Good Friday 2003

(Greek words can be viewed using the Symbol font) 

Pastor Scott L. Harris

Grace Bible Church, NY

April 18, 2003

Good Friday

Jesus Christ - Our Redeemer

The songs and hymns we have song tonight have spoken about Jesus as our "redeemer." What exactly does it mean that Jesus is our "redeemer," and what was He redeeming us from?

We often think of redemption in terms of gaining the value for an object that its owner or the one responsible for it has placed upon it. An example of this would be giving a discount coupon to a merchant who redeems it for its stated value when you purchase something from him. Another example would be giving a gift certificate to a merchant who gives you the gift or prize specified on the certificate.

Another way in which we commonly think of redemption is getting back the value we paid for something. An example of this would be redeeming your bottles and cans to get back the deposit you paid on them. The reverse of this would paying to get back an object for which someone gave you deposit money. That is how pawn shops operate. The operator gives you money for an object, and to redeem that object you must pay that money back plus interest.

The basic idea of redemption in the Bible is to deliver from a master, a debt or evil by the means of a payment This includes the idea regaining possession over property that was sold. Bible passages such as Leviticus 25 discuss the rights of property redemption and proper valuation. There were various commandments given to govern how long properties could be redeemed after they were sold. A house in a walled city could be redeemed for one year. A house in an unwalled city or in the country could be redeemed until the year of Jubilee when it would revert to the original owner anyway. And the Levites held permanent right of redemption over their property.

Redemption rights would pass to near relatives. Biblical example of this include Boaz redeeming the lands of Elimelech and Ruth who was the widow of the heir. The prophet Jeremiah did this when he bought the field at Anathoth from his cousin.

This same basic idea is applied to the payment made to get out of a debt owed. For example, in Exodus 13:2 God declared that the first born of Israel, both man and beasts, belong to Him. Certain animals would be given to the priests, others would be sacrificed. If a man wanted to keep to keep the first born of an unclean animal, such as a donkey, then it would have to be redeemed either through a monetary price being paid to the priests (Numbers 18:15,16) or a substitute clean animal being sacrificed in its place (Exod. 13:13). In the case of humans, the tribe of Levi was the substitute ransom price for first born for the rest of Israel (Numbers 3:45-51).

This idea is carried further to be a synonym for salvation. There are many Psalms which contain prayers for redemption. Psalm 25:22 request God to redeem Israel out of all his trouble. Psalm 44:26 asks God to "Rise up, be our help, And redeem us for the sake of Thy lovingkindness." In Psalm 49:15 the psalmist speaks confidently that "God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol; For He will receive me."

What are we to be saved from by redemption? Psalm 130:7,8 reveals "O Israel, hope in the Lord; For with the Lord there is lovingkindness, And with Him is abundant redemption . 8 And He will redeem Israel From all his iniquities."

Redemption and salvation are equated with each other because it is redemption that pays the price required by our sin. Redemption saves us because it frees us from our bondage to sin and its consequences. Paul speaks of this in Romans 6:20 saying, "For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. 22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life." Redemption frees us from our former bondage to sin to which we were slaved and transfers us to the kingdom of God that we might instead be slaves of righteousness.

Paul pointed out in Romans 3 that is redemption is found Christ Jesus. In verses 22-25 Paul explains that God’s righteousness is manifested through justifying all those who have faith in Jesus in as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publically as a propitiation in His blood through faith (3:22-25).

But why such a high price as the blood of Christ? The answer is that death is the cost of sin. The redemption price must meet that cost.

I have heard some say that the God of the Bible is a blood thirsty god because of all the animal sacrifices demanded in the Old Testament and the requirement of Jesus death in the New Testament. Such people often also equate the true God with the pagan gods that demanded human sacrifices to be kept satisfied. Simply put, that is not true. Why then all these blood sacrifices of animals in the Old Testament and the crucifixion of Jesus in the New Testament?

