WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:02.640 So I mentioned that next Sunday is Easter. 00:00:03.120 --> 00:00:04.160 And uh that's exciting. 00:00:04.320 --> 00:00:06.160 Easter falls on a Sunday every year. 00:00:06.320 --> 00:00:12.640 And so, in let's be honest, in like modern American church, Easter is like it's a really, really big deal. 00:00:12.800 --> 00:00:15.199 You know, it's kind of like those old uh used car commercials. 00:00:15.279 --> 00:00:16.800 It was like Sunday, Sunday, Sunday. 00:00:16.879 --> 00:00:18.719 It's like Easter, Easter, Easter. 00:00:18.879 --> 00:00:23.440 And you know, the reality is I've I've actually I've been on staff here at His Hands for 15 years. 00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:27.920 Last month was 15 years, which is uh a long time. 00:00:28.559 --> 00:00:29.199 Yep. 00:00:30.320 --> 00:00:32.719 It's a really large percentage of my life. 00:00:32.799 --> 00:00:33.439 I'll just say that. 00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:37.359 It's uh it's been a long time, and and every year Easter's been this thing. 00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:48.000 And we've been so focused on Easter, and and man, Easter, and it's crazy because like Easter is a part of a big part, but of a big story. 00:00:48.320 --> 00:00:58.479 And sometimes we can get so focused on Easter that like we we fail to stop, at least I do, fail to stop and and appreciate all the other elements that made Easter possible. 00:00:59.359 --> 00:01:07.040 You know, traditionally, today is the beginning of something that has been known for centuries from people of our faith as Holy Week. 00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:14.640 It's funny, we started our service this morning with the song Hosanna, and that's really appropriate because today is what's known as Palm Sunday. 00:01:14.719 --> 00:01:24.879 It's the day that Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and people were laying palm branches in front of him as he entered the city, and they were shouting, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest. 00:01:24.959 --> 00:01:26.000 That's where that song comes from. 00:01:26.079 --> 00:01:33.359 It was them recognizing that Jesus was the Messiah, he was their Savior, and they were inviting him into the city excited. 00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:37.200 That's today, Palm Sunday. 00:01:37.439 --> 00:01:40.400 And then over the course of the next few days, there's a lot of things that happen. 00:01:40.959 --> 00:01:44.239 There's a lot of moments, significant moments in Jesus' life, right? 00:01:44.319 --> 00:01:47.040 We have, for example, the Last Supper. 00:01:47.760 --> 00:01:50.000 We took Lord's Supper together. 00:01:50.640 --> 00:01:52.079 We do that every single Sunday. 00:01:52.319 --> 00:02:00.000 And that first moment where Jesus took his disciples together and he broke the bread and he passed around the wine, that was this week. 00:02:01.680 --> 00:02:11.039 There's Jesus going to the garden, and in the garden he prayed and he fully submitted to God's will and said, God, I'll do whatever you want me to do, even if it's the cross. 00:02:11.360 --> 00:02:12.639 He knew that was coming. 00:02:12.800 --> 00:02:15.120 And he prayed for his disciples, and he actually prayed for us. 00:02:15.280 --> 00:02:17.199 If you've never read John chapter 17, read it. 00:02:17.280 --> 00:02:18.319 It's Jesus praying for you. 00:02:18.719 --> 00:02:20.879 It's powerful, and that was this week. 00:02:21.919 --> 00:02:24.879 And then there's what we call Good Friday. 00:02:25.199 --> 00:02:29.840 And Good Friday is the day that Jesus was crucified, died on the cross. 00:02:30.960 --> 00:02:34.319 And then obviously that leads into Easter Sunday. 00:02:34.400 --> 00:02:41.039 And all of that is this week in terms of our calendar, how we celebrate it, how we remember it. 00:02:41.280 --> 00:02:44.319 So it's a really, really powerful and important week. 00:02:44.400 --> 00:02:54.080 And honestly, we could pick any one of those moments, any one of those moments and focus on it, hyper-focus on it, and have so much to talk about, so much to learn from. 00:02:54.159 --> 00:02:57.599 But today I just want us to look at the cross. 00:02:58.240 --> 00:03:03.680 I want us to look at Jesus on the cross and what that really means. 00:03:04.960 --> 00:03:09.039 It's one of those things that I think for me at least, I'll just be honest, I kind of go, yeah, I get it. 00:03:09.199 --> 00:03:11.840 I'm a Jesus follower, been a Jesus follower since I was a kid. 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:14.240 The cross, he died, my sins, all that kind of stuff. 00:03:14.319 --> 00:03:24.159 Even if you're someone, by the way, who who's never gone to church, maybe you're here for the first time, you probably have some idea of the cross and what it means and the sacrifice, and Jesus died and it's important and meaningful. 00:03:24.240 --> 00:03:28.080 But at the same time, it's one of those things that I'll just be honest, I can take for granted. 00:03:28.719 --> 00:03:34.080 It's one of those things that I can assume I know more about than I actually do. 00:03:35.360 --> 00:03:50.800 But I believe that if we see the cross for what it really is, number one, it gives us an attitude of joy, it gives us an awe and a wonder and a, to be frank, a gratitude toward God that we would we wouldn't have otherwise. 