I Have Decided To Remember The Cross | Pastor Rebecca Peterson

And so before we jump in, I wanna take a minute and welcome our online family. Hey, online family, we love you. We're so grateful that you're on with us and that you worship every single week with us. I wanna challenge you, next weekend is Easter weekend. If you are in Jacksonville and you've just really kinda gotten used to watching online, let me challenge you, get in the house next week. Easter Sunday is not the weekend to worship at home. Come on, let's get in the house together. We've got a seat for you. No guilt, no shame. Maybe we haven't seen you in months, we don't care. We just want you here next weekend. So come and join us. If you're watching from outside of Jacksonville, find a local church wherever you live and worship with them on Easter Sunday. Bring what God's done in your heart to the church on Sunday morning. And then let's put our hands together for the men and women who are joining us in correction facilities all across the states. I wanna challenge you as well because you're gonna wake up next weekend on Easter weekend and it's not gonna be the situation that you probably want to be in next weekend. But wake up, give God your best, worship him from wherever you are.

Lean in, get online, get on that app next week, worship Jesus and have Easter weekend right where you are and let God work in your heart even though your situation, your circumstances aren't what you want them to be right now. Let's lean into the season and let God work in your heart. But we love you, you are our church family as well. And so today is what we typically would call Palm Sunday and this marks the beginning of Holy Week as Jesus enters into Jerusalem and he makes his journey to the cross. And so today we have decided that we are going to remember the cross. I can't think of anything else that we should be focusing our hearts and our minds on as we prepare for Easter weekend before we get to this beautiful celebratory moment where we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. I think it's good for us to take some time where we remember the impact of the cross on our lives, where we remember who Jesus was and what he did for us. And so Palm Sunday is this beautiful celebration where Jesus is traveling into Jerusalem with his disciples. And so I kind of like to imagine that the disciples woke up on that day and they'd had some amazing moments with Jesus. They had seen some beautiful miracles and they were like, okay, Jesus, what are we going to be doing today? Like what miracle are you gonna do?

What message are you gonna preach? And Jesus is like, well, I need you to get a donkey. And they were probably like, that's not how I thought this day was going to start. But Jesus sends his disciples to the town to go and get this donkey and we're gonna pick up our scripture in Matthew. The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed and they brought the donkey and the colt and they placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. And a very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that were ahead of him and those that followed shouted, Hosanna to the son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest heavens. And when Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, who is this? And the crowds answered, this is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth and Galilee. This is Jesus. This is the one that you have been waiting for. And so Jesus hops on this donkey and that donkey had no idea that that day was gonna be like his shining moment. That that day he was like, this is it, this is the moment I've been waiting for my whole life. I am gonna be carrying in the king of kings

and the Lord of lords. And so he travels in and they're waving these palm branches, they're shouting Hosanna. He is fulfilling the prophecy that had been spoken years ago that Jesus would enter into Jerusalem riding on a donkey. This beautiful moment that they had heard about for years and years finally is being fulfilled. And these palm branches are significant because in these times of Jesus, they would lay these palm branches out when soldiers would be returning from war and it was a celebratory moment in victory. And so they're waving these palm branches kind of before the victory had actually happened and it's this beautiful prophetic moment of knowing Jesus, you're coming. And they thought that Jesus was coming really to disrupt things politically and that he was gonna be doing a new thing and establishing this new earthly kingdom and Jesus is like, you have no idea. I'm coming to do so much more. I'm about to disrupt everything and I'm not coming to fix this earthly kingdom. I'm coming to establish a new heavenly kingdom and I'm coming to set things right. And so Jesus is riding in in this beautiful moment. He was not there to help them temporary. Like he was there to do.

something eternal. And so what I want us to do today is as we kind of journey together from Jesus's arrival into Jerusalem, his time with the disciples, and then we're gonna really just take some time to remember the cross of Jesus. And we're gonna actually wrap up our time together in communion this morning. So Jesus gathers with his disciples in what they called the upper room. And this was an upstairs room where he would gather with them. And so they prepared their Passover meal together, and they're having a meal like they had done so often, but this meal probably felt a little bit differently, a little bit more somber. They knew that their time with Jesus on this earth was coming to an end, and I don't think they ever could have imagined what the next days truly were going to hold. But I do think that this moment probably felt different than it had felt in the past. There was this awareness and this heaviness in the room that Jesus's life was going to soon be over, that he'd be arrested, that he would be tried unfairly, and that he would be sentenced to the cross. And so we're gonna jump into two thoughts this morning that we are going to remember about the cross. And the first is that we remember the cross is for everyone,

