“Nailed For My Needs”
Mark 16:6-7, “He said, “Don’t be afraid. I know you’re looking for Jesus the Nazarene, the One they NAILED ON THE CROSS. He’s been raised up; he’s here no longer. You can see for yourselves that the place is empty. Now—on your way. Tell his disciples and Peter that he is going on ahead of you to Galilee. You’ll see him there, exactly as he said.” (MSG)
Hollywood really missed this one! It was a movie no one was willing to distribute; a movie most thought would have a limited audience. But from its midweek opening, Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” a few years ago took off like a rocket! Soon it became apparent this movie portraying the agonizing last twelve hours of Jesus’ life was going to be a blockbuster, whose box office numbers were up there with the record-breakers! But according to Director, Mel Gibson, this movie ultimately wasn’t about commercial success. It was, for him, a deeply personal project, portraying what he described as “Christ’s wounds that healed my wounds.” The personalness of Jesus’ death to him surfaced vividly on the day they were filming the driving of the nails into Christ’s hands. It is a not-to-be forgotten moment. The director himself grabbed the mallet and spikes from the actor who was supposed to be nailing Jesus to the cross. The cameras kept rolling, and in the movie, it is Mel Gibson’s hands we see, wielding the hammer and driving the nails into Jesus’ hands!
Time Magazine’s cover article on “The Passion” asked this question: “Who Killed Jesus?” Well, in one sense, no one killed Jesus. He said, “I lay down My life…No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of my own accord” (John 10:17-18). The Amplified Bible reads like this: “For this [reason] the Father loves Me, because I LAY DOWN MY [OWN] LIFE—TO TAKE IT BACK AGAIN.NO ONE TAKES IT AWAY FROM ME. ON THE CONTRARY, I LAY IT DOWN VOLUNTARILY. [I PUT IT FROM MYSELF.] I AM AUTHORIZED AND HAVE POWER TO LAY IT DOWN (TO RESIGN IT) AND I AM AUTHORIZED AND HAVE POWER TO TAKE IT BACK AGAIN. These are the instructions (orders) which I have received [as My charge] from My Father.” (AMPC)
Actually, that makes sense. WHO CAN KILL THE SON OF GOD? He created the men who put Him on the cross! He created the tree he was dying on. But Mel Gibson understood something when he drove those nails – that it was HIS sins that made Jesus’ sacrifice necessary (that made it personal). It was MY sins! It was your sins. In a sense, YOU AND I HAD OUR HAND ON THE HAMMER TOO!
God makes that crystal clear in Isaiah 53:5-6. The Bible says, “HE WAS PIERCED FOR OUR TRANSGRESSIONS, HE WAS CRUSHED FOR OUR INIQUITIES; THE PUNISHMENT THAT BROUGHT US PEACE WAS UPON HIM, BY HIS WOUNDS WE ARE HEALED.” The Amplified Bible says it like this: “BUT HE WAS WOUNDED FOR OUR TRANSGRESSIONS, HE WAS BRUISED FOR OUR GUILT AND INIQUITIES; THE CHASTISEMENT [NEEDFUL TO OBTAIN] PEACE AND WELL-BEING FOR US WAS UPON HIM, AND WITH THE STRIPES [THAT WOUNDED] HIM WE ARE HEALED AND MADE WHOLE.ALL WE LIKE SHEEP HAVE GONE ASTRAY, WE HAVE TURNED EVERY ONE TO HIS OWN WAY; AND THE LORD HAS MADE TO LIGHT UPON HIM THE GUILT AND INIQUITY OF US ALL.” (AMPC) Listen to the Message Bible: “The servant grew up before God—a scrawny seedling, a scrubby plant in a parched field. There was nothing attractive about him, nothing to cause us to take a second look. He was looked down on and passed over, a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand. One look at him and people turned away. We looked down on him, thought he was scum. BUT THE FACT IS, IT WAS OUR PAINS HE CARRIED—OUR DISFIGUREMENTS, ALL THE THINGS WRONG WITH US. WE THOUGHT HE BROUGHT IT ON HIMSELF, THAT GOD WAS PUNISHING HIM FOR HIS OWN FAILURES. BUT IT WAS OUR SINS THAT DID THAT TO HIM, THAT RIPPED AND TORE AND CRUSHED HIM—OUR SINS! HE TOOK THE PUNISHMENT, AND THAT MADE US WHOLE. Through his bruises we get healed. We’re all like sheep who’ve wandered off and gotten lost. We’ve all done our own thing, gone our own way. AND GOD HAS PILED ALL OUR SINS, EVERYTHING WE’VE DONE WRONG, ON HIM, ON HIM.” (MSG)
If that doesn’t make things personal for you, I don’t know what will!
