The Church of Eleven22 - Wk 7: Mount Calvary - What Is Finished?

Episode Date: April 17, 2022

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

Amen and amen. How we doing, church? Doing all right? You look good, better than normal. Hey, if you got your Bible, grab them. We're going to be in Psalm 22. It'll take us a minute to get there. It'll make more sense when we arrive there.

Hey, we are a movement for all people to discover in deep in a relationship with Jesus Christ. So if you fall in the all people category, then you have found yourself in the right place. This is actually week seven of a seven-week series that we've been called if the tomb is empty. We started seven weeks ago on a mountain called Mount Moriah where Abraham, Father of Isaac,

takes his only begotten son, the son of his love, marches him up a mountain, puts wood on his back, and he takes him there to sacrifice his son because God told him to. But when he got to the top of that mountain, there was a substitute there, a ram with his head caught in a thicket, and God said use that ram as a substitutionary sacrifice.

And so Abraham calls that mountain Mount Moriah, and he said, upon this mountain God will provide. And so 2,000 years later in real time in seven weeks for us, we are now back to that same mountain where God is going to send his only begotten son put a cross on his back. He is going to march his way up Mount Calvary, and he is going to be the sacrifice for us. But that's not where it ends. They lay his body in a cold, dead tomb. Then three days later, God breathes new life back into his son, and he is resurrected from the grave.

He's buried in a borrowed tomb because he only needs it for the weekend, and then he gives it back because he comes out of that tomb. and because Jesus is alive, you and I can live life like our risen Savior lives. Amen? And that's why we're here. Now, I know we got all kind of different people here. Some of you are at 1122 all the time. You love Jesus. You've been praying and fasting us.

We've been getting ready for resurrection Sunday. You bought the book. You've been handing them out like catberry eggs, man. Praise God for you. Thank you. We're glad that you're here. There's also some of you here, and you didn't even know you were coming to church today. Nana guilted you into it

Or some of you just got totally tricked Your daddy said get in the truck We're going to lunch They threw a hot pocket in your lap And now here you are at church So I'm glad that you're here too And then some of you faithfully attend every Easter

And we're welcome back Just want to say welcome back to you You think I dress up all the time That's what's cool about you And so But I'm super glad to you're here When I grew up, that's how I went to church I only went on Easter

And look at me now So be careful, it'll get on you You might work here next year But regardless of why you think you're here, the one thing that we can all agree on, regardless of what your background is, regardless of what even religion you're from, regardless of your worldview, the thing that everybody agrees on is this, is something has gone wrong with the human condition. I mean, even Oprah agrees with this.

There is a problem. And then the answer that every other worldview offers is, but it is up to us to fix the problem. This is why the self-help section is the biggest section of every bookstore. you go in because everybody agrees there is a problem. Now, the reality is that every other worldview says it's up to you to fix yourself up and make yourself right so that the day you stand before God, you can earn that right standing. And the uniqueness of the gospel, the uniqueness of the gospel is that Jesus came down from heaven to do for us what you and I

could not do for ourselves. You see, the gospel is not. God is good. You are bad. Try harder. I'll see you next week. The gospel is that Jesus came to live a perfect life. He died in our place and was resurrected on the third day and for whoever would put their faith in him, would trust in him, would believe that when he died on the cross, somehow that counted for me. Then because Christ came out of the grave, then we can live life eternally with him. That's what we're here to celebrate. But in order for us to rightly understand the power of the resurrection, first we have to understand how gruesome the crucifixion was. You see, Jesus is born in Bethlehem for about 30 years

nobody ever really hears from. And one time he gets lost by his parents when he's 12 years old, and that was a thing. But then when he's about 30 years old, he shows up on the scene and his cousin, John the baptizer, is baptizing people in the Jordan. And then Jesus shows up and John the Baptist says, behold, that means pay attention.

Behold, the Lamb of God who's come to take away the sin of the entire world. And the way the Jewish people heard that is not another Lamb of God that's here to cover over the sin of the Jewish people until next year. But this is the one the entire Old Testament has been pointing to the Lamb of God, who's come to take away the sin of the entire world. Jesus gets baptized, that heavens open up, and God the Father speaks out loud and says, Behold my son in whom I am well pleased.

And then Jesus begins to do ministry. He begins to teach people who God is and what it's like to know God. He begins to do miracles and signs and wonders. But it's not the miracles that got him in trouble. and it's not his stories about like the prodigal son coming home that got in trouble. The thing that got him in trouble with the religious people were the audacious claims that Jesus made. Jesus said that he was the son of God. Jesus said audacious things like, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the father except through me.

Jesus had the audacity to forgive sin. And the religious leaders said, who are you to forgive sin? And only God can forgive sin. And he said, winter, winter, chicken dinner. Not exactly what he said, but you know what I mean. When you see me, you see the Father. And so they wouldn't put up with it. And Jesus knew that the reason that he had come was to die on the cross in our place.

