TWIRL 033 (5/8/11): Dying into New Life—Crucified with Christ

This Week In Recovery Lesson

Dying into New Life—Crucified with Christ

For some, this concept of dying to your old self (or ways) in order to experience new life is new and mysterious. For others, the concept is familiar and worn and so easily taken for granted because it remains mysterious and has not really been experienced. For those in the process of dying to the selfish ways of thinking and doing into the transformative experience of new life, it is never old or worn out since the experience is something of a miracle every moment that it is realized by experience.

What does it mean: dying to self?

As you read this, it is generally understood that you accept and believe that Jesus Christ, equal with God as a member of God, humbled Himself to the point of embryonic human likeness and capacity, emptying Himself of all divine authority in order to experience the human condition and plight on every level. It is generally understood that you accept and believe historically that Jesus lived on earth as an infant that grew into a boy and then a man. It is generally understood that you accept historically that Jesus was an innocent man having been convicted of a crime he did not commit, sentenced to death by execution, tortured and then crucified on a cross. It is generally understood that you spiritually accept and believe that Jesus died on the cross as the one and only acceptable sacrifice for your sin, reconciling you into relationship with God through the process of justification—just as if you had never sinned: past, present, and future. It is generally understood that you accept and believe historically that the tomb turned up empty on the third day just as Jesus and the prophets predicted it would. It is generally understood that you accept and believe spiritually that Jesus arose from the dead through the experience of resurrection and is fully alive today. It is generally understood that you accept and believe that the Bible is the written Word of God without exception.

• What do you believe about Jesus Christ in relation to God?
• What do you believe about the human birth, life, and death of Jesus?
• What do you believe about the resurrection of Jesus?
• What do you believe about the Bible?

Finally, as you read this, it is generally understood that you accept and believe that you have the opportunity to experience Jesus Christ—King of kings and Lord of lords—alive in you, directing your life; thoughts, desires, choices, and behavior. So, how does this translate into how you think, what you want, what you choose, and what you do?

What does it all mean as you search for meaning, struggling through the obstacles laid out before you each and every day. What does it all mean considering the historical events throughout your life; hoping to rise up to each occasion, meeting expectations hoisted upon you—none bigger than the expectations you have for your self? What does it all mean in the face of the lies that you have come to believe about yourself and about your place in the world? How does what Jesus did according to the plan of God factor into your plans according to the systemic expectations you live with? How has painfully struggling to live up to a standard that you cannot possibly live up to worked out for you so far? What does it all mean?

I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I already tore down. For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God. My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die. Galatians 2:18-21 (NLT)

• Before getting into the examination of this Scripture, what is your initial impression as to its meaning?

Let’s examine this truth from the Word of God.

What exactly happened here that Paul the Apostle declares that the old self has been crucified with Christ? What did Jesus experience, and if what Paul said applies to each of us, how did we… or do we… participate in the experience? Jesus, in human likeness, was reduced to being fully human during his time on earth.

As God, Jesus willfully laid down His authority and capacity as God (Philippians 2:5-8). As a human being, Jesus Himself said that he had no authority and was entirely dependent on the authority and capacity of God in order to live the life he was called to live (John 5:30). While Jesus, as a man of flesh, did not have a sin nature, he certainly did take on a human nature. (Remember that Adam did not have a sin nature, either. It was in his human nature that he gave into his selfish motivation and sinned.) Jesus did have control over his ability to choose with responsibility and accountability for how he would choose to live out each day. His choice was to depend on God as the only means by which he would not yield to temptation to give in to his human urges and desires (Hebrews 4:15).

• Having clicked on the links and reading Philippians 2:5-8, John 5:30, and Hebrews 4:15, what would you say is true about the humanity of Jesus?
• According to those scriptures, what would you say about the divine authority of Jesus while flesh and blood on the earth?

Advancing forward to the day of Christ’s betrayal, arrest, and surrender, let’s consider what Jesus experienced in his human flesh; physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Allow me the room to lay this out from various portions of Scripture so that we can more closely examine the experience of our Lord.

