Sermons Vander Kam on HC Lord's Day 15
Q&A 37, 38 & 39 Sermons Vander Kam on HC Lord's Day 15
Q&A 37, 38 & 3937 Q. What does it mean that He suffered?
A. That all the time He lived on earth, but especially at the end of His life He bore, in body and soul, the wrath of God against the sin of the whole human race, in order that by His passion, as the only atoning sacrifice, He might redeem our body and soul from everlasting damnation and obtain for us the grace of God, righteousness, and eternal Life.
38 Q. Why did He suffer under Pontius Pilate as judge?
A. That He, though innocent, might be condemned by a temporal judge, and thereby free us from the severe judgment of God to which we were subject.
39 Q. Is there anything more in His having been crucified than if He had died some other death?
A. Yes, since thereby I am assured that He took upon Himself the curse which lay upon me; for the death of the cross was accursed of God.
Beloved in the Lord; as I mentioned a few weeks ago when I began the second article of the Apostolic Confession, there are really four things that we are to bear in mind in regard to the person of Jesus Christ in order to have the proper view. And that is, that we are to look closely at the names, the natures, the offices and the states. And when we have looked at those four things that we will also have the true picture of Christ Jesus as He has come in His person, as He has come as the one who is to bear the sins of His people.
And now first of all, it goes into this matter concerning His names, that He is Jesus, that His Christ, that He is the only begotten, and that He is our Lord. And then it also goes into the matter of His offices; that He is our Prophet, our Priest and our King. Because of the fact that He has these offices, therefore He is also the one who is in control over all things.
And now in the previous Lord's Day already, but we did not call your attention to it then, because it is not so apparent. But already in the previous Lord's Day it begins with the state of humiliation. That He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the virgin Mary. That is already the first step in His humiliation. And that now this Lord's Day deals with it again and so will the next. And then finally you come to the state of exaltation.
So that you see Jesus Christ in the proper Scriptural framework. And that you see Him there in the way in which He has been revealed. That you see Him there as the One who has come as the sin-bearer of His people, as the One who is going to take care of all the things that have been demanded of Him. Because when you see something and hear something like Isaiah 53, which I read to you a moment ago, then you must wonder how it is possible that the Jews of that day could see that this chapter had any place in the Old Testament. "That He was wounded for our transgressions." Who is that? That He gave His life as a ransom for many. Who is that? Is this the Messiah, is this the one who was to come, that Messiah-David? Or is this the one who is of a different nature entirely? And they have come to the latter conclusion.
That the prophet certainly is not speaking of the Messiah, because he is speaking here of the suffering one. And the Messiah is going to be the king, He is going to be the ruler, He is going to be in control; He is not going to be the suffering one. And that is the greatest difficulty that they have in accepting the New Testament. That Jesus Christ has come into the world in order to give His life as a ransom for His people. That's the Jewish outlook did not encompass, they did not see that, He was not to come for that purpose, but He was to rule and He was to defeat their enemies, and He was again to set up the throne of His father David. That was the purpose.
And now Isaiah says, "and He was wounded for our sins, for our trespasses." And that the curse was even upon Him, the curse upon the Messiah. Can you imagine! These are the things that are un-understandable to the Old Testament church. And now we are standing before that and realize that's the heart of the matter.
As we speak to you this morning on, "The Suffering of Our Lord." And then we notice in the first place, the nature of that suffering; secondly, its intensity; and finally, its instruments.
When we look upon the suffering of Jesus Christ beloved, then we realize of course, that there is ever so much suffering in this world. And that there are also a good many people who have turned away from Christianity because of the fact that there is so much suffering. If that is a God of love who is bringing this suffering upon this world, then I don't want to have anything to do with him. If this is a God of love who takes a man right out of the midst of his life, out of his family, and allows another drunk to go on ‘til he is 80 years old, I don't want to have anything to do with him. No, as long as there is suffering in this world, if he is the one who is in control, if he is the one who is able to see to it that there is no suffering, then I don't want to have anything to do with a God like that.