The answer is found in the cost of sin. God had warned Adam that on the day that he broke God’s one prohibition of eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, Adam would die. When Adam did eat of that tree he did die. Death is separation and on that very day, Adam and Eve’s disobedience caused them to became separated from God. They died spiritually. The physical process of death also began. The nakedness of Adam and Eve exposed their sinful disobedience, so they tried to cover their shame with fig leaves, but man’s effort to cover his own sin is always inadequate. The outward reminder of the cost of their sin came in the death of the animal that God killed as a substitute for them so that they could have a covering for their nakedness. (The word "covering" is the same word as "atonement").

Sin brings death. Adam was warned of it (Gen. 2:17) and God has repeated that sentence. Ezekiel 18:4 - "The soul who sins will die." Romans 6:23 - "For the wages of sin is death."

All the blood sacrifices required in the Mosaic law were only reminders of the cost of sin. The death of the animal was a substitute for the person who sinned. However, the death of the animal was not an adequate substitute in itself. As Hebrews 10:4 tells us, "For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." Animals are not of the same nature of value as a human. They were offered in faith by the worshiper and accepted by God on that basis in anticipation of the only blood sacrifice that could pay the full redemption price. It had to be a sacrifice of the same nature and value.

Some false religions have recognized the core of this truth to one degree or another, so they instituted human sacrifices. But such sacrifices only increased the sin problem of those who offered them. First, in order to be a sacrifice that could be a substitute payment for sin, the sacrifice would have to be sinless, otherwise the death of the sacrifice would only be the just cost of his own sin. But all humans have sinned against God. Every human has failed to completely adhere to all of God’s commands. No human has even managed to even keep the 10 commandments. Is there any human who has never told a lie? Who has never taken anything that was not theirs without permission - stealing? Who has not coveted something that someone else has? Who has never failed to use God’s name only in the most reverent manner of worship? Who has never let anything in their life become more important to them than their worship of the Creator? Has their ever been a child that has always obeyed their parents in action, thought and attitude? The sacrifice would have to be sinless.

Second, the sacrifice would have to voluntary otherwise those offering the sacrifice would be committing murder, which is a violation of God’s laws, and murderer do not go to heaven (Matt. 5:21,22; 1 John 3:15; Rev. 21:8).

Third, the sacrifice would have be of value beyond one sin by one human, because the cost would have to be paid every time the person sinned. As Hebrews 10:11 points out concerning the Old Testament animal sacrifices, "And every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins." Every time person sinned, another sacrifice would have to be made.

There is only one sacrifice that meets all the criteria needed to be the redemption price for sin, and that is Jesus Christ. He was fully human, so he is of the proper nature for the sacrifice. As Galatians 4:4,5 states, "But when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons." He is of the same value as us.

Jesus also willingly offered Himself up as the sacrifice payment for redemption. He "gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds" (Titus 2:4). As Jesus Himself said in John 10:17,18, "For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 18 "No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father."

An third, Jesus is of infinite value to pay the price of the sin of every person for all time because He is also God. Romans 6:10 says, "For the death that He died, He died to sin, once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God." Hebrews 9:12 says of Jesus that "through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption." Hebrews 10:9-12 adds that "we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; 12 but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God." Jesus sat down because He had finished the work of redemption.

Tonight we reflect on Jesus’ work of redemption for us. All that Jesus went through on this earth culminating in His death on the cross was for the purpose of redeeming us from sin. That is something for us to carefully reflect upon this day, above every day as we mark the anniversary of the day that Jesus died for our sins. We are going to partake of communion in a few minutes, and as Paul says in 1 Cor. 11:26, and as we do so, we proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.

So tonight, as we come to the Lord’s table, consider all that Jesus went through in order to pay the price of your sin. You were not redeemed with silver or gold or other things held precious by worldly men, but rather with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without spot or blemish (1 Pet. 1:19).

Jesus left the glories of heaven with the Father to become a man and dwell on this earth. He did not come into a family of wealth, prestige, honor and power fitting to His actually identity as the King of kings, but rather in humility he was born in a stable to a poor family. He then grew up in the humble home of a carpenter in Nazareth, a small town in Galilee. He lived a sinless life and then embarked on three years of public ministry in which he suffered many things. There were times He was hungry (Matt. 4:2; 21:18). There were times He was so exhausted from dealing with people that He was able to sleep in a boat being tossed about in the midst of storm (Matt. 8:24). There were people that slandered and ridiculed Him and tried to publically humiliate him. He had multitudes follow Him and then walk away (John 6). Though He had great acclaim when He came to Jerusalem the last time, within a few days one of His disciples would betray him, one of them would publically deny Him and the rest would flee (John 18). The fickle people that had shouted Hosanna, would now cry out for Him to be crucified.

