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HE MUST SUFFER, AND BE KILLED, AND BE RAISED AGAIN THE THIRD DAY

PLEASE READ (MATTHEW 16:21)

The title of this message is taken from the Bible passage in, (Matthew 16:21) “From that time forth began Jesus to show unto His disciples, how that HE MUST go unto Jerusalem, and SUFFER many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, AND BE KILLED, AND BE RAISED AGAIN THE THIRD DAY.” Here is another “Divine Imperative” in the Bible, the Word of God. The events of which the Savior spoke were absolutely necessary. They MUST take place. HE MUST GO TO JERUSALEM, HE MUST SUFFER, AND BE KILLED, AND BE RAISED AGAIN THE THIRD DAY. Why did the Lord Jesus Christ say this? Why was it necessary that He go to Calvary and suffer and bleed and die and be raised again? Let’s examine this scripture text in some detail that we might learn why it was necessary that He submit to crucifixion on the cross at the place called Calvary. We want to consider this scripture text by way of the following outline:

• THE PLACE TO WHICH HE MUST GO
• THE PAIN WHICH HE MUST ENDURE
• THE PASSION WHICH HE MUST EXPERIENCE
• THE POWER WHICH HE MUST MANIFEST

· THE PLACE TO WHICH HE MUST GO

“HE MUST GO TO JERUSALEM”

Jerusalem was the place where the Lord Jesus would suffer and be killed and be raised again. HE MUST go there in order to provide salvation for poor, lost, helpless, hell deserving sinners. The history of mankind, as recorded in the Bible, reveals that God has always been aware of man’s fallen sinful condition. During different periods of human history God acted in judgment upon sinful man. But, at those times, God also acted in grace towards those who were justified by faith, to those who belonged to Him. We might consider a few of these examples as follows;

· GOD WITNESSED MAN’S SIN AND NEED OF SALVATION IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN.

o We read in (Genesis 3:8, 9) “They (Adam and Eve) heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden. Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. The Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, where art thou”. Through the serpents (Satan’s) temptation and the transgression of Adam and Eve, sin entered into God’s fair creation. Eve yielded to the threefold temptation: the lust of the flesh (she saw that the forbidden tree was good for food), the lust of the eyes (pleasant to the eyes), and the pride of life (a tree desirable to make one wise). Adam soon consented to do the same. They sinned against God by disobeying the Word of God, and sin has its inevitable consequences. God had said to them, “in the day that thou eatest thereof (the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) thou shalt surely die”. (Genesis 2:17). God pronounced judgment upon them and they were denied access to the “tree of life”, (Genesis 3:24). In this story of our first parents fall into sin, we have the explanation of all sickness, sorrow, suffering, fear, guilt, and death that have plagued the human race ever since that time. God’s call to Adam, “where art thou”, reveals two things. First, God was seeking fellowship with man, and secondly man was lost. Because Adam was a fallen sinner, sin has passed to all men. That includes you dear reader. It says in (Romans 5:12)”Wherefore, as by one man (Adam) sin entered into the world and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned”. But, God not only acted in judgment, He also acted in grace. He promised a Savior in (Genesis 3:15), called “The seed of the woman”. We read of the fulfillment of this prophecy in (Galatians 4:4) “When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law”.

· GOD WITNESSED MAN’S SIN AND NEED OF SALVATION IN THE DAYS OF NOAH.

o We read of this in Genesis, chapter 6. The sad account includes the following;

o The Sight Which God Saw and the Verdict Which God Proclaimed.

1. (Genesis 6:5) “GOD SAW that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually”.

2. (Genesis 6:12) “GOD LOOKED upon the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth”.

· The Sorrow Which God Felt.

1 (Genesis 6:6) “It repented the Lord that He had made man upon the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart”.

· The Judgment Which God Proclaimed

1 (Genesis 6:7) “The LORD SAID, I will destroy man whom I have created”.

2 (Genesis 6:13) “GOD SAID the end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth”.

· The Remedy Which God Provided.

1 (Genesis 6:14) “Make thee an ark”. (A place of refuge in the storm of God’s judgment).

· The Invitation Which God Gave.

1 (Genesis 7:1) “Come thou into the ark”.