And yet that is the God that is revealed to us in Scripture. That is the God who is revealed to us, who has not only caused suffering to come upon us, but that is the One who has also caused the suffering to come upon His own Son, and that in a manner such as has never come upon anybody else. That is the God. Are you still able to serve Him, are you still able to love Him? That is the question, because He is going to make it a whole lot stronger yet than what you see round about you. Because this suffering in the world beloved, of the present day, is great, and that cannot be minimized. It is so great because of the fact that man has sinned, and because of the fact that sin has come into the world, that as a result of that we have all the difficulties that there are, and there are so many.
And now these sufferings also, and give it time, but then also these sufferings will finally come to this, that they will be a blessing. Paul speaks of that, that he "glories in these things, glories in tribulations." Now, how can you ever give that far? And those are the things that are all connected with this suffering of Jesus Christ. Because He has also suffered for my only comfort. Notice that! That is still part of it, you know. That it is my only comfort that "I belong to Him" the suffering One. And that is He who has also caused the suffering to come upon us, for He is God.
Now those are the kind of things beloved, that are in the background, and nevertheless are the kind of things that we are never able to overlook. Because the sufferings of Jesus Christ have a deep and even grace but nevertheless, that there are other sufferings here in this world that have been even greater, physically. There's no doubt about it, there is no comparison for example, within the short time of suffering of Jesus in that last week of His life, and the suffering that ever so many of those who were in concentration camps have endured, and have endured for a long period of time. No comparison. And then are we going to look upon Him as being the suffering one, the one who has suffered more than anything else. And that is precisely the case. That is precisely the case in which it is placed before us here, so that we will also be taught of this, that the sufferings of Jesus Christ are unique, they are not the same as ours, and that you are not able to put it on the same plane and say it is either greater or lesser. But that they are unique, there is no one that has suffered like Jesus Christ. That is not only an intensity, we'll come to that in a little while, but it is also from its nature.
It is a suffering that was in body and soul, and that the body suffers, that is the thing that we are well able to understand; but that the soul suffers, those are the things that are still conundrums to us. The suffering of the soul is such, and we also have somewhat of a grasp of it, do we not, in this way, that we realize that it is even worse than physical suffering. When we suffer in our spirits, when we suffer in our souls, that is the kind of a suffering that goes so much deeper. And that leads to despair, while the sufferings of the body can many a time be overcome. And that also our society and our culture has placed ever so much more emphasis upon the physical suffering than the spiritual and soul suffering of an individual.
The physical suffering is that which we have to get rid of. Broken bones can be set, and malign elements can be removed. And all various things can be done in regard to the body, but the soul suffering, who is able to do something about that except this Book. Who is able to minister to the needs of the soul. When the soul cries out to God, and there is no one, no one here that is able to give any sustenance, no one here that is able to give any help, and that is so common.
There are those who are suffering enormously because of the difficulties, because of family difficulties. Because of sins that have not been confessed; that brings terrible suffering. If you have sinned in the past, and that has not been confessed, then you suffer, and that is a suffering that goes on. And that becomes a soul suffering; no, on the outside physically everything can be in order. But Christ suffered so enormously in His soul. Because He finally has to cry out, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" That's suffering! He has suffered in such a way so that no one else has suffered like it. There is no one whom you have ever visited in the hospital, no one you have ever visited who was dying, that was able to say, "My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" Because He doesn't. But this One, He did. And that brought such enormous suffering.
And again we must also realize beloved, as the Catechism points out, that He has suffered all of His life long. That it is from the very beginning, and that's why I said also Lord's Day 14 already belongs to that state of humiliation. It is already dealing with that, that He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. That is already the beginning of suffering. That He was laid there in a manger in Bethlehem as the beginning of suffering. That He came into this world was the beginning of suffering. How are we to conceive of it? Very difficult, very difficult. I can put it no better perhaps than this, that one who is perfectly healthy, comes into a pest house, that is, where the pestilence is raging. Those who have it don't smell it anymore. But the one who is perfect, in perfect health, he is overcome by it. That's the picture of it.
