Trial and Crucifixion - Death to Life - Matthew S7E3

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)

- What's going on Church of 1122? - What's up guys, good to see you all. - And we are so glad that you are joining us. Here at the Church of 1122, we are a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. And we wanna know where you are joining us from. Whether it's a different city, a different state, or even a different country, we wanna hear from you. So drop it in the chat and tell us where you're joining us from. - That's right, and you know what, I'm so incredibly excited. I can barely contain it because it's been a long time coming. But this weekend, we are finally launching the College Park Orlando campus. It's so exciting. I'm so excited for our brothers and sisters down there in Orlando, and we're incredibly excited to see what God is gonna do down there. And you know what, what's really cool is that it's not just another location on the map. It's another opportunity for one more person to discover Jesus. - That's right. - It's one more family to get plugged in and find community. It's one more neighborhood to be impacted by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And so we're so incredibly pumped and excited to see what God's gonna do down there. It's incredible. - That's right, and I am personally super excited

because my own sister lives in Orlando. And it's a ton of friends and family there. And so it is gonna be so amazing to see the Lord work through the Orlando campus. And something else that is super exciting happening in the life of our church is a neighborhood night. So we are gathering together across all of our campuses to hear where we are headed for the next two years. And so church online, I need you to take out your calendar and mark down October 13. - Let's do it. - Because we are gathering online and at our outposts for neighborhood nights. And Pastor Joby is gonna be casting vision of where we are headed as a church. - That's right. And you know what, I don't know if you caught it, but I don't want you to miss it. What Emma said, this is just as much for you and me as it is for anybody else because you're a part of the church family. We want you to be a part of this because here's the deal. God is doing something in your life and God has put people in your life, right? Maybe it's the neighbor that you've always waved at, but you never quite talked to. Or maybe it's that family that's at your kid's school that's going through something really heavy. Maybe it's that one more in your life that you've been praying for for a long time. This is neighbors to nations.

That's your people. That's your neighborhood. This is the mission that God's called you to be on. - That's right. The neighborhood to 44, 1122 and let us know how you're gonna get plugged in for neighborhood nights. We want you to be there. And if it's online, you'll even get your own special link to tune in there. It'll be incredible. - That's right. And so again, October 13th is the date that you want to tune in and we want you to text the word neighborhood to 44, 1122 because we believe that God is gonna be moving in incredible ways and we want you to be there for it. And with that, we're about to continue in worship. And so we need you to grab a Bible, grab a pen, and something to write on, and we will continue to worship together. - Let's worship. - Let's go church of 1122 family. Let's stand and sing to Jesus together. We're here to worship Him. His name is Yeshua. It literally means Yahweh, saves, or the God who saves. So as we sing today, let's remember that Jesus is who He says that He is. He has come to us. He is the God who saves. Come on, let's sing to Him now.

♪ Who's all the soul of man ♪ ♪ Stories of a savior ♪ ♪ Holiness with human hands ♪ ♪ The treasure for the traitor ♪ ♪ And we're His hurdle I have seen ♪ ♪ In each other's father ♪ ♪ And to heaven printed with me ♪ ♪ And rescue what I want ♪ ♪ You are worthy ♪ ♪ You are worthy of your name ♪ ♪ You are worthy of your name ♪ ♪ You are worthy of your name ♪ ♪ Jesus, let's go ♪ ♪ You take us here to make no sound ♪ ♪ You tied the orcens up ♪ You define love in the church And all of the day you arrive The darkness ran for cover For the king is as plain as the road Down to the heavens I'm waiting for you I'm waiting for you I'm waiting for you I'm waiting for you Jesus You may offer my make, my ransom My Savior, my refuge, my heart in place You may help, my healer, my blessing Redeem, my answer, my saving grace And all my hope in the shadow

My strength in the blood of my faith For all my faith And you stand on my side You stand on my place Jesus, no other name Jesus, no other name I'm waiting for you I'm waiting for you I'm waiting for you I'm waiting for you I'm waiting for you I'm waiting for you Yes, I'm waiting for you I'm waiting for you Jesus, I'm waiting for you Oh, the perfect Son of God And all is innocent You're walking in the dirt with you and me He knows what a living is He's acquainted with a green The man of sorrows, son of suffering Sing, over blood and tears How can it be There's a God who wins There's a God who wins Oh, praise the one Who will reach for me Hallelujah To this God who's suffering You still imagine

You are distant and removed But your chase is down And there's a full pursuit To the city that you embrace To the broken you embrace And in the end the proof is in your wounds I will do you Yes, in the end the proof is in your words Oh, blood and tears How can it be There's a God who wins There's a God who wins Oh, praise the one ♪ Hallelujah to the Son of suffering ♪ ♪ Oh, Hallelujah ♪ ♪ You'll cross my free ♪ ♪ Your stripes my healing ♪ ♪ All praise King Jesus ♪ ♪ Glory to God in heaven ♪ ♪ Your blood is still speaking ♪ ♪ And your love is still reaching ♪ ♪ All praise King Jesus ♪ ♪ Glory to God sing it again ♪ ♪ You'll cross my free ♪ ♪ Your stripes my healing ♪ ♪ All praise King Jesus ♪ ♪ Glory to God in heaven ♪ ♪ Your blood is still speaking ♪ ♪ Your love is still reaching ♪ ♪ All praise King Jesus ♪

