Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life - The Upper Room

Episode Date: March 22, 2024

One of the great questions of history is, “Why in the world did the early Christians adopt the cross as their main symbol?”  All the other founders of the great religions died old and successful. In absolute contrast, you have Jesus, who dies at age 33, ignominiously, in agony, abandoned by everyone. But on the night before he died, Jesus gave his disciples the interpretation, the meaning of his death on the cross, and when it was all over, it changed them and the world.  Jesus tells us four life-changing principles about his death: 1) Jesus’ death is the center of history, 2) Jesus’ death is the foundation for a radically new, profoundly different community, 3) Jesus’ death is the solution to the great mystery, and 4) Jesus’ death is appropriated personally. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 6, 2003. Series: The Meaning of Jesus Part 3; Seeing Him. Scripture: Luke 22:14-34. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The Gospel of Luke answers two basic questions. Who is this Jesus and what does it mean to follow Him, to be a disciple? Today on the podcast, Tim Keller explores the person and mission of Jesus and what it means to go beyond knowing about Him to having your life transformed by Him. After you listen, we invite you to go online to GospelInLife.com and sign up for email updates. When you sign up, you'll receive our quarterly newsletter with articles about gospel changed lives as well as other valuable gospel-centered resources.

Subscribe today at GospelInLife.com. The scripture reading is taken from Luke chapter 22 verses 14 through 34 found on page 9 of your bulletin. And when the hour came he reclined a table and the Apostles with him and he said to them I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer for I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." And he took a cup and when he had given thanks he said, take this and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes. And he took bread and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them

saying this is my body which is given for you do this in remembrance of me and likewise the cup after they had eaten saying this cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood but behold the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. But the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed. And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this. A dispute also rose among them as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. And he said to them, the kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship

over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you. Rather let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. For who is the greater? One who reclines at the table, or one who serves. Is it not the one who reclines a table? But I am among you as the one who serves. You are those who have stayed with me in my trials and I assign to you as my father assigned to me a kingdom that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Simon, Simon behold behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he may

sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail, and when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers. Peter said to him, Lord I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death. Jesus said, I tell you Peter, the rooster will not crow this day until you deny three times that you know me. This is the word of the Lord. One of the great questions of history is why in the world did the early Christians adopt the cross as their main symbol?

You know, you realize why that is so odd, why that is so strange? All the other religious founders of all the great religions died old and successful. They died old and successful. So, you know, Moses gets the children of Israel to the border of the promised land, you know, dies old, full of years, over 100 years old. Buddha lives to 80 years old and achieves enlightenment. That's why we call him the Buddha. Muhammad lives into his 60s and unites, but he doesn't die until after he unites all of Arabia in one kingdom under one faith.

So they all died old and successful, and in absolute contrast, you have Jesus, who dies age 33, ignominiously, in agony, abandoned by absolutely, literally everyone in his life. Now, you can understand why people would look at the other founders and say, God was with them. Look at their life, that's the kind of life I wanna live. Why in the world would anyone look at Jesus

and dying on the cross and say, that's the life I want to live, that's the one I want to follow, that's the faith for me? Why in the world would they do that? But they did. In droves. So many people who in the early church, so many people in the old Roman Empire had their lives completely transformed by the cross so that That whole old society was changed. How could that have happened? Why would that have happened and John Stott a Christian writer puts it like this and he's doing a little historical deduction

he says the fact that a cross became the Christian symbol and He says, the fact that a cross became the Christian symbol, and the Christians refused, in spite of ridicule, to discard it in place of something less offensive, can only have one explanation. It means that the centrality of the cross originated in the mind of Jesus himself. And see, he's doing some historical deduction. He's saying, no human mind would look at the cross and say that's

the central paradigm that I want to live according to. No one would do that and therefore the only reason why the cross became a transforming presence in the lives of so many people that it changed the world is because as John says Jesus explained it himself on the night before he died, Jesus gave his disciples the interpretation, the explanation of the meaning of his death. And afterward, when it was all over, they remembered it and they accepted it and it changed them.

