Sermon from the Stake

Well, good afternoon, everyone. Good to see all of you here today. Welcome to visitors that we have, those on the webcast. Good to have you with us. Very, very nice special music, a powerful message in that, right? A very good message for today. The truth we stand on will be the thing that sees us through. So thank you, Kinsey and Mr. Delamater, for your accompaniment. Very, very fine job, very fine song and message. Well, today, if you keep track of God's calendar, you realize that today is the 10th day of the first month in God's calendar. And I like to think back onto the things as you look at that calendar through the year that have momentous meaning for us. It was on this day in the Old Testament that the Passover Lamb was selected. And it was on this day, as Jesus Christ was alive and looking forward or looking toward the last Passover, that he was going to observe as a human on this earth, that he was looking to that Passover and he was fully aware of what was going to befall him in just a few short days. He knew from the foundation of the world what he was going to go through, how it was going to feel, the misery that he was going to endure from mankind with the knocking and juring that they would inflict on him, and the pain, suffering, anguish, and death that he would experience all because he loved you and me and all of mankind. And because he wanted us to be able to share in the life that God had prepared, has prepared for us if we follow him, if we commit to him as we have and continue in that commitment and living that way of life and all the time that we have on this earth from the time that he calls us and we commit to him.

You know, as we look toward the Passover that we observe, it's a time of solemnity, it's a solemn observance when we get together because we recognize all that God has done for us and Jesus Christ has done for us in the sacrifice. All that pain, all that suffering, all for us because we brought that upon him. We've all sinned, we've all fallen short of the glory of God. We need his sacrifice. And you and I, as we're sitting here, listening here, you know we recognize that. Let me begin today going back to Revelation because we should never forget in our minds the glory and the praise that we should give Jesus Christ because he is literally everything that we need.

He is the only way to salvation. It was him and only him who could do what he has done for us that we'll be remembering here on the Passover and then as we go into the days of Unleavened Bread. So let me look at Revelation 5 because not only us should be praising him, all the hosts of heaven praise him as well. Revelation 5 and verse 9 says, they sang a new song saying, you, speaking of Jesus Christ, you are worthy to take this scroll and to open his seals, for you are slain and have redeemed, your Bible says, us it should be them, you have redeemed them to God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation and have made them, that's you and me and everyone God has called, have made them kings and priests to our God and we shall reign on the earth.

And it says, I looked as John was envisioned, I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures and the elders, and the number of them was 10,000 times, 10,000 and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing and every creature which is on in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such are is in the sea and all that are in them I heard saying blessing and honor and glory and power be to him who sits on the throne and to lamb forever and ever.

The four living creatures said, amen. The 24 elders fell down and worshipped him forever and ever as we should do. All praise, all honor, all glory goes to Jesus Christ. He suffered an immense, he did, how can I put it, the most important event in human history, he and he made it all possible for us. The most important moment or days was the life of Jesus Christ. Only he could do it.

It was monumental and in just a few days you and I will be together, the baptized members, to observe the Passover in remembrance of him as he commands us to do and what he has done for us. You know, as you look through his life and as you look through the days that he, the days before the Passover that last time, you see in Jesus Christ, he showed us how we could accomplish what God has called us to call to do.

He completed his mission. It was a difficult commission, you know, that he came to earth to do. Only he could have done it. But through his life and through those days, we learn what we must do if we're going to fulfill all that God has called you and me to do because he has called us for a purpose to live his way of life, to be first fruits, to be the people that God wants us to. Let's review that purpose for a moment. We've turned back a few books to Hebrews. Hebrews 12. We'll read the first couple verses here and then drop down later in the chapter. Hebrews 12 and verse 1.

Powerful verses that should have a lot of meaning to us, especially as we're here on the eve, if you will, of unleavened bread and all that these days should mean to us. Chapter 12 verse 1 says, therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us.

That's what we are doing here as we prepare, right? As we examine ourselves, as we prepare for the Passover, and we picture the days of unleavened bread, we put the sin out of our lives. Let us lay aside every weight, the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and it sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

He endured it all. It was daunting, make no mistake, it wasn't that this was easy for him, it was the most horrendous death that you can imagine and time that he went through, all for you and me. And he endured it, and we'll see the stress and the pain that he went through as he endured that time. Consider him, verse 3 it says, for consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. And so, as we look forward to the time of Jesus Christ's return, we know the difficult times that lie ahead of us. God hasn't hidden anything from us, we don't know the details, but we know there's difficult times ahead. And as we think of those things, we look at those things, it's not going to be our strength, our endurance, it's not going to be just because we say it without the Holy Spirit, without Jesus Christ's sacrifice, without the access that we have to God, without keeping our eyes on the future that God has in mind and the joy that is set before us, there's no way we're going to endure it. Jesus Christ did all those things, and he was able to endure and show us the path of how we can be in the kingdom. And nothing short, nothing short of that. If we drop down to verse 24 in the first, the same chapter, or verse 22, we'll do there to remind us of our calling, because it is no just common calling, it is something that God has called us out of the world to become who he wants us to become, different than the world around us. Coming out of the world, not being like the world, and more and more as we see the world around us going in a direction that we can't even understand, but we can understand that it's headed in the the time of Revelation 13. More so, we come out of the world and become like Jesus Christ. Verse 22 of Hebrews 12, you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the General Assembly and Church of the First-Born, who are registered in heaven to God the judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect.