Glory to God forever, glory to God forever. Glory to God forever, glory to God forever. Glory to God forever. Amen. My cross is my dream. Your side, my healing, for pain. The King Jesus, who is a God in heaven. My love is still speaking. Your love is still reaching for pain. The King Jesus, who is a God forever. Your cross is my freedom. Your side, my healing, for pain. The King Jesus, who is a God in heaven. Your blood is still speaking. Your love is still reaching for pain. The King Jesus, who is a God forever. Glory to God forever, glory to God forever. Glory to God forever. Oh blood and tears, how can it be? There's a God who weeks, there's a God who believes. Oh praise the One who will reach for me. Hallelujah to the Son of Suffering. Hey Church, you can have a seat. Welcome to the Church of 1122. We have been in the Gospel of Matthew throughout the entire year. Just go in verse by verse through the eyewitness of counts of Jesus' life and ministry. And today we near the end of his life. So today we're going to be looking at the trial and the crucifixion of Jesus. And we want to just come to this moment with a lot of just kind of fear and trembling. We want to really focus in on the cross.

And so we're going to do something a little bit different. It's going to be heavy. We're going to speak some Scripture over you. We're going to sing a song about the suffering of Jesus over you. And what we want to do is just prepare our hearts to hear about the crucifixion in a fresh way. So as we do that, let's pray together. And I want to ask you as I pray that you would pray as well, that you would talk to God and ask Him to reveal Himself to you. Let's pray, Heavenly Father. (gentle music) Even if we've heard it thousands of times, Lord, I pray that we would hear it anew. It would be fresh upon our hearts, that we would understand what it means for us today, that we need the cross every single day for the person in this room that's new to church, that's new to this whole Jesus thing. Lord, I pray that today they would be able to see and hear the truth that God loves them, the truth that He sent His Son to die for them in particular, and that they would be changed forever by that. Lord, speak to us, we're listening in your name. Amen. Then they let Jesus from the house of K Arfress to the governor's headquarters, it was early morning. They themselves did not enter the governor's headquarters, so they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover. So Pilate went outside to them and sent you. What accusation do you bring against this man? They answered him. If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you. Pilate said to them, "Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law." The Jews said to him, "It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death." This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken by what kind of death he was going to die. So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to them, "Are you king of the Jews?" Jesus answered, "Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?" Pilate answered, "Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?" Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews, but my kingdom is not from the world." Then Pilate said to him, "Sir,

you are a king." Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born, and for this purpose I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice." Pilate said to him, "What is truth?" Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd, any one prisoner whom they wanted, and they had then a notorious prisoner called Parabbas. So when they had gathered Pilate said to them, "Who do you want me to release for you? Parabbas or Jesus who is called Christ?" For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up beside while he was sitting on the judgment seat. His wife sent words to him, "Have nothing to do with that," and his men, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream. Now the chief priests and the elders cut suede in the crowd to ask for Parabbas and destroy Jesus. The governor again said to them, "Which of the two do you want me to release for you?" They said, "Pilate said to them, "Then what shall I do when Jesus who is called Christ?" They all said, "They who are," and he said, "Why what ill has he done?" But they shouted all the more. So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing but brother that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd sang. [Music playing] And all the people answered! [Music playing] Then he released for them Barabbas and having scorched Jesus delivered him to be crucified. [Music playing] And the soldiers led him away inside the palace, that is the governor's headquarters. And they called together the whole battalion and they closed him in a purple cloak and twisting together a crown of thorns they put it on him. And they began to salute him. [Music playing] And they were striking his head with a read and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him. [Music playing] [Music playing]

[Music playing] He was bleeding from the beating. There were stripes upon his back. And he wore a crown of thorns on his head. And he bore with every step, the scorn of those who cried out for his death. Down the field, over the sun, called the waves of furry. Like a lamb came from a sigh of Christ, the king. But he chose to walk the road out of his love for you and me. Down the field, over the sun, over the way, to come away. Down the field, over the sun, and you knew so that day. The soldiers tried to clear the new road street. But the crowd pressed into fear. The men condemned to die on poverty. Down the field, over the sun, called the waves of furry. Like a lamb came from a sigh of Christ, the king. But he chose to walk the road out of his love for you and me. Down the field, over the sun. ♪ To Calvohia ♪ ♪ The red that would last ♪ ♪ The frozen vomit ♪ ♪ Made it straight to the heart ♪ ♪ To the New Star ♪ ♪ Now the beat looks too low ♪ ♪ Oh, sir, call the waves up for me ♪ ♪ Like a living in the silent rise ♪ ♪ The king ♪ ♪ But he chose to run the road ♪ ♪ Out of his love for me, as me ♪ ♪ From the heat to the sun of the rain ♪ ♪ To Calvohia ♪

