THE LIFE OF CHRIST 2

A]. INTRODUCTION
• The Life of Christ 2 comprises the Redemptive work of Christ involving
His Crucifixion, Resurrection, Ascension, Exaltation, Glorification,
Intercessory ministry and Second coming.
• The plan of the atonement originated in the counsels of the eternal Godhead
before the creation and fall of man.
• It is being accomplished in time through the work of Christ, and the benefits
of it are realized by man on God's terms.
• Having considered in the previous course, THE PERSON OF CHRIST, now
we consider THE WORK OF CHRIST.
• The person deals with WHO HE IS, while the work deals with WHAT HE DID
BECAUSE OF WHO HE IS.
• Just as the person of Christ pertains to His eternity of being, the incarnation
and sinless life, so the work has to do with the crucifixion, resurrection,
ascension, glorification, exaltation, intercession and His second advent.
• Jesus was conscious of a particular work the Father had sent Him to do, as
evidenced in the scripture.
• John 4:34-Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent
me, and to finish his work.
• John 5:17-But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, & I work
• John 17:4- I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do.
• The Godhead had executed the Week of Creation and then rested-Gen 1-2
• When men was created, he began with rest.
• When he sinned, both his and God's rests were broken.
• God began to work again, to execute the Week of redemption.
• There could be no true rest while sin reigned, so the Godhead had to work
to redeem fallen man and bring about redemptive rest.
• Jesus was given the work to do the work of atonement.
• 1 John 3:8-He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from
the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested, that he
might destroy the works of the devil
• When studying the work of Christ, it is viewed historically and doctrinally.
• The doctrinal aspect of his work is studied in Course 3, while this course
looks at the historical work of Christ.
• Being historical the course will view issues, events that happened in the
week of redemption which are historically recorded.
• We will look at what Matthew, Mark, Luke, John recorded as historical facts
• However, we will also seek to derive interpretation to these historical events
• Jesus had come from the Father for just this purpose, to carry out the
Passover.
• As the final sacrifice he would be God's lamb, given once and for all
• 1 John 3:8- He that commiteth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from
the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested, that he
might destroy the works of the devil.
• Until the birth of John the Baptist the world had gone 400 years of silence
without a prophet.
• When he was 30 years old John saw Jesus and declared that he was the
lamb of God
• John 1:29-Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.
• When John spoke this it ended 430 years of silence since Malachi.
• John spoke of the one who would free God's people, as Moses had done
ending 430 years of separation from the land of promise and God.
1. THE SUBSTITUTION.
• The whole redemption is based on the principle of SUBSTITUTION.
• Because man sinned, and cannot save himself, he needs a substitute.
• None from his race can atone for man, because they are all born in sin.
• Immediately after the Fall the Lord promised a redeemer, the Seed of the
woman…Gen 3v15
• This was the first declaration of the incarnation…The first mention of a
substitute.
• Man's need for a substitute is illustrated in scripture through:
a. The animal that was killed to provide a covering for Adam and Eve after
the fall.
• Genesis 3:21-Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make
coats of skins and clothed them.
b. The ram that was caught in the thicket to provide a substitute for Isaac
when he was to be offered up on Mount Moriah.
Genesis 22:13-14-And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold
behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and
took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.
And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah Jireh: as it is said to
this day, in the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.
c. The annual instituted offerings on the day of Atonement pointed to the
providence of a substitute for man.
• Hebrews 9:12-Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own
blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption for us.
• The final and only true substitute for man is the Lord Jesus Christ, our
lamb who was slain rom the foundation of the world.
2. JESUS AS THE LAMB
• The view of Jesus as the Lamb, the perfect sacrifice is perfectly consistent
with scripture and placed in the context of the Passover.
• To see how close Jesus followed the footsteps of Moses in fulfilling the
Passover, the 10th of Abib was the day the Lamb would be displayed for all
to see.
• They would examine it to confirm that it was spotless and without blemish.
• Exod 12:3-5: Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth o
this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house
of his father, a lamb for a household. 4 And if the household is too small for
the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the
number of the persons; according to each man’s need you shall make your
count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be without[a] blemish, a male [b]of the firs
year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 Now you shall keep
it until the fourteenth day of the same month…
• John 12:1-Then Jesus six days before the Passover came to Bethany,
where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead.
• Six days before Passover, Jesus was in Bethany.
• He was staying in Lazarus’ house.
• Six days before Passover would be the 9 th of Abib.
• On this night he is anointed by Mary, who took a pound of nard, a rare
perfume and poured it on Jesus’ head.
• John 12:3-Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly,
and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the
house was filled with the odor of the ointment.
• Jesus being anointed is significant because He was about to enter a period
of eight days that would change history.
• He was about to take His place as the Lamb of God and the High Priest
of our confession.
• This required anointing for both sanctification and burial.
• John 12:7-Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying
hath, she kept this.
• It was in perfect order that He should be anointed for what was to come.
• In fact, it was God ordained.
• As Jesus dined, He was anointed for burial.
• The 9th day became the 10th day as they ate.
• John 12:12-13-On the next day, much people that were come to the feast,
when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of
palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the
King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.
• The phrase "The next day" symbolizes the beginning of a new day.