It changed them, it changed the world. Now, where is that explanation? Where is that life-changing interpretation of what the cross of Christ means? Here, it's here. It's this message, what he said to his disciples in the upper room the night before he died. And so it's there for you too, you know that.

If you take in what he says to them, if you see what he says to them, you take it in, it'll change you too, you know that. If you take in what he says to them, if you see what he says to them, you take it in, it'll change you too. Now there's four things he tells us about his death. Four things he tells us about his death, which are the life-changing principles, you might say. The first thing we're told is it's the center of history. Jesus' death is the center of history. Jesus' death is the center of history.

And I want to be brief here, but it's really fascinating. What do we mean by this? The first thing Jesus told his disciples and tells us is, if I'm going to tell you about my death, I'm going to do it in the Passover. See verse 15, I've so wanted to eat this Passover with you. Why is it that Jesus deliberately chooses the Passover as the moment in which he reveals the meaning of his death?

Well, what's the Passover? Well, you know this, the Passover was a meal that was eaten the night before the Israelites were taken out of Egypt. The night before the Israelites were removed were liberated by God from slavery from Egypt and the night before they were liberated from Pharaoh they ate a meal and God said to them I want you to eat this meal repeatedly every year as a perpetual memorial I never want you to forget this night I never want you to forget this night. I never want you to forget how I saved you by my grace and my power. And therefore, this is what had been happening now for centuries,

that they ate the Passover meal together once a year. And when Jesus, you see in verse 17, Jesus gets up and he takes a cup and he blesses or he gives thanks and he begins to speak, that fits in exactly with what has always been happening for centuries because here's how Passover meal worked. The presider, the head of the family would get up and take a cup, the first cup of wine and he would give thanks

and then a question would be asked to him. And the question would be usually from the youngest child there and the question would be, usually from the youngest child there, and the question would be, why is tonight different from all other nights? And then the presider would speak and he would explain the meaning of the Passover. And he would do so, generally, by expounding text in Deuteronomy, because Deuteronomy explains the meaning of the Passover. So in Deuteronomy 26, for example, he would, the presider would say something like this on the basis of Deuteronomy 26, he'd say, our forefathers, our ancestors,

they were slaves, but God looked upon their affliction, their suffering. And then Deuteronomy 16, he would say, and you see this bread, this bread is the bread of our affliction. The bread of our ancestors' affliction that they ate in the wilderness. And so he explains the meaning of the liberation and the suffering and so on. So Jesus Christ picks up the cup and he opens his mouth the way it's been done for centuries. But as soon as he begins to speak, Jesus begins to say things that must have absolutely astonished the disciples because he says things that had never been said in any Passover before. Never.

First of all, he begins to say that the meal we're eating tonight does not have reference to the past, but to the future. Notice he says, he says, I'm not going to eat this again until we eat it in the kingdom. So first of all, he's talking about something that's about to happen, something that's ahead. But the most astounding thing he says, he does not say, he does not get up and say, this is the bread of their affliction that our ancestors ate in the wilderness. He says, no, he says, this is the bread of my affliction. This is my body as this bread has to be broken

for you to be fed. My body is gonna have to be broken. My life is gonna have to be poured out for you to have life. Now when Jesus talks about his, he chooses the Passover as the context for talking about his death. Do the Passover as the context for talking about his death, do you know what he's saying?

He's saying, I mean let me just put it three or four ways. He is saying, years ago they ate a meal before God redeemed them from political and economic slavery from Egypt. But tonight we eat a meal, the night before God will redeem us from sin and death and evil itself All other sacrifices all other deliverances by all the other leaders It's pointing to here to me I'm the ultimate Moses. This is the ultimate Exodus. This is the night

That's the night that's different from all other nights So see when Jesus says in the middle of the Passover That's the night. That's the night that's different from all other nights. So see, when Jesus says, in the middle of the Passover, it's about me. Here's what he's saying. He is saying, my death tonight is the climax to which all of history has been moving. This is astounding.