♪ [applause] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Sean Ryan leans in and asks my friend, Pastor Josh Howerton, so why did Jesus have to die? It's a legit question. Then Howerton does a brilliant job answering, and the way that he answers is he tells this parable, this story about a King laying down his life for his daughter. You should go back, you can listen to it, and it was a brilliant answer. But the text that I'm going to cover today answers this question. Why did Jesus have to die? That's where we are going. Matthew chapter 26 beginning in verse 57. As you know, we're just picking up right where we left off from last week. Jesus has been betrayed by Judas. He's being abandoned by his disciples. He's been arrested. He's going to put on trial. Verse 57 says, "Then those who had seized Jesus led him to Caiaphas, the High Priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered." Now these are the ones that Judas has conspired against Christ to have him arrested. By the way, if you ever go to Israel with me once it comes back down, we'll start going back over there, and we will go to Caiaphas' house. Part of the reason we know it's Caiaphas' house is that it's marked, and Jesus and his disciples, they were just on the Mount of Olives, and so they've been arrested, they cross through the Kidron Valley, they go up the hill towards the old city, and about 100 years ago or so,

as they were doing archeological digs at Caiaphas' house, they find a jail cell, they find a pit under the house that you can go in, where Jesus was held and chained. And one of the things that we're going to see all through the end of chapter 26 and all through Matthew chapter 27 is that much of what Jesus was doing was the fulfillment of the Scriptures prophesied about the Son of God, the coming Messiah. So when you go up to Caiaphas' house today, now there's a church on it, because if you give Christian 2000 years, they're going to put a church on everything where cool stuff happened. It's called the Church of Saint Peter, Gallicontu, and on it, it has Psalm 88, verses 6 through 9 and 18. This was a prophecy of what was going to happen in that house, here's what it says. "You have put me in the lowest pit in the darkest depths, your wrath lies heavily on me. You have overwhelmed me with all of your waves. You have taken from me my closest friends." Remember Jesus was just with his closest friends in Gethsemane. "You have taken from me my closest friends and have made me repulsive to them. I am confined and cannot escape. My eyes are dim with grief. You skip down to 18 and it says, "You have taken my companions and loved ones from me. The darkness is my closest friend. They have arrested Jesus. They have taken him to Caiaphas' house for the first trial." Verse 88, "And Peter was following him at a distance as far as the courtyard of the High Priest, and going inside, he sat with the guards to see the end." Do you remember Peter's promise at the Lord's Supper when Jesus says, "One of you will betray me." And Peter says, "Not me. If everybody else abandoned you, not me. I would die for you." Peter's trying, man. He's trying. And so he's following verse 59. "Now the chief priest and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put into death." Why? Because the true testimony about Jesus would be he is the Christ, he is the Son of a living God. He is exactly who he said he was. And so they've got to stir up some false testimony. And here's what you've got to understand that's happening in the first century. There's a power play going on here because Caiaphas is just in charge. He's the High Priest of the temple. And he does not have the authority of the ability to have Jesus executed because Rome doesn't care about blasphemy. You can have as many gods as you want as long as you proclaim that Caesar is king, that Caesar is God. And so they're trying to figure out what they can pin on Jesus so that the Romans will actually do something about it. Verse 60, "But they found none. Though many false witnesses came forward, at last two came forward and said, 'This man said, 'I am able to destroy the

temple of God and to rebuild it in three days.'" If you remember, he was talking about his own body. He was prophesying his own death and resurrection. And the High Priest stood up and said, "They're yelling at Jesus. Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?" Now pay attention to this. This might help you at some point in your life. Jesus does not defend himself. And you make it, why not Jesus? Because you don't have to defend yourself when And you know that you're a man under the authority of God. You don't have to bark back at every person that barks at you. Verse 63, "But Jesus remained silent. "And the high priest said to him, "'I adore you by the living God. "'Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.'" It's a pretty straightforward question, right? And Jesus said to him, you have said so. Here's what I think is happening here. I think Jesus is saying to the high priest, "You've done your investigation, "and you know there's something different about me, "don't you? "You know that I am who I say I am, don't you? "You've seen some of the miracles. "You've heard some of the testimonies. "You know that I am, although you're not willing "to pay the price for that truth to become your reality "because you just think you'll lose power "and it'll cost you too much." You have said so. And then he says this, but I tell you, now pay attention, if you listen to a bunch of podcasts like I do, what you'll find right now is all kind of people

on all these podcasts saying, Jesus never claimed to be God. What Jesus is going to do, talking to a Hebrew scholar, he's gonna use Hebrew language from the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament, and three times he is going to say, "I am God, I am God, I am God." He's gonna do it three times, but he's just using the words that they would have used from one of the Old Testament prophets, he says, but I tell you, from now on, you will see the Son of Man. When Jesus says he's the Son of Man, that doesn't mean he's born of a woman, that's not what he's talking about. This is a Messianic title that comes from Daniel chapter seven. The moment that he says, "I'm the Son of Man," that's number one, "seated at the right hand of power." You know who's seated at the right hand of Yahweh, Yahweh. He's saying, "I am co-equal with the Father," that's two, and number three, and coming on the clouds of heaven, the one that would come on the clouds of heaven was the one that was coming to judge people's eternity. So he says it three times, in a row, "I am God, I am God, I am God." So if you're listening to somebody that claims to be smart and says that the Bible, in the Bible, Jesus never claimed to be God, these people should sit the coloring books, they're not smart enough to read adult literature. This is what's happening here.