00:03:50.879 --> 00:03:53.840 And it puts Easter in a totally different perspective. 00:03:53.919 --> 00:04:08.479 Because see, if Easter had just happened, if it was just like Jesus died and his death was just a normal death, and then he happened to get back up, Easter would just be another and a long string of miracles that Jesus did that make you go, wow, there's something different about this guy. 00:04:08.800 --> 00:04:12.080 And clearly there is something different about Jesus. 00:04:12.560 --> 00:04:14.719 I mean, he stands alone in human history. 00:04:14.800 --> 00:04:17.040 He's the most influential person in human history. 00:04:17.199 --> 00:04:20.560 Did you know that Jesus has been on the cover of Time magazine more than any other person? 00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:23.439 And he lived like thousands of years before magazines were even invented? 00:04:23.519 --> 00:04:24.959 I mean, that says something. 00:04:25.759 --> 00:04:27.600 And like he did all these crazy things, right? 00:04:27.680 --> 00:04:33.519 He fed thousands of people multiple times and he healed diseases that science to this day still doesn't really know what to do with. 00:04:35.040 --> 00:04:43.199 And he walked on water, and he turned water into wine, which made him very popular back then and would make him extremely popular today, right? 00:04:43.279 --> 00:04:46.560 That's like everybody's favorite friend if he could do that. 00:04:47.279 --> 00:04:57.360 And if he would have simply died and then gotten back up, and it was just another miracle that he did to prove to the world that he's he's different, yeah, that's that's great. 00:04:58.959 --> 00:05:12.480 But but what makes Easter so powerful is its connection to the cross and what that means for us and what it signifies for us, because Jesus' death was purposeful, it was intentional. 00:05:13.920 --> 00:05:20.160 To be honest, I believe his death on the cross is arguably the most important event that has ever happened in human history. 00:05:21.439 --> 00:05:31.199 Jesus once said this to his harshest critics the religious leaders, the Pharisees, the people that were supposed to be the God experts in his day, this is John chapter 5, verse 39. 00:05:31.279 --> 00:05:37.439 He said, You search the scriptures because you think they give you eternal life, but the scriptures point to me. 00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:39.839 It's a bold thing to say. 00:05:40.480 --> 00:05:50.959 Basically, what Jesus is saying to these men who hated him and opposed him is like, you guys have been reading this book your whole lives, and you haven't even figured out yet that you've just been reading about me. 00:05:53.920 --> 00:05:59.120 There's countless moments in Scripture and in the part of Scripture before Jesus. 00:05:59.279 --> 00:06:00.879 We call that the Old Testament. 00:06:01.360 --> 00:06:07.839 It's the ancient, the most ancient of the scriptures that are all about Jesus. 00:06:08.639 --> 00:06:12.959 And they're not just all about Jesus, it's amazing how often they're all about the cross. 00:06:13.360 --> 00:06:16.160 The cross is such a monumental moment in history. 00:06:16.240 --> 00:06:27.040 It's something that God clearly intended and planned that he hinted at it for thousands of years. 00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:29.199 All throughout Scripture. 00:06:29.439 --> 00:06:30.800 We could point to so many different examples. 00:06:30.879 --> 00:06:32.480 I want to look at a few this morning. 00:06:32.639 --> 00:06:34.000 And we'll go through these pretty fast. 00:06:34.240 --> 00:06:36.480 You could look, for example, at Genesis chapter 15. 00:06:36.639 --> 00:06:40.560 Genesis chapter 15 tells a really interesting story about a man named Abraham. 00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:42.639 If you don't know the story of Abraham, he's a guy. 00:06:42.800 --> 00:06:50.800 Uh one day he hears this voice, it's God, and God says, Hey, I want you to leave your home and take your all your stuff, all your belongings, your wife. 00:06:50.879 --> 00:06:52.000 He didn't have any children at the time. 00:06:52.079 --> 00:06:54.959 He was actually getting to the point where he was too old to have children, had given up on that. 00:06:55.040 --> 00:07:02.800 And God says, If you follow me, I will give you, I'll give you children, I'll give you a son with your wife Sarah, and I'll make you into a nation, I'll give you a land. 00:07:02.879 --> 00:07:14.000 And that kind of begins the story of this family in the Bible, the Israelites, and they become the people that God himself shows up through in Jesus to reveal himself to the whole world. 00:07:14.160 --> 00:07:25.600 But in Genesis 15, Abraham has this moment with God, and to be honest with you, it's it's just sort of weird and gross because lots of stuff in the ancient world was weird and gross. 00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:27.680 There's just lots of blood. 00:07:27.839 --> 00:07:29.600 There's just so much blood. 00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:34.000 In this story, God makes a covenant with Abraham. 00:07:34.079 --> 00:07:39.519 A covenant is a it's an agreement, but it's more than a contract, it's a deep relational commitment. 00:07:39.759 --> 00:07:44.079 And in this covenant, God is promising that he's gonna be with Abraham and his family. 