Jesus Died for Sinners

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday, the 9th of October, 2022, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Our YouTube streaming channel is: 

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.]

A lot of questions about Christianity have been asked over the centuries since Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected from the dead, including why did He die.  Why did Jesus have to die?  For that matter, did He even have to die?  If He was truly God, couldn’t He have simply jumped down off that cross and walked away?

Well yes, He could have.  But yes, He did have to die because that was necessary for God’s plan to be worked.  Only a blood sacrifice could atone for our sins, and only the Spotless Lamb would suffice to redeem us all, once for all time.

And that leads many who are lost to ask, “I am a great sinner – why would God sacrifice His only Son just to save me?”  But they’re missing the entire point, for that is exactly what God did!

Sadly, there are far too many stubborn people who refuse to believe there even is a God, let alone any of this stuff about Jesus.  Their disbelief will be their downfall and only a divinely led change of heart can save them.  But there are many lost - like those who feel unworthy of our Lord’s sacrifice - who yet can be saved.  For Jesus came for sinners, not for the righteous.  Jesus died for sinners.

Our scripture reading this morning comes from the good physician and Apostle Luke’s first letter to Theophilus, what we call the Gospel of Luke.  In it, I believe we can clearly see the mission of Jesus’ ministry on earth, it’s purpose, and the result each time it succeeds.

I’ll be jumping around a bit in Luke’s Gospel account, starting in chapter 5 with verses 27 through 32, then moving to chapter 15 and verses 1 through 10, and ending in chapter 18 with verses 9 through 14.  And I’ll be reading everything from the Modern English Version of our Holy Bible this morning.  So please listen and follow along to the account the Apostle Luke saved for us…

5:27 After these things He went out and saw a tax collector, named Levi, sitting at the tax collector’s station. He said to him, “Follow Me.” 28 And he left everything, rose up, and followed Him.

29 Then Levi made Him a great feast in his house. And there was a group of many tax collectors and others who sat down with them. 30 But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

31 Jesus answered them, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

15:1 Now all the tax collectors and sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. 2 But the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.”

3 So He told them this parable, saying, 4 “What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he places it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 Then when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.’ 7 Likewise, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous men who need no repentance."

8 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins and losing one, does not light a candle and sweep the house and search diligently until she finds it? 9 And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost.’ 10 Likewise, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

18:9 He told this parable to some who trusted in themselves, as though they were righteous, and despised others: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed these things about himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men: extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week, and I tithe of all that I earn.’

13 “But the tax collector, standing at a distance, would not even lift his eyes to heaven, but struck his chest, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner.’

14 “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

--Luke 5:27-32; 15:1-10; 18:9-14 (MEV)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for demonstrating Your love toward us, that while we were still sinners, You sent Your Son Jesus to redeem us, to die in our place.  Thank You, loving God, for showing us such great and undeserved mercy.  Forgive us, please Father, when we fail to fully repent.  Forgive us when we just can’t seem to let go of all our sins.  Please help us break completely free from the world’s grasp.  And Father, please protect us from Satan and from those who do his work.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and one purpose in our love, worship, and service, and healthy and safe through these trying times.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand the message You have for us this day.  You are a very good Father.  Please teach us sinners the right way to live.  This we pray in the glorious name of Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

Here's a little story whose creator is unknown...

A man purchased a white mouse to use as food for his pet snake.  He dropped the unsuspecting mouse into the snake's glass cage, where the snake was sleeping in a bed of sawdust.  The tiny mouse had a serious problem on his hands.  At any moment he could be swallowed alive.  Obviously, the mouse needed to come up with a brilliant plan.

What did the terrified creature do?  He quickly set up work covering the snake with sawdust chips until it was completely buried.  With that, the mouse apparently thought he had solved his problem.  The solution, however, came from outside.  The man took pity on the silly little mouse and removed him from the cage.

This is like one of the parables Jesus told.  It shows that no matter how hard we try to cover up or deny our sinful nature, it's just fool's work.  Sin will eventually awake from sleep and shake off its covering.  Were it not for the saving grace of the Master's hand, sin would eat us alive.

Getting back to our scripture reading, did you notice that two of the three passages had tax collectors as central characters, and that they weren’t looked upon very kindly by others?  There was a good reason for this.  In Jesus’ day, the tax collectors were mostly Jewish men working for the Roman government.  Now the Romans set specific fees for the various taxes, but the tax collectors would often increase that amount in order to pad their own pockets.  And the Romans didn’t care, as long as they got the amount they set.  The tax collectors were, in effect, increasing their personal wealth by stealing from their countrymen – their own kinsmen in some cases.

Naturally, the normal Jew did not think very highly of the tax collectors, considering them the worst of all sinners.  So when Jesus often ate with some, even calling one particular tax collector to be His disciple, the religious leaders of the Jews were appalled and disgusted.  If this was a great prophet, why was He always seen consorting with tax collectors and sinners?

