Who Made the Nails?
April 14, 2019, Bethlehem Congregational; Prince George, VA
Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12
Bob Withers
(First
Person Narrative begins)
What a
mess! Three dead men. Two criminals…and one…one…well…who knows just
who
He was…or is? At least the bodies
have been taken away…the criminals to the burial pit…the
Other…I understand
Joseph of Arimathea went to Pilate and got special permission to take His body
down and put it in Joseph’s own tomb.
Apparently Nicodemus helped him place this Jesus in the
tomb and they
wrapped it with spices and cloths.
What’s this down here? A nail?
(Bend down and pick up spike).
How many times have I told those soldiers to clean up after themselves? This must have been one of His nails…Don’t
they know that a man could get hurt walking on these things? Don’t they know I’ve better things to do than
to go around picking up nails? Picking
up their trash?
Hum…I wonder whom they’re buying
their nails from these days? With all
the crucifixions going on it wouldn’t be a bad contract to have. Let’s see, I don’t see a trademark on it…I
wonder who made this thing? Maybe I’ll
keep this one as a souvenir, or maybe…since it was used on Him…on that strange
one…maybe I’ll sell it to one of His followers…that is if any of them still
have the nerve to call themselves His followers. Ran away like a pack of rats off a ship they
did!
I wonder who made this nail? If I could find out maybe I could get a few
of them and sell them for souvenirs…maybe I could make a pretty penny out of
this?
Perhaps Pilate made the nails? After all, Jesus was crucified by Roman
soldiers, He was mocked by them, tortured by them. Pilate could have let Jesus go. He could have found Jesus innocent. In fact Pilate said, “I find no fault in
Him.” Pilate crucified an innocent man. Pilate succumbed to the pressure of the
Jewish leaders and the crowds by crucifying Jesus and freeing the murderer Barrabbas.
What do you mean the soldiers killed
Jesus and not Pilate? Sure the soldiers
performed the act, but Pilate gave the order.
Surely Pilate manufactured the nails.
Or, suppose we consider the Jewish
leaders and the crowds. The crowds
shouted to Pilate that they wanted Jesus crucified and that they wanted a
murderer to be released instead. So
Pilate wouldn’t have crucified Jesus had it not been for the crowds yelling and
screaming and thirsting for blood. So
the crowds must have been the ones to manufacture the nails.
But what about the priests? If they hadn’t plotted against Jesus He
wouldn’t have been arrested…and if they hadn’t incited the crowds the crowds
may have asked for His release. So it
must have been the priests who made these nails.
How about the disciples? After all they all deserted Him, if they had
stayed and defended Him perhaps He wouldn’t have been arrested. Perhaps they could have refuted the lies told
about Him at His trial. Perhaps it was
His followers who made these nails?
(End
of first person narrative)
Who
manufactured these nails? Suppose you
have company over this afternoon after church and talk turns to the Crucifixion
and someone asks you the question, “Who manufactured the nails?” How would you respond? What would you say? Who made these things?
Why did Jesus die? Did He die because He was railroaded? Did He die because of a conspiracy? Did He die because He was a good man? Did He die because He was a prophet? Why did Jesus die? Who manufactured the nails?
750 years before His crucifixion
Isaiah the prophet has the Word of God come to him, and even though he doesn’t
understand all that he sees and hears, he writes what God gives him. He portrays the Messiah, the One promised to
Abraham, the One spoken of by Moses, the descendent promised to King
David. In verses 7 – 12 of Isaiah 52
Isaiah portrays the Messiah as a conqueror, a deliverer, One who is reigning,
comforting His people, One who is manifested to all the nations of the
earth. And just as things seem to be
reaching a crescendo in the prophecy in verse 13, “He shall be exalted and
lifted up and shall be very high,” Isaiah is startled by an image, a vision, a
Word from God….
“Many are astonished at Him, His
appearance was so marred, beyond human appearance…and His form beyond that of
the sons of men.” What can this
mean? What happened to the Messiah, the
One who is coming to reign over the earth, the One who is coming to bring
deliverance and salvation to His people?
53:2
“He had no form or comeliness that we should look at Him, and no beauty
that we should desire Him.” 53:3“He was
despised and we esteemed Him not.”