¹ When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, ² “As you know, Passover begins in two days, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.” ³ At that same time the leading priests and elders were meeting at the residence of Caiaphas, the high priest, ⁴ plotting how to capture Jesus secretly and kill him. ⁵ “But not during the Passover celebration,” they agreed, “or the people may riot.” Matthew 26:1-4 (NLT)

²⁰ When it was evening, Jesus sat down at the table with the twelve disciples. ²¹While they were eating, he said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.”Matthew 26:20-21 (NLT)

• While having dinner with your beloved friend and leader of the revolution you absolutely believe in with all your heart says to the best of friends around the dinner table, “Believe it! One of you will betray me TONIGHT”, what is going through your mind; what are you feeling?

³⁶ Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.” ³⁷He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. ³⁸ He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

³⁹ He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” ⁴⁰Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? ⁴¹Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!”

⁴² Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done.” ⁴³ When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open. ⁴⁴ So he went to pray a third time, saying the same things again. Matthew 26: 36-44 (NLT)

⁴¹ He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, ⁴² “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” ⁴³ Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him. ⁴⁴ He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood. Luke 22: 41-44 (NLT)

• What would imagine Jesus is feeling with the anticipation of all that is about to take place any minute now, with the understanding that he will be nailed to a tree within hours?
• What would you guess it felt like when he asked his dear friends to support him prayerfully during this night of sheer torment and they fell asleep?
• How miserable and stressed out do you think you would need to be for your blood vessels to pop through your skin until you bled?

⁴⁵ Then he came to the disciples and said, “Go ahead and sleep. Have your rest. But look—the time has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. ⁴⁶ Up, let’s be going. Look, my betrayer is here!” ⁴⁷ And even as Jesus said this, Judas, one of the twelve disciples, arrived with a crowd of men armed with swords and clubs. They had been sent by the leading priests and elders of the people. Matthew 26:45-47 (NLT)

⁴ Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to him, so he stepped forward to meet them. “Who are you looking for?” he asked. ⁵ “Jesus the Nazarene,” they replied. “I Am he,” Jesus said. (Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.) ⁶ As Jesus said “I Am he,” they all drew back and fell to the ground! ⁷ Once more he asked them, “Who are you looking for?” And again they replied, “Jesus the Nazarene.” ⁸ “I told you that I Am he,” Jesus said. “And since I am the one you want, let these others go.” ⁹ He did this to fulfill his own statement: “I did not lose a single one of those you have given me.” ¹⁰Then Simon Peter drew a sword and slashed off the right ear of Malchus, the high priest’s slave. ¹¹ But Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath. Shall I not drink from the cup of suffering the Father has given me?” John 18:4-11 (NLT)

• What picture comes to your mind of what happened in this passage from John 18?
• How would you say it happened that a battalion of skilled Roman soldiers were forced back and dropped to the ground?
• How is it that Peter was able to draw his sword and swing for the head of a priestly leader while confronted by an army of hundreds?

There is a great deal to digest here in studying the event leading up to Christ’s crucifixion. Jesus knew that the time had come. In fact, it was Jesus who stirred up the pot and got the stew boiling when he defiantly ripped through the temple with a whip in front of everyone who was paying attention (as many as a million Jews were in the city of Jerusalem for Passover). In the midst of the crowd, the violent actions of Jesus got the attention of Temple leaders, including key Pharisees well connected to Roman authority. It was on now as it needed to be for Christ’s act of ultimate sacrifice to be realized.

Jesus had been betrayed by a friend he loved dearly, and went with his closest friends to a familiar olive garden to pray. This time of immense grief and torment reveals much about the state that Jesus was in as a fully human being apart from his divine nature. Jesus was alone—utterly alone as he prayed, depending on his Heavenly Father for any strength at all to get through this incredible distress.

