The Church of Eleven22 - Wk 7: Mount Calvary // Easter

Episode Date: April 21, 2019

When Jesus was on the cross and said “it is finished” it counted for you.

Amen and amen. Happy Easter. How are you in church? Everybody good? My grandma would be so proud of me. I wore a tie to church. Don't get used to it. Hey, if you got your Bibles and I hope you do, we're going to be in Psalm chapter 22. And I know you may say like, well, in Psalms is in the Old Testament. What does that have to do with resurrection? Everything, okay? It'll take us a little while to get there. And if this is your first time here, welcome. I'm so glad you're here, but you're kind of coming in on the end of the movie, but it's the best part of the movie. You know, it's kind of a kind of thing. We're in the seventh week of a seven-week series called Mountains, and we started with Mount Moriah, where God calls Abraham, kind of the father of the faith, to take his son, Isaac, up on this mountain, Mount Moriah, to sacrifice his son. And on that mountain, God provides a substitute. And on that mountain, the reason that's called Mount Moriah is because Abraham said, on this mountain, God will provide a sacrifice. Now 2,000 years later, according to the timeline of the scriptures, we are going to find ourselves and our time together back on that mountain, back on that same place.

Mount Calvary, the place where Jesus is crucified, is in the same area where Abraham took his son to be sacrificed and God provided a substitute. You see, every person this weekend, whether you're a Christian or a church person or going to an Easter service or regardless of what you believe, we will all agree on this, that something has gone wrong with the human condition. I mean, it's the one thing that even if we can't agree on the solution, we agree there is a problem. I mean, CNN believes it, Fox News believes it.

Whether you're a Buddhist, a Muslim, a Christian, an atheist, we all believe something has gone wrong. This is why if you go into a bookstore, the largest section is the self-help section, because we all agree there's a problem. Now, what we are going to find out here is that the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ is unique in its response to that problem. You see, every other world religion, every other worldview, whether it's a major world religion that has been around for thousands of years, or it's a secular, atheistic

worldview, they all have something in common, and it is, I must do it. something to make this thing right. You see, everybody believes that we're on this Easter egg hunt. They really do. And they're hoping and praying that they find the golden Easter eggs so that when this life is over, then the next life will be better than this one. So whether it's align your chakra or obey the commandments or do good things to other people or hopefully you'll get enough tries and come back, you know, maybe you'll start as a grasshopper,

but you'll work your way up to Nirvana, whatever it is. We hope and pray that by my good works, I can find the golden egg. The good news of the gospel is that, yes, there is an Easter egg hunt, but you're the Easter egg. And God Almighty stepped out of heaven on a rescue mission for you. And this is what the gospel is all about. It's not what you can do to please God, but it's what he has done to rescue you. And we will get to the resurrection in my sermon, but you can. can't rightly understand the glory of the resurrection if you don't understand the brutality of

the crucifixion. And so the way it started is it started on a mountain. Not Mount Calvary. It started at the base of the Mount of Olives. If you were at one of our good Frus Day services, if you don't know what Frus Day means, just hang around 1122. We just make stuff up sometimes. But we celebrated Good Friday on Tuesday because we start Easter on Thursday. Don't worry about it. But there's this place, the place of the crushing, the Garden of Githemone. And Jesus, knowing that his hour has come, he brought his disciples together to the bottom of the Mount of Olives, the place of crushing. And he said, all right, boys, you hang out here and you pray. Peter James John, come with me a little farther. Will you stay awake and will you pray for me? And the Bible says that Jesus falls onto his

face and he's filled with probably what modern day counselors would call a form of depression. His soul was so sorrowful that he thought he was going to die. Because he knows that the cross looms the very next day. And he praised this prayer. Father, if there be any other way, let this cup pass from me. Do you know what Jesus is saying? Jesus is saying, okay, God, if there, Father, if there is some plan B that I'm not aware of, if there's some other way for you to rescue and redeem all of humanity and make all things new,

like if Oprah's right and all roads lead to heaven, if you can align your chakra, if you can obey the Ten Commandments, if you can meditate and find peace and nirvana, if you can obey the five pillars and visit Mecca, if any of these ways are going to work, if there be any other way, it seems like an all. Waste of my blood tomorrow on Mount Calvary. Father, if there be any other way, let this cut pass from me.

