And They Crucified Him- Art Katz

So I decided to go on a Facebook fast for a week. I realized that I had spending way too much time on Facebook and not enough time in the Word of God. The first thing I listened too was a sermon called And They Crucified Him by Art Katz. Thank you Tim Rector for suggesting this sermon for me to listen to. I strongly encourage anyone who has not listened to this sermon to do so.

Here are the notes I took and what I learned from the sermon:

Matthew 27:35-54 (New American Standard Bible)

35And when they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments among themselves by casting lots.
36And sitting down, they began to keep watch over Him there.
37And above His head they put up the charge against Him which read, "THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS."
38At that time two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and one on the left.
39And those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads
40and saying, "You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."
41In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking Him and saying,
42"He saved others; He cannot save Himself He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him.
43"HE TRUSTS IN GOD; LET GOD RESCUE Him now, IF HE DELIGHTS IN HIM; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"
44The robbers who had been crucified with Him were also insulting Him with the same words.
45Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour.
46About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?" that is, "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?"
47And some of those who were standing there, when they heard it, began saying, "This man is calling for Elijah."
48Immediately one of them ran, and taking a sponge, he filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink.
49But the rest of them said, "Let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him."
50And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.
51And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split.
52The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;
53and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many.
54Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, "Truly this was the Son of God!"

This passage does not milk the event sentimentally or emotionally. No drama.

The cross of the crucified Christ.

The Jewish intellect like to know many things.

Do not let our minds be a mish mosh of things.

We are most of us guilty of making God in our image. Not us in His image as it should be. We need to know Him exactly as He is.

Too many times in worship, Jesus is like a "buddy, buddy."

The cross was the most horrible form of death. As Art Katz was describing crucifixion, quoting from a bible dictionary, I never realized Christ's death was that horrible. Our knowledge of God and His crucifixion is distorted when we see images of Christ crucified today. We live in a civilization that has no tolerance for suffering. Truth is suffering on the cross. We have tragically avoided the cross of Christ because of the worlds influence. Only the cross can crucify the world from us and us from the world. The world is too much with us because the cross has been neglected in our understanding and our experience. Nothing but the cross can. Luke says that what is esteemed by men is judged by God.

Are you longing for Christ to take you out of this world? I have to say that I have not been which I know is wrong of me..

In missing the cross we have missed the power of the resurrection.

The denial of self is a form of suffering. The avoidance of pain is a costly avoidance.

I found this from Art very powerful. He said "If God's people do not become radically sacred, then the world will become radically profane." This is so very true! We can see it today! It's right in our face!

Manipulation is the antithesis to faith. Church has become performance.

How much of our modern religion has become like the old tale of the "Emperor's New Clothes?" Until we come to the nakedness of the cross we will not have His garment of righteousness. The Spirit of God is first the spirit of truth before He is any other.

Are we willing to bring our total life to Christ for His total correction?

The cross should be our standard and that through it, our own life should be squared. How then are you assured of being built straight in Him?

We still want a King who will come down from the cross. We don't want to join Him on it.

To see Him as He is, is to see ourselves as we are. We need to. We need to have our vision corrected. We have become too used to the cross. We need to make the cross an event. There is nothing more difficult to proclaim then the cross. We have made the cross a theory for salvation.

The veil of self interest has still not been torn in two.

God will be pleased to afflict suffering. Are you willing? Walk in the way of the cross and then graduate to the truth and then the taste of the life. It begins with the way and ends with the life.

Do away with yourself. Give everything to Christ.

Are you willing to suffer for Christ? We need to all think about this as we go through trials. Nothing we will ever face, not trial or tribulation, will ever be as horrible as Christ's death on the cross.

And remember this...

Romans 8:35-9:1 (New American Standard Bible)

35Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36Just as it is written,
"FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG;
WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED."
37But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.
38For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
39nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Think on these things and be encouraged and challenged to give everything to Christ.