Foundations of Faith: Why Did Jesus Have to Die? Luke 19:28 38 (NIV) 28 After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 30 Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, Why are you untying it? say, The Lord needs it. 32 Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, Why are you untying the colt? 34 They replied, The Lord needs it. 35 They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. 36 As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. 37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: 38 Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest! Mark 14:66 72 (NIV) 66 While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came by. 67 When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him. You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus, she said. 68 But he denied it. I don t know or understand what you re talking about, he said, and went out into the entryway. 69 When the servant girl saw him there, she said again to those standing around, This fellow is one of them. 70 Again he denied it. After a little while, those standing near said to Peter, Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean. 71 He began to call down curses, and he swore to them, I don t know this man you re talking about. 72 Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times. And he broke down and wept. Mark 15:1 15 (NIV) 1 Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, made their plans. So they bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate. 2 Are you the king of the Jews? asked Pilate. You have said so, Jesus replied. 3 The chief priests accused him of many things. 4 So again Pilate asked him, Aren t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of. 5 But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed. 6 Now it was the custom at the festival to release a prisoner whom the people requested. 7 A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had
committed murder in the uprising. 8 The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did. 9 Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews? asked Pilate, 10 knowing it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead. 12 What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews? Pilate asked them. 13 Crucify him! they shouted. 14 Why? What crime has he committed? asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, Crucify him! 15 Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified. Mark 15:16 20 (NIV) 16 The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. 17 They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. 18 And they began to call out to him, Hail, king of the Jews! 19 Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him. Mark 15:21 32 (NIV) 21 A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. 22 They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of the skull ). 23 Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. 24 And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get. 25 It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. 26 The written notice of the charge against him read: the king of the jews. 27 They crucified two rebels with him, one on his right and one on his left. 28 29 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30 come down from the cross and save yourself! 31 In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. He saved others, they said, but he can t save himself! 32 Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe. Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him. Hebrews 9:11 15 (NIV) 11 But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. 12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once
for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. 13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! 15 For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. 1) Read the story until it resonates with your soul and you can see yourself in the story 2)Historical Context The Jerusalem temple was the only legitimate place for blood sacrifices. After its destruction by the Romans in 70 CE, blood sacrifices abruptly ceased; worship moved to homes and synagogues in the Jewish Diaspora. If the Second Temple was standing at the time of the writing, animal sacrifices were still taking place. If the time was after 70, prayers had replaced sacrificial offerings. Estimated dates for the writing of Hebrews range from as early as 60 to as late as 90 a significant generation in the history of the church, during which the gap between Jesus followers and the Jews widened to a decisive split. Sinclair, C. B. (2008). Exegetical Perspective on Hebrews 9:11 15. In D. L. Bartlett & B. B. Taylor (Eds.), Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year B (Vol. 2, pp. 199 201). Louisville, KY; London: Westminster John Knox Press. 3)Understand the historical context Jeremiah 31:31 34 (NIV) 31 The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them, declares the Lord. 33 This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, Know the Lord, because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.
God tells us through Jeremiah that He will make a new covenant with His people and it is through Jesus Christ that we now experience and share in that new covenant. We see the culmination and fulfillment of that new covenant in Christ s death on the cross. The new covenant is able to do what the old covenant never could. 4)Identify and exegete all the important images Blood shed for forgiveness - Blood was splashed on the side of the altar as part of receiving forgiveness for one s sins during the time of the old covenant in the old testament. To get blood from the animal that was used for a sacrifice required the life of the animal to be taken. It was the life of the animal that was used to pay the penalty of death that was a consequence of sin. Leviticus 17:11 (NIV) 11 For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one s life. A life is required to take the place of ours to satisfy the penalty of death. Jesus s death functions in place of death so that we need not die. It is the self-giving and perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ that makes the cleansing by his blood effective. Blood Sprinkled on Those Unclean - The blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled on those who had sinned and were unclean. The blood could only make them clean on the outside; it would require something much greater to make their hearts clean. When the heart is cleansed of guilt it saves us from paralyzing guilt and remorse for sin that separates us from God (see Isaiah 59:2). Unblemished sacrifice - A sacrifice was to be without defect or unblemished so that it would be acceptable to the Lord to make atonement for the person who had sinned. Atonement was to make payment for one s sins, to pay the penalty required. Because Jesus Christ was perfect and without sin, he is the only perfect sacrifice without blemish that has ever been offered. For that reason, it is only his blood that can really give atonement or pay the price for our sins. Acts that lead to death - In Genesis 2:15-17, Adam was told that if he ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (thereby being disobedient to God) that the consequence was death. Therefore any sin we commit brings with it the consequence of death that is expressed through actual physical death and separation from God. Only the shedding of blood can bring about forgiveness and reconciliation with God (see Hebrews 9:22). Serving the Living God - When we are washed clean by the blood of Jesus Christ the purification goes all the way to our heart relieving us of any guilt. This frees us to serve God out of joy and thanksgiving and not out of compulsion due to a
sense of guilt. We are released from anxiety over whether we are truly and forever forgiven or not. 5)Possible Metaphors that Relate Truth Accepting the sacrifice of Jesus Christ the makes us right with God just as when Jesus said to the adulterous woman, Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more. Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant who stands before God with us by his side and he has negotiated our release from the penalty of sin because he took it on himself. Just as the high priest who was the only one who could enter the Most Holy Place and offer the blood sacrifices for atonement, it is only Jesus who can mediate for us. The blood of animal sacrifices was sprinkled on the people and on the altar to make the people clean on the outside, the blood of Jesus Christ could do so much more though and can cleanse our hearts. 6)Identify various meanings and connections for the metaphor and new windows of thought the metaphor opens Blood was thought of life since without blood no animal could live. For the people under the old covenant to be cleansed it required the life of a goat. This sacrifice was insufficient though to cleanse of our sin that begins in the heart though. The reasons it was not sufficient was because 1) even though the animals were thought to be unblemished, they were not perfect and therefore could not be a perfect sacrifice 2) since it was humans who have sinned and are in need of a perfect sacrifice that would satisfy the penalty of death that we owe, it would require a human sacrifice to take on that penalty of death, and 3) the animal sacrifice had nothing to do with the heart where the real work of cleansing and forgiveness was needed; only Jesus who through an act of sacrificial love (which is an act of heart) could reach to the depths of the human heart to bring about cleansing and forgiveness. 7)Hope - What is the promise I want them to leave with? No matter how egregious the sin, Jesus s Christ s sacrifice on the cross is sufficient to wash us clean and cleanse our conscience. For it is not the severity of our sin or what we do that determines if we can be cleansed, but it is what Jesus Christ has done through the perfect sacrifice that is offered by a man to take on the penalty of death that we deserved.
8)Head - What do I want them to learn? The old covenant was in place to teach us and prepare us for the new covenant so we would understand the need for sacrifice that would take away our sins. 9)Heart - What do I want them to feel? To feel joy and freedom knowing that they are truly cleansed and forgiven of any sin. 10)Hands - What do I want them to do? To receive and trust in what Jesus Christ has done on the cross for them. 11)Determine how to capture the congregation s attention with the metaphor in the first 30 seconds 12)Prayer