1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:29,980 I will not boast in anything, no gifts, no power, no wisdom, but I will boast in Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection. 2 00:00:29,980 --> 00:00:59,960 Why should I gain from His reward? I cannot give an answer, but this I know in all my heart, His wounds have paid my ransom. 3 00:00:59,960 --> 00:01:29,940 I cannot give an answer, but this I know in all my heart, His wounds have paid my ransom. 4 00:01:29,940 --> 00:01:59,920 Let's pray. 5 00:01:59,920 --> 00:02:29,900 Let's pray. 6 00:02:29,900 --> 00:02:59,880 Let's pray. 7 00:08:29,660 --> 00:08:59,640 Here, my hope is found. Here, on holy ground. Here, I bow down. Here, I bow down. Here, I'm open wide. Here, you saved my life. Here, I bow down. Here, I bow. 8 00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:25,320 I'm in all of you, I'm in all of you, where your love, friends, friends, and my sin, I owe all to you, I owe all to you, I owe all to you, Jesus. 9 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:31,640 Amen. 10 00:09:59,640 --> 00:10:29,620 Shameful sin placed on Him, the hope of every man. Oh, the blood of Jesus washed in me. Oh, the blood of Jesus shed for me. 11 00:10:29,640 --> 00:10:46,640 What a sacrifice that saved my life. Yes, the blood, it is my victory. 12 00:10:50,640 --> 00:11:06,640 Savior, Son, Holy One. Testing, testing, testing. 13 00:11:06,640 --> 00:11:20,640 See the cloud, the great I am, who takes away my sin. 14 00:11:20,640 --> 00:11:35,640 Oh, the blood of Jesus washes me. Oh, the blood of Jesus shed for me. 15 00:11:35,640 --> 00:11:52,640 What a sacrifice to save my life. Yes, the blood, it is my victory. 16 00:11:52,640 --> 00:12:04,640 Oh, the blood of the Lamb. Oh, the blood of the Lamb. 17 00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:33,640 Oh, the blood of the Lamb. The precious blood of the Lamb. What a sacrifice that saved my life. Yes, the blood, it is mine. 18 00:12:33,640 --> 00:12:38,640 It is my victory. 19 00:13:03,640 --> 00:13:28,640 Good evening. We are glad to be here this evening, and we are excited to begin our Good Friday service just a little bit different, seeing that we're in the evening a little bit darker than we're used to. 20 00:13:28,640 --> 00:13:42,640 Just a minute, we are going to end our service tonight with a time of communion, so if you would like to participate in that, you are welcome to. There's communion elements there in the door. 21 00:13:42,640 --> 00:13:53,640 So we're going to go ahead and have a word of prayer, and then we're going to watch a short video, and then we will spend some time in worship and then in the Word of God. 22 00:13:53,640 --> 00:14:02,640 So let's go ahead and go to God in prayer. Father in heaven, I just ask that you would bless our time here this evening. 23 00:14:02,640 --> 00:14:16,640 We ask that you would help us as we consider that means that you would encourage us, that you would strengthen us, that if we are struggling, that you would give us strength and peace. 24 00:14:16,640 --> 00:14:19,640 It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 25 00:14:23,640 --> 00:14:39,640 The sun stops shining. 26 00:14:39,640 --> 00:14:48,640 "So you're a king, are you?" the Roman soldiers jeered. "Oh, then you'll need a crown and a robe." 27 00:14:48,640 --> 00:14:56,640 They gave Jesus a crown made out of thorns and put a purple robe on him and pretended to bow down to him. 28 00:14:56,640 --> 00:15:03,640 "Oh, your majesty," they said. Then they whipped him and spat on him. 29 00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:10,640 They didn't understand this was the Prince of Life, the King of Heaven and Earth, who had come to rescue them. 30 00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:17,640 The soldiers made him a sign, "Our King," and nailed it to a wooden cross. 31 00:15:17,640 --> 00:15:22,640 They walked up a hill outside the city. Jesus carried the cross on his back. 32 00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:29,640 Jesus had never done anything wrong, but they were going to kill him the way criminals were killed. 33 00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:41,640 They nailed Jesus to the cross. "Father, forgive them," Jesus gasped. "They don't understand what they're doing." 34 00:15:41,640 --> 00:15:49,640 "You say you've come to rescue us," people shouted. "You can't even rescue yourself." 35 00:15:49,640 --> 00:15:57,640 But they were wrong. Jesus could have rescued himself. A legion of angels would have flown to his side, if he'd called. 36 00:15:57,640 --> 00:16:04,640 If you were really the Son of God, you could just climb down off that cross. 37 00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:08,640 Of course, they were right. Jesus could have just climbed down. 38 00:16:08,640 --> 00:16:18,640 Actually, he could have just said a word and made it all stop, like when he healed that little girl and stilled the storm and fed 5,000 people. 39 00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:29,640 But Jesus stayed. You see, they didn't understand. It wasn't the nails that kept Jesus there. It was love. 40 00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:37,640 "Papa!" Jesus cried, frantically searching the sky. "Papa! Where are you?" 41 00:16:37,640 --> 00:17:06,640 "Don't leave me!" And for the first time, and the last, when he spoke, nothing happened. Just a horrible, endless silence. God didn't answer. He turned away from his boy. 42 00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:22,640 He rolled down Jesus' face. The face of the one who would wipe away every tear from every eye. Even though it was midday, a dreadful darkness covered the face of the world. 43 00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:35,640 The sun could not shine. The earth trembled and quaked. The great mountains shook. Rocks split in two, until it seemed that the whole world would break. 44 00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:50,640 The creation itself would tear apart. The full force of the storm of God's fierce anger at sin was coming down on his own Son, instead of his people. 45 00:17:50,640 --> 00:18:04,640 It was the only way God could destroy sin, and not destroy his children, whose hearts were filled with sin. Then Jesus shouted out in a loud voice, 46 00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:33,640 "It is finished!" And it was. He had done it. Jesus had rescued the whole world. "Father," Jesus cried, "I give you my life." 47 00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:48,640 And with a great sigh, he let himself die. Strange clouds and shadows filled the sky. Purple, orange, black, like a bruise. 