Communion Message
Who was this Jesus?
March 7, 2004
Pastor Leighton Sheley

In anticipation of this Sunday, the last few weeks, I've been preparing asking the Lord for direction. Many of our congregation have seen the movie that is now playing in theaters entitled 'The Passion', and I and my family have had a chance to see it. It's interesting to me the various reports that I get from our congregation concerning their experience in watching 'The Passion'.

I've had many come and say that it was a transforming experience in their life or the life of a loved one. Some were stunned into almost silence for many hours if not days as they tried to fathom the depth of the message of that film. There have been some others who have come and they've said, you know, I feel disappointed because it wasn't as profound upon me as I was expecting it to be. There are some who have come and said everybody should see this movie, and there are others who have come and said nobody should see this movie. I definitely think it lives up to the title controversial.

It is not a movie for everyone because it does go into graphic depiction of the sufferings of Christ. There been some who've said, well, you know, I was expecting it to be more literal and not so artistic. But for me I expected it to be artistic, in fact, it could not be anything except artistic in its interpretation. The reason being is that anytime you take a story from the written page and you put it on the screen there are interpretations, artistic interpretations, that go with that.

As an example, we don't have a description of Judas in the Bible. We don't know if he was tall or short, or fat or skinny, or if he had beady eyes, or if he did or did not have a beard. We don't have any description of him in the Scripture, but somebody has to play that part on the screen. The casting director and the director they give thought as to who they think would best represent that particular character in their artistic interpretation of what is on the page. So I was not disappointed with the artistic expression; I expected it. Of course, I always recommend reading the book for the original.

Some have said it was anti-Semitic, and you know when I saw it I didn't see that, but I did see, and others have commented, that it sure made the Romans look bad the way they treated Jesus, at the scourging and as he was being taken to Calvary.

I think that one of the things that this movie has done is it has opened dialogue in many places where the discussion of who Jesus was was consider taboo. I've had many of the congregation come to me and say, you know, since this movie came out I've had people in our workspace coming and asking me, Who is this Jesus? In fact I've had more people ask me in the last two weeks since the movie's been out than in all of the years that I have been in that particular office or shop. It's so I think that it is opening dialogue.

Howard Stern, who we may be familiar with, said there's a cultural war going on and the religious right is winning, we are losing. I don't know the accuracy of that statement, but considering the source, I will accept that as an encouraging word.

Who was this Jesus? You know in America we have a very sanitized environment that we live in. The fact of the matter is that severe torture took place in the time of Christ and it still takes place today, that there are people in other lands who are being tortured severely for their faith. Some of those stories have filtered out since Iraq and Afghanistan were opened up to the world, and many of us cannot believe that any person could commit such atrocities upon a fellow human being.

When the Scripture describes the crucifixion of Christ, as our senior Pastor has pointed out, the Scripture does not tend to emphasize the sufferings of Christ. In fact it reports the sequence of events in a very matter-of-fact kind of fashion. It mentions him being taken from the garden and brought before the chief priest. It mentions him being scourged to the point of not been recognizable by the Roman guards. It mentions him carrying his cross and Simon of Cyrene having to assist, but it does not tend to emphasize the suffering of Christ. And the senior pastor has observed that the main point that we should take in this opportunity is to focus people who are dialoguing on this film on the main point. The main point is who went to the cross and why he went to the cross.

Who went to the cross was none other than the Son of God who came in human form, who ministered and walked the face of earth and revealed to us the secrets of the kingdom of God, who announced the love and provision of God, and who went to Calvary's cross to pay the wages of our sin. It was not the nails that held Jesus to that cross it was his love for us, and it was not the Romans or the Jews who took his life, he laid his life down voluntarily because it was only through the shedding of his blood and the loss of his life the wages of our sin could be paid.

But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.

The main point that we should all keep in mind is who it was who went to the cross, and why he went to the cross. And the Scriptures tell us at times like this we should examine our self, and I would like to invite you, if you're physically able, to join with me now as we kneel in the presence of our Lord and Savior.

Lord you are the perfect lamb of God that taketh away the sin of this world. Lord the suffering that you endured you did by choice paying the wages of our sin. The elements we now hold remind us of how dearly you love us and how dearly is the cost of sin. Forgive us Lord and cleanse us we pray. Your word says if we confess our sin you are faithful and just and will forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Forgive us and cleanse us this day we pray as we now partake of these elements in remembrance of you. Let's partake of the bread and also the cup.

Thank you Lord for going to Calvary's cross. Thank you Lord for revealing to us your salvation. Thank you Lord for loving us so much, in Jesus' name we pray, and all God's people said...amen.