The Cross

You may be surprised at this, but the people of Jesus’ day responded to the coming of God by kicking him out again!

Jesus was driven out (soto) by people who believed he was a threat to them, and they executed him on a cross.

But this was actually God’s plan from the very beginning. God would forgive people’s sins by dying the death that they deserved.

This was the fulfillment of God’s promise to deal with sin. Listen to what Jesus said before his death: “Whoever comes to me I will never cast out (soto)” (New Testament, John 6:37).

So what happens to people who come to Jesus today?

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.

The Cross

Opening Questions

1. Have you ever met someone very important? How did you behave towards them?
2. If God came into our world as a human being, how would you receive him?

We’ve been thinking about how the Creator God fulfilled his promise to solve the problem of sin by sending his eternal Son into the world as a man – Jesus Christ – to defeat the devil and his works. This time we’ll look at what happened to the Son of God when he left the uchi fellowship of heaven to come into the world of sinful human beings.

Jesus often spoke to people in parables: stories with a point. Let’s read one of Jesus’ parables in which he graphically describes what will happen to himself:

“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.” 

Matthew 21:33-41

• Think about the symbolism in this parable. Who is the “master of the house (uchi)”? The tenants? The servants? The son?
• What “fruit” do you think the master of the house expected?
• What did the tenants do? Why did they behave as they did?
• What parallels do you see here with the garden of Eden in Genesis? (Note that in Japanese, the word for “vineyard” contains the kanji for “garden”.)

Shortly after telling this parable, Jesus was crucified (executed on a cross). The religious charge against him (from his own Jewish people) was blasphemy, because he claimed to be God. The occupying Romans put Jesus to death on a charge of sedition (inciting rebellion). However, the Bible is clear that Jesus was innocent of all charges. In fact, not only did Jesus commit no “crime”, as the Son of God he lived a perfect life as a man, and never sinned, even in his heart. Yet he was taken out of the city of Jerusalem and killed. Here is one way the Bible describes that event:

…the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. 

Hebrews 13:11-12

• These verses describe Jesus’ death in comparison with animal sacrifices for sin. Where have we seen this theme in the Bible before?
• The Bible says Jesus’ sacrifice is better than any animal sacrifice: in fact, it may be described as a “once-for-all” sacrifice. Why should Jesus’ sacrifice be better in this way?
• Why is it important that Jesus suffered “outside” (soto) the holy city?
• What is the effect of the shed blood of Jesus in his death?

The Bible contrasts Jesus and Adam in this way:

The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 

1 Corinthians 15:47

You may remember that the original meaning of “gospel” is the proclamation of a victory. Next time we’ll see that death was not the end for Jesus: there is a victorious climax to come! But you may be surprised to know that the Bible even describes Jesus’ death itself in victorious terms, contrasting his victory with Adam’s failure.

• What contrasts can you identify between the “first man” (Adam) in the Garden of Eden, and the “second man” (Jesus) in his death?
• Why can Jesus’ death be described as a triumph or victory?

Jesus was banished outside (soto) in his cruel death at the hands of fellow human-beings. But Jesus himself makes a gracious (undeserved) promise to those who come to him:

“…whoever comes to me I will never cast out. (soto)“ 

John 6:37

Concluding questions:

1. Who would you say is responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ?
2. Do you believe that Jesus can forgive your sin and bring you back into uchi fellowship with God?

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.