He triples down on it. And we know that he's claiming it because look at their response, then the High Priest tore their robes and says, "He has uttered blasphemy. "What further witnesses do you need? "You have now heard this blasphemy." Jesus didn't say it once, he said it three times, and they're like, "You can't triple stamp a double stamp." He was like, "I just did, one, two, three. "I am God, I am with God, I come to judge." That's what he said. And so they say, "What is your judgment?" And they answered, "He deserves death." And then they do one of the most humility things you could do to a man. And then they spit in his face and they struck him and some slapped him saying, "Prophesy to us, you Christ. "Who is it that struck you?" And they mock him. They mock the creator of the universe. It's gonna be a worse. Verse 69, "And now Peter was sitting outside "in the courtyard, and a servant girl came up to him." Now the reason these details are in the Bible is 'cause one, it actually happened, and two, this makes it even worse. This is not today, but in the first century, there are two reasons this girl would not be able to give testimony in a court of law.

One, she's a girl, and two, she's a servant. So even if Peter is going to admit that he follows Jesus, he can't do anything about it, and this servant girl comes up to him and said, "You also were with Jesus, the Galilean." Verse 70, "But he denied it before them all, saying, 'I don't know what you mean.'" Strike one. Do you remember what Jesus told Peter last week at the Lord's Supper? You're gonna deny me three times. Remember what Peter said, "Nah-uh, not a chance, not me, there's one." And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, "This man was with Jesus of Nazareth." And again, he denied it with an oath. I don't know the man. He ups it, swear to God. I don't know what you're talking about. Verse 73, "And after a little while, the bystanders came up and said to Peter, 'Certainly you two are one of them for your accent to trace you, then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear.'" So this is what he does. He cusses, he curses. Strike three, and immediately the rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus.

Before the rooster crowed, "You will deny me three times." And he went out and he wept bitterly. And Dr. Luke's account in the Gospel of Luke, Luke lets us know that Jesus is right there in the courtyard when Peter denies the three times. And then he goes, "I ball to eyeball with Peter." He's like, "Yeah, man, I see you." And Peter weeps bitterly. You ever been there? You ever make a promise to Jesus? And you didn't keep it. You ever do that, probably like the last day of saturated? Remember, you're all juiced up on the spirit of God because you were here all week, and you're like, "God, I'll never text her again." You ever do that? You ever make that promise, "God, I'll never drink it again. I'll never take it again." You ever do that? And then you fail, and you fail, and you fail? Well, I've got some wonderful news, Church. Is that in the Kingdom of God, failure is not final. And your worst day does not define you. When you get home today, you maybe want to hop over to John chapter 21 because what Jesus is going to do post-resurrection in John 21 is he is going to go get Peter who has denied him three times. He's going to create the same kind of scenario where Peter denied him, and he's going to ask him three times, "Do you love me?"

And then he's going to commission him. Listen, man, failure is not final in the Kingdom of God. It ain't over until Jesus says it's over. So no matter what you do or how guilty you feel or how much shame the enemy tries to throw at you, Jesus has a better word and he's not going to be done with Peter. He's not going to put him in timeout. He's actually going to put him in charge. And so some of you need to hear that right now. And so Peter's over there crying, weeping bitter. And now Jesus is going to be delivered to Pilate. Why? I told you before, "Kaiaphist does not have the authority to kill Jesus for blasphemy," because that's the law of Moses. And who cares about that? The Rome doesn't care about that. So they got to figure out how to get Pilate who's in charge of this area in accordance with Rome to enact capital punishment upon Jesus. So that's what's happening in 27, verse 1. "And when morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. And they bound him and they led him away and they delivered him over to Pilate the governor." Now another little aside story. I remember Judas, the one who betrayed Jesus, verse 3. And then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind. And he brought back the 30 pieces of silver

to the chief priests and the elders, saying, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood," and they said, "Who cares?" This has got nothing to do with us. They said, "What is that to us? See to it yourself." Now listen, man, if I could step into the story and I could grab Judas by the ears, I would look at him and go, "No, no, no, no. Don't see to it yourself. Yourself is what got yourself in this mess. Yourself ain't getting you out of this mess. Bro, take this thing to Jesus. Do not handle it yourself." But he does try to handle it himself and throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple he departed and he went and he hanged himself. I'm just gonna be as clear as I can. Look at me, do not hurt yourself. Do not hurt yourself. If you've ever had thoughts of hurting yourself, do not hurt yourself. That voice is not the voice of the heavenly Father. The Bible says that you were not your own, you were bought at a price. That means God loved you so much that he shed, he spent the most precious thing in all of the cosmos and all of eternity, the blood of his son to purchase you unto himself.

And so if you've ever had those kind of suicidal thoughts, first and foremost, you gotta tell somebody, tell a care team person, tell a pastor, tell somebody. 'Cause the moment you say it out loud, you're shining a little bit of light in the dark places and gross things grow in the dark. And wherever there's light, darkness has to flee. There's this example in Acts chapter 16, Paul and Silas are in prison, and they're praying and singing, and all the doors are the jail open. And the Bible says this, and when the jailer woke, he saw that the prison doors were open, he drew a sword and was about to kill himself. 'Cause in the first century, if you were a Roman soldier and your prisoners got away, they would punish you instead. So this man's thinking, I'm gonna handle this myself. Supposing that the prisoners had escaped, and look what Paul cries. But Paul cried with a loud voice, do not harm yourself for we're all here. If you've ever thought about hurting yourself, look around. Do not harm yourself, we're all here. God loves you, we love you, we want you to get help. Please let us help you. (audience applauding) He hangs himself in a field, he stays here a few days. The rope breaks, he falls down and his body spills out in the field. Verse 6.