00:07:44.160 --> 00:07:47.199 He's gonna be with all of us, really, who follow him. 00:07:47.839 --> 00:07:53.600 And then he has Abraham take a bunch of animals and cut them in half, which is gross. 00:07:55.199 --> 00:08:04.000 And then the Spirit of God, this is so strange, the Spirit of God shows up, and the Spirit of God moves between all of these severed animals. 00:08:05.040 --> 00:08:07.839 And we might read that and be like, on to the next page. 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:09.920 That was really strange. 00:08:10.079 --> 00:08:11.600 I don't know what that means. 00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:12.959 But it's it's really interesting. 00:08:13.040 --> 00:08:14.639 It's about the cross. 00:08:15.040 --> 00:08:20.240 Because in that culture, in that time, there was a tradition, there was a ritual. 00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:23.519 When a mighty king would conquer another king. 00:08:23.839 --> 00:08:29.519 And that that conquered, defeated king was now subject to the stronger king. 00:08:29.839 --> 00:08:32.080 They would enter into a covenant. 00:08:32.879 --> 00:08:39.200 And the mighty king would say to the defeated king, You're my subject now, you will do what I say, you will follow my lead. 00:08:39.440 --> 00:08:42.240 And that defeated king, having no choice, would agree. 00:08:42.639 --> 00:08:52.000 And then that defeated king, now subject to the new king, the new boss, would walk through the bodies of severed animals. 00:08:52.080 --> 00:08:55.360 And in doing so, blood would inevitably get all over the clothing. 00:08:55.759 --> 00:09:06.320 And what that was, it was a symbol saying that if I ever disobey you, if I ever break this covenant, then let what has been done to these animals be done to me. 00:09:08.480 --> 00:09:14.159 But in the moment with Abraham, it's not Abraham who walks between the animals. 00:09:17.279 --> 00:09:21.279 It's not the weak one who does that. 00:09:21.600 --> 00:09:22.559 It's God Himself. 00:09:22.639 --> 00:09:26.639 And it's God saying to Abraham, I'm making this covenant with you and with your people. 00:09:27.440 --> 00:09:34.639 And by the way, if you ever break it, let what's done to these be done to me. 00:09:35.519 --> 00:09:37.279 I'll pay the price. 00:09:39.519 --> 00:09:41.600 It's a hint of the cross. 00:09:42.480 --> 00:09:46.399 You could go to Genesis chapter 22, there's another story with Abraham. 00:09:46.639 --> 00:09:48.480 And he has a son at this point, Isaac. 00:09:48.559 --> 00:09:49.759 It's that son that he was promised. 00:09:49.840 --> 00:09:52.639 And at this point, Isaac's gotta be like 20 years old or so. 00:09:52.799 --> 00:09:55.039 And very oddly, again, so strange. 00:09:55.120 --> 00:09:58.559 You read these stories sometimes in scripture, and you're like, what in the world is that about? 00:09:58.720 --> 00:10:04.080 It might even give you a crisis of faith, but if you pull back and see the bigger picture, you understand that God is doing something really powerful. 00:10:04.240 --> 00:10:10.159 In this moment, God tells Abraham to take his son Isaac up to this mountain and sacrifice his son. 00:10:10.559 --> 00:10:18.960 And this is strange because actually, child sacrifice was a really normal part of the world at that time, as horrible as that is. 00:10:19.919 --> 00:10:21.840 And it appalled God. 00:10:22.559 --> 00:10:32.879 In fact, there's a saying, a moment with God in the Old Testament where people are sacrificing children, and God says, I never even could have imagined you doing this. 00:10:33.279 --> 00:10:35.519 He's like, I couldn't even fathom this. 00:10:36.320 --> 00:10:44.080 And so then God tells Abraham to sacrifice his child, and it's like why? 00:10:45.600 --> 00:10:46.240 Why? 00:10:47.279 --> 00:10:54.159 And they go up to this mountain, and when they get there, at this point Isaac's old enough to kind of figure out what's going on. 00:10:54.240 --> 00:10:56.480 Like he's looking around, like, well, there's no animal. 00:10:56.879 --> 00:10:59.519 And I don't like this. 00:11:01.039 --> 00:11:07.600 So he goes up, and Isaac himself actually carries the wood for the sacrifice on his own back, on his own shoulders. 00:11:08.879 --> 00:11:18.799 And they get there, and Isaac lays down on the wood, and it's like about to go down, but but Abraham knows something's gonna happen because no, my God would never do this. 00:11:19.200 --> 00:11:28.000 And at the very last moment, God says to Abraham, Stop, and he looks up, and there's a there's an animal, there's a ram, and it's like just there. 00:11:28.639 --> 00:11:30.799 And he's provided that sacrifice. 00:11:30.960 --> 00:11:37.519 And he takes Isaac's place, and that that ram, and sacrifice was part of their world, it was part of how they engaged with God. 00:11:38.320 --> 00:11:40.960 That became the sacrifice in Isaac's place. 00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:48.879 And so, what's really interesting about that is Abraham's so blown away that he actually names that place, that that mountaintop. 00:11:49.120 --> 00:11:52.480 He names it, it will be provided. 00:11:52.960 --> 00:11:54.159 God will provide it. 00:11:54.320 --> 00:11:56.080 That's what it gets named. 00:11:56.399 --> 00:11:58.240 And so, okay, how's this a picture of the cross? 