that the cross is for everyone, that Jesus was not selective on who he was gonna die for. He was not selective on who he was gonna pour his love out to, that the cross of Jesus, the message of the gospel, is for everyone. And so back to the upper room, he's gathered at the table with his disciples, and there's a lot of significance to what this final meal was, but we're not gonna be able to jump into all of the details today. But what I want us to look at is that everyone was welcome at the table with Jesus. And so he's gathered here with the disciples, and he has Simon Peter and Andrew and James, and these guys were fishermen. This was not an elite table. This wasn't a table where Jesus scanned the crowd and said, I only want the best of the best to come and sit at my table. He had fishermen at the table. Peter, who would eventually deny that he even knew Jesus, not once, but three times. He had Thomas, who would doubt the resurrection at first. He had Matthew, who was a tax collector, probably hated by so many people in that time. He had Judas, who would actually betray Jesus and hand him over to be crucified. Yet all of these people were sitting at the table with Jesus having a meal,

because the message and the cross of Jesus Christ is for everyone. All of these men would eventually run and desert Jesus on the cross out of devastation and out of fear at the end. They wouldn't even be there for him when it mattered most. But Jesus marks this moment in history to show us that there is a seat at the table for everyone, that he is not selective with his love, that his message of the cross is not just for those who think they have it together. It's not for those who just sin a little bit. The message of the cross is for us all. And he doesn't stop there. I feel like before he entered into this next moment we're gonna read about, I would have excused a couple people from the table. Like, you can go, you can go, and you can go. The rest of you, I guess you're okay to stay. John 13, he says the evening meal was in process and the devil had already prompted Judas to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the father had put all things under his power and that he had come from God and that he was returning to God. And so he got up from the meal and he took off his outer clothing. He wrapped a towel around his waist and after that he poured water into a basin and he began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

So Jesus in this moment, like I said, I would have been like, you need to go and you need to go. Like, you're not invited to this part of the party. You were good for dinner. You don't get to stay for the after party moment. But Jesus doesn't excuse anyone from the table. He doesn't skip over Judas. He doesn't look at Peter and says, I know what you're about to do so you don't get to take part in this moment. And what we have to know about washing feet, this was super customary in times like this because they didn't have Nikes, they didn't have socks, there were no tennis shoes. They were walking with sandals, sometimes barefoot on really dirty, really dusty roads. And so their feet probably looked a little bit something like this. Like, ugh, that's gross, right? That kind of like stomach turning, I don't wanna look at your, like I don't wanna look at your clean, cute feet, much less look at your nasty, dirty toes. And so their feet probably were looking a little bit something like this and so if I don't wanna wash your clean feet, why would I wanna wash your nasty feet of the one of you that's about to betray me and hand me over to the enemy? You can take feet down.

You're welcome. And so this was normal during these times, but this was not normal for a teacher or a master to be washing someone's feet. This was normal for a servant to be washing someone's feet. And Jesus says, I'm modeling something for you, and there's a lot of significance surrounding what Jesus did in this moment, but the main thing that I want us to focus on is that he didn't skip over Peter, he didn't skip over Judas, he didn't say, Thomas, you're going to doubt me later, so you don't get to take part. He washed every single one of their feet, and he is marking for us this heart of humility and this heart of love and this heart of grace that he is pouring out to his disciples in this moment. And he goes from person to person, washing the dirt, dust, and the sweat off of their feet. He didn't tell anyone that they weren't worthy to be a part of that moment, even though they weren't. And he models for us what it looks like to love our enemies, to love those who are going to walk out on us, to love those who are going to betray us. Let's pick back up John 13, he continues and it says, when he finished washing their feet, he put on his outer clothes and he returned to his place and said, do you understand what I have done for you, he asked them. You call me teacher and Lord, and rightly so, for that is what I am, but now that I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.

And again, there's so much that we could unpack here in this moment, but what I want us to focus our minds on is to think about the people in our life who have hurt us, who have betrayed us, who have walked out on us. The parents who haven't been there for us, the friends that said they'd stick with us and ran. All of the people that have done things to us, and in this moment, Jesus is showing us this is what true love looks like, to look in the eyes of the one who is going to walk out on you and say, I am choosing to serve you. Why? Because the cross is for everyone. The message of the gospel is for all people. Listen, if you knew, if I knew you were going to betray me, like, I'm sorry, but I'm done with you. Like, you're not welcome to my house for dinner, and I'm sure I'm not going to be washing your feet. And so, what I want us to think about in this moment is it doesn't take very long for you to think about the people in your life that have hurt you. And I know what I want to do in these moments. I want to trip you in the parking lot. I want to make you hurt just a little bit, not a lot, but just a little bit. Like, I want to maybe say some unkind things back to you. I want to put up a little bit of fight against you if you've been hurtful towards me. His grace and his love is for all. Maybe you're on the other side of this, though, and you say, well, I actually think that I don't deserve a seat at the

