WEBVTT 00:00:01.439 --> 00:00:03.359 Well good morning, church family. 00:00:03.359 --> 00:00:05.040 Can you guys hear me? 00:00:05.040 --> 00:00:08.160 You can hear me? 00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:08.640 Testing? 00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:10.000 Testing one, two, three. 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:12.240 A little soft. 00:00:12.240 --> 00:00:16.399 How about now? 00:00:16.399 --> 00:00:18.079 There we go. 00:00:18.079 --> 00:00:20.879 Well, good morning again. 00:00:20.879 --> 00:00:25.440 I know that a lot of you wonder every time you see me up here, what's next? 00:00:25.440 --> 00:00:28.559 Seminary, pastoral ministry. 00:00:28.559 --> 00:00:34.159 And uh the honest answer to that question is the secret things belong to the Lord. 00:00:34.159 --> 00:00:42.000 Um, but what's really next in 21 days, I do have the joy of marrying a beautiful lady who loves the Lord. 00:00:42.000 --> 00:00:48.560 And to that, I want to say thank you all from the bottom of my heart for the last time when Valerie was in town. 00:00:48.560 --> 00:00:53.840 Uh, she was greatly moved and encouraged by your warmth and love toward her. 00:00:53.840 --> 00:01:01.439 And it just really reassured her that when she does move here, that she is joining a family that is ready to support her and us in any way. 00:01:01.439 --> 00:01:03.119 So, again, thank you so much. 00:01:03.119 --> 00:01:09.680 And also, thank you very much for your prayers for me, because I don't think I'd be up here right now. 00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:16.400 So, this morning I have the great privilege to speak about the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:01:16.400 --> 00:01:22.000 On one hand, it is a great joy to speak about a sinner who cave to same sinners like you and me. 00:01:22.000 --> 00:01:29.280 And on the other hand, it is a grief burden, because without the help of the Holy Spirit, my words are empty. 00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:35.200 Without the Spirit, our hearts and our minds cannot comprehend in the slightest bit the wonder of wonders. 00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:51.680 So my prayer is that as we consider our passage today, that the Spirit would be at work in our hearts so that we can behold something more of the beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that would lead us to more worship, and that we would want to honor Him as Lord and King in our lives. 00:01:51.680 --> 00:01:54.719 So please join me in a brief moment of prayer. 00:01:54.719 --> 00:02:00.480 Lord, thank you for your people. 00:02:00.480 --> 00:02:06.079 Thank you for this opportunity that I now have to present to them your word. 00:02:06.079 --> 00:02:12.319 Lord, it is my prayer that your people may be edified, that I would be edified. 00:02:12.319 --> 00:02:15.439 Please, Lord, sanctify them by your truth. 00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:17.280 Your word is truth. 00:02:17.280 --> 00:02:20.560 And my weakness, Lord, help me to preach. 00:02:20.560 --> 00:02:22.240 Help me to preach. 00:02:22.240 --> 00:02:24.800 Praise, Lord, help me to preach. 00:02:24.800 --> 00:02:27.520 For your name's sake, I pray these things. 00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:28.479 Amen. 00:02:28.479 --> 00:02:31.520 Turn with me to Matthew 27. 00:02:31.520 --> 00:02:37.840 If you want to look along in the Pew Bible, it is page 884. 00:02:37.840 --> 00:02:45.520 We've been in the book of Matthew for a little more than two and a half years now, and we are approaching the very end. 00:02:45.520 --> 00:02:51.520 In our passage today, we are met with the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:02:51.520 --> 00:03:08.560 And as we dive into our passage today, we are going to consider four things the place of the crucifixion, the person of the crucifixion, an underlying principle of the crucifixion, and the paradox of the crucifixion. 00:03:08.560 --> 00:03:12.159 Let's read our passage, starting with verse 27. 