Because of the sin and corruption of mankind in Noah’s day, God said, (Genesis 6:17) “Behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh”. It says of Noah, however, (Genesis 6:8) “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord”. For one hundred and twenty years, Noah preached the gospel and warned the people of God’s impending judgment. It says in (1 Peter 3:20) “The longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is eight souls were saved by water”. Because of the wide scale rejection of his message, only eight souls were eventually saved in the ark. The people, for the most part, refused to believe or heed the warning. What about you my friend? Are you safe in Christ from God’s coming judgment? Will you believe the message of the Gospel so that you can be saved? It says in (Luke 17:26, 27)”As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all”. The things mentioned in this verse are not wrong in themselves. They are normal human activities. The danger is preoccupation with the affairs of life while neglecting God’s offer of salvation from His impending judgment. In Noah’s day, many were not ready. They refused to believe Noah’s preaching and warning of impending judgment. In our day, it will be the same. Many will not be ready for the second coming of Christ. WILL YOU BE READY?

There are other times in man’s history where it is recorded that God has witnessed man’s sin and need of salvation. Two other examples are “The Days of Lot” and “The Days of Sodom and Gomorrah”. Time will not permit our review of these events. There is one more example that we must consider however, and that is;

GOD WITNESSES MAN’S SIN AND NEED OF SALVATION IN OUR DAY.

In (Psalm 14:2) we have the “Divine Perception”. It says “The Lord LOOKED DOWN from Heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. In (verse 3) we have the “Divine Declaration”. It says “They are all gone aside, they are altogether become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no not one”. In (verse 4) “they call not upon the Lord”. Dear reader, you must grasp this truth. God says in His Word, (Romans 3:10-12, 23) “There is none righteous, no not one”. “There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God”. “They are all gone out of the way, there is none that doeth good, no not one”. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God”. My friend, when God says “none” or “all”, that certainly includes you. Have you ever acknowledged your sinfulness and need of salvation before God? It says in (Romans 6:23) “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”. Death, in the Bible, is not only in the physical sense (the separation of the spirit from the body), but it is also spiritual (the eternal separation of your spirit from God). (Revelation 20:15) “Whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire”. IS YOUR NAME WRITTEN IN GOD’S BOOK OF LIFE? It can be, if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, if you receive Him as your own personal Savior. He has done all the work necessary to provide salvation to you as a free gift. THIS IS THE REASON THAT – HE MUST GO TO JERUSALEM. He knew full well all that would befall Him there. This would include the following:

· THE PAIN WHICH HE MUST ENDURE.

“HE MUST SUFFER”.

This world is filled with sufferings of all kinds. There are untold sufferings caused by man’s inhumanities to his fellow man. There are sufferings caused by hunger and homelessness. There are sufferings caused by war, disease and death. All the suffering in the world can be summed up in one word. That word is “SIN”. The first mention of sorrow and suffering is found in the Bible in (Genesis, chapter 3). When our first parents, Adam and Eve, fell into sin, God pronounced judgment upon them. Sorrow and suffering were the result. In order to provide salvation and deliver man from eternal sorrow and suffering, Jesus Christ must suffer. It says in (Hebrews 2:9) “Jesus was made a little lower than the angels for the sufferings of death”. (1 Peter 4:1) “Christ suffered for us in the flesh”. (1 Peter 3:18)”Christ hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God”. Dear reader, is your heart so cold and hard that you are untouched by these scriptures? Do you realize that HE SUFFERED AT THE HANDS OF MAN FOR YOU? The Lord Jesus could say, (Isaiah 50:5, 6)”I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting”. He endured the Roman scourge that laid open His back as a plowed field. He wore that crown of thorns that was pressed upon His brow. He was blindfolded, buffeted and beaten. He endured the mocking’s, the spit ting’s and the shame. He endured those nails that pierced His hands and His feet and the spear wound that pierced His side. It was all for you my friend. But, this is not the end of the story. He not only suffered at the hands of men, HE ALSO SUFFERED AT THE HANDS OF GOD FOR YOU. The sufferings of Jesus Christ on the cross were unlike any sufferings ever experienced by man. It says in (Matthew 27:45) “From the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour”. It was at this time that, (Isaiah 53:10) “It pleased the Lord to bruise Him, He hath put Him to grief: when thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin”. (Isaiah 53:4) He was “stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted”. It says in (Isaiah 53:6) “All we like straying sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all”. In those three hours of darkness, when midday was turned to midnight, the judgment of God was poured out upon His beloved Son. He was bearing our sins in His own body on the tree, thus He must feel the wrath and judgment of a Holy God.

