THE SUPREME SACRIFICE

THE SUPREME SACRIFICE

John 11:45-53; Romans 5:1-11

Dr. Wm. J. Maxwell

First Presbyterian Church, Newport, RI

May 29, 2005

It was a sullen and sober look upon all of their faces, for this was a meeting of mystery and intrigue, of jealousy and envy, and of malignant and murderous design. The Jewish Council – the religious elite of Israel – had met to discuss what to do with Jesus.

This rabbi had become far too prominent and influential. The religious leaders feared that, because of this Jesus, there would be an uprising of the people, only to then be crushed by the force of the Roman army.

That’s when Caiaphas, the high priest at the time, spoke up. Unknowingly, he spoke a word of prophecy in saying that it would be good for Jesus to die. It would be better for him to die than for the whole nation to be put in mortal jeopardy. As far as he could see, it was more expeditious for even an innocent man like Jesus to die than to lose the whole country. He would be sacrificed. Yes. He would die. Little did Caiaphas realize, however, that this sacrifice was more for the salvation of Jews and Gentiles, than for the saving of the nation of Israel.

Some twenty-five years later, the apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome, a church which consisted of both Jewish and Gentile Christians. It is in this great epistle that Paul writes largely of the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and of the difference this makes in our lives.

Because of the Good News or the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Paul tells us that a powerful transition occurs for us. We move from the experience of the just and righteous wrath of God to that of God’s amazing grace; from separation from God to peace with God; from falling short of God’s glory through sin to experiencing the hope of the glory of God; from suffering as judgment to experiencing joy in the midst of trials and challenges because of what God produces through them; from a fearful uncertainty to the assurance of God’s steadfast love and to rejoicing in the God of our salvation in Jesus Christ.

That’s quite a transition! That’s quite a change! But how does this all happen? It happens, as Caiaphas so unwittingly said to the Council, by the sacrifice of Jesus, the supreme sacrifice indeed. It happens, as Paul said, by looking to Jesus as the One who made the supreme sacrifice for us:

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

HIS IS THE SUPREME SACRIFICE

BECAUSE WE ARE SO UNWORTHY OF SUCH A SACRIFICE.

This is what we are told with all the “uncomplimentary” yet totally accurate adjectives used to describe us. For example, in and of ourselves, we are “powerless.” Here, the original has the idea of being weak and helpless, as in the case of a very serious illness. With this in mind, we are powerless in our inability to somehow earn and deserve God’s favor and acceptance.

We are also “ungodly,” not just in being unlike God, but in our attempts to dethrone God by deliberately choosing our will over His, and in vainly believing that we know better than God in what to do with our lives.

We are “sinners,” those who have fallen far short of God’s righteous standards for our lives. God does have, after all, standards for us to live by, even though we so often seek to elude them by faulty comparison.

Popular author Max Lucado writes of this practice of ours in comparing ourselves with others rather than with God. When he was young, his mother would complain about his room not being very clean. That’s when he’d take her to his brother’s room. The reason, of course, was that his brother’s room was always so much messier! “My room is clean; just look at his!” he would tell his mother.

But this never worked for Max.

She’d walk me down the hall to her room. When it came to tidy rooms, my Mom was righteous. Her closet was just right. Compared to hers, my room was, well, just wrong. She would show me her room and say, “This is what I mean by clean.”

And in his own inimical punch line way, Max Lucado writes: “God is the same. He points to Himself and says, ‘This is what I mean by righteousness.’” [i]

We will never know how supreme the sacrifice of Christ was until we come to realize who we are apart from Him. It is a great sacrifice to die for good and noble people. But it is a far greater sacrifice to die for the sake of those who do not deserve such a sacrifice.

There is a story of a British soldier that illustrates this kind of sacrifice. Col. Thomas E. Lawrence was quite a commanding figure, who brought the Arabs together during World War I. He came to be know, in fact, as “Lawrence of Arabia.”

At one time, Lawrence and a few others were in a most desperate situation. They were traveling deep in the desert, their food nearly gone, and their water down to the last drop. Suddenly, one of them asked about Jasmin, who was no longer there with them. But none of them seemed to care.

One of them said of Jasmin, “He is not strong in the head, perhaps he is lost in a mirage; he is not strong in the body, perhaps he has fainted and fallen off his camel.” Then another said: “What does it matter? Jasmin was not worth half a crown.” Caring ever so little, they all moved on in that deadly heat and that desert wilderness … all except Lawrence, who at great and even certain peril, rode back in the blazing heat in search of Jasmin.