00:03:12.159 --> 00:03:20.479 Then the governor's soldiers took Jesus into the governor's residence and gathered the whole company around him. 00:03:20.479 --> 00:03:24.879 They stripped him and dressed him in a scarlet robe. 00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:33.840 They twisted together a crown of thorns, put it on his head, and placed a staff in his right hand, and they knelt down before him and mocked him. 00:03:33.840 --> 00:03:36.879 Hail, King of the Jews. 00:03:36.879 --> 00:03:42.560 Then they spat on him, took the staff, and kept hitting him on the head. 00:03:42.560 --> 00:03:51.280 After they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe, and put his own clothes on him, and led him away to crucify him. 00:03:51.280 --> 00:03:56.479 As they were going out, they found a Cyrene man named Simon. 00:03:56.479 --> 00:03:59.680 They forced him to carry his cross. 00:03:59.680 --> 00:04:10.479 When they came to a place called Golgotha, which means place of the skull, they gave him wine mixed with gold to drink, but when he tasted it he refused to drink it. 00:04:10.479 --> 00:04:14.879 After crucifying him they divided his clothes by casting lots. 00:04:14.879 --> 00:04:17.839 Then they sat down and were guarding him there. 00:04:17.839 --> 00:04:25.680 Above his head they put up the charge against him, in writing, This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. 00:04:25.680 --> 00:04:30.800 Then two criminals were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. 00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:43.360 Those who passed by were yelling insults at him, shaking their heads, and saying, You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, if you are the Son of God, come down from the cross. 00:04:43.360 --> 00:04:50.800 In the same way the chief priests with the scribes and elders mocked him and said, He saved others, but he can't save himself. 00:04:50.800 --> 00:04:52.639 He is the king of Israel. 00:04:52.639 --> 00:04:56.720 Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 00:04:56.720 --> 00:05:02.800 He trusts in God, let God rescue him now, if he takes pleasure in him. 00:05:02.800 --> 00:05:06.480 For he said, I am the Son of God. 00:05:06.480 --> 00:05:12.480 In the same way, even the criminals who were crucified with him taunted him. 00:05:12.480 --> 00:05:20.800 As I just mentioned a few moments ago, we are near the very end of Matthew, and this brings us to our first point. 00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:23.759 The place of the crucifixion. 00:05:23.759 --> 00:05:30.560 But I want us to consider the place of the crucifixion first in the larger literary context of Matthew. 00:05:30.560 --> 00:05:42.319 Back in January 16th, 2022, Pastor Doug launched us into this book of Matthew, and he gave us a few things to keep in mind when reading through a gospel. 00:05:42.319 --> 00:05:55.600 It was mentioned that a gospel is not exactly a biography, it's not exactly a story of chronological events, but rather a gospel is a collection of small episodes that centers around one main character. 00:05:55.600 --> 00:06:01.439 And that main character of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John is the person of Jesus Christ. 00:06:01.439 --> 00:06:10.399 And even though you are met with these groups of small episodes of who Jesus is, when you read through the Gospels, there is one important detail to notice. 00:06:10.399 --> 00:06:17.920 And that detail is this: is that the crucifixion is always towards the end of each gospel. 00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:21.600 And that is what I want us to keep in mind as we look at our passage. 00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:30.879 The fact that the crucifixion is placed at the end helps us to see that everything that came before was mainly to lead us to this very moment. 00:06:30.879 --> 00:06:40.639 Everything that we've been looking at in the Gospel of Matthew over the past two and a half years concerning the Lord Jesus will now start to reach its climax. 00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:46.399 It is the end of the life of Jesus that helps us to make sense of his beginning. 00:06:46.399 --> 00:06:54.160 But there's not only importance in the literary place of the crucifixion, there was much importance in the geographical place as well. 00:06:54.160 --> 00:06:56.399 Let's look at verse 33. 00:06:56.399 --> 00:07:05.920 When they came to a place called Golgotha, which means place of the skull, they gave him wine mixed with gall to drink. 