This is, sounds crazy, but it's the first thing you must believe about the death of Jesus If it's going to actually transform your life the way it transformed the disciples Jesus Christ says my death The cross it's the center of history. That's the first thing the second thing He says is his death is not just the center of history, but it's the foundation for a whole new community It's a foundation for a whole new community. It's a foundation for a radically new, profoundly different community. The middle part of the passage, you notice, happens after there's this jostling because they're arguing who's going to be the greatest. And Jesus said to them,

the kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors, but it shall not be so with you. Now, what's going on? Luke is the only one of the gospel writers that tells us that this arguing over who's gonna be the greatest and Jesus' discussion happen at the Lord's table at the Last Supper.

He's the only one to bring this out, and here's what he's trying to say. He wants us to see that the cross does not just change us as individuals. It does not just give us forgiveness and happiness or peace in some just in an individual way. If you understand the meaning of the cross, if the cross comes into your life, it puts you in a community, a radically new and different community. You haven't really understood the meaning of the cross till that happens. You haven't gotten it as it were. The penny hasn't dropped. You

haven't really understood the meaning of the cross if you just drop in the church every so often. And you don't let the cross compel you, attract you, seal you into a whole new community. Well what do we mean by that? Well there's three things here that we're told are marks of this community that the cross creates. The cross creates a community that is an intimate family, a radical society, and a reverse meritocracy. An intimate family, a radical society, a reverse meritocracy.

First, first thing we're told here is the cross makes, creates an intimate family. One thing that you kind of miss, and I certainly missed it over the years reading it, but it's one of those parts of the passage, one of those facts about the passage is so obvious you miss it. Where did people celebrate their Passover every night, every year? Where do you celebrate your Passover? You celebrate your Passover with your family.

You didn't celebrate it, you celebrate it with your family. And every one of these disciples, they had families someplace that were celebrating the Passover that night, but Jesus, and this is very, there's audacity here. Jesus has the audacity to pull every one of his disciples away from his family on Passover night and bring them into this room and celebrate the Passover with them.

Now what does that mean? The Passover is celebrated by, head of the family gets up and does the presiding and the family gathers around and the youngest child says, why is tonight like all other nights? What is Jesus saying? Here's what he's saying and it's pretty radical. He says, if you understand the cross, you will find that the cross does not just make you a member of a club that

I'll have the same beliefs, but it puts you into a family Everyone else who it has Understands the cross you have a intimate family relationship with or let me put it like this What makes the family bond so strong is not really blood the reason why your brothers your sisters you know the reason why people that you're in the same family with you feel this great strong bond to is not just because of blood my own my sister for example has five children two two are adopted, three biological. And there's no difference there, because what makes them feel like family is the experience.

It's not the blood. They've been so profoundly changed because they've had so much common experience. They've lived in the same rooms. They've lived in the same homes. They've lived in the same places. They have the same geography, the same experiences, the same experiences of father, mother, and so on. They had so much of the same experience when you grow up. As different as you may end up being, the person you were raised with, there's so much common experience that you feel a bond. Jesus is saying here, by pulling the disciples out like this, Jesus is saying that as strong as that bond can be from all that common experience, the experience of the cross is greater. Or, put it this way,

when you grasp the cross of Jesus Christ, it creates, it puts you into an experience, it's an experience, it's such a radical identity change that the commonality you feel with anyone else who's had that experience is deeper than the commonality you will feel with someone you were raised with. If the other person who believes in the cross has nothing else in common with you different race, different income, different politics, different economics

different... doesn't matter. You have the basis for a deeper unity with anyone else's experience the cross of Jesus Christ that you do with someone you were raised with and that's what he's saying. He's saying there's the is when you become a Christian when the cross becomes the center of your life you will be sealed in if you come to understand what the cross means into an intimate family that's the first thing. But secondly it's not just warm relationships. The cross doesn't just create a family, warm relationships. The second thing Jesus tells us is he gives them a kingdom, which means he's making the community that's created by

the cross is not just a warm family but an alternate human society. You see, they have this argument, right? And what does Jesus say? Very, very important. It's actually, he's really saying you are a counterculture. He says, the kings and the Gentiles exercise lordship over them and those in authority cover over them are called benefactors, but it shall not be so with you. Now the word benefactors is a very important word here