Never forget that that's what we're here for. Passover teaches us each year. Examine yourselves. More of the attitudes, more of the sin, more of the faults, more of those weaknesses that we have that God will show us, reveal to us through his strength and through his spirit we put out so we become each year more and more like Jesus Christ. You have come, verse 24, to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant and through the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. See, verse 25, that you do not refuse him who speaks. Don't take it lightly. Understand the time we're in. Understand why God gave us these holy days, what he wanted us to do with these holy days, what he wanted us to learn each year. Not just go through them ritualistically like another day, but we do something a little different, but the deep spiritual meaning behind them all and what we are here, what we're here to learn. If we turn back to Matthew 24, you know Jesus Christ, as he was there on the 10th day of the first month of that last year of his life on earth, he knew what was coming about. And as we're here on the 10th day of the first month in 2023, God hasn't held anything back from us of what life will be like in the years ahead, leading up to Christ's return. And as he was looking at the last days and the last days before that Passover and crucifixion, you know, his disciples came to him and said, well, what will be the sign of your coming and the end of times? And he recounts all these things we're familiar with, but let's look at a few verses here to show the daunting time that's ahead of us that we will need the Spirit of God. We will need his strength. We will need to stand on the truth that he has given us to be able to see it through. And verse 9, he says, they will deliver you up to tribulation, and they'll kill you. You'll be hated by all nations for my name's sake.

Christ endured that, right? They hated him. Wanted him dead. Many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Christ endured that. If you've ever been betrayed by a friend or someone, you know how deep that hurt is. Many false prophets will rise up and deceive many, and because lawlessness will abound—and we see that all around the world and us—every single thing we've ever lived in our lives, we see it going away in society. Everything, new law, do away with all the societal norms that we've always been accustomed to, just being thrown out the window. Because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. That can't be us. Even more so, as we see the day approaching, we should be with each other. We should be getting closer to God. We should be taking very, very seriously the calling that God has given us, what we need to be doing to be close to Him so that we can be there with Christ when He returns.

But He who endures the end will be saved, Christ says, just like Jesus Christ endured to the very end.

He finished the job He was sent to earth to do, that He willingly came to earth to do. He accomplished His mission. He will give us, and God will give us, the same strength to complete the job that we were called to. Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith we just read.

Drop down to verse 21. There will be great tribulations, such as not been since the beginning of the world until this time, known or ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved. But for the elect's sake, for the elect's sake, that's you and me, those days will be shortened.

So we can look at that, and we've heard those words many times, they will come.

And as we look at the world around us today, and you pay attention to what's going on in the world when you see the economic uncertainty all around us, when you see the world order changing before our very eyes and new powers coming and doing what the United States used to do, when you see the rise of technology, when you see the change in societal norms and the complete deprivation of morality in this society, you would have to have your head deeply buried to not see those days coming. A world that's completely unlike the world you and I have experienced all the days of our lives, but a world that's looking more and more like Revelation 13 of the totalitarianism and the the absolute control of the governing forces and religion of that day. And all that that means, that's what you and I are looking at. Jesus Christ was looking at the very same type things when he was on earth in that on that 10th day of the first month and there's four days knowing what was going to befall him. Let's look at some of those things that he was experiencing as he led up in that time. In chapter 26 of Matthew, just a chapter over, right after chapters 24 and 25, when he's talking to his disciples about those things and the characteristics of people who will be in his kingdom. In verse 1, it says, it came to pass when Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, you know that after two days is the Passover, and we're right in that time frame, aren't we? After Sunday, after Monday, that evening, Tuesday evening, the beginning of the 14th of Abib, we'll be observing Passover. You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified. He knew, and he was very familiar with what crucifixion in that day and age meant. He had, just as you and I, if we were faced with that and realized we would be bound, we would have nails driven through our wrists and through our ankles, we can't, well, I don't think we can even imagine the pain, but we can imagine just how horrific that would be. It was the most cruel form of death that someone could have, a very slow and painful death. He knew it. The disciples kind of heard it, but they didn't really pick up on that. What do you mean that in three days you're going to be crucified? They would understand later. He says, and then the chief priest, the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and they were plotting behind the scenes to take Jesus by trickery and kill him. We want him dead. Now is the time. Speed up the time. Let's get rid of this man. We don't like what he has to say. We don't like that the people are following him. We are, as we're told in the Gospels, we're envious of him. He could take the power away from us and take away the positions that we have. Let's kill him. And in verse 5, but they said, not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.

Oh, in just a few days, the days of Unleavened Bread would begin. Got to get it done before then.

