Who Is This Man?

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

He was the most awesome dude around. He had a huge entourage. Crowds literally ran from city to city just to get a glimpse of him. He was constantly surrounded with adoring fans and celebrity-hounds. People would mob him just to touch his clothes. If you wanted to get into the most exclusive places, to be with the “in crowd”, he was the guy to follow. If he were on Twitter, he would have been trending constantly.

He was the guy that everybody loved and hated all at once. All the ladies wanted him, and all the men wanted to be him. They were jealous because they could not lay claim to his allegiance. He could steal their loved ones away in a heartbeat, with just a look or greeting. He melted hearts and altered lives.

He was a mystery, and at the same time an open book. He knew everything about everybody, it seemed. And yet, no one could figure him out. He could walk right up to the rich and famous, the elite and the powerful, and say whatever he wanted, and then walk away. And then he could turn around and help the poor people in the streets, counsel the drug addicts and alcoholics, and have supper with the IRS agents and the prostitutes.

People loved him, and at the same time they feared him. He could give away a free dinner to thousands, and then just vanish. He could rant and rail against the establishment, but then scoop up little children and love on them like nobody's business. Who is this guy?

He was the most awesome dude ever, on the outside. But on the inside was a different story. With each step he took, with every day that went by, he grew more dark and more dismal on the inside. It was as though there were two forces at work within him, waging war in and through him.

He was a wicked and hateful man. He was angry all the time. He lost his patience with anyone, over the littlest things. He thought awful, terrible things about even his closest companions and best friends. His hatred for his fellow man was barely concealed within his breast. His heart beat to the drums of rage and war.

His eyes wandered like a bee in a clover field. He took in every last inch of every woman, and man, that went by. He had his way with as many as he could get. He was faithful to no one and nothing. His word counted for nothing. His body was filled with all manner of substances and his mind was littered with every sort of lie, deception, psychotropic haze, and illusion of grandeur. It was nothing for him to sleep with another man's wife, or that very nice lady's husband. Wash, rinse, repeat. Nothing was off limits.

And if he saw it, he wanted it. He could find a way to get anything he wanted. Money was no object, because he was just as content with stealing, defrauding, cheating, gambling, or “creatively acquiring” whatever his fancy suggested. If you had it, he either needed it, or he needed the next step better. He gave a whole new meaning to “keeping up with the Joneses.”

His wickedness knew no bounds. In fact, it grew by the day. The adulation and accolades of the crowds that mobbed him around the clock just fueled the creation of this monster. The well of his depravity had no bottom. Rock-bottom would have been a blessing, because it would have meant a limit to his evil schemes and desires. Every day was worse than the day before. Every morning brought new opportunities to be rotten. Who is this man?

But then, one fateful day, it all came crashing down. The perfect, precious, lovely guy whom everybody loved and the hateful, wicked monster whom everybody despised came smashing together into one bloody heap. The crowds who had been singing his praises and trying to make him their king now turned on him and denounced him as an enemy of the state and a grade-A troublemaker and rabble-rouser.

The religious elite had had enough of him, so they trumped up charges of being politically incorrect. Of being anti-establishment. Of trying to dismantle and destroy the old ways which had served so well, at least for the priests and elders.

The ruling class passed him from court to court, until he was beaten senseless, tortured, wrapped up in a garish costume, and paraded through the streets for all to see and mock. Look what fame and popularity gets you – a whole city's audience for the worst day of your life. Even on his way to meet the executioner, they spit on him, mocked him, and called him every hateful name in the book.

All that evil that had been stewing inside of him, but was hidden away under the beautiful and handsome facade now came to light. He was twisted and disfigured beyond recognition. Every sin, every misdeed, every wicked thought and action was written on his face and weighted down on his shoulders. There was only one way out of this – death.

Somebody had to die for this massive amount of sin and injustice and hatred. The shedding of blood was the only way this could be made right. He would have to be put to death. And what a death it would be – the worst imaginable. He was headed for the most cruel, the most tortuous, the most accursed death available at the time. No wonder he sweat blood in anticipation of this terrible march through town to the place where he would meet his end. And yet the crowds cheered as they drove spikes into his tortured body. Who is this man?

This man is Jesus Christ, your savior. He is the spotless Lamb of God. He is the perfect Son of God, born to lead a sinless life, to fulfill the Law of Moses in every perfect little detail. He is the genuine article, the real and true God of the universe come into the flesh.

And yet, in this moment, He is also the chief of sinners. He is the very embodiment of evil hanging on the cross. For He has taken into Himself all the depravity and bottomless depth of your sinful nature. He is like you in every way, yet without sin. And yet, He who knew no sin has become sin for you. He is the one man who must die in the place of you and every man. There is no other way. The sins of the world can only be expunged in this manner. Only innocent blood will satisfy the sentence.

So your savior hangs upon the cross, stricken, smitten, and afflicted. He hangs in mid-air weighed down with your sins and evil desires. And, having fulfilled His Father's will completely, He gave up the Spirit and died. It is finished.

There is nothing more to be done. Nothing more that could be done. It is finished. Sin is finished. The reign of the devil is finished. Hell is finished. The death of mankind is finished.

Your sin still hangs on that cross, but your Lord does not. For death is finished, but Life is not. For the Life of the World is risen from the grave, lives, and reigns to all eternity. And because He lives, so also do you. He has taken your sin and wretchedness and has given you His righteousness, innocence and blessedness. He has destroyed your rags of guilt and shame and has clothed you in robes of light, made white in His own blood. It is finished.

Who is that man? That man is Jesus. And that man is you.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.