March 17, 2013, Lent V-C
Luke 20:9-20, The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

Why did Jesus have to die on the cross? Any Sunday school kid can give you the answer: “He died to forgive our sins.” But why did he have to die to do that, and why did he have to die in that way on the cross?

In the Old Testament of the Bible, there is never forgiveness without death. Rather than a person dying, however, an animal dies in the stead of, in the place of, the human. That animal might be a lamb, or a goat, or a cow, or even a dove. I cannot find any place in the Bible where even a little sin can be forgiven without some sort of blood sacrifice. This shows how serious sin is. Sin is bad, not because we are breaking some rule, but because we are breaking the bond we have with God. Even in the home, it is the same. Eating a cookie before dinner is bad, not only because it will spoil your appetite, but because you are disobeying your mother, and so you are breaking not just a rule, but breaking the trust between you and your mother. If it continues too long and gets too bad, you might get disowned by your parents. That is why God thinks sin is bad. Sin is a sign that we don’t trust God. And when we don’t trust God, we lose the blessings of God, and that ultimately means death. That is why death is the ultimate punishment for sin. Death is separation from God. Complete separation from God is hell. The blood sacrifices in the Old Testament drive that message home. The death of the animal reminds us that we should die. The sacrifice is not magic; it is an act of faith. It is this faith that God sees and so forgives our sin; God removes the problem that would ultimately kill us.

In the New Testament Gospel, because Jesus died on the cross once for all people, there need not be any other sacrifices. The effectiveness of animal sacrifices can never come close to the sacrificial death of Jesus. Because Jesus is God, his sacrifice has power to forgive all people of all time when they believe in him as their Savior.

But why did Jesus have to die on the cross? In the Old Testament of the Bible, there is only one proper place for most sacrifices and that is the altar at the Temple in Jerusalem. So, as the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, it would seem proper that Jesus should have died on the Altar at the Temple, and his blood should have been sprinkled in the Holy of Holies where the Ark of Covenant used to be. But that would never have happened. The priests at Jesus’ time would never have consented to human sacrifice. In the Old Testament, that was a horrible thought, only practiced by the abominable pagan religions. Even if the priests had believed that Jesus was the Son of God, the Messiah, the Christ, the Lamb of God who needed to be sacrificed, they would not have done it. If they believed and loved Jesus, they would never be able to bring themselves to do that horrible sacrifice.

But why were the trial and the cross necessary? Today I am going to mention two reasons.

First, it shows the universal sin and universal forgiveness of Jesus’ death. The Jews brought Jesus to trial and the Romans put him to death. The sin of both Jews and Gentiles, in other words, the sin of the whole world was put on Jesus, including yours and mine.

The second reason is because the death on the cross was the direct result of actual sin. The Jewish teachers of the law and the chief priests killed Jesus, not because they thought he was the Messiah that would bring salvation, but from fear and jealousy and anger and the sin of their hearts. They were sinning when they arrested him, sinning when they gave false witness against him, sinning when they called for his death. And the Romans sinned when they whipped him and mocked him, sinned when they put a crown of thorns on his head, sinned when they nailed him to the cross. This was not some abstract sin, but concrete, actual sin that killed Jesus on the cross.

The cross was necessary because it shows the seriousness and the horrible result of sin. Sacrifice on the altar of the Jerusalem Temple might have been seen as a religious ceremony for only the Jews. But the death on the cross showed that the death of Jesus was not only for the Jews, but for all people.

Jesus comes to us today and tells us the parable in the Gospel reading for today. But often we are like the tenants of the vineyard. We do not give to God the fruit of his love. God loves us and gives us a plentiful harvest of grace and love. But when we do not love God or love the neighbor, we are like the tenants of the vineyard who reject God. They were expelled from the vineyard. We too will be expelled from the Kingdom of God if we do not believe in Jesus as the Son of God who has come to us.

The owner sent his son, and God sends His Son. Jesus comes to us today and tells us the Gospel. Jesus comes to us. He loves us so much that he comes to us. Even when we reject him, he comes to us again. Even when we throw him out of our lives and crucify him, he comes to us again. The crucifixion was the work of both the Jews and the Romans. It is our sin too that nails Jesus to the cross. But Jesus comes to us again; he rises on the third day. As the Gospel reading says, ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone.’

Why did Jesus have to die on the cross? Any Sunday school kid can give you the answer: “He died to forgive our sins.” Why did he die on a cross? That is so we can see the horrible result of sin, which is death: our death and the death of Jesus. But because we know the love of Jesus, the cross becomes a symbol of forgiveness and hope and life.

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church

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