Verse 6 shows us what happens when religion goes bad. But the chief priest taking the pieces of silver said, "It is not lawful to put them into the treasury since it's blood money." Do you see how sick this is? You know what they're planning to do? They're conspiring to murder an innocent man, no problem. But we can't make an accounting error with the wrong kind of money, because that'll be bad. Pastor Onay read it before, when they got to Pilots' house, they would not go inside Pilots' house. Why? Because to eat with those people, the Gentiles would make us defiled. Killing the innocent son of God? No problem, God's cool with that wink wink. Do you see the sickness of man-made religion? This is why Jesus said there would come a day when people would kill you and think they are pleasing God. So they took counsel and they bought with him the potter's field as a burial place for strangers. Therefore, that field has been called the field of blood to this day. Then was fulfilled when it had been spoken by the Prophet Jeremiah saying, and they took the 30 pieces of silver, the price of him, on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, and they gave them for the potter's field as the Lord directed them. And now Jesus is going to go before Pilate. Verse 11, now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" And Jesus says, "You have said so." Again, it's a very similar conversation that he had with Caiaphas. And I think what Jesus is saying is this,

Pilate says, "You are the king of the Jews." And Jesus goes, "Those aren't my words, those are your words." And Pilate, you know deep down the answer is yes, don't you? Because you've investigated me, you know that I'm innocent. Your wife's going to tell you that I'm a righteous man. You know something's different about me, Pilate. These are your words. You know the answer to this. He says, "Are you the king of the Jews?" And Jesus says, "You have said so." But when he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. And then Pilate said to him, "Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?" But Jesus gave him no answer, not even a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed. Why is Jesus doing this? We talked about it last week in the garden because the only way for sinful humanity to be reconciled to a holy God is that Jesus had to shed his blood. And so he is not defending himself. He's saying, "Not my will, but thy will be done." Again, this is the second time, so I'm going to say it again. A man who knows he is under the authority of God and does not, he does not have to defend himself against outside accusations, especially when those motives are obviously impure. He knows that the father will defend him, verse 15. Now at the feast, the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner who they wanted. So Pilate's primary job was just to keep peace in the province

that he was in charge of. And it doesn't matter how that peace came. It could be by force or it could be by broad. All wrong cared about is that you guys just don't create any kind of uprisings so that Caesar is in charge. That's Pilate's job. And so what they would do on the day of Passover to appease the Jewish people is they would take one prisoner and they would let them go just to make the crowds happy. And so Pilate thinks, "I think I found a loophole." It says, "Now at the feast, the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted." And they had then a notorious prisoner. And when the Bible says notorious, this means like the worst prisoner of all. This was a terrorist. This was somebody that had caused violence in the city. This is a bad, bad dude. His name is Barabbas, which by the way, the name Barabbas, barbing son and oblongings father. This man that they're going to put in front of the people is the son of the father. They called him Barabbas so when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, "Who do you want me to release for you, Barabbas?" Or Jesus who was called the Christ. And Pilate's like, "Sweet man, I'm going to make everybody I'm going to make Rome happy, I'm going to make the crowd happy, I'm going to make my wife happy, I'll show you that in a second. I can make everybody happy. And the reason is because this is a spineless politician,

and all he's trying to do is use everybody to make himself happy. That's just what he's trying to do. And so he says, "So who you want me to release?" Barabbas, the murderer, the killer, the one that's going to get you stumped by Rome, is that who you want to release, he might kill you, he might rape your family, is that who you want to be released, or maybe Jesus? Because what has he done? He taught in the temple and he plays with kids and he pets sheep and he makes lame people walk in the blind seat. Seems like an easy choice, right? So who do you want me to release? For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up. Verse 19, "Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream." First of all, how good is God, man? That Jesus, his best friends, are betraying him, and so God raises up this pagan woman to stand in his defense. And then husbands, you might want to pay attention to this, boys, look at me. Sit up, wake up, look up. If God ever gives us a message to your wife and she shares it with you, you might want to pay attention. To quote the late, great 20th century theologian, coach Lou Holtz, one time I heard him say this, "Boys, the reason that you should always listen to the voice of your wife is one. Nobody loves you like she does. Two, nobody knows you like she does. Three, nobody is less impressed than she is. These are facts." That's a good combination. And so she's telling him, "I know this man to be innocent." Verse 20 now, the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to destroy Jesus. You know how they persuaded the crowd?