table. I'm the one that's been rejecting God. I'm the one that's been walking away from him. I'm the one that's just been stuck in the same sin again and again and again. I'm the one watching online because I just can't bear to face people and be in the house of God. And you think that there is not a place for you at the table with Jesus. You think that there's no room for you. But let me tell you today that the message of the cross is for you, that God says, draw near to me, and I will draw near to you. There is no mistake that you could make that would push you too far away for the love of Jesus to not draw you back in. And so I pray this morning that the grace and the love and the mercy of God would correct you of your sin, what would draw you into a greater life. He loves you, and his grace is available for you today. Second thought I want us to lean into this morning is that the cross is powerful. The cross of Jesus is powerful. It's powerful because of his body and because of his blood that was shed for us. His body is the sacrifice of his life, his life that he willingly gave over to us, his body that he allowed to be hung on the cross for us, and that his blood is what we get to receive because of the sacrifice. Because he gave his body, his blood was shed for us, and it's this beautiful free gift that we get to receive from him.

First John 3 says, this is how we know what love is. We think we know what love is, but this is the love that Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. There is no greater love that we could receive in our life than the love of Jesus Christ. He offered himself to us. He made himself human to suffer on the cross for us, to receive the wrath of God, to receive the sin. He offered his whole life. body over to us. When Jesus gathered with the disciples in that upper room, he tells them that his body is going to be broken for them. And I think we say this phrase a lot in church, his body was broken so that we could be made whole. And I'm gonna be honest, it's a phrase I feel like I heard my whole life and I was like, I don't really get that, like I don't fully understand what does that mean? And so that means that an exchange happened, that Jesus took on what was broken in us and he gave us his life so that we could be made whole, so that we were no longer broken and dead in our sin, he gave us willingly his life for us so we are made whole. He also shed his blood for us. We had this issue called sin in our life and sin is what separated us from God. God is holy, we were not. God is holy, sin is not. And therefore sin was the barrier in between us and God and we needed a sacrifice that would come in

and lay down their life for us and Jesus was the only one who could do it. And so up until this point, animals were needed for sacrifice. They would come if you wanted to enter into the presence of God, if you wanted to go to church, if you wanted to pray, whatever, you had to sacrifice an animal for your sin. Aren't you grateful we don't have to do that in church anymore? I would love to be walking into church and say, I wonder who had a hard week, who struggled with sin this week? Oh, it was him, he's bringing his lamb into church this morning. Like we would know who was struggling with sin because it'd be the ones who were bringing in their animal to be sacrificed. Aren't you grateful that Jesus came and he was the one sacrifice because up until then, it was temporary, right? We were getting temporary forgiveness for our sin. Jesus comes on the scene and says, I'm gonna shed my blood once and for all. No longer do you need to shed blood, no longer do you need to bring animals, you get to now enter into the presence of God. You get to now have a relationship with God because of his blood being poured out for us. So I want us to look at four things

that the blood does for us. And the first is that his blood cleanses us. His blood cleanses us. It is our forgiveness of our sins. It cleanses us from all unrighteousness, it washes us clean. Hebrews 9.22 says, for without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. Without the shedding of blood, and like I said, Jesus' blood was the only blood that could be shed for us to receive permanent forgiveness of our sins. And so he comes in and says, I am cleansing you, I am forgiving you of all sin, I am wiping it clean. And then not only that, his blood actually justifies us, which means his blood declares us righteous. So he cleanses us and then he says, I'm giving you a new nature. Now I'm declaring you righteous. Now I'm declaring you holy. Romans 5 says, since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him? His blood justifies us. It declares us righteous. What a beautiful new nature that he gives us, that we don't have to walk around with our heads down in shame any longer, that he washes us clean and then he gives us this new nature. His blood also reconciles us. It restores us to a relationship with God.

