SPEAKER_01: Stories can be windows to a truth far greater than the story itself.
SPEAKER_01: One such story is C.S.
SPEAKER_01: Lewis's The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
SPEAKER_01: Many of us remember the scene when Aslan quietly walks into the witch's camp.
SPEAKER_01: There is no struggle, no resistance, no last-minute escape.
SPEAKER_01: The great lion, the true king of Narnia, gives himself up willingly in the place of Edmund the Traitor.
SPEAKER_01: And what follows is painful to read or watch.
SPEAKER_01: If you watch the movie, Aslan is shaved, bound, mocked, spat upon.
SPEAKER_01: The creatures jeer at him.
SPEAKER_01: The one who could tear them apart with a word allows himself to be humiliated.
SPEAKER_01: There's nothing about Aslan in this moment that looks strong or noble, only shame and apparent weakness.
SPEAKER_01: And when the knife finally falls, it appears that evil has won.
SPEAKER_01: But there's more to the story, and that makes all the difference.
SPEAKER_01: When Aslan walked willingly into the witch's camp, he was guided by a higher law, a law written long before the witch ever claimed her rights.
SPEAKER_01: A life was given for a traitor, a ransom was paid, and beneath the appearance of defeat, a hidden victory was already at work.
SPEAKER_01: C.S.
SPEAKER_01: Lewis, of course, wasn't inventing something new, he was retelling an older, truer story.
SPEAKER_01: As we turn to Mark 15, we see the true king, not of Narnia, but of heaven and earth.
SPEAKER_01: Like Aslan, Jesus doesn't resist, doesn't plead, nor does he call down legions of angels.
SPEAKER_01: Rather, he submits.
SPEAKER_01: He is mocked, crowned in cruelty, and led to death.
SPEAKER_01: And everything about this scene seems to say this is failure.
SPEAKER_01: But our gospel writer Mark wants us to see that this is the ransom being paid.
SPEAKER_01: This is Scripture being fulfilled.
SPEAKER_01: This is God's plan of salvation unfolding step by step, even as human sin does its worst.
SPEAKER_01: The question Mark lays before us is this who is this king?
SPEAKER_01: And the harder question, will we follow him on his path?
SPEAKER_01: Now, as we turn to Mark 15, 1 through 39, we fix our eyes on Jesus, the suffering servant King.
SPEAKER_01: He lays down his life as a ransom for many, and he calls those he has ransomed to trust the God who brings victory through the cross.
SPEAKER_01: Let's go to the Father now in prayer, asking him to help us see Jesus clearly and give us courage to follow him.
SPEAKER_01: Heavenly Father, as we turn to your word this morning, help us to see your Son Jesus as the fulfillment of what Isaiah wrote long ago of the suffering servant.
SPEAKER_01: And God, as followers of Jesus, give us boldness and courage to live out our faith and to walk as he walked, even through suffering, yet empowered by your Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Mark chapter fifteen, beginning with verses one through fifteen.
SPEAKER_01: And early in the morning the chief priests with the elders and scribes and the whole Sanhedrin immediately held counsel, and binding Jesus led him away and delivered him to Pilate.
SPEAKER_01: And Pilate questioned him, Are you the king of the Jews?
SPEAKER_01: And he answered him and said, You yourself say it.
SPEAKER_01: And the chief priests began to accuse him of many things.
SPEAKER_01: Then Pilate was questioning him again, saying, Do you not answer?
SPEAKER_01: See how many accusations they bring against you.
SPEAKER_01: But Jesus made no further answer.
SPEAKER_01: So Pilate marvelled.
SPEAKER_01: Now at the feast he used to release for them any one prisoner whom they requested.
SPEAKER_01: And the man named Barabbas had been imprisoned with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the insurrection.
SPEAKER_01: And the crowd went up and began asking him to do as he had been accustomed to do for them.
SPEAKER_01: Then Pilate answered them, saying, Do you want me to release for you the king of the Jews?
SPEAKER_01: For he was aware that the chief priests had delivered him over because of envy.
SPEAKER_01: But the chief priest stirred up the crowd to ask him to release Barabbas for them instead.
SPEAKER_01: And answering again Pilate was saying to them, Then what shall I do with him whom you call the king of the Jews?