And so on the night that Jesus was betrayed and he gathers together for the Passover meal with his disciples. And the Passover was all about Moses, taking the God's chosen people out of Egypt and into free them. And Jesus takes the Passover meal and he's saying this whole Passover thing, this whole blood of the lamb that was to be put on the doorpost of the house so that when the angel of death passed over anybody that had the blood on the house, that Passover lamb is me. This is my body. This is my blood. Broken and shed for you. And then he takes the disciples to one of his favorite places to pray. It's at the base of the Mount of Olives. It's a place called the Garden of Gethsemini. It literally means a place of crushing. It was where they would crush olives to make

olive oil. And he tells the disciples, hey boys, can you just stay up tonight and pray for me? Peter James John, come on. I want you to take you a little closer and I need you to pray for me and they couldn't stay awake. And then Matthew records that Jesus feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders falls down on his face and his soul is so grieved that he feels like he's going to die, that he prays with such intensity that his sweat are like drops of blood, and then he cries out to his father. Father, if there be any other way, let this cup pass from me. It's interesting, probably the number one objection to the claims of Jesus and the claims of Christianity today is this whole exclusivity of Jesus thing. I mean, people have said to me, how can you say that

that Jesus is the only way to God. Well, first of all, I'd just like to note, I didn't make that up. I'm like the mailman. I don't write it. I just deliver it. Jesus said, John 14, 6, I am the way, the truth, the life,

and no one comes to the Father except through me, and he means what he says. You see, because people will say, well, I don't understand. There's all these different religions. There's good people all over the place. There's different worldviews. Do you realize in the Garden of Gassimini,

Jesus is asking the Father the exact same question? Father, if there be any other way, if there's some plan B that I'm not aware of, if Oprah's right and all roads just lead to heaven, if you can just align your chakra or obey the five pillars, or visit Mecca, or obey the Ten Commandments, or maybe you could just reincarnate enough, maybe you start off as a grasshopper, but eventually you make it there. If there's some other way for people to be made right with you and go to heaven, seems like an awful waste of my blood tomorrow on Mount Calvary. Father, if there be any other way, let this cup pass from me.

Not my will, but your will be done. And then he looks up. And from the bottom of the Mount of Olives, you can see over the Kidron Valley, you can see to one of the gates, the eastern gate of Jerusalem, and he sees soldiers and torches. And so he says, wake up, boys, my hour has come. And he's betrayed by a kiss from a disciple. And then they arrest him.

And when they arrest him, for the rest of that night, He goes through six different trials, three different authorities. But it seems to me, as you read through what happens in the Gospels, nobody wants to actually be the one that slams down to gavel and says, this innocent man deserves to die. So first he goes to Caiaphas's house. Caius is the high priest. Caius throws him in a pit underneath his home.

And then he sends some soldiers down there to rough him up. The soldiers pluck out his beard. The soldiers mock him. The soldiers put a cloth sack over his face and punch him in the face and says, all right, prophet, who hit you? Bacaeus does not have the authority to condemn him to death, so he sends him to Herod. Herod doesn't want to have anything to do with him.

Herod just wants to meet him so that he can see a miracle or two, and when Jesus won't play Herod's game, then he sends him to Pontchus Pilate. Pontchus Pilate works for the Roman government. And Pontius Pilate, if you read between the lines in the Gospels, it seems to me that Pontius Pilate does not want to convict him. At one point, as Pontius Pilate interviews him,

he comes back out to the crowd, and he says, I find no wrong in this man. He goes and talks to his wife, and his wife's like, you probably shouldn't do this, you should probably let him go. So he comes up with this plan. He says, I tell you what, I tell you what, how about I release to you, Barabbas, because there is this tradition where every year we release one criminal.

And so he goes and he finds the worst person in the prison that he can find, a murderer, a thief, an insurrectionist. His name is Barabbas. Literally means the son of the father. And he lets the people decide. And he asked this question, what shall I do with this man named Jesus? And the crowd screams out, kill him, crucify him. By the way, the same crowd that gathered earlier that week on Sunday, on what we call Palm Sunday,

and they waved palm branches, and they cried, Hosanna, blessed as he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna means Lord save us. And I think the us was the most important part of that sentence. And when Jesus didn't do what they wanted to do, now that very same crowd gathers out. Friday and declares crucify and kill him. By the way, that question that Pilot asked is the most important question that you will ever ask in all of your eternity. What will you do with this man named Jesus? And so the crowd says, give us Barabbas. And so Barabbas goes free and Jesus goes to the cross. By the way, we are Barabbas. And then Pilate says, I wash my hands of this. You and I do

not have that luxury. And so he takes Jesus. He takes him to what's called Pilots Pretoria. It's like a courtyard out in front of his palace. He ties him to a whipping post and then the Bible says that he is flogged. And for years, we read right over that in the Bible and we thought like Indiana Jones whip until the Passion of the Christ movie comes out and shows us a pretty historically accurate rendition of what a flogging was. That a Roman soldier would take this cat of nine tails. It was a handle with nine straps. And on the end of all the straps were pieces of bone or glass or metal

so that when they whipped the person that was being flogged, it would embed itself into the flesh, and then when the Roman soldier pulled it away, then skin and flesh, sometimes ribs would come with it. And the Bible says that Jesus was beaten to the point where he was unrecognizable as a man.

Then they took a purple robe to mock him as a king, and they laid it over his raw flesh. And then some human hands formed together a crown of thorns made out of a tree called the acacia tree. Now, if you're an Old Testament Bible nerd like me, maybe you'll remember that the Ark of the Covenant that held the law of God was made out of acacia wood. So the same type of wood that held the law of God now crowns the son of God because we broke his law and he is going to the cross for us. Then they put a beam, a cross beam on his back, and they march him right through Jerusalem. And part of the reason they did this is that the Romans had perfected crucifixion. And they wanted everybody to see, this is what happens to you if you get out of line.

