My Cup Runneth Over 5

Rev. Lauri Ferring

My Cup Runneth Over • Sermon • Submitted a month ago • Presented a month ago

Matthew 27:22–31

Lent

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A close week at Jesus' final week and what that means for us.

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Opening Scripture:

Psalm 77:1–13 NIV

1 I cried out to God for help; I cried out to God to hear me. 2 When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; at night I stretched out untiring hands, and I would not be comforted. 3 I remembered you, God, and I groaned; I meditated, and my spirit grew faint. 4 You kept my eyes from closing; I was too troubled to speak. 5 I thought about the former days, the years of long ago; 6 I remembered my songs in the night. My heart meditated and my spirit asked: 7 “Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show his favor again? 8 Has his unfailing love vanished forever? Has his promise failed for all time? 9 Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has he in anger withheld his compassion?” 10 Then I thought, “To this I will appeal: the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand. 11 I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. 12 I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.” 13 Your ways, God, are holy. What god is as great as our God?

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My Cup Runneth Over

The Americans of the United States have always been very vocal and prone to take action to support their views. Who can forget the Boston Tea party. However, our values have taken a nosedive and now we find people supporting in vocal and reactive fashion, things that seem irrational revealing that our nation has undergone an extreme shift in core values. Too many people in our nation are willing to demand their way at the expense of everyone else. They have no concern for releasing killers on the streets or allowing fentanyl to cross our borders to be dispensed at will. They are more concerned with allowing illegal aliens in than they are concerned with the abuse of those same illegals due to the drug Lords abuse and misuse of them. A crowd may be on your side one moment but quickly turns on you when you do not voice the same opinion they have. Have things changed? No, they have not really even though it may seem like they have. The author of Ecclesiastes declares, there is nothing new under the sun. Every unjust, or unrighteous act has the same foundational sin at its heart.

This is the topic of today’s sermon. You see, the very people that applauded Jesus during His entrance into Jerusalem, will be the same people crying out for His crucifixion at the end of the week. Why? Because He didn’t give them what they wanted. He didn’t revolt against Rome. Their response was like what we are seeing today. “Free the murderer and kill the innocent Jesus!”

Please stand as I read this account from Matthew 27.

Matthew 27:22–31 NIV

22 “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” Pilate asked. They all answered, “Crucify him!” 23 “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!” 24 When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!” 25 All the people answered, “His blood is on us and on our children!” 26 Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified. 27 Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. 30They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. 31 After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

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Father, please bless this Word which you have provided and which we now receive. Amen!

I. The Way of Suffering

The ViaDolorosa (the “Way of Suffering” or “Way of Sorrows” in Latin) is a route that winds through Jerusalem and is believed to be the path Jesus traveled while carrying the cross to the place of his execution.

(PICTURES) I have included some pictures of it in my PPT.

Today we’re going to look at some of Jesus’ last hours. Though we often focus on the pain and humiliation that happened on the cross, it is important to acknowledge the significant amount of suffering Jesus endured on his way to the cross. Jesus’ suffering is a sober reminder of the high price paid for our forgiveness.

It is true that it was the Sadducees, Pharisees, and Scribes that decided to kill Jesus. But they did not do it alone. Instead, they worked through others to get...

A. The Crowds Turned against Jesus.

It is amazing what a few false witnesses can do when motivated. Weaving themselves through the crowds, they worked to turn the people against Jesus. What is sad is that these were...

1. The same people who flocked to see Jesus on Palm Sunday who now cried out asking officials to crucify him just a few days later.

It is true that it was initiated by a few people; however, Jesus wasn’t executed by a few people while the masses passively looked on. The crowds all demanded his blood. Despite all the miracles He had performed, they were quick to listen to false witnesses. This shows that their hearts were not with Jesus for the right reason to begin with.

Second, they were easily turned because of the miracles He performed. He had demonstrated His power. However, He showed no interest in using that power for what they wanted, i.e. destroy Rome and place them in dominant authority.