SPEAKER_01: And they shouted again, Crucify him.
SPEAKER_01: But Pilate was saying to them, Why, what evil did he do?
SPEAKER_01: But they shouted all the more, Crucify him! And wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them.
SPEAKER_01: And after having Jesus scourged, he delivered him over to be crucified.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is on trial again, this time before Pilate, the Roman governor.
SPEAKER_01: Unlike the Sanhedrin, Pilate had the power to decide Jesus' fate.
SPEAKER_01: Yet Jesus doesn't defend himself, he doesn't argue, he doesn't try to justify his actions, he remains completely silent, like the lamb described in Isaiah 53 7.
SPEAKER_01: As Isaiah writes, He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth, like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shears, so he did not open his mouth.
SPEAKER_01: To the world, this silence looks like guilt.
SPEAKER_01: In a Roman court, refusing to speak usually meant you were admitting your crime.
SPEAKER_01: Pilate is astonished.
SPEAKER_01: This doesn't make any sense to him.
SPEAKER_01: Why would an innocent man remain silent?
SPEAKER_01: But what Pilate can't see is this even in his silence, Jesus remains fully in control because everything is unfolding according to the sovereign will of God.
SPEAKER_01: If there was ever a moment for Jesus to escape, this was it.
SPEAKER_01: Pilate could have released him, but Jesus refuses to save himself.
SPEAKER_01: His mission is bigger than avoiding punishment.
SPEAKER_01: Then the crowd enters the story, the Jewish leaders stir them up.
SPEAKER_01: Instead of choosing Jesus, they demand that Barabbas, a known rebel and murderer, be set free.
SPEAKER_01: Think about that for a moment.
SPEAKER_01: The guilty man goes free, and the innocent man is condemned.
SPEAKER_01: The irony here goes even further.
SPEAKER_01: The name Barabbas means son of the Father.
SPEAKER_01: Here we have a son of the Father who is guilty of rebellion, sentenced to death, yet goes free.
SPEAKER_01: While the true son of the Father, Jesus, is innocent, falsely accused, and will die in the other's place.
SPEAKER_01: The one who truly deserves punishment is spared, and the one who is righteous is punished instead.
SPEAKER_01: This is substitution.
SPEAKER_01: The righteous for the unrighteous.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus takes the place of those who deserve death.
SPEAKER_01: Just as he said back in Mark ten forty-five, for even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.
SPEAKER_01: Everything in this scene seems chaotic, unfair, even frightening.
SPEAKER_01: Many of us know what it's like to go to bed after an ordinary peaceful day, only to wake up to news that changes everything.
SPEAKER_01: In just a few hours, life can move from calm to chaos.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus begins the night sharing a meal with his disciples.
SPEAKER_01: By morning, he is bound, accused, and standing before Pilate.
SPEAKER_01: It's a quick turn of events.
SPEAKER_01: But what feels sudden and senseless to us isn't sudden or senseless to God.
SPEAKER_01: Pilate, the Sanhedrin, the crowd are all acting freely and selfishly, and yet God's plan moves forward without fail.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus' silence, Barabbas' release, Pilate's hesitation, all of it is part of God's plan for salvation.
SPEAKER_01: Nothing is out of God's control.
SPEAKER_01: Nothing takes him by surprise.
SPEAKER_01: He rules over every detail to accomplish his sovereign will.
SPEAKER_01: For us, this is a powerful lesson.
SPEAKER_01: Faithfulness doesn't always mean avoiding hardship, injustice, or misunderstanding.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes it means standing firm and quietly trusting God, even when the world seems to be against you.
SPEAKER_01: That is exactly what we see in Jesus here.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't retaliate evil for evil.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't answer injustice with anger.
SPEAKER_01: He entrusts himself to the Father and walks the path set before him.
SPEAKER_01: And Scripture tells us plainly, this is how God's people are called to live.
SPEAKER_01: As Peter writes in 1 Peter 3:8 and 9, all of you are to be like-minded, sympathetic, brotherly, tender hearted, and humble in spirit, not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but giving a blessing instead.
SPEAKER_01: For you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.
SPEAKER_01: To be humble in spirit, like Jesus, is to lay aside pride.
