Part 7: The Cross
Iino’s older sister: Iino! Are you off to that study group at church again?
Iino: Yup! It’s not exactly “study”. It’s more like… thinking about the meaning of life. It’s really interesting. Do you want to come?
Iino’s older sister: It’s not my scene. See you later!
Doc: We’ll start today with some more questions:
Have you ever met someone very important? How did you behave towards them?
Iino: I saw the Prime Minister when he came to make a speech. I can’t exactly say I “met” him, though.
Yoshiya: Me too. I got a selfie with him!
Gō: Wow! I’ve never met anybody important.
If God came into our world as a human being, how would you receive him?
Gō: I reckon I’d bow down in awe, like “Whoa!”
Yoshiya: It depends what he looked like. If he opened his arms wide to receive me I’d run towards him, but if he looked angry I’d probably run away.
Iino: It makes all the difference whether it’s obvious that he’s really God, I suppose.
Doc: Okay. Last time we saw how God fulfilled his promise to solve the problem of sin by sending his Son into the world. The eternal God, God the Son, took a human nature to defeat the devil and his works. And this “incarnate God” was…?
Iino: Jesus Christ.
Doc: Yes! Today we’re going to see what happened to Jesus Christ when he left the joy of uchi fellowship of heaven to come into the world of sinful human beings. Did the people of Jesus’ day say “Whoa!” and bow down in awe? Let’s open the Bible to find out. When Jesus taught people, he often used a “parable”. Have you ever heard of that?
Yoshiya: It’s when you don’t say your point directly, but you make a comparison with something else.
Doc: Yes. There’s a sort of “hidden” meaning.
Let’s read one of Jesus’ parables together. Pay close attention, because this parable actually describes what happened to Jesus. Gō, would you read it for us? In these verses, Jesus himself is speaking.
“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.”
New Testament, Matthew 21:33-41
Who is the “master of the house (uchi)”? [In Japanese, the kanji for “house”（家）is normally read ie but can also be read uchi.] The tenants? The servants? The son?
Iino: Um, the “master of the house” must be God. The tenants are human beings. Are the servants the Holy Spirit? And the son – is that God the Son?
Doc: Okay, I agree that the “master of the house” is God the Father. I think you’re right that the tenants are human beings too, but can we be a bit more precise?
Gō: Human beings who don’t believe the Bible?
Doc: Right. They don’t seem to have faith. Can we say anything more?
Yoshiya: Are they Jews?
Doc: That’s right. When Jesus told this parable in the Temple, he was speaking to a group of priests and elders. So they were Jews. And they were religious leaders. Gō suggested that they didn’t believe the Bible, but these leaders were Bible-teachers and they thought they knew the Bible very well. Yet at the end of the day their hearts were far from God. They didn’t have the kind of “faith” the Bible commends. Now, you suggested that the servants represent God the Holy Spirit, Iino. What do we all think about that?
Yoshiya: “Servants” is plural, so it would be strange if that was a reference to the Holy Spirit.
Gō: It says that the tenants took the servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. That doesn’t sound like the tenants are the Holy Spirit.
Iino: So the tenants are human beings too… people sent by the master?
Gō: I wonder who God the Father sent?
Yoshiya: The prophets?
Doc: Yes. Because we’ve jumped over most of the Old Testament, it’s no surprise you don’t know, but Yoshiya is right.
Doc: The servants are prophets. They received God’s word and spoke it to the people. They were less fore-tellers and more forth-tellers. [Note: In Japanese, yogensha (prophet) can be written in two ways: one means a person who receives a word（預言者）and the other a person who predicts the future（予言者）The Japanese Bible always uses the former word, but many Japanese are not familiar with the difference.] During the Old Testament period, God sent many prophets and they kept on urging the people to keep God’s law. Their message was, “You guys think you know the Bible really well, but your hearts are far from God. You’ve got to repent!” But how do you think the people responded to that?
Gō: I bet they were really angry. So that’s why they killed and stoned the prophets.
Doc: Right. It was tough being a prophet. The prophets were often persecuted. And then at last comes the “son”. Iino, you were right: that’s God the Son – Jesus Christ.
What “fruit” do you think the master of the house expected?
Gō: Faith?
Yoshiya: Obedience?
Doc: Yup. God wanted the people of Israel (the Jews) to obey his law. He wanted them to love one another, to worship him, and to show his glory to the other nations, extending the blessed “vineyard” around the world.
What did the tenants do? Why did they behave as they did?
Iino: I think they killed the heir in order to keep the vineyard for themselves.
Doc: I agree. The heir is related to the master: he is his son. The tenants thought that if they could kill the son, they could be rid of their relationship to the master.