Christ Jesus the perfect One, comes into this pest house of sin, and He smells it everywhere, He tastes it, He feels it, on every side. And it begins right at the beginning. That which so many have poetized, you know, that, oh it so nice that He was born in a manger; better yet than in a log cabin. This is going to the extreme, but that is not poetizing, what we find in the Scriptures.
He was born, and he was born in humility. And everywhere He looked, He saw the suffering. And everywhere He looked, He saw the sin. And then He has to cry out, "My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" Not the others, but me. I, who have no sin, Thou hast forsaken me. No, that's a mistake though! Because, and that's why it is so necessary to be so precise in regard to these things. Because the apostle has pointed out, He was made sin for us. Yah, says Isaiah in this chapter that I read to you this morning; read it over again sometime soon; and that He was wounded for this, and our transgressions were laid upon Him. But we thought He was stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. We thought that He had it coming. The mistaken view of the sufferings of Messiah; we thought He had it coming. And it was for us, for us that He suffered, that He died, and not for Himself.
Now that is a little bit of the nature of His suffering. He has suffered it lifelong, and especially of course, in that last week. But lifelong, that He is here in the midst of sin. And that sin doesn't bother me that much, for the simple reason that I am also a sinner. But that bothered Him terribly. And now this pestilence is raging, and He finds there that the smell is something that overwhelms, that overcomes, and He suffers.
Now this gives you a little bit of the feeling concerning these matters, a little bit of that nature of that suffering, that it is different. It is unique, not like others, only more so, not like others, only less so. No, it's totally different. He suffered for others, not for Himself.
Secondly, notice also, its intensity. When we look upon that intensity beloved, it is very difficult to estimate. How intense has been that suffering of Jesus Christ? Oh there are the times that He cries out Himself, "My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death." Those are His own words. That when it comes to that finally in the garden of Gethsemane, "My soul is so exceeding sorrowful." Oh, what must have gone on in that righteous soul of Jesus Christ! What must have gone on in that heart, in that mind! This is all for others, who don't want it. Because they didn't ask for it, they don't want it. He came to His own and His own received Him not. And yet He comes. He gives Himself, they don't want it, but He does it anyway. Now you and I would long before that have turned away and said, 'if they don't want it, alright, alright; then let it go, forget it.' But no, Jesus Christ has gone all the way whether they wanted it or not, because later on there are going to be those who are going to confess His name, and that a Paul says, "and I will rejoice in my tribulation for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ."
Ah, then it's worth it all. He has suffered so greatly and it was so intense because of the fact that He was there also even being cursed. He was accursed of God, He has borne the curse for us, and therefore it is also entirely different than any of our suffering. There is no suffering that you and I have ever stood, that we have ever endured, that included the curse. Because that curse was not there, it doesn't make a difference? It makes a difference of day and night. If that curse was still there then you would not be able to pray with one who was sick, you wouldn't be able to pray with him because the curse of God would drive you out of the room. Now that curse was upon Him, and He has borne our curse, He has borne our sorrows, He has also borne the curse that was upon us.
Because He has taken our sin upon Himself, and He has brought it to the cross. It has been nailed to the cross so that all of that which was against us is now placed upon Him. He is the burden bearer, the sin bearer of His people. He is the One upon whom all of it comes, and it comes upon Him in such tremendous amounts that it is overwhelming, it is something that you are not able to see over, it is something that is so great that it cannot be measured.
He has borne the curse of His own Father, of the One of whom He says, "The Father and I are one," and now that other one curses Him. It's something beloved, that goes even beyond human thought. Because He Himself stands before these questions and these riddles at that time you know, when He is hanging on the cross and cries out, "My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" That is the suffering to the -nth degree. That is suffering beyond what anyone has ever endured. That He has to say to His God, Thou hast forsaken me.