Jesus suffered the injustice of an illegal trial in which He was mocked. He was then sentenced to die by the Roman Governor, Pilate, who knew the truth that Jesus had done nothing worthy of death and openly pronounced that he found no guilt in Him, but Pilate was more afraid of the crowd than God who would judge him for his failure to do what was right. Jesus then suffered a scourging. The whip used for scourging was made of several long pieces of leather attached to a handle of some sort. At the end of each piece of leather a piece of stone, bone, metal, pottery shard or other sharp object was tied. The victim had his hands tied to a pole over his head with his feet dangling. Often there would a scourger on both the right and left side who took turns lashing the victim. It would not take long before the back and sides were opened up exposing eternal organs which would soon be lacerated too. It was not uncommon for men to die of the scourging before they were crucified. How badly Jesus scourged is unknown, but it was severe enough that He physically collapsed while trying to carry his own cross a short time later.

Jesus finally did make to Golgatha where He was laid down on top of the cross, spikes were driven through His hands and feet, and then He was lifted up and the cross pushed into its resting hole. As it dropped into the hole, Jesus’ flesh would tear. The rough would with its many splinters would scrape His back which was already flayed open by the scourging, and then the slow process of suffocation by crucifixion would begin.

It must be remembered that crucifixion was used as a means of executing someone in one of the most painful and agonizing manners possible. With the arms raised even with or over the head, breathing would become very difficult and only with increasing labor could the individual can swell his chest to breath in. Orthostatic collapse would also occurs. The blood would settle into the lower parts of the body, and soon insufficient blood reaching the brain would cause the person to become unconscious. The blood flow to the heart and lungs would become insufficient and result in the victims death. But the Roman executioners found they could increase the suffering by tying or nailing the feet to the stake so that the victim could push himself up catch a breath and increase blood flow. This rasing and lowering would continue to scrape the already scourged back against the rough post. The desire to breath would overcome the pain caused by pushing against the spikes through the feet and hands. The loss of blood only increased the thirst. Jesus endured all this for three hours.

Normally, a victim of crucifixion could last 1 to 3 days before utter exhaustion resulted in an inability to raise up and get a breath any longer and suffocation would occur. If death was desired to occur more quickly, the legs would be broken, as happened to the two thieves on either side of Jesus. But in Jesus’ case it is important to remember that in the midst of all the suffering, it was not the cross that killed. As already pointed out, Jesus willing gave up His life. No man could take it from Him. Jesus died at the appointed time, when the lambs were being offered for the Passover sacrifice, because He Himself yielded up His Spirit.

It should also be remembered the physical pain of the scourging and crucifixion was not the worst part of the agony Jesus suffered. The greatest suffering came at that moment in time when Jesus, God the Son, the second person of the trinity, bore our sins upon Himself and God the Father turned His face away from the Son. Jesus cried out "My God, My God, Why hast Thou forsaken Me." Jesus, in His full humanity, then paid the price for my sin and your sin. It was finished, and Jesus gave up His spirit.

As we know come to the communion table, reflect on the price of your redemption. It is a sobering thing to meditate on because its high cost is the reminder of the depth of our sin against God. Yet, at the same time, it is price of our hope - a confident assurance - that God will forgive the sins and accept to Himself the one that believes on the person and work of Jesus Christ. There is nothing we can do to earn God’s favor. We can do nothing to redeem ourselves. The price was too high. God paid it Himself and offers it freely to all of humanity.

Take some time tonight to make sure you are right with God. Confess your sins to Him and He is faithful to both forgive and cleanse. He does this for the Christian that we might have nothing hinder our relationship with Him. He does this for those who to this point were unbelievers, that they might become true followers of Christ and have a personal relationship with Him.