00:07:05.920 --> 00:07:18.000 Now the exact place of Golgotha is not as clear when reading Matthew Gospels alone, but when we take consideration into the other gospel accounts, we are given a clearer picture where Golgotha is exactly. 00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:23.279 Listen to these words from Mark 15, verses 20 and 22. 00:07:23.279 --> 00:07:29.920 After they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple robe and put his clothes on him. 00:07:29.920 --> 00:07:33.839 They led him out to crucify him. 00:07:33.839 --> 00:07:39.040 They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha, which means place of the skull. 00:07:39.040 --> 00:07:44.480 Listen to these words from John 19, verses 16 and 17 and verse 20. 00:07:44.480 --> 00:07:52.079 Then he handed him over to be crucified, then they took Jesus away, carrying the cross by himself. 00:07:52.079 --> 00:08:00.160 It is called Golgotha. 00:08:00.160 --> 00:08:07.279 Many of the Jews read this sign because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. 00:08:07.279 --> 00:08:13.680 Golgotha's geographical place was outside the city of Jerusalem. 00:08:13.680 --> 00:08:23.519 While this was a common place for criminals to be crucified, Golgotha's place bears much importance when considering the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus. 00:08:23.519 --> 00:08:31.759 While the place of it being outside of the city may seem like a small detail, there is actually a big implication to see. 00:08:31.759 --> 00:08:42.960 And just to give a hint, I want to remind us that the reason why Matthew is writing in the first place is because he wants his readers to see that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all that the Old Testament anticipated. 00:08:42.960 --> 00:08:54.320 In the Old Testament, within some of the Levitical sacrifices, there was a part where the priest was required to take some of their sacrifice and burn it outside the Israelite camp. 00:08:54.320 --> 00:09:04.799 Exodus 29 14 says, But the but burn the bull's flesh, its hide, its waste outside the camp, it is a sin offering. 00:09:04.799 --> 00:09:07.600 Leviticus 27, 16, 27. 00:09:07.600 --> 00:09:22.080 But for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought into the most holy place to make atonement, must be brought outside the camp, and their hide, flesh, and waste burned. 00:09:22.080 --> 00:09:32.960 In the same way that these sin offerings were brought outside the camp, we see the Lord Jesus being brought outside the city of Jerusalem as the ultimate sin offering. 00:09:32.960 --> 00:09:38.399 That is why we have these words in Hebrews 13, verses eleven through twelve. 00:09:38.399 --> 00:09:47.679 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the most holy place by the high priest as a sin offering are burned outside the camp. 00:09:47.679 --> 00:09:56.559 Therefore Jesus also suffered outside the gate, so that he might sanctify the people by his own blood. 00:09:56.559 --> 00:10:06.720 So there are two things we ought to take away as we've just considered the literary and geographical place of the crucifixion in the life of ministry and Jesus. 00:10:06.720 --> 00:10:17.919 Number one, because the crucifixion is placed towards the end of his earthy ministry in the gospel writings, we can simply conclude that Jesus came to this earth to die. 00:10:17.919 --> 00:10:32.720 But number two, when we consider the geographical place as well, in light of all that the Old Testament foreshadows, we see that the Lord Jesus came not only to die, but he came to die as a sin offering. 00:10:32.720 --> 00:10:38.159 This moves me to my next point, the person of the crucifixion. 00:10:38.159 --> 00:10:40.879 There are a lot of people mentioned in our passage today. 00:10:40.879 --> 00:10:54.080 We have the governor's soldiers in verse 27, the Cyrenian man by the name of Simon in verse 32, two criminals in verse 38, chief priests and scribes in verse 41. 00:10:54.080 --> 00:11:07.840 And I was originally going to call this section of the message the people of the crucifixion, and I thought I would spend some time on each of the groups and individuals, but after wrestling with the passage, I figured I'd just keep it simple and focus on one person instead. 00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:10.000 The Lord Jesus himself. 