WEBVTT 00:00:01.280 --> 00:00:04.080 Hello and welcome to the Redemption Church Podcast. 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:12.480 We're a church in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada that exists to glorify God through the fulfillment of the Great Commission and the spirit of the Great Commandment. 00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:14.640 Thanks for joining us today. 00:00:16.239 --> 00:00:25.199 Prophet Isaiah writes in Isaiah 53, verse 4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. 00:00:25.519 --> 00:00:29.760 Yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. 00:00:30.079 --> 00:00:36.640 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities. 00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:43.520 Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 00:00:43.759 --> 00:00:53.280 And all we like sheep have gone astray, we've turned every one to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 00:00:53.600 --> 00:01:08.000 He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth, like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that is before its shearer silent, so he opened not his mouth, and by oppression and judgment he was taken away. 00:01:08.159 --> 00:01:15.439 And as for his generation, who considered that he was cut out, cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? 00:01:16.079 --> 00:01:30.000 And they made his grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth, yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him. 00:01:30.879 --> 00:01:32.799 He has put him to grief. 00:01:33.280 --> 00:01:42.959 When his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring, he shall prolong his days, and the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. 00:01:43.680 --> 00:01:47.120 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied. 00:01:47.280 --> 00:01:58.879 By his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make the many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. 00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:32.240 Church, it's good for us to gather this morning, on this good Friday morning, and to commemorate all that Christ has done for us on the cross, to position our hearts towards God in a position of bowing, a position of awe that according to the will of God, he would crush his own son in order that we, the sheep who have gone astray, might find hope, might find life, we might find righteousness in him. 00:02:32.719 --> 00:02:36.240 And so it is good to be together on Good Friday. 00:02:36.400 --> 00:02:38.639 And if you're new with us, we want to welcome you here. 00:02:38.719 --> 00:02:40.000 We've set up an area just for you. 00:02:40.080 --> 00:02:44.479 You can check out after the service called Connections at the back of this worship center, and we'd love to meet you. 00:02:44.639 --> 00:02:52.560 I just want to let you know that as we celebrate all that Christ did for us in his death and think about that this morning, our service is going to look a little different. 00:02:52.879 --> 00:02:55.759 We're going to spend a lot of time reflecting on the cross. 00:02:55.840 --> 00:02:58.879 And at the end of our service, we're going to take communion together. 00:02:59.039 --> 00:03:08.319 And I just ask, if you're not a believer, if you don't believe in what Christ has done for you, and that hasn't been applied to you personally, I just ask that you let that pass by, that you don't take the cup or the bread. 00:03:08.400 --> 00:03:13.759 And if there's sin in your heart that you haven't repented of, that you're unwilling to deal with, not that you're a sinner. 00:03:14.240 --> 00:03:21.759 We all sin and fall short of the glory of God, but if there's unrepentant sin in your heart, I just ask that you not take that cup. 00:03:21.919 --> 00:03:29.599 At the end of the service, we're going to take communion and watch a short video, and a slide is going to come up to signal that uh our service is finished. 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:45.439 And I just ask that in a spirit of uh reflectiveness, that you would just leave this room quietly and allow those who just want to be with the Lord and spend some time meditating on his cross and his death, allow them to do that uh just in a moment of silence here in this room. 00:03:45.919 --> 00:03:48.159 Let's pray as we begin our service. 00:03:48.400 --> 00:03:59.439 Father, God, would you till the hearts of our the soil of our hearts right now by the power of your Holy Spirit to be ready for all that you're gonna accomplish in this time, God? 00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:09.280 Lord, there's no more significant weekend of the year for our church, because Lord, this was the most significant weekend in all of history. 00:04:09.599 --> 00:04:26.959 God, the weekend that your son climbed onto the cross willingly for the joy that was set before him, endured the pain, endured your wrath in order to bear the iniquities of us all. 00:04:27.759 --> 00:04:37.279 And so, God, as we spend this time to worship and to praise you for all that you have done, God, would you speak to us by the power of the Holy Spirit? 00:04:37.439 --> 00:04:44.480 God, change us as we gaze at the glory of the cross and are transformed from one degree of glory to another. 00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:52.959 God, we give this service to you because you, Lord, yours is the glory, and yours is the exaltation, and we are here to worship you for all that you have done. 00:04:53.120 --> 00:04:54.560 We pray this in the name of your son. 00:04:55.120 --> 00:04:55.759 Amen. 00:04:58.079 --> 00:05:11.920 And they compelled a passer by Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross, and they brought him to the place called Golgatha, which means place of a skull. 