The Heidelberg Catechism Part II: Deliverance God the Son, Part 5 Lord’s Day 15
Question 37: What do you understand by the word “suffered”?
Answer 37: That during His whole life on earth, but especially at the end, Christ sustained in body and soul the wrath of God against the sin of the whole human race. [1] This He did in order that, by His suffering as the only atoning sacrifice, [2] He might deliver us, body and soul, from eternal condemnation, [3] and gain for us God’s grace, righteousness, and eternal life. [4]
Supporting Scripture: [1] Isaiah 53:1-12 NKJV Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? (2) For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. (3) He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. (4) Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. (5) But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. (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. (7) He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. (8) He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken. (9) And they made His grave with the wicked—But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth. (10) Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand. (11) He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. (12) Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.
1 Peter 2:24 NKJV who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.
1 Peter 3:18 NKJV For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,
[2] Romans 3:25 NKJV whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed,
Hebrews 10:14 NKJV For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.
1 John 2:2 NKJV And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
1 John 4:10 NKJV In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
[3] Romans 8:1-4 NKJV There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. (2) For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. (3) For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, (4) that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Galatians 3:13 NKJV Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"),
[4] John 3:16 NKJV For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Romans 3:24-26 NKJV being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, (25) whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, (26) to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Q 38: Why did He suffer “under Pontius Pilate” as judge?
A 38: So that He, though innocent, might be condemned by an earthly judge, [1] and so free us from the severe judgment of God that was to fall on us. [2]
Supporting Scripture:
[1] Luke 23:13-24 NKJV Then Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people, (14) said to them, "You have brought this Man to me, as one who misleads the people. And indeed, having examined Him in your presence, I have found no fault in this Man concerning those things of which you accuse Him; (15) no, neither did Herod, for I sent you back to him; and indeed nothing deserving of death has been done by Him. (16) I will therefore chastise Him and release Him" (17) (for it was necessary for him to release one to them at the feast). (18) And they all cried out at once, saying, "Away with this Man, and release to us Barabbas" – (19) who had been thrown into prison for a certain rebellion made in the city, and for murder. (20) Pilate, therefore, wishing to release Jesus, again called out to them. (21) But they shouted, saying, "Crucify Him, crucify Him!" (22) Then he said to them the third time, "Why, what evil has He done? I have found no reason for death in Him. I will therefore chastise Him and let Him go." (23) But they were insistent, demanding with loud voices that He be crucified. And the voices of these men and of the chief priests prevailed. (24) So Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they requested.
John 19:4 NKJV Pilate then went out again, and said to them, "Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him."
John 19:12-16 NKJV From then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, "If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar's friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar." (13) When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. (14) Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, "Behold your King!" (15) But they cried out, "Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar!" (16) Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. Then they took Jesus and led Him away.
[2] Isaiah 53:4-5 NKJV Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. (5) But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.
2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Galatians 3:13 NKJV Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"),
Q 39: Is it significant that He was “crucified” instead of dying some other way?
A 39: Yes. By this I am convinced that He shouldered the curse which lay on me, since death by crucifixion was cursed by God. [1]
Supporting Scripture:
[1] Galatians 3:10-13 NKJV (Deuteronomy 21:23) For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them." (11) But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for "The just shall live by faith." (12) Yet the law is not of faith, but "The man who does them shall live by them." (13) Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"),
Visit the official website of Paynes Corners Christian Church, 277 Warner Road, Brookfield, Ohio 44403. The people of the church been involved in ministry since 1858.