I preached this at our Good Friday service.
On Sunday I told you that Jesus entered Jerusalem in order
to fight a battle, the most important battle of His life. I told you that the
outcome of this battle would determine who is ruler of the world. Would Satan
continue to be lord of the nations? Could Jesus defeat him and restore the
lordship over all things to its rightful place? Tonight, we're going to take
the next step in understanding and celebrating what happened during that week.
Tonight, I'm going to tell you how Jesus won that battle.
If you were there, at the place of crucifixion, what would
you see? You would see a man dying. He would be dying a slow and painful death.
You would see the onlookers. Some of them would be there just to gawk at
another execution. Some of them would be there to mock the dying man. Some
would stare and think, 'Another life wasted.'
You would also hear people shout at Jesus, 'King of the Jews!', and then
laugh. Others would walk up to Him and say, 'What was that about destroying the
Temple and rebuilding it in three days? You talk big, but you can't even save
yourself.' Then there would be others who would say to each other, 'Well, if He
trusts in God so much let Him trust God now. Let's see how that works for Him.'
And off to the side you'd see the soldiers gambling for the clothes that they
had stripped off Jesus. If you were there you would see a man naked and in
pain, being ridiculed and shamed and dying alone. Is this winning the battle?
Yes, it is. Remember what Jesus said as He approached this
fateful day.
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of
wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears
much fruit.
Jesus believed that it would be by dying that He would bear
much fruit. It would be by dying that He would win the crucial battle and
defeat Satan. It was by losing that He would win. This is what Jesus believed.
All those who watched what was happening during the battle of that day thought
otherwise. But Jesus' resurrection proved Him right.
We celebrate the mighty works of God in order to learn from
them. And here is one lesson that we need to learn. You will win your battles
by doing things that will look like you are losing. That's what Jesus did, and
He is the one whom we have pledged ourselves to follow. You win by losing.
Doing that will be hard. For one thing, doing that will
require a change in how you think. We all have been told that you win by winning.
We have all been told to work hard at winning. And that is how we have lived so
much of life. Winning is supposed to look like winning. But Jesus says, 'No' to
that. Winning, real winning, will look like losing. It will look like you are
dying. We all need to change how we think. It will be very hard, but it is
necessary. You win by losing.
Also, if you are going to pursue this way of life you will
need to be ready to be ridiculed. People will look at you funny. They will
wonder what's wrong with you. They will tell you that you're losing, but you
don't seem to care. And when your losing comes to a climax they will laugh.
And if you are going to pursue this way of life you will
need to be ready for pain. Losing will hurt. Jesus felt the pain of the battle,
physical, emotional, spiritual pain. Why shouldn't you?
Living in the way that Jesus did will take one more
ingredient. It was not Jesus' idea to win by losing in the way that He did. It
was the Father's calling. His submission to this part of the Father's plan was
an act of faith. He went to the Cross entrusting Himself to the Father. It was
the obedience of faith. If you are going to follow Jesus through losing and
then into victory, you also will need to submit yourself to the Father's plans,
and you will need to do that as an act of faith. And that will also be hard.
Remember, even Jesus’ closest friends didn't understand what was going on. They
didn't understand that victory came by playing the role of a loser. It may well
be that the people who are so very close to you won't understand either. That
will be hard. But a trusting obedience to the Father will always be rewarded.
The grain of wheat that dies will bear much fruit. After
death there is resurrection. Losing like this will lead to winning.
One last thought. Why should you live this way? Why choose
the hard way? I could tell you that it's a matter of obedience. Or I could tell
you that this is the only way to win those battles. Both of those are good
answers But let me offer a different answer to that 'Why?' question. You do it
because of love. That's why Jesus did it. It was His love, first for the Father
and then for you, that led Him to that Cross and kept Him on it, dying slowly
in shame. It will be love that keeps you bearing your own cross, looking like
such a loser. And that is another lesson from Good Friday. What we do, we do
because of love. In this we imitate our Savior. When you meditate on the Cross
meditate on the love of Jesus there. And then, work at winning by losing. Chose
to live this way because of your love for the Savior who has loved you so.