00:05:12.079 --> 00:05:16.399 And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. 00:05:16.639 --> 00:05:24.480 And they crucified him, and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them to decide which what each should take. 00:05:24.720 --> 00:05:36.639 And it was the third hour when they crucified him, and the inscription of the charge against him read, The King of the Jews, and with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. 00:05:36.800 --> 00:05:47.920 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, Aha! You would who destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross. 00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:56.160 So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, He saved others, he cannot save himself. 00:05:56.480 --> 00:06:02.560 Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe. 00:06:03.040 --> 00:06:07.120 Those who were crucified with him also reviled him. 00:06:07.519 --> 00:06:14.240 And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 00:06:14.480 --> 00:06:24.720 And at the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, Eloi, Eloy, Lame Shabakhani, which means, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 00:06:25.439 --> 00:06:29.360 Some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, Behold, he's calling Elijah. 00:06:29.519 --> 00:06:39.279 And someone ran and filled the sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave it to him, gave to him a drink, saying, Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come down to take him. 00:06:39.920 --> 00:06:43.680 Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. 00:06:44.079 --> 00:06:47.600 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 00:06:47.759 --> 00:06:57.439 And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that it was in this way that he breathed his last, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God. 00:06:57.680 --> 00:07:05.839 And there were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James, and the younger of Joseph said Saloon. 00:07:06.079 --> 00:07:13.120 When he was in Galilee, they followed him and ministered to him, and they there were also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem. 00:07:13.279 --> 00:07:15.040 Let's pray, Father. 00:07:17.759 --> 00:07:19.360 Thank you for the cross. 00:07:19.600 --> 00:07:21.279 Thank you that it was your plan. 00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:26.639 Thank you for the love that you have shown us in sending your son to bear such a great weight. 00:07:33.519 --> 00:07:45.120 And God, in this moment, I pray that we would feel that weight, not in the sense of that it's on our own shoulders, but a sense of seeing what this centurion saw, Lord, of the weight that Jesus bore. 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:58.160 And Lord, that we would grow in an awe and a belief that truly this man who died 2,000 years ago was the Son of God and our only hope for salvation. 00:07:58.480 --> 00:08:02.240 And so, God, we lift this time to you, and we pray this in the name of your son. 00:08:02.800 --> 00:08:03.439 Amen. 00:08:04.399 --> 00:08:04.959 Amen. 00:08:05.199 --> 00:08:06.560 You guys can grab a seat. 00:08:06.879 --> 00:08:11.600 As you grab a seat, you can take your copy of God's word and open it up to Mark chapter 15. 00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:21.279 If you don't have a copy of God's word, the ushers are going to come to the front of the worship center right now, and they're going to make their way to the back, and you can just slip your hand up in the air, and they'd be happy to give you a Bible. 00:08:21.360 --> 00:08:23.600 And I just want to let you know you can keep that. 00:08:23.680 --> 00:08:24.639 That's our gift to you. 00:08:24.720 --> 00:08:31.600 If you will read it and see what God has to reveal to you, then uh we are more than happy to give that to you. 00:08:31.839 --> 00:08:41.440 When Jesus died, we just read a supernatural darkness covered the whole land for three hours. 00:08:41.679 --> 00:08:51.279 In this factual historical story, we discover that in the middle of day, from noon until 3 p.m., the whole land was dark. 00:08:51.519 --> 00:08:58.639 This was a darkness that was supernatural, and it was a darkness we're going to discover this morning that was profound. 00:08:58.879 --> 00:09:04.720 It was supernatural in the sense that no one to this day can explain it naturally. 00:09:04.879 --> 00:09:10.000 There are some who say, well, maybe it was a solar eclipse, but I don't know if you've ever seen a solar eclipse. 00:09:10.080 --> 00:09:15.679 A solar eclipse may darken the land for a few minutes, but it certainly doesn't do it for three hours. 00:09:16.879 --> 00:09:25.840 There are some who say that maybe this was a comes in dust storm, which can happen in the Middle East when the dust becomes so intense that it can block out light for days. 00:09:26.080 --> 00:09:34.320 And yet we know because of Passover that this would have been the end of a rainy season in which that kind of dust storm couldn't happen. 00:09:34.639 --> 00:09:39.919 And so we know that this darkness that was over the whole land was a supernatural darkness. 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:49.120 But what I want you to see also this morning was that this darkness that came over the land as Jesus was being crucified on the cross was a profound darkness. 