This weekend, I challenge you to think of all the sin IN your life that you need to get OUT of your life. And the only reason I want you to think of is because your hand was on the hammer that nailed your Savior to the cross! If you ever want to get rid of a bad habit, addiction, temptation, or sin, just let that thought cross your mind. Me holding on to this sin, is the same as me continuing daily to keep my hand on the hammer that nailed my Jesus to the cross! Let that be the push you need to propel you to finally be free! Yes, Jesus laid His life down voluntarily, but if there was no sin, He would have had no reason. Today, make that deliberate decision to honor and thank Him for His ultimate sacrifice by releasing yourself (completely and totally) from every sin that reminds you, your hand was/is on the hammer! No excuses, no justifications, no blaming, no pointing fingers! Just honesty, deliverance, and freedom!
Now, if you’ve seen Mel Gibson’s movie, you remember what the character looked like that played Jesus. The wounds, blood, nails, pain, sounds, sorrow, etc. It was a bloody nightmare! And if you keep your sins, you keep your hands on that hammer! But Jesus was nailed to the cross so that your need for salvation, healing and deliverance could take place. He met your need, now get your hands off the nails and hammer!
Determine today, to be free and stay free!
Matthew 27:35-40, “After they had finished nailing him to the cross and were waiting for him to die, they killed time by throwing dice for his clothes. Above his head they had posted the criminal charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews. Along with him, they also crucified two criminals, one to his right, the other to his left. People passing along the road jeered, shaking their heads in mock lament: “You bragged that you could tear down the Temple and then rebuild it in three days—so show us your stuff! Save yourself! If you’re really God’s Son, come down from that cross!” (MSG)
Romans 6:6, “We know that our old (unrenewed) self was nailed to the cross with Him in order that [our] body [which is the instrument] of sin might be made ineffective and inactive for evil, that we might no longer be the slaves of sin.” (AMPC)
1 Corinthians 2:2, “In fact, while I was with you, I made up my mind to speak only about Jesus Christ, who had been nailed to a cross.” (CEV)
2 Corinthians 13:4, “Although he was weak when he was nailed to the cross, he now lives by the power of God. We are weak, just as Christ was. But you will see that we will live by the power of God, just as Christ does.” (CEV)
Galatians 5:24, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.” (NLT)
Colossians 2:14, “Having cancelled and blotted out and wiped away the handwriting of the note (bond) with its legal decrees and demands which was in force and stood against us (hostile to us). This [note with its regulations, decrees, and demands] He set aside and cleared completely out of our way by nailing it to [His] cross.” (AMPC)
Luke 23:33, “When they came to a place called The Skull, they nailed him to the cross. And the criminals were also crucified—one on his right and one on his left.” (NLT)
Hebrews 6:6, “But if they turn away, they cannot be sorry for their sins and turn from them again. It is because they are nailing the Son of God on a cross again. They are holding Him up in shame in front of all people.” (NLV)
1 Peter 2:24, “Christ carried the burden of our sins. He was nailed to the cross, so that we would stop sinning and start living right. By his cuts and bruises you are healed.” (CEV)
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