48 00:18:48,640 --> 00:19:02,640 Jesus' friends gently carried Jesus. They laid Jesus in a new tomb, carved out of rock. How could Jesus die? What had gone wrong? What did it mean? They didn't know anything anymore, 49 00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:14,640 except they did know that their hearts were breaking. Ah, that's the end of Jesus, the leader said. But just to be sure, soldiers to guard the tomb. 50 00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:24,640 They hauled a huge stone in front of the door to the tomb, so that no one could get in or out. 51 00:19:32,640 --> 00:20:01,640 Some words out of an article posted today by a woman by the name of Nancy Guthrie. It was entitled, "When Jesus died on Good Friday, it wasn't just him who died." 52 00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:30,640 The death of Jesus was the end of priesthood. The death of Jesus was the end of the sacrificial system. The death of Jesus was the end of the temple made with limestone, but it was not the temple it was meant to be. The death of Jesus was the fulfillment of the Day of Atonement. The death of Jesus was the end of once a year access into the presence of God by one high priest. The tearing of the veil, in essence, threw open 53 00:20:30,640 --> 00:20:59,640 the door. Because the sins of all those who put their trust in Christ are fully dealt with in the death of Jesus. Forgiven sinners are now welcomed into the presence of God in union with Christ. And I'm going to be reading Scripture out of Isaiah 53:103. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was 54 00:20:59,640 --> 00:21:28,640 wounded for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is the steadfast love towards those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, 55 00:21:28,640 --> 00:21:45,640 so far does he remove our transgressions from us." We're going to be worshiping together, singing three songs, and then Brent and Brandon are going to come and share some words with us. 56 00:21:55,640 --> 00:21:58,640 You can stand if you'd like, or if you'd like your name seating, you can. 57 00:21:58,640 --> 00:22:22,640 I rest my soul on Jesus when the mountains shake. I put my trust in Jesus the moment I awake. 58 00:22:22,640 --> 00:22:51,640 And when my soul is lost at sea, He will be my rock. My vision be in Christ. This grace is always God. 59 00:22:51,640 --> 00:23:20,640 His love is like the mighty ocean. His love for me will never stop. Oh, His arms are strong enough to carry me through it all by the grace of God. 60 00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:49,640 I upon His shoulders, safely brought this far. Helper of my helpless soul, the King of broken hearts. His love is like the mighty ocean. 61 00:23:49,640 --> 00:24:12,640 His love for me will never stop. Oh, His arms are strong enough to keep through it all by the grace of God. 62 00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:38,640 You are the passion of my life, Lord Jesus. You are the song within my soul. My strength, my hope, my all in all is You. Jesus, You. 63 00:24:38,640 --> 00:25:06,640 When breath grows still and night draws near, I will not be afraid. I know the plans He has for me don't finish at my grave. 64 00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:34,640 His love is like the mighty ocean. His love for me will stop. Oh, His arms are strong enough to carry me through it all by the grace of God. 65 00:25:34,640 --> 00:26:02,640 Who breaks the power of sin and darkness? Whose love is mighty and so much stronger, 66 00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:16,640 the King of glory, the King above all kings? Who shakes the whole earth with holy thunder? 67 00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:27,640 Who leaves us breathless in awe and wonder? The King of glory, the King above all kings. 68 00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:56,640 This is amazing grace. This is unfailing love. That you would take my place. That you would bear my cross. You would lay down your life. That I would be set free. 69 00:26:56,640 --> 00:27:25,640 Jesus, I sing for all that you've done for me. Who brings our chaos back into order? Who makes the orphan a son and daughter? The King of glory. The King above all kings. 70 00:27:25,640 --> 00:27:54,640 With truth and justice. Shines like the sun in all of its brilliance. The King of glory. The King above all kings. This is amazing grace. This is unfailing love. That you would take my place. That you would bear my cross. 71 00:27:54,640 --> 00:28:23,640 You would lay down your life. That I would be set free. Jesus, I sing for all that you've done for me. This is amazing grace. This is unfailing love. 72 00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:52,640 That you would take my place. That you would bear my cross. You would lay down your life. That I would be set free. Jesus, I sing for all that you've done for me. 73 00:28:52,640 --> 00:29:21,640 I pray. I pray. The sound of your great name. All condemned. 74 00:29:21,640 --> 00:29:50,640 Feel no shade at the sound of your great name. Every fear has no place at the sound of your great name. The enemy, he has to leave. 75 00:29:50,640 --> 00:30:19,640 At the sound of your great name. Jesus, worthy a sound that was slain for us. Son of God and man, you are high and lifted up. Let all the world will praise your great name. 76 00:30:19,640 --> 00:30:48,640 All the weak, find their strength at the sound of your great name. Hungry souls, receive praise at the sound of your great name. 77 00:30:48,640 --> 00:31:13,640 Jesus, they find their rest at the sound of your great name. And the dead are raised at the sound of your great name. 78 00:31:13,640 --> 00:31:38,640 Jesus, worthy is the Lamb that once lived for us. Son of God and Lamb, you are high and lifted up. Then all the world will praise your great name. 79 00:31:38,640 --> 00:32:05,640 Redeemer, my hidden Lord Almighty. My Savior, Defender, you are my King. Redeemer, my hidden Lord Almighty. My Savior, Defender, you are my King. 80 00:32:05,640 --> 00:32:30,640 Jesus, worthy is the Lamb that was slave for us. Son of God and man, who are high and lifted up. And all the world will praise your great name. 81 00:32:30,640 --> 00:32:43,640 Your great name. Your great name. 82 00:33:00,640 --> 00:33:10,640 This Good Friday reading is adapted from the Old Testament and the New Testament. 