Live Free with Josh Howerton - Holy Week: A Steep Hill | Ep. 45 | Friday April 7, 2023

Episode Date: April 7, 2023

If you knew that the cross—that death—was in your future, would you still travel the road to it? Jesus did. At the end of the week, He begins the trek up the hill where He will be crucified. In this last episode of the Holy Week series, Pastor Mike tells the story of the sacrifice that the Son of God made on behalf of all people. Death could not hold Him and sin was defeated. Rejoice in that truth as you listen! For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive

Thanks for tuning in to today's daily drive with Lake Point Church, a daily dose of God's Word for your morning drive. When the word, not the world, becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change. This week's devotionals will walk us through Holy Week as Pastor Mike helps prepare our hearts for Easter. For more information on our special Easter weekend services this coming weekend, visit lakepoint. church slash Easter. And now, let's dive in to today's devotional. Hey, welcome to the Daily Drive podcast. So good to be with you on this significant day, good Friday.

We usually just drop like a five-minute devotion every day, but this week we have done some extended episodes, tracing the steps of Jesus on his way to the cross. And today we're there. The Bible is a collection, a library of different books, inspired by the Holy Spirit of God, and penned by different authors. historical narrative and songs and wise proverbs and truth and biography and prophecy and

genealogies and guidance, but primarily the Bible is a love story. Now, I know you can't reduce God's word to a single paragraph, but the overview of the Bible could be like this. God longs for a relationship with people like us. People like us broke the relationship. So God moves throughout history to restore the broken relationship with people like us. I love how the message puts Ephesians chapter 1, verse 4, long before he even laid down the earth's foundations. He had us and mine, has settled on us as the focus of his love to be made whole and holy by his love.

Long, long ago, he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. This road that Jesus walked was the road of restoration. This was God's plan. It's settled on us as the focus of its love. So all throughout the Old Testament part of the Bible, it's the Savior's on the way. He's coming. He's coming. So many shadows, so many symbols and prophecies about the one who would be God in the flesh, come to earth, live a sinless life, and one day climb a steep hill and die for the likes of people like us.

Because God longs for a relationship with people like us. People like us broke that relationship. So God moves to restore the broken relationship with people like. us. His plan was that anyone who would humble themselves and come to the foot of the cross and sincerely ask for forgiveness would receive it. He took all the crimes, all the lies, all the gossip, all the envy, slander, lust, anger, and selfishness that flows out of all of our hearts. He took it all upon himself and died for us all. The Bible tells us that the penalty for sin is death, spiritual death, emotional death, physical death. When we live enslaved to sin,

up to all that crud, we die a little every day. We die to freedom. We die to a purpose. We die of love. We die to truth. We die to authentic relationships with other people and with God. We died of joy. We died of real life.

We die to eternal life. So Jesus took our penalty so that we wouldn't have to die to any of that. He took it upon himself so that we could live, walk that road, climb the steep hill, was nailed to a cross so that you and I could be free. Now we have to be careful when we talk about the execution of Jesus. I mean, how do mere mortal sentence their creator to death? How do you drive spikes through the hands that set the planets into motion? How do you spit in the face of the transcendent God unless he allows you to?

When the soldiers came to arrest Jesus in the garden, Jesus' friend Peter swings into action, whips out a sore, starts flailing away, and Jesus says, Peter, come on, put your sword up. Those who live by the sword will die by the sword. Don't you realize I could ask my father for thousands of angels to protect us? He would send them right away. But if I did, how would the scriptures be fulfilled to describe that it must happen this way? Listen, Peter, you've seen me.

You've seen me walk on water. You were in the boat when I call him the storm. You've seen me cast out demons. You've seen me open, blinded eyes. You've watched me heal people who were completely paralyzed. You were with me when I called Lazarus to come out of his. tomb so surely you know by now there's no way this little band could take me by force unless i allowed them to put your sword up this is my road i choose to walk it you know sometimes people will ask

who who murdered jesus who was really responsible for this unjust act of violence was it the hypocritical religious leaders was it judas was it pilot was it the fickle crowd i mean how could something and this unfair, happen to a man, this incredibly innocent. Let me let Jesus answer that. He says, no one can take my life from me. I lay it down voluntarily. What if you knew that the road marked out for you would eventually lead you to betrayal, rejection,

loneliness, abandonment, torture, pain, humiliating death? What if you knew ahead of time that it aged 33, a cross was in your future. Would you still choose to travel that road? Jesus did. He knew, and he chose to climb this hill. Matthew 27, verse 27 says, some of the governor's soldiers took Jesus into their headquarters and called out the entire regiment. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. They wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head. They placed a reed stick in its right hand as a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted, hail, king of the Jews.

And they spit on him and grabbed the stick and struck him on the head with it. When they were finally tired of mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him again, and they led him away to be crucified. Beaten and scourged within an inch of his life, body racked with pain, legs on fire, the intensity of rejection, crushing his soul, the weight of the sins of the world, upon his bloody back, he now carries his cross through the same streets. The people had gathered to cheer his arrival just five days prior, Hosanna, please save us.