And the Bible says, and they crucified Jesus just outside of the city gates. You see, a part of what Rome would do is Rome had the biggest empire in human history, and they don't have planes and tanks and missiles to keep everybody in line. So what they did is if you got out of line, they would crush you. And when they crucified people, it's not like the Bible bookstore pictures where it's like up on a hill with the sunset in the back. No, no, no, not at all. That they would do it maybe like a foot off of the ground

just outside of a busy intersection so that when people came in and out of the city, they could come eyeball to eyeball with you, so that they could curse you, so that they could spit on you, so that they could shame you, mock you and so that they could see what disobedience to Rome looks like. And Jesus was crucified at Galgotha, the place of the skull. If you go there today, it's a busy bus station, which the first time I saw it, kind of bothered me. I thought this should be the holiest place on the planet.

This is where the Son of God shed his blood for you and I, and now there's people just going and come in and they don't care about the Son of God at all, which was probably very appropriate, because that's the kind of place it was in the first century. And the Bible says, and there they crucified him. Crucifixion was the most gruesome form of torture and punishment that humanity has ever come up with. That they would take these nine-inch spikes and they would drive it through the hands and the feet of the person accused.

And by the way, in the first century, the hand was anything from the elbow to the pinky. Oftentimes, people didn't make it through the flogging. sometimes people just died from the pain of crucifixion. Many people bled out on the cross, but the majority of people died on the cross by what's called asphyxiation. That as they would slump down,

the fluids would begin to build up in their lungs and they would drown in their own fluids. It's where we get the word excruciating from. It means from the cross. And Jesus was crucified. And on the cross, Jesus says seven things. This means seven times the number of completion.

He pushes up on his nail-peers feet, and he finds the energy to inhale and say words that he knew we would hear today. And as we look through the seven sayings of Jesus on the cross, I think what we'll see is the heart of God revealed in these words. And Jesus pushes up on his nail-pierce feet, and according to Luke 23-34, he says this, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do. So why does Jesus start here?

Because I think Jesus wants you to know, wants me to know, that Jesus did not come as merely a good moral teacher. He did not just come as a rabbi. He did not just come as a preacher. He did not come primarily as a miracle worker or a good moral person to start a new religion. That Jesus came to save sinners from their sins. that Jesus came with his eyes set on the cross so that we could be forgiven of our sin.

This is why he says things like, I am the way, the truth in the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me. This is why he says things like this, for God so loved the world that he gave or sacrificed his only begotten son that whoever believes in him would not perish but have everlasting life.

I think from the cross, he doesn't want anybody to be confused and think he's just like any other teacher that he claimed to be the Savior. I think he wants to be the Savior. wants us to remember, don't you remember when the angel showed up to the shepherds in Luke and says, behold, I bring you good news of great joy for all the people, for unto us is born this day in the city of David, not a rabbi, not a religious leader, not a teacher, but is born a savior.

That Jesus wants us to know that the reason that he came was to save us from our sin. He says, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. And then he slumps down. I don't know how long? The Bible doesn't say. But in Luke 23, 43, it picks it up with this. It says this. And they cast lots to divide his garments. 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 a conversation breaks out.

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 nothing wrong. And then this thief on the cross asked Jesus for a favor. Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.

And then Jesus is going to push up on his nail-pierced feet, and he says, truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. Do you know what Jesus is saying and wants us to know? This is nothing but pure, unadulterated grace. Let me think about it. The thief on the cross can't bargain with Jesus at all. The thief on the cross can't say, hey, listen, I promise I'll do it. do better, bro, you ain't doing nothing. He can't be like, no, seriously, I'll go to church.

Nope, not going to church. Can't sponsor a kid, can't buy my book, can't do anything good, can't raise his hands in worship. They're stuck. Like, he can't do anything. He's got nothing to bring, no merit to bring before Jesus. All he can do is say, Jesus, I need a favor. I need you to do for me what I cannot do for me. And somehow on the cross, this thief realizes that what Jesus is doing somehow counts for him. Jesus, will you do me a favor? you remember me when you go before your father in heaven. And if anybody in all the Bible makes it to heaven, we know this brother makes it to heaven.

See, I got some news that might shock some of you. Good people don't go to heaven. Forgiving people do. Good people don't go to heaven. I've actually got some worse news for you. There are no good people. And the more offended you are, the worse you are. I'm just telling you, man.

There are no good people. And I know what you think. You're like, no, no, no, no, man. I'm a pretty good guy. Okay, you're a good guy compared to who? Your college roommate, the nightly news? Yep, crushing it. But that's not the standard.

You know what the standard is? God says, check this one out, be holy for I am holy. Anybody want to raise their hand and be like, crushing that one, holy, no you're not, okay? Yeah, if you declare yourself righteous, by definition, you are self-righteous. Nobody likes anybody that's self-righteous.

You see, there are no good people. And good people don't go to heaven. Forgiving people go to heaven. Because if Jesus was on the good people go to heaven thing, then there's a lot of questions that you would have to ask. Like, how good do you have to be? Like, how good is good? I mean, what's the standard of goodness that you have to reach?