83 00:33:10,640 --> 00:33:25,640 "Behold, and the Lord said, as a lion or a young lion growls over his prey, and when a band of shepherds is called out against him, 84 00:33:25,640 --> 00:33:38,640 he is not terrified by their shouting or daunted by their noise. So the Lord of Hosts will come down to fight on Mount Zion and on its hill. 85 00:33:38,640 --> 00:33:47,640 The Virgin shall conceive and bear a son. They shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us. 86 00:33:47,640 --> 00:33:54,640 I gave my back to those who strike. My cheek to those who pull out the beards. 87 00:33:54,640 --> 00:34:23,640 I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting. The Lord God helps me. Disgrace. I have set my face like a flint. I know that I shall be ashamed. He who vindicated me, I know that my Redeemer lives. At the last, he will stand upon the earth. 88 00:34:23,640 --> 00:34:52,640 I have become a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my mother's sons. Zeal for your house has consumed me. The reproach of those who reproach you has fallen on me. The stone which the builders refused has become the headstone of the corner. This is the Lord's doing. It is marvelous to our eyes. 89 00:34:52,640 --> 00:35:21,640 Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool. There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse. A branch from his roots shall bear fruit. He grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of the dry ground. 90 00:35:21,640 --> 00:35:50,640 No form or majesty that we should look at him. No beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. As one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised. We esteemed him not. And when Jesus and the disciples had sung a hymn, "Blessed be the one 91 00:35:50,640 --> 00:36:19,640 who comes in the name of the Lord." We have blessed you, Lord. God is the Lord. He has illuminated us. Tie up the festival offering with ropes until it reaches the corner of the altar. I will thank you, my God. I will exalt you. Thank the Lord, since he is good, since his kindness is forever. They went out to the Mount of Olives, 92 00:36:19,640 --> 00:36:48,640 and they went to a place called Gethsemane. And Jesus said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray." And he took with him Peter and James and John and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch." And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 93 00:36:48,640 --> 00:37:17,640 And Jesus came and found the disciples sleeping and said to them, "The hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, see, my betrayer is at hand." And immediately, while Jesus was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs from the chief priests 94 00:37:17,640 --> 00:37:46,640 and the scribes and the elders. And when he came, Judas went up to him at once and said, "Rabbi." And they brought Jesus before the Jewish high court. And they brought Jesus before the Roman governor. And they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha, which means place of a skull, where they crucified him. The inscription of the charges 95 00:37:46,640 --> 00:37:49,640 against him read, "The King of the Jews." 96 00:38:16,640 --> 00:38:40,640 Let's pray. Father in heaven, we just ask that you be with us this evening. As we spend some time in your word, we ask that you would encourage us, that you would help us to see that at the cross was not just the death of your son, but the death of our sin and the death of fear, the death of hopelessness, and the death of our shame. 97 00:38:40,640 --> 00:38:57,640 We thank you for the good that you have done for us. We thank you for the power of your word, the power from the Old Testament to the New Testament, and how you have inspired your word and tied it all together. I thank you for Jesus and for grace. It's in his name we pray. Amen. 98 00:38:57,640 --> 00:39:08,640 One of the things about darkness is it tends to make everything seem worse than it really is. I've shared this with some of you before, but I was camping by myself out in the middle of nowhere. 99 00:39:08,640 --> 00:39:21,640 It was an actual campground, but there was nobody there. It got dark, and I was just kind of sitting there enjoying the evening. I had a little fire going, and still you couldn't see much past your little four or five feet around the fire. 100 00:39:21,640 --> 00:39:36,640 I was making some dinner, putting it on the fire to warm everything up. As I'm sitting there, I hear these sort of crunch, crunch, obviously footsteps in the woods, but not like where the trail would have been, where other campers 101 00:39:36,640 --> 00:39:47,640 would have been, was sort of coming up behind me. My first thought is that either it's a Sasquatch or like a man with a hook, and I'm in serious trouble. 102 00:39:47,640 --> 00:39:54,640 I just sort of sat there thinking, "Well, maybe it's something else." You sort of hear these footsteps, and they're getting closer and getting closer. 103 00:39:54,640 --> 00:40:04,640 It was a few minutes where I'm kind of running through all of the X-File episodes that I've seen about aliens and all of these things, and they're running through my head. 104 00:40:04,640 --> 00:40:14,640 Finally, he's like, "Well, I got a flashlight." So I turn the flashlight on and turn around behind me, and there is the fattest raccoon that I have ever seen. 105 00:40:14,640 --> 00:40:24,640 And he has this look on his face like, "He's either going to try to sell me a used car or steal my dinner." And I imagine, because of his size, it was the second. 106 00:40:24,640 --> 00:40:32,640 And it was interesting, because we probably experienced this, that as soon as the light goes on, those things that seem so dark 107 00:40:32,640 --> 00:40:40,640 and so scary in the midst of the unknown, all of a sudden it changes everything about them. 108 00:40:40,640 --> 00:40:50,640 In the midst of this life, there is a fear that I think sort of brings all of humanity together, and we may not like to admit it. 109 00:40:50,640 --> 00:40:56,640 I told the kids the other day that I fear no man and only one woman, because they're like, "Dad, are you afraid of anything?" 110 00:40:56,640 --> 00:41:00,640 And I said, "Nope, I fear no man and only one woman." 111 00:41:00,640 --> 00:41:05,640 And we don't like to admit, oftentimes, that we're afraid. 