Lead Me to Calvary
The Story of Easter
Introduction
As Jesus’ life is being remembered and preached on in churches across the world, there are three Biblical stories being proclaimed this Easter. For believers, these three stories are very close and personal; for those who have not accepted Christ yet, they hold a bit of bad news, and a whole lot of good.
They reveal the ultimate meaning of Easter, that Jesus is our substitution on the cross, that He resurrected from the dead, and that He offers eternal life to anyone who believes in Him. These three stories are (1) the story of Calvary, (2) the story of Humanity, and (3) the story of the Gospel.
The Story of Calvary
The final course of events leading up to Christ’s death began with Jesus eating His final supper at sundown with His disciples. After communing together and singing hymns, Jesus and His disciples went out from the city of Jerusalem to a little garden at the base of a mountainside.
There Jesus began to weep. He was full of sorrow because He knew what was about to come His way. Jesus asked His disciples to pray with Him, but He found no support in them; it was late evening, they had all just eaten, and they were sleepy. Alone, Jesus wept and prayed the night.
Then Judas, one of Jesus’ own disciples, approaches Jesus. But Judas is not alone; he brought with him a crowd armed with weapons. Although Judas was a student of Jesus’ for many years, he had failed to learn from Jesus. Greed festered in Judas’ heart, and he had accepted a bribe from other jealous men who hated Jesus and wanted Him dead.
Judas signaled to the crowd behind him that this was the Jesus they sought to kill. Although guilty of nothing, Jesus was detained by authorities. The final moments were now set into motion.
Jesus was brought into court, mocked and beaten instead of given a fair trial. He was falsely accused of crimes He didn’t commit. His case was brought before the governor of the land, who himself judged no wrong in Jesus. Yet, succumbing to the political pressure of the time, the governor did not release Him. Guilted, perhaps, by his conscience, or maybe by the warning his wife gave him because of a dream she had, the governor tried to convince the crowds that Jesus should be released. But the crowds protested; instead, they cheered for another criminal to be released. They condemned Jesus to death by crucifixion.
Given a wooden cross which weighs around 165 pounds, a beaten and whipped Jesus had to carry the tool on which He was to be publicly tortured and killed on across Jerusalem to a place called Calvary. Jesus’ hands were then nailed to the cross; excruciating pain with each swing of the hammer. The cross was erected, and Jesus slowly suffocated from the build-up of fluids around his heart and lungs. Even then, he was mocked.
Hanging on that cross, Jesus, the Son of God Himself, cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Truly alone. Knowing that His appointed suffering is coming to a close, Jesus stated “It is finished.” As the hand of death came over Christ, He cried out, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” and then, He died.
His body was taken down from the cross. Jesus was wrapped by his grieving followers in linen and then laid down in a tomb. Was this it? Was this the Savior? Is this really the Man that we celebrate on Easter? What kind of Messiah was this Man if He couldn’t even save Himself?
A tragic ending, it seems, to the story of this Jesus. Though innocent, Jesus, the Son of God, was put to death on the cross. This is the story of Calvary.
The Story of Humanity
Why did Calvary have to take place? Why was it necessary that an innocent Jesus had to die such a gruesome and humiliating death? The answer is found in the Bible. Some of us, when we look at the Bible, see a sort of religious rulebook, or an outdated historical document, or a work of Ancient Middle Eastern fiction. Nothing can be further from the truth.
The Bible is a God-inspired and inerrant record of God’s will. God reveals to us Himself and His view of our nature through law, history, poetry, prophesy, stories, proverbs, and letters, all of which are collected in the Bible. So, what story does the Bible tell? What does it reveal? How is it relevant to the events at Calvary? Why should you care?
The Bible begins with creation. When God created everything, He said “It is good”! The Hebrew word for “good” is quite interesting, it is the word “טוֹב”. In Hebrew, “טוֹב” means “good; beautiful; working the way it is supposed to; in accordance with God’s will.” So, God created light and said that it was “טוֹב”. God created the land and sea and said that it was “טוֹב”. God created day and night and said that it was “טוֹב”. God created fish and birds and said that they were “טוֹב”. God created animals, and said that they were “טוֹב”.
But, looking around, God saw that this was not enough. So, God finishes His creative masterpiece — He creates humans in His own image. And only after creating humans did God look at His creation and conclude that it is finished — all of it was “טוֹב”.
To summarize the beginning, everything was טוֹב. Creation was טוֹב. People were tov. Humanity’s relationship with God was completely טוֹב. Everything in creation was working the way God intended. It was good and beautiful.
What happened then? Clearly this is not a very good description of the world we live in today. Today, we have war and earthquakes and broken families and corruption and crime and systematic injustice and heartbreak and death.
Here then is what happened. When God created humans, He created them with a free will. He created them in His own image so that they can choose to have a relationship with Him and with each other; He created them with specific good works in mind that He planned for them to do.
