Rev. David Holwick Roxbury Community
First Baptist Church Good Friday
Ledgewood, New Jersey
April 22, 2011
1 Peter 2:21-24
HEALED BY HIS WOUNDS
I. An enduring image.
A. Discovery in a Jordanian cave.
Earlier this month, a startling archaeological discovery was
revealed.
A cache of 70 small books, made of lead sheets about the size of
credit cards, was found by a Bedouin in a cave 3-5 years ago.
He smuggled them into Israel but Jordan wants them back.
If they are authentic (some experts think they are modern
forgeries) they may be among the earliest Christian writings
found so far.
The tentative dating is the first decades of the church's
existence.
The director of Jordan's Department of Antiquities says they
may be more important than the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Even though the books are written in Hebrew code that hasn't
been deciphered yet, some scholars believe they are Christian.
The cover of one of the books shows a "T"-shaped cross, and
behind the cross is what must be the tomb of Jesus.
These symbols have always been at the center of the Christian
faith.
#5678
B. The cross remains controversial.
A church in England used to have a large crucifix attached to
the front of their building.
It was created by an artist in the 1960s and shows a gaunt
Jesus created out of coal dust and resin.
Two years ago the cross was removed because, in the words of
the pastor, it was "scaring young children."
Reverend Souter said the 10-foot crucifix was "a horrifying
depiction of pain and suffering" which was also "putting
people off."
Before they took it down, the church conducted a survey.
Every comment about the sculpture was negative.
The church wanted to portray "the crucifixion as a moment of
hopefulness for the world, and not one of despair."
Another pastor thinks there are good reasons to keep the
anguished crucifix.
Rev. John Capron says, "I think it is very difficult for us
to sanitize the Christian faith and certainly to sanitize
human suffering.
The cross was a dreadful event, one of the cruelest events
in the history of mankind.
And as we look at the world around us at the moment, I just
don't think it's entirely realistic to pretend that violence
and horror don't happen to us.
For Christians, of course, the great comfort in the crucifix is
that it represents not simply human pain, but also the love
of God.
The God who created us is also the God who suffers with us."
#35595
II. The cross certainly represents suffering.
A. The crucifixion wasn't easy.
1) Mel Gibson's movie, "The Passion of the Christ."
a) One of our Bible study groups watched it this year.
b) Pretty extreme Catholic angle on the cross.
c) But there is no doubt Jesus experienced great physical
pain.
2) There was emotional pain as well. 2:23
a) Peter mentions the insults that were hurled at Jesus.
b) Unlike our tendency, he didn't curse them or strike
back.
c) Instead, he forgave them.
1> And he entrusted himself to his Father's justice.
B. The physical and emotional pain was only part of it.
1) Peter uses the interesting phrase "he bore our sins in his
body on the tree."
a) Why "tree"?
b) It reflects an Old Testament passage, Deut. 21:22-23 --
"If a man guilty of a capital offense is put to death
and his body is hung on a tree, you must not leave
his body on the tree overnight.
Be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone who
is hung on a tree is under God's curse."
c) This was a huge stumbling block when they were trying
to evangelize Jews.
1> Crucified = cursed. Simple equation.
2) The Apostles Peter and Paul were able to reconcile it.
a) Yes, Jesus did have a curse on him.
b) It was OUR curse, the curse of sin separating us
from God.
c) Through the cross, and only through the cross, that
curse is now broken for us.
III. There is a beauty in the cross.
A. The cross brings us healing.
1) Peter quotes from the ancient prophecy of Isaiah 53.
2) The wounds of the Messiah will bring healing to God's
people.
a) It involves spiritual healing.
b) But it also involves physical healing, just as Jesus
practiced in his earthly ministry.
B. The cross gives us an example.
1) Like Jesus, we don't have to give payback for the evil
that is done to us.
a) We can choose to give love for hate.
b) We can choose an eternal perspective instead of a narrow
earthly one.
2) We can come to grips with the reality of pain.
A Christian writer I have always appreciated is the British
preacher John Stott.
New York Times columnist David Brooks said if evangelicals
could elect a pope, Stott is the person they would
likely choose."
Years ago he wrote a book called "The Cross of Christ."
I got a lot out of it - and like most preachers I don't
read every book in my library.
The book talks about what the cross should mean to
Christians today.
In 2003, Stott got to find out first-hand.
He had a stroke.
He said at the time:
"The cross is at the center of Christianity, and we know
that it was at the center of Jesus' own thinking.
I could never myself believe in God if it were not for the
cross.
In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who
was immune to it?"
#27619
C. Because of the cross we can live differently.
1) Limit Experiences don't have to limit us.
French philosopher Paul Ricoeur has written about "limit
experiences."
A limit experience is something that is beyond the limits
of normal life.
It's the one you spend most of life avoiding, dreading,
or defending yourself against.
Things like death, divorce, cancer, prison.
Beyond the limits of those things, we think there is
nothing but emptiness, loss and despair.
The greatest catastrophe doesn't happen in the emergency
room.
It happened 2,000 years ago on the cross.
That was the ultimate experience beyond human limits.
When Jesus defeated death, he showed there are no limits.
#34798
2) The way Peter puts it - we can die to sins and live for
righteousness. 2:24
a) If God is on our side, nothing can ultimately defeat
us.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
# 5678 “Early Christian Writings Discovered?” by David Holwick, adapted
from a BBC News article dated April 22, 2011,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-Middle-East-12888421
#27619 “Why Did Jesus Die?” by David Van Biema, Time Magazine Online;
www.time.com, April 12, 2004.
#34798 “Beyond The Limits,” David Holwick, adapted from Rev. Craig Barnes,
Preaching Now, www.preaching.com, September 11, 2007.
#35595 “The Cross Is Too Scary,” http://news.bbc.co.uk, January 1, 2009.
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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