00:09:49.440 --> 00:09:53.519 And that it was a darkness that is meant to teach you something. 00:09:53.679 --> 00:10:10.559 As you take the time this morning to reflect on the historical, factual crucifixion of the human being named Jesus Christ, who was on that cross nearly 2,000 years ago. 00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:19.919 I want you to consider that God made the land dark in order that you might learn something from it this morning. 00:10:20.799 --> 00:10:23.519 It's a profound darkness, and it's meant to teach us this. 00:10:23.600 --> 00:10:35.360 It's meant to reveal to us the darkness that's over us, the darkness that was over Jesus, and how the way that Jesus' darkness deals with our darkness. 00:10:35.759 --> 00:10:47.039 That's what I want you to see this morning about this darkness, that there is a darkness that's over us, it's a darkness over Jesus, and I want you to see that the darkness over Jesus deals with our darkness. 00:10:47.919 --> 00:10:51.600 Now, first consider with me the darkness that is over us. 00:10:52.080 --> 00:11:02.000 It's a darkness we read of in Mark 15, verse 33, where he says the sixth hour had come and there is darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 00:11:02.639 --> 00:11:09.120 Everyone in the land, because of what was happening to the Son of God, was covered in darkness. 00:11:09.279 --> 00:11:22.720 And God's intention was that this physical darkness would reveal a spiritual darkness that was not only surrounding the people of that time, it was also inside of them, and it's a darkness that is inside of us this morning. 00:11:23.200 --> 00:11:30.559 I want you to know about this darkness that is over us and in us, and I want you to see first that this darkness is a damaging darkness. 00:11:30.879 --> 00:11:43.919 Now, if you were to read the Gospel of Mark and circle every time that Mark talks about either darkness or the evening or the night, you would discover that Mark has a real theme here. 00:11:44.720 --> 00:11:53.200 Mark equates darkness and the things that happen in the evening and the things that happen at night, he he associates those things with evil. 00:11:53.679 --> 00:12:07.600 And throughout the biography of Jesus Christ of Nazareth's life, what Mark notes is that regularly Jesus fights the evil hostilities and forces that are against him. 00:12:08.080 --> 00:12:18.159 So in Mark chapter 1, 32, if you were to do this exercise, you would discover that Jesus is found casting out demons, and he does that in the evening. 00:12:18.399 --> 00:12:27.919 And then in Mark 4, 35 and 6, 37, you would see twice that there are these evil of natural disasters. 00:12:28.080 --> 00:12:31.519 There's these storms that are threatening the disciples' lives. 00:12:31.600 --> 00:12:33.600 And both these storms happen in the evening. 00:12:33.679 --> 00:12:38.480 And in one case, Jesus will have power over the storm to be able to walk on water. 00:12:38.559 --> 00:12:40.000 You remember with Peter. 00:12:40.320 --> 00:12:51.039 And in another case, Jesus will have power over the evil of this natural force, this storm, in order to say to the water, be still, and it will be still. 00:12:51.840 --> 00:12:54.000 In Mark 11, 11. 00:12:54.320 --> 00:13:00.559 During the evening, Jesus would walk into the temple and see and see that the temple had become this mockery to God. 00:13:00.799 --> 00:13:03.039 And so in Mark 14, 17. 00:13:04.399 --> 00:13:08.559 Later he would come to the temple in the evening and he would cleanse it. 00:13:09.039 --> 00:13:19.200 Later in Mark, Jesus would eat the Passover meal with his disciples in the evening as his imminent death loomed before him. 00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:25.200 And he told his disciples yet again that he would die and three days later rise again. 00:13:25.840 --> 00:13:29.440 Mark tells us that the trial of Jesus happens at night. 00:13:30.240 --> 00:13:35.120 We read of Jesus in the Garden of Ghessene, the night before he was tried. 00:13:35.279 --> 00:13:46.399 All this to say that throughout the ministry and life of Jesus, Jesus was acquainted with the evil of the darkness. 00:13:46.879 --> 00:13:56.879 And Jesus walked in the darkness and confronted the darkness in a way that it was, he experienced the hurt, the pain, and the damage of the darkness. 00:13:58.480 --> 00:14:05.519 There's a damage to the evil in this world that afflicts us that each of us have experienced, if we're honest. 00:14:07.519 --> 00:14:17.519 We like Jesus have experienced, maybe not personally, but at least from afar, the darkness of a natural disaster destroying people's lives and destroying their livelihood. 00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:24.159 Jesus experienced the darkness of being abandoned by his closest friends and family. 00:14:24.559 --> 00:14:27.360 And certainly we've felt that darkness as well. 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:31.360 He felt the darkness of physical pain. 00:14:32.080 --> 00:14:37.759 Jesus walked in the damaging darkness that each of us have experienced in this world. 00:14:38.399 --> 00:14:45.440 Now I know that if you and I were to sit down and make a list of all the things that we agree on or disagree on, that list would be probably pretty long. 00:14:45.679 --> 00:14:51.200 But one thing that we can agree on this morning is that this is an evil world. 00:14:51.759 --> 00:14:53.919 There is a lot of darkness in this world. 