• Remember the day began at 6 PM.
• This was not spontaneous and random.
• From Moses`s pattern, the temple practices had evolved to the point that on
the 10th of Abib the Priests would select a lamb without spot or blemish.
• They would place the lamb on a special cart atop the Mount of Olives.
• They then paraded the lamb down to the city and into the temple court.
• There it would be displayed for examination until it was slain at the Passover
• Jesus was on a colt following right behind the temple lamb as He began His
entry into Jerusalem as the people's coming King and God's ultimate
sacrifice.
• For this reason, the people had palm branches beforehand, for waving the
Passover lamb as it entered the City.
• These are the same branches they used to cheer Jesus as He the true and
real Lamb of God entered the city as the ultimate sacrifice.
• On His way into the city Jesus stopped and wept audibly over Jerusalem.
• He wept because they did not recognize what was happening in their midst
• He exclaims that they did not recognize the day of their visitation because
the true lamb was right before their eyes, but they did not see it.
• Although Moses & the Prophets had foretold His coming & He was following
Moses`s pattern to the minute, the people did not recognize it or see it.
• Luke 19:42-If you, even you had only known on this day what would bring
you peace but now it is hidden from your eyes.
• When Jesus reached the city, He went to the temple and kicked out the
money-changers and all those who would defile His Father's house.
• He was literally casting the leaven out of His Father's house.
• He was keeping with the ordinance given by God to Moses Exodus 13:7.
• The casting out of the leaven had become a serious matter over the years.
• The first hour of the Passover was used to perform a ceremony that
involved a symbolic removal of the leaven from the house (see Unleavened
Bread).
• The placing of this portion at this stage in Jesus' fulfillment of unleavened
bread is significant because Jesus is both the priest and the offering.
• He is both the lamb and the priest.
• As the priest he must eat the Passover meal, as the lamb He must be
offered up.
• The Passover lamb was to be staked out in the temple court for all to see
and examine it.
• So, Jesus remained in the Temple courts answering the toughest questions
the religious men were asking.
• Luke 19:47-And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the
scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy him.
• Jesus remained in the Temple courts teaching the people and preaching the
gospel of the Kingdom
• Luke 21:37-38- And in the daytime, he was teaching in the temple; and at…
…night he went out, and abode in the mount that is called the mount of
Olives. And all the people came early in the morning to him in the temple, for
to hear him.
• Jesus taught during the day and spent the night at Mount Olives.
• This period was from the 10th of Abib, when He cleansed the temple until
the evening of the 14th of the Passover.
• Luke 19:45- And he went into the temple, and began to cast out them that
sold therein, and them that bought.
• Luke 22:1-Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called
the Passover.
• Jesus stayed at the temple until the hour of Passover was come.
• He sent the Apostles ahead to make the preparations.
• Jesus was grilled by the Pharisees, Sadducees, Chief Priests and Teachers
of the law during his stay in the Temple court.
• Jesus was surrounded by all the powers that be, and not a soul looking at
the temple lamb.
• The Lamb of God was being examined and would be found without spot or
blemish.
• Every trick question and possible verbal trap was laid out, but He was
victorious
• He thoroughly astounded them, they could only say, "Well said Teacher"
• After passing their tests, he went on to tell them they would kill Him, in the
Parable of the Tenants.
• He then proceeded to tell the signs of the age which would come.
• Luke 20-21
• The day of the Passover (the 14 th of Abib) in the year of Jesus’ death was
also on a Thursday.
• Jesus was following the course set in the first Passover.
• Luke 22:15- I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I
suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the
kingdom of God.
• Jesus tells us there would be a Passover held in the kingdom of God, and a
time of its future fulfillment.
• Ezekiel 45:21
• In the passage and angel showed Ezekiel the festivals of the Lord continuing
in the temple which he saw…There is to be a future fulfillment of the festival.
• During Jesus' time, eating Passover was allowed on either the first or
second evening of the 14th of Abib.
• This was done to accommodate the multitude of the Jews coming into the
city who traveled from different places for this feast.
• Jesus had to take the Passover meal as did Moses as the Priest but He
also had to be the Lamb.
• The only way he could fulfill this was to eat the Passover on the first
evening of the 14th.
• The chair was left empty and the Messiah's cup turned upside down.
• Jesus entered the room, sat in the Messiah's chair and drank from the
Messiah's cup.
• The Passover meal was an inexhaustible scene of traditional ceremonies
and prayers.
• All these pointed to Historical events of Moses and the future coming of the
Messiah.
• At the center of the meal was a three-pouched bag called the Unity bag.
• It had three pieces of Matzah (unleavened bread).
• The three pieces of Matzah represented the Father, the Holy Spirit and the
Soon coming Messiah.
• The piece in the middle pouch was representative of the Messiah.
MATZAH
• This is the piece Jesus used at his Passover meal.
• Part of the tradition that surrounds the Messiah's piece of Matzah requires
that it be wrapped in linen.
• It would then be hidden (buried) somewhere in the house and the children
(unbelievers) would search for this piece and when they found it, they
received a reward from the Father of the house.
• The Center piece of Matzah was known as the Promise of the Father.
• The Matzah itself is made in the likeness of Jesus.