What parallels do you see here with the garden of Eden in Genesis? [Note: In Japanese, the word for “vineyard” contains the kanji for “garden”.]
Yoshiya: Wanting control of the vineyard is like wanting to be God. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve wanted to be like God and decide for themselves what was good and what was evil, didn’t they?
Gō: Yeah, I can see other parallels. Adam and Eve were “put” in the Garden of Eden. Because God put them in paradise, they were able to enjoy all its good things. The tenants in the parable also had a vineyard garden just because their master lent it to them. They were enjoying God’s blessings, but they didn’t want God himself: they wanted to be God.
Doc: Yes. In the parable the son was taken and thrown out of the vineyard to be killed. And shortly after telling this parable, Jesus was also captured and killed.
Iino: On a cross, right?
Doc: That’s right. Jesus was executed by crucifixion. 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, which means inciting rebellion. However, the Bible is clear that Jesus was innocent.
Doc: 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. The Bible talks a lot about the death of Jesus. The next passage is one of many. Yoshiya, would you read it for us?
…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.
New Testament, Hebrews 13:11-13
These verses describe Jesus’ death in comparison with animal sacrifices for sin. Where have we seen this theme in the Bible before?
Gō: The animal skins.
Iino: After Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the tree, it was God who sacrificed an animal to clothe them with skins.
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?
Gō: Animals are created by God, but Jesus is God. Jesus is worth many times more than animals. That makes his sacrifice better!
Doc: Indeed it does! In fact, the Bible says that the blood of animals doesn’t really remove sin. However, the system of animal sacrifices in the Old Testament taught the principle that a person’s sins could be forgiven by the shedding of the blood of a substitute.
Doc: Until the day when a really effective sacrifice would be offered.
Why is it important that Jesus suffered “outside” (soto) the holy city?
Gō: The reference to the “holy places” suggests that only holy people can enter. But the Bible says that the people were sanctified [Note: the Japanese is clear that this means “made holy”] by the blood of Jesus. I think this means that in order for the people to be allowed inside the holy place, Jesus had to go outside.
Doc: Absolutely!
Doc: Jesus alone was holy, without sin or blemish. But he bore the sins of the people and became sin. He became unclean, or more specifically, cursed. Jerusalem was a holy city, and the cursed were not welcome. Jesus was the only one qualified to enjoy uchi fellowship, but he went to soto so that those who had no holiness of their own could come inside.
What is the effect of the shed blood of Jesus in his death?
Iino: It really cleanses us from our sin.
Doc: Yes. The Bible sets up a contrast between Jesus and Adam. We see that in the next passage. Iino, would you read it for us?
The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.
New Testament, 1 Corinthians 15:47
Doc: The “first man” is Adam, and the “second man” is Jesus. There were thousands of years and many, many generations of people between Jesus and Adam, but the Bible calls Jesus the “second man”. 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?
Yoshiya: Adam was supposed to kill the serpent, but instead of doing so he was tempted by the serpent. Jesus crushed the serpent’s head when he died on the cross.
Iino: Adam did what he had been told he would surely have to die for, but thanks to the sacrifice of an animal, he was able to live. On the other hand, Jesus did nothing to deserve to die, but sacrificed himself and was killed.
Gō: Adam wanted to decide for himself what was right and wrong, and made himself the judge in the middle of paradise. Jesus was judged and suffered outside the city.
Doc: All great answers! The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is, in that sense, the judgment tree. Adam defied God’s will under the Tree of Judgment. But Jesus hung on the Tree of Judgment according to God’s will. By doing the opposite of what Adam did, Jesus reversed the curse on mankind brought about by Adam, you see?
Why can Jesus’ death be described as a triumph or victory?
Gō: It’s a victory over evil because by dying Jesus destroyed the serpent’s plan to separate people from God.
Yoshiya: It’s a victory because Jesus’ death gives us eternal life.
Doc: Remember our question earlier, “If God came into our world as a human being, how would you receive him?” The people of Jesus’ day didn’t bow down in awe and they didn’t try to take a selfie with him either! Instead, they drove Jesus out (soto), did terrible things to him, and had him executed. But Jesus himself makes a gracious promise to those who come to him. It’s the promise that’s found in lesson 7 of the booklet. Would you read it please, Gō?
…whoever comes to me I will never cast out. [soto]
New Testament, John 6:37
Who would you say is responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ?
Iino: Human beings.
Yoshiya: Each and every one of us.
Do you believe that Jesus can forgive your sin and bring you back into uchi fellowship with God?
Gō: Yes!
Doc: That’s all for today. See you next time!
The ESV Bible. Crossway, 2001, www.esv.org/.