00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:01.120 Well, it's it's like a thousand different ways. 00:12:01.440 --> 00:12:06.960 The journey that they had up the mountain was three days, just like Jesus was dead for three days. 00:12:07.279 --> 00:12:13.759 Isaac carries the wood for his sacrifice up the mountain, just like Jesus carries the wood of the cross himself. 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:19.120 And that that mountain where that happened is the same place where Jesus himself was crucified. 00:12:19.759 --> 00:12:20.559 It's the same place. 00:12:20.639 --> 00:12:24.240 In fact, we don't know this, but it could be the exact same spot. 00:12:24.720 --> 00:12:33.120 But that that mountainous place is where one day later, years and years later, the city of Jerusalem would become, would become built. 00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:37.120 And it's in that place that Jesus Himself died. 00:12:37.200 --> 00:12:44.240 And so when God said, here on this mountain, it will be provided, it was about Jesus. 00:12:45.279 --> 00:12:54.799 You can look at the story of Moses, there's a holiday that the Jewish people celebrate called Passover, and and it's a story that it's connected to this time in the Old Testament. 00:12:54.879 --> 00:13:04.559 Many of you might be familiar with this, where uh the people of Israel are slaves in Egypt, and God wants to change that, and so he sends all these plagues to Egypt, and they get more and more severe. 00:13:04.639 --> 00:13:09.279 It's like God trying to convince Pharaoh, who's the king of Egypt, like, hey, I'm God, you're not God. 00:13:09.440 --> 00:13:21.600 Pharaoh believed he was God, he was wrong, but Pharaoh had a hard heart and he refused to let the Israelites go, and so finally it gets to the point where there's this one final plague, and it's it's big time, and God has given them so many opportunities to change course. 00:13:21.679 --> 00:13:25.440 But he says, All right, if you won't listen to me, you'll listen to this. 00:13:26.080 --> 00:13:34.799 And he says, the spirit of death is gonna pass over the nation of Egypt, and all of the firstborn are gonna die. 00:13:36.960 --> 00:13:39.279 And Pharaoh still says, you know, no. 00:13:39.759 --> 00:13:41.919 But he tells the people of Israel, do this. 00:13:42.159 --> 00:13:45.840 Take Lamb's blood and put it on your doorposts. 00:13:45.919 --> 00:13:48.799 Put some of it on the top of your doorposts, some of it on the sides. 00:13:49.039 --> 00:13:55.120 And if you do that, because of that blood, the spirit of death will pass over your homes and spare your firstborns. 00:13:55.279 --> 00:13:56.320 And that's what happens. 00:13:56.480 --> 00:13:59.360 And it breaks Pharaoh and he lets the people go. 00:14:00.320 --> 00:14:02.159 And there's so much symbolism there, right? 00:14:02.879 --> 00:14:15.039 There's the blood that's it's poured out, and that blood allows judgment to pass over us, just like the blood of Jesus has allowed what James said, that wrath, that judgment that maybe we deserve, if we're honest. 00:14:15.200 --> 00:14:19.919 Because we've all made mistakes, we've all done stuff wrong, some of it on accident, a lot of it on purpose. 00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:21.360 Like anybody with me in that? 00:14:21.440 --> 00:14:24.559 Like I've done a lot of things I shouldn't have done, and I knew it the whole time. 00:14:26.480 --> 00:14:28.720 But but it's amazing how even more specific it is. 00:14:28.799 --> 00:14:30.080 I mean, think about the doorpost, right? 00:14:30.159 --> 00:14:34.559 You have blood on the top and on the sides, and if you put blood on the top of a doorpost, it's gonna drip down. 00:14:34.639 --> 00:14:36.799 So you're gonna end up having four spots of blood. 00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:42.799 You're gonna have it here, at the bottom, where it would have dripped, and then on each side, and it's the perfect image of the cross. 00:14:43.120 --> 00:14:46.720 That when Jesus was put on the cross, those are the four places that he was pierced. 00:14:46.960 --> 00:14:49.840 The crown of thorns on his head, his hands and his feet. 00:14:50.080 --> 00:14:51.200 It's even in that shape. 00:14:51.279 --> 00:14:52.480 It's crazy. 00:14:53.120 --> 00:14:57.200 It's just like time and time again, there's there's picture after picture after picture. 00:14:57.360 --> 00:15:15.679 I could I could tell the story of Moses and the Israelites, and there's this bronze snake in the desert with poisonous snakes and venom, and they look at the bronze snake and they're healed, and Jesus told this man named Nicodemus in John chapter 3 that just as Moses lifted up the bronze serpent, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, and it's this image of Jesus thousands of years before. 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:19.759 If you've never read that before, just look it up, it's an interesting story. 00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:31.600 Countless times where we're thousands of years before Jesus, God isn't just foreshadowing that he's going to send his son, he's foreshadowing this specific moment, the cross. 00:15:33.440 --> 00:15:39.200 Maybe the most explicit is something Jesus himself actually referenced in Matthew chapter 27. 00:15:39.440 --> 00:15:48.639 It says, at about three o'clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, Eli, Eli, Lemasabakani, which means, My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? 