Now it also shows us the power of Jesus Christ. Had He ever forsaken you or me, that would have been the end; we would have been crushed. But He was not. Because, and that's why the Catechism is so very precise, why does He have to be man. Well, man has sinned and therefore man is the one who has to bring the sacrifice. Why must He be God? Because, anyone else would have been crushed under the burden of the wrath of God. But He wasn't. But nevertheless cries out, "My God, why, why?" For the moment, He can hardly see it. For the moment, speaking as a man, speaking as the One who is the Mediator of His people, and then finding the crushing weight of that wrath upon Him; why, why. It is almost too much. He knows the answer, He knows the answer, and that answer He also applies to His own heart. He is being forsaken of God, He is bearing the curse, because the curse was upon sin. Sin is accursed of God. Sin is something of course, that we are so familiar with, we do it every day too; but we are so familiar with the term that it no longer make much of an impression on us. But let's remember, we hear of sin and Sinai, I read that to you this morning in the Law, Exodus 20; there we hear of sin, and on Golgotha we see it. You want to know how great your sin and misery is? Remember that is one of the fundamental questions of the Catechism. That we must first know how great our sin and misery is; well, if you want to know how great it is, you'll never really find out by looking inside. It's great there.
But you have to look to Golgotha, that's how great it is; that's what it cost. That He had to cry out, "My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" My sin, your sin. So, if we want to have any picture of how great our sin is; oh, we hear of it at Sinai, but here at Golgotha we see it, and we see it as nowhere else. He has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. That iniquity is burdening Him down, it is weighing Him down. And that burden is so great, and God curses it, and He was sin for us. The intensity of that suffering becomes so great that it is simply beyond human expression.
And this, in body and soul, and this to the tree of the cross, this all the way He has suffered, and he has suffered the curse of God. Now that is the very last thing of course, that the Son of God would ever have imagined, that He would suffer the curse of God Himself. "God so loved the world," that He cursed His Son. "God so loved the world," that He gave Him. To curse the sin that He is bearing, then you have a little picture of really what is going on with the suffering of our Lord. It goes to such depths, such depths as you never see anywhere else. There are those who have suffered more, some of the martyrs have suffered so unspeakably, they have suffered more in the body. Jesus suffers only a short time in the body. And for that short time for a young man to take, that can be done. But nevertheless, that suffering is unique in every respect, not only bodily, but also in His soul, and especially in His relationship to His God. That suffering is great. Intense, and the intensity of it, you and I must recognize.
And then it is done so beautifully in the Catechism, notice; "What does it mean that He suffered? That all the time He lived on earth, but especially at the end of His life, He bore in body and soul, the wrath of God against the sin of the whole human race." O.K. The next question; "Why did He suffer under Pontius Pilate as judge? That He, though innocent, might be condemned by a temporal judge, and thereby free us." The whole human race, and now it is us. And then the last question; "Is there anything more than His having been crucified than if He had died some other death? Yes, since thereby I am assured." Ah, now you have come full circle.
He gave His life for the whole human race, so that He is able to save out of that human race. Then it is for us. And now that Catechism always come back to the first person singular, that I, I am the one. And that is a confession. See, this is not a dogmatics, this is a confession, such a beautiful confession. This comes from the heart, this is for my only comfort; that when I suffer, I may know He suffered for me, and that I will never have to suffer like that. The curse of God is removed, and the wrath of God is removed, and He will never forsake me.
And finally, notice also the instruments. Now the instruments that I mention here beloved, in this particular part of the Apostolic Confession is this, that He suffered under Pontius Pilate, so that the name Pontius Pilate has also been memorialized in the creed of the church. Not in a way so that it is thought of approvingly, but in such a way so that he is condemned. But nevertheless, it does not say that he suffered under Caiaphas; but no, He suffered under Pontius Pilate. No, the Catechism asks then, is that of any significance at all, or is that just simply a historic fact? After all, Pontius Pilate happened to be the ruler at that time; he was the governor over Judea; and as a result of that, why, Jesus when He was there arraigned, then stood under Pontius Pilate. No, says the Catechism, it means a lot more than that. It means this, that the temporal judge, that is, the one who is in office, that is, the one who has the office to judge right and wrong. And you know, that's where it all began already in Paradise. That man was able to judge what is right and what is wrong, good and evil; man said, "I can do that." And then finally, God stands before him, and He condemns, condemns God. Yah.