Instead of choosing Him, humans chose themselves. They consistently choose themselves; humans sin and fall short of the glory of God. Adam and Eve were the first to make this choice to fall away from God when they took a bite of the forbidden fruit, but God’s Word makes it clear that the falling away did not stop there. Every human, without exception, has consistently chosen to sin and disobey God’s will. The results of choosing to live separate of God are devastating.
Now let’s take a look at the middle portion of Scriptures. This is where we get some of the weird stuff that people like to quote out of context to show how outdated the Bible is. The reality is that the Bible does not shy away from revealing how bad humans are. Yes, the Bible has very descriptive accounts of murder, rape, affairs, lying, of prostitution, family manipulation, suicide, depression, anxiety. These things are here because God sees them in us and He hates it. God does not shy away from calling sin out for what it is.
Up against God’s perfect holiness, our constant selfishness and pleasure seeking and sinning and disobedience is a moral crime. Even the smallest sarcastic comment, or lustful thought, or act of unfairness, is a crime to the infinite degree before God because He is infinitely good and holy.
As with a good and just judge who punishes the criminal for their crime, God must punish the sinner for their sin. That means that God must punish you for your sin. It is a harsh reality; humans don’t like to hear that. This truth turns a lot of people away from Christianity because just like with death, it is often much easier to avoid thinking about sin than to face it head on and address its implications. Just as with death though, sin is very real, whether or not you choose to think so.
Now, let’s flip toward the end of the Bible. God describes the condition of a sinner as follows. He says that humans are “dead in trespasses and sins… according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience… conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind… by nature children of wrath”.
God Himself says that you, in your natural state, are spiritually dead because of your moral crimes and sins. This death is deeply imbedded in the world around us — it doesn’t take a Christian to see how bad everything is, how unjust society is, how broken families are, how depressed and anxious we collectively are as individuals. God describes why things are the way they are. We are motivated by the lust of our flesh — we see and we want, we crave and we desire. We do what pleases us. We are children of wrath. This is our condition.
A tragedy, the story of humanity seems to be. All humans are sinners in God’s eyes and fall short of His glory. This is the story of humanity.
The Story of the Gospel
You know deep down that this condition of sin is not right. You have guilt and shame that you are avoiding and running from. You have family problems and work feels empty and life is meaningless. You have anxiety and depression. Is this really it? Are these really the lives we are destined to live?
No. They are not. I have such good news to share. I want to share the story of the Gospel. There are two words in Ephesians chapter 2 that I want to being to your attention. These two words change everything. And I mean everything. These two words give hope in an otherwise bleak and dark world; they bring peace to the wars waging inside your heart; they give you a chance at spiritual life.
Ephesians 2:4 begins with “But God.”
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).
That is right. God can make you alive together with Christ because, as it turns out, Christ is not dead. Yes, He died on Calvary. But three days after, Jesus came back to life.
Jesus, who is God incarnate, died on the cross and three days later resserected. Jesus, an innocent God-Man with no sin in Him, suffered the punishment we all deserve because of our sins. Death was not able to hold Jesus down. Jesus was punished so that you would not have to be; He made Himself a substitute for your sins and took on eternal punishment.
God raised Jesus from the physical grave and gave Him new physical life. God is fully capable of raising you out from your spiritual grave and giving you new spiritual life. You do not have to be condemned to an eternity in hell because Jesus already took everything onto Himself. He wants to forgive you. He wants to make you “טוֹב” again.
How do you receive this gift? All He asks you to do is accept Him with faith. That is it. Romans 10:9 explains, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” All you have to do is pray that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God truly did raise Him from the dead.
The story of Calvary ended with the grave, yes, but the story of Jesus ends with resurrection. The story of sinful humanity ends with sin and death, yes, but the story of redemption ends with eternal life. That is the story of the Gospel. And you have the ability to choose to live it out.
To accept Jesus and be saved, you must pray, “Lord, forgive me for my sins. I accept that you died and resurrected for me. Amen.”
This is not some myth. When Jesus resurrected, people saw Him alive again. He walked alongside His disciples. People saw Him resurrected, they talked with Him, they ate with Him. When Jesus ascended to heaven, a crowd of over 500 people gathered together and witnessed Him rise into the heavens. And Jesus promised to return.
Thousands and millions and billions of people since have heard this Gospel message and accepted it. Jesus is not a fad. Philosophies come and go, governments come and go, politics come and go, humans come and go; Jesus remains.
If you accept the gospel, you are also saved. You will have your sins forgiven. You will be given eternal life.
A happy ending for those who accept Jesus. Jesus is our substitution on the cross; He resurrected from the dead and offers eternal life to anyone who believes. That is the story of the gospel.
Conclusion
Together, we explored the story of Calvary, the story of Humanity, and the story of the Gospel. If you are a believer, praise and thank God for the gift of salvation He has given you. If you do not believe in Jesus, then this is now a call for you to accept Him into your heart. Believe that He died and resurrected, and you too can be saved from the brokenness, the sin, the deep inner pain, the separation from God.
The good news is for everyone.
He has risen.