00:15:48.799 --> 00:15:49.440 Quick show of hands. 00:15:49.519 --> 00:15:53.200 How many of us have thought about Jesus saying, My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? 00:15:53.279 --> 00:15:55.440 That's been something you've read and you're like pondered. 00:15:55.679 --> 00:15:59.440 For a lot of people, this is like a really hard scripture to reconcile. 00:16:00.159 --> 00:16:07.759 Because the idea of Jesus, like Jesus, He's amazing, He's awesome, He's the Son of God, He's been perfect, He's done everything right. 00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:13.919 And Jesus on the cross saying, My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? 00:16:14.080 --> 00:16:19.039 It's hard to wrap our heads around how in the world could God the Father have abandoned Jesus. 00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:32.159 There's actually been a lot of, just in my personal opinion, which doesn't really matter that much, but a lot of really bad theology that has developed from people trying to reconcile and rationalize this statement of Jesus. 00:16:32.240 --> 00:16:33.440 Because the idea usually goes like this. 00:16:33.519 --> 00:16:37.120 Well, if Jesus said, My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? 00:16:37.279 --> 00:16:39.360 that must mean that God did abandon him. 00:16:39.759 --> 00:16:46.000 And so, how in the world can we understand God abandoning Jesus, turning his back on Jesus? 00:16:46.799 --> 00:16:57.039 People will go back to this one particular verse in the Old Testament, Habakkuk chapter 1, verse 13, which Habakkuk says to God, your eyes are too pure to look at evil. 00:16:57.120 --> 00:17:04.000 And so the idea would be when Jesus went to the cross, he took all of our sin, all the sin of the entire world, everyone that's ever lived. 00:17:04.079 --> 00:17:05.119 He took it upon himself. 00:17:05.519 --> 00:17:10.960 And there was so much sin on Jesus that God the Father, being pure, couldn't even look at him. 00:17:11.440 --> 00:17:13.599 Just turned away in disgust. 00:17:14.720 --> 00:17:16.960 That must be what happened. 00:17:17.119 --> 00:17:18.880 Because God is too pure to look at evil. 00:17:19.039 --> 00:17:22.640 But guys, I don't believe for a moment that's what happened at all. 00:17:23.519 --> 00:17:32.480 I mean, how many of us have watched our children, those of us who have kids, do some pretty terrible things, and yet we don't turn away in disgust? 00:17:33.200 --> 00:17:33.839 Right? 00:17:35.039 --> 00:17:37.680 Or we're not better parents than God the Father. 00:17:37.759 --> 00:17:39.200 I'm reminded of that all the time. 00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:40.319 I'm a decent dad. 00:17:40.400 --> 00:17:44.720 I'm getting better, some days worse, but it's it's a it's a journey. 00:17:44.960 --> 00:17:47.200 I'm not a better father than God. 00:17:47.839 --> 00:17:54.880 And if my children can do pretty terrible things and I don't turn my back on them, how in the world could God turn his back on Jesus? 00:17:55.039 --> 00:17:56.480 The truth is he didn't. 00:17:56.880 --> 00:17:59.680 Number one, that that verse in Habakkuk, let's just unpack this for a second. 00:17:59.759 --> 00:18:00.480 I think this is important. 00:18:00.559 --> 00:18:05.680 Because we gotta be people of, if we're gonna follow Jesus, we have to be people who understand some of the deeper context and things. 00:18:05.759 --> 00:18:07.359 This is important stuff. 00:18:08.319 --> 00:18:17.519 First of all, the translation's kind of interesting because some translations will actually put it this way: um, you are pure and cannot stand the sight of evil. 00:18:17.599 --> 00:18:20.240 It's like God's like, I don't like evil things. 00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:22.000 Evil bothers me. 00:18:22.400 --> 00:18:24.480 That's good to have a God who's bothered by evil. 00:18:24.559 --> 00:18:27.039 We look at the world and we see some evil things happening and it bothers us. 00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:28.640 It definitely bothers God. 00:18:29.680 --> 00:18:33.039 It's not necessarily saying that God can't look at evil. 00:18:33.279 --> 00:18:38.160 If God had to turn away every time there was evil, he would just turn his back on the world at all times. 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:40.480 He couldn't look at anything. 00:18:41.680 --> 00:18:50.559 We see Jesus so many times encounter people who have really serious problems, messed up, and he didn't turn his back on any of them. 00:18:51.920 --> 00:18:54.079 Usually it's compassion and love that he meets him with. 00:18:54.160 --> 00:18:57.279 Sometimes he's really direct and frank with him and says, Hey, you gotta stop this. 00:18:57.519 --> 00:18:59.039 But he doesn't turn his back on it. 00:19:00.720 --> 00:19:08.160 No, what's really interesting about the cross and about Jesus saying, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 00:19:08.559 --> 00:19:12.400 Is that he's actually quoting Scripture in that moment. 00:19:14.960 --> 00:19:18.559 Psalm chapter 22, verse 1 begins like this, verse 1. 00:19:19.039 --> 00:19:22.319 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? 00:19:23.039 --> 00:19:25.519 The exact words that Jesus said on the cross. 