This is our second sermon in our
series on things heard from the cross, the dying words of Jesus. You know, in
hearing those verses that were read for us, there was one main thing that
really stood out to me, and that is the humanity of Jesus. I think sometimes we
have a tendency to lose that aspect of Jesus. He is our savior and our God and
our Lord, but he was also very human. The language that we use to talk about
Jesus’ humanity is the term “Fully God and Fully Man,” whatever that means,
right? He wasn’t just half God and half man, like he only experienced some of
what it felt like to be human. No, he went through the whole shebang. He was
100% human.
And I think that really comes through
in these verses that we read, some of the things that Jesus said while he was
on the cross. You know, He’s up on the cross, and he looks down and he sees
Mary, his mother, and he sees his best friend, John. Now a little pretext to
this situation: we don’t know where Joseph, Jesus’ earthly father, is at this
point. Many theologians and historians think he probably died during Jesus’
teen years, which is entirely possible. At that time and in that place, life
expectancy was about 40 years for an average man, partially because a lot of
men were being killed in executions or gladiator games or battles, and
partially because the
So Jesus, at this point in the
crucifixion, looks down and sees his mom and sees John, and he says, “Woman,
here is you son.” And he said to John, “here is your mother.”
Now there are a couple of things about
Jesus saying those words that really intrigues me. First, you know, Jesus knew
this wasn’t permanent. Wouldn’t it have been nice if he would have comforted
her with that? “Hey mom, don’t worry…I’ll be back by the end of the weekend.”
But Jesus saw her and he saw that she was hurting right now because her son was
hurting right now, and he knew that right now what she needed was someone who
would walk her through this time as her son suffered, and would care for her.
But here is the thing that really gets
me: Jesus says, “Woman, here is your son.” And to John says, “Here is your
mother.” But we know that Jesus had other siblings. And we know they weren’t
too far away. There are a couple of times in scripture that they interacted
with Jesus, or tried to. They came once when Jesus was preaching to a multitude
and asked to see him, but he turned them away and said, “The one who does the
will of my Father is my mother and brother and sister.” So while he loved his
family, his loyalty was to his disciples.
Imagine being one of Jesus’ brothers
or sisters. At family reunions, I’m pretty sure he was the one that didn’t show
up so you talked bad about him, how crazy he was. They weren’t his disciples.
And even though Mary was around Jesus quite a bit, I don’t think you could
count her as a disciple. Almost every time she’s around him, she doesn’t
understand him or she’s making some sort of faux pas. “Jesus, they’re out of
wine. Do something!” And when she sends his siblings to go get him, she must
have thought he would just drop his ministry and come home.
You know I don’t think Mary really
knew what was happening. We have this picture of Mary as the girl who gave
birth in a stable and was so in tuned with God’s will that she just, you know,
gets it. She’s an insider. But even in those passages, we are told that while
Mary was treasuring all that was happening, she was also pondering it in her
heart. I don’t think she got it.
So I’m thinking that at some point,
either Mary heard that Jesus went to Jerusalem, or she was just drawn there,
something in her gut told her to go, but she went to find Jesus, and when she
did, he was on a cross. I don’t think she got it. I think what she thought was,
“I don’t know where I went wrong with him. I’ve messed up something special
that God did. I’ve failed him.”
And I think that’s why Jesus entrusted
her to John, to a disciple, and not to one of his own brothers. He wasn’t just
concerned about comforting his mother, he was concerned about SAVING his
mother! By the way, his brothers ended up turning out all right, probably
because of this action of Jesus, entrusting Mary to John and then helping her
to see the truth. One of her sons, James, went on to write a really good letter
that we now know as the epistle of James.
So that was Jesus’ next word, a word
of affection, for his mother. But the next words we hear may be even more
human, and more troubling, when Jesus says, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken
me?” God, why have you forgotten about me?
What do you think people thought when
they heard him say that? What do you think the criminal on the cross next to
Jesus thought? He had just put his faith in Jesus, and Jesus had promised him
that today they would be in paradise together, and now Jesus is asking God why
God has forsaken him? What about the disciples who were around or Mary? Do you
think that thought crossed their mind? Maybe Jesus only thought he was the son of God, and now that he’s dying it turns out
he’s wrong, and even he realizes it?
You know, again, I think this really
points to the humanity of Jesus. Jesus really was a human, 100% human. Also,
100% God, but also as human as you and
And as he was on the cross, I think he
displayed another human characteristic: he was afraid of being alone. I know it
is hard to picture Jesus as being afraid, but that is a perfectly natural human
characteristic. Nobody, especially when things are looking kind of scary, likes
to be alone. And I think things were looking scary.