Then it again has come full circle, see. Rome prided itself on this, that it was a kingdom of laws, and that the laws of the Roman Empire were also greater and far better than any other nation that had ever existed. And there was something to that, there was something to that. But now it is Pontius Pilate, who is the representative of that Roman Empire, that is the one who is chosen, whose name is now memorialized in the creed. Jesus Christ stands under him. He is not the victim of mob rule, you see, but He is the victim of the judge who is in office in the Empire that has the highest conception of what is right and wrong. And this Pilate says, "I don't see anything wrong in him, but I'm going to condemn Him." Because I am straddling every issue in order that I may have popularity, because the Jews say, "if you let him go then Caesar will be angered because this man has said, 'I am a king.'"
"Art Thou a king then?" "Nah," says Jesus, "never mind; I am king in the realm of truth." Aw, who cares whether a man is king in the realm of truth. Is he king in Judea, or Galilee, or Rome? That's the question. But in the realm of truth; who cares.
But it is finally this, that He cries out to the whole mass of people standing before Him in the Latin, "Ecta Homo", behold the man. That's all I see, is a man, a man who is not too good, a man who also has done nothing wrong. But that's all I see. Ecta Home. And they say, "crucify him." And He says, "O.K." Even though He has done nothing wrong.
Is there anything more in this, that He was judged by Pontius Pilate. Oh yah, yah. Now it is this, that God is speaking through the justice system. "Because I said," says Psalm 62, "ye are Gods, you judges, ye are Gods." And now God is speaking through that justice system, through Pontius Pilate. But He is putting him in a corner. You must admit, and you must make it known to the whole world that this man is innocent. And yet you're going to condemn Him. Which condemns all of the fence straddling that has ever occurred, and that still occurs.
But there's much more to it, that He is judged under Pontius Pilate than if He had suffered under some other debt. The second instrument that is used is this, that He was crucified. Now crucifixion is something of course, of which the Old Testament didn't know a thing. And therefore even when it says, "cursed is he that hangeth on a tree," is only quoted because it has something to do with it, but it is not exactly that. Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree meant this, that those who had been stoned would then be hanged. And those were the ones accursed. Now that is then also adoptive for this. But He was crucified, that is, the kind of an inhumane punishment. Cruel punishment, that would not be allowed anywhere, and Rome didn't allow it either for its own citizens; only for those who were strangers. But nothing is too gruesome for this one, and this one is crucified.
Now is there anything more to that? Yes, because He was accursed. God curses His Son, because He had your and my sins upon Him. And that's why He suffered so. And as the poet has said, "it was not the Jews that have crucified Him, it was me, it was me." My sin, wherein I was brought forth, as we sang of it a moment ago in Psalm 51, that sin has nailed Him to the tree. And that was accursed of God. So, He has borne the curse that was due to me. He has borne my sin; yah, but He bore the curse that took it away, that burned it away. And now there is still suffering. He hasn't taken that all away, but that suffering has changed so much. Now we suffer, and it is somewhat like in a hospital, different floors; you may have on one floor a woman giving birth to a child, and there's pain. On another floor, a man crying out in pain, because of cancer. The one is a pain unto life, and the other a harbinger of death. That's it. That's now the difference. We still suffer, but not like this, not like He did. He has taken it away, so that now I will glory in my tribulation, says the apostle. I don't know if I've gotten that far, but that is the goal, and that is possible. That can be achieved, but at least that I bow under it and say, "Thy will be done."
Paul goes so far as to say, "I will glory in them. That thorn in the flesh, I will never ask about it again. I will glory in these things because the curse is taken away." Jesus Christ suffered under Pontius Pilate, and was crucified, for you and for me. Amen....
We thank Thee, Lord our God, for the Word wherein Thou hast spoken to us. That Word of grace and that Word of love, that Word of reconciliation. We pray Lord God, wilt Thou apply it unto our hearts by the operation of Thy Holy Spirit. Bless Thou us further, bless the Catechism and Sunday School classes as they meet. Bring us together again into Thy house this evening. That Thy Word, Oh God, may dwell within us, that it may show us the way that leads to the perfect day. Forgive our sins, and hear us, in Jesus Name. Amen....
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