SPEAKER_01: And that's hard for us, because our natural instinct is self-preservation.
SPEAKER_01: Because of sin, we want to pay back evil with evil.
SPEAKER_01: And often we want to pay it back with interest.
SPEAKER_01: If somebody strikes us once, we want to strike them back harder.
SPEAKER_01: That's how sin multiplies.
SPEAKER_01: Evil begets evil when we give in to our impulses.
SPEAKER_01: But Jesus shows us a different way.
SPEAKER_01: He endures suffering without complaint.
SPEAKER_01: He blesses those who curse him, and in the economy of God's grace, he repays evil with good.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus walks the path the Father laid before him, even when it leads through suffering.
SPEAKER_01: And he calls us to follow him and to walk that same path.
SPEAKER_01: Let's continue with verses sixteen through twenty.
SPEAKER_01: So the soldiers took him away into the palace, that is the Praetorium, and they called together the whole Roman cohort, and they dressed him up in purple, and after twisting a crown of thorns, they put it on him, and they began to greet him.
SPEAKER_01: Hail, King of the Jews, and they kept beating his head with a reed, and spitting on him, and kneeling, they were bowing down before him, and after they had mocked him, they took the purple robe off him, and put his own garments on him, and they led him out to crucify him.
SPEAKER_01: If you noticed in verse sixteen, Mark tells us that the whole Roman cohort is called together to carry out Jesus' execution.
SPEAKER_01: That's significant.
SPEAKER_01: A whole battalion is more than just a squad.
SPEAKER_01: It shows that Rome is treating Jesus as a real enemy of the state.
SPEAKER_01: And what happens next is meant to be sarcastic homage to this so-called king of the Jews.
SPEAKER_01: They dress him and undress him, mock him, strike him, and humiliate him in public.
SPEAKER_01: This is part of the punishment for anyone who dares to reject the authority of Rome.
SPEAKER_01: They put a purple robe on him and make a crown of thorns, mocking his kingship.
SPEAKER_01: And the words they speak, Hail King of the Jews, are meant to be ironic.
SPEAKER_01: Just as soldiers would salute Caesar with Hail Caesar, here they give Jesus the semblance of honor, but in the most cruel, sarcastic way.
SPEAKER_01: They are mocking both Jesus and the Jewish people, essentially saying, Look, here is your king.
SPEAKER_01: How pathetic.
SPEAKER_01: The beating is excessive, like a cop who ruthlessly beats up a person who is already in handcuffs.
SPEAKER_01: In this scene, we see the brutality and moral corruption of Rome on full display.
SPEAKER_01: And yet none of this takes Jesus by surprise.
SPEAKER_01: Again, back in Mark ten, thirty-three and thirty-four, Jesus had already predicted this very moment.
SPEAKER_01: He says, Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and will deliver him over to the Gentiles, and they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him, and kill him, and three days later he will rise again.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is the suffering servant Isaiah described, oppressed, afflicted, and like a silent lamb led to the slaughter.
SPEAKER_01: And yet, ironically, he truly is the king of the Jews, the king above all kings, even Caesar himself.
SPEAKER_01: And what the Roman soldiers did in jest, in cruelty, was actually an unwitting proclamation of truth.
SPEAKER_01: They meant to mock him, but God used their actions to reveal truth.
SPEAKER_01: And we see a similar irony in Caiaphas, the high priest.
SPEAKER_01: In John 11, 49 through 50, he tells the council, It is better for you that one man should die for the people and that the whole nation not perish.
SPEAKER_01: Caiaphas thought he was making a purely political calculation.
SPEAKER_01: But as the Apostle John points out, now he did not say this from himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but in order that he might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.
SPEAKER_01: What Caiaphas, the high priest of the Jews, intended for his own advantage, became through God's sovereignty the announcement of redemption.
SPEAKER_01: The one he wanted eliminated turned out to be the ultimate sacrifice, the Savior of the world.
SPEAKER_01: And this is exactly what we see with the soldiers' mockery.
SPEAKER_01: Their thorns, purple robe, and taunts were meant to humiliate, but in God's sovereignty they proclaimed truth.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is king, messiah, and redeemer.
SPEAKER_01: Even the sins and cruelty of men cannot escape God's plan.