We are told that Jesus asked God to consider another way to accomplish their eternal plan for you and me as he prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done.” We are told that He prayed the same thing again, and that as an angel from heaven descended to strengthen Jesus, it was not sufficient as Jesus prayed even harder; his physical body so distressed that blood vessels burst through his skin and Jesus sweat large drops of blood. I cannot begin to imagine his torment and struggle. And things were just getting started.

They came for him, armed with weapons in anticipation of a battle. Other Bible translations use words like ‘battalion’ and ‘contingent’ to describe the army that showed up to arrest Jesus. As many as 600 highly skilled Roman soldiers were on hand as they approached Jesus in the vicinity of the olive garden.

As they drew near, Jesus asked (keep in mind that he is not looking too good here), “Who are you looking for?” Led by Judas and Malchus (assistant to the high priest, very familiar with Jesus), apparently they did not immediately recognize him under perhaps moonlight and the glow of torches, as someone responded, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus responded, “I AM he.” This is incredible since though Jesus is fully human he reminds us all that He is still God, the great I AM. At his response, John the Disciple writes that “they all drew back and fell to the ground!” All 600 Roman soldiers in all of their combat garb were forced back and went down? Including Judas and Malchus? Or maybe Judas was left standing so that he could see the power of God at work in the vulnerable of moments.

Peter would draw his sword and seek to take off the head of Malchus. Peter was undeterred drawing his sword as this small Roman army was held down and unable to stop him. Apparently Malchus, pinned to the ground under the force of the Holy Spirit, turned away his head and Peter clipped his ear. Peter, one man in the moment, could have wiped out the entire battalion of Roman soldiers. When you really take a moment to think about this, it is an unbelievable event. It is everything that Peter, Judas, and all of the disciples had lived for over the past three years. Their time had come. Jesus would overthrow the Roman Empire and be king. They would all rule with him.

But that was not the plan. The plan was one of surrender and sacrifice. The Holy Spirit of God relented and the stunned army of soldiers returned to their feet and perhaps reluctantly approached Jesus. Jesus willingly surrendered and was taken away.

⁵² Then Jesus spoke to the leading priests, the captains of the Temple guard, and the elders who had come for him. “Am I some dangerous revolutionary,” he asked, “that you come with swords and clubs to arrest me? ⁵³ Why didn’t you arrest me in the Temple? I was there every day. But this is your moment, the time when the power of darkness reigns.” ⁵⁴ So they arrested him and led him to the high priest’s home. And Peter followed at a distance. ⁵⁵ The guards lit a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat around it, and Peter joined them there. Luke 22:52-54 (NLT)

• What might you say about the emotional roller coaster from the friends to the betrayer among those sharing a mutual love with Jesus?
• What might you be feeling if you had sacrificed three years away from your family (with their blessing) to support a revolution that would result in your leader overthrowing your oppressor, only to see him willingly surrender, when you know he has all the power?

The fact is is that Jesus is just that: a dangerous revolutionary, and though the power of darkness continues to reign in the world, the revolution is coming. So, crucified with Christ having died into new life, we are participants in leading the greatest revolution in all of human history. More on that coming up.

⁶⁰ Then the high priest stood up before the others and asked Jesus, “Well, aren’t you going to answer these charges? What do you have to say for yourself?” ⁶¹ But Jesus was silent and made no reply. Then the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” ⁶² Jesus said, “I Am. And you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven.” ⁶³ Then the high priest tore his clothing to show his horror and said, “Why do we need other witnesses? ⁶⁴ You have all heard his blasphemy. What is your verdict?” “Guilty!” they all cried. “He deserves to die!” ⁶⁵ Then some of them began to spit at him, and they blindfolded him and beat him with their fists. “Prophesy to us,” they jeered. And the guards slapped him as they took him away.Mark 14:60-65 (NLT)

¹² Pilate asked them, “Then what should I do with this man you call the king of the Jews?” ¹³ They shouted back, “Crucify him!” ¹⁴ “Why?” Pilate demanded. “What crime has he committed?” But the mob roared even louder, “Crucify him!” ¹⁵ So to pacify the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified.