112 00:41:05,640 --> 00:41:12,640 But there is a fear that regardless of whether we admit it or not, most of us have faced or will face. 113 00:41:12,640 --> 00:41:15,640 And that's when we come to the end of our life. 114 00:41:15,640 --> 00:41:22,640 If it was a movie, it would be the part where the end flashes on the screen and the credits begin to roll. 115 00:41:22,640 --> 00:41:27,640 And for us, that thought can be terrifying. 116 00:41:27,640 --> 00:41:31,640 And I want you to think for a minute about how we deal with this fear. 117 00:41:31,640 --> 00:41:39,640 So oftentimes what we do when we face the fear of death is we seek to avoid it and distract ourselves from it. 118 00:41:39,640 --> 00:41:40,640 So we just don't want to talk about it. 119 00:41:40,640 --> 00:41:48,640 And then we want to fill our lives with so much stuff that we don't ever have to address the thing that we are most afraid of. 120 00:41:48,640 --> 00:41:54,640 And so maybe we dive into our hobbies or we dive into our work or we dive into endless entertainment 121 00:41:54,640 --> 00:41:59,640 in hopes of silencing that fear in the back of our head. 122 00:41:59,640 --> 00:42:04,640 But then, maybe that doesn't work, and maybe we decide instead of trying to avoid it, 123 00:42:04,640 --> 00:42:07,640 what we'll do is we'll try to make this life count. 124 00:42:07,640 --> 00:42:11,640 And we'll fill this life up with as much good things as we can. 125 00:42:11,640 --> 00:42:17,640 Maybe we'll seek out adventure. And so the popular thing, you know, we'll make a bucket list. 126 00:42:17,640 --> 00:42:20,640 All these things that I want to do before I die. 127 00:42:20,640 --> 00:42:23,640 And what's interesting about a lot of people's bucket lists, 128 00:42:23,640 --> 00:42:26,640 if you read through all the adventures they want to have, 129 00:42:26,640 --> 00:42:29,640 there's a lot of those items that are going to bring death a little sooner 130 00:42:29,640 --> 00:42:32,640 than it might have otherwise. 131 00:42:32,640 --> 00:42:35,640 And so maybe we try to fill up our life. And maybe it's not with adventure, 132 00:42:35,640 --> 00:42:38,640 but we say, "I'm going to seek meaning and purpose. 133 00:42:38,640 --> 00:42:43,640 I'm going to embrace this cause in the hope that through the effect of our labor, 134 00:42:43,640 --> 00:42:48,640 our life will live on. Maybe we'll try to avoid death as long as possible. 135 00:42:48,640 --> 00:42:52,640 We'll just eat lettuce and carrots, and we'll seek to be as healthy, 136 00:42:52,640 --> 00:42:59,640 and we'll exercise in the hope that we can just eke out a few more years out of this life. 137 00:42:59,640 --> 00:43:06,640 Or maybe we'll seek an active medical miracle. This pill that I can take will let me live till I'm 300. 138 00:43:06,640 --> 00:43:09,640 Or maybe we go even more absurd, and we say, 139 00:43:09,640 --> 00:43:13,640 "When I die, freeze my head, send it into space, 140 00:43:13,640 --> 00:43:18,640 in the hopes that someday somebody will be able to revive me." 141 00:43:18,640 --> 00:43:25,640 You see, so many times we find ourselves trying to fight this fear, 142 00:43:25,640 --> 00:43:29,640 whether it's through avoiding it, or filling our life with something else, 143 00:43:29,640 --> 00:43:32,640 or actively seeking to fight it. 144 00:43:32,640 --> 00:43:36,640 But what we find, if we're truly honest with ourselves, 145 00:43:36,640 --> 00:43:43,640 is that so much of our life is a reaction to this fear of the unknown that I have. 146 00:43:43,640 --> 00:43:51,640 And then, into this darkness of fear, what I want to do tonight is to shine the light of the Gospel. 147 00:43:51,640 --> 00:43:59,640 And the word Gospel means good news, and so we want to shine some good news into the darkness of this fear. 148 00:43:59,640 --> 00:44:04,640 And as we do that, I think, especially on this evening, on Good Friday, 149 00:44:04,640 --> 00:44:08,640 we're immediately confronted with that thing that we're afraid of. 150 00:44:08,640 --> 00:44:14,640 We're immediately confronted with death, the very thing we've tried to distract ourselves from, 151 00:44:14,640 --> 00:44:19,640 and avoid, and fill up our life, and seek some way of defeating it, and here we are. 152 00:44:19,640 --> 00:44:25,640 And there's a question that has always sort of hung over my head, and we talk about it almost every year, 153 00:44:25,640 --> 00:44:31,640 that on this day that is sort of universally known as Good Friday, why? 154 00:44:31,640 --> 00:44:39,640 Because when we talk about Good Friday, we're talking about the literal murder of an innocent man, 155 00:44:39,640 --> 00:44:46,640 and yet here we are saying, "This was good." 156 00:44:46,640 --> 00:44:52,640 Think about the events that led, and Brent and Tiffany helped us a little bit with that a few moments ago. 157 00:44:52,640 --> 00:44:56,640 But Jesus, during His public ministry, for example, He'll teach. 158 00:44:56,640 --> 00:45:03,640 And He'll teach it in such a way that people are amazed because He teaches with authority because He truly has authority. 159 00:45:03,640 --> 00:45:09,640 He teaches in a way that people understand. People say, "I've never heard anybody teach like this." 160 00:45:09,640 --> 00:45:15,640 And it's a wonderful revelation of the Word of God. In fact, after His death and resurrection, 161 00:45:15,640 --> 00:45:20,640 He's on the road with a couple of disciples, and they don't know that it's Him, and He's teaching them. 162 00:45:20,640 --> 00:45:23,640 And you know what they said? "Our hearts burned within us." 163 00:45:23,640 --> 00:45:28,640 Jesus had a way of teaching that changed and transformed people. 164 00:45:28,640 --> 00:45:33,640 But He wasn't just a great teacher. He deeply and truly loved people. 165 00:45:33,640 --> 00:45:36,640 He loved the people that we struggle to love. 166 00:45:36,640 --> 00:45:44,640 He loved the hurting, and He loved the broken, and He loved the outcast and did good for them. 167 00:45:44,640 --> 00:45:50,640 He also demonstrates throughout His life great power, whether it's over nature by calming the storm, 168 00:45:50,640 --> 00:45:54,640 or over sickness by healing, or even over death, 169 00:45:54,640 --> 00:46:00,640 where He wakes somebody up by just saying, "Lazarus, for example, come out." 170 00:46:00,640 --> 00:46:06,640 And Lazarus, who's been fully dead for three days, been buried, walks out of the tomb. 171 00:46:06,640 --> 00:46:12,640 And what happens? These things, Jesus' popularity and His power, 172 00:46:12,640 --> 00:46:16,640 it begins to bring Him into conflict with the religious leaders of the day. 173 00:46:16,640 --> 00:46:20,640 Maybe because He's threatening their power, maybe because He's threatening their finances, 174 00:46:20,640 --> 00:46:22,640 but they seek to kill Him. 175 00:46:22,640 --> 00:46:28,640 And it comes to a point near Passover, where Jesus has just raised Lazarus from the dead, 176 00:46:28,640 --> 00:46:33,640 and the religious leaders are so angry, they say, "Look, the whole world has gone out after Him." 177 00:46:33,640 --> 00:46:37,640 And they say, "We're not just going to kill Jesus, we're going to kill Lazarus too." 178 00:46:37,640 --> 00:46:41,640 And kind of cover up the evidence of His miracle. 