1 Scripture: Isaiah 52:13-53:12 1 Corinthians 1:22-25 Christ, Christ crucified. The Rev. Fleming Rutledge ----- Anglican priest and preacher ---- recently wrote a book entitled ---- The Crucifixion --- Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ. Some of you have already heard me go on heaping praise on this book --- and it s well deserved --- it is the kind of book that is the work of a lifetime of reflection and faithful scholarship. And I mention the ---- The Crucifixion --- Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ ------ because this is precisely why we gather here today. To remember and to appreciate the death of Jesus Christ. In her book Rev. Rutledge journeys through 2,000 years of humans trying to put into words the meaning of the crucifixion. And she does as good a job as anyone ever has. And she does so precisely because she doesn t limit the crucifixion to any one way of describing or understanding it. She touches on many of the Historic theories ---- the ransom theory ---- the recapitulation theory --- the satisfaction theory ----- the penal substitution theory ----- the moral influence theory. And she doesn t stop there she also touches on some of the modern theories ----- theories such as ----- the declaratory theory ------ the Christus Victor theory --- and so on there are more.
2 Ransom theory ---- recapitulation theory --- satisfaction theory ----- penal substitution theory ----- moral influence theory ---- declaratory theory ------ Christus Victor theory ----- governmental theory ------- vicarious repentance theory ------ and so on ---- you get the point ------ there are many doctrines of reconciliation and atonement ----- many ways to try to explain and understand Christ --- Christ crucified. And none of them say all that there to say --- they are all but partial. And so ----- rather than limiting the magnitude of this great act of love we grow by coming to realize that is ever beyond full understanding. On the cross ----- something more severe --- and more final --- and more decisive ---- and more beautiful took place than can ever be captured or expressed in mere words. On the cross ------- there was a victory. On the cross ------- there was a power shift in the universe. On the cross ---- there was cosmic healing. On the cross ----- there was an expression of ultimate and divine love. On the cross ----- we have a decisive and final rescue act. On the cross God restored us back to right relationship ----- sin no longer corrupts. On the cross all sin --- all evil --- all that ails and hinders us --- was killed off from having any kind of lasting power. On the cross we were restored to how God initially created us ---- before the fall --- righteous and beautiful --- without sin or blemish --- in God s eyes. On the cross all was made well.
3 And of course so much more as well ------ it s beyond us --- it s divine --- of God. More happened on the cross than just Jesus dying for our sins ---- as true as that is. More happened on the cross than just Jesus restoring our relationship with God and giving us eternal life ----- as true as this is. More happened on the cross than we are capable of understanding and grasping ----- and ---- and this is crucial --- and more happened on the cross than we are even capable of imagining. The cross is not only beyond words --- comprehension ------ and intellect ---- - but it s also beyond even our imagination. What matters most when it comes to the cross ------ isn t that we find the words ---- or imagination ----- to try to express it all. What matters most when it comes to the cross ------ is that we remember that God loves us so much so that He would do anything for us. In speaking about her book ----- The Crucifixion ---- Rev. Rutledge tells the story of how one day as her husband was coming home to their New York apartment --- a homeless man who was often resting in the doorway entrance to their apartment looked up at him and asked ---- What is it that your wife does anyway? To which he replied --- She is a Christian preacher and teacher of Christian preachers. To which the homeless man replied ----- Ah yes ---- Christ, Christ crucified. Rev. Rutledge goes on to say that this man may have captured the single most important message of the Christian faith in these simple words ---- Christ, Christ crucified.
4 And Rutledge isn t alone of course ------ Paul in our reading from 1 Corinthians today says in verse 23 ---- but we preach Christ crucified. And just a bit further along in 1 Corinthians ---- chapter 2 verse 2 Paul says - ---- For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. but we preach Christ crucified. and For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. Rev. Rutledge contends that the church of Christ too often glosses over the cross ------ glosses over the crucifixion ----- and in doing so loses much of the richness of God s saving love and divine compassion. She contends we re good with Easter and Pentecost and Christmas ---- the feel good Christianity without the sacrifice and nuts and bolt building blocks of our faith --- the down in the dirt incarnational stuff of faith. And I agree we do often gloss over the cross --- quickly skimming over the mess of the cross instead of dwelling in its richness ------ and because of this we can very easily water down the reality and power of God s unending love for us. But more important than anything she or I think ------ the apostle Paul believed it too --- he stressed the centrality of the cross like no other. He is the one who said in the Bible ----- but we preach Christ crucified. and For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
5 And this great act on the cross is precisely and pre-eminently why Jesus came to earth --- why God stepped down into His creation. The cross is all about God meeting the devil head on once and for all ----- defeating sin ----- and stripping it from having any lasting power and influence. The cross rescues us from bondage and shackles. It stops us from forever falling short of all God has in store for us ---- and assures us that life isn t about being better ----- or trying harder ----- or working away at trying to earn God s favour and love. The cross says I --- God --- love you ----- and nothing can ever change this. Don t try harder ---- or be better in any kind of attempt to catch my attention or please me ----- or ensure a good after life. We are already good enough for God ----- we already have His favour ---- He loves us as we are ---- and we don t have to do anything for God ------ Jesus took care of all of this on the cross. Life is all about accepting this great act of love ----- the cross ------ not trying to earn love or be a better person. Good Friday is good ----- because someone has done something beautiful for us. God made it abundantly clear to me that Lent this year was to be all about the cross and the crucifixion and not what we can do in Lent --- give up or take up certain things. That s why we brought forward different crosses each week and said together --- Christ ---- Christ crucified as part of our reading after we learned about the different crosses. Precisely because as Paul says ---- we preach Christ crucified.
