Jesus Our Mediator
1Tim 2:3-6 God our Savior, wants all men
to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one
God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who
gave himself as a ransom for all men
We need someone to mediate between us and God because as it is written
in
Is 59:2 your iniquities have separated
you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he
will not hear. Jesus was trained to be the one Mediator between
us and God.
"Who, being in very nature God, did
not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made
himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in
human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled
himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!" Php
2:6-8
Heb 5:7-9 During the days of Jesus’ life
on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears
to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of
his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned
obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the
source of eternal salvation for all who obey him
He can sympathize with us as he experienced our humanity. Just before
his death, he
prayed, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet no
my
will, but yours be done." An angel
from heaven appeared to him and
strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and
his swea
was like drops of blood falling to the ground. When he rose from prayer
and went back to the disciples, he
found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. Luke 22:41-45 There
are
times
when
God
wants
us to go through things we don't want to go
through. Jesus experienced that as well.
John 12:27 "Now my heart is
troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No,
it was for this very reason I came to this hour."
It is written in
Heb 2:17 For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in
every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high
priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins
of the people.
Heb 4:15 For we do not have a high
priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one
who has been tempted in every way, just as we are— yet was without sin.
Jesus can sympathize with us in our weaknesses. It took him some effor
to do so. You know when he was on the cross he cried out in a loud
voice saying,
Mt 27:46 <"Eloi, Eloi, lama>
<sabachthani?">— which
means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?". You know why he said that? It was because he
was intentionally meditating on Psalm 22. It was a Psalm written 1000
years prior to that. Written by King David. It was a Psalm written for
Christ to mediate on while he died.
It starts out "My God, my God, why have you
forsaken me?" Ps 22:1 which is the first thing
we find Jesus saying on the cross. (Mt 27:46)
In Ps 22:7,8 it says, "All
who
see
me
mock
me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: "He trusts
in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he
delights in him."
This corresponds to what Jesus experienced according to M
27:41-43 which says, "the chief
priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. "He saved
others," they said, "but he can’t save himself! He’s the King of
Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in
him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he
said, ‘I am the Son of God.’"
Then in Ps 22:9,10 it says,
"Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you even a
my mother’s breast. From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother’s
womb you have been my God." This may have been the time in
John 19:26,27 When Jesus saw his mother
there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his
mother, "Dear woman, here is your son," and to the disciple, "Here is
your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
Maryology
Now a word about Mary. Some are under the misconception that Mary is
our mediator. The Bible says, there is one
God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who
gave himself as a ransom for all men. Did you know that Mary is
not mentioned in any of the New Testament letters. She's only mentioned
briefly in the gospels and not always in a positive light.
There was one time when Jesus was teaching, one of the women in the
crowd raised her voice and said to Him, "Blessed
is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed." Bu
He
said, "On the contrary, blessed are those
who hear the word of God and observe it." Luke 11:27,28
Another incident in Mark says,
"Then Jesus
entered a house,
and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even
able to eat. When his family heard about this, they went to
take
charge of him, for they said, 'He is out of his mind.'"
Mark
3:20,21
Then if we continue on to verse 31 when they actually arrived
it says:
Then Jesus’ mother and
brothers
arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. A
crowd
was sitting around him, and they told him, "Your mother and brothers
are
outside looking for you." "Who are my mother and my brothers?" he
asked.
Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, "Here
are
my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and
sister
and mother." Mark 3:31-35
So let's not make too much of Mary. Jesus will be the one to defend you
on the judgement day. Jesus should be the one we ask,
"Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour
of our death. Amen" Now going back to the cross.
Then in Ps 22:14,15 it says, "I am poured out like water, and all my bones are ou
of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me. My
strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof
of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death." Which may
corresponded to John 19:28,29 "After
this,
Jesus,
knowing
tha
all things were now accomplished, that the
Scripture might be fulfilled, said, "I thirst!" Now a vessel full
of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour
wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth." Which also
correponds to the prophecy of Ps 69:21 "They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my
thirst." What Jesus did he did to fulfill his mission according
to scripture. And part of his mission was to experience suffering so to
empathize with our suffering so he might become a merciful and faithful
high priest.
Then Ps 22 becomes upbeat starting in verse 22
Ps 22:22-30
I will declare your name to my brothers; in the
congregation I will praise you. You who fear the LORD, praise him! All
you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of
Israel! For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the
afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to
his cry for help. From you comes the theme of my praise in the grea
assembly; before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows. The poor
will eat and be satisfied; they who seek the LORD will praise him— may
your hearts live forever! All the ends of the earth will remember and
turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will bow down
before him, for dominion belongs to the LORD and he rules over the
nations. All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all
who go down to the dust will kneel before him— those who cannot keep
themselves alive. Posterity will serve him; future generations will be
told about the Lord."
There was a thief being crucified next to Jesus. In Luke
23:42,43 he said to Jesus, "Lord,
remember me when You come into Your kingdom." And Jesus said to him,
"Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise." While
Jesus
made
i
easy to be saved, there are certain things he requires,
things which we can see in this man. He acknowleged Jesus Christ as
Lord
and called out to him to be saved. It is written that, "if you confess with your mouth,
"Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the
dead, you will be saved ... As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts
in him will never be put to shame." For there is no difference between
Jew and Gentile— the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all
who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will
be saved." Rom 10:9-13
The last verse is Ps 22 says.
"They will proclaim his righteousness to a
people yet unborn— for he has done it." Ps
22:31 which corresponds to one of Jesus' last words on the
cross, " "It is finished!" John
19:30b
Finally in Luke 23:46 Jesus
called
ou
with
a
loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my
spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last.
We read in Mt 27:51-54 A
that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to
bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and
the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They
came out of the tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they went into the
holy city and appeared to many people. When the centurion and those
with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had
happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, "Surely he was the Son of
God!"
The prophet Isaiah writes of Jesus saying,
"He
grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry
ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in
his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and
rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like
one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him
not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we
considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he
was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we
are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned
to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all."
John writes, "
If anybody sins, we have
one who speaks to the Father in our defense— Jesus Christ, the
Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins" John
2:1b-2a
Jesus is our mediator, our lawyer. If God were to say to you
why should I let you into my kingdom, what could you answer?
"You'll have to speak to my Lawyer, Jesus
Christ". Afterall, in human courts the defendent is represented
by a lawyer. Jesus speaks to the Father in our defense. Therefore the
Christian does not defend himself on the judgement day. That's Jesus'
job, and as Jesus said, "it is finished", as such Jesus says in
John 5:24 "
whoever hears my word and believes him
who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed
over from death to life."
Jesus sympathizes with our humanity. Part of his mission on
earth was to learn to sympathize with us. A good mediator sympathizes
with both parties.
But realize that we are not the offended party, God is. God has no
offended us. God is offended by us. Jesus is our lawyer to defend us on
the judgement day for failing to live up to God's standards. Now if a
person feels that they have not offended God, then they are saying they
don't need a lawyer. They are saying they don't need Jesus to be their
savior because they feel that apart from Christ they are OK with God.
Christ atoned for sin.
1Peter 3:18
Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous,
to bring you to God. His suffering in death satisfied God's
judicial nature in that unjustified suffering demands compensation.
Afterall if you were to suffer unjustly, wouldn't you be justly
entitled to compensation. Thus Christ was also entittled to
compensation. And being God in the flesh, the value of his unjustified
suffering entitled him to pay for the sins of world. In this way God's
judicial nature is satisfied.
However there is one contingency of this whole plan of salvation. We
are required to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of
our sins.