179 00:46:41,640 --> 00:46:44,640 And so they begin to plont. 180 00:46:44,640 --> 00:46:54,640 And on the Sunday that precedes this Friday, Jesus comes into Jerusalem as a King. 181 00:46:54,640 --> 00:46:57,640 On Monday, He will cleanse the temple. 182 00:46:57,640 --> 00:47:02,640 Tuesday, we'll have the Day of Questions where He spars back and forth with the religious leaders. 183 00:47:02,640 --> 00:47:04,640 Wednesday, we don't know much of what happens. 184 00:47:04,640 --> 00:47:07,640 We have preparations for the Passover on Thursday. 185 00:47:07,640 --> 00:47:12,640 And Jesus gathers with His disciples to remember God's deliverance 186 00:47:12,640 --> 00:47:16,640 through eating a lamb that has been sacrificed. 187 00:47:16,640 --> 00:47:20,640 His disciples not knowing at that moment that Jesus was that Passover lamb 188 00:47:20,640 --> 00:47:24,640 who was about to be sacrificed for the good of the people. 189 00:47:24,640 --> 00:47:27,640 Following this, they go to the garden. 190 00:47:27,640 --> 00:47:33,640 They sing a psalm or a hymn, and they go out to the garden to spend the night in prayer. 191 00:47:33,640 --> 00:47:36,640 The disciples don't know what's happening, but Jesus prays, 192 00:47:36,640 --> 00:47:41,640 "Father, if it is Your will, let this cup depart from Me." 193 00:47:41,640 --> 00:47:47,640 And He prays so strongly with such emotion that the blood vessels in His forehead rupture, 194 00:47:47,640 --> 00:47:50,640 and it begins to look like He is sweating drops of blood. 195 00:47:50,640 --> 00:47:56,640 And into the midst of this, you see the light of torches and the stomp of soldiers' boots 196 00:47:56,640 --> 00:48:01,640 as they begin to come up to the Mount of Olives, and they come and they arrest Jesus. 197 00:48:01,640 --> 00:48:07,640 And they begin to drag Him through a trial after trial that is a mockery of justice. 198 00:48:07,640 --> 00:48:10,640 He'll go before the Jewish officials three times. 199 00:48:10,640 --> 00:48:15,640 From Pilate to Herod and back to Pilate. 200 00:48:15,640 --> 00:48:21,640 And this sham of a trial, they can't find anybody who will declare Him guilty of anything. 201 00:48:21,640 --> 00:48:26,640 Even their witnesses come, and their witnesses in the midst of the trick themselves. 202 00:48:26,640 --> 00:48:33,640 Pilate will try numerous times to release Jesus, saying, "I can find no reason." 203 00:48:33,640 --> 00:48:37,640 This man and the crowds cry, "Crucify Him." 204 00:48:37,640 --> 00:48:42,640 So Pilate, hoping to appease the crowds, has Jesus flogged. 205 00:48:42,640 --> 00:48:45,640 And the soldiers don't just flog Jesus. 206 00:48:45,640 --> 00:48:50,640 Which is essentially, they beat Him until He is bruised and bleeding. 207 00:48:50,640 --> 00:48:53,640 And the skin on His back is flayed open. 208 00:48:53,640 --> 00:48:58,640 But they mock Him with a crown of thorns and a purple robe, saying, "You're a king." 209 00:48:58,640 --> 00:49:05,640 They blindfold Him and hit Him, saying, "Well, if you really were the Son of God, you'd be able to say, "Who hit you?" 210 00:49:05,640 --> 00:49:09,640 And eventually they will take that cross member and put it on His shoulders. 211 00:49:09,640 --> 00:49:14,640 And Jesus is so hurt and broken, emotionally and physically, 212 00:49:14,640 --> 00:49:18,640 He stumbles under the weight of that portion of the cross. 213 00:49:18,640 --> 00:49:21,640 They recruit a man out of the crowd to carry it for Him. 214 00:49:21,640 --> 00:49:24,640 They take Him to Golgotha. 215 00:49:24,640 --> 00:49:27,640 And there, they drive nails into His hands and feet. 216 00:49:27,640 --> 00:49:30,640 And they crucify Him. 217 00:49:30,640 --> 00:49:37,640 That's where we find ourselves on Friday. 218 00:49:37,640 --> 00:49:45,640 And what's remarkable about this is they didn't just crucify an innocent man. 219 00:49:45,640 --> 00:49:51,640 Somebody who hadn't done any wrong, but somebody who had done good at every opportunity. 220 00:49:51,640 --> 00:49:57,640 One of the places that has always stuck with me is John the baptizer is in prison for speaking the truth. 221 00:49:57,640 --> 00:50:04,640 And he wants to know about Jesus. Is he the one? And so he sends people to find out from Jesus. 222 00:50:04,640 --> 00:50:09,640 And Jesus, this is what happens. The men had come to him and they said, "John the Baptist has sent us to you saying, 223 00:50:09,640 --> 00:50:12,640 Are you the one who is to come or should we look for another?" 224 00:50:12,640 --> 00:50:16,640 In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits. 225 00:50:16,640 --> 00:50:22,640 And the many who were blind he bestowed sight. And then he answered them, "Go and tell John what you have seen and heard. 226 00:50:22,640 --> 00:50:28,640 The blind receive sight. The lame walk. The lepers are cleansed. The deaf hear. The dead are raised up. 227 00:50:28,640 --> 00:50:32,640 And the poor have good news. Gospel preached to them." 228 00:50:32,640 --> 00:50:41,640 Jesus wasn't just an innocent man killed at the cross. He was someone who was genuinely good. 229 00:50:41,640 --> 00:50:49,640 And it compounds the tragedy even further. So why is this good? 230 00:50:49,640 --> 00:50:54,640 To answer that question, I want to go to the book of Hebrews. 231 00:50:54,640 --> 00:51:00,640 And the book of Hebrews is a book that was written to struggling Christians to encourage them with Jesus. 232 00:51:00,640 --> 00:51:05,640 By saying that Jesus is better. Because these Christians, they were struggling in such a way, they were saying, 233 00:51:05,640 --> 00:51:11,640 "Is it worth it to follow Jesus anymore? Why can't I just do something else?" 234 00:51:11,640 --> 00:51:19,640 And so the book of Hebrews is there to establish a foundation of the fact that Jesus is better than anything that you could hope in. 235 00:51:19,640 --> 00:51:26,640 And so, this evening, as we struggle sometimes as Christians, because we all have moments of difficulty and struggle, 236 00:51:26,640 --> 00:51:34,640 I want to encourage us with Hebrews. But maybe you're not a Christian. Maybe you're interested. Maybe you're curious. 