A few years ago when Ross Perot was
running for president I recall watching the vice-presidential debate. Since it was a three – way race there were
three candidates on the platform – representing the Democratic, the Republican
and the Reform parties. The two main
candidates were sharp looking, articulate, with make-up on for television…they
could have stepped out of the cover of some slick magazine. When they were asked questions they responded
with canned and predictable answers, more often than not answers that really
didn’t mean much, other than they knew what they could safely say without
losing too many votes.
But the Reform party candidate had
obviously never read GQ magazine…and he probably purchased his suit off the
rack at a retail store…and he was slow to answer questions…he lacked the
toothpaste ad style cotton candy teeth and grin to display to the camera…to the
American public he came across as a loser…when in fact he had served his
country as none of the other two had served their country…for all of his adult
life he had served his country…not with his mouth, not with slick sounding
words…not with a toothy sickening sweet smile…but Admiral Stockdale had served
his adult life in the US Navy and particularly as a long-term prisoner of
war…he had given his life for his country…virtually to the point of death…but
the American public considered him a loser – he may have not been pretty to
look at, he may have been slow of speech, he may not have had 15 layers of
make-up on him, but Admiral Stockdale was no loser.
This is the picture that the prophet
paints of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
Nothing to cause a second – look, nothing to cause us to cast a vote for
Him. Until the 4th century
and the time of Constantine, when Christianity was sanctioned by the Roman
government, artistic portrayals of Jesus are normal – they are not the high –
gloss halo enhanced ultra-bright toothpaste Madison Avenue public relations
images we’ve seen for 1700 years.
Who made the nails that were driven
into the body of Jesus Christ?
Pilate? The soldiers? The religious leaders? The crowds?
Why did Jesus die? Was He in the wrong place at the wrong
time? Should He have not gone to
Jerusalem that particular week?
Well, there must have been something
wrong with Him. He must have deserved
it. 53:3 “He was despised and rejected
by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men
hid their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not…yet we esteemed him
stricken by God, and afflicted.”
Yes, there must have been something
wrong with Him. After all, why would He
carry such sorrow about Him, and why would God allow Him to be tried, tortured
and executed if He had not done something wrong, very wrong? Surely the judgement of God on Him was
deserved, and therefore “we esteemed Him stricken by God and afflicted.” Perhaps Jesus made His own nails?
53:7
“He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its
shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth.”
Jesus didn’t complain. He didn’t
deny who He was, He didn’t deny the mission He was on, He didn’t complain, He
didn’t resist, He was as a Lamb.
But wait, there is another image of
lambs and sheep in this passage, it is in verse 6, “All we like sheep have gone
astray, we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him
the iniquity of us all.”
53:5 “He was wounded for our
transgressions.” 53:10 “He makes Himself
an offering for sin.” 53:11 “He shall
bear their iniquities.” 53:12 “He bore
the sin of many.”
Who manufactured the nails? Where did they come from? Was it Pilate, the priests, the people, the
soldiers? Who made the nails?
750 years after this prophecy, a
wild man, another prophet, John the Baptist is dunking people in the Jordan
River, crowds surround him, clatter and chatter fill the air, and as John
immerses a man here and a woman there and then a child….he glances at the crowd
and his eyes freeze…they lock onto One coming toward him…One with no particular
physical features to commend Him to those around Him…One to whom no one else
pays any attention, any notice…yet from that day forward John will behold no
one else in his heart and mind…
And John the Baptizer speaks the
words that have echoed down the corridors of 2000 years, “Behold, the Lamb of
God who takes away the sin of the world.”
“Behold, behold the Lamb.”
Who made the nails? Did Pilate and the soldiers make the
nails? Did the priests and the crowds
make the nails? Did the holy, pure,
unblemished Lamb of God make the nails?
Who made the nails?
Who made the nails that would draw
the Blood surrounding this communion table this morning? How did this table get here from 2000 years
ago? How did this instrument of death…this
Cross…find its way into this place on Sunday morning? Who put these things here? Who made the nails?
“The LORD has laid on Him the
iniquity of us all.” Not some of us, not
just the Hitlers and the Stalins and the Timothy McVeighs and the Ted
Bundys…for “All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his
own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”
How did this table get here…how did
this Cross of execution find its way into this building? Who made the nails?