00:14:54.080 --> 00:14:57.600 There's a lot of hurt, there's a lot of pain, there's a lot of suffering. 00:14:57.759 --> 00:15:06.799 There is a lot of things that you see on the news, that you read on the internet, that are unexplainable, inexplicable suffering. 00:15:07.360 --> 00:15:14.879 No one's walking into this room, I assume, unless we've got a lot of blinders on, no one's walking in this room saying, man, this world's we're doing pretty good. 00:15:15.120 --> 00:15:18.000 Instead, we're all kind of like, man, something's gonna blow up here soon. 00:15:18.080 --> 00:15:19.519 It feels kind of like we're in a boiling pot. 00:15:19.600 --> 00:15:21.840 It feels like things are pretty messed up. 00:15:22.320 --> 00:15:30.480 We know the evil of the world, we know the darkness of the world, we see it from afar, we experience it in our own life, we know that things are not the way they should be. 00:15:31.120 --> 00:15:37.440 Often as I interact with people who have not considered the worldview, that that can be a real challenge for them. 00:15:37.600 --> 00:15:42.559 How can you believe in a good God when we live in a world that is so evil? 00:15:43.279 --> 00:15:50.399 And my question for you this morning, if that's kind of like the thing that you're wrestling with, my question is this how do you deal with the evil? 00:15:51.120 --> 00:15:58.960 How does your worldview make sense of the evil that is in this world, of the darkness that each of us constantly walk in? 00:15:59.440 --> 00:16:07.279 Isn't it a mark of humanity that you if you haven't just suffered and you're not suffering now, then very likely you're soon to suffer. 00:16:07.759 --> 00:16:12.080 And how do you make sense of that darkness that that constantly surrounds your life? 00:16:12.480 --> 00:16:16.480 How do you make sense of the way that the darkness and evil of this world has damaged you? 00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:29.120 By the end of this message, I want you to see that the Christian worldview through the reality of what Jesus accomplished on the cross is the only worldview that can deal with this darkness. 00:16:30.399 --> 00:16:36.399 Another thing I want you to see is not only was this darkness damaging, this darkness was disorienting. 00:16:36.639 --> 00:16:38.559 It was a disorienting darkness. 00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:49.679 Now I think now, more than any other culture, any other people in the history of humanity, I think now we do not understand what darkness is like. 00:16:50.159 --> 00:17:04.240 There is pretty much always either a light switch or a phone with a flashlight or a flashlight available to us so that if we're in the darkness, we can readily find light. 00:17:04.480 --> 00:17:05.440 Let me ask you this question. 00:17:05.519 --> 00:17:07.759 When was the last time you were in like real darkness? 00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:12.799 I'm not talking like outside with no lights, the moon is shining, and you can still kind of make things out. 00:17:13.039 --> 00:17:20.480 I'm talking like real pitch black darkness, where like you put your hand an inch from your face and you can't even see your hand. 00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:23.440 When was the last time you were in that kind of darkness? 00:17:23.599 --> 00:17:30.559 If you stay in that kind of darkness for long enough, it becomes entirely disorienting. 00:17:31.759 --> 00:17:33.839 You don't know which way is up from down. 00:17:34.960 --> 00:17:40.079 The famous story of a British explorer in 1914, his name was Ernest Shackleton. 00:17:40.480 --> 00:17:48.640 He took a ship to the Antarctica, the ship was called the Endurance, and their plan was to sail to the Antarctica and to walk across it, past the South Pole. 00:17:48.720 --> 00:17:50.400 They're going to be the first people to ever do that. 00:17:50.559 --> 00:17:54.160 Now, I'm not interested in this message to figure out why anyone would ever do that. 00:17:54.240 --> 00:18:02.880 I have no clue why anyone would want to do that, because there are obvious dangers involved, and this ship, the endurance, got caught in one of those dangers. 00:18:02.960 --> 00:18:06.000 It was crushed in the polar ice. 00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:12.720 And it's an amazing story because over the next several months, all the people on this ship made their way home. 00:18:12.880 --> 00:18:13.920 They all survived. 00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:27.599 It's an incredible story, but of all the things that they faced during those months, of starvation, the incredibly cold temperatures, one biographer notes that the worst thing they faced was the darkness. 00:18:28.160 --> 00:18:31.920 We know that days get shorter and days get longer. 00:18:32.640 --> 00:18:39.279 Well, in Antarctica, the sun goes down in mid-May and doesn't come up until late July. 00:18:39.599 --> 00:18:42.160 And so there's no sunlight for three months. 00:18:43.519 --> 00:18:49.680 One biographer said, in all the world there is no desolation more complete than the polar night. 00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:53.440 No warmth, no light, no movement. 00:18:54.000 --> 00:19:01.119 Only those who have experienced it can fully appreciate what it means to be without the sun day after day and week after week. 00:19:01.599 --> 00:19:08.000 Few accustomed to it can fight off its effects altogether, and it has driven some men mad. 00:19:08.960 --> 00:19:16.480 See, this physical darkness represents a spiritual darkness that disorients all of us apart from Christ. 