The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel, Classic Version, 2015Sample

The Saviour of the World

In 1982, an aeroplane taking off from Washington, DC, crashed into the Potomac River. It was winter and the river was full of ice. The crash happened near a bridge going over the river. The TV cameras could see everything. Millions of viewers, sitting in their living rooms, watched as a helicopter overhead let down a life-belt on a line to a man struggling in the water. He grabbed the line, swam to another survivor just by him, clipped the woman in and they hoisted her up to safety. The helicopter let the line back down again, and again the man did the same thing. He swam to someone else, and rescued them. He saved four or five people, before finally, exhausted, he himself drowned.

Why did this man not save himself? The answer is that he was out to save others. In an even more amazing way, Jesus did not save himself because he was out to save others through his death on the cross.

Today, focus your thoughts on Jesus, the Saviour of the world, and meditate on how your salvation was achieved.

Psalm 21:1-7

1. Saved by God

You cannot save yourself. Only God can save you. He saved you because of his ‘unfailing love’. Therefore, like David, put your trust in him today (v.7).

This psalm begins with David praising God for his salvation: ‘The king [David] shall joy in your strength, O Lord; and in your salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!’ (v.1, AMP).

In this passage we see some of the many blessings that salvation includes:

• Answered prayer
  ‘You have given him his heart’s desire and have not withheld the request of his lips’ (v.2, AMP).
• Unending blessings
  ‘You send blessings of good things … You set a crown of pure gold on his head … You make him to be blessed and a blessing forever’ (vv.3,6a, AMP).
• Eternal life
  ‘He asked life of you, and you gave it to him – long life forever and evermore’ (v.4, AMP).
• Victorious living
  ‘Through the victories you gave, his glory is great; you have bestowed on him splendour and majesty’ (v.5).
• Joy and gladness
  ‘You make him exceedingly glad with the joy of your presence’ (v.6b, AMP).

Thank you, Lord, that salvation comes from you. Thank you for your unfailing love and many blessings. I put my trust in you today.

Matthew 27:11-44

2. Saved by self-sacrifice

The people of God in the Old Testament expected a Messiah (Christ). This Messiah would ‘reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness’ (Isaiah 9:7).

However, in the Old Testament there was another stream of messianic expectation. This is seen in the ‘suffering servant’ of Isaiah 40–55 who ‘was led like a lamb to the slaughter’ (Isaiah 53:7), who would take the sin of the world on himself and die on behalf of the guilty (Isaiah 53:5–6).

Nobody expected the messianic king and the suffering servant to be the same person. Yet, in a breathtaking way Jesus brought these great messianic themes together. We see in this passage that Jesus is both the King and also the suffering servant.

• Messianic king
  When Pilate asked Jesus, ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’ (v.11a) he replied, ‘Yes, it is as you say’ (v.11b). The soldiers mocked Jesus, dressing him up as a king and pretending to salute him and kneel down before him. They said, ‘Hail, king of the Jews!’ (v.29b).

‘Above his head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS’ (v.37). The religious leaders also mocked him saying, ‘He’s the King of Israel!’ (v.42).

Matthew makes clear that the only crime of which Jesus is ‘guilty’ is being ‘the King’ (v.11), the ‘Christ’ (Messiah) (v.22) and ‘Son of God’ (v.43).

• Suffering servant
  Jesus also fulfilled the words prophesied in Isaiah 53 about the ‘suffering servant’. ‘He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth’ (Isaiah 53:7).

When he is accused by the chiefs and elders, ‘he gave no answer’ (Matthew 27:12). When Pilate asked him, ‘Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?’ (v.13), Jesus ‘made no reply, not even to a single charge – to the great amazement of the governor’ (v.14).