We were separated from him, sin was in the way, he cleanses us from the sin, he gives us a new nature, and now he gives us access to a holy God. Now he allows us to have a relationship with him. There's no barrier now in between us and God, but there is this beautiful relationship through the power of the blood of Jesus. Romans 5 11 says, we now shout for joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we now have received reconciliation. We now have joy because we have access to a holy God. We are no longer orphans, we are now sons and daughters. We have been brought into the family of God. He now calls you son, he now calls you daughter. You're no longer trying to figure things out on your own. You now have access to God and access to everything that God is. You have been brought into the family of God, but his blood is so powerful that it does all of these beautiful things. It cleanses us, it justifies us, it declares us righteous, it brings us into the family of God, but it doesn't stop there. His blood also sanctifies us, which means it makes us more like Jesus. First Thessalonians says, may God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. And so this process of sanctification, it's a big word. Here's what it means. It is this process of continuing

to become more like Jesus every single day. So this initial moment happens when we say yes to God and he does all of these beautiful things and he takes out our sin and he washes us clean and he justifies us and declares us righteous and holy. We're now sons and daughters of God. We have this beautiful opportunity that every single day in our life, we get to grow more and more in love with God and we get to become more and more like Jesus. I don't wanna be the same one day that I am the next. I don't wanna be the same person that I was when I originally said yes to Jesus. I wanna be growing every single day, every single year. I wanna be learning and becoming more like Jesus. You are holy and you are righteous, but we are gonna have moments in our life where we make mistakes, where we take a step backwards and this process of sanctification that we get to step into is saying, but Jesus, I'm not content with where I am. Like, I wanna know you more. I wanna know you more and I wanna become more like you. And so let's look at all of these one more time because I know that was a lot of information at one time. His blood cleanses us, it forgives us of our sin. Thank you, Jesus, that we aren't who we were any longer. It justifies us, we are now righteous and holy. It reconciles us. Thank you, God, that we are your sons

and your daughters now. And then it sanctifies us. Thank you, Jesus, that I get to become more like you, that I get to continue on this process every single day in my life. And I wanna stop here for a minute because one, that was a lot of information. So take a picture, remember this. But I want us to take a minute and just focus our hearts on what Jesus has done for us. Because the power of the cross and the power of the blood of Jesus is only gonna be as powerful as you allow it to be in your life. You commit to this process of becoming more like Jesus. I'm gonna invite Pastor Jonathan to come up. So Jesus was fully God, yet he allowed himself to become fully man, to come to this earth. He was beaten, he was bleeding, he hung on the cross in agony for us. The only one who knew no sin, the punishment that we deserved was all placed upon him on the cross. And he died for us. He wasn't just asleep, he died. There was no breath in his lungs, there was no life in his body. He died for us. It was necessary in order for us

to receive the blood of Jesus. It's how it had to be. And this is what he chose to do because of his love for us. And yet sometimes I think we live our life like what Jesus did on the cross for us is not that big of a deal. I can be so guilty of going days and weeks by where I'm like, oh Jesus, have I thanked you for my salvation? Have I even thought for a minute about who I was before you and who I get to be now because of your blood and your body that was broken for me. I came across this quote that says, the moment the cross bores me is the moment my faith becomes all about me. The moment I live my life like that what Jesus did on the cross isn't really that big of a deal. That the magnitude of his death, the magnitude of his suffering, the magnitude of the power of the blood of Jesus Christ. Listen, the blood of Jesus is not gross, it is not icky, and it is not weird. It is powerful. And this is what he has done for us. And the moment that I just start thinking this isn't really that big of a deal

and it doesn't really blow me away anymore is the moment that I think I've become a little bit selfish in my walk with Jesus because it should be something that brings me to my knees. It should be something that I weep over when I think of my sin and yet I think of his perfect body that was broken for me. When I think of my selfishness and how many years I ran from the Lord, the cross should not bore me. It should devastate me in the best way possible. That Jesus, you died for me and it should fill my heart with gratitude that I'm no longer this lost and broken girl trying to figure things out in her life but that the blood of Jesus has rescued me and it has set me free. The cross should compel us to walk in gratitude. Listen, God is gracious, he is kind, he is loving, he is wonderful but he is the king of kings and he is the Lord of lords and he demands for us to walk in a way that is grateful for the cross, that wants our life to continue to change and that is never satisfied with where we are spiritually but is giving our lives over to him and dying to ourselves every single day

and saying, God, if it's not good and it's not of you, get it out of my life, I don't want it any longer. Sanctify me, purify me. He is looking for a spotless bride and he is looking for a church who will be willing. willing to step up and say the cross matters so much to me. And it matters so much that I will give my life to whatever Jesus asks of me. And if it's not good and holy and righteous and pure, I don't want it. And so we're gonna end our time together taking communion. And this is an opportunity for us to remember what Jesus did on the cross for us. Luke 22, Jesus is again in the upper room with his disciples in this final meal that they're having together in the upper room. And he took the bread and he gave thanks and he broke it and he gave it to them saying, this is my body given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way, he took the cup saying, this is the cup. This cup is the new covenant in my blood which is poured out for you. And he tells the disciples, take this bread and take this wine and remember what I am going to do for you. It's almost like he knew we were gonna forget that we weren't gonna walk in gratitude every single day.