00:19:25.759 --> 00:19:32.400 Now, interesting thing about Jesus, this is the only time he ever called God God. 00:19:33.359 --> 00:19:34.960 He never called him God. 00:19:35.680 --> 00:19:37.920 He always called him father. 00:19:38.400 --> 00:19:39.519 Always, every time. 00:19:39.680 --> 00:19:41.519 Jesus would say, My Father, my father. 00:19:41.759 --> 00:19:43.920 In fact, when people asked Jesus, how should we pray? 00:19:44.079 --> 00:19:45.200 Jesus said, Pray like this. 00:19:45.279 --> 00:19:47.200 And he said, Our Father. 00:19:47.599 --> 00:19:53.039 So this is the only time that Jesus has ever called God the Father God and not Father. 00:19:53.119 --> 00:19:53.440 Why? 00:19:53.519 --> 00:19:55.119 Because he's quoting something. 00:19:55.200 --> 00:20:00.480 It's the exact same phrase, My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? 00:20:00.720 --> 00:20:03.119 This was a psalm written by a man named King David. 00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:04.799 He wrote it a thousand years before Jesus. 00:20:04.880 --> 00:20:06.720 And check out some of the things that are in this psalm. 00:20:06.880 --> 00:20:10.000 If you're familiar with the crucifixion and what happened, you'll see these. 00:20:10.559 --> 00:20:13.680 Verses 7 and 8, it says, Everyone who sees me mocks me. 00:20:13.839 --> 00:20:18.079 They sneer and shake their heads, saying, Is this the one who relies on the Lord? 00:20:18.160 --> 00:20:19.359 Then let the Lord save him. 00:20:19.519 --> 00:20:22.559 If the Lord loves him so much, let the Lord rescue him. 00:20:22.799 --> 00:20:26.880 The people who crucified Jesus mocked him and they said the exact same thing. 00:20:27.200 --> 00:20:29.200 They said, Oh, he was able to save others. 00:20:29.279 --> 00:20:30.799 Let's see if he can save himself. 00:20:31.039 --> 00:20:34.799 If God loves him so much, if he really is the Son of God, let's see if God rescues him. 00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:35.519 That happened. 00:20:35.680 --> 00:20:40.160 And it was written about in stunning detail, a thousand years earlier. 00:20:40.319 --> 00:20:46.319 Verse 14, he says, My life is poured out like water, all my bones are out of joint, my heart is like wax melting within me. 00:20:46.480 --> 00:20:52.480 When you died on a cross, uh, almost always your bones would completely come out of joint because of the pressure and the weight. 00:20:52.640 --> 00:21:03.119 In fact, they've said that people who died of crucifixion when they were taken off the cross, that their shoulders, their arms would often be two inches longer, up to two inches longer than they were when they were put up there. 00:21:03.759 --> 00:21:06.160 And it says that my heart is like wax. 00:21:06.960 --> 00:21:12.319 You know, when they they pierced Jesus' side on the cross to make sure he was dead, it says that blood and water came out. 00:21:12.480 --> 00:21:21.680 And that's medically an indication that Jesus, something happened to his heart, that his heart literally ruptured on the cross. 00:21:22.079 --> 00:21:23.680 And it talks about that. 00:21:24.559 --> 00:21:30.240 Psalm 22, 15 says, My strength has dried up like sun-baked clay, my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. 00:21:30.400 --> 00:21:34.640 One of the things that Jesus said on the cross, we only have seven statements that we know Jesus said on the cross. 00:21:34.799 --> 00:21:37.119 One of them was, I'm thirsty. 00:21:40.160 --> 00:21:47.200 Matthew chapter 22, or rather, Psalm 22 18, says, They divide my garments among themselves and throw dice for my clothing. 00:21:47.440 --> 00:21:48.720 David wrote that. 00:21:49.119 --> 00:21:50.960 And if you know the story of the cross, that happened. 00:21:51.039 --> 00:21:54.880 The soldiers were rolling dice to see who got Jesus' clothing. 00:21:54.960 --> 00:21:55.920 It's crazy. 00:21:56.240 --> 00:21:58.000 This is the weirdest one. 00:21:59.119 --> 00:21:59.759 Psalm 22. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:02.640 216, they have pierced my hands and feet. 00:22:02.799 --> 00:22:04.640 Now, now here's what's insane. 00:22:04.880 --> 00:22:08.960 When David wrote this a thousand years before Jesus, crucifixion had not been invented yet. 00:22:09.119 --> 00:22:12.720 The Persians invented crucifixion long time after David. 00:22:12.880 --> 00:22:18.559 There's literally like no known explanation for why David wrote this a thousand years before Jesus. 00:22:18.720 --> 00:22:22.640 There's no story in the Bible of David ever having anyone pierce his hands and his feet. 00:22:22.880 --> 00:22:25.440 We don't know culturally what in the world that would have been. 00:22:27.279 --> 00:22:29.200 There's nothing that it relates to. 00:22:29.279 --> 00:22:32.400 It's this strange statement that's like, what does that even mean? 00:22:33.680 --> 00:22:35.279 It's because it's not about David. 00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:37.279 It's about Jesus. 00:22:39.839 --> 00:22:44.880 In fact, the the psalm finishes verse 22. 00:22:45.599 --> 00:22:47.119 I'm so sorry, verse 24. 00:22:47.839 --> 00:22:49.440 I'm sorry, I don't even have it written on here. 00:22:49.599 --> 00:22:50.319 But it finishes. 00:22:50.480 --> 00:22:51.599 Let's just go there. 00:22:52.240 --> 00:22:56.880 And it finishes with the phrase in Hebrew, he has done it. 00:22:57.519 --> 00:23:02.240 Because the psalm is actually, it takes a turn, and it's not about God abandoning me. 00:23:02.400 --> 00:23:05.519 It turns and it basically says, God, you would never abandon your people. 