Not my will, but your will be done. And in that moment, he gets up from praying this the third time. He looks over the Kidron Valley up into the gates of Jerusalem, and there come men, soldiers with torches and swords, and they show up, and they arrest Jesus. And he's tried multiple times, and nobody wants to be, the person. Harry doesn't want to do it. Pilot doesn't want to do it. Caiaphas doesn't want to do it. Nobody wants

to be the person that slams the gable down and says, this innocent man deserves death. And so Pilate puts it up to a vote. There's a large crowd that's in Jerusalem all week long for the Passover feast. It's like Fourth of July at Jack's Beach. There's people everywhere, which is a part of the reason the chief priests and the Pharisees want Jesus to die that weekend. So the most amount of people in that region would see them so that nobody else would have to gall to claim the kind of things he claimed.

And so Pilate puts it up through a vote. What shall I do with this man called Jesus? And the crowd screams out, crucify him, kill him. Many of the people that were there, that previous Sunday, that Sunday that we in church called Palm Sunday, who were waving palm branches saying, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, who were celebrating his entrance in the day. into Jerusalem. The same crowd on Friday when they don't get what they want from God says,

crucify him, kill him. And so, Pilate puts up Barabbas and Jesus. He's trying to give them another out. He's trying to wash his hands of this so he does not have to make a decision. None of us have that luxury. Every single one of us must answer this question eternally and deep down in our soul. What will you do with this man called Jesus? and they choose Barabbas and Jesus takes our place and so they begin to beat Jesus and mock Jesus

they put a sack over his head they punch him in the face they say you call yourself a prophet who hit you they pluck out the hairs in his beard they put him in the center of town essentially right outside of Pontius

Pilots' house, the Praetorium is what it's called. They tie him to a post, and they beat him with a cat of nine tails. It strips the skin off of his back to begin with. History tells us that the cat of nine tails would grab onto his flesh, and chunks of flesh would come off of him. Very few human beings could survive this beating, this flogging. Ribs would be exposed, he would be mutilated. Isaiah would say that he would be beaten to the point where he could not be recognized as a human. To continue to mock him, they take a robe, a purple robe, and they lay it across his back. They take a crown of thorns made out of a tree called an acacia tree. And they wrap the thorns up.

By the way, if you've been around Bible study for a long time, maybe you recognize that the Ark of the Covenant was made out of Acacia wood and the very thing that would hold the law of God would be the very thing that would crown the son of God. They pressed it down on his head to mock him, and he carries his own cross to Galgotha, the place of the skull. You see, the way that the Romans decide to rule the known world 2,000 years ago when you don't have helicopters and tanks and guns is you must be brutally oppressive to end. anyone who would rise up any kind of rebellion against the Roman government. When Spartacus was taken down, in one day, Rome crucified 6,000 men down a road 120 miles long. Crucifixion was the most brutal form of punishment and death in the history of humanity.

It's where we get our English word excruciating from. It literally means from the cross. Nails would be put into the hands and feet. By the way, in the first entry, your hand was anything from your elbow to your fingertips. People would be shamed, would be stripped naked. They would be nailed to the cross and hoisted up. Not like most of the pictures in our Bible bookstores, you know, like up on a sunset, kind of looking awesome.

It was right down in the busiest places of the city. And they would only crucify you about a foot or two above the ground so that you could be eyeball to eyeball with the criminals that were crucifference. And people would come and see it and mock them and spit on them and curse them. When Jesus was a little boy, there was a Jewish rebellion in Jerusalem. And Rome crucified hundreds of Jewish men in the city. Maybe he saw it as a little boy. And maybe this is total speculation.

Maybe that's what he knew he was headed towards. And so the Bible will say in one sentence, and they crucified him. and a part of what they would do is they would give you wine vinegar to numb a little bit of the pain to keep you alive and awake longer and longer and longer. Some people died from the pain, some people bled out, but most people on the cross would die from asphyxiation. They would drown in their own fluids. Then every single time that you wanted to take a breath or say a thing, then you would have to push up on your nail-piercing.

feet, take a breath, and find the strength to make words come out of your mouth. And the Romans had perfected it. And on the cross, on Mount Calvary, Jesus says seven things. Seven different times he pushes up on his feet and says words. The first thing Jesus does after he has been beaten and tried and mocked and stripped naked. You see, most of the pictures that we get of Jesus on the cross, he's got like a loincloth that would not be the way it is. Particularly to shame a Jewish man in that culture, they would be stripped naked. It's why the Bible will say in very intricate detail that the women that were following him followed from a long way off.

Because they didn't want to see that. And Jesus, after being crucified, and on that cross, he says these words. It's Luke chapter 23, verse 34. Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do. Listen, the first thing I think Jesus wants us to know on the cross is this is why he came. He did not come to be a good moral teacher. Good moral teachers don't say the kind of things that Jesus said. Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me. Jesus says, I am the resurrection and the life. Apart from me, you don't have life. Jesus says, I and the Father are one. Either he was a crazy man, or he was lying about it, or he was telling the truth, and he is the Lord of the universe. And on the cross, he wants us to know, first and foremost, he's not just a rabbi, he's not just a teacher. He is a savior. This is why he came.