We find out in other gospels that they paid them off. Maybe jot this down. There were paid protesters there that were just parroting what they had been told. Imagine that. Same demons, new days. Verse 21, and the governor again said to them, he's like, "Hold on. You want Barabbas?" He says to him again, "Which of the two do you want me to release for you?" And they said, "Barabbas." And Pilate said to them, "Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called to Christ?" Stop right there. That's the most important question you will ever deal with in all of your life. What will you do with Jesus who is called to Christ? And your answer to that question determines your eternal destiny. What will you do with Jesus who is called to Christ? You can reject him. You can ignore him. That leads to the same result. Or you can bend your knee, fall on your face, and submit and surrender to him. Because he is who he says he is, the son of God who was coming back to judge the quick into death. And they all said, "Let him be crucified." The same crowd that on Sunday said, "Hosena, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." Now that same crowd says, "Crucify him, kill him." And this happens in church every single week. We worship him with our mouths on Sunday, and then we deny his existence on Friday. This is what they're doing. And they said, "Let him be crucified." And he said, "Why? What evil has he done?" And they shouted all the more, "Let him be crucified." Verse 24, "So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing."

You see, Pilate thought he had everything. It reminds me of what Jesus said, because in this moment, Pilate had power and money and prestige and a title. But what good is it for a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? That's what he's going to do. So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather a riot was beginning, that's his worst nightmare. He took water and he washed his hands before the crowd saying, "I am innocent of this man's blood." See to it yourself. By the way, that's not how it works. You cannot wash your hands clean of the blood of Jesus. The only way that you can be washed clean is by the blood of Jesus. This is a picture that works based righteousness won't work. If you just wash your hands and clean up the inside or the outside, it doesn't do anything for the inside. And so he's trying to wash his hands of this. And I think this is what's happening. I mentioned it before. I think Pilate knows exactly who Jesus is. Pilate knows he's righteous. He knows he's innocent. He thinks he is actually the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. as he looks at the reality of his life he thinks, but if I follow after him, it's going to cost me too much. It'll cost me my job, it'll cost me prestige, it'll cost me money, it'll cost me my name, it'll cost me too much. And before we hate on him, there's hundreds, if not thousands of people sitting in our church today that think the same thing. You believe all the true things about Jesus, but you have not surrendered your life to the lordship of Christ, because you think it's going to cost you too much. Money, relationship, power, status, here's what I mean. You know Jesus is not on the cross for you,

but you also know you're in an ungodly relationship. And if you follow after Jesus, you've got to quit slipping with your boyfriend and you love him more than you love Jesus so you don't know if it's worth it. Or you realize if you follow after Jesus, then you've got to do money differently and you can't just hoard it all up for yourself and you're going to have to be generous to the advancement of the kingdom of God and you love money more than you love Jesus. Or you know your family already thinks you're crazy for attending church a little bit and they're going to boot you out if you do this whole Jesus thing. Or some of you, man, you want to love Jesus, but man, you really love weed and you really love getting drunk and you just think you love it more than you love Jesus. You're in the same seat that Pilate is in and you cannot wash your hands of this. You can only be washed by the blood of Jesus. And you're asking, man, is it worth it? What I'm going to lose? Can I tell you my testimony and everybody in here that knows Jesus, you know what you're going to give up by following Jesus? You're going to give up sin and shame and condemnation and what you're going to receive is freedom and life and life abundantly. It's going to be the greatest trade you've ever made in your entire life. And this is where Pilate is, man. And all the people answered looks at this curse, his blood be on us and our children. Now, if you're a believer, this is a blessing. The blood of Jesus, by faith, will wash your sins away. And you pray like crazy that your kids sins are washed away by the blood of Jesus too. But this is a curse for these people, verse 26. And then he released for them, Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus. It's just one word, scourged. Some translations say flogged. If you've ever seen the passion of the Christ, you've seen a pretty good example of what this is. For a long time, we just thought it was kind of whipped a little bit. That's not what it is. I don't know if I've ever mentioned this here. My friend, Denny Thompson and I do this podcast called Built For More. And a couple of months ago, we had this guy friend of mine named Jeremiah Johnston. He has his PhD in the resurrection. And he's like an archaeologist and he brought all of these first century artifacts to the Built For More podcast to just share the reality, the brutality of what Christ went through. So, if you want to do a little extra homework, look that up this afternoon and watch it. And he brought a replica of the cat anontails that they would have used to whip Jesus. It's a little short whip. It's got non-leather strands on it. And on the end of the strands,