00:23:05.680 --> 00:23:09.440 It's a psalm to remind us that when we feel abandoned by God, he never abandons us. 00:23:09.599 --> 00:23:15.839 And it ends with the phrase, he has done it, which could also literally be translated in Hebrew to, it is finished. 00:23:16.240 --> 00:23:19.119 Which is the last thing Jesus said before he died. 00:23:19.839 --> 00:23:24.319 So we have this moment where Jesus is on the cross and he says, My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? 00:23:24.480 --> 00:23:26.000 We've tried to reconcile this, figure it out. 00:23:26.160 --> 00:23:37.519 And what was happening is Jesus is there, and he's basically letting anyone in the area know who had any knowledge of scripture, anyone who would have been familiar with Psalm 22, all Jesus would have had to say is, My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? 00:23:37.599 --> 00:23:45.839 It would have been like a hyperlink in their minds to that psalm, and all of a sudden, if they had any sense about them, they look around and say, Oh my goodness, it's happening. 00:23:47.119 --> 00:23:49.839 They're mocking him, they're dividing his clothing. 00:23:50.079 --> 00:23:52.400 They've pierced his hands and his feet. 00:23:52.559 --> 00:23:54.400 And he finishes by saying, It is finished. 00:23:54.480 --> 00:24:04.240 What I'm trying to say is simply this the cross is so monumental, it's so important, that God spent thousands of years foreshadowing it. 00:24:04.640 --> 00:24:15.039 Not just foreshadowing Jesus, not just foreshadowing that his son would come and be among us, but but God spent thousands of years saying, hey, be on the lookout for this. 00:24:16.160 --> 00:24:24.720 Hey, keep your eyes peeled for this moment because the cross is so consequential, it matters. 00:24:26.079 --> 00:24:31.440 It's the most important moment in history because it's the moment that everything changed. 00:24:32.240 --> 00:24:36.400 Not just for God, not just for Jesus, but for me and you. 00:24:38.079 --> 00:24:42.000 You know, if if I asked you to think of the most important day of your life. 00:24:42.720 --> 00:24:44.480 Like what's the what's the best day of your life? 00:24:44.640 --> 00:24:49.279 What day in your life has had the most impact, has changed things the most? 00:24:49.359 --> 00:24:50.720 You'd probably have a lot of different options. 00:24:50.799 --> 00:24:51.680 I could think of several. 00:24:51.759 --> 00:24:58.079 I can think of moments with our church that I'm like, that was a consequential day that's like changed things for us. 00:24:58.720 --> 00:25:01.039 The day that our debt was forgiven as a church. 00:25:01.200 --> 00:25:02.720 That was monumental. 00:25:03.680 --> 00:25:05.279 But I would never pick that, right? 00:25:05.359 --> 00:25:07.119 That would be like, that'd be my job. 00:25:07.279 --> 00:25:08.319 My family would be so mad. 00:25:08.400 --> 00:25:12.720 No, of course I've got to figure out which moment in my family is the most consequential. 00:25:12.960 --> 00:25:15.279 I could pick any of my kids being born, but there's four of them. 00:25:15.440 --> 00:25:16.000 You know? 00:25:16.160 --> 00:25:17.680 And it's like they kind of run together. 00:25:17.759 --> 00:25:21.359 Sometimes we'll be like, remember when Judah was born and this happened, and Megan will be like, no, that was Eli. 00:25:21.440 --> 00:25:22.319 And I'm like, you sure? 00:25:22.640 --> 00:25:23.119 Yes. 00:25:23.359 --> 00:25:23.680 Okay. 00:25:24.240 --> 00:25:26.559 You probably remember those really well. 00:25:28.160 --> 00:25:32.799 Like I could pick any moment that my when my one of my children came into the world, it was a monumental day. 00:25:32.880 --> 00:25:33.920 I picked my wife. 00:25:34.079 --> 00:25:36.319 I love my wife so much. 00:25:36.480 --> 00:25:38.319 The day we were married, big time. 00:25:38.480 --> 00:25:46.720 Like she walked down the aisle, I got a single masculine tear in my eye, you know, but held it in, because I'm a man. 00:25:49.200 --> 00:25:51.599 By the way, guys, it's okay for men to cry. 00:25:52.079 --> 00:25:52.720 A little. 00:25:53.839 --> 00:25:54.160 Okay? 00:25:56.000 --> 00:25:58.319 No one needs a man all out of control. 00:25:58.400 --> 00:25:59.359 I'm just joking. 00:25:59.599 --> 00:26:00.799 Kind of, kind of joking. 00:26:00.960 --> 00:26:01.279 Okay. 00:26:01.680 --> 00:26:12.400 So that was monumental, but even in my relationship with Megan, what was probably more monumental was uh the moment where we realized that God was really gonna let us get married. 00:26:12.640 --> 00:26:14.480 Because I fell in love with Megan. 00:26:14.640 --> 00:26:16.720 She was still in high school, she was a year younger than me. 00:26:16.799 --> 00:26:18.799 I was a senior, she was a junior, and we went to prom together. 