SPEAKER_01: They only end up playing their part in his story.
SPEAKER_01: In the same way, when we follow Christ today, we shouldn't be surprised if our allegiance earns criticism, ridicule, or outright opposition.
SPEAKER_01: The culture around us may reject God's word, resist his ways, and try to make a mockery of him.
SPEAKER_01: But nothing can stop God's truth from shining through.
SPEAKER_01: Even in the midst of ridicule, weakness, or injustice, God is at work, and his kingdom is advancing.
SPEAKER_01: When we live in obedience and faithfulness, we get to participate in his unstoppable work.
SPEAKER_01: Let's continue with verses twenty-one through thirty-two.
SPEAKER_01: And they pressed into service a passer by coming from the countryside, Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.
SPEAKER_01: Then they brought him to the place Golgotha, which is translated place of a skull.
SPEAKER_01: And they tried to give him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it, and they crucified him, and divided up his garments among themselves, casting lots for them to decide who should take what.
SPEAKER_01: Now it was the third hour, and they crucified him, and the inscription of the charge against him read The King of the Jews, and they crucified two robbers with him, one on his right and one on his left.
SPEAKER_01: And the scripture was fulfilled which says, And he was numbered with transgressors, and those passing by were blaspheming him, shaking their heads and saying, Ha! You who are going to destroy the sanctuary and rebuild it in three days, save yourself by coming down from the cross.
SPEAKER_01: In the same way, mocking him to one another, the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were saying, He saved others, he cannot save himself.
SPEAKER_01: Let this Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe.
SPEAKER_01: Those who were crucified with him were also insulting him.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is now outside the city walls, on the road to Golgotha.
SPEAKER_01: According to both Roman custom and Jewish law, the condemned had to be executed outside the city.
SPEAKER_01: This wasn't a detail added for dramatic effect.
SPEAKER_01: It reminds us that his suffering was public, shameful, and fully visible.
SPEAKER_01: The path of the cross was like a march of defeat, meant to warn all who might oppose Rome.
SPEAKER_01: But it was also the path that would lead to the salvation of God's people.
SPEAKER_01: Because of the abuse and exhaustion Jesus had already endured, he couldn't carry the crossbeam alone.
SPEAKER_01: The soldiers compelled Simon of Cyrene, a man coming from the countryside, to help bear it.
SPEAKER_01: Simon's unexpected involvement is also more than a historical detail.
SPEAKER_01: It's a picture of discipleship.
SPEAKER_01: Following Jesus often requires stepping into burdens we did not anticipate, carrying the weight he calls us to bear.
SPEAKER_01: And in another ironic twist, here is a Simon walking with Jesus on the way to Golgotha doing what Simon Peter failed to do.
SPEAKER_01: This scene also reminds us that crossbearing is rarely planned.
SPEAKER_01: It is imposed, misunderstood, and often leads through suffering.
SPEAKER_01: For those who follow Christ, obedience sometimes looks like walking a path that the world would never choose or understand.
SPEAKER_01: Like Simon of Cyrene, we are called to step into unexpected burdens and to carry weight for the sake of the kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: Like Jesus, we are called to endure shame and misunderstanding, trusting that God is accomplishing his plan.
SPEAKER_01: And as Jesus makes his way to Golgotha, the procession itself is a display of public humiliation.
SPEAKER_01: And in just a few words, Mark writes that Jesus was crucified.
SPEAKER_01: Compared to the other gospel accounts, Mark's gospel is the shortest when it comes to details about Jesus' crucifixion.
SPEAKER_01: And this seems strange considering that it's one of the most important events since creation.
SPEAKER_01: After all, crucifixion was the ultimate and horrifying means of publicly warning everyone not to rebel against the authority and power of Rome if they wished to avoid the fate of the one crucified.
SPEAKER_00: Crucifixion was cruel and shameful.
SPEAKER_01: It caused death through a brutal cycle of exertion and collapse.
SPEAKER_01: It required constant muscular effort, pushing upward with the legs and pulling with outstretched arms.
SPEAKER_01: All of this just to breathe.
SPEAKER_01: Relaxing meant having body weight pulling downward, which compressed the lungs, making breathing impossible until another exhausting push upward.
