversions of complete pagans and the quieter, subtler conversions of covenant members. An example of the first would be Paul on the road to Damascus. An example of the second would be Timothy who learned the Scriptures and appears to have known the Lord from childhood (2 Tim. 3:14-15). Samuel would be another example of a young covenant conversion (1 Sam. 3). The first scenario need not be overly dramatic, but the transition tends to be radical: darkness then light. In the second scenario, you have a bunch of covenantal light (going to church, learning to pray, confession of sin, etc.), but the question is still: is that light in you? God often gives that light early on as parents teach and explain the gospel, such that many covenant kids grow up not remembering when they were first converted. 

The striking thing here is that Paul grew up in the Jewish covenant but did not know the Lord until the road to Damascus. Paul was converted as a covenant member the way the pagan Gentiles would need to be converted: turning from darkness to light. And the thing to note is that all of that covenant light turned out to be a kind of darkness for Paul because it was the very thing that made Paul trust in himself instead of Christ (Phil. 3:4-9). 

CHRIST IN YOU

While we see God saving individuals in both ways in Scripture and life, we must insist that it is the same salvation and therefore the same conversion. When the sun rises on a perfectly clear day, if you’re watching closely, you can pretty much pinpoint the moment of sunrise. Or if you are in the shadow of great mountains, it’s harder to tell the exact moment, but as Pastor Wilson says, you don’t need to know the exact moment the sun rose to know that it is risen. But we absolutely must insist that to be a true Christian, the sun must be risen.  

Christ is risen from the dead, so the fundamental question is: Is Christ risen in you? When Christ lives in you, you come alive. And it really is a stark difference. It’s the difference between night and day, the difference between death and life. And it’s the difference between trusting yourself and your own goodness, and fully surrendering to Jesus Christ and trusting in Him alone. Christ is risen. Are you risen? 

And if you immediately think, well, yes, of course: I go to church, I read my Bible, and I’m generally a good person – you need to know that Paul had all of that too and he didn’t know Christ. This is why Paul says he has come to consider all of his own righteousness as dung: “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection” (Phil. 3:8-10). 

APPLICATIONS

In Galatians, it says the difference between light and darkness is the difference between the fruit of the Spirit versus the works of the flesh (Gal. 5:17-18). The works of the flesh are manifest: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, hatred, wrath, envy, drunkenness, and the like (Gal. 5:19-21). But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control (Gal. 5:22). Which are you? 

And the thing to note is that the fruit of the Spirit is not you doing better. The fruit of the Spirit is not you. The fruit of the Spirit is Christ in you: “I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). 

So this is the message: Christ was crucified so you might die because everyone is born dead in sin, and Christ was raised first according to the hope of the Jews so that all men might be turned from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God, for the forgiveness of their sins and to walk in holiness by faith in Him. Christ is risen: are you? 

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Our Gibbeted Christ (Good Friday 2024)

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Ever since our rebellion against God in the Garden, the human race has been locked up in the chains of fear, guilt, and shame. We were promised one thing, and we have received another. We planted what we thought were the seeds of our own deification, but when the crop came up, it was nothing but milkweed, thistles, thorns, and brambles. As Bunyan once recounted something similar, when Faithful was telling Christian about his encounter with an old man who promised him many carnal dainties.

“Then it came burning hot into my mind, that, whatever he said, and however he flattered, when he got me home to his house he would sell me for a slave.”

The Pilgrim’s Progress

So I mentioned the three different kinds of chains—whether or fear, guilt or shame. All descendants of Adam and Eve know something of each, but different personalities and different cultures struggle more with one of them over the others. For some, it is overwhelmingly fear—as in animistic cultures. For others it is guilt, which is the peculiar condition of the West. And for still others farther east, it is shame, as can be seen in “honor cultures.” And because all of us bear the image of God, and all of us are sinners, we all know what it is to fear, what it means to be guilty, and how it feels to bow the head in dishonor.

This evening we have gathered to commemorate the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ, the one who was sent into the world in order to die. And He was sent in order to die so that by that death, He might strike these chains off our wrists. In order to understand this, we have to come to grips with the fact that the death of Jesus was a vicarious, substitutionary death. He became the propitiation for our sins, as the Scripture repeatedly declares (Rom. 3:25; 1 John 2:2; 4:10). All of this means that all the consequences of our rebellion—including fear, guilt, and shame—were poured out over Him. These burdens were laid across His shoulders so that He might die with them there, carry them all to the depths of Hades with Him, and then to come back from the dead without them. That is the message. That is why the death of Christ is such good news.

If your sins are now in the depths of the sea, it is because Christ took them there. If the consequences of your sin are now on the deep ocean floor, it is because Christ sank with them to that point, and there abandoned them.

Christ began His ministry through being baptized by John the Baptist. But that baptism was a baptism of repentance (Luke 3:3). Christ had no sin and hence did not need to repent, an incongruity that John the Baptist noted (Matt. 3:14). Christ did this because it was His mission to identify with sinners. And He identified with all of it, every aspect of it apart from the sinning itself (Heb. 4:15). So consider His vicarious passion and death, and how He encountered each of these three things.

We certainly see the fear—and yet without sin. This means He faced that fear, which was certainly present, with steadfast courage. “Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me” (Matthew 26:38). In John 16:21, He uses the word anguish in His comparison. And what are we told about His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane? “And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44). “Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared” (Hebrews 5:7). In that He feared . . . and so obviously, He feared God above all. But He knew the acrid taste of fear on His tongue. He faced it, embraced it, and conquered it.