and for us as English readers, it doesn't hit us, but it is very important. Because the benefactors is the patronage system of the Greco-Roman society. Greco-Roman society ran on a patronage system and what this meant was the people higher up in the social order, social economic order, would give help to people lower down, but it was only help that paid off. If you had a benefactor who helped you, you owed them the rest of your life. You owed them political favors, you owed them perks, you owed them support, you owed them favors. That's the way it worked. Now Jesus says that's how the

world works, and it does. Benefactors. Here's how the world works. I help people, I relate to people, but the ones that will pay off for me. I help people, I relate to people, I hang out with people, but I only relate, hang out with people when there's a payoff for me. I want the most powerful people, I want the status people, I want the beautiful people, I want the smart people as much as possible because that helps me. And Jesus says when the cross comes into your life that absolutely normal instinctive way of sorting through people and choosing some for relationships and rejecting for others is gone. Gone. He says it shall not be so with you. Other people help and relate to those with a payoff.

I want you to love people indiscriminately. I don't want you to love people for your sake. I want you to love them for their sake, for love's sake, indiscriminately. It should mean whether or not there's a payoff. And that's the reason why when he says I'm giving you a kingdom man what he is saying at this point is he's saying I don't just want you to have warm relationships do you realize the cross will so radically change you that a community of people that have the cross in the center of their lives will

be an alternate human society in which so socioeconomic status means virtually nothing you leave it at the door. Power, recognition, status, money, those things don't control you. This would be its comp- what a new, different, radically different human society this would be. And the cross does that. It creates an intimate family. It creates a radical society. And last of all all the cross creates a reverse meritocracy a reverse meritocracy What do you mean by that? Look at the very end of the passage Jesus turns to the ultimate leader of this church this new community that he's building

He turns to to the person who's going to be that we know is going to be the the high leader of this whole group of people Simon Peter and what does he do does he turn to Simon Peter and say Simon Simon you know why I'm gonna use you to strengthen the brethren you know why you're gonna be the one that is going to be the strengthener the leader because your record is so impeccable because your performance is so flawless that's why I've chosen you to be leader like everyone else that's the way the rest of the world is only the best to be leaders in the Christian community

no that's not exactly what he says he says Simon Simon you're gonna fail me tonight the cowardice the self-absorption, the weakness, the lack of integrity at the foundations of your life will be laid bare for everyone to see, including you. And you see, when you live a life like that, when you do selfish deeds, when you look out for yourself to save your own skin and trample on the needs of others, which is really what Peter's going to do tonight, Jesus tells us here you play into the evil force field that pervades the world, that aids and abets people

in selfish, unjust behavior. And that when you give yourself to that kind of behavior, you give yourself to those evil forces. And the leader of that evil force, Satan, Jesus says, Peter, Satan's gonna want to have you, he's gonna demand his rights to you, but I will not let you go, I will hold on to you, and when you turn again, here it is, listen, look at this,

you see where it says, when you turn again, when you repent, strengthen the brethren. You're going to be the leader. See, look, this is what Jesus is saying. Out there in the world, who are the leaders? The biggest successes. Here in my community, who are the leaders? The biggest repenters.

Out in the world, who are the leaders? The people with the best record. In my community, who are the leaders? The people who have best record in my community who are the leaders the people who? Messed up the most but who've repented and thrown themselves on the grace of God and look Let me give you a little bit of math a little into chemistry a little bit of chemistry failure thrown into a vat of Repentance and reliance on the grace of God will turn that failure to gold

It will turn your failure to wisdom it will turn your failure to gold. It will turn your failure to wisdom. It will turn your failure to compassion. It will turn your failure to self-knowledge and understanding. It will make you a leader, at least a leader in this kind of community. There's never been a community like this. And Jesus says the cross creates it. Jesus was the most influential man to ever walk the earth, and his story has been told in hundreds of different ways. Can anything more be said about him? In his book, Jesus the King, Tim Keller journeys through the gospel of Mark

to reveal how the life of Jesus helps us make sense of our lives. Dr. Keller shows us how the story of Jesus is at once cosmic, historical, and personal, calling each of us to look anew at our relationship with God. Jesus the King is our thank you for your gift to help Gospel in Life share the transforming love of Christ with people all over the world. So request your copy today at GospelInLife.com slash give. That's GospelInlife.com slash give. Now here's Dr. Keller with the remainder of today's teaching. So first, the cross is the center of history.