Jesus, the innocent suffering servant, died in our place – so that we, the guilty, may go free. In this sense Barabbas represents us, the guilty. He is ‘a notorious criminal’ (v.16). It is a question of ‘Barabbas or Jesus’ (v.17). The people asked for Barabbas and put Jesus to death (v.20). As a result Barabbas is set free (v.26). The prophecy of Isaiah about the suffering servant is fulfilled: ‘He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;’ (Isaiah 53:5).

Although Jesus was the long-awaited king he was not the kind of king that the people expected – such as one who would go from one great victory to another. Rather, Jesus had to deal with envy, false accusations, unjust criticism, unfairness, misunderstanding, weak authorities, mockery and insults from religious people and the secular world – even the robbers. It came from all sides.

Pilate knew that Jesus was innocent. He realised that it was ‘out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him’ (Matthew 27:18). (Envy is often the sin of the religious. There is a temptation to envy those whom God appears to be using more than he is using us.) Pilate knew that Jesus was innocent for another reason also. His wife (who seemed to have been the only sensible one around) had been warned in a dream and confirmed that Jesus was an ‘innocent man’ (v.19). He ignored her advice.

Pilate thought that he could avoid responsibility by blaming someone else. Ironically, the man who was to be remembered throughout history as the one responsible for the death of Jesus (‘crucified under Pontius Pilate’ – recited in the creed for hundreds of years throughout the world) says, ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood ... It is your responsibility!’ (v.24).

Jesus’ blood was shed as he was flogged and handed over to be crucified (vv.24–26b). Again, Matthew draws out the great irony of the situation: Those who passed by said, ‘Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!’ (v.40b), but Jesus died as the Lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the world. The onlookers didn’t understand that Jesus’ self-sacrifice was voluntary. They said, ‘He saved others … but he can’t save himself!’ (v.42a).

Lord, thank you that you, King of kings, also took on the role of the suffering servant. Thank you that you went through all this for me. Thank you that you chose not to save yourself, in order to save me.

Exodus 11:1-12:51

3. Saved by the Lamb of God

Jesus says to his disciples, ‘As you know, the Passover is two days away – and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified’ (Matthew 26:2). He dies at the moment that ‘it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb’ (Mark 14:12). St Paul writes, ‘For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed’ (1 Corinthians 5:7b).

The blood of a lamb protected the people of God under the old covenant at the first Passover (Exodus 12:1–30). We are far better off now under the new covenant. The blood of Jesus (the Lamb of God) cleanses and protects us permanently (Hebrews 9:12–26).

At the first Passover we see how a lamb had to be sacrificed. The lamb had to be ‘without defect’ (Exodus 12:5), pointing forward to the innocent Jesus we read about in today’s New Testament passage. There is great emphasis on ‘the blood’ of the lamb (vv.7,13,22,23). The blood of the lamb without defect was to be shed as a sacrifice (v.27). When John the Baptist saw Jesus he said, ‘Look, the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’ (John 1:29).

The blood of the lamb gave the people protection from God’s judgment. It was the ‘Passover sacrifice’ (Exodus 12:27). This foreshadowed the sacrifice of Jesus. It is interesting to note in passing that God’s instruction, ‘Do not break any of the bones’ (v.46) was specifically fulfilled at Jesus’ death (see John 19:33).

Where there was blood on the door-frames of a house, it indicated that death had already taken place in the household. Those who obeyed God’s word by putting blood on the door-frames were spared. The blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God, has been shed for us. The Passover points forward to how Jesus died as a sacrifice on our behalf.

I like Joyce Meyer’s prayer: 

Father, I come to you in Jesus’ name and I apply the blood of Jesus to my life, to all that belongs to me, to everything you have given me to steward. I put the blood of Jesus on my mind, my body, my emotions and my will. I put the blood on my family, my co-workers and my friends. Thank you for protecting me with your blood. Amen.

Pippa Adds

Matthew 27:19

One of Pilate’s many mistakes was that he didn’t listen to his wife!

Notes:
Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised, Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. ‘NIV’ is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.

Scripture quotations marked (AMP) taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Scripture marked (MSG) taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.