• When it is baked it comes out striped from the heat.
• It is pieced with several holes to ensure even cooking and won.
• It is eaten it is broken.
• It is baked without leaven.
• Jesus saved the Passover as the Head of the household and washed the
• He told the disciples many things concerning the events that were to
happen.
• He knew that they would not fully comprehend them until the Holy Spirit
came at Pentecost.
• It was during the Passover that Jesus instructed the disciples about love,
servant-hood, the coming of the Holy Spirit.
• He even identified the one who would deliver him to be crucified, yet they
remained in the dark.
• John 13:31- "Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the
Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him."
• Judas left to carry out his treasure, and Jesus stated that the Son of Man
had achieved Glory.
• The process of crucifixion had started
• Jesus entered His substitutionary ministry.
• John 13:3- Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands
and that he was come from God, and went to God.
• His time had fully come.

3. THE KILLING OF THE LAMB.

• In John 18 Jesus is arrested…The scripture said, he knew all that was to
befall him…He was then taken to the High Priest.
• John 18.28-Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment:
and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest
they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover.
• We get conformation of Jesus eating the Passover the first evening of the
14th
• Those who took Jesus to the Governor's Palace refused to enter the
praetorium
• They did not want to defile themselves so they could eat the Passover that
night.
• After great brutality, Jesus is paraded through the streets to Calvary.
• Mark tells us the exact time Jesus was nailed at the cross as the 3rd hour.
• According to the morning watch it was precisely 9 O’Clock AM.
• Mark 15:25- And it was the third hour, and they crucified him.
• Its part of the Passover tradition, the Lamb was removed from the temple
court, tied to the altar at precisely 9 O'Clock AM.
• This fact seems almost unbelievable until we investigate further the scenes
of that day.
• Mark 15:33- At noon, the sixth hour, a darkness fell over the earth.
• It continued until the ninth hour or between the evenings.
• It was dark when Jesus died at precisely 3:00pm.
• At 3 O’Clock the Temple lamb was to be slain on the altar.
• The High Priest had just come from mocking Jesus as he was nailed to the
cross.
• He had to be completely shaken by the darkness surrounding the event.
• However, he still had to kill the lamb at the altar.
• The Temple was filled with people obedient to God, ready for Passover.
• They (thought) they had gotten rid themselves of Jesus the blasphemy, whic
was dying up on the hill.
• In obedience to this event, many people had deserted the cross, not wanting
to wait and see him die lest they miss Passover.
• Mark 15:34-On the cross Jesus cried “my God my God why hast thou
forsaken me”.
• He was allowing anyone who would listen the chance to recognize he truly
was the Messiah, quoting the opening passage of Psalm 22.
• This Psalm is a prophetic vision of all the events of the crucifixion, and
came to pass before the eyes of the people.
• Jesus' final words on the cross were the final words of the Psa 22:31c (NIV)
• John 19:30 - "It is finished" or “Tetelestai" TJATJITUA TJAENENE!!!
• At the temple thousands of people were waiting to witness the cutting of
the Temple lamb.
• At exactly 3 O'clock the priest cut the throat of the Temple lamb.
• Suddenly the earth quaked and the temple veil was ripped from top to
bottom before their eyes.
• The people in the temple were startled and scared.
• Some began to realize as the earth quaked and the graves split that
Jesus was somehow more than a man.
• Matthew 27:51-Then behold the veil of the temple was torn into two, from
top to bottom and the earth quaked and the rocks were split and the
graves were open and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep
were raised and coming out of the graves after his resurrection they went
into the holy city and appeared to many.
• Let us reiterate once again that Jesus died at precisely 3 O'clock the
same time the temple lamb was killed.
• In addition, all this happened on exactly the same day, date and time as a
pattern for the redemptive work of his Son.
• This is but one festival, the pattern continues throughout.
4. JESUS'S DEATH IN RELATION TO THE KILLING OF THE LAMB
• Jesus’ body was taken down immediately after he died.
• He was wrapped in linen (like the leaven the piece that represented the
Messiah) and placed in Joseph's tomb.
• It is needful to mention that his bones were not broken just like the temple
lamb.
• The custom was to speed the dying process of the crucified by breaking
their legs to prevent them from prolonging life by pushing up their legs in
order to take a breadth in order to prevent suffocating.
• However, when they got to Jesus, he was already dead, and they did not
break his legs.
• Many were surprised that he was dead so soon.
• Psalms 34:20- He keeps all his bones: not one of them is broken.
• Num 9:12- They shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break any
bone of it according to all the ordinances of the Passover they shall keep it
• Psalms 22:17-
• When a person is crucified, his body sags so that he can not breathe.
• This causes him to push himself up with his heel just long enough to take a
deep breadth.
• To hasten the person's death, the Roman soldier would break his legs thus
he would not be able to push himself up to get air.
• John records that the soldiers broke the legs of the two thieves on the cross
with him.
• However, when they came to Jesus, he was already dead and thus did not
break his legs.
• This was in keeping with the regulations of the preparation of the Passover
Lamb.
• The fact that when they crucified Him they put a crown of thorns around
His head is significant because it is in keeping with the preparation of the
lamb that required it to have a crown of salvation around its head.
