Mark chapter 15 and verse 26. And the superscription of his
accusation was written over, the king of the Jews. And with
him they crucified two thieves, the one on his right hand and
the other on his left. And the scripture was fulfilled
which saith, and he was numbered with the transgressors. And they
that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads and saying,
Ah, thou that destroyest the temple and buildest it in three
days, save thyself and come down from the cross. Likewise also
the chief priests, mocking, said among themselves with the scribes,
he saved others, himself he cannot save. Let Christ the King of
Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe,
and they that were crucified with him reviled him. Amen. May the Lord bless to us this
reading also from his word. There would be no mistaking that
it was the Lord Jesus Christ who was crucified this day. Not only did the chief priests
and the scribes and the Pharisees make the journey beyond the city
walls in order to mark and to observe the execution of the
Lord Jesus Christ, but Pilate also wrote Jesus' name and his
crime and fixed it to the cross. Mark calls this the superscription
of his accusation. That might seem a little bit
of a mouthful, but it's just very straightforward when you
think about it. A superscription is what is written
above. And so here was this superscription
written by Pilate, or at least commanded by Pilate to be written,
and fastened above Jesus' head his cross and this was the superscription
of his accusation. It told the people who this person
was and what he had been accused of. Now this was not altogether an
unusual thing, and it's probably quite likely that those who were
crucified with Jesus, we read about these two thieves that
were crucified with the Lord Jesus Christ, it's probably quite
likely that they had similar notice of their names and their
crimes on their crosses too, detailing the particulars about
them. But Jesus' superscription was
different. Pilate wrote, this is Jesus of
Nazareth, the king of the Jews. And he wrote it in three different
languages. He wrote it in Greek, in Latin,
and in Hebrew. So there was no one going to
be under any mistake or misunderstanding as to what this event was about. It's quite possible that Pilate
wrote these words, as he did, in order to goad and provoke
the Jewish religious leaders, and as it were, to somewhat humiliate
the Jewish people. And if that was his intention,
I think he succeeded. The Jewish leaders came to Pilate,
And they said, write not the King of the Jews, but that he
said, I am King of the Jews. You can see the difference in
there. Don't write that he is the King of the Jews. Write simply
that he said he was. And Pilate refused, because he
knew what he was doing. With all the authority and the
power of Rome, which was the law of that day and that place,
he said, I didn't execute Jesus of Nazareth because he said he
was the king of the Jews. I crucified him because you said
he was the king of the Jews. I executed your king. And that reason was the reason
alone, because there was no other justifiable grounds to execute
Christ. Pilate knew that. Pilate knew
that he had been delivered for spite, for envy by these Jewish
leaders. And so he said, this is the only
legitimate reason that I can crucify this man, that he is
the king of the Jews. And I don't think that we should
let that fact pass unnoticed. In fact, quite a lot of our thoughts
today, my sermon today, is going to be based on the things that
these enemies of Christ actually said. and we'll see how that
develops in a moment or two. But we shouldn't let this fact
pass unnoticed that the pilot, the governor, established at
this time. And whether it's from Isaiah's
prophecy or Pilate's superscription, we can clearly recognize the
testimony that Jesus of Nazareth was King of the Jews. Isaiah's testimony was this,
in Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 6. He says this, For unto us
a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government
shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful,
Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. Of the increase of his government
and peace there shall be no end. upon the throne of David and
upon his kingdom to order it and to establish it with judgment
and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the
Lord of hosts will perform this. So that Isaiah in the Old Testament
was already prophesying about the royal nature and the kingly
office that this son, this child who was born, this son that was
given would fulfill and accomplish. And indeed, the people of Israel
always looked forward to this Royal Messiah. Do you remember
when the Lord Jesus Christ fed the 5,000? 5,000 men, we're told,
probably many thousands more, with the five loaves and two
fishies. What was it that the people wanted
to do? They wanted to carry Him immediately
and make Him King. And a number of those who were
healed by the Lord Jesus cried out about his kingship and his
royal lineage, that he was the son of David. So the Messiah
was recognised. and so the Lord Jesus Christ
was understood. And the church of Christ will
always find this royal view of the Lord Jesus Christ very blessed
when we consider it. Christ is our king. Christ is our governor. Christ is governing his kingdom
even now. And whether we think of him in
his kingship over all things or simply in his rule and role
as king within that kingdom which is the church, we find great
beauty and great blessing in considering this regal role of
the Lord Jesus Christ. He is king in his kingdom, he
is king of kings. and Lord of Lords. He governs
and rules, he upholds and supports, he pardons and rewards, he favours
and blesses all his kingdom. He has made all his people to
be kings and priests. He has anointed us as his sons
and daughters to be princes and princesses in his kingdom. and also the Lord Jesus Christ's
kingdom is a kingdom that lasts forever. His dominion shall have
no end. Peter and James and John and
the disciples, they were looking for an earthly throne with Christ
