I Died that Day
If you have seen The Princess Bride, you might recognize the title of today’s post. Buttercup has been kidnapped by the Dread Pirate Roberts and he is telling her of killing the love of her life, Wesley. In the heat of the moment and in passionate voice, Buttercup exclaims, “I died that day.” What day? The day she heard that her greatest love, the one who loved her, died.
Today we celebrate Good Friday. Why are we talking about Buttercup? Let me explain.
We have heard what happened that Friday, almost two thousand years ago.1 We know that Jesus was falsely accused, treated shamefully, mocked and scorned, whipped, and had a crown of thorns pressed into his head. We know that he carried his cross to Calvary where he would be nailed to it and lifted up for all to see. We know that he suffered, hanging on the cross for six hours until it was finished. We know a spear was jabbed into his side and the blood and water flowed. We know he was taken down and rushed to be buried. We know he was laid in a tomb and a stone was rolled before the entrance.
We have heard of the suffering and death of Jesus, and it is often difficult to stomach the details. But what does this mean?
Jesus died to atone for the sin of his people. All of humanity has rebelled against God and deserves nothing else but the just punishment of his infinite wrath. But God, who is rich in mercy, sent his Son to die the death that we deserve. In Jesus’ death, the penalty for sin was laid on him. All of the wrath that should have been ours has been poured out upon our Savior. There is not one drop of wrath left for us; there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:1).
As wonderful, grand, and magnificent as this truth is, Good Friday means more than that for God’s people. It is not all that Jesus accomplished. And to look at another aspect of the death of Christ, we will use Romans 6:1-11.
Paul finishes chapter 5 with a statement that might cause some to abuse grace. He says, “Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (5:20). Paul, knowing how some might think about this, moves to head their thinking off at the pass in chapter 6.
1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?
This might sound like a ludicrous question: “So should we continue to sin a lot so that grace is more magnified?” But Paul is anticipating that when you preach the grace of the gospel of Jesus Christ in the way he did (and the way we should), some may conclude that we can go on sinning without much of a care because Christ paid for our sins. They reason, “That should make God’s grace look even more gracious!” I think Paul would say, “Now, that’s ludicrous!” Well he does say something like that and adds something that may cause his readers to scratch their heads:
2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
Paul’s reason here for us not continuing in sin is not that Jesus died to pay the penalty for sin. It’s something else: we died to sin. What does that mean? Paul can you explain a bit more?
3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
Paul acts like this is something his readers should know! We were united with Christ in his death.2 We were even buried with him. We were placed in the dark, cold tomb with him, and had the stone rolled over us! As Paul says elsewhere, we have been crucified with Christ (Gal 2:20). This doesn’t mean that we atoned for our sin along with Jesus. It means that, in a sense, we died with him. The answer to the questions posed in the hymn Were You There? is, “Yes, yes I was,” if you are in Christ.
There is mystery here, but why is this mystery so important for us, Paul?
6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
This is not talking about us being set free from the penalty of sin. Paul is speaking of our freedom from the power of sin. In the death of Christ, the oppression of sin, and its powerful influence and control is broken for us. We were slaves to it. It is as if we lived in the realm of sin. The empire of sin was our home, our prison. But no more.
Why must this be true, Paul?
9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Why is this true? Because Christ died to sin. And since we died with him, we died to sin as well. He also gives a short analogy to help us understand it. Just as Jesus has been raised from the dead, and now death no longer has any power over him, we should consider ourselves released from the power of sin (and death) in the same way.
Yes, we still sin and struggle with it because we still live in this fallen world. We still have a taste for the old life and too often want to go back to the old ways. We live with a foot in the old world and a foot in the new world, so to speak. However, we await the time when the final severing with sin — the old life and the old world — will take place at our death or Jesus’ return. Oh what a glorious thought!
Now, to help us drink this in a bit more, let’s use some biblical imagery to illustrate what we’ve been saying.
Think of the Red Sea event. Moses and the Israelites have escaped (almost) the oppressive empire of Egypt, but have found themselves trapped with a great sea in front of them and the Egyptian army behind. Yet, God makes a way for his people by parting the Red Sea. The people were baptized into Moses that day (1 Cor 10:1-2) as he, the covenant mediator, led the people through the deadly waters to dry, safe, and free ground on the other side. But they aren’t free yet. The Lord causes the waters to come crashing down upon the Egyptian army. It is then that a severing took place. The power, authority, and oppression of Egypt came to an end.3
What a great illustration for what happened to us the day Jesus died! We were under the power, authority, and oppression of sin. The army of sin had wedged us in with nowhere to go. But God made a way for us to be released! When we died with Christ, when we were baptized into him, he, the mediator, led us into freedom. He led us through the deadly waters, through death itself. The judgment waters came crashing down on him, and he condemned sin in the flesh that we might be free to walk by the Spirit (Rom 8:1-4). A severing has taken place. Sin has been conquered for us by our Savior. If the Son has set you free, you are free indeed!
This all has implications for our fight with sin in our lives and there is much more we could say. But for today, dwell on the overwhelming truth that Jesus has done this for you and to you.
So what about Buttercup? At this point, it is probably obvious, but let me say it anyway. As we celebrate the day our Jesus died, if you are in him, her words can be on your heart and lips, “I died that day.” It was the day our greatest love, the one who loves us, died for us. And if you are in Christ, you died with him on that dreadful, glorious day. It was the day of your freedom. What a triumphant death it was!
May the Lord Jesus be magnified this day in all of our hearts!
Here’s a song that seems appropriate for today’s post. And here’s the lead sheet.
1 Perhaps read Luke 22-23 today. Don’t cheat and read Luke 24. Save that for Sunday!
2 This is a blog post, so I’m not going to unravel the tension with Paul’s use of baptism here. But note that “baptized” and “united” are basically synonyms here. Compare vv. 3 and 5.
3 Yet, the people still wanted to return to Egypt. This is like us wanting to return to our old life. Though the power of sin has been broken in our lives, we still have a taste for it and will sometimes give ourselves back to our old master. It is interesting to think that the Red Sea could be an illustration of severing the power of sin in our lives and now we await to cross the Jordan with Joshua, like the Israelites did forty years later. It is on that day that the final severing takes place for us when we cross over into the Promised Land of eternal rest with Jesus.