• To crown it all Jesus was crucified on a cross, which was prophetically
given to Moses in the use of the pomegranate cross bars on which the
lamb was prepared.
• In addition, the Prophetic pointing to the crucifixion was very graphic
because Crucifixion was not known even during the days of David who
also prophesied about it.
• Crucifixion was only invented much later some 700 years after David
during the rule of the Roman Empire.
• John 19:31-36 - For this things were done that the scripture should be
fulfilled, not one of his bones shall be broken.
• Mark 15:44
• The lamb's body was being prepared between 3 O`clock & the Passover
meal at 6 O`clock on Friday the 15th
• Jesus fulfilled the feast of Passover as the lamb and the feast of Unleavened
Bread as the sinless bread of life
• He was stripped, wrapped in linen and buried.
• Dead he would venture into the fires of hell for all who would receive his
sacrifice.
• In fulfillment of the Feast of Passover and all prophecy, Jesus bore our grief
and carried our sorrows.
• He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities.
• The Lord God laid on Jesus the iniquity of us all.
• He was oppressed and afflicted.
• Yet He opened not his mouth like a lamb led to the slaughter.
• Jesus gave his total self to be roasted and consumed in the judgement fires
of God as he died for our sins.
• The spit on which the lambs were spread upon was shaped like a cross bar
pointing to Jesus hanging on the Cross.
• The crown of salvation on the lamb was fulfilled when they crowned Jesus
with a crown or thorns.
• God had specifically instructed to eat the whole lamb, nothing was to be left
over the next day.
• Exodus 12:10
• The Jews not realizing that they were fulfilling God's plan, hurriedly took
Jesus' body down before 6 O’clock.
• John 19:31-Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies
should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high
day) the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken& that they might
• Thus, He was not left on the cross till the next day.
• However, He gave his all on the 14th as the final Passover sacrifice.
• The blood of the Passover lamb was a visual aid directing the Hebrew to
the future when Jesus would come and establish the spiritual reality that
the lambs could only symbolize the blood of Jesus saves us from death.
• 1 Cor 5:7- For indeed Christ, our Passover was sacrificed for us.
• We will attempt to derive Spiritual interpretation to the events that
happened to Jesus during and after the crucifixion.
B] THE LIFE OF CHRIST AFTER THE SPIRIT
1.THE GOSPEL OF PAUL
• There are five gospels not four.
• The gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are considered "Inter -
Testamental" gospels.
• The gospel of Paul is known to some extent as the "Pauline Epistles."
• There is a significant literal miracle present in the writing of the four gospels
unlike anything in history.
• It is a common fact that the 4 gospels were written well after the earthly walk
of Jesus, when the revelation of the new creation was invading the world.
• The miracle lies in the fact that these writers recorded the four gospels
without leaving traces of their current life changing experiences.
• This further authenticates the inspiration of the prophetic word by the Holy
Spirit even though it came through the writing of men.
• In their account of the Life of Christ the disciples gave a narrative of His
miracles, looking to heaven breaking bread and even the pain, and
suffering He went through at the cross.
• Yet they did not give a revelation or explanation of the what was happening
to Jesus after the Spirit.
• Yet from the epistles we find another gospel, the Gospel of Paul.
• Romans 16:25-Now to him that is of power to establish you according to
my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation
of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began.
• Paul makes reference to "his" gospel at least seven times in his letters.
• Romans 2:16- In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by
Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
• 1 Timothy 1:11- According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God,
which was committed to my trust.
• Galatians 1:11-12-But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was
preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither
was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
• Characteristics of Paul's Gospel is that it was received by direct revelation
from Jesus.
• It describes Jesus after the Spirit and not his flesh and blood walk.
• 2 Cor 5:16
• It describes the inner workings of Jesus`s passion, death and resurrection.
• It has power to establish the believer-Romans 16:25

2. PURPOSE OF PAUL'S GOSPEL

• The sin of Adam and Eve left man "incomplete".
• Man suffered from insecurity, fear, sickness, death and a host of other vices
• The effect of sin left man incomplete spirit, soul and body.
• This process of death at work in the human race progressed and worsened
as time developed.
• The purpose of Jesus' coming is directly related to this subject.
• In Paul's gospel we have a revelation of the life of Christ after the Spirit.
• By revelation Paul was able to show us what was happening to Jesus
beyond the historical account of the gospels.
• It is for this reason Paul declares that the gospel is able to establish the
believer.
• This is because his gospel delivers the truth and revelation of the death,
burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
3. WHAT HAPPENED DURING JESUS' EARTHLY WALK?
• The supernatural birth of Jesus was the coming of the promised seed of
the woman.
• Genesis 3:15-And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and
between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt
bruise his heel.
• John 1:1
• This was the miracle of the incarnation.
• A child was born without sin, so that he could stand before God without
guilt or inferiority.
• In the book "The Chemistry of the Blood," M. R. De Haan MD, page 31
and 32, declares that "It is now definitely known that the blood which
flows in an unborn baby’s arteries and veins is not derived from the
mother but is produced within the body of the fetus itself only after
the introduction of the male sperm. An unfertilized ovum can never
develop. The male element has and adds life to the egg. Since there is
no life in the egg until the male sperm units with it, and the life is in
the blood. It follows that the male sperm is the source of the blood."
