************ Sermon on Heidelberg Catechism Q & A 37 ************
Doctrine: The Apostles' Creed, "Christ ... suffered"
By: Rev. Adrian Dieleman
This sermon was preached on March 11, 2001
Q & A 37
Isaiah 53
"He Suffered"
Introduction
In this season of Lent, on this Lord's Supper Sunday, true faith, saving faith, says "I believe ... in Jesus Christ ... who ... suffered ..."
I The Suffering of Christ
A Everywhere we look in this world we see human suffering: swollen bellies aching for food, homeless refugees due to war or some natural disaster, AIDS patients knowing there is a time-bomb ticking away within them, pain-racked bodies experiencing the ravages of cancer, grieving families mourning the loss of loved ones, healthy limbs turned useless through accident or stroke, worn-out knees and hips and shoulders that are the source of constant pain, relationships broken beyond the point of restoration, lonely people crying for friendship and acceptance, human minds that begin to lose grasp of reality or remain forever frozen at the level of a three or four year old, parents blaming themselves for the actions of wayward sons and daughters, teenagers and adult singles agonizing over the consequences of sexual sin, alcoholics and drug addicts struggling for freedom from chemical dependency. Everywhere we can see these and other examples of human suffering.
We cannot minimize all of this pain and suffering. It is real, it exists, it touches us all. Yet, when the believing Christian community talks about pain and suffering it concentrates on the suffering of Jesus. This does not mean we turn our back on the world's suffering. On the contrary, in Christ's suffering we find the clue to our suffering and the hope of getting beyond the valley of tears.
There are many people who say that they cannot believe in a God Who allows suffering and pain in the lives of nice people. Such people should listen to the words of our Creed: "I believe ... in Jesus Christ ... who ... suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead, and buried." These people should be told that God came into our world to do something about our misery; they should be told that Jesus, as the Man of Sorrows that Isaiah 53 speaks of, identifies with our pain and suffering!
B Although the Son of God identifies with our sorrows and so reveals the compassion of God, yet His suffering and pain is beyond any we ever encounter. But this means we have to look at Him with the eyes of faith. You see, those who look at Him without the insight of faith and compare Him with other sufferers say that other people suffered much more than He did.
Why, then, do we speak so much of His unique and bottomless sorrow? Because we need to look at His suffering from the perspective of sin.
II Sin
A I want to say to you, in this season of Lent, on this Lord's Supper Sunday, that we cannot understand the sufferings of Christ until we first understand the whole concept of sin.
Every age has its errors and omissions. One of ours is that we are insufficiently aware of the whole concept of sin. Generally speaking there is no concept or understanding of sin anymore; sin is no longer called "sin."
Topic: Sin
Subtopic:
Index: 3338-3359
Date: 3/2001.101
Title: Sin Isn't Sin Anymore
A couple of years ago a religious survey was done in France. In this survey was a list of offenses such as adultery, theft, lying, income tax evasion. People were asked to put a check mark beside those offenses they considered to be sin. The survey found out that over 90% of all Frenchmen no longer consider violations of the Ten Commandments to be sin. In France, at least, sin no longer exists.
On this side of the ocean our view of sin is as elastic as it is in France. For most people in our culture "sin" no longer is a valid concept. Even church members don't seem to count "sin" as sin any more. Why else is pre-marital and extra-marital sex so prevalent? Or, consider that divorce and remarriage is increasingly accepted within the church of Jesus Christ. Or, consider that many Christians do not report all their income to the IRS. Or, consider how easily we can watch anything on TV or in the movies. Or, consider how easy we find it to skip church when we are not in the mood.
There is no doubt about it: "sin" is no longer seen as sin!
B Do you know what the consequence of this is? When we lose our understanding of the concept of sin we also lose all awareness of God's holy and terrible anger against sin. If there is no sin, then God cannot be angry with us. If there is nothing for God to be angry with, then He cannot judge us. If God cannot judge us then Christ did not have to take on our flesh. If Christ did not have to take on our flesh then He did not have to suffer and die on the cross. If Christ did not have to suffer and die then we might as well pack up our Bible and hymn books and go back home because we are wasting our time in church this morning. Do you see the connection, the connection all the way from sin to why Christ had to suffer?
The church has departed from the Holy Scriptures and is unfair to those within and without her doors if she doesn't make clear that sin is sin – regardless of what we think of it – and that God is terribly angry with that sin.
C God is angry with sin. God hates sin. That's why Christ had to suffer. And, that's why you and I and the entire human race experience pain and suffering too. You see, there are consequences to sin and disobedience. God announced those consequences in the perfection of the Garden already: pain in childbirth, conflict, thorns and thistles, painful toil, and so on (Gen 3:14-19).
III Christ Experienced the Anger of God
A In this season of Lent, on this Lord's Supper Sunday, when we look at Christ's sufferings from the perspective of sin we begin to have a sense of the uniqueness of His sufferings.
Christ's sufferings are unique because "during his whole life on earth, but especially at the end, Christ sustained in body and soul the anger of God against the sin of the whole human race." As Isaiah puts it, "The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Is 53:6).
