Ep. 10: Jesus Loves His Enemies | The Crucifixion of Jesus

The trial, the conviction of Jesus are complete. It's time for the punishment, the sentence to be carried out. Now you may know that Jesus was crucified on a cross, but did you know that he was beaten within an inch of his life right before that? Why? Let's unpack that right now. The most transformational part of the entire story of Good Friday is hidden in the moment before Jesus goes to the cross. After he's tried in front of Pilate, Pilate hands him over to be executed. Before going to the cross, Jesus actually goes down to the soldier barracks. For context, in those days, the Romans were the occupying force in Israel. They were the enemies of the Jews, and the Jews were their enemies. This moment you see the soldiers responding to Jesus like an enemy. It's not clear that anybody asked them to do what they did, but they took him, they whipped him, they mocked him, they beat him, they spit in his face. All of these things are the act of enemies who finally have somebody in front of them who they can take all their frustrations out on. Finally have somebody in front of them who they can just blind everything on. I don't know if these guys wanted to be in Israel. I don't know if they had families back home they were missing. But it's clear that they viewed Jesus as their enemy, as worthy of only the kinds of things you would wish on your enemy, because that's exactly what they did to him. The last thing after they whip him, beat him, mock him, right before they nail him on the cross, they cast lots, they gamble for his clothes. Now there's lots of them. There were even a hundred of them. These are, by the way, pilots, actual guards, the garrison that would have lived around him. Hundreds of them.

Perhaps one set of clothes. Not enough to go around. And so they gamble for it. Who's going to get this guy's coat? The ironic thing here is that they were literally taking the coat from the one man in human history who had ever said, if you need my coat, you can have it. You can have a shirt off my back. And what else do you need? In Matthew 5, this very first sermon, the sermon that would change world history. I've heard it called the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus said this, said, if somebody asks you for your shirt, give it to them. And not just your shirt, give them your coat too. If somebody asks you or even forces you to walk one mile with them, to carry their equipment, don't just do that. Ask them if they'd like you to go a second. You heard it said, love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you. Jesus completely redefines love. If somebody forces something on you, go for it. By the way, this wasn't a metaphor. This wasn't a hypothetical situation that Jesus is going like, just try to imagine this with me for a second. This was an everyday reality in Israel. The enemies, the Romans, would commonly, commonly walk up to a Jew and say, hey, your shirt, I like it, give it to me. They commonly walk up and say, hey, I'm tired.

I need you to carry my equipment for the next mile. I'm going to force you to do it. There was no choice. These were things that an enemy would do. And Jesus says when that happens, you say, sure. He says, I want you to love your enemy. So these soldiers fight over the shirt of the only man who would have gladly given it to them. And the amazing thing is that's not where the story ends. By the way, these were the same guys who had nailed Jesus to the cross. Who killed Jesus? Quite literally, these guys. It's not where their story ends though. See, the moment Jesus dies, these crazy supernatural things start happening. There's earthquakes, the sun is blacked out, and dead people are raised up out of the graves and start walking around. It gets crazy. So crazy that these men, the ones who had just whipped him, beat him, mocked him, nailed him to the cross, these same guys see this stuff happening, and they say, truly, this was the Son of God. This is the transformation. Scripture says that if you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is the Son of God, you're saved. What's that mean? It means that the battalion, the men,

who did this to Jesus, who literally killed him, they were saved. If you believe in Jesus, you'll be able to have salvation. It's the most radical transformation in all of Scripture, and it happens in a matter of hours. Hours. And the incredible part about this is these are the men who remember they gambled over his shirt. Who's gonna be the one person who gets the luxury of wearing Jesus's clothes? Who's the one person who's clothed with Christ? Turns out, everybody. Everybody. Romans 13, 14 says, therefore clothe yourselves with Christ. There's this idea that everybody who gets, who everybody who believes in Jesus gets to put him on like clothes. Do you need a shirt? Jesus says, you can have mine. Do you need hope? You can have mine. Do you need joy? You can have mine. And not just that. Do you need something else? Would you also like some peace? Because you can have that too. I have it for you. He is amazing. Friends, I don't know if you've ever felt this distance between you and God. Like there's something in your past, something you've done that prevents you from coming to him that makes it so like he's just kind of okay with you hanging around the periphery, but he doesn't want you close to him. Friends, that's a lie. It's not the man who is Jesus. It's not the man who says, are you my enemy? Awesome. You know what I'd love to do to you? I'd love to love you. I'd love to give you the shirt off my back. If you have a need right now, I want you to ask him for it. There's something that you're missing. Maybe you feel vulnerable. Maybe you feel exposed. Maybe you feel unsafe in your life. Ask him to clothe you in his protection, clothe you in his comfort. It's a simple prayer. It doesn't have to be fancy. You don't have to use big words. You can just say these words with me right now. Jesus, I have been your enemy and I'm banking on the fact that you are who you say you are. You are the son of God whose response to his enemies is love. Would you love me right now? Clothe me in exactly what I need. Clothe me in peace. Clothe me in joy. Clothe me in hope. Amen. Friends, if you prayed that prayer, I can tell you what his answer was. It was yes. It was yes. Good Friday is good because the man who was crucified and who would go on to be raised from the dead, he's good. Not just to the people who are kind to him, not just to his friends, but even to his enemies, people like you and people like me. That's the good news.