Is it like 90%? Is it an A? Was it my college motto? C's equal degrees? I mean, where is it? Where's the standard? And if good people go to heaven, then don't you think God owes you a progress report

to see where you are in the semester? because some of you older cats here don't be offended just this is just true some of you don't have enough time left in the semester to make up for your previous work if you understand what I'm saying you remember those days remember you're coming in on that final you're doing a little math you're like oh no I need 186 on the final to get a see now I know what y'all would do y'all would just go to your professor and be like oh my god I'm triggered I need to save space and they'd be like that's on us here's a trophy, okay? So, no participation trophies in heaven, darling. I hate to break it to you. My man. Good people don't go to heaven. People that do exactly what this man do. You see, every

single one of us come to Jesus, like one of the two thieves. Some come on our, with our own agenda. If you are who you say you are, then do this for me. If you do that, you're the Lord of your own life. You have rejected him. This brother just understands that what Jesus is doing on the cross can change his eternity. And he prays a prayer that gets answered 100% of the time. God, I need a favor. Will you save me? And Jesus says, truly, truly, I promise you, today, you're going to heaven with me. And then he slumps down. Then this next part gets me, man. I don't know how long it is, but Jesus looks out in the crowd and he sees his mama. And he pushes up on his nail pierce feet, according to John 19, 26, and 27, and he says this woman, he's talking to his mother, Mary.

He says, woman, behold, your son. Son, behold, your mother. Here's what he's saying. John, one of his disciples, I need you to take care of my mama. Okay. Now this may be the understatement of the day. But can we all agree that in this moment in human history, Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, God, the son, is a little busy? He's got a lot going on.

he's being crucified for our sin. This is the thing that the entire Old Testament has been pointing to for thousands of years, and Jesus is on the cross enduring the full wrath of God, dying in our place and making all things new. He's got a lot going on, right? And yet he looks out in the crowd. The Bible says, though, that Mary and the women are following from a long way off, and it could be because in order to shame a Jewish man, they would strip him naked.

And so out of respect, they stay far off, and then he sees his mom back in the crowd. And here's what's crazy, man. He sees her and he knows her. And even though the most important event in all of human history is happening, he calls time out on it to take care of the immediate and temporary needs of his mama

because he loves her and she loves him. He sees her. He hears her. And here's what I mean, man. He sees you and he hears you. And think about it from hers perspective. She's a mama like, you're a mama. I know it was a little different,

But you know what every mama does when that little baby pops out after they clean them up? Thank God for that whole situation. And then they hand them to you. And if they wrap them up in that little burrito of love, I'm telling you, Gretchen would just be like, get that stuff off there and they strip them down. And the first thing she does, she grabs those little feet and counts toes. One, two, three, one, three, one, three, one, five. Right?

And you check them feet out. You're like, look at these little feet. My babies were fat, boy, and he looked like somebody took a hospital glove and went. I was like, the toes don't even point in the same direction. This is crazy. How are you going to walk on these little fat feet? And you smell them? Oh, it smells like baby, right?

you count those toes and then you grab those little hands these little old man hands little wrinkly hands count my fingers one two three four five one two three four five thumbnail how's a thumbnail so little that's what you're looking at smell them that's what mamas do now 33 years later this mama who counted the fingers and toes of her firstborn son now sees nails pierced through the hands and feet of the only begotten son of god he's busy and yet even in that moment, he says, I see you, and I'm going to take care of your needs. Do you know the Bible invites us to pray?

It says, cast all your cares upon him because he cares for you. Do you know what that means? No matter what the thing is going on in your life, you can bring it to him. And if you're like, well, it's not that big a deal. Well, you're a big deal to him. Therefore, that thing is a big deal to him. In fact, the Bible says in Revelation chapter 8, verse 1, And by the way, if you've ever read the book of Revelation,

maybe you're confused, but one of the things we can all agree on, it's loud. There's a lot going on. There's dragons and stars falling and trumpets blasting and scrolls being ripped open and the four horsemen or the apocalypse show up and Jesus flexing with like tattoos on him. Check that out, Baptist, it's in there. There's a lot going on.

And then when you get to chapter eight, there's parades and there's all this stuff going on. And then Jesus quiets all of heaven for 30 minutes. put the trumpets up, dragon stop, horses, cease. Why? Because God says he wants to hear the prayers of his people. On the cross, Jesus looks out and sees his mother and knows somebody's got to take care of his mama

because he's going to be gone. He's going to be crucified, dead, buried, be resurrected, and then a sin to the right hand of God, the Father. So he says, John, I need you to take care of my mama. I don't know what problems you walked in here with but even and especially on this Easter Sunday, he hears you, he sees you, and you're a big deal to him. You should cry out to him and he'll take care of you.

Woman, behold your son, son, behold your mother. And then the Bible says that for three hours it goes dark. And then maybe one of the most confusing verses in all of the New Testament. Jesus pushes up on his nail-pierced feet and he says this, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? in Aramaic, Elo, Elo, Elo, Elamashabhtani. And the people don't know what's happening. They think, is he calling down Elijah?

But he's not calling down Elijah. And the way I've always heard this taught is that because Jesus is dying for our sin, actually Corinthians says that God made him who was without sin to be sin, that we would be made the righteousness of Christ, that God is turning his back on his son in this moment. So let me ask you, is God turning his back on Jesus at the cross? Now, make no doubt about it, Jesus is enduring the full wrath of God on the cross. But is Jesus turning this, is God turning this back on Jesus?