My death, he says, it's the center of history. Secondly, my death is the foundation for a whole new community. Thirdly though, my death, the third thing he tells us is so important is my death is the solution to the mystery. Center of history, foundation for community, and the solution to the great mystery.

Now what is the great mystery? Well, let's look at this. There's a modern version, as well as an ancient version of this mystery. It has to do with this big word, sin. Let me give you the ancient version of the mystery. The ancient version of the mystery is the Passover itself. Remember we said that the main course of the Passover

was the lamb. Why a lamb? Well, here's the history. Go back into the book of Exodus, go back to the original Passover, and here's the problem. The Israelites were slaves. They were being killed. They were being enslaved.

They were being oppressed by Pharaoh. God says to Pharaoh, let them go. Stop your tyranny. Stop your oppression. Stop your murder. And Pharaoh says, no, no, no. Finally, God comes to Moses and he says,

tonight, one place, one spot, I'm gonna send my angel of justice. I'm gonna bring judgment down on Egypt. I'm gonna bring judgment down on their oppression and injustice. Tonight, one spot, one night, the angel of eternal justice will come down. But, my justice is just. My justice is fair. There's no prejudice to it. There's no favoritism.

And that means that everyone in Egypt will be subject to justice. Not just the Egyptians, Moses. not just the Egyptians. Every Israelite household will also be judged. Do they live up to the law of God? Do they love their neighbors as themselves? Do they live up to their own standards? And the fact is that every human being, every family on the face of the earth,

the answer to that is no. No one can pass justice. No one can pass judgment. So Moses, God says, the only way the Israelites will survive this night is if every family takes a lamb, a little furry lamb, and kills it and eats it and puts the blood on the door. And if the blood is on the door, when the angel angel of justice comes it'll pass it over and You'll be saved and you know what God is saying here. It's amazing. What God is saying is what will save you tonight?

not being Jewish See, it's not a racist thing. God's God's salvation is not racial You know you won't be saved because being Jewish Mac There's one place where he says if an Israelite is found outside, out of doors, if there's an Israelite that's found outside tonight not taking shelter under the blood of the lamb, life is forfeit.

So you won't be saved by being Jewish, you won't be saved by having the right religion versus the wrong religion, you'll only be saved through faith in the provision of the substitute. You'll only be saved by faithfully taking your shelter under the blood of the Lamb. It's the only way. But if you do, justice will pass by because your debt to justice will be paid. Okay, that's the story. That's why the lamb is the main course.

But doesn't that leave a major huge mystery? Boy, it sure does. It's a huge mystery. What's the mystery? Well, there's an intellectual mystery and there's an emotional mystery of this lamb. Here's the intellectual mystery. I mean, surely some of you have already thought about it.

Why in the world would the death of a furry little animal satisfy eternal justice? And there's an emotional side to it too. Of all the animals chosen to show how God saves, why a lamb? I mean, why not find, let's find, couldn't we find an animal that you want to kill? Like a wild boar, you know, you know, and the fangs and all that and want to kill? Like a wild boar, you know? You know, and the fangs and all that, and they come after you and they're trying to bite you. You just kill it, kill it.

I mean, you know, everybody wants to kill a wild boar. But a lamb, why would God choose the most pathetic, heart-wrenching possibility? You know, there is nothing, nothing more pathetic than a furry little animal crushed or dying. I'll never forget when we were moving a couch and our little kitten accidentally got stuck underneath it and we crushed its leg and it whelped and it cried and it came running across the floor, you know, limping. And you know, my son Jonathan and my wife Kathy got in the car to take her to the animal

hospital and Jonathan was crying saying, I wish it had been me. And Kathy says, I wish it had been you too, you're on the insurance. And it was extremely, I can remember, I'll never forget, it's been years ago now. It was so unbelievably pathetic. Why would God choose the most heart-wrenching, the most gut-wrenching, the most get-to-your-heart possible sight of a sacrifice?