What does it tell us? When Jesus Christ observed the Passover on the 14th of Abib, the Jews weren't. They were keeping it at the wrong time. But they got it done before their feast, before their feast began. If we drop down to verse 17 of the same chapter, it says, on the first, and you'll notice in italics, it's in your Bible in italics, on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus, saying to him, where do you want to prepare for you to eat the Passover? I'll just mention here for any who may be listening that this verse confuses some of why the Passover is kept on the day before the days of Unleavened Bread. This is an unfortunate, incorrect translation of what the original script is. You'll notice when the words are in italics, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, that isn't what it says. It says, now the first of the Unleavened Bread. The Young's Literal Translation has it more correctly, a few others. This is the first time in the festival that Unleavened Bread is eaten. When is the first time that we're commanded to eat Unleavened Bread during the upcoming time? It's that Passover, right? At Passover, we'd Unleavened Bread, picturing Christ's body broken for us. If you want more information on that, you can go to our website and see that, other Bible studies that are out there. So they were keeping Unleavened Bread on the 14th that we eat it as part of the dinner that was there. It was also commanded for the for Old Testament Israelites, right? They ate that Passover meal with Unleavened Bread. It was a command. And so Jesus Christ, still under the Old Covenant, he's getting ready for the Passover that evening. His disciples come and say, where do you want us to prepare to eat the Passover? He said, go into the city. Find a certain man and say, the teacher says, my time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples. Just exactly the way the command in the Old Testament is, keep the Passover with his disciples in his place. In verse 19, the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, something we can always remember in our lives. If Jesus says it, if God says it, if the Bible says it, simply do it exactly the way he said to do it. Life is very simple when we get ourselves out of the way and our own ideas out of the way and our own justifications out of the way and our own desires. Just simply do it the way God said. And so in verse 20, when the evening came, he sat down with the twelve and he mentions to them, as they're eating, one of you is going to betray me.

And it caused a little stir among the people that were there. I mean, if Christ looked at you or me and said, one of you are going to betray me, we should be petrified. Is there something in my heart that you see that I don't? I would never betray you. And so they talk among themselves. In verse 25, we see Judas. We see Judas who went along with the crowd asking Christ and Judas, who was betraying him, answered and said, Rabbi, is it me? Christ said, you have said it.

Now, that's a very notable time in Judas's life. He knew what he had done. He knew how he had conspired with the chief priests and really sold his Savior for 30 pieces of silver. And he knew that Christ knew. He was warned. He knew that Christ knew. And what did he do? He deliberately and willingly went ahead with the plan. He could have at that point thought, what am I doing? I cannot do this to my Savior, but he willingly went ahead and did that. We should all be very aware of what we are doing and not willingly and willfully going ahead and doing what we know is wrong. When we know it's wrong, yield to God. Our heart has to be where he wants it to be, not where we want it to be. As you go down on through the chapter here, you see Jesus Christ introduced the new ordinances for Passover. Take eat. This is my body, he says in verse 26. Then he took the cup in verse 27, drink from it, all of you. And he says, as he gives them those things, this is the blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Again, the disciples didn't understand at that point what he was saying. They would later. And he says, I say to you, I won't drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. This is the last meal I'll eat with you. This is the last time I will drink the fruit of the vine in this lifetime, in this physical lifetime.

Again, you have to wonder what was going through the disciples' minds, but Jesus Christ knew exactly what was going to happen that night. He calmly and assuredly, allowing God to direct him through every step of the process, did and said everything that God wanted him to say. Remember, he said, the words that I speak to you are the words from the Father. He was completely, completely submitted to God's will. Completely submitted to God's will. Completely saying what God's words were.

We're going to see he wasn't without stress, though, as he went through this. In verse 31, he lets the disciples know it's going to be a difficult night. You don't understand, I'm sure he was thinking, what is going to happen? Verse 31, he says, all of you, all of you will be made to stumble because of me this night, for it's written, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.

He was Christ. He knew exactly what the plan was. They didn't. They didn't.

But those would be signs. He is God. He is Christ. He knew the plan from the beginning, from the foundation of the world. He knew. He was willing to do it, and he stuck to the plan, no matter what the price to him personally was. We drop down to, well, I guess we're here. Verse 37. Let's go down to verse 37. After they leave, he goes out to pray. Verse 37, he took with them Peter and the two sons of Ziviti, and he began to be sorrowful.