• Thus, the blood which was the life of His body came from the Most High
who overshadowed Mary- Luke 1:35
• Thus, Jesus did not have in Him the blood of fallen humanity.
• Jesus had in Him the blood of God, His Father.
• Leviticus 17:11- For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it
to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood
that maketh an atonement for the soul.
• Thus, Jesus was sinless.
• The life of God was imparted in the blood of Jesus& Jesus was born without
the Adamic nature, or the sin that came through Adam's blood in his
conception
• The life that is imparted in a man during the new birth enters his blood
stream
• Jesus was the covenant God manifested in the flesh, so it was necessary
… that He be circumcised into the new covenant.
• He had given the covenant to Abraham, swore by Himself to fulfill it.
• Hebrews 6:16-18–For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for
confirmation is to them an end of all strife. 18 Wherein God, willing more
abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his
counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it
was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who
have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
• The High Priesthood and the Senate had Jehovah on their hands but they
knew it not.
• They hated Him and fought the very one they professed to love and live for
• No wonder the enemy sought to kill Him when He was still a child.
• Yet the Incarnation was very necessary.
• A legal substitution would be impossible without an incarnation.
• Deity must assume liability for the fall of humanity.
• God must have known man would fall when He created Him.
• Man was created in the face of that fact.
• Universal humanity has demanded that deity assume responsibility for the fal
• A substitute must be provided, who can take man's place of suffering what
humanity should suffer, meeting every claim of justice on behalf of fallen man
• In that way God could be vindicated.
• An angel could not fulfill the demands.
• No man could be the substitute.
• Only God Himself could fulfill these requirements.
• An Incarnation of deity and humanity was necessary.
• Yet during His earth walk they did not know Him.
• John says He came unto His own and His own received Him not.
• John 1:11- He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
• There is the literal rejection and then deeper still is their lack of knowledge
of who He is.
• Some thought He was John the Baptist, others Elias, Jeremias or one of the
prophets.
• Yet He was Jehovah manifested came to deal with humanity's sin.
• Matthew 16:13-14-When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi,
he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man
am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias;
and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
3. WHAT HAPPENED IN THE GARDEN
• In the Garden of Gethsemane, Deity was facing substitution.
• In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus & 3 of His disciples had gone down to
the place where He often resorted for prayer under the old Olive trees
• They had seen Him in prayer many times, but this time was different.
• He told them to wait & watch and went alone a few steps and fell upon His
face …The disciples heard Him pray.
• He was facing the fact of being made sin…His disciples did not know this.
• It was not theological or metaphysical substitution, but Jesus was going to
become a substitution for fallen man.
• He had not yet partaken sin or mortality.
• His body was like the first Adam's body before the fall.
• It was not mortal.
• It could not die.
• It was perfect
• Adam’s body became subject to disease and death only after the fall.
• John 10:17-18-Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my
life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of
…myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This
commandment have I received of my Father.
• No one could kill Jesus.
• His body was not mortal.
• It did not become mortal until He hung on the cross, when he had become
sin.
• 2 Corinthians 5:21- For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no
sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
• Jesus was facing the dilemma of being separated from God, just like Adam
had been separated from God after the fall.
• Hebrews 5:7- Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up
prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was
able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;
• For many years He had lived in the midst of sin.
• He had been tempted in all points like as we are, but sin had never become
a part of Him.
• Now He was going to become sin, and be separated from His Father.
• As man's sin substitute, He must go to the place where the man who rejects
Him must go.
• He must suffer there until the entire debt that humanity owed justice has bee
met.
• Jesus knew why He came out from the Father…
• He knew that He had to become man's substitute.
• Matthew 26:36-46 -Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called
Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray
yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began
to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul is
exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.
• And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my
Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will,
but as thou will And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep,
and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch
and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the Spirit indeed is willing, but
the flesh is weak. He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying,
O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy
will be done* And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes
were heavy. And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third
time, saying the same words. Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith
unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand,
and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners Rise, let us be
going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me.
• This passage describes the agony of Jesus in the garden.
• This was the tragedy of the garden.
• Jesus was to suffer the agonies of the lost.
• He was to bear the diseases and sins of the human race.
• He and He alone was to pay the penalty or humanity would be eternally lost
and God throughout all eternity would be childless.
• Angels came and ministered to Him in the garden.
• They did not minister to Him on the cross because He was made sin.
• He makes the popular statement:Luke 22:42-Saying, Father, if thou be
willing, remove this cup from me:nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done
• One translation reads; "If it be possible take this cup from me, but not my wi
but thine be carried through to completion."
• This was the object of the incarnation.
• The heroic Son of God facing humanity's great need and crying to the Fathe
"carry the thing through to completion and save the human race."
• The anticipation of the union with Spiritual death was so hideous, so utterly
unthinkable that if the angels had not ministered, we do not know what
would have happened.
• That He sweat great droplets of blood,
• It has since been shown that it is biologically possible.
• Scientists generally believe that under intense stress, the blood would rush
to the skin.
