So, why did they crucify Him? He was a friend to everyone, right? He was kind and compassionate, a helper to people in need. His words were gracious and people seemed to hang on every syllable He spoke. But He developed more than one enemy. A mob came to arrest Him on Thursday. The whole crowd asked for His head on Friday. Pilate, though unwillingly, gave his approval.

He wasn’t like a politician. A politician will tell you what you want to hear, not want you need to hear – if they told us what we needed to hear we would never send them into office!! Caiaphas, the High Priest by calling, politician by nature, realized that the crucifixion of Jesus was expedient. Either Jesus would die or the Jewish nation would lose their freedom. When asked what should be done with Jesus, he said, “You know nothing at all. You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” (John 11:49b-50) They were into appeasement and convenience. Jesus was into straight talk.

I have a barber that I visit every month – before my hair gets just way too long!! He is a good Baptist and he knows that I am a Lutheran Pastor. He is so kind to ask how thing are going in the church. At my most recent hair appointment I mentioned that things get a little busier at Ascension during the season of Lent. He said, “At my church we’re really not into Lent but we pull out all the stops for Easter.” (Maybe I should turn Baptist – it might save me some work during these next 6 weeks!) I think Lent is not a time to simply build on our “Lutheran Guilt” but to truly pull out all the stops for Easter because we have gotten to understand more about His entire ministry.

Why did they crucify Him? Why did we crucify Him? Maybe it was because He spoke straight, deep into our souls and has revealed our great and enormous need! Jesus addresses how we would look at another and treat them – He says that adultery – unfaithfulness - is much more than an action, it is a desire, a lust and a longing to simply use another person for our pleasure. “Anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:28) And to be fair – if a woman looks to a man in that same way that is against God’s high standards, as well!!

In this world where standards are constantly lowered, when everything receives approval from someone, Jesus takes a hard line and speaks amazingly straight. And then He exaggerates to make His point, “If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It would be better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.” (Matthew 5:29-30)

He is asking too much isn’t He? Where’s “the live and let live”? Where’s the rule that if it isn’t hurting anybody it is o.k.? The eye is where the thought of sin enters the body and the hand is where the action is done. Gouge it out!! Cut it off!! A chapter later Jesus says, “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, the whole body will be full of darkness.” (Matthew 6:22-23a)

So, I wonder, will a blind person sin? How about a person that is unable to use their hands? Will that keep them safe? No!! The problem doesn’t lie in the eye or in the hand. “Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man ‘unclean’”. (Matthew 15:19-20a)

Jesus had straight words, sometimes stunning words. He opened our hearts to let us see the disease of the eyes and the hands and the heart. But if you listen to enough preachers, or Cable TV hosts or talk show experts you can probably catch enough straight and stunning words. But Jesus goes much deeper than offering straight and stunning words, He gave us saving words and saving actions.

Why did they crucify Him? Because this was God’s plan for us. This was not just the evil desires of a few folks, or the weakness of Pilate, or the hypocrisy of religious leaders – this was God’s plan of rescue, salvation, forgiveness - deliverance for us who have trouble with our eyes and our hands and our wills and ways!! When Jesus was born he was given his name – “You are to give him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21) In Galatians 4 the divine plan for birth and sacrifice is given, “But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.” (4:4-5) I quoted earlier about Caiaphas and how he felt for reasons of self preservation that Christ should die. Well, John gives some insight into those words, “He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God.” (John 11:51-52a) Even when Pilate is boasting that he has the power to let Jesus go, encouraging Him to break His silence, Jesus answered and said, “You would have no power over Me if it were not given to you from above.” (John 19:11a) Even when John the Baptist sees Jesus coming toward him, he says, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)

He was crucified because the payment for our soul had to be made. And He did this with a willing heart, out of redemptive love!! “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life!!” (John 3:16) When John writes his letter he gives us straight talk and God’s direct love, “This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we have loved God, but that He has loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (I John 4:9-10)

In the hymn What Wondrous Love Is This we sang, “What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul! What wondrous love is this, O my soul! What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss to bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul, to bear the dreadful curse for my soul.” (LSB 543, Verse 1)

My Baptist barber is a good guy. I’m happy to see that every stop will be pulled out on Easter and the celebration will be as great as you can have it at his church. And let’s do the same here, making our celebration second to none!! But first, let’s do Lent big!!

Straight talk. Jesus has given that to us. He has opened our eyes to see how a blood bought child of God is to live. He calls us to a higher way and a better path. And then He gives us straight talk about our cleansing and claiming and calling. Why did they crucify Him? Why did the Father willingly offer His only Son? Why would the Son drink the cup of damnation and darkness? Why? He did this for us, for our eternal salvation, for our eternity in heaven, for our peace. This is straight talk, real answers and full salvation!! This is quite amazing love!! Amen!!