Matthew Chapters 26 and 27
April 17, 2011 Palm Sunday
Jesus died on the cross to forgive our sins. There are many kinds of sin. Which sin is the greatest, the worse? I think the greatest sin is murder. Stealing is bad, but if you steal something and get caught, you can usually return the stolen item or pay for it. But if you steal someonefs life by murder, you can never return that life to the person. That is why every personfs life is so precious and must be protected.
If murder is the worst sin, then what is the worst murder? I think the worst murder is to kill God. God is the giver of all life, so to kill God would be to destroy the life of all creation. I think the worst sin committed in the world was when people killed Jesus, the Son of God.
There are many ways to try to kill God. Blasphemy is one way. That is trying to take away the power and glory of God. It is to defile or sin against the Holy Spirit. Another way is idolatry. That is putting your trust in some dead object like iron or stone, or putting some person or thing or activity as the highest thing in your life. Idol worship is trying to please something or some desire other than the True God. Another way to try to kill God is by forgetting about God in your life. When the things of this world crowd out God and you become so busy with life, you can forget his love and grace. Anger can kill God. When accidents and disease and misfortune come upon us, we might blame God or refuse to believe in a God who would let such calamity happen. Or we might want to kill God to get him out of our lives; we might try to kill God by ignoring him. When the commands and laws of God do not allow us to commit the sin of our desires and lusts, God becomes a nuisance, so we try to ignore God if our conscience will allow it.
These are the sins that Jesus died to forgive. He died to forgive us for killing him. Our sin is not less than the sin of the Jews and the Romans who actually nailed Jesus to the cross. He died to forgive them, and to forgive us, too.
Surely the devil was trying to kill Jesus also. It was the voice of Satan that tempted Jesus to come down off the cross and save himself. gIf you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.h
Then on the cross, it would seem that the real murderer was God the Father. Jesus said, gEli, Eli, lema sabachtani? My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?h Had God the Father really deserted Jesus? Was it the will and plan of God that Jesus die on the cross? Yes, it was. John 3:16 tells us so. God loved the sinners of this world so much that he sent his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but might have eternal life. And so the sinful murderers of this world are saved by murdering the giver of life. Jesus becomes a sacrifice and in this way life is given to sinners. Jesus is raised from the dead. Sin is forgiven. Eternal life and salvation are given to sinners.
We are forgiven, we are given new life, and we are given a new purpose in life. Our purpose in life is to live and give life to others. That is because the Holy Spirit now lives in our hearts and guides us to know that the cross is the symbol of life. This is the message we preach and teach and reach out to others with. It is the gospel of forgiveness. To forgive the greatest of sins, it is the greatest of forgiveness.
Amen.
Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church