He found him nearly two hours later, nearly dead and almost out of his mind. The last drops of water Lawrence had were given to Jasmin, as he then put Jasmin on his own camel and rode back together to the others. As a result, the Arabs were stunned in amazement as they said: “Here is Jasmin, not worth half a crown, saved at his own risk by Lawrence, our lord.” [ii]

Likewise, and even far more so, it was not for the good and noble Christ came to save … it was for the powerless, the ungodly, for sinners making themselves out to be God’s enemies. A supreme sacrifice? Indeed it was!

HIS IS THE SUPREME SACRIFICE ALSO BECAUSE SUCH SACRIFICE

DOES NOT HAPPEN VERY OFTEN, EVEN FOR GOOD PEOPLE.

Paul brings this to mind in saying: “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.”

On this weekend we remember with deep gratitude those who gave their lives in service for this country. But last weekend, I was already thinking of this in great detail.

While on the plane Friday afternoon going to my son’s wedding in Arkansas, I was reading The Glorious Cause by Jeff Shaara. As I was reading, I read of the courageous self-sacrifice of the patriot Nathan Hale. You may recall that he was captured by the British as a spy, and consequently he was sentenced to die by hanging. Just before he was hanged, his last words were, “I only regret … that I have but one life … to lose for my country.” I was deeply moved and inspired by this.

Then Saturday morning, my wife and I had breakfast for three hours with our son’s best man and his fiancée. Colin had been in Iraq for a year with our son, often serving side by side, and Colin shared with us some stories from their time in Iraq, leaving us and his fiancée deeply moved.

Then, Saturday evening, there was our son for his wedding, dressed in formal uniform, including all of his service ribbons and some medals. In light of all this, may I say that the sacrifice of all those who have served and of those who sacrificed their very lives should never ever be forgotten!

At the same time, however, while giving thankful acknowledgement for such sacrifice given by so many and in so many ways, I believe the apostle Paul is right. Such sacrifice is more often given under special and unusual circumstances and is not often given under normal circumstances, though someone might possibly dare to die for another.

Jesus’ sacrifice, however, was different. Jesus came intentionally to die, and He died not for one, but for many, and not for one nation, but for all the world. It was at the moment of our deepest need and according to the divine timetable that He came for our redemption. In all of this, His was the supreme sacrifice.

III

HIS IS THE SUPREME SACRIFICE

BECAUSE GOD’S LOVE

IS DEMONSTRATED MOST PROFOUNDLY

IN THIS SACRIFICIAL ACT.

Paul brings this forth this truth in verse 8. “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

This verse is worth memorizing, just as much as the familiar verse of John 3:16. Both testify to the greatness of God’s love for us in Jesus Christ, and for all He accomplished for a people so unworthy of such love. But that is why we call it grace, in that it is the undeserved love and favor of God, and that is why we call it mercy, for God draws us to Himself in Christ in reconciling love.

Over the course of time, various people have sought to define the greatness and the power of God’s love found in Christ. For example, someone once wrote down a special arrangement of John 3:16. The verse was spelled out, with phrases added to signify the greatness of the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The author wrote the following:

God the greatest Lover

so loved the greatest degree

the world the greatest company

that He gave the greatest act

His only begotten Son the greatest gift

that whosoever the greatest opportunity

believeth the greatest simplicity

in Him the greatest attraction

should not perish the greatest promise

but the greatest difference

have the greatest certainty

everlasting life. the greatest possession. [iii]

Just think of all this! In the Good News of the Gospel, we have the greatest Lover, the greatest degree, the greatest company, the greatest act, the greatest gift, the greatest opportunity, the greatest simplicity, the greatest attraction, the greatest promise, the greatest difference, the greatest certainty, and the greatest possession!

There are also those who have sought to describe God’s love through the analogy of inspiring human experience. England, for example, saw such love in Princess Alice, the second daughter of Queen Victoria.

In 1878, the young son of Princess Alice was infected with a terrible disease called “black diphtheria.” As a result, the boy was quarantined and separated from his mother. But she couldn’t stay away. Love would have it so.

One day, the boy was overheard asking his nurse, “Why doesn’t my mother kiss me anymore?” The words moved her heart so much that she ran to her beloved son and smothered him with kisses. Within a few days, she was buried. [iv]

How great was this mother’s love. And yet, far greater still the love of God found in the supreme sacrifice of Christ!

Have you experienced this love of God, this supreme and holy “kiss” of God in the crucified Savior, the One who came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many?

This loving embrace is received by faith and trust – a faith not in ourselves, for we are powerless – but a faith and trust in Jesus Christ and in His supreme sacrifice. And when you do receive this loving embrace in such a supreme sacrifice, you will also find that it is a love – the greatest of all loves – indeed, a love that will never ever let you go!