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:14.080 Because in the end, this passage is really all about him. 00:11:14.080 --> 00:11:27.679 So as we consider the person of the crucifixion, as we consider the Lord Jesus Christ, I want going to take us back to some of the snapshots that are given to us by Matthew that tell us who Jesus really is. 00:11:27.679 --> 00:11:38.080 Listen to these words from Matthew 1.1, an account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham. 00:11:38.080 --> 00:11:42.639 Jesus is the bridge between the Old and the New Testament. 00:11:42.639 --> 00:11:46.799 He is from the royal line of David, the long-awaited Messiah. 00:11:46.799 --> 00:11:54.080 And as Abraham was the father of national Israel, Jesus is the founder of a new spiritual Israel. 00:11:54.080 --> 00:12:05.840 Matthew 1 23, see, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Emmanuel, which is translated, God with us. 00:12:05.840 --> 00:12:10.879 Jesus is the very presence of God dwelling with humanity. 00:12:10.879 --> 00:12:13.519 He is God in the flesh. 00:12:13.519 --> 00:12:19.120 For the entire fullness of God's nature dwells bodily in him. 00:12:19.120 --> 00:12:21.519 Matthew 15, 17. 00:12:21.519 --> 00:12:25.120 Don't think that I came to abolish the law or the prophets. 00:12:25.120 --> 00:12:29.039 I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. 00:12:29.039 --> 00:12:35.039 The law referring to the first five books of the Bible, and the prophets referring to the rest of them. 00:12:35.039 --> 00:12:42.480 Jesus is the one that came to perfectly obey all that the laws of God, all the laws of God that we see in the Old Testament. 00:12:42.480 --> 00:12:49.679 He is the one that did not come to replace the Old Testament, but rather he is the sure fulfillment of it. 00:12:49.679 --> 00:12:53.200 What the Old Testament foreshadows is found in Christ. 00:12:53.200 --> 00:12:56.960 And we have such a clear example of this in our passage today. 00:12:56.960 --> 00:13:03.279 Look with me at verse 35, and then we'll move on from from there from verses 41 to 43. 00:13:03.279 --> 00:13:09.120 After crucifying him, they divided his clothes by casting lots. 00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:11.360 Verses 41 through 43. 00:13:11.360 --> 00:13:19.519 In the same way the chief priests with the scribes and elders mocked him and said, He saved others, but he cannot save himself. 00:13:19.519 --> 00:13:26.559 He trusts in God. 00:13:26.559 --> 00:13:46.000 Now briefly turn with me to Psalm 22, a psalm that was written close to a thousand years before the life of the Lord Jesus. 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:53.600 And let's look at verses six through eight, and then verses sixteen through eighteen, starting with verse six. 00:13:53.600 --> 00:13:59.679 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by people. 00:13:59.679 --> 00:14:02.639 Everyone who sees me mocks me. 00:14:02.639 --> 00:14:05.200 They sneer and shake their heads. 00:14:05.200 --> 00:14:08.240 He relies on the Lord, let him save him. 00:14:08.240 --> 00:14:12.000 Let the Lord rescue him, since he takes pleasure in him. 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:13.919 Verse sixteen. 00:14:13.919 --> 00:14:21.039 For dogs have surrounded me, a gang of evildoers has closed in on me, they pierced my hands and my feet. 00:14:21.039 --> 00:14:23.360 I can count all of my bones. 00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:26.960 People look at me people look and stare at me. 00:14:26.960 --> 00:14:34.080 They divided my garments among themselves, and they cast lots for my clothing. 00:14:34.080 --> 00:14:43.360 What David spoke about concerning himself in the Old Testament was then later used to speak about the greater one than him and the New Testament. 00:14:43.360 --> 00:14:53.600 Now, Jesus being the bridge between the Old and New Testament, the fulfillment and the long-awaited Messiah are great truths with great implications. 00:14:53.600 --> 00:15:00.320 But I also know that it can sometimes be hard to see what those truths really mean for us today, individually as people. 00:15:00.320 --> 00:15:10.000 So in addition to what I just mentioned before, I want to give you just a few more snapshots from Matthew that invite us into the heart of Jesus. 