Jesus’ Perspective
An all-creatures Bible Message

Jesus’ Perspective
 
A Sermon Delivered to
The Compassion Internet Church
 
28 March 2021
 
Frank L. Hoffman, Pastor

Scripture References

Psalm 31:9-16
Matthew 27:11-54
 
Jesus’ perspective is looking at the final hours of Jesus’ life upon this earth as He was being murdered and trying to empathetically feel what He was feeling.
 
The more we allow ourselves to feel like Jesus, the more we can relate to Him and what He did for us and continues to do for us as our Lord and Savior.
 
Furthermore, we need to feel as Jesus felt in both His physical body and His spiritual being, for this is the only way we can truly be like Him and really follow His teachings.
 
Even though Psalm 31:9-16 is part of a psalm of David, it also seems to give us an idea of how Jesus might have been feeling just before He was murdered.
 
9. Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress;
My eye is wasted away from grief, my soul and my body also.
 
Jesus knew that the people and the authorities were about to murder Him, and we, as believers, should do our best to feel what He was going through, because it gives us a better understanding of what happened because of His efforts to help us.
 
10. For my life is spent with sorrow,
And my years with sighing;
My strength has failed because of my iniquity,
And my body has wasted away.
 
Jesus’ sorrow and sighing is because of the hardness of heart of most of the people He desperately wanted to save.
 
However, unlike David, Jesus never had any iniquity in Him for he was innocent, but He deeply felt the sins in the people’s lives then, and even in our lives today.
 
11. Because of all my adversaries, I have become a reproach,
Especially to my neighbors,
And an object of dread to my acquaintances;
Those who see me in the street flee from me.
 
Think about how the people praised Him when he entered Jerusalem, and how many of these same people shouted out for Him to be crucified a few days later.
 
Think about how sad and depressed we would feel if this happened to us; feel how we would feel if this happened to us.
 
12. I am forgotten as a dead man, out of mind,
I am like a broken vessel.
 
This is the way we should also feel about Him.
 
13. For I have heard the slander of many,
Terror is on every side;
While they took counsel together against me,
They schemed to take away my life.
 
This is coming from the very people He came to help and save, and they are rejecting Him in favor of the corrupt and evil ways of this world.
 
14. But as for me, I trust in Thee, O LORD,
I say, "Thou art my God."
 
Can we say this about ourselves no matter what happens?
 
We should.
 
15. My times are in Thy hand;
Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me.
 
We should be able to feel and say the same things no matter what is taking place around us.
 
16. Make Thy face to shine upon Thy servant;
Save me in Thy lovingkindness.
NASB
 
We should always want this, but at the same time, we need to make sure that we are living in His heavenly will.
 
Let’s move on to Matthew 27:11-54 and internalize what we read so that we can understand it and feel it from Jesus’ perspective.
 
11. Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor questioned Him, saying, "Are You the King of the Jews?" And Jesus said to him, "It is as you say."
 
Jesus knew that the religious leaders wanted to kill Him, and He made no attempt to hide who He was to the authority who could carry out His death sentence.
 
This is the kind of faith that we all need.
 
12. And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He made no answer.
 
Both Jesus and His accusers knew that they were twisting the truth before the governor so Jesus didn’t respond.
 
Could we do that?
 
13. Then Pilate said to Him, "Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?"
 
14. And He did not answer him with regard to even a single charge, so that the governor was quite amazed.
 
In cases like this, we need to realize that silence can speak louder than words.
 
15. Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the multitude any one prisoner whom they wanted.
 
Thus, if the people who praised Him when He entered Jerusalem stood by Him, they could have asked for His release.
 
16. And they were holding at that time a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas.
 
We are told about him to let us understand that the people had a conscious decision to make; they could ask for the Prince of Peace to be released or this criminal.
 
17. When therefore they were gathered together, Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want me to release for you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?"
 
From this statement it seems obvious that Pilate knew that Jesus was not an ordinary man.
 
18. For he knew that because of envy they had delivered Him up.
 
Pilate also knew that the religious leaders were jealous of Jesus and that they were afraid of losing their positions and money and for that reason they wanted to get rid of Jesus.
 
19. And while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, "Have nothing to do with that righteous Man; for last night I suffered greatly in a dream because of Him."
 
Pilate’s wife also knew the truth about who Jesus was, and she heard from the Holy Spirit.
 
20. But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the multitudes to ask for Barabbas, and to put Jesus to death.
 
Notice, as Jesus obviously did, that the religious leaders were persuading the people to go against the heavenly will of God in favor of the corrupt and evil ways of this world.
 
21. But the governor answered and said to them, "Which of the two do you want me to release for you?" And they said, "Barabbas."
 
Even some of the people who praised Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem turned against Him and God, and they had to know what they were doing, which is something that we really need to think about.
 
Also, we need to feel the betrayal that Jesus must have felt.
 
The people He came to save turned on Him and wanted Him to be tortured to death.  
 
22. Pilate said to them, "Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?" They all said, "Let Him be crucified!"
 
These kinds of statements can only be uttered by hard of heart people who valued the evilness in this world more than they valued heaven.
 
This is the same kind of weakness that sends billion of animals to death every year.
 
It is pure evil!
 