sitting upon it and them acting as his prime minister or his
counsellors or whatever it might have been. But this kingdom which
Christ has established is a spiritual kingdom. And how blessed we are
to be subjects of such a kingdom, heirs of such an inheritance,
and united together with Christ, such a royal personage. And we have seen how Christ crucified
between the two thieves fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah that stated
he was numbered with the transgressors. And we've also seen, I made mention
of it in that little introduction, how that at every turn the Jews
and the Romans fulfilled what had been foretold concerning
the Messiah and his sufferings. And so they testified almost
by everything that they said and did, albeit unintentionally,
to the Saviour's true identity. The very words that they spoke
in mockery of Christ were lifted directly from the Psalms and
the Prophets. Psalm 22 verse 8 says, He trusted
on the Lord that He would deliver him. Let him deliver him, seeing
he delighted in him. But it's to another one of these
scorners' remarks that I want us to turn our consideration
today. In verse 31 we read these words. Likewise also, the chief priests
mocking said among themselves with the scribes, he saved others,
himself he cannot save. And you may have noticed as you
were coming in, that's the title of our sermon today, Himself
He Cannot Save. We can see how in crying out
these words, shouting them out to the Lord as he hung on the
cross, shouting them across the ground to one another in their
mockery and in their scorn, we can see how they confirmed the
truth of the Lord having saved others. The Lord's healing was
a salvation of a sort. It was a deliverance out of the
possession of demons and out of the infirmities of the flesh. It spoke of a deliverance and
life-giving miracles that the Lord Jesus Christ had been performing
for now three years in his earthly ministry. And he did, by the
testimony of these men, save many indeed. And yet these people,
in saying what they did, he cannot save himself, also testified
to his role as God's sacrificial lamb. Come to bear, come to pay
for, come to take away the sins of his people. Himself He cannot
save, they cried out. These were pure words from foul
mouths. Our precious Saviour would not,
could not, did not save Himself from all the humiliation, from
all the anguish, from all the pain. He would not, He could
not because our salvation hinged upon it. Now I'm going to give you 10
reasons why the Lord Jesus Christ did not save himself. Don't worry
about the time, I'm watching that, I'm aware of the clock.
But here are 10 reasons why himself he cannot save. And we are going
to have an overview right now pretty much of the whole Gospel.
Here's the first one. Our Lord Jesus Christ had covenanted
with God the Father to represent and to stand surety for all those
elected to salvation. Therefore, himself he cannot
save. In the eternal councils of peace,
Christ was already set up as the lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. and the names of all those for
whom Christ stood were written in the Lamb's Book of Life. They
were already justified in God's sight, premised upon the fact
that the Lord Jesus Christ would die for them. If the Lord Jesus
Christ had come down from the cross, it would have torn apart
the covenant of grace. It would have emptied heaven
of God's sanctified people. It would have set the Father
against the Son for all eternity. It was impossible that Christ
should save himself and come down off the cross. Here's a
second reason. The Lord Jesus Christ had also
covenanted with God the Holy Spirit. Throughout the Old Testament,
the Holy Spirit had already quickened saints with faith as the earnest
of their salvation and inheritance. Abraham had faith. David had faith. Rahab and Hannah
and Ruth were all women of faith, men and women upon whom God the
Holy Spirit had worked with quickening power to bring them to a knowledge
of the truth, to look forward to the death of the Lord Jesus
Christ as the grounds of their acceptance with God. promises had been made to those
people and belief in those promises had been implanted by God the
Holy Spirit on the grounds of Christ's sacrificial death and
his cleansing blood. The Old Testament saints were
already in possession of their reward. They looked to the sacrifices
upon the altar. They looked to the blood that
was spilled from the lambs and the bullocks and the doves. But
they saw beyond that to the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Is it possible that the Spirit's
work upon all of these people had been in vain? The Spirit's work would have
been in vain had Christ come down from the cross. The Son
and the Spirit would have disagreed and the unity of the triune God
would have been broken. It is unthinkable that the Lord
Jesus Christ could save himself. Here's the third reason. The
Lord Jesus Christ loved his bride and had loved that bride everlastingly. Christ's love is stronger than
death. And these, his people that he
loved, these, his people for whom he died, they were the travail
of his soul and they satisfied him. Christ made satisfaction
for sin by his blood and he obtained satisfaction in his people by
his sufferings. Christ loved us before the foundation
of the world. He loved us the day that he hung
upon the cross and he doesn't change. It was love that brought
him into the world, love that prepared him for his ministry
and it was love that took him to the cross. Jesus Christ is
the same yesterday, today and forever. He loves us still and
he always will. We satisfy Christ. We fulfil
Christ. We are united to Christ. He is our lover. He is our husband. And in the most profound way
conceivable, we are united to him as his body, he our head. It is not possible that Christ
would save himself and lose his bride. As the bridegroom rejoiceth over
the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. Christ loved the church
and gave himself for it. Here's the fourth reason why
the Lord Jesus Christ could not save himself. It was a question
of obedience. It was a question of obedience.