He's reminding the people, don't you remember what the angel said at Christmas time in the field? Behold, I bring good news of great joy for unto us is born. this day in the city of David, a savior for all the people, that he's reminding us of what his cousin, John the Baptist said, behold, the Lamb of God who comes to take away the sin of the entire world. This is what he was sent for, for the forgiveness of our sin. That Jesus did not come to make bad people better. Jesus did not come so that you could have some instructions on how to have a better life. Jesus came to die on the cross for the glory of God and the forgiveness of your sin. Make no bones about it. To try to believe in him as a good moral teacher and not understand him as Savior is to

reject who he is and what he came for. He said, Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing. And then I don't know. The Bible doesn't tell us, he doesn't give us an exact timeline, but he slunches back down for some time. And then after a time the Bible says in Luke chapter 23, it says, And they cast lots to divide his garments. We'll come to that later. And the people stood by watching, but the ruler scoffed at him saying, He saved others.

Let him save himself. If he is the Christ of God, his chosen one. And the soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, if you are the king of the Jews, save yourself. And there was also an inscription over him. This is the king of the Jews. And then one of the criminals who were hanged, railed at him, saying, Are you not the Christ?

Save yourself and us. But the other rebuked him, saying, do you not fear God since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds, but this man has done no thing wrong. And he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus said to him, truly, truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. This is nothing but pure, unadulterated grace, which is why Jesus came, that it is by grace that we have

been saved through faith. And in this moment, in this dying hour of this man, by faith, he understands the grace of Jesus Christ. That Jesus is crucified between two thieves who deserve to be there. And one of them comes to Jesus in his own terms. If you are who you say you are, then why don't you do your thing and do it for me too? Which honestly, man, there's going to be a whole bunch of people to show up to church this weekend and you come to God on your terms. If you are who you say you are, then why don't you? And the other man on the other side goes, bro, are you even serious right now?

Do you know who you're talking to? We deserve to be here. This man has done nothing wrong. Somehow on the cross, this thief understands that Jesus is who he says he is and that somehow what Jesus is doing on the cross could count for him. And so he asked him for a favor. If you have ever prayed a prayer of salvation that is, what you were asking. You were asking for God's favor, and he will answer that prayer every single

time. 100% of the time, for all who call him the name of the Lord will be saved. And I know, some of you're like, even me, even you. Now, some of you are thinking that you're so good, you don't need him, I got good news. You can be saved too. Some of you think you're so bad, you're too far gone. Who do you think you are? You think your sin? You think your sin? compares to the grace of Jesus Christ poured out on the Christ cross and this man Jesus says to this man not okay well you got some stuff to work on

he doesn't say you better you better go to Sunday school tomorrow he better say if you'll quit cussing there's no and think about this he says this if anybody in the New Testament makes it in heaven we are assured that this brother makes it in today you will be with me in paradise this man is saved by grace by grace.

Now I know sometimes you might look at this and you'd be like, well, that's not fair. Look here, man. You don't want fair. Fair is not a biblical value. Man, we hear this. I've got two kids at the house and sometimes I'll give one something and not the other one. And one of them will be like, that's not fair. Look here, Scooter, you don't want fair.

Fair ended at the Garden of Eden. You understand this? You want to do fair? All right, let's do fair. Let's divide up the mortgage amongst us all. Oh, wow, look, we got homeless children. You want to do fair? Okay, how about this?

Whoever paid for the Xbox plays with the Xbox. Daddy got an Xbox. I hate it for you. Not only do you have nowhere to sleep, you got nothing to play with. You understand? Bro, you don't want fair. You live by grace for a time. Then you're leaving.

But whatever. You see, the Bible says that the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life. This man on the cross does not. say, Jesus from now on, I promise I will. You will what, bro? There ain't no now on. You ain't making it till tomorrow. There is no good thing you could do with your life. Nothing. You see, the Bible says even our righteous deeds are like filthy rags before the Lord. You know what this man brings in? All he brings to the Lord is all of himself. He surrenders all of himself to the Lord. And the Bible

assures us that by grace this man is saved. Truly, truly, I say to you, you will be with me in paradise. Listen, good people don't go to heaven. Forgiving people go to heaven. Because they ain't no good among us. I know what some of you are thinking, well, look, I'm a good guy. Compared to who? The nightly news in your college roommate? Sure, you're doing okay. But how good do you have to be? God says, be holy as I am holy. Anybody want to raise their hand on that? and go nailing it. Well, the truth is, if you do, you're prideful, and that's the granddaddy of all the sins. You're the worst among us.