What about guilt? “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 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus Christ was never a sinner, but for our sakes, the guilt of sin was imputed to Him. That means that the guilt of our sin, the guilt of your sin and mine, was assigned to Him by His own Father, and then the wrath of God over that sin was poured out upon Him. This is what the word propitiationmeans. Because our guilt was imputed to Him—justly, because He is the new Adam of a new human race—the fist of God struck a blow of holy hatred against sin, and Christ was the one who took the blow. When God struck Christ so that He died, He also struck you, and me, so that we too died. And when He raised us in Christ, we came back to life, without the guilt. Therefore, walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:4).

Perhaps you are wondering about the shame. Again, look to Christ. “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). Perhaps we have seen too many silver cross necklaces, or crosses on steeples, and we have forgotten what an obscenity it was to be flogged and crucified. Preaching a crucified Messiah was a scandal, an offense, a blasphemy. The law even said that anyone hanged on a tree was cursed (Gal. 3:13). This is what we embrace when we preach the cross. “But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness” (1 Corinthians 1:23).

“Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”Philippians 2:6–11 (KJV)

So are you fearful? Are you guilty? Are you disgraced and ashamed? Then look to Christ, our gibbeted Christ, and in evangelical faith, say farewell to all of that.

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Stand Still and See His Salvation

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INTRODUCTION

One of the things that happened in the medieval period was that the church calendar began to get cluttered up with numerous saints’ days and celebrations, like so many barnacles on the ark that was the church. There were many blessings that resulted from the great Reformation, and one of them was that the number of Christian holidays was pared down to what came to be known as the “five evangelical feast days.” All of them were geared to the life of Christ—Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, Ascension, and Pentecost. It is our practice here at Christ Church to have all of our celebrations of these days land on Sunday, with two exceptions. In addition to our 52 Lord’s Day celebrations, we also have a service on Christmas Eve, and one on Good Friday. On Palm Sunday, the week before Easter, we also have a sermon that is geared to that theme, and so here we are.

THE TEXT

“And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever” (Exodus 14:13).

“Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the Lord will be with you” (2 Chronicles 20:17).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Theses texts are not directly about Palm Sunday, obviously, but there is a principle here that we need to grasp and remember. Whenever God undertakes on behalf of His people to deliver and save them, He does so on the basis of His grace. But because it is His grace, He determines when and how He is going to manifest that grace. In the meantime, we are in the midst of the trouble that we need to be delivered from, and it is not uncommon for us to become more than a little antsy about the trouble we are in.

Moses has led the people of Israel out of Egypt, and more than this, they had left Egypt as a smoking ruin behind them (Ex. 10:7). The Bible says there were 600,000 men, plus women and children, plus the mixed multitude (Ex. 12:37-38). We are probably talking about a couple million people, on the banks of an uncrossable body of water, and the Egyptian army coming up behind them. In this context, Moses tells them, “Fear not.” In this context, he says stand still. He says wait and see. See what? See the salvation of the Lord.

The same language is used by the prophet Jahaziel when he reassured Jehoshaphat. “Stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord.” That is why, in great faith, Jehoshaphat sent the choir out first. The short form is that believing that salvation is by grace is a stance that commits you to waiting, standing still.

On the mount of the Lord, it will be provided (Gen. 22:14). You have heard me say this a number of times before, and we need to get the principle down into our bones. God loves cliffhangers.

PALM SUNDAY?

So what does this have to do with the context of Palm Sunday? Although God revealed Himself throughout the times of the Old Testament, we sometimes forget how much history was there. From beginning to end, the book of Genesis encompasses more than 2,000 years. The entire rest of Old Testament history is less than that. If you took the span of Genesis, and added it to the end of Genesis again, like two box cars, it would take you down to the time of King Arthur. In other words, Joseph was as close to King Arthur as he was to Adam and Eve. That is a lot of time.

And throughout the Old Testament, prophecies that God would send could ebb and flow. For ex- ample, in the time of Eli, what was it like? “Now the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation.” (1 Samuel 3:1, NKJV ). So it is very clear that one of the purposes of history is to teach the faithful how to wait.

And then we get to the end of the Old Testament, and between Malachi and Matthew there are four centuries of silence. God goes quiet. They still had the Scriptures, and the promises of the Messiah that Scripture contained, and so we need to realize that by the time of the Triumphal Entry, the faithful had been waiting in silence for four hundred years. That would extend from our day back to 1624—a century and a half before the founding of our nation. So the faithful by this point are wound tight. If they keep silent, the stones themselves would start singing. There were also numerous other people involved in what might be called Jesus mobs—also wound tight, but with a very blurry understanding (Luke 20:5-6; 20:19; 22:2; Mark 11:18,32;12:12; Acts 5:26). Lots of people were wound tight. Then there were the corrupt elites sitting on top of the whole thing, trying to maintain control.

It was in that context that Jesus entered Jerusalem, to wild acclaim, in order to go up to the economic center of the city, so that he might start flipping over tables. This was not exactly an “oil on troubled waters” approach. There was a reason Jesus was arrested and crucified.

Now this is the thing we must remember. After waiting for centuries, the faithful finally saw their long-expected king enter Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, just as the prophet had said, and then . . . He went and got Himself killed. The lesson is “stand still and see the salvation of the Lord,” certainly, but the lesson should also be “that the salvation might not be the thing you were anticipating.”

WHY ALL THIS SOUNDS FAMILIAR

They had glorious stories to inspire them, centuries in the past. We have that as well. They had experi- enced a long stretch of spiritual lethargy, with nothing happening, and no prophetic word from God. We have that. They had corrupt managers and handlers of their spiritual establishment, and no appar- ent way to be rid of them. We have that. We have it all, meaning that we have the same kind of mess that requires an intervention from God.

And so what we are to do? The answer is found in our text. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. And this will not come if we are just looking around listlessly. No, look to the expected Christ. And expect Him to do the unexpected.

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