"You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified," Matthew 26:2.
I grew up in an idyllic Southern town that was laid out foursquare with a series of train tracks dividing the city. It was not uncommon for a slow train to block traffic for a half hour or more. Back then, there was no overpass.
Since the hospital was on the north side of town, accidents and other medical emergencies south of town could run into a serious problem. The lack of an overpass caused ambulances to be stalled south of the tracks on many occasions. And, on occasion, people died.
So, an overpass had to be built. It was controversial, messy and expensive. After years of waiting and wrangling, it finally got done. Now there is an overpass, and the overpass has saved lives.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is an overpass. It was decreed by our sovereign God. It is controversial, messy and expensive. Yet, it saves lives. Yours could be one.
A page turns in Matthew's Gospel where Jesus' public ministry ends and His public humiliation, suffering and death is about to begin. In chapters 24 and 25, He has spoken about the crown He will wear at His second coming. But in Chapter 26, He reminds them about the cross He must bear at His first.
This fourth and final preaching of the gospel in Matthew is fairly unique. Jesus' emphasis is on crucifixion, which at this point would have still been unimaginable for the disciples to accept. So, to help their acceptance and understanding, Jesus ties the upcoming crucifixion in with an ongoing Jewish tradition, the Passover. Perhaps the picture of the Passover will help Christ's disciples, old and new, to come to grips with the cross.
Perhaps it was not until Jesus mentioned the Passover in connection with His crucifixion that Matthew, and the other disciples, finally began to understand. In fact, no Jew or Gentile can really understand the gospel unless we comprehend the Passover.
Until it happened, Israel was under a death sentence. For a century it had been Egyptian policy to kill male babies, allowing females and a few males to live on in bondage. If it had not been for God, His servant Moses and the Passover, there would have been no salvation for the Jews.
The Passover itself was a ministry of death and life. In this 10th plague that led to the Exodus, God decreed the death of the firstborn of all who lived in Egypt. However, the Passover provided an overpass that lead from death to life. It was controversial, messy and expensive. Whoever, in faith, would take the blood of an innocent, sacrificed lamb and put the blood in the shape of a cross over the top and sides of the entrance to their home, would be saved.
The lamb, the blood and the cross allowed the Passover to paint a picture of salvation for Old Covenant saints to celebrate each year. But in the fullness of time, Christ became the Passover, and the overpass, for those among all nations who repent and believe in Him.
It takes a lot of planning and a lot of people to build an overpass. So it is with the gospel. God planned it before He laid the foundation of the world.
But people, in real time and space, played a part in the planning as well.
The Jerusalem religious establishment has been plotting to kill Jesus ever since He burst on the scene as the would-be Messiah three years ago. They would seek out a traitor, seal ties with imperial Rome and sack the one who claimed to be the Christ. The Romans did their part in this perfect planning by devising the execution method known as crucifixion. The people played a pivotal part, too, because when Jesus ceased giving them miracles, they ceased to believe He was the Messiah.
So, it looks like we are all to blame. Religious hypocrites, government elites and the popular masses all took part in the building of the overpass. It was controversial, messy and expensive. But it has been built, all under the supervision of our sovereign and gracious God.
Jesus is the gospel. Jesus is the Passover. Jesus is the overpass.
Charles F. "Chuck" DeVane Jr. is pastor of Lake Hamilton Baptist Church. His weekly sermon article, The Gospel Truth, has been published in newspapers in Arkansas and Georgia. DeVane is a graduate of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and has served in the pastorate for more than 20 years. Contact him at [email protected].
Religion on 07/23/2016