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:18.159 Now I will be doing quite a bit of reading from a few passages, but the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any double-edged sword. 00:15:18.159 --> 00:15:22.720 Sometimes it doesn't need to be exposited, sometimes it just has to be heard. 00:15:22.720 --> 00:15:27.679 So I pray that as I read, the word of God would be at work as you listen. 00:15:27.679 --> 00:15:31.360 Matthew 8, verses 1 through 3. 00:15:31.360 --> 00:15:35.919 When he came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him. 00:15:35.919 --> 00:15:46.559 Right away a man with leprosy came up and knelt before him, saying, Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean. 00:15:46.559 --> 00:15:53.120 Reaching out his hand, Jesus touched him, saying, I am willing. 00:15:53.120 --> 00:15:55.120 Be made clean. 00:15:55.120 --> 00:15:58.399 Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 00:15:58.399 --> 00:16:01.519 Matthew 9, verses 10 through 12. 00:16:01.519 --> 00:16:09.440 While he was reclining at the table in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came to eat with Jesus and his disciples. 00:16:09.440 --> 00:16:16.720 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? 00:16:16.720 --> 00:16:24.639 And when he heard this, he said, It is not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are sick. 00:16:24.639 --> 00:16:26.399 Go and learn what this means. 00:16:26.399 --> 00:16:29.360 I desire mercy and not sacrifice. 00:16:29.360 --> 00:16:34.639 For I didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners. 00:16:34.639 --> 00:16:38.399 Matthew 9, verses 35 and 36. 00:16:38.399 --> 00:16:48.480 Jesus continued going around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness. 00:16:48.480 --> 00:16:59.840 When he saw the crowds, he felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. 00:16:59.840 --> 00:17:05.839 And for our last one, Matthew 15, verses 29 through 31. 00:17:05.839 --> 00:17:11.519 Moving on from there, Jesus passed along from along the Sea of Galilee. 00:17:11.519 --> 00:17:24.960 He went up on a mountain and sat there, and large crowds came to him, including the lame, the blind, the crippled, those unable to speak, and many others. 00:17:24.960 --> 00:17:29.440 They put them at his feet, and he healed them. 00:17:29.440 --> 00:17:49.839 It is impossible to miss the love that the Lord Jesus had for people, and particularly for those who were considered unclean, those who were often despised by society, distressed and dejected, those who were unwell, the lame, the blind, the crippled, and those unable to speak. 00:17:49.839 --> 00:18:00.960 When we turn on our TVs and we're scrolling through social media, we do get to a certain point where we find ourselves asking the question, what is wrong with the world? 00:18:00.960 --> 00:18:07.440 And the answer is simply this the world is spiritually unclean and done well. 00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:11.519 The world is spiritually lame, blind and crippled. 00:18:11.519 --> 00:18:18.559 And if we are genuinely honest with ourselves, we are all spiritually lame, blind and crippled. 00:18:18.559 --> 00:18:23.359 I'm spiritually broken, and you are spiritually broken. 00:18:23.359 --> 00:18:34.160 But the person of the crucifixion, the Lord Jesus Christ, came to die for people like you and me. 00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:38.480 This is the person of the crucifixion in our passage today. 00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:53.519 The Lord Jesus Christ Himself, the God man, the friend of sinners, who was flogged, who was stripped, crowned with a crown of thorns, who was mocked, who was spat on, beaten with a staff, and who was crucified. 00:18:53.519 --> 00:19:01.519 The only one who ever existed that committed absolutely no wrong, humiliated at the hands of wicked men. 00:19:01.519 --> 00:19:06.400 Now one could ask, where is God in all of this? 00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:11.680 Is he just standing by, twiddling his thumbs as this injustice is happening? 00:19:11.680 --> 00:19:18.079 And this leads me to our next point, an underlying principle of the crucifixion. 00:19:18.079 --> 00:19:28.079 If we want to make sense of our passage today, if we want to make sense of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ, there is an underlying principle we must understand. 