Yes, the Lord Jesus Christ was a willing sacrifice. But having volunteered to serve,
now his death was a matter of obedience. In dying, he did the
will of his father. He was obedient unto death. Had our Saviour come down from
the cross, if he had saved himself, it would have been in flagrant
disregard of his father's will. And yet he himself had declared
in Psalm 40, verse 8, I delight to do thy will, O my God. Yea, thy law is within my heart. It was the Lord's delight to
do the will of the Father, even if it involved his suffering
on the cross. And then in Hebrews chapter 10,
verse 7, we read, Then said I, Lo, I come to do thy will. The Lord God prepared a body
for Christ with the intent that he should carry our sins in that
body, on that cross. And in anticipation, in the Lord's
high priestly prayer in John chapter 17, verse 4, the Lord
Jesus Christ prayed, I have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished
the work which thou gavest me to do. And remember what the
Lord said in the Garden of Gethsemane, O my Father, if this cup may
not pass away from me except I drink it, thy will be done. Don't tell me now that Christ
changed his mind. It was impossible. for him to
come down off the cross. Himself he cannot save. Here's the fifth reason why this
was so. The Lord Jesus Christ had personally
promised his disciples that he would lay down his life for them. In John chapter 10, verse 11
and 14, he says, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth
his life for the sheep. I am the good shepherd and know
my sheep and am known of mine. He promised them, fear not, little
flock, for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the
kingdom. Could he now renege on his promise
to his disciples after all he had taught them, after all he
had said, after all that he had demonstrated of his love and
his faithfulness and his grace and his mercy to them? Could
he renege on that promise to them now? If all the promises
of God in him are yea and in him amen, how can they now fall
to the ground? Let me make this point a little
bit more pertinent to today's message, if I, today's verses,
today's passage, if I may. Matthew tells us concerning this
passage in the parallel reading, the thieves also, which were
crucified with him, cast the same scorn and abuse in his teeth. That's what Matthew says. Mark
tells us that the two thieves that were crucified on either
side, on the left hand and on the right hand, they reviled
him. But this is interesting. Luke
tells us something else. Luke informs us that at some
time during this morning, One of the thieves repented and sought
forgiveness from Christ. Now the matter of his repentance
and the circumstances of his repentance and the means by which
that repentance was obtained, the work of the Holy Spirit upon
him, that quickening grace is the subject for another day.
but it took place, it transpired. And here was a sinner who moments
earlier had been casting the same in Jesus' teeth and reviling
him, now pleading for forgiveness and for the Saviour's grace and
mercy. We read these words in Luke chapter
23. And he said unto Jesus, Lord,
remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said
unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in
paradise. Today shalt thou be with me in
paradise. What a promise that was. These
chief priests and Sadducees and Pharisees, they cried, himself
he cannot save. himself he cannot save any more
than he could deny his own promises and lie to a dying man and disappoint
his own people. Here's the sixth reason that
the Lord could not save himself. Christ had already established
his kingdom that cannot be moved. It would have been a self-contradiction. He was now ruling as king in
his kingdom. He had preached the gospel of
the kingdom. He had gone about populating
that kingdom. He declared, this gospel of the
kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto
all nations and then shall the end come. Saving himself from
death would jeopardise his kingdom, ruin his subjects, deny his own
royal title. The Lord Jesus Christ could not
save himself because he must die to gain the victory over
death. He had to enter the grave to
defeat the grave. He must die in order to rise
again. The Jews were right. For all that they were wrong,
they were right. He cannot save himself. For doing so, he would have elevated
Satan's kingdom above his own kingdom, and that could never
happen. Christ partook, we're told in
Hebrews 2, verses 14 and 15, of flesh and blood, that through
death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that
is, the devil. and deliver them who through
fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Brothers and sisters, this is
you and me that the writer to the Hebrews is talking about.