they would tie bone and glass and metal so that when it hit the flesh, it would grab on. And then when they would pull it out, then flesh and sometimes even bones would come off with it. And they would beat people to a very inch of their life. That's what they would do. Very few people would survive the flogging. And they flogged Jesus and deliver him to be crucified. And the guilty man, Barabbas, goes free. And Jesus goes to the cross. Church, this is a picture of the gospel. If you know Jesus, listen man, I'm Barabbas. I am not deserving of the love of God. I am deserving of the wrath of God. And yet what happened is Jesus went to the cross and I went free. Verse 27, and then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's headquarters. And they gathered the whole battalion. This is hundreds of soldiers before him. And they stripped him and they put a scarlet robe on him. They're going to mock him. And twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head. And if you'll go watch that Jeremiah Johnston podcast, you'll see it wasn't like a Burger King crown that went around like that. It was more like a helmet. And it's made of what it's made of acacia wood. Now, if you're in the gifted class, maybe you were like, oh, I've heard of acacia wood. Acacia wood is what they would build the ark of the covenant. the broken law of God. And on top of the Ark of the Covenant was the mercy seat and one time a year the blood of the Lamb that was sprinkled over the mercy seat to cover the broken law of God made of a cashew wood. And what held the broken law of God in the Old Testament is now going to crown the Son of God who's not going to simply cover our sins. He's going to spill His blood because He is the blood of the Lamb and He's going to take away our sin. That's what's happening right here. And they put this crown of thorns on His head and they put a read in His right hand and kneeling before Him they mocked Him saying, "Hey, well King of the Jews." Galatians 3 says, "God will not be mocked." The next time they kneeled before God they paid the price. Verse 30, "And they spit on Him and they took the read and they struck Him on the head. And when they had mocked Him they stripped Him of His robe. They're trying to amplify the pain. He would have been beaten into like hamburger meat by the flogging and then they put the robe on Him and they let the material stick to His body as it began to scab up. And right when it was all stuck to Him they rip it off again and they put His own clothes on Him and they let Him away to crucify Him. And as they went out they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name, by the way this was a man of North

Africa. So from the very beginning this was a movement for all people. They compelled this man to carry his cross. And when they came to the place called Golgotha which means place of the skull they offered him wine to drink mixed with gall but when he tasted it he would not drink it. They would try to like medicate people so that they would lay there and take it. Jesus said no why? Because He's following the will of His Father. And then it just says very simply in the New Testament and when they had crucified Him. I used to always wonder why so little ink there's virtually no description of the crucifixion. Why is that? It's the beginning of the most important thing that's ever happened in all of human history. I think the two reasons, one everybody in the first century knew exactly what they were talking about. I mean everybody grew up on the stories of Spartacus which was 100 years before this. There was a slave revolt and Rome shut it down by crucifying 6,000 men in one day that they lined the streets every 35 yards for 120 miles they crucified men. That would be like going from here to almost Orlando and every 35 yards there's a naked crucified man on a cross. They knew what it was. Secondly, I think the reason there's not a lot of ink on it in the New Testament is because there is a detailed description written a thousand years before this in the Old Testament. I'm going to read it to you in just a minute and they crucified him. Now look at your Bibles. I want you to put a little mark in your Bibles next to this one. They divided his garments among them by casting lots but a little mark there. Then they sat down and kept kept watch over him there and over his head they put the charge against him which read this is Jesus the king of the Jews. Pilate had it had it written in Hebrew, Latin and Greek. So no matter where you were from you could read it and then two robbers were crucified with him one on the right and one on the left. Luke's gospel records that conversation. And those who passed by derided him mark this word wagging their heads and saying quote, "You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days save yourself if you are the Son of God come down from the cross." So also the chief priests with the scribes and the elders mocked him saying he saved others. He cannot save himself. He is the king of Israel. Let him come down now from the cross and we will believe him. He trusts God. Let him deliver him now if he desires him. For he said I am the son of God and the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way. Pay attention to those texts verse 45 now from the sixth hour there was a darkness over all the land until the ninth hour and about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice

and there's some weird looking words in the Bible this is Aramaic this would have been the language that Jesus would have spoken in the first century. And it's this Eloy Eloy la Ma Shavaktani which in English is translated my God my God. Why are you forsaking me? And you may look at that and be like what is he doing? Is God forsaking him? Well God is crushing him there's no doubt about it. But actually what Jesus is doing is he's quoting a song or a song that he pushes up on his nail pierced feet and he quotes Psalm 22 and here's why this is important. that everybody knows all the words to, what begins to happen in the human brain? You just begin to sing all the words, right? I felt it so tense in here, we might need to just take a breath before we land the plane here. Like, it could happen right now. Like, if I were to sing the first line of a song, everybody would just sing it, you just know it, right? If I go, "Sweet Caroline, I didn't teach you that, "where'd you learn that?" You hangin' out in Karaoke bar somewhere, we ain't never done that in church, that's you, man. And now it's there for the rest of the day, you're welcome. Or I could divide the room in half right now. If I just go ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, if you're older than me, you feel pressure. And if you're my age, you're younger, you stop, you collaborate, you listen. That's what we do, okay? So this rabbinical teaching style is called a remes, it literally means hint. And so what Jesus would do is, he's nailed to a cross, and in order for him to speak,

he would have to push up on his nail pierced feet, he would have to take a breath and force out some words. And most people died on the cross through what's called asphyxiation, they would drown on their own lung fluid. And so instead of quoting the whole thing, he's just going to quote the first line of Psalm 22. And it starts out this way, "My God, my God, "why have you forsaken me?" Now imagine you were standing there at the foot of the cross. And when he sings that first line or says that first line, "My God, my God, why are you forsaking me?" Just like you did with Sweet Caroline, your mind begins to go to the rest of the lyrics of the Psalm or the Psalm. And here's what it says, "My God, my God, "why have you forsaken me? "Why are you so far from saving me, "from the words of my groaning? "Oh my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer. "And by night, but I find no rest. "Yet you are holy and thrown on the praises of Israel, "in you our fathers trusted. "They trusted and you delivered them. "To you they cried and were rescued. "In you they trusted and were not put to shame." Then it says, "But I am a worm and not a man, "scorned by mankind and despised by all the people. "All who see me mock me, they make mouths at me,