00:19:28.079 --> 00:19:35.200 And that principle is this What man means for evil, God means for good. 00:19:35.200 --> 00:19:38.400 What man means for evil, God means for good. 00:19:38.400 --> 00:19:44.960 If we were to go back to the early stages of Old Testament history, we would encounter the story of a young man named Joseph. 00:19:44.960 --> 00:19:49.839 Joseph was one of twelve sons that were born to a man by the name of Israel. 00:19:49.839 --> 00:19:56.000 Joseph was favored greatly by his father, and so much so that his own brothers grew jealous of him. 00:19:56.000 --> 00:20:01.039 And when Joseph's brothers could no longer stand him, they betrayed him and sold him as a slave. 00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:08.799 And in addition to that, later on in his life, Joseph gets falsely accused of rape and thrown into prison for many years. 00:20:08.799 --> 00:20:17.680 Fast forward many, many years later, Joseph finds himself in a position of authority where if he wanted to, he could have had his brothers killed. 00:20:17.680 --> 00:20:25.519 But instead of being brash and revengeful toward his brothers, we have these words found in Genesis 50, verse 22. 00:20:25.519 --> 00:20:30.559 As for you, you meant evil against me. 00:20:30.559 --> 00:20:38.079 But God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive. 00:20:38.079 --> 00:20:44.319 In other words, when Joseph's brothers really did plan to do him wrong, they did. 00:20:44.319 --> 00:20:52.079 They made the deliberate decision to throw him into a well, to sell him into slavery, and to lie about his death to their father. 00:20:52.079 --> 00:21:01.039 But at the same time, they were not at all aware that their actions were a part of a much bigger plan that was meant for the ultimate good. 00:21:01.039 --> 00:21:04.160 There was another planner. 00:21:04.160 --> 00:21:18.880 So when Joseph says these words, as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, Joseph understood something profound about the sovereignty of God that must be considered in our passage today. 00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:28.000 Joseph understood that the outworking of history is not left to chance, that it is not left to the whims and wills of human beings. 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:32.319 But in actuality, there are two planners in history. 00:21:32.319 --> 00:21:35.599 There's God and there's man. 00:21:35.599 --> 00:21:39.519 And that's what we see in our passage today in Matthew 27. 00:21:39.519 --> 00:21:46.640 On one hand, we have the governor's soldiers that do not have the slightest bit of remorse in their actions towards the Lord Jesus. 00:21:46.640 --> 00:21:52.640 They are planning and they are deliberately inflicting pain, scorn, and mockery. 00:21:52.640 --> 00:21:59.119 And yet, on the other hand, we have those famous words in Isaiah 53 about the suffering servant, Jesus Christ himself. 00:21:59.119 --> 00:22:03.279 But he was pierced for our transgressions. 00:22:03.279 --> 00:22:06.799 He was crushed for our iniquities. 00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:12.720 The punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. 00:22:12.720 --> 00:22:18.319 What the Roman soldiers meant for evil, God meant for good. 00:22:18.319 --> 00:22:26.240 On one hand, we have the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders who were trying who were trying to figure out a way to kill Jesus from the very beginning. 00:22:26.240 --> 00:22:33.440 And in our passage we see them mocking the Lord Jesus by saying, He saved sinners, but he cannot save himself. 00:22:33.440 --> 00:22:55.200 But on the other hand, we see in Matthew 6, 21, that it was necessary for Jesus to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests and scribes, be killed and be raised on the third day, because the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many. 00:22:55.200 --> 00:23:02.319 What the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders meant for evil, God meant for good. 00:23:02.319 --> 00:23:26.319 Now, if this is so with the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ, if the Lord is able to bring about eternal good in salvation through what seemed inhumane and downright cruel to truly the only innocent man that has ever walked this earth, how much more will the Lord ultimately make good out of the things that are wrong in this world? 