• The blood vessels underlying the skin, would rapture under this pressure
causing blood droplets to fall like sweat.
• However, when Jesus came from the Garden and faced the sleeping
disciples, He was the Master.
• He had won the fight.
• He came not weeping, but a conqueror when He met the soldiers in the
garden
• He stood the perfect hero, the matchless conqueror.
• He was now ready for the trial.
• John 18:5-6- They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto
them, I am he. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them °As
soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell
to the ground
• When Jesus declared "I AM" He used that popular phrase the "Ego eimi”
declaring His deity.
• At that moment the power of the Godhead was unleashed causing the
soldiers to fall down as if struck dead.
• This also demonstrates the truth of Jesus' declaration…"No one takes my
life away, but I lay it down".
• He was not the victim here but the King supreme.
• John 10:18-No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have
power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment
have I received of my Father.
• The arrest of Jesus is one of the tragedies of the human race and especially
for God's chosen people.
• The one who had cut the covenant with Abraham, cared for the children of
Israel like a nursing mother cares for her child was on trial, before the very
High Priesthood that He had established.
• He was not only Mary's Son but Jehovah Himself.
• The tragedy is that Jehovah the Blood covenant friend of Abraham came to
earth, conceived in the womb of the virgin Mary, born in a manger,
welcomed by an angelic choir, grew up among His own people, yet
remained a stranger to them.
• John 1:11-12- He came unto his own, and his own received him not ?But as
many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God,
…even to them that believe on his name:
• He had come unto His own and they received Him not bcoz they did not
know Him.
• They had witnessed His miracles.
• His compassion and love for them was recognized by all.
• He had turned water into wine, had spoke a single sentence and a tree died
in obedience to His voice.
• He had dominated the laws of nature, healed the sick and raised the dead
with words.
• He walked the waves and calmed the storm.
• Surely, they must have known that He was God.
• No wonder He had stopped and cried on the way into Jerusalem as He
followed the temple Passover lamb.
• The tragedy was that they were caught up in the temple lamb they missed
the true lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world
• Luke 19:40-45-And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if
these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. And
when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, Saying, If
thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which
belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes For the days
shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee,
and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side And shall lay
thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not
leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knowest not the time
of thy visitation And he went into the temple, and began to cast out them
that sold therein, and them that bought; Jealousy had such a dominance
over the hearts of the leaders that they sought to put Him to death.
• He was the Jehovah of the Red Sea.
• He had caused the sun and moon to stand still in the days of Joshua.
• He was Jehovah made manifest to the senses as Jesus.
• He was their Jehovah…They were His blood covenant people…He loved
them.
• They despised Him and premeditated His arrest…They had Jehovah on trial
• In the trial He stood before Pilate, the Sanhedrin, and the High Priesthood
with the dignity of God…He did not call their attention to who He was.
• He did not argue with them.
• He did not not plead with them for mercy…"He had been delivered by the
determinate counsel and the fore knowledge of God.”
• The person they had on trial had had the covenant with Abraham.
• It was He that had walked between the pieces of meat as Abraham lay
under a paralyzing force in the cutting of the unconditional Abrahamic
covenant.
• Now he had come to fulfil it- Gen 15.
• Yet the people cried "crucify Him", Let his blood be upon us and upon our
children".
• The reality of their demands was "crucify Abraham's Blood Covenant God."
• They denied their blood covenant God, and turned Him over to a heathen
governor to be scrouged and crowned with thorns and crucified.
• His covenant brethren followed Him up to Calvary Hill as He carried His
cross, hurling words of hatred at Him.
• Their God was among them and not a single person recognized Him.
• Zechariah 13:6-And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in
thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in
the house of my friends.
• His people insisted that Jehovah be nailed to the cross.
• He was betrayed in the House of Israel, His blood covenant friends.
• He had come to establish a New covenant with His own blood.
4. WHAT HAPPENED ON THE CROSS
• The cross was the climax of love in manifestation.
• Man was in bankruptcy, impotent and helpless…He was a slave.
• He could not approach God, nor meet the demands of justice.
• Justice demanded a price be paid for man's sin.
• Man could not save himself and needed a saviour.
• Out of the heart of God comes the solution…His Son says, "Here am I,
send me.”And He goes to the cross.
• Even the disciples did not know what was happening.
• They had not known Jesus in His earth walk.
• They were sense ruled people limited to their five senses.
• 1 John 1:1-3- That which was from the beginning, which we have heard,
which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our
hands have handled, of the Word of life; For the life was manifested, and we
have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which
was with the Father, and was manifested unto us.That which we have seen
and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us:
and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
• The disciples did not know that Jesus was going to be made sin on the
cross…His substitutionary role was unknown to them.
• They did not know He was going to die Spiritually.
• They did not know he was their substitute& that He would put sin away and
make it possible for man to legally receive eternal life the very nature of God
• This is the picture of the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ.
• Isaiah 53:9-& he made his grave with the wicked,& with the rich in his death
• The word "death" is plural in the Hebrew, indicating that Jesus died twice
on the cross.
• The moment Him who knew no sin became sin, His body became mortal
and could die physically.
• He became separated from the Father thus He died the first death.