Isaiah will cry out in chapter 64:6,
“We have all become like one who is unclean.”
That’s an image of leprosy in the Scriptures. When lepers went down the street they had to
cry out, “Unclean, unclean, unclean,” lest anyone should come in contact with
them and contract leprosy. “We have all
become like lepers…we have all become unclean.”
How did this table get here? Who let this Cross into the building? Who made the nails?
Isaiah goes on to say in chapter 64,
verse 6, “and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.”
We might say, I might say, you might
say, “I’m not leper, look at my life.
I’m a good man or woman. I try my
best. I don’t hurt people. I try to treat others as I want to be
treated. I’m ok with God because of the
way I live. I do more good than bad,
after all we all mess up from time to time.
But when I leave this earth I will have done more good than bad and God
will let me through those pearly gates.
I’m not a leper.”
But the prophet says, “All we like
sheep have gone astray.” All our
righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.”
The translators were afraid they
might offend some of us so they really didn’t give us the in-your-face Hebrew
translation of this passage…this is what the Hebrews heard when Isaiah spoke
these words, “All our righteous deeds are like a menstrual cloth.” “All our righteous deeds are like a menstrual
cloth.”
Not our unrighteous deeds…but those
things we DO that we take pride in, those things we DO that cause us to compare
ourselves with others, those things we DO that we think will get us into the
kingdom of God. They are all…everyone of
them…like a menstrual cloth…and that goes against everything in our self-centered independent rebellious
natures…because it means that we can’t
do it…it means that we have nothing to
offer God for our salvation…
It means that if you’re relying on
church attendance, on teaching Sunday school, on singing in the choir, on contributing
to the local food pantry, on preaching, on writing a check out weekly or
monthly…it means that all those things that we think are so very very good and
that make us Christians…that they are ALL….EVERY ONE OF THEM… a menstrual
cloth…and a menstrual cloth is not going to give us eternal life.
Who made these nails? Where did these nails come from? These nails are not just the Ted Bundys and
Timothy McVeighs of the world. These
nails are not just the ones who metaphorically go around crying “UNLEAN,
UNCLEAN, UNCLEAN,” these nails were not just manufactured by the evil deeds of
our fallen and fractured race…but these nails are first and foremost those oh
so very righteous deeds that we do that cause us to think that apart from God there is something good in
us, something that will cause God to say, separate and apart from Jesus
Christ…”You are righteous”.
For there is none righteous, no not
one, all we like sheep have gone astray.
Who made the nails? Who caused the Blood surrounding this table
to be shed? Who brought this Cross into
this building, on this planet, before
our eyes and lives?
Was it Pilate and the soldiers? Was it the priests and crowds? Was it long-ago personalities out of sight
and out of mind? No, no, a thousand
times NO! Not unnamed faces, not
individuals lost in crowds…but ME…Bob Withers…I manufactured the nails…I caused
the Blood to flow around this table…I caused this Cross to come into this
building….and YOU? You’ll…have…to…answer…that one.
Did you? Did you make the
nails? Did you cause the Holy Lamb of
God to come and die? Die of His own free
will born out of His love for you? For
if you did…I’ve got great news!!!! The
greatest news ear will ever hear, the greatest news tongue will ever tell…and
that is that He died for you to
cleanse you and make you whiter than snow…cleaner than
clean…purer than pure…He came to bring you
back into the arms of His loving heavenly Father…
Did you
manufacture the nails? If you didn’t…if
you are hanging on to your righteous
deeds…then I have bad news, very bad news
for you…that is that you have rejected the Great
News…the Greatest News of
God’s love for you in Jesus Christ…but if you’ll let go of your
self-
righteousness…if you’ll let go of those righteous deeds that you wear as a
medal, as a badge of
honor…deeds that God views as a menstrual cloth, and if
you’ll but open your heart to the Lamb of
God, Jesus Christ…then you’ll find unconditional
love and forgiveness in an eternal relationship with
Him…
Because when we say, “God forgive
me, I made the nails, bring me home to You!”
God says, “I’ve been waiting all eternity to hear those words, come home
my daughter, come home my son.”
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