6 And For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. Holy Week is undoubtedly the most important week in the life of the church. And Good Friday is truly the most important day in the life of the church. Easter may be the most important season but Good Friday is the most important day in the church year. We have a season --- the 50 days of Easter ---- to celebrate Easter ---- resurrection --- new life in Christ. We have just a couple of days to dwell in the beauty and the mystery of the sacrifice and love of Christ --- the cross and the crucifixion Unfortunately much of the time we don t even take this very short time to dwell in the wonder and mystery and beauty of the cross ----- instead we leap ahead to Easter too quickly. And it s a costly mishap ---- a spiritual short cut ---- that leaves us with a picture only half painted ---- a plan only half executed ---- a rescue cut short. The cross is where we most clearly experience God s profound love for us in Jesus Christ. The central message in scripture is undoubtedly that God loves us. For God so loved the world that he gave His only Son. A new commandment I give unto you that you love one another as I have loved you. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
7 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And the scriptures go on and on --- about love ---- God s love for us. The gospel is all about God loving us. Even if we don t reciprocate God s love ---- He still loves us. And the cross is the pre-eminent act and expression of God s perpetual love for us. The central message in scripture is that God loves us. And the greatest example of God s love is the cross. So why do we often let the cross fall by the way side --- why do we so quickly leap to Easter --- chocolate and bunnies instead of love and relationship. Sometimes we shy away from the cross because we perceive it as ---- too brutal --- or too harsh ----- it s dark ----- some people say ----- or violent. Why would God ever resort to that kind of dark violence and pain and suffering and abuse? --- some people think. But the truth is ---- yes the cross can be brutal and painful and rouse images of suffering and violence. But the greater truth is that the cross is also beautiful and captivating ------ full of grace and centered around boundless love. We are not put on a cross. We are not brutalized. We are not treated harshly by God. God does not inflict pain on us.
8 We are not asked to pay any kind of price or suffer any kind of great ordeal. What makes the cross beautiful over brutal ----- is that it is love given to us freely where only God suffers ----- by choice ----- for us. God isn t into punishment or He would have had us on the cross ---- God is into love and rectification --- so He hung Himself up on the cross for our benefit. The devil had to be defeated --- God didn t ask us to try --- put ourselves in harms way ----- He did it Himself ----- coming down into creation ---- walking with us --- and dying for us. God doesn t brutalize on the cross --- God is brutalized on the cross --- there s a huge difference. He doesn t ask us to do something for Him --- He does something for us. That s what makes it beautiful ----- it is a great act of love for us --- with no benefit to Him --- only us. And as the gospel is the story of God s love for us ---- so the cross is the central event --- the central act of God s love for us. Easter is the celebration and the confirmation of the event ----- God wins --- God defeated evil ---- it s all true --- death is no more. But the cross is the accomplishment --- the act done ---- the deed performed ---- it is the central event where Easter is the post celebration and fall out. And so today we have the deed done --- love triumphing over evil by submitting to it in a paradox of accomplishments. That s the mystery and the power of the cross. Evil has been consumed and killed on the cross --- not Christ. Christ comes back ----- but sin doesn t ------ death doesn t --- they are stripped of any lasting power.
9 Jesus Christ outstretched His arms on the cross ------ and grabbed and drew into Himself ------- all the evil that the devil had brought into the world ------ and then Jesus grabbed the devil Himself for good measure and took Him down deep into the grave --- the tomb. And as we well know only Christ came out of that tomb --- the lone survivor of the cosmic battle between good and evil. Easter confirms this in a few days. The end of time as we know it will bring this fully into the light. For today we sit by the cross ----- and we gather at the table. Consider these words --- from 1 Corinthians ---- For whenever you eat this bread and rink this cup --- you proclaim the Lord s death until he comes. Whenever we eat this bread and drink this cup we proclaim His death ---- we proclaim what He accomplished on the cross until He comes. The sub text here of course is ----- if He is coming it means He isn t finished --- He isn t done yet. He accomplished all that needed to be accomplished on the cross ---- but the cosmic celebration ----- the eternal affirmation part ----- the party ------ the kingdom of God isn t fully manifested just yet. And until it is ---- we do as He instructed us to do ---- For whenever you eat this bread and rink this cup --- you proclaim the Lord s death until he comes. and Do this --- eat this bread and drink of this cup ----- in remembrance of me. And so we gather. And so we eat this bread ---- and drink this cup.
10 And so we do it in remembrance of Him. When we at this bread and drink this cup we proclaim ---- Christ --- Christ crucified. we preach Christ crucified. and We resolve to know Jesus Christ and him crucified. On Good Friday ---- on the cross ---- God accomplished all that He wanted to accomplish --- Satan loses --- God wins ----- and He did it for us. And this outcome isn t grim or brutal or violent. It s beautiful. It s grace. It s love. Divine love. God s love for us. Christ crucified is the assurance that God loves us so much that he will do anything to save us --- including something as severe as putting Himself up on the cross --- so that we don t have to suffer from separation anymore. The Bible is a love story between God and His creation ----- and the cross is the decisive act that brings the two lovers back together again ----- where they had been estranged. God is love. And the cross is God s greatest act of love. Bringing us back together again from estrangement in a paradox of accomplishments.
Hallelujah Amen. 11