The Lord Jesus Christ took our flesh and blood. He went to the
cross to die for us that through death he might destroy the devil
and the power of death. We have no fear of death or we
shouldn't have. We have nothing to fear in death. I'm just getting ready to send
out the new Focus magazine. It'll go out in a few days time. There's a beautiful article in
there about Christ's funeral. Do take time and have a read
at it when the magazine comes to you. Here's the seventh reason
why the Lord Jesus Christ could not come down from the cross.
The Lord Jesus Christ had come to die. The Lord Jesus Christ
had come to take away his people's sin. He had come to become our
sin, to take that sin and to legally and honestly and completely
carry our judgement, to redeem us with his own blood. The law demanded justice and
Christ must fulfil all righteousness. God demanded holiness and Christ
must atone for the sins of his people. Heaven cannot be made
unholy. Nothing unholy could ever enter
into heaven. There would be no heaven for
sinners if the Lord Jesus Christ did not make us holy. But heaven
shall be home to the spirits of just men made perfect. And now was the moment. Now was
the day. Jesus hung on the cross and paid
the price. And angels watched and waited
in wonder. and the demons of hell trembled,
and the elect of God patiently anticipated the finished work. Would Christ fail and leave the
law unfulfilled? Would he leave the debt unpaid? Would he leave the chosen people
in chains, unredeemed, in captivity? It was against and opposed to
everything that had ever been said and done and testified to. himself he cannot save, for he
must save his own. Here's the eighth reason why
the Lord Jesus Christ had to stay on the cross. Christ's continuing
work of intercession in heaven for us today is based on his
successfully atoning for our sins. Each time we sin, each
time Satan accuses us of sin, it is the blood of Christ that
avails for us. The shed blood of Jesus Christ. Hebrews tells us that the Lord
Jesus Christ, by His own blood, entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. Wherefore
He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto
God by Him. seeing he ever liveth to make
intercession for them. What a beautiful, beautiful verse. What a beautiful principle upon
which to hang our faith. That the Lord Jesus Christ is
able to save to the uttermost all that come to God by him,
seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. Had Jesus
Christ saved himself, there would have been no redemption, There
would have been no intercession and there would be no salvation.
The ninth reason is this. The Lord Jesus Christ had told
his disciples, I go to prepare a place for you. He could not
save himself and prepare their heavenly mansions. He could not
come down from the cross and secure their eternal rest. The
road to heaven was via the death of the cross. And let's just think about these
high priests and their scribes and their Pharisees. Look what
they were doing when they made this jibe at the Lord and said,
himself he cannot save. He saved others, himself he cannot
save. These men were trying to negotiate
with the Lord Jesus Christ. And ultimately we could press
the point to say they were trying to negotiate their own salvation. And some people try to do business
with God. They try to negotiate with God. These Jews said, descend now
from the cross that we may see and believe. Do you see that?
The impertinence and the hypocrisy of these men was without boundary. Descend now from the cross that
we may see and believe. Around the cross of Jesus Christ
that day, these men were declaring, Jesus, you have got lots of potential
believers here. All you have to do is come down
from the cross. Let us see your power and we
will believe in you. but the Lord Jesus Christ is
not looking for such believers. The Lord Jesus Christ does not
look for believers who see with the eyes of the flesh. He is looking for those who have
faith. Blessed are those who do not
see and yet believe. The holes in his hands and in
his feet. All the Lord had to do was come
down and these people would believe. But he stayed upon the cross
because he had a people to save. He had mansions to prepare and
he could not come down from the cross and save himself. Here's
our 10th reason. The Lord Jesus Christ could not
save himself because he must be glorified. and there is no
glory in failure. He must finish the work that
he was given to do. He must declare it is finished. There's no glory in unfinished
business. The Lord said in John chapter
17, I have glorified thee on earth, I have finished the work
which thou gavest me to do, and now, O Father, glorify thou me
with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before
the world was. The Lord Jesus Christ is all
in all, and he will be seen and acknowledged to be All in all,
before worlds and angels and principalities and powers, and
a day will come when every knee shall bow before the Lord Jesus
Christ, and every neck will bend, including these proud scorners
that stood around the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. But we see Jesus, who was made
a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned
with glory and honour, that he by the grace of God should taste
death for every man. For it became him for whom are
all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons
unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through
sufferings. The Lord Jesus Christ could not
save himself. The Lord Jesus Christ did not
save himself. He who loved us was too busy
saving us and giving himself for our sin. May the Lord bless
these thoughts to us today. Amen.