And deeply, you know, whenever you see a descriptor, an adverb in the Bible, pay attention to it. He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Deeply. You can imagine, if you ever put yourself in a stressful position, something that none of us have been faced with what Jesus Christ was, but in a stressful situation that you, it's just a really tough, tough, tough time, and what you think about. This is what Jesus Christ was going. He knew exactly what would be, what was going to be happening over the next several hours of his life, and that his life was going to end. And not in just a quick way, but a very painful and humiliating way. Deeply distressed. And he said to them in verse 38, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with me. And he went out to pray. In times of deep, deep distress, stress, where did Christ go? Two or three times in this discourse, we see he always goes to God. That's where comfort comes from. That's where strength comes from. That's where the ability to get through whatever is happening comes from. When we're in stress, wherever that might be, whether it's right away or whether it's down the road, when there will be stress in our lives and there will be things we're faced with that will cause us to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Where do we look? Do we look for an escape hatch? No. We look to God. We go to God. We pray to God. We pray to him constantly, like Jesus Christ said. When the Apostle Paul said, pray without ceasing, he meant that. There's times you just stay in constant contact with God with your eyes fixed on him. Remember we read in Hebrews 12, his eyes were fixed on God. He was fixed on the vision of what he was going to accomplish, what that would mean for all mankind. And that's what you and I have to learn and to look to. That we don't look to ourselves. We don't look to our own strength. We don't look to our own determination because that will fail every single time. We are powerless without God's Spirit. We are powerless without the vision. We are powerless without the trust and the truth we have and build in him and the faith we build in him in this lifetime. Just like Jesus Christ, he was and is the Son of God, but he went to God the Father and he prayed. And you can see that his prayer was deep and continuing him. And he wanted the disciples, but he knew they don't understand what's going to happen. But he wanted them to understand this is going to happen. This is the most monumental night and event in the history of humanity, but they just didn't get it. I hope we, as we remember and observe Passover, as we go through the days of Unleavened Bread, we remember the significance of Jesus Christ's sacrifice. So we give him glory and we show that glory by the way we observe the Passover, the attitude with which we come, the time that we prepare for it, that we are there with it, and the time we spend in prayer to acknowledge to God, thank you. Thank you for Jesus Christ's sacrifice. Thank you for showing us the way. Thank you for the example he set and for what you will do for us as well. Verse 39, Christ asks, you know, the same thing you and I would ask, oh Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.

This is what I prefer, and if that's your will, so be it, but if it's not, that's okay too.

Verse 42, oh my Father, if this cup cannot pass away from me unless I drink it, your will be done. Your will be done. No matter what it means to me, no matter how much pain I may endure during it, your will be done, because you know the way, you know the path, you know what needs to happen in order for us to be who you want us to become, and to do what you want us to do going forward. Verse 53 shows us that Christ had a way out, it appears, right? Verse 53, you know, as they come to arrest Him, and you know, they begin to take human action to resist. Jesus Christ says, do you think that I cannot now pray to the Father, and He will provide me with more than 12 legions of angels? If I wanted to throw in the towel, it appears that He could have, and God would have honored His wish, but He was determined. Verse 54, but then how could the Scriptures be fulfilled that it must happen thus? It's God's plan. It's His will. This is what must happen for His kingdom to come. This must be what happens for Jesus Christ to be our Savior, the only one through whom salvation comes, and all that that means for every single person on earth, and every single person who has ever lived on earth, this is the way it has to be done. And there's a way with the calling that we've got, that there's a way that God has determined it should be done.

Well, let's go over to Luke and look at his account of this as we proceed here. Luke, you will remember, is a physician. And with his background, the things that he, you know, saw, remembered, and that God inspired him to read, right, give us some insight as well. As you turn over to Luke 22, just briefly draw your attention to verses 15 and 20 there in verse 22. Notice, he says, with fervent desire, with fervent desire, I have lived to come to this day. With fervent desire, I have desire to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. Would we say, boy, I have been, I have with fervent desire, I am looking forward to this day. Jesus Christ did. Verse 19, I guess it's 19, he says, this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me as we look at Passover. But let's drop down to verse 42 and pick it up where, in the same context that we left Matthew's account here. In verse 42, we see Christ saying the same thing that Matthew recorded. Father, if it is your will, take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done. He prayed that prayer consistently, constantly, fervently. On verse 43, an angel appeared to him from heaven, strengthening him. There's always a sign that God is with us. There's always those things that we can see and Christ needed that and God gave him exactly what he needed. And it was God who strengthened him. It wasn't Jesus Christ's own physical strength. It was his commitment to God and his loyalty to God and his faith in God. An angel appeared to him from heaven, strengthening him. In verse 44, it says, in being in agony. That's a word we shouldn't just kind of take lightly, right? Being in agony, he prayed more earnestly. The stress was there. I know what's going to happen. Soon they will be here. Soon I will be arrested. Soon all those things that have been written in the Old Testament about how I would suffer are going to come to pass. There is no undoing what has been written and planned from the foundation of the world. That was in the prophecies I am here to fulfill every prophecy Christ knew that has been written about me. Being in agony, he prayed more earnestly. And then his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. That's how stressed he was. Now people would look at that and say, is that even possible? And indeed, it is possible. There is a medical condition that has been written about in some literature, certainly here in the Bible, but other people who have been under such stress that they do sweat blood. It's called hematohydrosis. You can verify it on the web, in the medical things. Here's what hematohydrosis is. It occurs in individuals suffering from high levels of stress. Multiple blood vessels around the sweat glands constrict under great stress, and when that happens, it tinges the sweat with blood.

Hasn't happened, I'm sure, in any of our lives here. But it does happen. That shows the amount of stress that Jesus Christ was under. He wasn't taking it lightly. He wasn't just, you know, he didn't think I'm going to go through this without pain. He understood the pain and suffering he would go through so much that he sweat, literally sweat blood. That's the stress that he was under. Might well have been tempted. Run. He was absolutely committed. Thy will be done. Whatever the personal cost to me, thy will be done. And he did it. He accomplished it, not through his physical strength, but the strength that he had in God, the faith that he had in God, the vision that he had of what his death would mean, not just for him, but for all of mankind.