237 00:51:34,640 --> 00:51:45,640 Maybe you're none of those things. I want you to see Jesus from this text. That Jesus is better than anything you could ever hope for. 238 00:51:45,640 --> 00:51:54,640 So we're going to go to Hebrews chapter 2, and I just want to look at two verses. They're not very long, but they are very wonderful. 239 00:51:54,640 --> 00:52:01,640 It says, "Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, 240 00:52:01,640 --> 00:52:06,640 that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 241 00:52:06,640 --> 00:52:12,640 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery." 242 00:52:12,640 --> 00:52:17,640 Three things I want you to see from this text this evening. The first is simply this: 243 00:52:17,640 --> 00:52:27,640 is that Jesus understands. Notice what it says: "Since therefore the blood, he likewise partook of the same things." 244 00:52:27,640 --> 00:52:33,640 And notice the emphasis: that he himself. That's a way of saying that Jesus, 245 00:52:33,640 --> 00:52:38,640 seeing our struggle and our hurts and our difficulties, doesn't stand to the side. 246 00:52:38,640 --> 00:52:43,640 He doesn't look at you from a distance, but rather he comes close. 247 00:52:43,640 --> 00:52:47,640 And he doesn't just say, "Man, you're having a tough time." 248 00:52:47,640 --> 00:52:52,640 But it says that he shares in those things. 249 00:52:52,640 --> 00:52:57,640 And it's surprising, because Hebrews so far has painted a picture of Jesus 250 00:52:57,640 --> 00:53:01,640 as the heir of all things, the firstborn of all creation, 251 00:53:01,640 --> 00:53:06,640 the one through whom all things were made, who upholds all things by the word of his power, 252 00:53:06,640 --> 00:53:09,640 that he is the radiance of the glory of God. 253 00:53:09,640 --> 00:53:13,640 And how would you expect someone like that to arrive, right? 254 00:53:13,640 --> 00:53:15,640 There should be some fanfare. There should be some glory. 255 00:53:15,640 --> 00:53:20,640 There should be a disruption throughout all the earth. 256 00:53:20,640 --> 00:53:27,640 But Jesus comes sharing in the flesh and the blood of broken children. 257 00:53:27,640 --> 00:53:32,640 And he comes close. He partakes of the same things. 258 00:53:32,640 --> 00:53:36,640 When my girls were really little, and they would come and try to talk to you, 259 00:53:36,640 --> 00:53:39,640 I didn't ever say to them, "Hey, why don't you get up on my level? 260 00:53:39,640 --> 00:53:42,640 Stand up here and look me in the eyes." What did I do? 261 00:53:42,640 --> 00:53:45,640 When the little kids come, what do you do? You get down next to them. 262 00:53:45,640 --> 00:53:47,640 So you can look them in the eye. 263 00:53:47,640 --> 00:53:50,640 And you can put your arms around them. That's what Jesus does with us. 264 00:53:50,640 --> 00:53:56,640 He doesn't come as God in the flesh and say, "Get on my level." 265 00:53:56,640 --> 00:54:04,640 But rather, He comes down where He can gently look us in the eye and wrap His arms around us. 266 00:54:04,640 --> 00:54:11,640 He steps into human history, not in glory or power, but in humility. 267 00:54:11,640 --> 00:54:14,640 And Jesus can relate to our struggles. 268 00:54:14,640 --> 00:54:18,640 Have you ever looked at someone's life and simply said, "I can't relate to that." 269 00:54:18,640 --> 00:54:23,640 Maybe in terms of being less than they are and say, "I can't relate to that lifestyle." 270 00:54:23,640 --> 00:54:29,640 Or maybe you look down on someone and say, "I can't relate. How can anybody live like that?" 271 00:54:29,640 --> 00:54:34,640 And we've experienced this. There's a difference between knowing something and doing something. 272 00:54:34,640 --> 00:54:38,640 There's times we thought, "Yeah, this might be a little difficult intellectually." 273 00:54:38,640 --> 00:54:42,640 And then we experience it and we realize it's more than a little difficult. 274 00:54:42,640 --> 00:54:50,640 Jesus' knowledge of our struggle is not simply an intellectual knowledge, but it's one that is born of experience. 275 00:54:50,640 --> 00:54:54,640 Maybe you've had someone say to you, "I know exactly how you feel." 276 00:54:54,640 --> 00:54:59,640 And you know, looking them in the eyes at that moment, they have no idea how you feel. 277 00:54:59,640 --> 00:55:03,640 They're just saying that that's not what Jesus does. 278 00:55:03,640 --> 00:55:07,640 Jesus has walked where you have walked. He has experienced what you have experienced. 279 00:55:07,640 --> 00:55:14,640 And what you see throughout the New Testament in the Gospel accounts is that Jesus sometimes had struggles with his family. 280 00:55:14,640 --> 00:55:18,640 At one point, his brothers come to take him home because they think he's crazy. 281 00:55:18,640 --> 00:55:24,640 Jesus has struggles with people. He has friends that abandon him. 282 00:55:24,640 --> 00:55:29,640 There's times where Jesus gets so tired, falls asleep in the boat in the middle of a storm. 283 00:55:29,640 --> 00:55:34,640 Jesus weeps, standing next to the grave of a friend. 284 00:55:34,640 --> 00:55:39,640 The shortest verse in the Bible, but perhaps one of the most powerful pictures of the humanity of Jesus, 285 00:55:39,640 --> 00:55:43,640 is John 11:35 where it simply says, "Jesus wept." 286 00:55:43,640 --> 00:55:51,640 Seeing the grief of his friends, knowing the love that they have experienced, he weeps. 287 00:55:51,640 --> 00:55:56,640 Jesus knows what it's like to face the struggles that you feel, not just intellectually, 288 00:55:56,640 --> 00:56:00,640 but because he's walked where you have walked. 289 00:56:00,640 --> 00:56:04,640 And in this, we see that there is a deep contrast. 290 00:56:04,640 --> 00:56:07,640 You see, every belief system in the world will say this. 291 00:56:07,640 --> 00:56:12,640 They'll focus on bringing you up. Here's how to get to where you want to be. 292 00:56:12,640 --> 00:56:15,640 Here's what you need to improve to make yourself better. 293 00:56:15,640 --> 00:56:22,640 But Christianity, instead of trying to get us to go higher, Jesus comes down to us. 294 00:56:22,640 --> 00:56:26,640 Every other system of belief will say, "Here's the tools to fix yourself. 