Well, years later, you know, there was a hint. There was a hint. I know, this is a mystery. The mystery of the Passover. Years later, Jesus know, there was a hint. There was a hint. I know, this is a mystery. What, the mystery of the Passover. Years later, Jesus Christ gets up at a Passover, and it's the weirdest Passover in history, because there's the wine, right? We see the two cups of wine, or there's more than two,

but we see the cups of wine. Secondly, there's the unleavened bread, but Jesus never gives them the main course. There's no main course. Some people say, well, maybe Luke was just, Luke is very spare in his narrative and maybe he just left it out, but Matthew leaves it out and Mark leaves it out

and they all leave it out. Oh no, no, no, no, no. Ed Starling, here's the point. This is astounding. There's the wine, there's the unleavened bread. There's no lamb on the table because the lamb of God was at the table. When Jesus Christ says,

this is the blood of the new covenant, the word covenant is a relational word. A covenant is a binding, intimate relationship. And he says, do you remember the first time you were able to enter into a loving covenant, a loving relationship with God and justice was turned aside was because of the blood of the lamb. But I am the ultimate lamb of God. No, the answer is the blood of the little wooly animals did not pay for sin. All those animals are pointing to me and why am I a lamb? Now you're beginning to get just the slightest, you know, why not a wild boar not why not a bull? Why not a cow? Why a lamb? You're getting that you just in the slightest

Dimmest way we understand something of the cost of God the Father in letting his son die for our sin. He's the apple of God's eye. He is the jewel of his heart. He is his own firstborn. But because Jesus Christ died, our sins were put away. Well, you know what? That doesn't satisfy the average New Yorker. That's the ancient version of this mystery, but there's a modern version. Because the average New Yorker, and I know this because I talk to them all the time, says, you know, this is the part of the Christianity I just don't get. Why all the blood? Why all the goop? Why all the gore?

Why is all this necessary? Why can't God just forgive? If God wants to forgive, that's fine. Isn't he a forgiving God? Why doesn't he just say, I forgive you? Why all this? If you were here three or four weeks ago when we talked about forgiveness, you have a leg up, but let me give you the answer. If someone really wrongs you, really wrongs you, really hurts you, really betrays you.

We talked about this about a month ago. There's only two things you can do. The first thing is you can just resent and hate the person. Just hate them, resent them. And you know what happens then? The evil that was done to you passes into you. The evil wins if you hate them. You become hard, you become cold, you become disillusioned, and all sorts of things. We traced that out about a month ago.

So the one thing is if somebody really wrongs you, you can hate them. The other thing, and the only other thing you can do, is forgive them. But just try it. Just try just saying, I forgive you. Oh yes, why can't God just say, I forgive you? You try it. If someone wrongs you, and if you say, well, somebody wronged me and I forgave them, it was no big deal, then they didn't really wrong you.

You know, if someone has really hurt you, really wronged you, really, really betrayed you, just try saying, I forgive you and go home and you'll see it didn't happen. Because words is not the currency of forgiveness, as it were. Words is not the currency of forgiveness. Let me tell you how you have to forgive. If you're going to forgive someone when you want to see them pay, but you forgive, you refrain from hurting them. You refrain from harming them. You refrain from vengeance.

You even refrain from thinking bad thoughts about them, ill will in your heart. You refrain from gossiping. You refrain from slandering them. You refrain from carving up their reputation with others. Now we talked about all this. You refrain, and you know what? That hurts.

That's agony. That's suffering. It is an emotional fact of life that you cannot forgive without suffering yourself. You know, here's where it's weird. If someone wrongs you, if somebody wrongs you, and you hate them, you'll suffer. But in the process, evil wins. It beats you. And if you try you hate them you'll suffer but in the process evil wins it

beats you and if you try to forgive them you'll suffer too but in that case you beat out evil you triumph over evil but either way you suffer the only way to forgive somebody is to refrain and to stop into and it hurts and it's agony. You know why? Because the currency of forgiveness is not words. It's nails, thorns, blood, tears, sweat. And so here's where we stand. If you and I, as fallible, weak, imperfect human beings,

if you and I can't even forgive without suffering, how in the world is God gonna forgive us? Listen, if someone wrongs you, you know there's a debt and either they pay it or you pay it, right? How much more would that be the case with God? Think of all the crimes we've done against each other. Think of all the crimes we've done against God. There is a debt.