00:19:17.119 --> 00:19:25.680 See the Bible, it says that God is light, and to know God, to be in relationship with God, is to walk in the light. 00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:39.839 As a church, we've been walking through the book of Genesis this year, and you'll remember that in Genesis 1-1, we were told that the world was in what was dark, it was in darkness, and it was formless and void. 00:19:40.400 --> 00:19:45.359 And God did a work in that formless and void, dark world. 00:19:45.519 --> 00:19:54.319 He did an incredible work to bring structure to what was formless and void, to bring peace to the chaos, to create our world. 00:19:54.400 --> 00:19:59.759 And the first thing that God did in that work was this: He said, Let there be light. 00:20:01.920 --> 00:20:07.440 And this light was both a physical light, but it was also a spiritual light. 00:20:07.759 --> 00:20:13.599 See, the world was created, we're told in Genesis 1, in order that mankind might know God. 00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:23.440 Mankind was created in the image of God, which is kind of like to be like a mirror that points to a light and is meant to reflect that light brilliantly everywhere. 00:20:23.680 --> 00:20:28.960 We were created as human beings to live facing God who is light. 00:20:29.039 --> 00:20:40.079 That's why the psalmist says, Your word is a lamp unto my feet, because when I orient my heart to God's word, I face the God who is light, and I can all of a sudden make sense of the way that I should go. 00:20:40.240 --> 00:20:43.119 To know God is to know light. 00:20:44.640 --> 00:20:50.319 The problem is that Adam and Eve, they chose to turn away from the source of light, just like each of us have. 00:20:51.519 --> 00:20:54.559 And to walk in this disorienting darkness. 00:20:55.440 --> 00:20:57.759 What does it mean to walk in disorienting darkness? 00:20:57.920 --> 00:20:59.519 What does that look like for us? 00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:06.799 Well, it means that each of us have turned away from the one true source of light, knowledge and relationship with God. 00:21:07.279 --> 00:21:13.119 We've turned away from that to pursue something else. 00:21:13.599 --> 00:21:20.720 It means that rather than living according to our created purpose, which is to love God, we've lived for something else. 00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:23.359 And we've all walked in this disorienting darkness. 00:21:23.519 --> 00:21:35.039 We've done it by placing things on the altar of our heart as the first love of our heart in the place that God should reside. 00:21:35.920 --> 00:21:37.519 God should be the first love of our hearts. 00:21:37.599 --> 00:21:43.759 And yet each of us turn away to things that are not God. 00:21:44.640 --> 00:21:49.599 Some of us do this to things that we mutually would agree are just works of darkness, works of evil. 00:21:49.759 --> 00:21:54.720 There are some who are murderers, and we can probably all say, okay, well, the murderer, they're not doing a great thing. 00:21:55.119 --> 00:22:05.599 There are some who are thieves, they steal, and we can look at that person and say, well, by placing The love of stealing and uh taking other people's possessions, that person is not doing a good thing. 00:22:05.759 --> 00:22:08.000 We understand how that's disorienting darkness. 00:22:08.160 --> 00:22:20.480 We understand how that person is walking in darkness and an evil, but the reality is that for many of us, what we do is put things that may be good things in the place of the great thing. 00:22:20.799 --> 00:22:27.440 We take the gifts that God has given to us, and we love those gifts more than we love the giver. 00:22:32.160 --> 00:22:34.160 How does this work for me? 00:22:34.319 --> 00:22:35.359 How does this work for you? 00:22:35.519 --> 00:22:47.680 Well, here's how it works: if you love your family more than you love God, the Bible says you've turned away from the God who is light and are walking in spiritual darkness. 00:22:48.480 --> 00:22:58.559 If you've loved success more than you've loved God, you've turned away from the God who is light and are walking and disorienting darkness. 00:22:59.279 --> 00:23:07.599 If your love for control replaces your love for God, you've turned away from God and you're walking in disorienting darkness. 00:23:07.920 --> 00:23:10.319 This can be incredibly sneaky. 00:23:10.480 --> 00:23:16.240 Anything in your life that replaces your love for God immediately casts you into this disorienting darkness. 00:23:16.400 --> 00:23:17.279 Think about this for me. 00:23:17.440 --> 00:23:24.240 One of the challenges that I face in this world is that I have this desire to be hopefully a good preacher. 00:23:24.480 --> 00:23:27.839 Some of you guys right now are like, yeah, you got a lot of work still to do, okay? 00:23:28.160 --> 00:23:29.039 Long way to go. 00:23:29.200 --> 00:23:30.400 I want to be a good preacher. 00:23:30.480 --> 00:23:31.680 I want to be a good pastor. 00:23:31.920 --> 00:23:34.240 I want to serve God faithfully. 00:23:34.720 --> 00:23:51.839 But if my desire to be a good preacher, to be a good pastor, replaces my personal love and affection for God, I have all of a sudden made an idol out of the very thing that God has called me to do. 00:23:52.079 --> 00:23:53.920 You see how this works in your life? 00:23:54.160 --> 00:24:00.720 Each of us turns away from the God of light to the things that He has given us. 00:24:00.799 --> 00:24:03.359 And when we do that, we walk in disorienting darkness. 