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Paradoxes of the Cross 

No man ever died like this Man!

Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • January 20, In the year of our Lord, 2013

 

Prelude: 

  1. John 7 shows that when the Jews sent officers to arrest Jesus, 
    1. those officers heard Him teach, and
    2. they could not arrest Him.
      1. Later the officers returned to the Jewish leaders empty-handed,

        45 Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why have you not brought Him?” 46 The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this Man!” (John 7.45, 46).

      2. Therefore, in their own minds, they could not arrest Him.
  2. Likewise, when I anticipate all the prophecies of the death of Jesus, and 
    1. when I see the pictures that the four Gospels show of His death, and
    2. when I understand all that the New Testament says of His death,
      1. I think to myself,
      2. “No man ever died like this man.”
  3. Let me show you what I mean. 
    1. Look at part of Isaiah 53, and
      1. if you have never read the whole chapter,
      2. please do, for
        1. you will see other wonderful things
        2. about the sacrifice of Jesus.
    2. However, for now consider verses 4–6,
      1. especially the paradoxical nature
      2. of this prophecy of the suffering of the Messiah,

        4 Surely He has borne our griefs
        And carried our sorrows;
        Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
        Smitten by God, and afflicted.
        5 But He was wounded for our transgressions,
        He was bruised for our iniquities;
        The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
        And by His stripes we are healed.
        6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
        We have turned, every one, to his own way;
        And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
        (Isa 53.4–6)

    3. Let me show you more paradoxes of the cross of Christ.

Persuasion: 

  1. Earth for Heaven 
    1. He came to the earth.

      15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief (1Ti 1.15).

    2. That we might enter heaven.

      1 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. (John 14.1–3).

  2. Flesh for Spirit 
    1. He came in the flesh.

      14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1.14).

    2. That we might be born of the Spirit.

      5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3.5).

  3. Poverty for Riches 
    1. He became poor.

      58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head” (Luke 9.58).

    2. That we might become rich.

      9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich (2Co 8.9).

  4. Rejection for Acceptance 
    1. He accepted the rejection of men.

      3 He is despised and rejected by men,
      A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
      And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
      He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
      (Isa 53.3)

    2. That we might be accepted of God.

      6 …to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved (Eph 1.6).

  5. Death for Life 
    1. He came to die.

      46 Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day…” (Luke 24.46).

    2. That we might live.

      13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses (Col 2.13).

Exhortation: 

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live” (John 11.25).

27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ (Gal 3.27).

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