The Cross and Sin
The Seven Last Words of Jesus
After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” (John 19:28)
We think we know what sin is, but the truth is that we have flattened it out and dumbed it down. Only an understanding of the cross and precisely what and who put Jesus on the cross can open our eyes to the deceptive and insidious nature of sin in our lives and world.
When, from the cross, Jesus says, “I thirst,” he is describing the consequences of sin and its devastating effects on humanity. John tells us that Jesus uttered these words knowing that everything had been finished or accomplished. As the apostle Paul would later say, God made him who knew no sin to become sin.1 Now, having drained the bitter cup of sin and experiencing the thirst it inevitably brings, Jesus is thirsting for the life-giving water from God of which he so often spoke.
Water plays a prominent role in John’s gospel. It is one of many signs pointing beyond itself to a richer and deeper meaning. Jesus turns water into wine at a wedding banquet. He seeks to open the eyes of Nicodemus, one of Israel’s distinguished rabbis, when he tells him that to enter God’s kingdom, one must be born of water and the Spirit. He promises the woman at the well in Sychar living water that will satisfy her in a way her promiscuous lifestyle never could. On the last day of the Feast of Booths, he cries out to those gathered in Jerusalem, saying that out of their innermost being living water will flow when they turn to him.
So when Jesus says, “I thirst,” he is crying out for the very thing he promised to those drinking stale water from the cracked cisterns of the world. Identifying completely with the effects of sin on those living in the wilderness of this world, Jesus cries out for God.
I opened this post by saying that only by understanding what and who put Jesus on the cross can our eyes be opened to the deceptive and insidious nature of sin. The what is easy - sin. The who is the eye-opener.
I’ve already mentioned in a previous post the mistaken teaching that says God the Father put Jesus on the cross. This teaching is traced to Martin Luther, an Augustinian monk from the sixteenth century. Augustine lived four hundred years after the church was born, and his contributions to Christian theology are many. However, he is in no way the definitive authority on the cross, being in conflict with many other Christian teachers before him, and especially with the scriptures themselves.
Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost makes it clear who put Jesus on the cross -
This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.
Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.*
Handed over by God is what the apostle Paul means when he says, He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all.2
Clearly, and this is the eye-opener, those responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus are his own people to whom he is the promised Messiah. What’s even more eye-opening is the truth, shouted from the rooftops of all four gospels, that those who should have been the first to recognize and acknowledge the Messiah were the ones who rejected and murdered him, Israel’s religious leaders. These distinguished leaders of God’s people brazenly make their way to Golgotha. There, they taunt and mock the one sent to save them.
Sin is deeply embedded in our world. So embedded that those who claim to serve and speak for God - the so-called good guys - are clearly the bad guys in the gospels. You cannot read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John without encountering this bizarre and startling reality. Neither are we meant to leave this shocking truth in the gospels alone, pinning the blame on the chosen ones of Israel.
Once we fully embrace what the cross teaches us about the nature of sin, we find ourselves staring into the abyss. Most shocking of all, we encounter there a pair of unblinking eyes staring back at us. And we shudder.
Sin is deceitful. It hides in places and people we would never expect. At least not from a worldly perspective. Is it any wonder that the apostle, who at one time was hell-bent on destroying the church, could later warn those he taught that Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light and his servants as servants of righteousness?3
There’s a lot more that needs to be said about sin and I will do just that, God willing.
It’s a busy week. Sherri and I are spending time with our daughters. We’re also taking care of Mary’s two high strung dogs, Dante and Georgia, as she and her husband travel to Panama. I’ll be back as soon as I can.
In Christ,
Dan
Listen to the messages here.
Learn more about Church on the Edge.
2 Corinthians 5:21.
Acts 2:23, 36, Romans 8:32.
2 Corinthians 11:14-15.