SPEAKER_01: And after so long, it's inevitable that the person becomes too weak to continue the cycle and dies of suffocation.
SPEAKER_01: On top of that, having nails driven through the wrists and feet caused massive blood loss, and with each movement to try and breathe, the person would scrape their shredded back against splintered wood.
SPEAKER_01: If it wasn't suffocation or the massive blood loss, the ultimate cause of death was typically heart rupture.
SPEAKER_01: As the racing pulse and elevated blood pressure eventually caused the heart to burst under extreme stress.
SPEAKER_01: All of this was taking place, and yet our gospel writer Mark doesn't make it the focal point.
SPEAKER_01: Instead, he draws our attention to the abandonment and suffering of Jesus, the Son of God, who willingly endures this punishment to fulfill God's plan of salvation.
SPEAKER_01: Mark's focus is on the loneliness and cost of obedience, the weight of the mission Jesus bore for the sins of his people.
SPEAKER_01: And we'll see that even more clearly in the next section of our passage today.
SPEAKER_01: The loneliness Jesus experiences only intensifies from here.
SPEAKER_01: Yet through all of the suffering, Scripture is being fulfilled at every turn.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus' suffering is intentionally meant to echo what was written in Psalm 22.
SPEAKER_01: The taunts, the mockery, the piercing of his hands and feet, all of it is unfolding just as it was written.
SPEAKER_01: Even the part about dividing up his garments among themselves, casting lots for them to decide who should take what.
SPEAKER_01: In verses 27 and 28, we see two robbers crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.
SPEAKER_01: And the scripture was fulfilled which says, And he was numbered with transgressors.
SPEAKER_01: Once again, in irony, we are reminded of James and John's request of Jesus to sit, one on his right and one on his left in his glory.
SPEAKER_01: To which Jesus replied in Mark ten, thirty-eight through forty, You do not know what you are asking.
SPEAKER_01: Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?
SPEAKER_01: And they said to him, We are able.
SPEAKER_01: Yet in the midst of this, God's sovereignty is still at work.
SPEAKER_01: What was meant for evil, the cruelty of Rome, the scheming of the Jewish authorities, the scorn of the crowd, all of it becomes the stage for redemption.
SPEAKER_01: And as we will see in the next section, Psalm 22 continues to illuminate Jesus' suffering.
SPEAKER_01: Every moment, every taunt, every gesture points to his identity as the suffering servant, the innocent Lamb who gives his life as a ransom for many.
SPEAKER_01: Even in the most shameful public moments, Scripture is being fulfilled, and God's plan is advancing toward salvation.
SPEAKER_01: Let's close out with verses thirty-three through thirty nine.
SPEAKER_01: And when the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, and at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, Eloi Eloi Lama Sabakhthani, which is translated, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
SPEAKER_01: And when some of the bystanders heard it, they began saying, Look, he is calling for Elijah.
SPEAKER_01: And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave him a drink, saying, Let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus, uttering a loud cry, breathed his last.
SPEAKER_01: And the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom.
SPEAKER_01: And when the centurion, who was standing right in front of him, saw the way he breathed his last, he said, Truly this man was God's son.
SPEAKER_01: As Jesus hangs on the cross, Mark draws our attention to God's sovereign purpose.
SPEAKER_01: From noon until three in the afternoon, darkness covers the land.
SPEAKER_01: This is no ordinary darkness.
SPEAKER_01: It signals the weight of judgment, the seriousness of what is taking place, and the depth of God's involvement in the world.
SPEAKER_01: Even creation itself bears witness to this moment.
SPEAKER_01: Amid the darkness, Jesus cries out, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
SPEAKER_01: In that cry, he bears the full weight of human sin and God's righteous judgment.
SPEAKER_01: Yet he speaks directly to the Father, modeling trust and obedience in the midst of extreme suffering.
SPEAKER_01: His words echo Psalm twenty two, which moves from despair to hope, showing that even in apparent abandonment, God is working toward vindication and salvation.
SPEAKER_01: Every detail of the crucifixion demonstrates his obedience.
SPEAKER_01: He endures the full agony of the cross, refusing wine mixed with myrrh that would numb the pain, yet accepting the sour wine offered.