295 00:56:26,640 --> 00:56:29,640 Here's a compass and a map. Good luck." 296 00:56:29,640 --> 00:56:34,640 Christianity says that finding God is not some sort of a treasure hunt, 297 00:56:34,640 --> 00:56:38,640 because God has come to find us. 298 00:56:38,640 --> 00:56:40,640 Jesus has experienced what you've experienced. 299 00:56:40,640 --> 00:56:44,640 He's walked with you. He has come to find you. 300 00:56:44,640 --> 00:56:48,640 One of my favorite Christmas verses is found in Matthew 1, where it simply says, 301 00:56:48,640 --> 00:56:50,640 "His name will be called Emmanuel." 302 00:56:50,640 --> 00:56:53,640 And Matthew gives us a little parenthetical reference, so we know what that means. 303 00:56:53,640 --> 00:56:56,640 Which means, "God with us." 304 00:56:56,640 --> 00:56:58,640 Jesus comes close. 305 00:56:58,640 --> 00:57:05,640 And then, surprisingly, for the disciples, Jesus dies. 306 00:57:05,640 --> 00:57:08,640 "That through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death." 307 00:57:08,640 --> 00:57:10,640 "That is the devil." 308 00:57:10,640 --> 00:57:13,640 Now, I want you to think about that for a minute. 309 00:57:13,640 --> 00:57:19,640 What the writer of Hebrews says is remarkable, and in any other context might be humorous. 310 00:57:19,640 --> 00:57:23,640 "That He, through death, might destroy the one who has the power of death." 311 00:57:23,640 --> 00:57:24,640 "That is the devil." 312 00:57:24,640 --> 00:57:29,640 That's like saying to a drowning person, "You know what you need is some more water." 313 00:57:29,640 --> 00:57:32,640 You see a guy drowning in a lake, you toss him a bottle of water. 314 00:57:32,640 --> 00:57:34,640 You say, "How does that help?" 315 00:57:34,640 --> 00:57:39,640 The writer of Hebrews has just said that through death, Jesus destroys death. 316 00:57:39,640 --> 00:57:43,640 And we look at that and we say, "How can that be possible?" 317 00:57:43,640 --> 00:57:46,640 To understand how Jesus, through death, destroys death. 318 00:57:46,640 --> 00:57:50,640 We have to understand that this is not a recent problem. 319 00:57:50,640 --> 00:57:57,640 In fact, it begins almost immediately in your Bible in Genesis chapter 3, and at the root of death is sin. 320 00:57:57,640 --> 00:58:03,640 Where Adam and Eve choose themselves and their way over God's way. 321 00:58:03,640 --> 00:58:07,640 Two paths diverge, where God has called them to walk, and they go this way. 322 00:58:07,640 --> 00:58:15,640 And every person, and in every generation since, has made the same choice as our first parents. 323 00:58:15,640 --> 00:58:20,640 God has said, "Walk this way," and we've said, "Okay," and we go the other way. 324 00:58:20,640 --> 00:58:25,640 Paul says in Romans, "The wages of sin is death." 325 00:58:25,640 --> 00:58:28,640 For this, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. 326 00:58:28,640 --> 00:58:33,640 Or in Corinthians, that the sting of death is sin. 327 00:58:33,640 --> 00:58:35,640 Sin comes because of death. 328 00:58:35,640 --> 00:58:40,640 So what happens if somebody who dies has no sin? 329 00:58:40,640 --> 00:58:42,640 Right? The grave cannot hold them. 330 00:58:42,640 --> 00:58:48,640 Several years ago, we had a friend who had gotten a parking ticket several hours away. 331 00:58:48,640 --> 00:58:52,640 And she said, "I wasn't there. I looked at my time card. I was at work in Winchester." 332 00:58:52,640 --> 00:58:56,640 And I said, "I really like to write angry letters, and I don't get the opportunity very often." 333 00:58:56,640 --> 00:59:01,640 And I said, "Give me this stuff, and I'll write an angry letter and fax it to them." 334 00:59:01,640 --> 00:59:07,640 And so I faxed all the evidence with my angry letter about wasting government resources on something as small as this. 335 00:59:07,640 --> 00:59:13,640 And what turns out is their automatic license plate reader had read the license plate completely wrong. 336 00:59:13,640 --> 00:59:16,640 It wasn't even the same type of car. 337 00:59:16,640 --> 00:59:20,640 And because of that, it was like 20 minutes, and she gets a call back saying, 338 00:59:20,640 --> 00:59:25,640 "Hey, we're really, really sorry about this, but you don't deserve this ticket." 339 00:59:25,640 --> 00:59:36,640 So what happens if somebody who has never sinned, and at every opportunity has done what is right, dies? 340 00:59:36,640 --> 00:59:40,640 The grave simply can't hold them. 341 00:59:40,640 --> 00:59:43,640 That's how Jesus triumphs over death. 342 00:59:43,640 --> 00:59:48,640 Why are you here? Where are your sins? There aren't any? You don't belong. 343 00:59:48,640 --> 00:59:51,640 You can't stay. You're not qualified. 344 00:59:51,640 --> 00:59:54,640 And what Jesus does is He destroys death. 345 00:59:54,640 --> 00:59:57,640 We might say, "Well, that's good for Him." 346 00:59:57,640 --> 01:00:00,640 But what about us? 347 01:00:00,640 --> 01:00:04,640 Here's what the writer of Hebrews says next. 348 01:00:04,640 --> 01:00:06,640 That Jesus delivers. 349 01:00:06,640 --> 01:00:11,640 He delivers all those who, through the fear of death, were subject to lifelong slavery. 350 01:00:11,640 --> 01:00:23,640 Everything we do, ultimately, if we could truly see our real motives, is to either focus on distracting us, or to fight death, to make life now. 351 01:00:23,640 --> 01:00:28,640 We're doing everything but dealing with the enemy in front of us, and Jesus delivers us. 352 01:00:28,640 --> 01:00:33,640 And it's not just a picture of rescue, but it's a picture of absolution. 353 01:00:33,640 --> 01:00:46,640 The Greek word literally here means that somebody has a bill, or something due from someone else, and that debt is paid, and they are released. 354 01:00:46,640 --> 01:00:50,640 You see, Jesus doesn't just personally triumph over death and sin. 355 01:00:50,640 --> 01:01:00,640 What He does is He takes our place. 2 Corinthians 5 says, "For our sake He made Him to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." 356 01:01:00,640 --> 01:01:05,640 At the cross, Jesus says, "I will pay the price for their sin." 357 01:01:05,640 --> 01:01:14,640 In Isaiah 53, you find, in just a few short verses, ten ways in which Jesus does that. I'll just share with them with you shortly. 358 01:01:14,640 --> 01:01:21,640 In verses four through six, you find this, that He has borne our griefs. He has carried our sorrows. 359 01:01:21,640 --> 01:01:26,640 He was pierced for our transgression. He was crushed for our iniquities. 