And there's only two things God can do with it. He can hate us. Or he can forgive us. But if he's gonna forgive us, he will have to pay the debt himself. He will have to suffer. And he did. Because you see, Jesus Christ is man,

therefore he can suffer and die. But because he's God, his suffering and death pays for our sin. And that's the mystery. That's the solution to the mystery. There's an ancient form, there's a modern form. And by the way, it's also a solution to another mystery. How does the cross really turn you into a person that can have this kind of love and community? Remember what we said? We said, Jesus says, I will not have you working

on the patronage system. I will not have you being benefactors. He says, here's how people in the world work. They see two people out there. Here's one who's beautiful, smart, powerful. Here's one that's ugly, dumb, and weak. Who do you want to sit next to? I mean, after all, you know, you come in and you see these two kinds of people in New York. They're sitting in here. Who do you sit near? Who do you want to relate

to? Who do you want to help? He says people in the world, they have to go toward the folks that give them payoff. He says says I don't want you to be like that well I mean how do you avoid it and here's why because inside don't you have a problem isn't there an inner emptiness isn't there an inner doubt why do you hang out with the smart people because you don't want to feel dumb and you're afraid you might be why do you hang out with with why do you hang out with the powerful people because you don't want to feel weak and you know afraid you might be. Why do you hang out with a powerful people? Because you don't want to feel weak and you know you are.

Well, there's only one way to solve this and now we know. Jesus says, look, in order to feel powerful, in order to feel brilliant, in order to feel beautiful, you need to seek out the most powerful, the most beautiful, the most brilliant, the highest, the most magnificent person in the universe, seek him out and experience his love. And then, and only then, will you finally be free to no longer be mercenary in your other relationships.

Mercenary. In other words, in other relationships you'll be able to be indiscriminate. You won't have to say, well, I need to give a relationship over there because then it makes me feel better about myself. You won't need to do that anymore. You won't need to pay off, no more. Because the ultimate beauty, the ultimate brilliant,

the ultimate powerful person loves you. And you know what, where does that happen? Look at verse 16 at the very top where it says, and he said to them, I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you. You know that word earnestly desired? The English translators, no matter how hard they try,

they're not gonna be able to get it across in English. He literally says here, with desire, I have desired this. That's a Semitic doubling which gets across intensity of emotion. But actually the word desired, the Greek word desired that he uses is the word epithumia which is often translated in the New Testament, lust. And you know what he's saying? Here's what he's saying.

He's saying, you have no idea how much I love you. You have no idea how much my heart is bursting with love for you. You have no idea what I'm about to do for you. You have no idea the depths of my love, the height of my love, the width of my love, the length of my love. But you will when you find out the meaning of my death. You will when you finally understand

what I did for you on the cross. And when you find that out, then you'll be different. Then you'll be totally changed. Then it'll come in, you'll be full and you won't have to be mercenary. You won't need payoff. You won't need it. That is a solution to how the cross turns you into a person that creates this radical new community. Now, there's the three things, there's just a fourth.

Number one, what about his death? It's the center of history, it's the foundation for a new community, it's the solution for the great mystery that is a sin, and last of all, it is appropriated personally. Now, why did Jesus Christ choose, as the ultimate symbol of his death a meal? A meal. Why? Well, first of all, it's because a meal

has to be personally appropriated. You know, you can look at a table filled with food and say, yep, that's a great cake, that's a great steak, yep, that's wonderful this and that's wonderful that. And you know what? No nutritional value to believing in it. No nutritional value to praising it. Not a bit. You could starve to death doing that. And in the same way, you can believe in the cross and believe in Jesus died for your sins

in some general way, but have you personally appropriated it? Have you stepped out on faith? Have you said, God, I'm going to base my relationship with you, not on, save me not because of what I have done, but because what Jesus done on the cross. Have you personally made it your own? Have you said, he did this for me, and I'm going to live my life on the basis of that. So first of all, it's, it has to be personally appropriate and it has to be continually appropriated. That's the other thing about a meal. When Jesus Christ says, my death is like a meal, here's what he's saying. He is saying, you know, it's not enough just to have one meal, is it? You can't say, well,

