The Bungee Cord 2-28-22

Hello,

Why did Jesus die?

That was the question that the first disciples struggled with and likewise every generation of people who have heard the story of Jesus. The people who stood at the foot of the cross and mocked Jesus saw his death as proof of Jesus’ disillusionment. The disciples thought that the Messiah, the promised restorer of Israel, would come with might and power. They thought that he would be like a roaring lion, sending their foes running away with their tails between their legs, but those thoughts died when they saw Jesus die on the cross.

Why did Jesus die?

Well, Jesus, himself, gave the answer. Jesus died to save people from their sins.

Imagine yourself being taken hostage by some band of terrorists. Those of us who are old enough to remember the Iranian Hostage Crisis that took place during President Carter’s tenure heard what it was like to be so held. I read a couple of books written by the hostages and they described the powerlessness and hopelessness they felt. They spoke of the paralysis of their lives in their isolation. They spoke of the loneliness and the emptiness in their souls. They felt the worthlessness of being pawns in a game that others were playing. They spoke of the grip that their captures had on them that controlled every day and everything. It was a living hell during their hostage months.

Although you and I may not think of in this way, but our sins do the same thing to us. They take us hostage. The pain that we bring to ourselves, our loved ones, our world, and even to the heart of God can be like shackles that our sins slap on our lives. Like hostage takers, our sins can take over our minds as they circle around and around in obsessive control. They take hold of our hearts and drag us into dark dungeons. They torture us like a leather whip when we see the look in people’s eyes who we have sinfully struck. Sins take hold of us with a grip that is unyielding.

Cheat one time on a test and teachers watch you carefully whenever you take a test. Cheater. Overstep established boundaries and every encounter you make is seen with suspicion. Abuser. Shoplift one thing from a store and every time you go in there the cameras will be turned to you. Thief. Share one secret at the lunch table and no one will ever confide in you again. Gossiper. Lie to a loved one once and every alibi will be heard with a shadow of unbelief. Lier. Beat up a kid on the playground and no one will ever come to you with a problem. Bully. Turn a deaf ear to someone who needs a hand, and any good deed will be viewed as a action of self-aggrandizement. Jerk. Be found to have taken an overdose, and people will be slow to trust you. Addict. Drive under the influence and crash into a person on their bike, and you will wear that person’s blood forever. Killer.

Sins take us hostage and demand our lives for a ransom.

Jesus died to save us from our sins, not to pay a ransom, but instead to bring the hostage holders to death. When Jesus went to the cross, he challenged all hostage taking sins to a battle to the death, winner take all. And when Jesus said, “It is finished!”, he was speaking of this deadly wrestling match. Like a wrestler taking a death-grip on his opponent jumping into a bottomless pit, Jesus took all sins to death with him, dying as certainly as he did when he breathed his last. Any claim that those hostage taking sins might have had on anyone’s life was gone when they crashed to their death. All people were freed…saved…from their sins.

And then on Easter morning, God did what only God can do, and that is raise the dead from life. On Easter morning the only one who emerged from the grave was Jesus….no hostage takers….only Jesus. And as Jesus walked out of that tomb, he staked God’s claim on all those former hostages. Forgiven. Freed. Children of God. No longer shackled by those hostage takers, now embraced in the eternal love of God. Winner take all!

The world may still try and keep us hostage to our sins, but God will not let that happen. That would make the death of Jesus to be in vain. Jesus did not die for nothing. He died for everything….for everyone. That is why everyone is welcomed to walk into the doors of any church on any Sunday…no matter what they have done, no matter what they have said, no matter what they have though….to hear and live in the truth. And the truth is that sin has been put to death, even the sins that try to cling to you and me when we walk into church, and because of that there is hope to live because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

You see, Jesus died to save all people from their sins.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

Like

Comment

Share