360 01:01:26,640 --> 01:01:32,640 Upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace. With His wounds we are healed. 361 01:01:32,640 --> 01:01:41,640 And in verse six, the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. And in verse eight, He was stricken for the transgression of the people. 362 01:01:41,640 --> 01:01:51,640 And in verse 11, "To make many accounted righteous, He shall bear their iniquities." And in verse 12, "Yet He bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors." 363 01:01:51,640 --> 01:02:04,640 Jesus comes near. He dies, and He does so in order to satisfy the cost of our sin. To save us. 364 01:02:04,640 --> 01:02:18,640 Jesus takes your fear, your sin, your brokenness, your shame to the cross. And we no longer have to hide in guilt and live in fear because Jesus has saved us. 365 01:02:18,640 --> 01:02:33,640 One of the ways in which we preach the Gospel to ourselves is through the Lord's Supper. This bread that we eat, this cup, we see the truth that Jesus came to save us. 366 01:02:33,640 --> 01:02:42,640 He came close. He died for us, died in our place, and He turns the world upside down. 367 01:02:42,640 --> 01:02:50,640 Let me share with you just briefly before we partake of how Jesus does that. In the beginning, there was a garden. 368 01:02:50,640 --> 01:03:02,640 And in that garden, there were two people, Adam and Eve. And in that garden, they were disobedient. And then, Jesus finds 369 01:03:02,640 --> 01:03:17,640 himself in another garden. And in that garden, He prays that, Father, with tears, He prays that, Father, if it is Your will, take away this cup that is from Him. 370 01:03:17,640 --> 01:03:26,640 And that cup that He is praying to be taken away is the judgment of sin on all mankind. And Jesus is obedient in that garden. 371 01:03:26,640 --> 01:03:31,640 Do you see what happens? Adam and Eve are disobedient in one garden. 372 01:03:31,640 --> 01:03:40,640 Jesus is obedient in another. Adam and Eve, in their garden, hide naked behind the trees because of their shame. 373 01:03:40,640 --> 01:03:50,640 Jesus is hung on a tree. And despite how you've seen this depicted, Jesus is hung naked on that tree. 374 01:03:50,640 --> 01:04:00,640 And in doing so, He conquers shame. Adam and Eve begin in paradise, and they are forced outside the gates due to the consequence of their sin. 375 01:04:00,640 --> 01:04:07,640 But Jesus dug gates and is welcomed into paradise, and through His victory, we are welcomed in as well. 376 01:04:07,640 --> 01:04:20,640 Adam and Eve usher in a curse of thorns. Jesus wears a crown of thorns as He ushers in forgiveness of sin. 377 01:04:20,640 --> 01:04:29,640 Do you see what the Gospel does? It turns around the brokenness that you and I face. It shines the light of hope 378 01:04:29,640 --> 01:04:39,640 into the darkness of this world. And so what I would like to do with you this evening, in the dark, 379 01:04:39,640 --> 01:04:46,640 and in sort of the quietness of this moment, I'm going to pray, and then I would like us to partake 380 01:04:46,640 --> 01:04:58,640 this bread and this cup together. Father in Heaven, we thank You for grace. We thank You for hope. We thank You for the good 381 01:04:58,640 --> 01:05:05,640 news of the Gospel. We thank You that You have sent Your Son to take our place, that He was obedient 382 01:05:05,640 --> 01:05:13,640 where we have been disobedient, that He experienced the shame that we deserved so that we could be 383 01:05:13,640 --> 01:05:19,640 brought in without fear. We thank You for what He has done. Help us this evening as we break this 384 01:05:19,640 --> 01:05:27,640 bread and drink this cup. May we be people who see the cost of our salvation. May this shine light 385 01:05:27,640 --> 01:05:33,640 into the darkness of our fear knowing that Jesus has conquered sin and guilt, and we'll 386 01:05:33,640 --> 01:05:39,640 see how He conquers death in just a few days. I thank You for Jesus and grace. I ask You 387 01:05:39,640 --> 01:05:44,640 to bless this bread and this cup. May we proclaim this good news until Your Son comes again. In 388 01:05:44,640 --> 01:05:53,640 Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We take the bread as Jesus did with His disciples. As He remembers 389 01:05:53,640 --> 01:06:05,640 and celebrates redemption and hope with them, let us do the same. And let us take the cup, which 390 01:06:05,640 --> 01:06:11,640 even more clearly displays redemption, in the third cup of Passover, where you remember the 391 01:06:11,640 --> 01:06:17,640 promise that I am the Lord your God and I will redeem you with my outstretched arms. That 392 01:06:17,640 --> 01:06:22,640 Jesus, in just a few hours from instituting this meal, would redeem not just Israel, but 393 01:06:22,640 --> 01:06:39,640 all who would follow Him with His arms outstretched upon the cross. Let's partake. I want us to sing 394 01:06:39,640 --> 01:06:47,640 together about our Savior this evening. You can be standing or you can sit in kind of quiet 395 01:06:47,640 --> 01:06:54,640 if you want, but it's up to you. 396 01:06:54,640 --> 01:07:13,640 Man of sorrows, what a name! For the Son of God to King! Ruined sinners to reclaim! Hallelujah! 397 01:07:13,640 --> 01:07:39,640 What a Savior! Bearing shame and scoffing rude, in my place condemned He stood. Sealed my pardon with His blood. Hallelujah! 398 01:07:39,640 --> 01:08:05,640 What a Savior! Guilty, violent, helpless we. Spotless Lamb of God was He. Full atonement, can it be? Hallelujah! 399 01:08:05,640 --> 01:08:10,640 What a Savior! 400 01:08:10,640 --> 01:08:31,640 Lifted up was He to die. It is finished was His cry. Now in heaven, exalted high. Hallelujah! 401 01:08:31,640 --> 01:08:36,640 What a Savior! 402 01:08:36,640 --> 01:08:57,640 When He comes, our glorious King, all His ransomed home to bring, then anew this song we'll sing. 403 01:08:57,640 --> 01:09:09,640 Hallelujah! Once a Savior! Hallelujah! Once a Savior! 404 01:09:09,640 --> 01:09:23,640 A word of prayer, and then we will be dismissed. Father in heaven, thank you for the hope that we have in Jesus in the darkness of Friday. 405 01:09:23,640 --> 01:09:36,640 Help us to remember that this is not the end, that there is Sunday with hope and joy at the realization that death is not victorious. 406 01:09:36,640 --> 01:09:44,640 So help us to live in this hope. Help us to share this hope and to rejoice in this hope. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 407 01:09:53,640 --> 01:09:58,640 Amen. 408 01:09:58,640 --> 01:10:03,640 Amen. 409 01:10:03,640 --> 01:10:08,640 Amen.