00:26:18.880 --> 00:26:20.559 I was like, I do not want to break up with this girl. 00:26:20.640 --> 00:26:32.880 I was moving a thousand miles away to college, and so we were kind of a new relationship at the time, and I'd already decided on where I was gonna go to school, and my parents were like, you're not changing your college plans because you got a girlfriend, and that was probably good. 00:26:33.279 --> 00:26:46.240 And then she was like, Well, I'm gonna go to college where you go a year from now, and her dad was like, Oh no, you are not following some boy a thousand miles away from me to college because you went to prom together and you're all in love. 00:26:46.400 --> 00:26:47.279 You know, that's her name. 00:26:47.359 --> 00:26:49.279 I don't know if Lewis is in the room, but he said that. 00:26:49.440 --> 00:26:59.759 In fact, I know this because she told me on the phone that her dad said, God would have to give me undeniable proof that you're supposed to go there for me to let you go. 00:27:00.079 --> 00:27:01.440 And so we prayed. 00:27:01.759 --> 00:27:04.640 God, we need you to do something because we want to be together. 00:27:04.799 --> 00:27:10.079 And I was convinced, she was convinced, the college I was at, a thousand miles away, is the only college she applied to. 00:27:10.160 --> 00:27:11.920 I don't know if her parents knew that. 00:27:12.160 --> 00:27:18.720 Um I bought her an engagement ring while she was still in high school. 00:27:18.880 --> 00:27:20.559 My parents definitely didn't know that. 00:27:20.799 --> 00:27:30.960 Um I mean, that's how in love we were, and then this day came where she had applied for this incredible scholarship that they only gave to four incoming freshmen every year. 00:27:31.119 --> 00:27:33.839 And if she got the scholarship, college was paid for. 00:27:34.079 --> 00:27:40.799 And we prayed about it, and she came up and she interviewed for it, and it was like the odds are small, but maybe, just maybe, and she called me. 00:27:40.880 --> 00:27:45.119 I'll never forget the day she called me and said she got a letter that she got the scholarship. 00:27:45.359 --> 00:27:49.599 And turns out free college is undeniable proof. 00:27:51.839 --> 00:27:53.119 For any father. 00:27:57.119 --> 00:27:59.599 And so, you know, the rest is history. 00:27:59.680 --> 00:28:00.799 That day was monumental. 00:28:00.960 --> 00:28:02.000 That day changed everything. 00:28:02.079 --> 00:28:06.720 In fact, that day it was like, God, you've done this, and our marriage was kind of like just a formality after that. 00:28:06.799 --> 00:28:07.759 Like we knew it was gonna happen. 00:28:07.920 --> 00:28:10.480 We're together and we got married a few years later, and it was great. 00:28:10.559 --> 00:28:13.200 I've had so many moments in my life that were monumental. 00:28:14.480 --> 00:28:17.200 And I'm sure all of us could could think of several. 00:28:17.599 --> 00:28:20.880 No, that that day, that was the day that meant the most. 00:28:21.680 --> 00:28:29.200 But the truth of the matter is the best day of my life is the day Jesus died on the cross. 00:28:31.039 --> 00:29:10.720 The most consequential day in my life, the most consequential day in yours, is the day that Jesus, before you were born, before you were even a thought, in advance of you being here, Jesus paid the debt for all your sin, all your shame, all your guilt, allowing you to be born into this world where you can know, you can know, not just believe, not just have some faith, but you can know that the God who created you is good with you, and he loves you, and there's nothing that stands between him and you. 00:29:10.880 --> 00:29:23.119 There's nothing that can ever separate you from him because every single thing you ever have done wrong, whatever you're doing wrong right now, whatever you're gonna do wrong in the future, it's already been covered by Jesus on the cross. 00:29:23.279 --> 00:29:28.000 There is nothing that has happened in my life or your life that can top that. 00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:31.119 Nothing can top that. 00:29:31.200 --> 00:29:33.680 It's the most, it's the most important day of your life. 00:29:33.920 --> 00:29:36.079 It's the best day of your life. 00:29:38.160 --> 00:29:41.119 And this is the craziest part to me in all of it. 00:29:42.160 --> 00:29:46.880 Years ago, I was reading Ephesians chapter 1, and it says something very interesting. 00:29:47.359 --> 00:29:48.960 Totally changed my perspective on things. 00:29:49.039 --> 00:29:53.759 It says, even before he made the world, this is before the beginning. 00:29:55.359 --> 00:30:00.799 God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 00:30:00.880 --> 00:30:05.119 Now, how do we become holy and without fault in his eyes? 00:30:06.000 --> 00:30:11.200 It's by placing our faith in Jesus and in the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross, right? 00:30:11.599 --> 00:30:12.480 So he decided that. 00:30:12.559 --> 00:30:21.680 It's like God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing him to himself, by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. 00:30:22.319 --> 00:30:26.640 This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. 00:30:26.880 --> 00:30:33.599 Now I had grown up believing that Jesus dying on the cross is what God had to do because of all my mistakes. 00:30:34.319 --> 00:30:38.000 It was, it was what, it was like the only option he was left with. 00:30:38.480 --> 00:30:42.240 This wasn't plan A or plan B or plan C. 00:30:42.319 --> 00:30:43.359 This is this is it. 00:30:43.440 --> 00:30:46.000 This is the the I guess I gotta do this. 00:30:47.599 --> 00:30:49.519 But that's not what this says. 00:30:50.079 --> 00:30:59.759 It says that before he created the world, God knew you, knew us, and he understood everything we would ever do, and he understood all the mistakes we would make. 00:30:59.920 --> 00:31:03.920