He loved us that much. He was willing to go through all of that. And in just a few nights, we'll commemorate that. And we'll be recommitting to God and looking at him and saying, I hope, whatever your will is, help us to have the faith that Jesus Christ had. Help us with your spirit to blot out all the transgressions that we have. Help us not to hang on to anything selfishly.

That is us, but we're willing to give it all up. To become who he wants us to become, who we need to become, to show him we really do want that kingdom, that we really do want to be there, that we want to live that way of life that he has called us to. So there he is, under this complete stress that he is in. And of course, when he rose up, he found them sleeping again. Who wouldn't be under great stress if you knew the next few hours of your life were going to be what Jesus Christ was going to be like? You might keep your finger there in Luke 22. We're going to come back to Luke 23 in just a minute, but let's just look at a couple of the prophecies in the Old Testament about what the coming hours of Jesus Christ would be like. In Isaiah 52, Isaiah 52, verse we might not read as much as we have in the past. We do read Isaiah 53 the entire way through on Passover evening and did it here as a sermon that was given here earlier in the month. And in Isaiah 52, verse 14, it says this, it says, just as many were astonished at you, so his vision, his visage, his appearance, his appearance was marred more than any man.

His visage was marred more than any man and his form more than the sons of men. Think about what he went through. Think about the suffering he did, not just the crucifixion, because there was an enormous amount of pain and anguish and disfiguring before that ever occurred.

His visage was marred more than any man and his form more than the sons of man. Next chapter over in 53, verse 53, verse 5, says, he was wounded for our transgressions. He had no sin. He did it all for us, that our sins could be forgiven. He would pay the price for what you and I and all of mankind has done. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement, the very tough, difficult chastisement for our peace was upon him.

He paid the price, and by his stripes we are healed by his stripes. Remember how those stripes came on him? There was that Roman scourging that was extremely difficult. I don't think you and I can even imagine the pain. But as they had those leather whips that they had either attached with small pieces of bone that would cut into the flesh or they say small iron balls in some places, as you were there, stripped, tied to a post where you can't move and you had someone who was taking great glee and great joy or whatever the word is in whipping and seeing the flesh torn from your back.

And over and over and over again that occurred. By his stripes we are healed. He did it for us. We literally owe him everything. There isn't anything you can say that we don't owe Christ everything. And what Paul says in Romans 12, 1, and 2, it's our reasonable service to offer our lives as living sacrifice. Absolutely, he is correct. We are nothing. There is nothing. There is no future. There is no hope without Jesus Christ. We literally owe him everything. What he did for us showed us his love and how great the future must be that he was willing to do that so that you and I would have an opportunity to share in that. Tremendous thing. Let's go back to Luke, Luke 23 this time and continue with Luke's account because as we go through this process of of what Jesus Christ went through and how he went through it, we see him in essence giving us a sermon, a lesson on how we would address these situations in our lives. How did he do it? You know, Hebrews calls him the forerunner. He's the one who shows us the way. He's the one who navigated the path, just like the forerunners of old. This is the way to get to the other side. This is the way to do it. This is the way to navigate the trenches and the obstacles along the way. He did it. It was all about relying on God, relying on him. In Luke 23, you know, they arrest him. You know the whole thing. People mocked him. People jeered at him. Boy, that's a picture of what they're aware the earth is today, right? They had absolutely no respect for this man. What he did when he was on earth, he healed them. He was kind. He was compassionate, did everything, and they showed him no respect. And as we look at the world around us, there's less and less respect. We see it everywhere. Our children aren't respect. We often don't respect because the world is all about a lack of respect, just as it was as Jesus Christ faced, you know, when he was on earth. But here in verse 28, as you know, he goes before Pilate. Pilate sends him to Herod. They basically give into the crowd mob rule, right? He was convicted of nothing. He had committed no sin. Pilate said, I don't see any sin in him, but hey, the mob wants it. The people want it. Just give them the crucifixion. More and more. In this lifetime, we see it going. What do the people want? Forget the law. What is the popular thing? Or what do I want as we bend the law? That's what they did back in Jesus Christ's time. You know, when you read all the prophecies about what it'll be like before the return of Jesus Christ, we see many of the elements that he had to face as he was there.

But they determine he should be crucified. He has to carry the cross, the stake, whatever you want to call it. And as he's carrying that stake in verse 26 of Luke 23, they say and imagine, you know, just think about how he's feeling at that point. He's already been through scourging. He's been up all night. He's been ridiculed. He's been talked down. He's been totally disrespected. He's been led off. None of you would certainly I, and I don't think any of us in this room, if we had been through the scourging, we wouldn't even be able to stand up. I think probably the Roman people that were there were just in awe that he even lived through it. And yet he determined they gave him the cross and he's doing it, but he was weak. He was still in the flesh at this point. As they led him away, as they led him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon, a serenean, who was coming from the country, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus. And a great multitude of the people followed him, and women mourned and lamented him. But Jesus, turning to them, you know, as you see him suffer, he doesn't complain, you don't see any things, but every word he says has meaning, deep meaning. Look what he says to them as they're mourning and lamenting him. Daughters of Jerusalem, don't weep for me. Weep for yourselves and for your children, for indeed the days are coming in which they will say, blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, breasts which never nursed. Then they will begin to say to the mountains, fall on us, and to the hills cover us, for if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry? Well, clearly he's looking ahead to the time right before his return, right? Those are words that we see in Revelation as God begins to exact his vengeance on mankind, as we talk about and observe on leading up to the, or on the Feast of Trumpets when we talk about those things more.