I had this great meal in 1970, haven't needed to eat since. Still picking it out of my teeth. It's pretty good. No, I don't think so. You're going to die. You have to keep eating. And here's what Jesus says, do this in remembrance of me. What does that mean? Remember literally means it is your job to continually take what I did for you on the cross and put it into the center of your consciousness. Remember, remake it part of your life. Stick it in the center.

In other words, Jesus is calling you to think out and live out the implications and the ramifications of the cross in every area of your life. Think. Is there anybody here who's haunted by their past? You just can't get over the past, something you did, some terrible failure that you did.

The cross wipes that out. You know the old hymn? Well may the accuser roar of things that I have done. I know them all and thousands more. Jehovah knoweth none. Why? The cross. Have you brought it in the center? Are you are you continually reappropriating it personally? Here's another. Are some of you going through some suffering right now? Amazing suffering and you you're mad, and you're saying, I don't see how God could bring anything good out of this.

Well, imagine how many people were sitting around the cross as Jesus Christ, the most wonderful man that they ever knew, was dying and they looked up. Imagine people saying, I don't see how God could bring anything good out of this and lost their faith looking at the cross, which is the most incredible thing that God ever did for the human race.

And they may have lost their faith because they couldn cross, which is the most incredible thing that God ever did for the human race. And they may have lost their faith because they couldn't work it into their little categories, their little mind, their little understanding. This is one of the reasons, here's how the average person looks at suffering. They say, because I can't think of any reason why God would let this happen, therefore there can't be any reason why God would let it.

Because I can't think of any good reason for this, there can't be any good reason for this. Oh, that's logical. The cross says the greatest failures and the greatest suffering could be a way for God to do something incredibly good. Something on the surface looks like a disaster, could end up being something that's turned to gold.

All that is gold is not glitter. Not all those who wander are lost. Do not judge a book by its cover. Do not judge a circumstance by its cover. Do you understand the cross? You see, you bring the cross in, or here's one last thing. You bring the cross in, you can handle your past. You bring the cross in, you can handle the suffering.

Another thing, bring a cross in, and you never lose hope. Never. Notice the future reference of this. Jesus continually says, I won't eat this again till I eat it with you in the kingdom. You know what he's saying? He is saying this meal is just a foretaste of bliss, foretaste of absolute joy, which I have secured by dying. It's guaranteed. of absolute joy which I have secured by dying. It's guaranteed. So whenever you eat of a Lord's Supper, think like this. You remember that place in John chapter 2? Jesus is at a wedding feast and he's surrounded by joy and he's sitting there thinking about his death. I had a professor once to put it like this. Jesus Christ sat in the midst of joy, sipping the coming sorrow.

But you know what that means for us? Because he died for us, you know what that means? Now you and I can sit in the midst of incredible sorrow around us and sip the coming joy. There's always hope. Our bad things will turn to good, our good things can never be taken from us, and the best things are yet to come.

And when you partake of the Lord's Supper, you're sipping the coming joy because his death has secured your future, secured it. Go and learn what this means. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin. Let us pray. Our Father, we thank you that you've told us the meaning of your Son's death. Help us to take it into our center. Help us take it into the center of our consciousness so that we can

remember what he did for us and let it let it change us tonight from one degree of splendor into the next, into the image of your son in whose name we pray, amen. Thanks for listening to today's teaching. It's our prayer that you were encouraged by it and that it equips you to apply the wisdom of God's word to your life. You can find more resources from Tim Keller

at gospelandlife.com. Just subscribe to the Gospel in Life newsletter to receive free articles, sermons, devotionals, and other resources. Again, it's all at GospelinLife.com. You can also stay connected with us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter. This month's sermons were recorded in 1990, 2003, and 2010. The sermons and talks you hear on the Gospel in Life podcast were preached from 1989 to 2017, while Dr. Keller was senior pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church.