00:24:03.440 --> 00:24:11.279 But I want you to see this morning that the ultimate problem with our disorienting darkness is that it is a destructive darkness. 00:24:12.079 --> 00:24:20.000 Sure, it's destructive in the sense that when we love anything more than God, it will never satisfy us. 00:24:20.240 --> 00:24:31.599 If you're pursuing joy, satisfaction, fulfillment in your family, and success, in control, and being a good preacher or pastor, you need to know that that is a destructive pursuit. 00:24:31.680 --> 00:24:36.559 And in this life, you will never find the joy that you're looking for. 00:24:37.359 --> 00:24:42.559 Isn't that why when we've experienced that in our own life, we always feel like joy is just around the corner. 00:24:42.720 --> 00:24:43.599 Have you ever felt that? 00:24:43.759 --> 00:24:46.720 Oh, if I just get the promotion, then I'll be happy. 00:24:46.960 --> 00:24:50.240 Oh, if I just buy that new house, then I'll be happy. 00:24:50.400 --> 00:24:52.960 Oh, if I just have a bigger family, then I'll be happy. 00:24:53.039 --> 00:24:55.920 If I just win the appreciation of that one person, then I'll be happy. 00:24:56.079 --> 00:25:01.839 Joy's always around the corner, but then you get to that thing and you discover that there's another corner. 00:25:02.079 --> 00:25:03.599 And there's endless corners in life. 00:25:03.680 --> 00:25:08.240 And it just seems like the thing you're chasing, you're so close to, but you cannot get. 00:25:08.400 --> 00:25:13.680 It is because it is leading you down a hallway of destructive darkness. 00:25:15.279 --> 00:25:18.640 See, our darkness leads to a deeper destruction. 00:25:19.279 --> 00:25:32.240 That in one day, maybe not now, because God is forbearing, his wrath, because God is allowing us to live in the light of this world. 00:25:33.920 --> 00:25:36.240 But one day his judgment will come. 00:25:36.799 --> 00:25:43.039 And the Bible tells us that there is a day coming where you will be walking and the judgment of God will come out of nowhere. 00:25:43.200 --> 00:25:55.839 It'll be like when you're walking in the middle of the night and you crack your knee against something that you did not see, and you thought that everything was okay, you thought you were okay, but then in a moment it's all over, and God has appeared. 00:25:56.000 --> 00:26:07.759 And you will discover that because you've turned from the light your whole life, you have now entered into eternal destruction, the destruction that we deserve because of the way that we have walked in darkness. 00:26:08.240 --> 00:26:10.240 This is the darkness that's over us. 00:26:10.400 --> 00:26:13.200 It's a damaging, disorienting, destructive darkness. 00:26:13.279 --> 00:26:18.160 But I want you also to take a moment to consider the darkness that was over Jesus. 00:26:18.480 --> 00:26:27.359 Notice that just as this darkness comes to an end, Mark gives us a glimpse of the darkness that was on Jesus' shoulders. 00:26:27.599 --> 00:26:32.240 So you'll notice there in Mark 15, verse 34, that Jesus cries out these words. 00:26:32.400 --> 00:26:36.640 He says, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 00:26:36.880 --> 00:26:44.640 And in these words, we get a small window into the darkness that Jesus had entered into on the cross. 00:26:45.039 --> 00:26:52.160 You see, Jesus came into this world, and we're told in 2 Corinthians 5.21 that he knew no sin. 00:26:53.119 --> 00:26:54.559 He was without sin. 00:26:54.880 --> 00:27:02.480 Never had Jesus done that thing that we just talked about, where he turned away from the source of light to love anything more than God. 00:27:03.119 --> 00:27:09.519 That means that Jesus was more undeserving of judgment than anyone who had ever lived because he had not sinned. 00:27:09.680 --> 00:27:12.720 He had not turned away from the light to the destructive darkness. 00:27:12.799 --> 00:27:17.759 He had not done it once, not in a thought, not in an attitude, not for a millisecond. 00:27:19.039 --> 00:27:24.640 And yet here he is, entering into the darkness of crucifixion on the cross. 00:27:24.720 --> 00:27:33.680 And in words of pain, he cries out on the cross, and we discover exactly what this darkness is that Jesus climbed into. 00:27:34.079 --> 00:27:38.559 Notice that it wasn't the pain and darkness of earthly desertion. 00:27:39.440 --> 00:27:41.599 Certainly Jesus suffered alone. 00:27:41.920 --> 00:27:46.720 All those closest to Jesus in this crucial hour had abandoned him. 00:27:47.359 --> 00:27:51.839 And he felt the pain that so many of us have felt of desertion. 00:27:52.079 --> 00:27:56.160 And yet, Jesus in this moment, he doesn't cry out, my friends, my friends. 00:27:56.480 --> 00:27:59.039 He doesn't cry out, my parents, my parents. 00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:02.240 He cries out, My God, my God. 00:28:02.480 --> 00:28:06.240 Notice that this darkness was not a physical pain. 00:28:06.799 --> 00:28:11.519 Jesus didn't cry out, my hands, my hands, my feet, my feet, my head, my head. 00:28:13.680 --> 00:28:21.759 This should absolutely shock us that the darkness which Jesus bore on his shoulders was not a darkness of physical pain. 00:28:22.400 --> 00:28:26.880 And it will shock us as we come to understand what crucifixion was. 00:28:28.079 --> 00:28:36.720 See, the act of crucifixion, to be hung on a cross, it would force the person being crucified to slowly suffocate themselves to death. 00:28:36.960 --> 00:28:42.000 There would be nails driven through their wrists and nails driven through their feet. 00:28:42.880 --> 00:28:48.240 And when they were hung, they would hang on the weight of their wrists. 