They know it's God who can hide from him, just fall on us, but they don't acknowledge him. They don't turn to him at that time. They don't repent because their minds are so hardened against him. So even as he's in this agony and in this depleted condition, he's thinking ahead. He's thinking ahead. When I return, before the time I return, you will be looking at these things. We pray yourselves, turn to him, commit to him.

So they finally bring him and they cross, they crucify him, nail his hands, nail his feet, put him up there to die a slow, ignominious death. Verse 32.

As he's there, there were two others, criminals, led with him to be put to death. And when they came to the place called Calvary, there they crucified him. And the criminals, one on the right hand and one on the other. As Jesus Christ is hanging there, again, in pain and misery that you and I can't even possibly understand, he makes seven statements. And it would be well for us to look at some of these statements between now and Passover and to see the sermon that he gave us, because as he was on that cross, the things that he said have deep meanings for us as we approach Passover, as we approach the days of Unleavened Bread. Bear with me just one minute.

I'm not going to turn to Hebrews 5. Let me give you a couple verses you can look at later. It would be very good to read Hebrews 5 before the Passover. Notice there it talks about in verses 7-9 specifically the suffering that he went through and how he was made perfect. He was already perfect, but he was made perfect through suffering and contemplate what that verse means as you go through there. But here in chapter 23 and Luke 23, we see the first thing that he said when he was on the cross. After all that he's been through, he says, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Now, I don't know if anyone here has ever has anything that you haven't forgiven someone else for. You know, as we head into Passover, and I remind myself, you know, of this all the time, if anyone ever, whatever, that I would have a hard time forgiving, I always think back to this verse. If Jesus Christ could say, Father, forgive them, they know not what they do, there is nothing that has been to us that we can't forgive if we have God's Holy Spirit. So if there is anything there between now and Passover, someone that you haven't forgiven or someone that you need to talk to, as in Jesus Christ in Matthew 5.23 said, before you come to the altar, go back and be reconciled to your brother. Do that. Do that. That's part of taking the Passover in a worthy manner.

Do that. Be reconciled. Sometimes people won't reconcile, but make the attempt.

But forgive. But forgive. Jesus Christ set that example. If he could say that, no one, no one has an excuse. There's nothing that's been done to any of us that even come close to what was done to Jesus Christ. You know, Jesus, if we keep your finger there in Luke 23, you go to Ephesians 4 and verse 32.

Ephesians 4. You know, again, you could certainly we should all be reading, you know, Ephesians 4. That's kind of a picture of what God looks for the church, you know, and everything. In verse 32, he says, Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. He forgives us. When we come before him and repent, he forgives. He paid the price.

Do that for other people. Forgive. God called us to be one people. When we take that bread, we'll read 1 Corinthians 10 verses 16 and 17. It's the bread of communion. It's the bread of unity. It's the bread of fellowship. It's the bread of Koinonia because it symbolizes us all being together as one, working with one another, bearing with one another, doing the things that God said, becoming who he wants us to be individually, but also collectively. We have a ways to go. We've come a long way from the time that God has called us, but we have a ways to go to get ready and to do what God wants us to do. And of course, I didn't plan on turning here, but let's go back to Matthew 6. Just read it from the Bible in this situation with forgiveness. You know, Jesus Christ talked about it in the Sermon on the Mount. Verse 12 of Matthew 6, forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And he highlights it in verse 15, for if you forgive men, their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you don't forgive men, their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. I think if we looked at it from a human perspective, if Jesus Christ had said, I'm having a hard time forgiving these people for what they've put me through, we would understand that he forgave them anyway. And if we have something in our hearts that are keeping us back, ask God to give you that spirit of forgiveness, and do that as we prepare for Passover. Going on in chapter 23, we see the next thing in Luke's account that Jesus said. He's got these two criminals who are being crucified on either side of him. One has quite an attitude. Right? In verse 39, he kind of makes this comment, well, if you're the Messiah, save yourself and us. I dare you to do that. Kind of a, you know, in a snippity way. But the other, in verse 40, rebuked him, saying, don't you even fear God? Seeing you're under the same condemnation, and we deserve this. We did what we did. This man did nothing. And he turned to Jesus and said, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Christ said to him, assuredly I say to you today, you will be with me in paradise. In paradise. And the Greek word translated paradise there is, sounds very much like paradise. It's got an eo on the end of it and things like that. And so many people confuse that and say, see, Jesus Christ is saying, when you die today, you'll be with me in heaven. Is that what he was saying? No, he wasn't saying. He wasn't saying that. When you look at paradise and what it means, it means the Garden of Eden. It can mean garden. It can be in pleasant place. Some of the commentators say he's referring to Eden. You will be with me. You will be with me in Eden. So let's look, let's look in only three places in the New Testament that word is used. Let's look at it. One is in what we just read, but in 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians 12.

