THE NEED FOR A SAVIOR

Introduction

A savior can only be needed if one is in a state or condition from which he needs to be delivered. Not only must they need to be delivered but one must also know that he needs deliverance.

When I was a Boy Scout we earned merit badges. One such badge was for helping people; I've forgotten the exact name of it. But I do remember searching for a way to help someone. The following story reflects the Scouts' zeal for helping. It seems this little old lady was standing on the street corner looking about when a Scout seeing the light had just changed rushed to help her. He quickly grabbed her arm and nudging some people aside guided her to step from the curb and walk across the street. When they reached the other side he let go of her arm and smiled broadly waiting for a thank you. The little old lady, however, had other thoughts. She looked at him, removing his smile with a very scornful look and sternly asked, "Young man, what made you think I wanted to cross the street?" She did not need or want to cross the street.

My father liked to tell a story of how he helped an older lady cross the terminal at the airport. He was working as a dispatcher for the limo service at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and often had opportunity to help people get to places in the metro area or just find places in the airport itself.

This particular lady was rather old and moved slowly. She truly needed help crossing the crowded terminal but during the trip she needed even more help for something else. As my father was escorting her she tugged on his arm and made him stop his progress through the crowd. Assuming she had changed her mind or maybe just needed to rest my father, patient man that he was, stopped and waited a few seconds. Ready to again take up the journey, he was thinking of getting her to her destination and then getting on with his business. She again tugged on his arm and he asked her what she wanted. He had to get really close to hear her quiet voice in the crowd of people that were moving about them. She told him, "My under garment has fallen to the floor around my feet."

You can probably picture the situation. My father very calmly told her he would hold her purse and she could pull them back up. Then, as if nothing had happened, the trip across the terminal was completed. Probably very few noticed. There was a need and there was a greater need. We can all probably draw some proper comparisons in our lives and maybe the lives of our loved ones.

We have often noted that man's biggest problem is sin and we do need to be delivered from its power and ultimate consequences. Many never realize that need and see little value in a savior. Some seek a savior but are never quite contented with what they find. Still others yearn for a savior, but do not know how or for what to look.

The Jewish world into which Jesus was born needed a savior. The rest of the world did also just as we do now, but we want to look at the Jews because we have a historical record of their relationship with God.

The condition of the Jewish nation when Jesus lived on the earth.

In this lesson we want to look at the needs of the world into which Jesus came and then draw some parallels to our world now. Josephus was a Jewish priest who was captured by the Roman forces when they overran Galilee in AD 68 or 69. In his History of the Jewish Wars, commissioned by the Roman leaders, Book 5, chapter 10 he says:
It is therefore impossible to go distinctly over every instance of these men's iniquity. I shall therefore speak my mind here at once briefly: That neither did any other city ever suffer such miseries, nor did any age ever breed a generation more fruitful in wickedness that this was, from the beginning of the world.

In Book 5, chapter 13 it is as though Josephus recalls the words of Jesus, "It will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorra in the day of judgment than for that city!" Josephus records:
and here I cannot but speak my mind, and what the concern I am under dictates to me, and it is this: I suppose, that had the Romans made any longer delay in coming against these villains, the city would either have been swallowed up by the ground opening upon them, or been overflowed by water, or else been destroyed by such thunder as the country of Sodom perished by, for it had brought forth a generation of men much more atheistical than were those that suffered such punishments; for by their madness it was that all the people came to be destroyed.

Josephus, Book 6, chapter 9 further records:
a city that had been liable to so many miseries during the siege, that, had it always enjoyed as much happiness from its first foundation, it would certainly have been the envy of the world. Nor did it on any other account so much deserve these sore misfortunes, as by producing such a generation of men as were the occasions of this its overthrow.

(quotes are from William Whiston's translation of Josephus' works)

Jesus said of his generation not only as noted above about Sodom and Gomorra but many other things as well. The two biggest problems for the Jews were probably the general failure of many to serve from the heart and the hypocrisy of the Jewish religious leaders. He told the rich young ruler to sell all that he had, Luke 18:22. He told the Scribes and Pharisees that they made their converts twice fold the children of hell as they were. Matthew 23:15. John the baptist also spoke of the evil of the leaders, Matthew 3:7:
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

It must also be noted that many did hear him and many believed on him to be the Messiah. Many came to be baptized by Jesus and John to complete their repentance. Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem as recorded in John 12:12-15, bears out that many were seeking salvation. The Pharisees' statement about these things is noteworthy as recorded in John 12:19:
The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, "You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!"

Many saw the greed, arrogance, pride and hypocrisy of the Jewish religious leaders. They saw the sins that abounded among those that had wealth. This was wealth which was often gained at the oppression of others. The account of Zacchaeus, the tax collector (Luke 19) bears this out. You will remember that Zacchaeus gave half to the poor and restored forefold if he took anything by false accusation. Jesus was pleased with this.

