Jesus: The Honest

Larry Kirkpatrick ++ Mentone Church of Seventh-day Adventists ++ 29 March 2003

And He made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death; because He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth. (Isaiah 53:9).

Jesus came to a world that had become the prison house for the rebel Lucifer, a limited laboratory for the out-working of that kind of self-interest that excludes all other interest. He came here to live. He came here to die. He came here to rise again. He came here to offer sacrifice and then minister that sacrifice in the heavenly courts.

Our text today addresses this death, if but briefly.

His Grave with the Wicked, and with the Rich in His Death

Our text argues that it was because of Jesus' innocency that He made His grave with the wicked. How is that? What was it about Jesus that so angered those who chose to be His enemies? Let's look at hebrews7:26: "For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens." It was Jesus' purity that bothered His listeners. Consider these lines from Ellen G. White's Christ's Object Lessons, pp. 185-186:

As the "publicans and sinners" gathered about Christ, the rabbis expressed their displeasure. "This man receiveth sinners," they said, "and eateth with them."

By this accusation they insinuated that Christ liked to associate with the sinful and vile, and was insensible to their wickedness. The rabbis had been disappointed in Jesus. Why was it that one who claimed so lofty a character did not mingle with them and follow their methods of teaching? Why did He go about so unpretendingly, working among all classes? If He were a true prophet, they said, He would harmonize with them, and would treat the publicans and sinners with the indifference they deserved. It angered these guardians of society that He with whom they were continually in controversy, yet whose purity of life awed and condemned them, should meet, in such apparent sympathy, with social outcasts. They did not approve of His methods. They regarded themselves as educated, refined, and pre-eminently religious; but Christ's example laid bare their selfishness.

It angered them also that those who showed only contempt for the rabbis and who were never seen in the synagogues should flock about Jesus and listen with rapt attention to His words. The scribes and Pharisees felt only condemnation in that pure presence; how was it, then, that publicans and sinners were drawn to Jesus?

They knew not that the explanation lay in the very words they had uttered as a scornful charge, "This man receiveth sinners." The souls who came to Jesus felt in His presence that even for them there was escape from the pit of sin. The Pharisees had only scorn and condemnation for them; but Christ greeted them as children of God, estranged indeed from the Father's house, but not forgotten by the Father's heart. And their very misery and sin made them only the more the objects of His compassion. The farther they had wandered from Him, the more earnest the longing and the greater the sacrifice for their rescue.

All this the teachers of Israel might have learned from the sacred scrolls of which it was their pride to be the keepers and expounders. Had not David written -- David, who had fallen into deadly sin--"I have gone astray like a lost sheep, seek Thy servant"? Ps. 119:176. Had not Micah revealed God's love to the sinner, saying, "Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He retaineth not His anger forever, because He delighteth in mercy"? Micah 7:18.

Purity offended. Goodness appalled. Rightness condemned wrongness. A trend to exclusivism and the entertaining of a larger-than-life view of oneself led these religious leaders to feel very bothered when Jesus was so well received. It is a lesson to us that those who were so far from real purity manifested a self-righteousness, while Jesus who was the embodiment of purity actively stretched forth His hand to the lost -- the very lost.

What did Jesus have that they didn't have? Was it something that we can't have, or that we can have? Listen again: "The souls who came to Jesus felt in His presence that even for them there was escape from the pit of sin. The Pharisees had only scorn and condemnation for them; but Christ greeted them as children of God, estranged indeed from the Father's house, but not forgotten by the Father's heart." Do you sense the missing element? What it was that the Pharisees lacked?

It was hope. The Pharisees had only -- only -- scorn and condemnation for them. Christ kept clear in His mind and expressions that these were children of God, only estranged indeed from the Father's house. When they spoke with Him, as they listened to Him, they experienced hope.

Jesus' grave was with the rich. An interesting outcome for One having nowhere to lay His head. But He was richer than any garnished tomb. How so? In so many ways we could count, but I will not again that some item. Jesus was rich in hope. And all the riches of the Father for the Son are for us as well. Jesus was rich in hope.

So much was this hope, so well founded, so powerful that by the first day of the week the grave was emptied. Your Lord and mine had resurrected. Very soon He would return to heaven, where the Bible says our hope enters within the veil! (Hebrews 6:19-20). He is honest with us to in His Word. He is honest enough to tell us that there is hope for us. I know that makes Him glad too.

He had done no violence, nor was deceit was found in His mouth. He was Jesus the honest. He never sinned. Therefore we do have hope, for He has made for the Father a sacrifice such as no other. He had given His life upon the cross. The broken, rebel race, the hopeless human species, was granted hope. Estranged indeed, still we were children of God. Jesus came on a mission to buy back a broken race, to go to heaven, and to do a work which none else in the universe can do.

So when you look through the haze at night, and see the stars strewn across the sky like jewels, know that this same Jesus who went into heaven shall so return in like manner as he left. He will come again. The crown of thorns will be replaced by the crown of royalty. His mission did not end in death. He is returning for His treasure. Strangely enough, that treasure will be you and me. That's where the hope is. Jesus is our hope . He is so worthy of our worship. And we have the best news of all today too.

He is coming back again.

Pastor Larry Kirkpatrick is an ordained minister of the gospel. Since 1994 he has served in the American Southwest as pastor to several churches. He received his BA in Religion from Southern Adventist University in 1994 and a Master of Divinity from Andrews University in 1999 with a specialization in Adventist Studies. While in Michigan he was employed by the General Conference at the White Estate Berrien Springs branch office. More important than his scholastic preparation has been his immersion in the biblical and Spirit of Prophecy materials. He is author of the 2003 book Real Grace for Real People. Presently he serves as Pastor of the Mentone Church of Seventh-day Adventists, located near Loma Linda, California. Larry is married to Pamela. The couple presently live in Highland, California along with their two children, Etienne and Melinda.