SPEAKER_01: Every nail, every strain to breathe, every moment of exhaustion, all of it is part of the mission he came to accomplish.
SPEAKER_01: And then it happens.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus breathes his last.
SPEAKER_00: It is finished.
SPEAKER_00: The mission is accomplished.
SPEAKER_01: Through his perfect obedience and his precious blood, Jesus gave his life as a ransom for many.
SPEAKER_01: We are reminded again that nothing here is outside God's control.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus' suffering is purposeful, redemptive, and sovereignly ordained.
SPEAKER_01: And God underscores this truth in a visible, cosmic way.
SPEAKER_01: The inner curtain of the temple, the veil separating humanity from his presence, is torn from top to bottom.
SPEAKER_01: Through Jesus' death, the way to God is opened.
SPEAKER_01: Access is no longer limited to a place, a priest, or a system.
SPEAKER_01: It's granted to all who trust in him.
SPEAKER_01: The work is finished, the debt is paid, and God's victory is soon to be revealed.
SPEAKER_01: Even a Roman censurian, a man accustomed to death and military justice, sees what others cannot.
SPEAKER_01: Truly this man was God's son.
SPEAKER_01: What the world calls weakness, shame, or defeat, God calls victory.
SPEAKER_01: What looks like failure is actually the moment when Jesus accomplishes his mission.
SPEAKER_01: And here we're reminded of Aslan.
SPEAKER_01: Remember how he was shaved, bound, mocked, and led to his death.
SPEAKER_01: For a moment it seemed that evil had won.
SPEAKER_01: But Aslan endured all of this suffering for someone who didn't deserve it.
SPEAKER_01: Edmund was a traitor who only looked out for his own interests.
SPEAKER_01: He should have been the one bearing the consequence of his sin, not Aslan.
SPEAKER_01: Aslan was good, he was righteous, and yet it was the life of the righteous that was laid down for the life of the unrighteous.
SPEAKER_01: That is exactly what Jesus did for us.
SPEAKER_01: We are Edmin in this story.
SPEAKER_01: We have all gone astray and turned to our own way.
SPEAKER_01: But as Isaiah writes, Yahweh has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him, the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: The innocent suffers in place of the guilty.
SPEAKER_01: The righteous gives his life for the unrighteous.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus' story is infinitely greater than Aslan's.
SPEAKER_01: He rises again to secure his eternal kingdom and to conquer sin and death once and for all.
SPEAKER_01: And he calls us, those he has ransomed, to follow him.
SPEAKER_01: Not because the path is easy, but because it's the path that leads to life and victory in God's eternal plan.
SPEAKER_01: God often works in ways we do not immediately recognize or understand.
SPEAKER_01: Our suffering, seasons of loneliness, or the rejection we experience may feel like defeat.
SPEAKER_01: But in God's hands nothing is wasted.
SPEAKER_01: Even what man intends for evil, God intends for good.
SPEAKER_01: And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
SPEAKER_01: The cross reminds us that God's timing is perfect, his plan is unstoppable, his grace is sufficient, and his power is perfected in our weakness.
SPEAKER_01: The God who ordained the cross has also ordained the resurrection and the reign that follows.
SPEAKER_01: Therefore, suffering is not a sign of abandonment.
SPEAKER_01: Obedience is never wasted, and vindication may be delayed, but it's guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01: Christ didn't stumble into death, he offered himself according to the Father's will.
SPEAKER_01: And the same God who held him through his darkest hour holds you today with the same wisdom, the same faithfulness, and the same promise of glory.
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_01: Father in heaven, how deep is your love for us that you gave your son Jesus to die for us.
SPEAKER_01: God, we are so unworthy of anything good.
SPEAKER_01: We are the Edmin of the story.
SPEAKER_01: We all have sinned against you, sinned against each other, turned away, lived ways that have made us deserving of your wrath.
SPEAKER_01: And yet, God, you love us so much that you made a way where there was no way.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus, while we were still sinners, you died for us and you accomplished your mission and gave your life as a ransom for many.
SPEAKER_01: That we would respond in faith and repentance, and that through your Holy Spirit we would bear much good spiritual fruit.
SPEAKER_01: We pray all these things in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.