Now they jeered and mocked, crucify him. Crucify him. And this was the road. He chose to walk. This was the hill. He chose to climb. I have a few friends who are into mountain climbing. Every climber knows it's the glory of the summit that motivates you in the moment

of your greatest fatigue. But you don't think you can take another step when your heart is about to pound out of your chest. Your lungs are on fire, everything. And he wants to give up, quit, turn around, go back down. It's the glory of the summit that keeps you climbing. You were the glory of this summit. I was the reason he continued this climb.

It was unexplainable love that motivated Jesus. For the rest of our time together today, can I just read some of the story? Just let Matthew and a couple of others lead us through it. I'm just praying that the wonder of love would swell up in your heart. And as we follow him up this hill, maybe you would hear God whisper to you. This is how much I love you. Matthew 27, starting with verse 32.

Along the way, they came across a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene. And the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus' cross. And they went out to a place called Galgotha, which means the place of the skull. The soldiers gave him wine mixed with bitter gall, but when he had tasted it, he refused to drink it. After they had nailed him to the cross, the soldiers gamble for his clothes by throwing dice. Then they sat around and kept guard as he hung there. A sign was fastened to the cross above Jesus' head, announcing the charge against him. It read, this is Jesus, the king of the Jews. Two revolutionaries were crucified with him. one on his right and one on his left.

The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. Look at you now, they yelled at him. You said you were going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days. Well, then if you are the son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross. The leading priests and teachers of religious law

and the elders also mocked Jesus. He saved others, they scoffed, but he can't save himself. So he is the king of Israel, is he? Let him come down from the cross. right now and we will believe him. He trusted God, so let God rescue him now if he wants him.

For he said, I am the son of God. From noon to three, the whole earth was dark. Around mid-afternoon, Jesus groaned out of the depths, crying loudly Eli, Eli, Lama Sabak the night, which means my God, my God, why have you abandoned

me? Some bystanders you heard him said, he's calling for Elijah. One of them ran and got a sponge soaked in sour wine and lifted it up on a stick so he could drink. The others joked, don't be in such a hurry. Let's see if Elijah comes and saves him. But Jesus again, crying out loudly, breathed his last. At that moment, the temple curtain was ripped into top to bottom.

There was an earthquake and rocks were split in pieces. What's more, tombs were opened up, and many bodies of believers asleep in their graves were raised. After Jesus' resurrection, they left the tombs, entered the holy city, and appeared to many. The captain of the guard and those with him when they saw the earthquake and everything else that was happening were scared to death. And they said, this has to be the son of God. John Howard Yoder writes, here at the cross is the man who loves his enemies, the man whose righteousness is greater than that of the Pharisees, who being rich became poor, who gives his robe to those who took his cloak, who prays for those who despitefully use him. The cross is not a detour or hurtled in the way to the kingdom, nor is it even the way to the kingdom.

It is the kingdom come. The Old Testament prophet Isaiah wrote, He took our suffering upon him and felt our pain for us. He was wounded for the wrong we did. He was crushed for the evil we did. The punishment which made us well was given to him, and we are healed because of his wounds. Billy Graham wrote,

The blood of Christ may seem to be a grim, also subject to those who do not realize its true significance, but to those of us who have been rescued from sins' chains, Christ's nail-pierced hands are beautiful beyond measure, for they tell us of his love and his willingness to save us, regardless of the cost.

As the evening approached, Joseph, a rich man from Arimathea, who had become a follower of Jesus, went to Pilot and asked for Jesus' body, and Pilate issued in order to release it to him. Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a long sheet of clean linen cloth. He placed it in his own new tomb, which had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance and left.

And as they say, that was Friday. The Sunday's coming. Jesus, we can't wait to celebrate your resurrection this weekend, but on this Friday, remind us of the incredible cause, remind us the absolute horror, remind us of your personal pain, your humble choice. Jesus, awaken us.

You're the truth of the author of life dying for us. The creator of all things is the one who breathed life into us gasping for his own, the source of living water, now dying with a parched tongue. The prince of peace being wounded to bring us peace, renew our sense of all,

renew our sense of wonder, Jesus, rekindle our hearts of gratitude. May we never get over what you've done for us. Jesus, you've, walk the road marked out for you, you climbed that hill, becoming the road back to God for us. Thank you. And today our hearts burst with gratitude for what you did on that steep hill. And we can't wait to celebrate your resurrection from the dead this weekend.

And it's in your name we pray. Amen. For more biblical teaching and worship, join us for our Easter weekend services this coming Saturday and Sunday either in person or online. You can find all the information about our Easter services at LakePoint. combe.combe. Also, if this podcast was helpful to you, would you be sure to rate, review, and share this podcast to help get the word out?

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