And let's pick it up in verse 2. 2 Corinthians 12 verse 2, Paul writing here under inspiration from God, I know a man, he says in verse 12 or verse 2. I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago whether in the body I don't know or whether out of the body I don't know. Well, let me read verse 1 because here he talks about visions and revelations, which is quite noticeable. It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord, colon, I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago whether in the body I don't know or whether out of the body I don't know, God knows, such a one was caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man whether in the body or out of the body I don't know, God knows, how he was caught up into paradise and heard inexpressible words which it is not lawful for a man to utter. What was he referring to?

There was the transfiguration. There was the time when they were caught up into the third heaven in vision, Christ says in Matthew 17, and they saw and caught a vision of what it was like to be there. That wasn't the next moment. That wasn't the next moment of their lives. That was in the future. Let's go to Revelation 2 and verse 7. The other place we see this word paradise, Revelation 2 and verse 7. Speaking to the first of the seven churches, the letters to the seven churches, Ephesus, at the conclusion of what Christ says to them, in verse 7 he says this, He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, it's a theme of unleavened bread, to him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God. The tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God. Where do we see the tree of life again? We see it all the way at the end of Revelation. Revelation 22, after the first resurrection, after the millennium, after the white throne judgment, in Revelation 22 verse 1 it says, He showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street, and on either side of the river was the tree of life which bore 12 fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. What was Christ doing? Was he saying, the next moment after you die you'll be with me in heaven? No, because if he was saying that, he had already said no man has ascended into heaven. Jesus Christ, when he died, was laid in the tomb for three days and three nights. He didn't go up to heaven. He didn't go up to heaven until after he was resurrected, after those three days and three nights, and then he went up to heaven, and was accepted by God as the first of the first fruits. He laid in the tomb three days and three nights, just like you and I when we die, lay in the tomb or lay in the grave or wherever we are laying, until the time of Jesus Christ's return. You and I, we should expect, we should be living our lives, that we would be in the first resurrection. What God calls the better resurrection, a lot of, a lot of responsibility on us to do that, a lot of learning to rely on God and do His will to be there in that first resurrection, or the rest of humanity in the second resurrection. That's what happens. Jesus Christ was not saying, you're going to heaven in a few hours when you die. He was pointing toward the end of the time of this world when there would be those who have the heart, like this second criminal did, who have the heart to yield to God, who have the heart, a tender heart, that when He speaks, people listen, not like the first one who, you know, was caustic, who was sarcastic, you know, who was disrespectful if you're God, if you're the Son of God, go ahead and save us and save you. Just the same attitude that Christ, not Christ, but Satan had in the Great Temptation. Well, if you're so great, make these stones into bread. If you're so great, go ahead and throw yourself off this cliff and God will catch you.

And if you want to forget all the pain and suffering you need to go through, just bow down to me and I'll give you the throne of the world. The same attitude. If any of that attitude is in any of us ever, catch yourself. Repent. Turn to God. Let me turn just real briefly here.

Back to 1 Samuel. 1 Samuel 16.

You know, God looks at our heart. Over and over Jesus Christ said, all our minds, all our hearts, all our souls turned to Him. And in chapter 16 verse 7 of 1 Samuel, what should be a memory verse for us and a reminder to us, as God is choosing a king, right? God is choosing kings here in the Old Testament, just like He's choosing kings when He calls us today. The Lord said to Samuel, verse 7, don't look at his appearance or at his physical stature because I have refused Him.

Forget what you're looking at. For the Lord doesn't see as man sees. For man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. He's looking at our hearts.

Now we have to turn and yield our hearts completely to Him, as David did in the example he had. He made grave mistakes, but he turned his heart to God completely and wholly. Well, let's go back.

When we go back to Luke 23, let's go to John 19.

John 19 and verse 26.

I'm going to hit these briefly here, and you can contemplate them more yourself, as Jesus Christ was hanging there. There was John, there was the ladies, there was His mother. And verse 26 of John 19 says, when Jesus saw His mother and the disciple whom He loved, that's the Apostle John standing by, He said to His mother, Woman, behold your son. And He said to the disciple, behold your mother. And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. Here's your family. To the end, He respected His mother and was watching out for her. That's one of the things we learn. He honored His mother and father, something all of us do. But when He said, Woman, behold your son. I wonder if He had more meaning than that. There was Mary, like any mother or any father, looking down on that situation if you saw your child that had been through what He had gone through, and you knew He was a good person that didn't deserve any of this. What was she thinking? What was he maybe trying to tell her? If we go back to Luke 2, when Jesus was born and they brought Him to the temple, you'll remember Simeon. Remember Simeon when they came and fulfilled what the ritual is with baby boys when they were born? And they brought Him in here and Simeon said some things about this child that obviously God had inspired him to do. In verse 28 of Luke 2, Simeon says, took Christ up in His arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace according to your word. Simeon wanted to live to see the Messiah born, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel. And Joseph and his mother marveled that those things which were spoken of him. As you can imagine, it says, Mary held those things in her heart. What is it that's in store for this boy? She knew he was the Son of God. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, Behold, behold, this child is destined for the fallen rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be soken against, yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. I wonder if Mary thought of that when Jesus Christ said that. Behold, Mary, look at your son because you will also be pierced through with pain and suffering, but that's the will of God. That's his purpose, to live and die for all of mankind. And so Christ said that. If we go back to John 19, in verse 28, right after John's record here, said that Christ said that, it says, After this, Joey, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, I thirst. And you know the story. They didn't bring him water. They brought him sour wine. I thirst. You think back to what Jesus Christ ministry was? He used water in how many situations? The woman at the well, when he revealed himself to be the Messiah, if you knew who I was, he said, you would ask of me and I would give you living water, and you would never thirst again. Think back on John 7, 37, when he said, out of me, out of you will flow rivers of living water. You think back to the time of the Exodus, and water was brought forth from Iraq. Think of water being cleansed by the water of the Word.