You see, none of us are good. Not one. Think about this. Think about this. I would lovingly let you know that you are not good. You are a wretched, wretched, wretched, depraved sinner. She knows. And if you're like, hold on, who are you to call me a sinner?

Okay, just go with me here. even if we put aside for a moment the righteous law of God. Can you even keep your own laws? Can you even keep your own commandments? How many times have you told you you would never do that again and then you did it again? Anybody ever been there? Hey look, man, has anybody ever kept a New Year's resolution to Easter? No, no.

If you've ever looked at you and went, what is wrong with me? You are wrong with you. But I got really good news. It ain't about you being a better version of you to make yourself right before God. That's just self-righteousness. That no one will be declared righteous by fulfilling the law. But God manifested righteousness apart from the law through faith in Jesus Christ. Exhibit A is this brother on the cross who receives salvation, not by any good work, but as a free gift of Jesus.

truly I say to you today you will be with me in paradise. And then back down. At some point later, Jesus looks out in the crowd and he sees his mother. And next to his mother, he sees John, who in John he's referred to as the disciple that Jesus loves, but only in the book of John written by John. And he says this woman, behold, your son. Son, behold, your mother. Now what is he doing here? What is he doing here?

I mean, first of all, think about this from Mary's perspective. Anybody got a son here? Any mama's got a son here? What's the first thing you do when you had that baby? First thing you do, you grab those feet, what are the feet of five? What are three four five? Look at these little feet.

Oh, man. How you even walk on these days? Crazy. Look like a little hospital glove. Somebody blew up. Just fat little toes. Crazy, isn't it? Next thing you do, you look at the hands. One, three, four five.

One, three, four five. Look at them hands. Look at them feet. You count them up. Look at them little fingernails. How's the thumbnail so little? This is crazy, right? Just smell like, it smells like baby.

It's awesome, right? That's what you do. Now that mama's looking at the hands and the feet of her boy, nailed to a cross. And Jesus looks out and sees his, mom and his disciple. And he's essentially saying, I need somebody to take care of my mom. John, that's you.

Maybe this is the reason that John outlived all the other disciples. Maybe this is the reason that when they tried to martyr John, it wouldn't work. Church history tells us that at one point, you see, all the disciples were martyed, not for what they believed, but for what they said they saw. You see, Christianity is not built on a faith of just, you got to believe, it's built on historical events of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And so John, they put him in a, they tried to boil him to death at one point, and I believe the Lord was like, uh-uh, he's still taking care of my mama.

Let him live. So what does this mean for you and me? Look, is Jesus a little busy this day? He's a little busy. He's got some stuff going on. It's the most pivotal moment in all of history. He's redeeming the world and making all things new, and yet he still cares about the needs of those that he loves and that love him. Do you know why this matters?

Listen, I know God's still running the universe. He's still got the whole world in his hands. And through Jesus Christ, anyone that believes in Jesus, you bring all your request to God. You cast all your cares upon him because he cares for you. and if you're like, I probably shouldn't bring this to God because it's not that big a deal. It ain't that big a deal. But to you or to him, you're a big deal, and that makes it a big deal to him. And like a good dad looks to his kids, he goes, come on and bring it to me.

Come on and bring it to me. You ever go to like pick up your kid after NewGen and they come out with one of these little art projects that they do? And is it a very special art project? it's pretty terrible. Let's be honest. It's pretty terrible. But man, I've had some where Reagan, my daughter drew me. And first of all, I think, is this what I look like?

I got to do something different. But you treasure that thing. Now I look at the thing your kid makes, and I'm like, oh, your kid's art project is not good, okay? My kid's making art. Your kid's making junk. Okay, that's what it is. Why? Because I don't know your kid, all right?

But my kid's stuff, man, you put. that on the wall and you treasure it why because that's my kid and for anyone who is in christ jesus god says come on bring it to me cast all your cares upon me any of any of you weary and tired and heavy burden won't you bring that to me that jesus is taking care of the temporary physical needs of his people while he is dying on the cross why because god loves you not some future version of you once you get your act together god's not only interested in getting you out of this world and getting you to heaven, but God has a purpose and a plan for you. He is a good shepherd, and he came that you may have life and have it abundantly. Woman, behold your son. Some behold your mother. And then for

three hours, it goes dark. For three hours, dark. And then what can be a very, very confusing verse. In Matthew 27, verse 46, Jesus pushes up on his nail-pierced feet, and he says these words, these words, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? In Aramaic, Eloy, Aloi, La Maschabactani. And everybody's like, is he calling for Elijah? And he's not. Now, most of my life, the way I have been taught, what's happening here, the reason that everything knows dark, and Jesus says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me,

is because God is turning his back on Jesus. Is he? Now, is Jesus receiving the full? wrath and punishment from God the Father because he is bearing our sin and actually becoming our sin. Yes, and amen, and without a doubt. But it's kind of a troubling thing in Matthew 28 to hear the promise of Jesus and lo, I will be with you to the very ends of the age, or to hear the promise of Romans chapter 8.

Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Neither height nor depth, nor have things to come, nor things in past, neither angels. nor demons nor anything on this world could separate us from the love of God. And then you see this here and be like, okay, what's exactly happening? There's a lot more to it than just the words that Jesus said. Jesus says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? You see, Jesus was a rabbi for sure. And rabbis had four levels of exegesis or four levels of interpretation of the scriptures.

And the second level of interpretation of the scripture was this thing called a Ramez. And Ramez is a Hebrew word that just means hint. And as soon as he says the words, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Every Jewish boy and girl there, every Jewish man and woman, immediately we'd know that's Psalm 22. The Psalms were songs. and every little boy and girl when they were in like what would be the equivalent to the first grade man they would go to this they would go to Hebrew school

and they would study the Torah the first five books of the Bible and they would memorize all of the Torah and all of the Psalms all of them in fact most of the time when they would show up on their first day of school they would get a tablet and if you're in your 20s it was not electronic it was like a chalkboard kind of thing and when they'd show up to get the tablet that's where they would write the words of God and do their schoolwork.

And when they showed up the first day, the main rabbi, the main teacher, he would have soaked their tablet in honey. And honey was very expensive, and honey was very precious. And obviously honey is very, very sweet. And these children had heard of honey before, but they probably had never tasted it. And he would just give them their honey-soaked tablet. And these little first-grade Jewish boys and girls would just lick the honey. And he'd be in their hair and their neighbor and on their elbow.

and just everywhere, and they're thinking, I love school. This is the greatest day of my life. And the rabbi would come along and say something like, just as you crave the sweet taste of honey, may your soul crave the life-giving taste of the Word of God. And they would memorize the scripture, the whole thing. So what Jewish rabbis would do when they were teaching is they would teach an entire passage by just giving you a hint of the passage that we're going to.

And so Jesus says, on the cross, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? It's a remiss. It would be the equivalent. If I just go, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. If you're older than me, you go pressure. And if you're my age or younger, you stop, collaborate and listen. That's just how it goes. It's in there.

And you're welcome. It's going to be the end there for the rest of the day, okay? I mean, this is how it works. If I just go, sweet Caroline. I never taught you that ever ever ever ever ever have I taught you that and there it is okay in one up and again some of you are only going to remember that I pray the spirit illusion so I was studying this week I thought in one sentence the New Testament describes the crucifixion of Jesus and it says and they crucified him and I thought why is there no description of the crucifixion

and then I began to think because it's already in here it's all in Psalm chapter 22 Psalm 22 was written by King David, like David and Goliath, that David, a thousand years before Jesus was born. And when Jesus says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Imagine if you were there that day and you were watching what is happening and then you began to roll the verses of Psalm 22 through your head, and you begin to go, oh my, it is a play-by-play, blow-by-blow account of everything that. that I am experiencing in this day. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me from the words of my groaning?

Oh my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer. And by night, but I find no rest. Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel, and you our fathers trusted. They trusted, and you delivered them. To you, they cried and were rescued. in you, they trusted and we're not put to shame. Jesus wants us to know that Jesus is from the line of David.

He is from the root of Jesse. He is the one that Abraham was talking about. He is the one that Moses was talking about. He is the one that Elijah prophesied about and Isaiah foretold. The God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob is the one hanging on a cross before them that day. He says, but I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind. despised by people. Listen to this. All who seek me, see me, mock me. They make mouths at me. They wag their heads. Look at his end quotes. He trust in the Lord. Let him deliver him. Let him rescue him.

For he delights in him. Luke 2335 says that word for word the Roman soldier says these things. Imagine. You're standing there. Jesus says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Your mind begins to roll through Psalm 22. and about the point you get to verse 8, one of the soldiers pipes up and says, if you could save yourself, go ahead. You say you're the king of the Jews, save yourself and save us with you. The psalmist keeps going.

Yet you are he who took me from the womb. You made me trust you at my mother's breast. On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother's womb, you have been my God. Who could this be true of? Was it true of David? No. Is it been true of you? No. The only human being this could be true of is Jesus Christ because every single one of us were born in sin and Jesus alone was born perfect.

