Some stories should only be told once; some never. Then there a few stories, though we have heard them many times, we yearn to hear them again. They never grow old, though we may have heard them a hundred times or more. The only story that never grows old, no matter who tells it, is the story of Jesus and his love for you and me.
The entrance of sin into a perfect world in the very beginning brought destruction, darkness, depression and death. The world is doomed. Man was cast out of the beautiful paradise of Eden, and required to work by the sweat of his face until he returned to the dust from whence he came. Sin brought shame and sadness upon a world which once was smiled upon by God. Though one does not inherit sin, the consequences of sin are in the world. Each man, like father Adam, sins when he transgresses God’s law. All who have reached the age of accountability have sinned except the preciously perfect Son of God. Solomon said, “for there is no man that sinneth not (I Kings 8:46). Paul wrote, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23.)
Since man is a sinner, he stands in need of a Savior. No animal sacrifice could actually atone or provide forgiveness for sins. The Hebrews writer said, “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.” (Heb. 10:4.) At least once a year, every year on the day of atonement, the Jews were reminded of their sins. There was a need for a better sacrifice, a perfect sacrifice and God selected his only begotten Son who left the glories of heaven to walk among men, to die as a man and to give his life for all men. Oh, what a Savior! To the Roman saints Paul said:
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. (Romans 3:23-26.)
In the same epistle the inspired apostle wrote, “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:6-8.)
So, Jesus came, as was prophesied and announced (Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:18-25). He came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). After his baptism at about age 30, he began his personal ministry, preparing his apostles to do the work that he would leave for them, demonstrating by his miracles that he was truly the Son of God, teaching eternal truths in easy– to- be- understood ways and living the sinless perfect life as an example for all. At first the crowds thronged him; but then, through the influence of the Jewish leaders, they took up stones to throw at him. First, he was beloved; then he was berated. Isaiah, in the long, long ago, wrote:
Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” (Isaiah 53:1-3.)
John with pen and ink wrote of him, “He came unto his own, and his own received him not” (John 1:11).
The only begotten Son exchanged his place in the bosom of his Father in heaven for no place to lay his head in this old sinful world. On one occasion our Lord said, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.” (Matt. 8:20.) He was a poor wayfaring stranger, yet not without purpose, wandering this low ground of sin and sorrow. He came to die for us. To the Philippian saints, Paul wrote:
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.(Philippians 2:5-8.)
The night before his crucifixion Jesus instituted his supper, telling his disciples that he would drink anew the fruit of the vine with them in his Father’s kingdom (Matt. 26:29). Following the supper, they sang a hymn and went out to the garden of Gethsemane where he agonized over what was to come. There Jesus was arrested and went through six so-called night trials. Finally, when Pilate, the governor, saw that he could not prevail over the tumult of the Jews, he washed his hands and gave the verdict, “See ye to it.” (Matt. 27:24.)
Jesus carried his cross as far as he could toward execution hill, Golgotha. But when he could carry it no more Simon of Cyrene was compelled to bear it after him. Jesus was nailed to the cross, one of the cruelest ways to die. Men often suffered for days before they were blessed to die. He was nailed to the cross and suspended between heaven and earth for six hours, between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., before he succumbed. Yet, while he was writhing in pain, the Jews railed on him, mocked him and ridiculed him. Who could watch a dog suffer as Jesus did, yet not have an ounce of sympathy for it? But these Jews were so hard-hearted that they could mock him as he suffered. Jesus was wounded for my transgressions and bruised for my iniquities. This he did for all mankind.
Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, having been given permission to bury Jesus, took him down from the cross that Friday evening. His body, having been wrapped in a clean linen cloth, was buried in Joseph’s new tomb wherein no man had been laid. The women saw where he was taken. Friday night and Saturday passed. The disciples had scattered. What dark hours they experienced! One can only imagine their feelings. What would they do without their Master and Leader? Later, Peter would go back to fishing; others would go with him.
When the first day of the week came, Jesus was raised from the dead. As the news spread, first to Mary Magdalene, then to the women, and after that, to other disciples, it was to them as idle tales. But when he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, their hope was renewed and their joy was beyond compare. Now, the kingdom of which the prophets, John the Baptist and Jesus said was coming, was soon to begin. A new day was dawning; a new age would begin. His commission was given to his disciples, and it would last until the end of the age.
Forty days after Jesus’ resurrection, he ascended into heaven. Ten days later, the kingdom was inaugurated. People began to enter into this kingdom not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Jesus began his reign on that first Pentecost following his resurrection, and he will continue to reign until time shall be no more.
We are called to tell the good news of Jesus and his love.
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