00:28:48.799 --> 00:28:54.240 This would put their chest in a position that would make it incredibly difficult to exhale. 00:28:54.880 --> 00:29:03.359 And so, in order to get a breath, in order to just draw a breath of air to continue to live, the person being crucified would be forced to push themselves up. 00:29:04.319 --> 00:29:26.240 And they would feel the pain, the nerve pain, shoot through their entire body as their entire weight shifted from their wrists to their feet, as their hands rotated around the nails, causing pressure in different places, and their joints moved in order that they may get to a position that they could breathe. 00:29:27.039 --> 00:29:40.720 They would push themselves into this position, and for a moment they would stave off suffocation, but they couldn't last there for long, and so they would be forced to carry the weight again on their wrists. 00:29:40.960 --> 00:29:55.680 This act of up and down along a rough, rugged, wooden cross, it would reopen further and further the wounds that Jesus had bore by being flogged, his back that was torn open. 00:29:56.319 --> 00:30:03.039 And yet, it was not the darkness of physical pain that made Jesus cry out. 00:30:03.599 --> 00:30:05.680 He did not say, My hands, my hands. 00:30:05.759 --> 00:30:10.079 What Jesus said on the cross was, My God, my God. 00:30:11.200 --> 00:30:21.680 The pain that Jesus bore on the cross, it was the spiritual pain of desertion from his Father. 00:30:22.000 --> 00:30:30.079 In that moment, he was forsaken by God, whom he had loved more than anyone else in the whole entire universe. 00:30:30.400 --> 00:30:39.680 For all of eternity, up to this point, Jesus' affection for the Father had been white hot. 00:30:40.240 --> 00:30:44.079 It had been blazing, it had been infinite. 00:30:44.559 --> 00:30:54.160 And in this moment, the very one that he has loved for all of eternity, that has been his joy for all of eternity, has deserted him. 00:30:56.799 --> 00:30:59.359 Here on the cross, God had forsaken him. 00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:06.640 And instead of facing love and intimacy, Jesus faced his wrath. 00:31:07.599 --> 00:31:10.799 The prophet Isaiah describes what it means for God to forsake Jesus. 00:31:10.880 --> 00:31:16.319 It means that the iniquity of all would be placed on his shoulders. 00:31:17.200 --> 00:31:23.599 Imagine the spiritual punishment and torment Jesus would have faced just to pay the penalty for our sins. 00:31:24.400 --> 00:31:28.240 And yet on the cross, Jesus bore the sins of many. 00:31:34.640 --> 00:31:37.119 Why would Jesus do this? 00:31:37.599 --> 00:31:41.200 Certainly the people who were around that cried out he could deliver himself were right. 00:31:41.279 --> 00:31:47.839 And yet Jesus hung on that cross for this purpose, because Jesus' darkness deals with our darkness. 00:31:50.480 --> 00:31:59.039 And by sitting in his darkness and walking down that corridor that had been planned for him before eternity. 00:32:00.880 --> 00:32:02.640 Jesus knew it was at the end. 00:32:02.960 --> 00:32:07.519 He knew that his darkness would be the way that our darkness was ultimately dealt with. 00:32:07.839 --> 00:32:09.920 Look at what Mark says in verse 37. 00:32:10.480 --> 00:32:17.200 He says, Jesus uttered a loud cry, the cry that we just heard very likely, and he breathed his last. 00:32:18.079 --> 00:32:22.559 And the curtain of the temple was torn into from top to bottom. 00:32:23.759 --> 00:32:32.400 And when the centurion who stood facing him saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, Truly, this man was the Son of God. 00:32:33.839 --> 00:32:39.519 The moment that Jesus breathed his last breath, there was another supernatural and profound miracle. 00:32:39.839 --> 00:32:49.839 And that miracle was that the curtain which previously hung in the temple, this gigantic curtain, it tore in two. 00:32:51.200 --> 00:32:54.319 This curtain, it blocked the entrance to the Holy of Holies. 00:32:54.400 --> 00:32:59.599 This was the place where God's presence dwelt, and no one could have access but for one. 00:33:00.319 --> 00:33:06.000 One time a year, the great high priest would enter into the Holy of Holies. 00:33:06.079 --> 00:33:10.400 But even then, there would be all sorts of stipulations around that entrance. 00:33:10.640 --> 00:33:15.759 No one could truly experience intimacy and fellowship with the presence of God. 00:33:16.000 --> 00:33:22.160 But in that moment that Jesus breathed his last, this curtain tore. 00:33:22.640 --> 00:33:24.240 Well, why is it supernatural? 00:33:24.400 --> 00:33:32.000 It's supernatural because Mark really makes a point for you to know that this curtain tore from top to bottom. 00:33:32.880 --> 00:33:36.319 If we were going to tear a curtain, we would tear it from bottom to top. 00:33:36.559 --> 00:33:40.319 And yet this curtain tore from the heavens to the earth. 00:33:40.559 --> 00:33:57.119 And it's a reminder that just as Jesus came from the heavens to the earth, his mission in doing that was to tear down this curtain in order that everyone who looks to the darkness that he bore might find access into the presence of God. 00:33:58.319 --> 00:34:05.599 Jesus endured the darkness of the cross in order that a way might be made to access God's presence. 00:34:06.160 --> 00:34:09.360 And so the question for you and I then is how do we get there? 00:34:09.599 --> 00:34:11.599 How do we get into the presence of God? 00:34:11.760 --> 00:34:21.840 And Mark tells us exactly how in Mark 15, 39, when the centurion who stood facing him declared these words, truly, this is the man. 00:34:22.159 --> 00:34:24.079 This man was the Son of God. 00:34:25.119 --> 00:34:32.480 This centurion was a military officer who had risen the ranks of the Roman army to a place of leadership. 