Well, maybe. But here's what's actually going on here. Jesus is quoting the first line from Psalm 22. He's quoting the first line from Psalm 22. And rabbis had this, there's actually like four levels of biblical exegesis, and one of their tactics that they would use is this thing called a Ramayas, say Ramaz. Ramez. All right, sorry, sorry to wake you up. Say Remez. All right, thanks. Welcome back. So, Remez was like a, remez was like a, it means hint. It means hint. And oftentimes what teachers would do

is they knew that people knew the scriptures, and so they would give them the first line of the scripture so that in your mind the rest of the scriptures would come to mind. See, because every little boy and girl, when they were about like kindergarten first grade, they would go to Hebrew school. And when they showed up to Hebrew school, they were given a tablet, not to like play angry birds, but it was like a chalkboard kind. And the rabbi probably wrote the Shama on it. Shama, Israel, the Lord, God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord of God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

And they would give them this tablet, but on the tablet, the rabbis would put honey on it. And these little good, blue-collar Hebrew kids had heard of honey. They dreamed of honey, but many of them had never tasted honey because it was so expensive. And then they would get these honey-soaked tablets, and the rabbi would hand them their tablet with God's word on it and say, Eat your fill. And can you imagine the class, kindergarten first grade, little Hebrew kids just licking honey

for the very first time? And they're not the neatest little people ever, right? Little first graders aren't, and it would just begin to like drip off the tablet and on to them. They're trying to lick it off their elbow and you can't do that. And it's getting on their neighbor

and they're like, this is the greatest day of my life. I love school. And then the rabbi would say something to the effect of kids as your tongue craves the sweetness of that honey, may your soul crave the word of God. And then they would start memorizing the Bible. They'd memorize the first five books called the Torah. And then they would

memorize the Psalms, because the Psalms were the songs that they would sing in Temple. And so they would memorize them all. And so I think what Jesus, this teacher of the word, is doing is he's giving them a hint. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Because the moment that song begins, the first lyric of that song, then the rest of the lyrics just start happening whether you try to or not. It's true here right now. Like, I can divide the room in half right now. I can tell how old you are right now. If I simply go, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.

Ding, ding, ding. If you're older than me, you feel pressure on this moment right now. If you're my age or younger, you stop, collaborate, and listen. That's just what you do. Even if you did not try to memorize it, it's just in there. Or check this out. Sweet Caroline. I did not teach you that.

I don't know what karaoke bar you're hanging out at, but I know you are. For some of you, that's the loudest you've ever sung in church, okay? It's just true. It's just in there, and it's going to be there all weekend. You're welcome, okay? So what if? What if what Jesus is actually doing

is he wants everybody there to run through Psalm 22 in their mind? Psalm 22 was written by King David a thousand years before Jesus is even born. And one of the things that I've always wondered about is why is there so little ink dedicated to the details of the crucifixion? Luke simply says, and Jesus was crucified. And I think the reason is because it's play by play, account by account, blow by blow in Psalm 22, written a thousand years before Jesus ever walks the earth. Jesus pushes up on his nail-pierced feet and says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And then imagine if you're there, and the rest of the words of the song begin to scroll through your head.

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 and thrown on the praises of Israel. And you, our fathers trusted. They trusted and you delivered them. To you, they cried and were rest. in you, they trusted and were not put to shame. And you begin to look around and you begin to see that Jesus is crying out.

Nobody's answering him. And you begin to put it together that this Jesus of Nazareth is in the line of David from the root of Jesse. He's in the line of the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. Maybe he's the one Isaiah was talking about. Maybe he's the one King David was talking about a thousand years ago. Verse six, but I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and to despised by the people.

Verse seven, all who see me mock me. And you look around and everyone in the crowd is mocking Jesus. They make mouths at me. They wag their heads. And then in quotes, he trusts in the Lord. Let him deliver him. Let him rescue him for he delights in him. Luke 2335 tells us word for word.

And what if when your mind got to this part of the Psalm, one of the Roman soldiers says, you've saved others. Why don't you save yourself? And you think, Roman soldiers don't even know our scriptures. How are they quoting Psalm 22 in this moment? Verse 9, yet, you are he who took me from the womb. You made me trust you at my mother's breasts.

On you was I cast from birth and from my mother's womb. You have been my God. Okay, who could this be true of? King David? No way. Psalm 51. David says he was born in iniquity. who is the only one that from the moment of his conception,

from the moment of his birth, when he was a little baby with his mama, from all of his life, God has been his God and he has been in right relationship with him. There's only one person in human history and it was the perfect man. His name is Jesus Christ. I've had people at our church sometimes say,

well, I've been a Christian my whole life. Unless your last name's Christian, no, you haven't. And that doesn't even mean what you think it means. It's not, no. There is a transaction that has to happen. You have to be justified. and by works of the law, none of us will be justified in his sight. But it's only when we trust in him.

There are no grandkids in the kingdom of heaven. I don't care who your mom and daddy were. God doesn't save last names. He saves first names when an individual surrenders their life to the Lordship of Christ. I've told you this before, but going to church does not make you a Christian anymore than put in your head in the oven makes you a biscuit. That is not how it works. It is about trusting him.

