Sunday, March 18, 2018 - Jesus: Willingness to Suffer!
Pastor Roger C. Marcos
March 18, 2018
Introduction:
Jesus Came more than 2, 000 years ago in human flesh, lived a sinless life in our behalf, Died for our transgression, Arose from the dead to deliver us from death eternal, Ascended to heaven to prepare a home for us to heaven, Minister us each day as our high priest.. HE IS COMING BACK to take us to be with Him forever in ever.
Today, I will speak something about JESUS Willingness to Suffer.
“And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem” Luke 9:51-55
51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. 53 But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem.
54 And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” 55 But he turned and rebuked them. 56 And they went on to another village.
The obedience of Jesus, to the Father setting His face towards the cross to purchase us and bring us salvation!
Looking at the final hours of Jesus’ life before His crucifixion and death, we see the utter brutality and violence of man. It raises the question, why did Jesus have to suffer?
Our text say’s “He steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem” to die on the Cross.
Bear in mind the three truth thoughts from Luke 9:51
I. Jesus Went to the Cross On Purpose. His Journey to Jerusalem. Amid all the activities of his ministry of teaching,
healing, and making disciples, Jesus “set his face” for his final journey to Jerusalem.
Dr. John Gill said, “Now the time was up, that Jesus must leave the low-lands of Galilee, having finished his work there, and go into the higher country of Judea, and so up to Jerusalem...
After this, he never went into Galilee any more...and was
determined to go to Jerusalem...though he knew what he was to meet with and endure; that he should bear the sins of his people, the curse of the law, and the wrath of God; that he should have many enemies, men and devils to grapple with, and undergo a painful, shameful and accursed death; yet none of these things moved him, he was [steadfastly set] on going [there]” (John Gill, D.D., An Exposition of the New Testament, The Baptist Standard Bearer, 1989 reprint, volume I, p. 589; note on Luke 9:51)
Christ’s crucifixion was not an accident! He had already told the Disciples.
“The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the
elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day. ” Luke 9:22
Advance Noticed To His Disciples:
“Let these sayings sink down into your ears: for the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men. But they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not: and they feared to ask him of that saying” Luke 9:44-45
The Disciples did not understand that He was going to Jerusalem to die on the Cross. But Christ knew it and understood it. For the third time in Luke’s Gospel, Christ said,
“Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again. And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken” Luke 18:31-34
The Disciples expected Jesus to be enthroned as the King and Messiah of Israel.
They simply could not understand why He had to die on the Cross. Why?
Luke 18:34 But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them; and they did not KNOW the things which were spoken.
” It was not until Christ rose from the dead that He opened “their understanding.
And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day. Luke 24:45-46
Thus, the Disciples had no understanding of the Gospel until Christ rose from the dead.
I Corinthians 15:1-4-READ 15 Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.
“...who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” Hebrews 12:2
Jesus Christ, “for the joy that was set before Him,” “set his face to go to Jerusalem” - to die on the Cross!
Yes, Christ went to the Cross on Purpose.
II. Christ Went to the Cross to Leave Us An Example.
“Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps” I Peter 2:21
Christ “steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem” to suffer and die.
And every real Christian should be willing to follow His “example” Every truly converted Christian ought to willingly go through trials and hardships as Christ, our great example, did.
“If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” Luke 9:23.
When God is working in you, you will be willing to deny yourself and take up the cross, and go through the anguish of conviction, and come to Christ, and go through trials and heartaches as a Christian because,
“We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God” Acts 14:22
I know that a great many Christians in the Third World have been tortured and imprisoned for their faith. Yet they do not give up Christ. You can read about them on the Internet at www.persecution.com. By God’s grace, you may become like them, as they are like Christ, who “set his face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51)
For “Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps” (I Peter 2:21
Yes, Christ went to the Cross to leave us an example - to show us that we need to follow Him no matter what it costs!
III. Christ Went to the Cross to Atone for Our Sins.
Jesus told
“For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them” Luke 9:56
Jesus told Zacchaeus,
“The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” Luke 19:10
By His death on the Cross, Jesus can save you from judgment, and sin, and the wrath of God. Jesus can save you by dying in your place, to pay for your sins, on the Cross. Jesus deliberately “set his face to go to Jerusalem,” and die on the Cross to atone for your sin. The prophet Isaiah said,
“The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).
“By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities” Isaiah 53:11.
Christ went to Jerusalem to die in your place, to pay for your sins, as your substitute. That is called His “vicarious atonement.” Dr. Charles Hodge said,
Jesus Christ, God the Son, died in your place, as your substitute. Jesus paid for all your sin when He died in your place, as your substitute on the Cross. Trust Him and you are saved! As Isaiah put it,
“He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities” Isaiah 53:5
And the Apostle Paul said,
“Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures” (I Corinthians 15:3).
Christ’s death on the Cross satisfies the justice of God. Christ’s death satisfies the law of God.
Thus, Christ’s death reconciles God to us sinners. Christ’s death liberates us from the power of evil.
His death on the Cross will atone for our sin, and you will be saved for all time and all eternity!