He is the only, sometimes people tell me this, I've been a Christian my whole life. And I know what you mean. I just want to be like, no, you have. No, you have. Unless your last name's Christian, you have not been a Christian your whole life. And that means something different. Because you can't be born into it. Now I know some of you were born in church Like literally man your mom was on the organ and you came out glory, okay? That's awesome But until you were rescued and redeemed by Jesus Even if you can't remember the exact moment

There was a moment when your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life And you went from death to life There are no grandchildren in the faith There are only first-hand faith recipients and yet a thousand years before Jesus is born, David is prophesying about one who would be born, sinless, and in right standing with God. He goes on to say, be not far for me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help. Many bulls encompass me.

A bull was one of the signs of the Roman army. The Roman Empire is not going to show up for about 300 more years here. Strong bulls of Bashan surround me. They open wide their mouths at me like a ravening and roaring lion. The Roman sign for the emperor was a lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It is melted within my breast.

The Gospel of John, chapter 19, verse 34, lets us know that the end of the day, because it was the Sabbath, and to appease the Jewish leaders, they want to be it. to make sure that everybody on the cross crosses were dead so that they could take them down before Sabbath set in. And so they broke the legs of the two thieves on the side of Jesus. And when they came to Jesus, they said that he's already dead. And so the Bible tells us that they took a spear and they shoved it up under his ribs and into his heart. And physicians would tell us that blood and water would flow.

Imagine you were standing there that day. and you know that Psalm 22 says, I am poured out like water and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It is melted within my breasts. And you see this happen before your very own eyes. Verse 15, my strength is dried up like a pot shirt and my tongue sticks to my jaws.

Maybe it's in this moment that Jesus pushes up on his nail pierce feet and he says, I thirst. John 1928. And the Bible tells us that the Roman soldiers take a sponge and they mix it in wine vinegar or sour wine, depending on your translation, and they shove it into his mouth. Archaeologists tell us that the only reason a sponge would be there would be for one of two reasons. That a Roman soldiers, like in their backpack, in their travel kit, they had certain things. And one of the things that they would have would be a sponge to clean themselves up after they went to the bathroom. that in public places, like right outside of the city, there would be public bathrooms,

and slaves would put a sponge on the end of a stick to clean up the marble bathrooms, and people would share these sponges as first century toilet paper. But bacteria would be shared, so they would drop it in what was called wine vinegar to keep the sponges from sharing germs. These Roman soldiers were not being kind to Jesus. They were mocking him. They took essentially first century. toilet paper and they shoved it into the mouth of our king and our God. He says, I thirst.

You lay me in the dust of death, for dogs encompass me. A company of evil doers encircles me. This is unbelievable. They have pierced my hands and feet. This has written a thousand years before this happens. Crucifixion will be invented by Persia in about 300 BC. 700 years, before anybody in all recorded history has been pierced with their hands and feet as a punishment for a crime. It has never happened yet. And yet David prophesied that this one that would be born sinless would be pierced with his hands and feet. Persia invents it in 300 BC. Rome perfects it when Alexander the Great comes through.

You see, we wear a cross around our neck and very few of us have any understanding of what that means. It was the symbol of shame. It was the symbol of oppression. It was the way that Rome crushed anybody that would rise up against them. And today, it is the symbol of freedom. It is the symbol of God's grace. It is the symbol of how much God loves us. For God demonstrated his love for us and this,

that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Can you imagine walking into the Roman Coliseum where they fed Christians to the lions and where they crucified people all over the place and said, hey, look here, Emperor, one day, that symbol of shame, it will stand in this Coliseum as a symbol of the forgiveness of sins. Unbelievable. So a company of evildoers encircle me.

They have pierced my hands and feet. I can count all my bones like I told you. They did not break his legs. They stare and gloat over me. They divide my garments among them. And for my clothing, they cast lots, Luke 23. 34. But you, O Lord, do not be far off. Oh, you, my help, come quickly to my aid. Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog. By the way, a dog was a slang term for a

gentile. Save me from the mouth of the lion. You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen, and I will tell of your name to my brothers. Now, if you look at this and you go, how you going to do that? I thought you were just pierced, hands and feet. I thought you were scourge. I thought you were a worm. I thought you were beaten. I thought you were going to die. In Psalm 22, the psalmist begins to shift now from the cross to the resurrection. He says, I will tell of your name to my brothers. Three days later, the stone will be rolled away, and Jesus will be resurrected, and he will appear to his brothers, to the Jewish people in Jerusalem, in the place where he was crucified. He says, in the midst of the congregation, I will praise you. Not only did he teach in the

temple before he was crucified, but he appeared to over 500 people in the city where he was crucified. He says, you who fear the Lord praise him. All you offspring of Jacob glorify him and stand in all of him, all you offspring of Israel, for he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted and he has not hidden his face from him. Listen, at the cross, God's not turning his back on Jesus. In fact, this has been the plan. He is pouring out his wrath on him, no doubt about it.