00:34:32.800 --> 00:34:36.239 And of anyone in the world who was acquainted with death, it was this man. 00:34:36.480 --> 00:34:40.079 Centurions did not have a high survival rate. 00:34:40.320 --> 00:34:45.440 And in order to raise the ranks as this man had, surely many of his friends would have died. 00:34:45.599 --> 00:34:48.800 He would have seen in war many people die. 00:34:48.960 --> 00:34:55.119 And yet it was also this man's job to oversee the death of criminals against the Roman Empire. 00:34:55.440 --> 00:34:58.320 And so he would regularly witness crucifixions. 00:34:58.480 --> 00:35:05.119 On this very work day, this man was overseeing at least three crucifixions. 00:35:05.599 --> 00:35:07.760 And he had seen many deaths. 00:35:08.000 --> 00:35:10.000 So it kind of had become rote to him. 00:35:10.079 --> 00:35:11.440 This was like routine. 00:35:11.679 --> 00:35:20.000 And yet, something, something about the death of Jesus changed this man's life forever. 00:35:20.880 --> 00:35:24.400 And caused him to declare, surely this man was the son of God. 00:35:24.800 --> 00:35:31.280 Now it's the purpose in the Gospel of Mark, the very purpose that Mark writes his gospel is to prove that Jesus was the Son of God. 00:35:31.440 --> 00:35:35.920 He writes in Mark 1.1, he says, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 00:35:36.079 --> 00:35:41.679 And then for the rest of the book, Mark is making this argument that Jesus is the Son of God. 00:35:41.920 --> 00:35:52.159 And so now this centurion sees, he believes, and he's the very first one in the Gospel of Mark to declare what Mark was set out to do. 00:35:52.320 --> 00:35:56.320 To declare that this man, Jesus Christ, is the son of God. 00:35:58.159 --> 00:36:05.840 This is significant because, as someone who was ingrained in the world, the Roman worldview, this centurion would have never called a criminal the son of God. 00:36:06.079 --> 00:36:14.239 In fact, it would have been regular practice for him to look at Augustus, the Roman emperor, and declare that Augustus was the son of God. 00:36:14.480 --> 00:36:24.320 This centurion was likely holding coins in his pocket, Roman coins which bore the image of Augustus and bore the words Augustus, the Son of God. 00:36:25.280 --> 00:36:38.559 And yet in this moment, the Roman centurion looks to Jesus, turns from the darkness that he had followed his whole life, and says about Jesus that he was the Son of God. 00:36:39.199 --> 00:36:42.320 Well then what was it that the centurion saw? 00:36:42.559 --> 00:36:44.639 Well, certainly it wasn't the physical death. 00:36:44.800 --> 00:36:46.800 This man had been acquainted with crucifixion. 00:36:46.880 --> 00:36:50.480 He had seen people die, this horrible physical death. 00:36:50.800 --> 00:36:54.000 But Mark tells us that it was the way that he breathed his last. 00:36:54.880 --> 00:37:00.800 See, it was these very words that Jesus cried out that caused the centurion to believe. 00:37:01.119 --> 00:37:06.960 The centurion watched as Jesus sat in the darkness. 00:37:07.760 --> 00:37:10.880 He watched as God had forsaken him. 00:37:11.599 --> 00:37:16.719 He watched as the curtain tore into two from top to bottom. 00:37:18.320 --> 00:37:24.800 And he believed that something spectacular had happened that only the Son of God could do. 00:37:41.119 --> 00:37:42.800 This is factual history. 00:37:43.519 --> 00:37:49.840 These are the details about a man who in time and space climbed onto a cross. 00:37:50.320 --> 00:37:58.639 A man who had nails, real metal nails driven through his wrists and feet. 00:37:59.360 --> 00:38:02.559 Who was put on a real wood cross? 00:38:03.519 --> 00:38:09.519 The fact of the history of the world that we live in, he was raised and he died. 00:38:10.400 --> 00:38:15.280 And the question for you this morning was this? 00:38:16.800 --> 00:38:20.559 Was that a supernatural and profound thing that God had accomplished? 00:38:22.800 --> 00:38:30.480 Was that the way that God would deliver us from the damaging, disorienting, and destructive darkness that we walk in? 00:38:31.440 --> 00:38:34.480 Do we participate in communion this morning? 00:38:34.719 --> 00:38:45.199 We do so not only as acknowledgement of Jesus' crucifixion, but as an appreciation that he entered into the weight of darkness that we should have eternally bore. 00:38:45.599 --> 00:38:48.960 We should have been the ones that sat in the darkness that Jesus sat in. 00:38:49.199 --> 00:38:56.320 But it was his blood that was shed, not ours, and it was his flesh that was pierced and not ours. 00:38:56.800 --> 00:39:09.119 And what Jesus does in offering us communion is he offers us a time to ingest, internally intake, spiritually signify all that he accomplished for us. 00:39:09.519 --> 00:39:17.920 And shedding his blood, having his flesh pierced, he bore the wrath of God in order that the darkness may be lifted from our shoulders. 00:39:18.239 --> 00:39:21.360 And so this morning we're gonna do communion a little bit differently. 00:39:21.679 --> 00:39:27.360 Joel and Megan are gonna sing a song over us, and I would just ask you to reflect on the words of these songs. 00:39:28.719 --> 00:39:33.519 Reflect on all that the song is speaking to us and on its truth. 00:39:33.679 --> 00:39:48.480 And then in your own time, when you're ready, take communion and receive communion in order to link your heart to this centurion's heart, in order to declare with him truly this was the Son of God.