• The moment He became sin, darkness came down over Golgotha, and He
cried the bitter cry, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
• This was the darkest hour of eternity.
• The universe went into mourning when He became sin.
• Isaiah 53:10-12- Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to
grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his
seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper
in his hand. "He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by
his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their
… iniquities. 'Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall
divide the spoil with the strong; because 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.
• Psalms 22, gives a graphic picture of the crucifixion.
• That scene was written a thousand years before Jesus hung on the cross an
at least 250 years before crucifixion was invented.
• Crucifixion was only introduced by the Romans.
• Psalm 22:1-2-My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?Why art thou s
far from helping me,& from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the
daytime, but thou hearest not;& in the night season,& am not silent.
• This is a monologue…You can see Jesus hanging on the cross.
• The deep physical agony& the awful shame of hanging naked in the presenc
of His enemies, to acknowledge that His Father had forsaken Him is breakin
• He remembers Israel's history,Jehovah had heard their cry and delivered the
• Then He says the strange words "Thou art Holy."
• This is because He is becoming sin.
• Then He declares *I am a worm, and no man."
• He is Spiritually dead, the worm and He has become our scapegoat.
• John 3:14- And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so
must the Son of man be lifted up:
• He is now Moses' lifted up serpent.
• He is now united with the adversary because He is now sin.
• The Psalmist sees him as the worm, the reproach of the people.
• Psalm 22:7-8- All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip,
they shake the head, saying, "He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver
him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.
• Now the monologue continues.
• He hangs there on the cross surrounded by the multitude, looked on by the
High Priest.
• Psalm 22:9-10- But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst
make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts. I was cast upon thee
from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly
• As soon as He was born, an angel told Joseph to take him to Egypt.
• He was the God cared for baby of Bethlehem.
• But now He is the God-forsaken Son of God, hanging upon the cross.
• As the forsaken Man of Galilea, there He cries "Be not far from me; for
trouble is near for there is none to help."
• The disciples are powerless.
• His own people headed by the High Priest, have seen that He was nailed to
the cross.
• There is none to help.
• Psalm 22:11-13- Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none
to help. Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have
beset me round. They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening
and a roaring lion.
• What does he mean by "Bulls of Basham."
• It is the Sanhedrin and senate. "They are the leaders of the State, they
gape upon Him, and they crucify Him"
• Then comes the strange sentence, "I am poured out like water. All my
bones are out of joint, my heart melteth within me."
• John 19:31-35- The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that
the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day, (for that
Sabbath day was a high day), besought Pilate that their legs might be
broken, and that they might be taken away. Then came the soldiers, and
…33 But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they
brake not his legs: But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and
forthwith came there out blood and water." And he that saw it bare record,
and his record is true:& he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.
• Jesus had died of a ruptured heart.
• Psalm 22:14- I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint:
my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.
• When His heart raptured, His blood from all parts of the body poured in
through the rent into the sack that holds the heart (pericardium).
• Then as the body cooled, the red corpuscles coagulated and rose to the top
• The white serum settled to the bottom.
• When the Roman soldier's spear pierced the sack (pericardial sac) that held
the blood, water poured out first.
• Then the coagulated blood oozed out, rolled down His side, onto the ground
…and John bore witness of it…yet David, a thousand years before this
event, described it more accurately.
• Psalm 22:15- My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue
cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
• This is why they gave the crucified one a drink of vinegar.
• Psalm 22:16- For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked
have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.
• Who were the dogs? The Roman soldiers.
• They had nailed Him to the cross.
• Jews always called people outside the covenant dogs, and a "no people.”
• Psalm 22:17-18-I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. They
part my garments among them,and cast lots upon my vesture.
• Every bone in His body was crying out against this inhuman devilish agony.
1. THE GREAT EXCHANGE
• Everything Jesus ever did in His life is a perfect expression of the will of God
• Jesus took upon Him our sin, our sickness, our curses, our poverty on
the cross.
• This was the will of God, so that you would not have to bear it.
• This is often described as the great exchange.
• It is the basis for the gospel…Jesus substituting Himself for us.
• He became what we were in sin, poverty and sickness so that so we could
be what He was in glory.
• There is no greater news than that Jesus redeemed us from the curse.
• He delivered us from lack and poverty.
• He delivered us from sin and sickness.
• He paid the price in full…We don't have to carry it…Jesus carried it all for us
• We are free…We can actually expect to walk in peace and freedom
because Jesus paid the ultimate price!
• Four main things happened to Jesus on the cross which relate to His
substitutionary work
1. JESUS BECAME POOR
• 2 Corinthians 8:9- For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that,
though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his
poverty might be rich.
• When Jesus was on the cross they stripped his clothes and dressed him in
rags.
• They crowned him with a crown of thorns.
• He had worn royal robes in his earth walk.
• But at this moment Jesus was reduced to a beggar on the street.
• Yet Paul got the revelation that this happened so that we could become rich
• HE became poor so that in his poverty we who were poor can become rich
• We are identified with the king.
• We have identified ourselves with him.
• He identified himself with us in lack, so that we can identify ourselves with H
wealth.
• Lack therefore has no dominion.
• It has no right, Jesus became poor so that we can be rich.