And you might say, “Well what would
Jesus have to be afraid of? He knows he’ll be alright in the end. He knows he’s
coming back to life.” Yeah, but he has to die first. He’d never done that
before. And you can be one hundred percent sure of your salvation and one
hundred percent sure you’ll be in heaven right after you die, but that doesn’t
mean you aren’t scared of the process of dying. Scared of the unknown. And
sometimes, you just want your dad.
When we stilled lived in Kentucky and
right after Adelyn was born, Holly worked during the day and I had most of my
classes in the evenings, so when Adelyn had to go to the doctor for her early
appointments, I had the privilege of being the one to take her. And in those
early appointments, you know the main reason you go is that they have to get
some immunizations, some shots. And after going through this routine a couple
of times already, Adelyn, even at such an early age, began to associate that
doctor’s office with pain. And it was like she knew as soon as they brought in
that tray and started to take her pants off, she was in for a world of hurt.
When that would happen, even before
she’d have the shot, her bottom lip would go out and she’d start tearing up,
and she’d grab me, and try to pull herself close to me, like she was trying to
say, “Daddy, don’t let them hurt me! Don’t let them do this to me! Why did you
bring me here? Why are you letting them hurt me?” And what really broke my
heart is that I would have to tear her away from me and basically pin her down
on the table as they gave her the immunizations. I knew that this temporary
pain, this moment of agony for her would do an infinite amount of good, but at
that point in time all she wanted was for me to pick her up and take her away,
and as much as I hated to see her get hurt, it broke my heart, I knew it had to
happen.
And I think maybe for a moment on the
cross, Jesus kind of got in that Adelyn mindset where he was basically saying,
“Dad, this isn’t fun. It hurts. I have to be honest, I don’t really want to
die. I know it has to happen, but what I really want is for you to just take me
away.”
Now of course, Jesus hadn’t given up
on God. He still called him “My God.” And God hadn’t really forsaken Jesus.
It’s kind of like in the Psalms when David says, “How long, O Lord? Will you
forget me forever?” Of course, God never forgot David. He never forgets any of
us, let alone David or even his own son, Jesus.
God was right there, holding Jesus
down as they pierced his hands and feet. And his heart was breaking as he
watched his son die. But he knew he had to let it happen to save the whole
world. And even though Jesus knew that too, his humanity showed through, as he
asked God why he was letting this happen. Why are you letting them hurt me?
Now, some people may not like that. We
have this romanticized picture of Jesus on the cross just taking one for the
team, right? Like Jesus didn’t even care that he had to die at all. But one of
the human qualities of Jesus was that just like any other human, he felt pain,
and dying like that hurts. The bottom line is this: in this moment, Jesus
wasn’t dying like a God, he was dying like a man. And I take great hope and
great comfort in that. I don’t want a god that “sacrifices” for me by dying,
but taking a divine shot of morphine before going through it. No, Jesus died
like a man – he was hurting physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually,
just like any of us would. A death by any other means is not a sacrifice, it’s
a farce. But this was real.
I think that’s one of the really
amazing things about Jesus and why it means so much to me to be a follower of
Christ. Like, have you ever heard those so-called experts that speak with real
strong authority on a subject that they themselves have never experienced?
There’s this guy on ESPN named Tony Kornheiser. He’s this little weasel of a
guy, he has a sports talk show and he does commentary on Monday Night Football.
But he’s this shrimpy little guy who doesn’t look like he has an athletic bone
in his body, and he’s out there deriding these professional athletes when they
make a mistake. And you look at him and think, “Who are you to tell Tom Brady
or Ben Roethlisberger how to play football? Who are you to tell LeBron James
how to shoot a basketball? You have no authority because you’ve never been there!”
For someone to have authority over a
subject, they need to have some experience in a subject. That’s why Jesus led a
REAL human life. That’s why he had a REAL human death. He didn’t just go
through the motions. He did it. He experienced everything that we experience.
He experienced grief at the loss of a friend. He experienced loneliness. He
experienced temptation. He experienced family dysfunction! And he experienced
death. He went through it all. He did it. Why? So that when he said things like,
“Greater love has no man than he who lays down his life for his friends,” it
would have some meaning. Because he knows what it means to lay your life down.
And when he said, “Don’t take an eye for an eye, but turn the other cheek,” it
meant something, because he lived that out in his crucifixion. Those words
wouldn’t mean much if he never knew what it meant to be wronged. But he was
wronged, in the worst way. And when he said, “Love your enemies,” it meant
something, because he recognized what it was really like to have people who
want you to die, and how hard it is to love them.
So while at first you may look at
Jesus groveling on the cross, saying, “My God, why have you forsaken me?” And
you may think, this is a moment of weakness for Jesus. I’m here to tell you,
never has a man been stronger, never has a God loved more deeply, than in that
moment.
Jesus did this for us, and he wants us
to remember it forever. And we do that, by sharing in the bread, and the cup.
Pastor
Dan Metzger
Van
Buren United