00:23:26.319 --> 00:23:31.839 Oh, but you know, things just seem to be getting worse and worse compared to 15 years ago. 00:23:31.839 --> 00:23:33.440 Maybe true. 00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:40.720 But all things work together for good for of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. 00:23:40.720 --> 00:23:44.079 All things work together for the good. 00:23:44.079 --> 00:23:48.160 And this brings me to my last point. 00:23:48.160 --> 00:23:51.359 The paradox of the crucifixion. 00:23:51.359 --> 00:23:55.839 Today we're likely to see people wearing a gold chain with a cross on it. 00:23:55.839 --> 00:24:03.200 People have a tattoo of a cross somewhere on their body, and we generally look at crosses today and we have this positive connotation to it. 00:24:03.200 --> 00:24:10.160 But in the days of Jesus, the cross was the last thing that people wanted to identify with. 00:24:10.160 --> 00:24:15.519 In the ancient world, the cross was synonymous with crucifixion. 00:24:15.519 --> 00:24:22.319 And as we saw a little bit in our text, death by way of crucifixion was truly the most horrible. 00:24:22.319 --> 00:24:26.960 For the Jew, you were considered cursed by God if you were crucified. 00:24:26.960 --> 00:24:34.640 Normally, after a criminal was condemned, he was beaten severely with whips that would leave his skin open with many gashes. 00:24:34.640 --> 00:24:40.720 And then from there he would have to carry one of the beams of the cross to his execution site. 00:24:40.720 --> 00:24:52.720 He would then be stripped naked and have his hands and his feet nailed to the cross, and then the criminal will be put on public display with his crime written on a sign placed above his head. 00:24:52.720 --> 00:24:57.440 Truly, there is nothing more shameful and humiliating. 00:24:57.440 --> 00:25:05.920 And yet, this is part of what the Lord Jesus Christ endured, so that he could save us. 00:25:05.920 --> 00:25:14.000 Brothers and sisters, the paradox of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus is this: the message of the cross. 00:25:14.000 --> 00:25:18.319 The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. 00:25:18.319 --> 00:25:22.000 But to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. 00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:27.680 The paradox of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus is this a king becomes a servant. 00:25:27.680 --> 00:25:31.680 He became naked so that we might be clothed in righteousness. 00:25:31.680 --> 00:25:36.240 He redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. 00:25:36.240 --> 00:25:40.480 He died for us so that we might live for him. 00:25:40.480 --> 00:25:44.720 The paradox of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus is this. 00:25:44.720 --> 00:25:51.359 It is at Calvary we see men's hatred for Christ, yet we see Christ's love for men. 00:25:51.359 --> 00:25:54.880 And this leads me to one little extra point. 00:25:54.880 --> 00:25:58.799 A plea to look to the crucifixion. 00:25:58.799 --> 00:26:06.960 Jesus said, Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. 00:26:06.960 --> 00:26:16.480 Brothers and sisters, I encourage you today to look at the cross and be reminded that what the Lord Jesus Christ suffered was because he loved us. 00:26:16.480 --> 00:26:24.079 And he loved us not because we had anything to offer him, but he loved us simply because he loved us. 00:26:24.079 --> 00:26:25.440 Let's pray. 00:26:25.440 --> 00:26:39.359 You came in our place to die as a substitute. 00:26:39.359 --> 00:26:43.119 We took the wrath of God that we rightfully deserved. 00:26:43.119 --> 00:26:48.480 And Lord, we recognize that we do not deserve such kindness and such love. 00:26:48.480 --> 00:26:56.880 But Lord, we praise you and we thank you that you have revealed yourself through your word, that you came and died for us. 00:26:56.880 --> 00:27:02.880 And Lord, we want to glorify and honor you with our lives and all that we say and do. 00:27:02.880 --> 00:27:05.759 So we thank you for the word that was went forth. 00:27:05.759 --> 00:27:08.960 May our hearts be stirred to worship you all the more today. 00:27:08.960 --> 00:27:10.400 In your name I pray. 00:27:10.400 --> 00:27:11.279 Amen.