· THE PASSION HE MUST EXPERIENCE

“HE MUST BE KILLED”

We read about “His passion” in (Acts 1:3). The English word “Passion” is a translation of the Greek word “Pascho”. It means “to suffer”, and refers to the suffering and death of Christ at Calvary. HE must be killed. (Isaiah 53:7) “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before his Shearer’s is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth”. Dear reader, the Lord Jesus Christ gave all that He could give to save you from your sins. He gave Himself.

i. HIS DEATH WAS A VOLUNTARY DEATH

1. (Philippians 2:8) “He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross”.

2. (Isaiah 53:12) “He hath poured out His soul unto death: and He was numbered with the transgressors; and He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors”.

ii. HIS DEATH WAS A VIOLENT DEATH

1. (Acts 10:39) Him (Jesus)”they slew and hanged on a tree”. He was crucified on a Roman cross. Nails pierced His hands and feet. He was then lifted up between Heaven and Earth. It was a death of extreme suffering and shame. It was a violent death. Read (Psalm 22) for more details of the Savior’s suffering on the cross.

iii. HIS DEATH WAS A VICARIOUS DEATH

1. He died for sins but not His own. He had no sin. He was the Holy, spotless Lamb of God. Dear reader, He died for your sins. This is God’s good news, the message of the Gospel. (1 Corinthians 15:3,)”Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures”.

2. (1 Peter 3:18)”Christ hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God”.

iv. HIS DEATH WAS A VERIFIED DEATH

1. (John 19:33)” When they came to Jesus, and saw that He was dead already, they brake not His legs”.

2. (1 Corinthians 15:4)”He was buried”. His body was prepared for burial and placed in a tomb.

v. HIS DEATH WAS A VICTORIOUS DEATH

1. This leads us to the final “Divine imperative” in the verse we are considering, (Luke 16:21).

· THE POWER WHICH HE MUST MANIFEST

“HE MUST BE RAISED AGAIN THE THIRD DAY”

It says in (1 Corinthians 15:3, 4)”Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; He was buried, and He rose again the third day according to the scriptures”. When the Apostle Paul spoke to King Agrippa in (Acts 26:8), he said “Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead.” For those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, it is not an incredible thing that God should raise Him from the dead. Consider the following about the resurrection of Jesus Christ:

· HIS RESURRECTION IS A VINDICATION

o The resurrection of Christ is the ultimate VINDICATION of His claim that He is the Son of God. (Romans 1:4) “He is declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead”.

· HIS RESURRECTION IS A VERIFICATION

o The resurrection of Christ is a VERIFICATION of at least two important truths;

§ It is verification that there is life after death. There will be a resurrection of life for believers and a resurrection of judgment for unbelievers, both which results from Christ’s resurrection. Read (John 5:28, 29). (1 Corinthians 15:20)”But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept”.

§ It is a verification of God, the Father’s, complete approval of the work of redemption. This is evident by raising His Son from the dead and glorifying Him at His own right hand in Heaven.

· HIS RESURRECTION IS A VICTORY

o The resurrection of Christ is a VICTORY over sin, Satan and death. This victory will be shared by all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, by those who have put their faith and trust in Him. Have YOU done this? Will you share in the victory of Christ’s resurrection? In order to be saved you must believe in His resurrection. It says in (Romans 10:9, 10)”If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus (believe that Jesus is Lord), and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved”. “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation”.

My friend, I can tell you on the authority of the Word of God, that God loves you. He wants you to be saved. This is why He sent His Beloved Son to die on the cross for your sins. You are traveling the “highway of life”. Now that you have read this message, you have come to “the crossroads”. Which way will you go? Will you continue to reject the Savior and God’s offer of salvation? Or, will you believe on Him and receive Him as your Lord and Savior? It is your decision and your responsibility.

Please give this matter your most serious attention. Will you be a believer or a non-believer? Your eternal destiny depends on your decision.

CHRISTIAN MESSENGER