2. Even more, the people were proud to be killing Jesus.

They shouted, “His blood is on us and our children!” (v. 25). This isn’t something they would say unless they were really sure that they had been wrong to laud Jesus earlier in the week, and that calling for his death was the truly right choice now (they changed their minds and decided he was a false and blasphemous messiah).

I used to find this difficult to believe, but now when I see the extreme left fighting to release convicted killers, and college students crying out against the Jews, it is not so hard to believe. I can easily imagine them stating the same, “Their blood is on us and our children! Just destroy them!”

Well, they got what they wanted. His blood was shed, and it is on them and their children. However, we also take the blame. Each time we refuse to believe. Each time we sin when we know we shouldn’t, but we do anyway. His blood is on us. So, why do we talk about this? It is terrible to think about. The reason we do so is because not only is His blood on us, but His blood is for us! Therein lies our salvation if we accept it.

As ugly as it is, we need to understand what it cost Jesus as it helps us to make better choices. So, we need to understand that...

B. Jesus Was Tortured.

Jesus was not sentenced and then quickly killed. Every part from his arrest through His crucifixion was torturous. This was the part that caused Him such fear and revulsion that He sweated blood in the garden. It was not just the cross. It was not just the Romans. It is believed that He had been beaten even prior to His facing the Sanhedrin. The Romans permitted them to dispense their own form of trials and punishments, they just were not permitted to pass the kind of judgement that bought them a cross. And a cross was what the Jews wanted. The Sanhedrin and Pharisees wanted Jesus not just dead, but completely humiliated and demoralized. So,

1. Jesus was flogged and handed over to be crucified .

It began with a flogging. The flogging was done with a whip. Not the bull whip like we think of. This whip had various lengths of braided leather with iron balls and sharp pieces of metal that ripped the flesh right off the body. By the time Jesus was placed on the cross, He was probably completely unrecognizable. But if that were not enough...

2. Jesus was humiliated .

The Roman soldiers stripped him of his clothes and put a scarlet robe on him. This must have been agonizing as the weight of the robe laid against His torn flesh.

They twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They placed a staffin his hand. Then they gathered and bowed in mock worship with one clear goal: they wanted to humiliate Jesus and the Jewish people, making light of the claims that he was king of the Jews.

The Jews should have felt shame and irritation. Maybe the crowd did? I do not know for sure. However, this was exactly what the Sanhedrin and Pharisees wanted. However, the one thing they did not like, was that Pilot had a name plate placed above Jesus’ head on the cross. “King of the Jews.” This was done to show his disdain for what the Jewish leaders were doing with Jesus. Pilot allowed public opinion to force him to do this vicious act, but he also wanted to distance himself from it. This reveals just how innocent Pilot believed Jesus to be. Pilot was not particularly a just man. He wasn’t above torturing and sentencing people to death. However, he was very uncomfortable about this one, yet he did it to protect his own public office. So, he in turn humiliated the Jewish leaders with the name plate, stating Jesus was their king.

3. Jesus was then handed over for crucifixion .

But not before they spit on him, took his staff, and hit him over the head with it repeatedly. Remember the thorns placed around his head. Each time the staff struck him; those thorns would have been driven into his flesh. They took off the mock royal garb and replaced it with his own clothing. This also would have caused pain in his raw flesh, which by this time probably resembled raw hamburger. Then they dragged him out and forced him to carry his own cross to the place where they’d hang him. We are told that he fell, a couple of times. It amazes me that he was even still upright at this point.

C. Jesus suffered physically and mentally .

Jesus could have saved Himself at any time, but He didn’t. Jesus could have called out to the Father to rescue Him at any time and God would have, but Jesus didn’t. Jesus knew that if He did not finish this, there was no future hope for us. We were the very ones who condemned Him to this, yet He endured it so that we could be saved.

1. When we contemplate Jesus’s suffering, it’s important to remember that it was the price paid for our sin.

We can be in right relationship with God because Jesus paid our bond price. While that makes our path to God easier, we must remember there was nothing easy about the path Jesus walked.