But this is not like God and the devil are playing chess and the enemy is like, ha ha, I see your move. This is not how this works at all. That this has been the plan to redeem the entire world from the very beginning that God utters this out loud in Genesis chapter 3 that I will put enmity between your offspring Eve and this enemy, this serpent, this Satan. And one day a single Jewish man from your line will come. And this enemy will bruise his heel at the cross.

But he will crush his head. You see, what Jesus is doing in Psalm 22, the reason he's quoting it, so it's going through everybody's mind, is he essentially is preaching the gospel. from the cross. He says, for he has not despide or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard when he cried to him. From you comes my praise in the great congregation, my vows I will perform before those who fear him. The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied. Those who seek him shall praise the Lord. May your hearts live forever.

Jesus is talking about eternity here. as David is prophesying this and Jesus is reminding people of this he is talking about forever he is talking about heaven is coming and that Jesus what you are witnessing here is how this is made possible that your hearts live forever because of what Christ is doing on the cross that Jesus is the way the truth in the life and no one comes to the father but by him and then Psalm 22 ends this way all the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord and all the families of the nation shall worship before you. What Jesus wants them to know through Psalm 22 is this.

This event that is happening before your eyes on a hill outside of the city of Jerusalem will affect every tribe, every tongue, every nation that God is using this. That the word became flesh and dwelt among us and our sin killed him. But that is not the end of the story. that Jesus will be resurrected and he will send his disciples to the very edge of the earth and all of the nations will be saved through this singular event right here. For kingship belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations. All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,

even the one who could not keep himself alive. And then this is, try to get your mind around this. Posterity shall serve him. This is us. This is us. Posterity shall serve him. It shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation. That's us.

They shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn. Think about this. That on the cross, Jesus is laying down his life. for the glory of God. And yet on the cross, he wants the people there understanding Psalm 22 that literally on the cross, Jesus had you in mind, a people yet unborn, that he was paying the price that you and I could not pay. That's what he's talking about. That's what he's talking about.

Posterity shall serve him and it shall be told of the Lord to this coming generation that they shall come and proclaim. claim his righteousness to a people yet unborn. Ready for this part? That he has done it. Now in Hebrew literally, that it has been done. Back to the cross. Jesus says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He says, I thirst. He says, father, into your hands, I commit my spirit. He wants us to know that he is still in control. He is the just and the justifier. And then the Bible says he pushes up on his nail-pierced feet. And the last thing that he says out loud with a scream is this, It is finished.

Teleti. Archaeologists have found bank records in the first century where loans that have been paid off have the word to tell us die printed on them. It is paid for. Jesus, on the cross, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? There you are at the foot of the cross looking around. You begin to see the very words of the psalmist that are a thousand years old play out right before your eyes. You see the people rail him and wag their finger in their mouth at him.

You saved others, save yourself. You see him cry out, I thirst, and they take the sour wine, they put it in his face. You see his pierced hand, his pierced feet. You see them pierce his side and blood and water flows from his heart. And then he pushes up on his nail-pierced feet. maybe about the time that mentally you get to the end of the 22nd Psalm and he says, it is finished. And then you begin to think, oh my goodness, he is who he said he is.

This is the Messiah. This is the anointed one. He is the Lamb of God who's come to take away the sin of the entire world. And then the Bible says that when he says these words, it is finished, that there was an earthquake that happened. That an earthquake cracks right down the middle of Jerusalem. and in Jerusalem in the center of the temple there is this little room called the Holy of Holies and in the Holy of Holies there is this box

called the Ark of the Covenant that contains the law of God and there was a curtain that separated the people of God like us from the presence of God and when Jesus says it is finished that curtain tears from the top to the bottom and a centurion sees that this happens and he says truly this was the son of God

Now here's the thing. The question is, what is finished? What is finished? You see, some people think that Jesus was saying he's finished. That's not what he's saying. What Jesus is saying, when it is finished is the sacrificial system is finished. No more goats need to be sacrificed anymore because the Lamb of God has come to take away the sin of the world. You know what is finished?

Your sin is finished. That the debt has been paid for. That the enemy doesn't get to tell you who you are anymore. that your habits and your addictions, they don't get to define you anymore. It is finished. Guilt is finished. You see, you've been carrying around this guilt with you everywhere you go, and the guilt was heaped upon the shoulders of Jesus and nailed to a cross.