And yet this man that he's talking about is someone who was born in right relationship. with God from the very beginning. He's talking about Jesus Christ. And again, you're there. You're witnessing it. And as Psalm 22 continues to go on in your head, you're experiencing it, line by line, be not far from me, for trouble is near. And there is none to help. Many bulls encompass me. A bull was the sign of the Roman army. When David writes this down, the Roman army will not even be created for another 300 years. Strong bulls of Bashan surround me. They open wide, their mouth, at me like a ravening and roaring lion, the lion was the symbol for the Roman emperor.

Verse 14, 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. According to John 1934, as the day was drawing to a close, the Jewish leaders were afraid to leave the bodies on the crosses once Sabbath started,

so they asked the Roman soldiers, can we take them down? And so they go to the two criminals on either side of Jesus, they break their legs so that they will sink down and die faster. But when they come to Jesus, he has already died. Because nobody could take his life, he gives it up. And just to make sure one of the Roman soldiers grabs a spear, shoves it under his ribcage, and the Bible says that blood and water flows so that we know that it pierced the heart sack of Jesus.

And imagine if you saw that and then you remembered that David wrote down that this one who is perfect would be poured out like water, that all his bones would be out of joint, that his heart was like waxed. and it melted within his breasts. And you begin to think, I think I'm standing in Psalm 22, a thousand years later. Verse 15, and my strength has dried up like a pot shirt. And my tongue sticks to my jaws.

What if this is the moment, according to John, chapter 19, verse 28, that Jesus pushes up on his nail pierce feet and he says, I thirst. And the Bible says that after Jesus declares, I thirst, that one of the Roman soldiers takes a sponge, soaks it in wine vinegar or sour wine,

puts it on a stick, and puts it into the mouth of Jesus. Now, for many years, I thought maybe the Roman soldiers was just showing some kindness, maybe a little compassion, maybe some empathy. But if you study a little history,

it's not the case. There's a couple of reasons that sponges would have been available. One is in a Roman field kit, they had sponges to clean themselves after they went to the bathroom out in the field. And then oftentimes, they would share these sponges.

they would soak them in wine vinegar or sour wine. It's like a first century disinfected. Right outside of a busy gate like this part of Jerusalem, there would be public restrooms, and they would use sponges to clean up after everybody who went to the bathroom, and then they would soak them in sour wine or wine vinegar. And when Jesus says, I thirst,

basically what is happening is that a Roman soldier is essentially using first century used toilet paper to shove into the mouth of our king. And you're standing there, and you're thinking of these words. My strength is dried up like a pot shirt and my tongue sticks to my jaws. You lay me in the dust of death.

For dogs encompass me, a company of evildoers and circles me. And check this out. They have pierced my hands and feet. King David is being carried along by the Holy Spirit and he writes these words down a thousand years before Jesus is crucified. But at this point in human history,

when David writes these words down, crucifixion has not been invented yet as a form of punishment. The Persians are going to invent it 300 years later. The Romans are going to perfect it when Alexander the Great comes through and nobody has ever been pierced

for transgressions before. And now here you are standing, seeing this perfect one, and his hands and his feet have been pierced. He says, I can count all my bones. Remember, they didn't break his legs. They stare and gloat over me. They divide my garments among them.

and for my clothing they cast lots. Luke 2334 lets us know that the Roman soldiers cast lots for his clothing. If you ever come to Israel with me in Pilots Pretorium, I can show you on the Herodian stones where the Roman soldiers carved out like a game board where they would cast lots for the criminals' clothes. 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, save me from the mouth of the lion. You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen. Then in verse 22, everything begins to shift.

He says, I will tell of your name to my brothers in the midst of the congregation. I will praise you. How? If your heart has been pierced, if you're nailed to a cross through your hands and your feet,

how in the world are you later going to praise him in the congregation? and tell of your name to the brothers. I can tell you how. Because what begins to happen in Psalm 22 is now it begins to shift from the crucifixion to the resurrection. Because Jesus is going to die.

He's going to be dead, buried in a tomb. And then three days later, he's going to be resurrected from the grave. And when he comes out of the grave, he is going to appear first in Jerusalem, in the town that he was crucified in. He's going to appear first to his disciples and then to over 500 people for six weeks before he ascends to the right-hand.

of God the Father. All the emperor had to do to shut down Christianity once and for all is go get dead Jesus, hang him in the center of town, and you and me are at the beach right now. We ain't in church. But he came out of the grave. He did exactly what David said he was going to do. Verse 23, 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. So did God turn his back on his son? Again, for sure, God the Father is pouring out his justice and his wrath on God the

son because Jesus is dying in our place. But this does not mean he abandoned him. How do you reconcile that with Romans 8 that says nothing could separate us from the love of God? Or Matthew 28 where Jesus promises and Lois will be with you always. You see what David says, a thousand years before this, is that this has been the plan from the very beginning, that God was pleased to crush his son, that Jesus did not only die for us, but he died instead of us. And this has been the plan from the very beginning to pay for our sin. You see, because God is just,

all sin must be paid for. For God to overlook sin, it would make him unjust. And because of God's grace, he is the just and the justifier. You see, we know this. We know that it's not only what you do, but who you do it against that determines the punishment. So like if you leave here today and you get mad and you kick your tire of your car, that's not good. If you go home and kick your roommate, that's worse. Kick your wife, you go to jail. Kick the president? I don't know, federal prison. Kick the pope. Pergatory. But don't worry about it. It's not real, so that's fine, okay? You kick your cat? It's not even a sin. We know this to be true, okay? So when we sin against an almighty everlasting God, it requires an everlasting punishment.