Speaking of that tax collector turned disciple turned apostle, Luke calls him by his Hebrew name, Levi.  We know him better by his Greek name, Matthew.  But there’s something special here that I wanted to point out that’s easy to miss.

Jesus approached Levi, the tax collector, while he was on the job, sitting at his collection station.  Jesus spoke two simple words: “Follow Me.”  And Levi stood up, left everything behind, and followed Jesus.  Levi gave up his occupation, he left his station vacant (which likely upset the Romans), so he basically left his chance at great wealth behind.  Levi – Matthew – gave up great earthly riches for the heavenly riches that awaited him.  He gave up everything to follow Jesus.

What have we given up?

So the Pharisees and scribes are upset that Jesus spends so much time with sinners.  In response, Jesus reminds them of the obvious, that someone who is well does not require the services of a doctor.  Only the sick need a physician.  He didn’t come to help the righteous, but only to call sinners to repentance.

Still not satisfied with that answer, the religious leaders continued to grumble and murmur among themselves and to anyone who would listen.  So Jesus used a couple parables to illustrate His point of coming to save the lost, and the result of that happening.  He told of saving a lost lamb, of recovering a lost valuable, and how the owner in each case rejoiced not only by themselves but by calling all their friends and family in to celebrate with them.  This is how all of heaven rejoices when even one of those sinners Jesus calls has repented and turned from their sin.

Then we come to the passage I like the best of the three.  Two men are praying in the temple; one a self-righteous Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee starts out by thanking God that he is not like those other men, those sinners, like that tax collector over there.  But the tax collector prays simply, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”

The Pharisee thought himself so much better than anyone else, especially the tax collector.  The tax collector knew he was a sinner, and admitted it to God, seeking only mercy.  This is what Jesus came for: to call us sinners to realize our sin and to repent.

The Apostle Paul knew himself to be a sinner, especially when he persecuted Jesus and His church, before Jesus showed him the truth.  He was also given insight into why Jesus came to this earth.  Listen to what Paul wrote to his young protégé Timothy about Jesus’ mission, and how he described himself, in verse 15 of the 1st chapter of his 1st letter to Timothy…

15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst.

--1 Timothy 1:15 (MEV)

Paul called himself the worst of sinners.  We know that without him, the early church may not have flourished, or even survived to this day.  God can take even the worst of us and do great things through us.  Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners, to save us, so that God can work through us.

Upon all of this we build our hope.  Because Jesus came to save sinners, because He died for sinners, we have hope for a greater tomorrow, an everlasting life with God.  Listen to what Paul wrote in this regard to the church in Rome, in verses 5 through 10 of the 5th chapter of his letter to the Romans…

5 And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

6 While we were yet weak, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Rarely for a righteous man will one die. Yet perhaps for a good man some would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

9 How much more then, being now justified by His blood, shall we be saved from wrath through Him. 10 For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, how much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved by His life.

--Romans 5:5-10 (MEV)

Christ Jesus showed His love by dying for the ungodly.  When we were weak, while we were still enemies of God, rebellious in our behavior, God demonstrated His own love by sacrificing His Son for the atonement of our sins.

Jesus died for us sinners so that we could be reconciled to God – made right in His eyes.  Jesus died, so that we might live.

Paul notes that a normal mortal might be willing to give up their own life for a good friend or relative, but rarely for a perfect stranger or especially not for an enemy.  And we know that Jesus was raised from the dead and then returned to eternal life with God in heaven.  Jesus doesn’t necessarily expect us to give up our mortal life for someone else, though it may come to that for some.  But He does expect us to give up something.

Jesus made a great sacrifice for us.  God made a great sacrifice.  What have we given up for Them?  I would suggest the thing that would please them the most would be for us to give up our favorite sin – give up whatever it is of this world that we refuse to let go of, whether it is our pride or anger or lust or hatred or whatever disobedience we hold.  Just give it up, and when we do, all of heaven will rejoice.

In the beautiful name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for showing how much You love us.  You give us our great hope for a wonderful future with no more pain, no more suffering, only love and joy.  Thank You, Father, for offering salvation to us disobedient sinners.  Father, too often we keep doing what we know we shouldn’t do.  And then we fail to do what we should.  Forgive us, Father, when we just can’t loosen our grasp of this world and all its charms.  Forgive us when we don’t completely turn from our sinful ways.  Please, loving Father, help us repent.  Remind us that we are Yours, that You created us.  Help us be more obedient to Your word.  And Father, please help us remain strong, faithful, and true through all that we face in this age.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, You came into our world not for the righteous, but to call us sinners to repent, to turn from our sinful ways and to follow You.  Thank You, Lord, that while we were still sinners, You died for us so that we might be redeemed and reconciled to our Father God.  Please, Lord, help us turn from our sin and sin no more.  Please help us leave all desire for worldly things behind and follow You.  Forgive us when we just can’t let go of what holds us back.  And Jesus, please heal the hurts that separate and divide us one from another.  Help us remain trusting and obedient no matter what we go through.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this life might offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.