• He identified himself with us in poverty, now we can identify ourselves with
Him in riches.
• We can't be moved by our bank balance.
• We don't withdraw from the earthly bank only…We are rich…We are not poo
• Jesus saw to that.
• All our needs are met…All our bills are paid.
• Jesus saw to that when He hung on the cross.
• They made Jesus put on a crown of thorns.
• They took His clothes and parted them among themselves.
• The Lord, during His earth walk was not poor nor did He have lack.
• However, when He hung on the cross stripped, the King of Glory was
reduced to intense poverty.
• He became poor so that we can be rich.
• They put a thorn crown on him.
• They stripped him of His garments and adorned him in a beggarly wrap so
that we can be rich!
• It is for this reason Paul declares that our God shall supply our needs
according to his riches in glory.
• Philippians 4:19- But my God shall supply all your need according to his
riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
2. JESUS BECAME A CURSE
• Freed from the curse…Jesus also became a curse, so that we can be blesse
• Gal 3:13-14- Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made
curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree: "Tha
the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ;
that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith
• As He hung on the cross, they stripped Him of all dignity.
• He hung there, forsaken by men, so that we can be blessed.
• Others spate on him…They taunted and mocked.
• Yet He became a curse so that we can be blessed with the blessings of
Abraham and also receive the promise of the Spirit.
• The blessings of Abraham are listed in Deut 28: 1-14.
• Jesus became a curse so that we can be blessed.
• He became what we were in being cursed so that we could be what He was
in glory.
• He identified with our being cursed so that we can identify with his blessings
• Now we are partakers of Abraham's blessings.
• We are overtaken by blessings.
• We are blessed in the city and blessed in the fields.
• We are now the head not the tail, above not beneath.
• He saw to that so that we would be in a state of blessedness.
• Curses are broken.
• The devil has no dominion…He can't lay nothing on us…We are blessed.
• The curse of poverty was dealt with, settled with finality 2000 years ago.
• The demands for justice were mat. He settled it in full.
• Eph1:3- Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath
blessed us with all Spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
C. JESUS BECOME SIN
• 2 Cor 5:21- For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that
we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
• Jesus became sin on the cross.
• He took our sin upon him so that we can be the righteousness of God in
Christ Jesus.
• He was our substitute putting sin away.
• He made it possible for us to legally receive Eternal life-the very nature of
God
• He was the ultimate sacrifice for sins.
• Hebrews 9:24
• He was forsaken because God could not look at sin.
• Yet He did that so that we can be in right standing with God.
• We can pray and worship because he was made sin.
• He who knew no sin became sin so that he can satisfy the claims of
Justice against the entire human race.
• Now we are in right standing with God.
• We can call Him our Father because Jesus paid the price in full.
D. JESUS BECAME SICK
• 1 Peter 2:24-Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree,
that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose
stripes ye were healed.
• He bore all our sicknesses, and infirmities.
• Every cancer, Aids, and medical condition that was and is ever yet to come
upon this earth Jesus bore, so that we do not have to bear it anymore.
• Jesus paid the full price
• We do not have to be sick anymore.
• He dealt with it on the cross.
• Isaiah 52:14-As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred
more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:
• Isaiah saw a vision of Jesus on the cross.
• In his vision Isaiah did not see the Lord as he is often painted by artists.
• Isaiah saw a man who through carrying every disease that everyone in the
age of time had had, Through carrying their agony and condition had
became so disfigured that he did not look like a man on the cross.
• His visage or form did not resemble man.
• He was ( and we say this reverently) like a piece of meat on the cross.
• His visage was marred beyond recognition as he agonized with our pains
our grief and our diseases.
• The chastisement of our peace was upon Him.
• He dealt with sickness on the cross.
• Isaiah 53:4-6 - Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet
we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 'But he was
wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the
chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are
healed. 'All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his
own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
• Jesus carried every disease from Adam to Eternity.
• His work spanned the gap between two eternities.
• He bore every disease that anyone could ever have, so that we do not have
to carry it all.
As He carried the various conditions, His visage became marred beyond that
of any man.
• Let it be settled in our hearts.
• Jesus paid the price for us.
• We were identified with him at the redemption.
• When He was crucified; we were crucified.
• When He died; we died.
• When He was buried; we were buried.
• Rom 6:4– Therefore, we are buried with him by baptism into death: that
like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even
so we also should walk in newness of life.
• When He was justified; we were justified.
• 1 Tim 3:16- And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God
was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached
unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
• When He was raised, we were raised.
• When He was seated in heavenly even, we were seated.
• Ephe 2:6- And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in
heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
• So, we are seated above all principalities and power.
• That is our eternal position.
• Experientially and temporarily, we may be down, but Jesus paid the price
in full.
• He has qualified us.
• He has enabled us
• He has predestined us for greatness.
• We were poor in Adam.
• We were sick in Adam.
• We wallowed in lack in Adam.
• We were cursed and we were in poverty in Adam.
• But in Jesus we are well.
• In Jesus we are rich.
• In Jesus we are blessed.
• In Jesus all our needs are met.
• Jesus paid the price in full.
• We are righteous, we are now the righteous of God in Christ Jesus.
• Jesus paid the ultimate price.