And, darling, it is finished. Condemnation is finished. Because in Christ, therefore, now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Being good enough in religiosity is finished. Try to come off with some kind of religious checklists. that leads to nothing but exhaustion and pride, Jesus says it is finished. But what he did not say, he did not say, I am finished.

Because he wasn't finished. They put him in the grave. They rolled a stone in front of him, and they stood guard with a garrison of Roman soldiers. But on the third day, his heart began to beat. The rule of life re-entered his lungs, and the stone was rolled away. The Roman guards fell down.

And then he was a lot of life. He's alive. He's alive. He appeared to 500 people for over six weeks because he was not finished. And let me tell you why this matters right now in 2019. Because if he brought you to church today, not only is it finished, but he ain't finished and he's not finished with you. He is not finished with you. The empty tomb and your alarm clock are empirical evidence to me. that God is not done with you. And the same power of the Holy Spirit of God

that brought Jesus out of the grave is the very same thing that's swirling around in you right now, making sense of things that maybe you've heard every Easter for year after year after year, or maybe this is the first time in your whole life that you've ever heard that Jesus died for you. The same spirit of God that resurrected Jesus from the grave is the Spirit of God that is saying something in your soul that I do not have words to communicate to your soul with.

That's what's happening. Which means this, he's not done with you. And if the tomb is empty, anything is possible. Even your salvation. If the tomb is empty, anything is possible. Even you being made right with God. If the tomb is empty, anything is possible. even your forgiveness and you having a spot with him forever and ever and ever and ever.

The centurion saw Jesus on the cross. He didn't know a Bible verse. He wasn't raised in church. He was as lost as it gets. And he found himself one day at the foot of the cross. And he saw what happened and something on the inside of him changed. he understood that Jesus is who he says he is. And when he understood that, he bent his knee as a symbol of bending his life before, not just a good moral teacher, but bending his life before the Savior of the universe.

Have you ever done that? That's what Easter is about. It's not about bunnies and dressing up and. It's not about going to church. It's not about any of those things. It is about one thing. That Jesus did for us what we could never do for ourselves. That God made Him, who was without sin, to be sin for us,

that we would be made the righteousness of God. That for anybody that would admit it, I mean, I don't need to just try harder. I need forgiveness. For anyone who would believe that when Jesus says, Tetelestai, when Jesus says, it is finished. that somehow that counted for you. For anyone that then we confess and say, okay, Jesus, you're my Lord.

I'm not the boss of me anymore. I'm handing over the reins of my life to you. And the Bible says, like the centurion, you will be saved. Have you ever done that before? Have you ever done that before? How amazing would it be? If on the day that we gather together to celebrate the resurrected Jesus, that that would be the day that you were resurrected.

from death to life by putting your faith in the one that died in your place. Right now at all of our locations, I want to give you that opportunity. Would you bow your head? Would you close your eyes? And if you're ready to admit it, hey, I'm not just a mistakeer in need of a life coach, but I'm a sinner in need of a savior. That I need to be forgiven. I need the words of Jesus to count for me.

Father, forgive them. They have no idea what they're doing with their life. If you were ready to believe, to trust, to put your faith in, not your own behavior, but what Jesus did on the cross for you, that when he says, it is finished, that somehow that counted for you, that your sin debt is paid in full. If you're ready to confess Jesus as your Lord, then you pray it right now where you are. You tell him, Father, I admit it. I'm a sinner in need of a Savior. You pray and you say, Father, I believe that when Jesus died on the cross, somehow that counted for me. And you pray and you tell him, God, I confess Jesus Christ as my

Lord and Savior. And if you prayed that prayer, I want you to raise your hand high when I count to three. If you prayed that prayer, if you believe in your heart that Jesus was resurrected from the grave and you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, if you pray that, I want you to raise your hand in one, two, three, raise it high. Say, Father, here I am. I surrender my life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Amen, amen, amen. with me. Our good and gracious heavenly, Father God, we love you more than anything. We love you because you first loved us. God, we thank you, Jesus, in the Garden of Gathemone, sweating blood when you said, not my will, but your will be done. And you went through the excruciating,

humiliating, shame-filled cross for our sake. God, I thank you that we are saved by grace, unadulterated grace through faith. God, we thank you for the gift of faith that you have given to your people on this day. God, I thank you that it's not by works, but it is by grace that we are saved. And Lord, I thank you for the empty tomb. God, I thank you that Jesus is alive. God, I thank you that as Christians, we are not just mimickers of a teaching, but we are followers of a living Savior. And Lord, I pray. I pray that we would be forever changed because Jesus is alive, because Father, you love us, and the spirit lives in us. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.