¹⁶ The soldiers took Jesus into the courtyard of the governor’s headquarters and called out the entire regiment. ¹⁷ They dressed him in a purple robe, and they wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head. ¹⁸ Then they saluted him and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!” ¹⁹ And they struck him on the head with a reed stick, spit on him, and dropped to their knees in mock worship. ²⁰ When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified. Mark 15:12-20 (NLT)

The experience of Christ’s crucifixion was beyond the dread he had experienced in the olive garden. The torture was beyond anything that I could possibly imagine. As Jesus carried the cross (the beam of the cross estimated to be 125 pounds up to 300 pounds if Jesus carried the cross as shown in the picture), strapped across his exposed flesh, as far as half of a mile to his execution, he collapsed three times. It has been said that the sin of mankind took residence in that beam of wood and began to embed itself into the flesh of Jesus; that the gravity of our sin was so much to bear that Jesus collapsed under its weight. Simon the Cyrene would be summoned to help Jesus carry the cross the rest of the way.

As Jesus hung from the cross, he was alone in his suffering. So alone in the darkness of sin and its eternal consequence (whose sin? yours and mine), Jesus alienated himself from God. We know this because he cried out, “My God, My God, Why?!” Jesus suffered alone and abandoned from anything good or holy or merciful. He had left all authority with the Father as he left humbled himself to nothing as a man of flesh and blood. Jesus was left to die; and die he did.

Jesus had told his disciples that his death would be like Jonah in the belly of the whale (Jonah 2), but that he would suffer in the belly of the earth for three days and nights (Matthew 12:40). What did he mean by that? We know about Christ’s death on what we call Good Friday, and his resurrection on Sunday. What happened on Saturday? Some like to romanticize this notion that Jesus flew like Superman into hell, Sheol, Hades, purgatory, or whatever you want to call it, and rescued all who had perished before his act of mercy at the cross. Paul says it quite differently.

¹ So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. ² And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. ³ The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. ⁴ He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit. Romans 8:1-4 (NLT)

While I tend to prefer the New Living Translation of the Bible, it seems to be missing something, particularly in verse three. Please consider the New King James Translation:

¹ There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. ² For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. ³ For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Romans 8:1-4 (NLT)

Do you see it? Do you see what Jesus experienced on the second day, between his crucifixion and resurrection? No one really talks about it. The souls of Jesus the human being, sacrificed for my sin, experienced condemnation on my behalf. He went all the way. Listen to how Jonah described his experience:

“ I cried out to the LORD because of my affliction, and He answered me. “ Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, And You heard my voice. ³ For You cast me into the deep, Into the heart of the seas, And the floods surrounded me; All Your billows and Your waves passed over me. ⁴ Then I said, ‘I have been cast out of Your sight; Yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.’ ⁵ The waters surrounded me, even to my soul; The deep closed around me; Weeds were wrapped around my head. ⁶ I went down to the moorings of the mountains; The earth with its bars closed behind me forever; Yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O LORD, my God.” Jonah 2:2-6 (NKJV)

The critical difference between Jonah and Jesus is that for Jonah, his terror was simulated condemnation as a representative symbol of the condemnation of souls beloved by the Creator. Jesus experienced the literal condemnation of selfish sin. What occurred in the physical realm concerning the crucifixion of Jesus I can imagine, as brutally terrifying and painful as it was. What to Jesus in the spiritual realm? I have no idea. Praise God that Jesus arose, resurrected as a man into new life, then exalted into His rightful place as God; King of kings and Lord of lords.

• What would you say it means to you that: 1) Jesus as God left his place of authority to become like you, 2) Jesus experience the dread of physical and psychological torture to the point of death, 3) Jesus hung there on a cross with the gravity of his body weight against at least three nails driven into his hands (wrists) and feet (likely both ankles)?
• What does it mean to you that Jesus’ sacrifice was done out of love for you?
• What is the result of Christ’s death and resurrection as it applies to you?

Please proceed by clicking TWRAC 033 for this week’s application challenge.

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