23. And he said, "Why, what evil has He done?" But they kept shouting all the more, saying, "Let Him be crucified!"
 
24. And when Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the multitude, saying, "I am innocent of this Man's blood; see to that yourselves."
 
This does nothing to alleviate Pilate’s guilt; it just shows that he is really part of the evil world system of violence and death.
 
We are all responsible for our actions.
 
And in spite of all of these evil ways, Jesus came to save us and show us the truth.
 
25. And all the people answered and said, "His blood be on us and on our children!"
 
It definitely was, as well as on any of us who follow the corrupt ways of this world instead of the peaceful teachings of Jesus and the heavenly will of God.
 
26. Then he released Barabbas for them; but after having Jesus scourged, he delivered Him to be crucified.
 
A Roman scourging was no simple whipping; it ripped some of the skin off of the person’s back, which added to their torture of being crucified for their raw and open back would rub against the rough wood of the cross.
 
27. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole Roman cohort around Him.
 
They did this to mock Him, but we suspect that some of them knew who He was, which makes them responsible for their actions.
 
28. And they stripped Him, and put a scarlet robe on Him.
 
They dressed Him as someone very important, but they did it to mock Him.
 
29. And after weaving a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand; and they kneeled down before Him and mocked Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!"
 
Knowing Jesus, I don’t believe He was angry with them as much as He felt sorrow for them for their ignorance.
 
We should never mock anyone.
 
30. And they spat on Him, and took the reed and began to beat Him on the head.
 
This is just another example of their mocking behavior.
 
31. And after they had mocked Him, they took His robe off and put His garments on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him.
 
And His torture continued.
 
32. And as they were coming out, they found a man of Cyrene named Simon, whom they pressed into service to bear His cross.
 
Normally, part of the Roman torture was to force their victims to carry their own crosses, but they must have realized that Jesus was too weak to carry His own.
 
33. And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, which means Place of a Skull,
 
This was also the place of torturous death.
 
34. they gave Him wine to drink mingled with gall; and after tasting it, He was unwilling to drink.
 
It was very bitter, but it was really meant to prolong the person’s torture.
 
35. And when they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments among themselves, casting lots;
 
Try to imagine the horrible pain that Jesus was feeling while this was happening.
 
36. and sitting down, they began to keep watch over Him there.
 
This was mostly to prevent someone from trying to take him off the cross.
 
37. And they put up above His head the charge against Him which read, "THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS."
 
We believe that this sign was mostly a sign against the religious leaders and a way of letting them and the world know that they were killing an innocent man.
 
Besides the horrible agony that Jesus must have been in, we can’t help trying to think about what Jesus must have been thinking, but I don’t believe that there was even a thought about revenge.
 
38. At that time two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and one on the left.
 
Remember that in those days even robbers were tortured to death by the Romans.
 
39. And those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads,
 
Rightly so did God say in Genesis 8:21, mankind is evil from his or her youth.
 
40. and saying, "You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."
 
Even as Jesus was being tortured to death, many of the very people whom He came to save were still mocking Him.
 
They didn’t seem to have any sense of compassion or empathy; they were just selfish hard of heart people.
 
41. In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking Him, and saying,
 
Even the religious leaders lacked any true sense of empathy, and to this very day we have many clergy who act in similar ways.
 
42. "He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we shall believe in Him.
 
Jesus obviously knew that this was a lie because they saw all the miracles He had performed previously and for reasons of jealousy they wanted Him to be tortured to death.
 
They were religious leaders of the devil and not God.
 
43. "He trusts in God; let Him deliver Him now, if He takes pleasure in Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"
 
And they continued their mocking.
 
We hear from vegans all the time who face similar mocking in the churches today.
 
This shows that these clergy are not followers of Jesus as they claim.
 
They are no better that the ones who helped put Jesus to death.
 
44. And the robbers also who had been crucified with Him were casting the same insult at Him.
 
Elsewhere, we are told that one of the robbers repented, but this version omits that.
 
45. Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour.
 
The sixth hour was noon and the ninth is 3:00 in the afternoon, which means that this darkness was from God as a message from God about their hardness of heart.
 
He was showing the people that they were of the darkness and that Jesus was of the Light.
 
46. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? "that is," My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"
 
This was obviously from the human part of Jesus due to His agony.
 
47. And some of those who were standing there, when they heard it, began saying, "This man is calling for Elijah."
 
Obviously He was not, for why would He call for a man instead of His Father.
 
48. And immediately one of them ran, and taking a sponge, he filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink.
 
Sour wine is turning to vinegar, so it would only add to His misery.  
 
49. But the rest of them said, "Let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him."
 
They still weren’t believing in Him.
 
They seemed to only be there for reasons of curiosity.
 
50. And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.
 
This time He was obviously calling to His Father.
 
51. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth shook; and the rocks were split,
 
This also is obviously coming from God as a witness against the people.
 
52. and the tombs were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;
 
53. and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many.
 
This was also a witness to the people to bring as many as possible to repentance.
 
54. Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, "Truly this was the Son of God!"
NASB
 
If they even believed, then what was the excuse of the others then and many others to this very day?
 
They must be hard of heart and refuse to believe.
 
What about us?
 
Do we believe?
 
Are we seeing and feeling things from Jesus’ perspective?
 
I hope and pray we are.
 
Amen?
 
Amen.

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