Many then longed for a Savior, they needed a savior and they knew that they needed deliverance. They knew the need but they did not understand how. Paul's identification of the prophets' revelation as "the mystery" shows this lack of understanding by all. The gospel of course revealed the mystery. The Jews who lived when Jesus walked the earth knew the promises of the prophets and they anticipated the fulfillment in their time. Of what could they hope, dream, and plan? What would be the cost of having salvation? Jesus words in the sermon on the mount as they longed for better times must have been a sure source of encouragement. When Jesus said Blessed are the poor in spirit, that was them; the lesson applied to them.

Blessed are they that mourn, many were in sorrow at the state of their nation.

Blessed are the meek, many were put down and controlled by those with the power to keep others in their service.

Just think about the comfort that must have been felt as Jesus said:
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness
Blessed are the merciful

When Jesus said Blessed are the pure in heart, Blessed are the peacemakers, and Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, no doubt many looked into their own hearts to find their commitment, devotion and willingness to pay the price. We too must look into our hearts and find our commitment, devotion and willingness to serve the only true and living God and His designated Messiah for the whole world then, now and forever, our Lord Jesus.

For what could they hope?

Forgiveness -- Psalms 130:3-6
If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 4 But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared. 5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, And in His word I do hope. 6 My soul waits for the Lord More than those who watch for the morning-- Yes, more than those who watch for the morning.

Restored relationship with God -- Psalms 80:17-19
Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand, Upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself. 18 Then we will not turn back from You; Revive us, and we will call upon Your name. 19 Restore us, O Lord God of hosts; Cause Your face to shine, And we shall be saved!

Judgment -- Malachi 4:1-3
"For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up," Says the Lord of hosts, "That will leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings; And you shall go out And grow fat like stall-fed calves. 3 You shall trample the wicked, For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet On the day that I do this," Says the Lord of hosts.

End of people who did not serve from the heart -- Deuteronomy 28:47-49
Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything, 48 "therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of everything; and He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you. 49 "The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand.

They would not see a righteous kingdom until they served with joy and gladness. How was this possible that all would serve with joy and gladness? Listen as we continue with the promises.

There would be:
justice -- Jeremiah 31:29-30
an end of heartless worship -- Jeremiah 31:33-34
a new Covenant -- Jeremiah 31:31 The passage in Jeremiah reads beginning in verse 29:
In those days they shall say no more: "The fathers have eaten sour grapes, And the children's teeth are set on edge." 30 "But every one shall die for his own iniquity; every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge. 31 Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah-- 32 "not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. 33 "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 "No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, `Know the Lord,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."
An end of death caused by sin (for those who want it)-- Genesis 3:22-24
Then the Lord God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever" -- 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

Where do we find the tree of life again. Revelation 22:14 records:
Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.
Man lost the right to eat of the tree of life by Adams sin. Jesus came bringing forgiveness for sin. The tree of life is restored. How can anyone place the fulfillment of Revelation in some modern day or even future setting when we have had forgiveness through Christ for almost 2000 years?
a turning from sin -- Ezekiel 33:10-11
Therefore you, O son of man, say to the house of Israel: Thus you say, "If our transgressions and our sins lie upon us, and we pine away in them, how can we then live?" 11 Say to them: "As I live," says the Lord God, "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?"
a new kingdom -- Daniel 2:44
And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.
the New Jerusalem -- Isaiah 65:18-19
a new Heaven and Earth -- Isaiah 65:17 Note the passage - 65:17-19:
"For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. 18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing, And her people a joy. 19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem, And joy in My people; The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, Nor the voice of crying.
Once again from Revelation - Chapter 21:1-4
Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."
Jesus said these things would take place in that generation - Matthew 24:34. Jesus said as recorded in Luke 21:20-33
But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. 21 "Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. 22 "For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. 23 "But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. 24 "And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. 25 " And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; 26 "men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven will be shaken. 27 "Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 "Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near." 29 Then He spoke to them a parable: "Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. 30 "When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near. 31 "So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. 32 "Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place.

Hebrews 9:27 says, "It is appointed unto man once to die after that the judgment." Is your heart pure? Are you willing to make the commitment? Will you pay the price for serving Jesus? Salvation is what we all need -- because we all sin. Will we be like the Jews of old who perished in Jerusalem with no hope of everlasting life? They perished because they thought they needed something that Jesus never intended to give them, they wanted a physical kingdom and rule on the earth. Jesus brought more, he brought forgiveness. Do we need it?

Do we want to be in His kingdom? Do we want to dwell in righteousness? Do we want justice? Do we want to serve in joy and gladness of heart? What is it that we need? Do we need to obey God's word, turn from our sins and seek his forgiveness? May we stand with the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those who hunger for righteousness and those who need God's mercy.

Remember the little ole ladies? The one might not have even known what she needed. It sure wasn't to get across the street. There will always be someone who will take us where we don't need to go and we can let them or we might stand firm not moved from our hope.

The other older lady, knew what her problem was and that she needed to do something about it. It wasn't going to be easy, but she needed to do it anyway. She couldn't really go far unless she swallowed her pride and did what she needed to do. Just as her, we sometimes must swallow our pride, pick up our drawers from around our feet and march proudly on to our destination.