Apart from the cross, stop looking for Sigs

Rev Enoch Thompson | APRIL 7, 2023 | Matthew 27:32-54

KEY VERSE:

⁴¹In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. ⁴²"He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself! He's the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. Matthew 27:41-42 (NIV)

MESSAGE:

Good Friday was the darkest and most sorrowful day in the history of the universe; the God of the universe was substituted for humanity, His sinful creation, and He died a most miserable death. So sordid was the event that the sun refused to shine, and the earth quaked to receive the holy blood that was spilled. God-in-man, Jesus the Son of God, was dying for the humanity that He so loved.

Around the dying Messiah His disciples were confused and disorganized, the ordinary people who had hailed Him a few days earlier had been turned around by the manipulation of the religious leaders into abusers of their Messiah. The religious and political leaders themselves had turned into the ring leaders and insulters of the Man of Sorrows. Their insult to the Lord was that ⁴²"He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself! He's the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. Matthew 27:42 (NIV).

The chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders had opposed the Lord Jesus throughout His life and ministry. They were determined in their hatred and dislike for Him and all He did and taught. And yet on this day that their wishes were being fulfilled as in the Messiah upon the cross they demand the empty sign that the Lord would come down from the cross to get them to believe in Him. Thank God He stayed on the cross. A dying God or Messager of God is indeed unacceptable to the religious mind, but He was the God who had demanded that without the shedding of blood, there would be no forgiveness of sin.

It would have been easier for the Lord Jesus to come down from the cross, but He chose to carry His plan to its logical conclusion, to offer His life for the life of humanity, and die fully. He would give them the harder sign, the sign of Jonah, the sign of rising from the dead on the third day; “²⁹As the crowds increased, Jesus said, "This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. ³⁰For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation.” Luke 11:29-30 (NIV). And when this sign was fulfilled, the same religious and political leaders found reason to reject it (28:12-13). We do not need signs to follow Christ, we need intelligent faith!

FEET AND HANDS FOR THE MESSAGE:

Do you believe in the dying Saviour, or do you not believe? Make up your mind and stand by what you determine to believe. Do not believe in subjective signs that may be or not be. Jesus died for our sins. He gave His life to save you, do you simply believe? Stop looking for signs, for the deed is done!

PRAYER:

Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for taking my place on the cross, thank you for refusing to come down, and for drinking the cup of my sins to the very dregs. I desire to believe till my dying moment. Please help me to have the faith that does not place conditions or look for signs. Help me to stay by the Old Rugged Cross, and to live by the blessings of the body that was broken, and the blood that was shed for me. For your dear Name’s sake, Amen.

THERE SHALL BE SHOWERS OF BLESSING.

SHOWERS! BLESSINGS!!