Because of God's justice, it must be paid for, but because of his grace, he makes the payment. And he wants us to know that from the very beginning, this has been the plan. This is why God says to Eve in the garden, I'm going to put enmity between your offspring and this enemy, this servant, this Satan, this snake. And there will come a day, and you're going to bruise his heel. He's talking about the cross, but you're going to get your head crushed. You see, years ago, five years ago, we did this thing here called 24 hours of preaching. Remember that? It was great.

We preached for 24 hours straight. We all split it up, a bunch of the pastors and folks, and it was great. I took the 7 p.m. slot. I preached from like 7 to 8 because I'm the boss, so I get to do what I want. So all the interns and the campus guys had like the 3 a.m. stuff. All right. But we broadcast it live, and so, like at my house, it was just on at the house. And so when I got done preaching and I listened to a couple of hours and some other guys,

and then I went home, and my son, JP, was 11 years old, and he's sitting there at the table, and he's got his youth study Bible out, and he's got two or three of them, and I walk in, I'm like, hey, buddy, what are you doing? He's like, I'm writing a sermon. I'm like, okay, what you're writing about? And he's like, well, we've got 24 hours of preaching.

I think he thought he might get called up from the bullpen, and he had to be ready, you know, no problem. So I was like, all right, let's do this, buddy. Now, let me just, this is not typical behavior at my house. Can I get a witness from the front row, okay? It's not normally how it goes, but this day it's going good. And so, and here's what he's doing. I was like, what's your sermon about?

He says, well, God planned that Jesus would die on the cross from the beginning, and he was tracing the gospel from the beginning, from the Old Testament into the New Testament. And he said, Daddy, I need to figure out a good way to say it. And so we sit down and we have this conversation about it, that this has been God's plan from the beginning. And J.P. writes down this sentence as an 11-year-old. He writes down,

the execution of God's son is the execution of God's plan. And I couldn't say it any better. This is what David is saying right here. A thousand years before it ever happens, God is going to send his son, Jesus Christ, to die in our place. He says he is 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 wants everyone to know there that this thing that he is doing on the cross can change your heart forever. For God so loved the world that he gave,

he sacrificed his only begotten son that whoever would believe in him your heart would be changed forever. You would not perish but have everlasting life. And it's not just an individual thing. It's not just a Middle Eastern thing. It's not just an American thing. He goes on to say,

all the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord. And all the families of the nations shall worship before you. Jesus wants everybody there to know this thing that he is doing on the cross is going to impact every tribe, every tongue, every nation to the very ends of the earth that everybody is going to be invited for kingship belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations. All the prosperous of the earth shall eat and worship before him, shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive, which is everybody. And then check this out.

If you still got hair, this should blow it back. Here's how he closes. Posterity shall serve him. It shall be told of the Lord to the coming generations. They shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn. Who's he talking about? He's talking about us. That Jesus from the cross knew that 2,000 years later,

we would be gathered here together in Jacksonville, Florida, and all over the place, and that his righteousness would be proclaimed to a generation yet unborn. He's talking about us. This is crazy to try to get your mind around, make no doubt about it. Jesus died on the cross for the glory of God, and simultaneously he had you in mind. When the Bible talks about righteousness, it does not mean right activity so as to earn God's favor. It means that because of what Christ did on the cross, you and I can have a right standing before God. that's what's happening. So can you imagine? You hear him say, my God, my God, why have you

forsaken me? And then as the verses of Psalm 22 go through your mind, you realize it's play by play, blow by blow, written a thousand years before, and you are standing in the middle of it. And Jesus says, I thirst. And then he pushes up on his nail pierced and he says, Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit. Because nobody takes his life. He lays it down for the ransom of many. And then the way Psalm 22 ends, it says this, that he has done it or that it has been done. Do you know how you say that literally in Hebrew, that it is finished? The Bible says that the last thing Jesus does is push up on his nail-pierced feet and with a loud voice he cries out, it is finished. In Greek the word is to telestai. It literally means paid and full.

Archaeologists have found bank documentation. And in the first century, if you had a loan with a bank, the moment you paid off the loan, they would stamp the word to telestai own the loan because the loan has been paid in full. And imagine you're standing there. And Jesus pushes up on his nail-pierced feet and he says, it is finished. The question is, what is finished? I can tell you what's finished. The full and final payment for your sin is finished.