I want you to notice that Christ experienced the anger of God against sin "during his whole life on earth." I think of His birth in a stable; His dangerous journey into Egypt to escape Herod; His hunger, thirst, and fatigue; and, His life of poverty with no place to lay His head. I think also of the temptation by the devil; the hatred of His enemies who called Him a drunkard, glutton, blasphemer, and child of the devil; His rejection and persecution; the inconstancy of the people who kept changing their minds about Him; the weak faith of His disciples; and, His anxiety about His coming death.
B It was especially at the end of His life, though, that Christ experienced the anger of God against sin. I think of His sweat falling like great drops of blood; being treated like a criminal; being spit upon and beaten; being whipped and crowned with thorns; carrying the heavy cross; His burning thirst; and, His painful death. I thinks also of His agony in Gethsemane; His betrayal by Judas; the desertion by the disciples; the denial of Peter; the false testimony against Him; the cry of the people to "crucify him"; the jeering and mockings while He hung upon the cross ("He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering," says Isaiah); and, being forsaken by God during those three awful hours of darkness.
C Remember, Christ suffered all this because of God's anger against the sin of the whole human race.
Christ's sufferings are unique because no one else ever had to bear this burden or can bear this burden. When we suffer for sin, it is generally only for our sin. But Jesus lived a perfect and sinless life. He Himself had no sin God was angry against. Rather, He bore God's anger against our sin.
What a burden for Christ to carry: the anger of God against the sin of the entire human race.
Topic: Anger
Subtopic: Of God
Index: 3955
Date: 3/2001.101
Title: Big John
There is a song about a man called "Big John."
Big John worked in a coal mine. One day the timbers started to creak and crack. It looked like there would be a cave in. Big John could have saved himself. Instead, he went to the timbers and held them up until all his fellow workers could escape. When he let go the entire mine collapsed on him.
Jesus' burden was far greater than the tons of earth Big John held up. Jesus bore the weight of God's anger against the sin of the whole human race.
D Nobody is able to comprehend the close relationship between the Father and the Son. From eternity theirs was and is a relationship of divine and perfect love. Think of Christ's words, "I and the Father are one" (Jn 10:30). Think of the prayers He sent up to heaven. Divine love is so much deeper than human love. There was a holy, perfect intimacy between the Father and the Son.
However, in His sufferings Christ no longer experienced the love of the Father. Instead, He experienced the anger of God.
IV Christ Experienced the Judgment of God
A Do you know what else is unique about the sufferings of Christ? What is unique is that Christ experienced the judgment of God though He was innocent.
In the Bible we see Jesus before Pilate's throne. Pilate is included in both the Bible and in the Apostles' Creed to make Jesus' condemnation a civil affair. Pilate put the seal of the state on the condemnation of Jesus. Jesus was not assassinated in some dark corner – something I am sure the Pharisees wanted to do. Jesus was not thrown off a cliff – as the townspeople of Nazareth wanted to do. Jesus was judged and punished by the highest legal authority of the land. The Bible tells us that the government is God's servant (Rom 13). Put this together with Isaiah 53:12 where we read "it was the Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer" and you see it was God Himself Who condemned Jesus.
B Jesus was condemned by Pilate and therefore by God. Yet, as the Bible makes clear, Christ was innocent, pure, holy, and sinless.
Not only was Christ innocent but He was also found to be innocent. Three times Pilate told the people He found Christ to be innocent; he received a warning from his wife to release Jesus; and, Herod also found Christ to be innocent. In spite of this, Jesus was still condemned by God and man. That makes His sufferings unique.
V Christ Experienced the Curse of God
A Do you know what else is unique about the sufferings of Christ? What is unique is that Christ experienced the curse of God. The curse of God is a terrible thing. Curse goes further than mere punishment. Curse is absolute punishment.
Christ experienced the curse of God by hanging upon the cross. Don't forget what Galatians 3:13 says: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." A crucified man hangs between heaven and earth. His hands are stretched out to heaven, but he cannot reach heaven because his hands are firmly nailed to the tree. His feet are stretched to the earth, but he cannot reach earth because his feet are nailed to the tree. Crucifixion shows you are wanted by neither heaven nor earth. You are rejected, an outcast, abandoned.
B Again, don't forget the eternal love relationship between the Father and the Son. Yet, He was cursed by God while upon the cross. No wonder that He cried out, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"
Like the 15-year-old boy in Santee who shot 13 of his classmates, we have all felt the pain of rejection. A boyfriend or girlfriend breaks up with us. A husband or wife leaves us for someone else. There is a fight with a family member and relations are hostile. Such a breaking of a love relationship is almost unbearable.
Yet, what Christ went through was worse, far worse. Compare Him to the many martyrs who die with the name of Jesus on their lips, singing the songs of the faith – they all die knowing that God is with them. But Jesus experienced the opposite. Even the Father had abandoned Him. He hung there, between heaven and earth, all alone, forsaken, cursed by God and man.
V In Our Place
A In this season of Lent, on this Lord's Supper Sunday, when we look at Christ's unique sufferings we are humbled when we realize He underwent all this for us. It should have been us on the wood of the cross. It is our sin that God is angry with. We are the ones who should be judged and cursed. Instead, Christ was our substitute and took our place. You know what Isaiah says:
(Isa 53:4-5) Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows ... (5) But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities ...
B Do you know why He did this? To give us "peace" says Isaiah – peace, that is, with God. Do you know why He did this? To "set us free, body and soul, from eternal condemnation, and gain for us God's grace, righteousness, and eternal life" says the Catechism. Christ took our place in order to save us.