Maybe he was drawing attention to all of that. Back in Psalm 42, Psalm 42, as Jesus Christ hung on that cross and he knew his time of physical life was nearing its end, and he said, I thirst. Was it a spiritual thirst he was feeling? Psalm 42, verse 1, says, As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for you, O God, my soul thirsts for God, for the living God, when shall I come and appear before God?

Was he saying, I thirst for God? My soul thirsts for God? When I can I come before him? In Matthew 5 and the Beatitudes, he said, Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness. Hunger and thirst after righteousness. He thirsted. What was he thirsting after? What do you and I thirst after? Do we thirst after righteousness? Is that our fiber? Is that our purpose for being to become more and more like God? I thirst, he said.

Let's go back to Matthew 27 this time. In John, going on the chapter we were in, chapter 19, you know, Christ said, as life was about to add from him, he said, it's finished.

And as you talked about it being finished, his job on earth and that coming was finished. He had fulfilled everything that God had sent him to earth to do, everything that he had done. Every prophecy in the Old Testament about the Messiah had been fulfilled exactly the way that it had been written. He had revealed God the Father to people. He had shown the trust in God. He had done everything that God and he purposed from the foundation of the earth that he would do. The job was done. In Matthew 27—nope, I forgot one. Let me do Matthew 27, further 46—he said, my God, my God, in verse 46, why have you forsaken me?

You know Jesus Christ, he experienced something on that cross I think that he never experienced during his life. You and I have experienced it, but he never did.

Throughout his life, he lived a perfect life. He was always in constant contact with God. He never sinned. He was there with God the entire time.

There is something you and I have all experienced what that closest to God is.

And then there's a time in our lives when we don't feel so close to God. And we learn when we're not feeling so close to God, if there's something there that's between him and us, we learn it's not him. He doesn't leave. It's us. Isaiah 59, verse 2 says it's iniquity that separates us from God. It's us that causes that separation and that feeling of distance. When Jesus Christ was hanging on that cross, he was bearing the sin of all mankind. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21 says literally, he became sin for us. He became sin.

As he hung there, as he felt the distance from God that would come as a result of being sin, he felt like you and I might fail. Why have you forsaken me? But God never forsakes us. It's us. It's sin. It's our attitudes that separate us from him.

Remember that whenever it's like, where are you, God? He's still there. It's us who have moved. Go back. Ask him, what is it between? What's between you and me? I know it's me. What is it? He'll reveal it. Then it's our job to repent of it and cast it aside.

Now, as in Matthew 27, I might just reference you to Psalm 22 to read that. And actually, we didn't need to read or go to Matthew 27 for that, but let's go to John 19. Wait before I do that. No, Luke 23.

Luke 23 verse 44.

It was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. The sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn into. And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, he said, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. Having said this, he breathed his last. You know, if you've ever been to a funeral in the church, almost always you're going to hear your Ecclesiastes 12, 6, and 7 mentioned. When someone dies, we commend—let's turn there so you're not taking my word for it—we commend the spirit to God. Ecclesiastes 12 and 6. And Jesus Christ was saying the same thing there. Ecclesiastes 12 and verse 7 says, The dust will return to the earth as it was. Jesus Christ, physical flesh, was going to die. The dust will return to the earth as it was. And the spirit will return to God who gave it. And when we preach those funerals, we talk about the resurrection. And when the people are resurrected and that spirit is put back in them, that's the same thing that Jesus Christ was talking about. He had said while he was on earth, the resurrection, everyone will hear the voice, everyone will be resurrected, just as he would be the first one to be resurrected to eternal life. Later on in that, later on in that very days of unleavened bread, just a few days, three days, and three nights from then.

He talked about what truth was. He said, He is the way. He is the truth. He is the life. And in those days of Passover and the times that he was leading it, he showed the way. And through his entire life, he showed the truth. And it's the truth that we must stand on and hold very dear to our hearts and live by every word of the Bible. And he showed that there's life and there's the hope in it. Jesus Christ did it all. He's there. He's there. And as we embark on these holy days, the Passover and the days of unleavened bread, keep him in mind. Do this in remembrance of him. Keep him in mind. All praise, all honor, all glory goes to Christ.