The sacrificial system, finished. We don't have to sacrifice goats and doves anymore because the Lamb of God has been slain for the forgiveness of our sin. I can tell you, religion has finished. We don't have to perform good works to be approved by God anymore. I can tell you what else is finished

is condemnation is finished. Because therefore now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. I can tell you, the power and the penalty of your sin is finished because Jesus is going to be buried. He's going to put death to death. He's going to take the keys to hell and he's going to lock it shut forever and ever and ever

and then he's going to walk out of the grave and then the Bible says that the same spirit that brought Jesus out of the grave resides on the inside of every single believer so we have the same power in us that brought Christ out of the grave and he's not dead in the tomb anymore he's alive therefore we should live

like we serve a risen Christ, amen? You see he said it is finished. He didn't say he was finished because he wasn't finished. Three days later he comes out of the tomb. He ascends to the right hand of God the Father. And for the last 2,000 years, he sits at the right hand of God the Father praying for, interceding for us, and has given us the gift of the Holy Spirit. And I've checked in the Bible, there's no expiration date on the power of the

Spirit of God. And so we get to live like living people because our God is alive. So he didn't say he was finished. He says it is finished, but he also ain't finished with you. I mean, if you got here today. The alarm clock and the empty tomb are empirical evidence that God's not done with you. So let me ask you this. I want to ask you the same question that Pilate asks. What will you do with this man named Jesus? What will you do with this man named Jesus? You can dismiss him. And the crazy thing is, the crazy thing about our gracious God is that God will give you in eternity what you asked for in this life and you want to live a life without him, then that is what you get in eternity. You will have a Christless eternity and we call that hell. But for anybody who calls on the name

of the Lord, the Bible says you will be saved. So how will you come to Christ? Will you come to him like the one thief on the cross that says, hey, you better match my agenda if you are who you say you are, this is what I want for you? Or will you come like the thief of the cross who was broken and he knew he needed a favor from Jesus and says, will you remember me when you go before your father in heaven? You see, being a Christian is not easy, but becoming a Jesus follower is pretty simple. It's as simple as A, B, C.

It's as simple as A. All right, I admit it. I admit it. I'm not a mistakeer that needs to try harder. I'm not a bad person that needs to just do better. I admit it. I'm a sinner that needs a Savior. And B, then I believe.

I believe. I trust that when Jesus Christ died on the cross, somehow that counted for me. The thief on the cross, there's no way he could have passed the theology exam. But he didn't need to because it's not a theology exam that saves you. It's your trust in Christ that when he died on the cross somehow that counts for you. And if you're ready to admit it, I'm a sinner in need of a Savior, and I believe in Christ down on the cross somehow, that counted for me. The Bible says in Romans 1013, for all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved. And so that's what you do.

You confess him as Lord and Savior. The language we use around here is this. I surrender my life to you. I hand over control of my life to you. I'm not the boss of me anymore. You are. And the Bible says you'll be saved. And he doesn't stop there.

Not only does he wipe away your sin, not only does he impute you with his righteousness, but he adopts you into his family. He changes your name. He gives you a new character, a new nature, and he says, I'm going to prepare a place for you, and he ain't lying. Everything changes.

So what will you do with this man named Jesus? Will you admit it? I'm a sinner in need of a Savior, and I believe that when he died on the cross, when he said it is finished, it counted for me. And if that's you, in this moment right now, I want to give you the opportunity to confess him as your Lord. Would you bow your heads? Would you close your eyes?

And if you would say that's me, for the very first time, I want to admit I'm a sinner in need of a Savior. And I believe that somehow when Christ died on the cross, that counted for me. And if that's you, would you confess him as your Lord and Savior? Would you raise your hand high in the air? Would you lift your hand up and when you say, Father, here I am, save me. God bless you. And it's not a hand that's in the air that saves you.

It's what Christ did on the cross that saves you. If you're ready to put your faith in Christ right now, pick your hand up and say, Father, here I am, save me. or good and gracious Heavenly Father, God, I love you more than anything because you first loved us, and I thank you that you sent your son, Jesus Christ, to save us from our sin. God, I praise you for the men and the women in this very moment who are putting their faith in you, surrendering their life to you, calling on the name of the Lord in this very moment. And God, we trust you that you are who you say you are.

You always keep your promise and you always answer that prayer request with a resounding yes and an adoption into your family. and Jesus for the believers in the room Lord I pray spirit of God that we would not live like our Savior is still dead in that cold empty or that cold dark tomb but we would live like our king is the resurrected king of the universe and we would live with that kind of power and God we pray this in the good strong name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior amen church would you please stand to your feet we are going to respond and we have a lot of things to be excited about And this is a big deal. This is like the most important part of our service.

So this isn't the time to scoot out, okay? This is where we, if you're a regular here, this is where we bring our tides and offerings. If you've been around church since this is your first time here, you're like, Martha, they didn't even pass the plate. We don't do that. And I know somebody were like, well, this is my new favorite church. But you still, we still worship God with our resources.

We bring to him our first and our best. You could do it online. You could do it on our app. Or there's some giving boxes on your way out that you'll see. And we also pray. We pray. We get to cast all of our cares upon him because he cares for us. And just like he saw his mama in need from the cross and met her needs, he sees you right now.

And so I would invite you to come down and pray. It's why we have these carpets, is why we have these kneelers, so that you could come and kneel before the king of the universe who, through Christ just happens to be your dad. And he invites us, cast all your cares upon him because he cares for you. And then we sing. And we're going to sing the gospel. We're going to sing the gospel. Then we're going to get to this part in this song that says, it counted us. for me. We've seen a bunch. It counted for me. And if you got hands on the end of your arms,

when we get to that point, the Bible says, lift your hands in the sanctuary. That's what this thing is. And if you believe when he died on the cross, it counted for you. When we get to that part of the song, I want you to lift your high, your hands high and declare it. So let's pray, let's bring, let's sing. Let's respond.