The world wonders why we would tell such a morbid story. Why would we want to come back to it again and again. It is because it is not a story. It happened and it provided the means for each of us to be saved and to have a different kind of eternal life. One that no longer suffers, fears, or is disrupted by sin. Sin will no longer be anywhere near us. We will be children of God, living a new kind of existence. A better kind of existence. One where we will completely understand that we are loved unconditionally. One where we no longer feel constrained by conditions but instead, we live completely free.

2. Reflecting on the depth of Jesus’ suffering should remind us that sin is never to be celebrated but always mourned .

Even small sins are no boasting matter. Instead of trying to cover up or rationalize our sin, we should want to do all we can to remove it from our lives.

When I watch the people on television amid those outlandish revolts, I am not angry about the pain they are causing us alone, but about the pain they are bringing down upon themselves. You see, when we love God and seek His forgiveness, our hearts are changed, and we desire for others the same salvation. We see them through God’s eyes and we know they are headed for destruction.

3. When we contemplate Jesus’s suffering, we can also consider our own suffering and find comfort in serving a God who understands that suffering.

There is nothing we can experience that Jesus, as God, hasn’t experienced for Himself. He knows and understands our heartaches.

There are so many accounts of people who have found themselves in heartbreaking moments yet felt God surrounding them with comfort. There is nothing quite like being in prayer and feeling distress, then suddenly you have a breakthrough, and you feel God’s presence surrounding you. In those incredibly personal moments, you know that God cares and feels your pain.

I recently read John’s account of Lazarus’ death. Jesus knew that He would raise Lazarus. He had even told his disciples, “He is only sleeping.” Yet, when Mary came to Him so distressed and those with her, who loved her, were also in distress. Jesus cried. Not because of Lazarus’ death, but because of His compassion for these people who were so heartbroken.

4. When Jesus prayed in the garden, he was strengthened by God for the suffering that was to come.

God sent an angel to minister to Jesus. He gave encouragement to Jesus. He did not take away what Jesus was about to suffer, but He gave strength, courage, comfort, and encouragement. Jesus now does the same thing for us through His Holy Spirit who resides within us. We never face any difficulty or tragedy alone. God is always with us experiencing the same thing with us. As we do so with Him, He gives strength, comfort, courage, and encouragement to see us through. He saw Jesus’ through it, He will see us through whatever we face. Jesus suffered the worst, as He faced one moment we will never have to suffer. To learn what that is, you will have to join us next week. Let me begin to bring this sermon to a close.

Conclusion

There is a powerful and gut-wrenching scene in the Chronicles of Narnia movie The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. This movie is an allegory about Jesus’s sacrifice. When AsIan–the lion who is the Jesus figure in the film–stands trial and is killed in someone else’s place, the viewers can feel the intense emotion. Perhaps it’s because the filmmakers did an excellent job drawing out the ghoulish evil it would take to mock a strong lion that willingly offered himself up for execution. Or maybe it’s knowing that it isn’t just a movie but a retelling of the true story of our Savior’s death. I have a clip of that scene for you to watch.

Video Clip: The Lion’s Dead (short version)

What good does it do for us to consider such grisly details? When we take time to truly consider Jesus’s suffering, we understand what a precious cost Jesus paid for us to have a right relationship with God. Sometimes we want to sugarcoat and sterilize it to make it easier to swallow. But Jesus’s death was anything but sugarcoated and sterilized. Seeing the reality of his suffering helps us emotionally connect with the immensity of what happened that day.

I have a video for you to watch as you process this sermon. Feel free to cry, to pray and thank Jesus, to do what ever you feel you need in this moment. Then I will close our service following the video.

Video Clip: Via Dolorosa

These events, though horrific, can also offer us comfort. When we go through suffering, we know we serve a God who has been there. Our suffering often makes us feel isolated from those around us because we feel they just cannot understand, unless we know they have been through the same. However, Jesus is always with us through His Holy Spirit, and we can find strength and courage, in knowing that He completely understands what we are going through. He is always with us, and we are never alone, no matter what we are going through.

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