"they wag their heads." Quote, "He trust in the Lord, let him deliver him. "Let him rescue him, for he delights in him. "You're standing there, you're looking around, "and the soldiers just said those exact words." You're like, "Wait a minute. "Why are Roman soldiers quoting our Bible? "They don't know the Hebrew Bible. "You're standing at the foot of the cross. "In Psalm 22, written a thousand years before this moment, "is happening play by play right in front of your very own eyes. "And you begin to think, oh my goodness. "I think this might be him. "I think this is the servant crusher. "I think this is the Christ. "I think this is him." And then the next line says, "Yet you are he "who took me from the womb. "You made me trust you at my mother's breast. "On you was I cast from my birth, "and from my mother's womb, you have been my God." Who is that true of? King David? No. Psalm 51 says, "David was born in iniquity." Is it true of you? No, every single one of us were born into sin. This is only true of Jesus the Christ. He is only one who is without sin from birth. He keeps going, "Be not far from me.

"For trouble is near, and there is none to help. "Many bulls encompass me. "A bull was one to let the mascots of the Roman army. "Strong bulls of Bashan surround me. "They opened wide their mouths at me. "Like ravening and roaring lion. "Lion was the symbol of the emperor. "I import out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. "My heart is like wax, and it is melted within my breasts. "If you stand at the foot of the cross long enough, "I was Roman soldier is gonna walk up "and take a spear and shove it under the ribcage of Jesus "and pierce his heart, and his heart literally "is going to melt like wax. "My strength is dried up, like a pot shirt, "and my tongue sticks to my jaws. "In just a little while, when we get back to Matthew, "Jesus is gonna push upon his feet, "and he's gonna say, 'I thirst.'" What you're experiencing is you're seeing play by play, blow by blow, Jesus, living out exactly what the psalmist said would happen. Says, "You lay me in the dust of death." For dogs encompass me, that was a word for Gentiles. A company of evil doors encircle me. Check this next line out. "They have pierced my hands and feet." This was written 300 years before crucifixion was ever invented by the Persians as a form of punishment. It was invented by the Persians,

and then it was perfected by the Romans standing there and you're singing through Psalm 22 and you see the pierced hands and feet of Jesus and you think oh my God literally I can count all my bones they stare and they glowed over me they divide my garments among them we just read that and for my clothing they cast lots we just read that but you oh Lord do not be far off oh you my help come quickly to my aid deliver my soul from the sword my precious life from the power of the dogs save me from the mouth of the lion you have rescued me from the horns of the wild ox and then it begins to shift I will tell of your name to my brothers wait a minute how you gonna do that you just said you were laid down to the dust of death you just said you were nailed to a cross you just said your heart has been pierced that you were dead how are you going to tell anything to anybody because not only does Psalm 22 prophesied the crucifixion of Christ Psalm 22 also prophesied the resurrection of Christ he says I will tell of your name to my brothers in the midst of the congregation I will praise you you who fear the Lord praise him all you offspring of Jacob glorify him and stand in all of him all you offspring of Israel for he has not despised or aboard the affliction of the afflicted and he has not hidden his face from him but has heard and when he cried to him from you comes my praise and the great congregation my vows I will perform before those who fear him the afflicted shall eat and be satisfied those who seek him shall praise the Lord may your hearts live forever you know what Jesus is doing from the cross he's like he said this is not some random killing of some random Galilean in the first century what I am about to do on this cross is going to unlock the ability for you to live forever and ever and ever that's what's happening here all the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord and all the families of the nations shall worship before you if you remember the blessing to Abraham was that through you I'm going to be a blessing to every family Jesus is saying this is the blessing right here I am the seed of Abraham I am the blessing for kings kingship belongs to the Lord and he rules over all nations all the prosperous of the earth eat and worship before him shall bow and all who go down to the dust even the one who could not keep himself alive who is that you you can't keep yourself alive every single one of us is going to die and Jesus says but I have died that you might have life and then look the next verse posterity shall serve him that means people that aren't here now that will be here one day our children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren posterity shall serve him it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generations church that's us

this is what Jesus is talking about from the cross and they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn and then look here's how he ends it here's what they will proclaim that he has done it you know how you say that in Hebrew it is finished so you're standing at the foot of the cross it Jesus pushes up on his nail pierced feet and he says hello hello I love my Shabbatani my God my God why have you forsaken me and you're running through the thing in your head and there's people gambling for their clothes for his clothes he says I thirst the people are wagging their heads at him saying save yourself everything that the prophet said was going to happen is happening right before your very own eyes this is what's happening verse 47 and some of the bystanders hearing it said this man is calling Elijah and one of them at once ran and he took his sponge and he filled it with sour wine and he put it on a reading he gave it to him to drink remember he said my mouth will be his dry as a pot sure verse 49 but others said wait let us see whether Elijah will come and save him and Jesus cried out with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit and we find out if you read the other gospels that Jesus pushes up on his nail pierced feet and he says it is finished into the hands I commit my spirit the great word is to tell us die it means paid in full the descendent that you and I oh against the holy imperfect god has been paid in full It means it is finished. What is finished? Remember when John the baptizer says, "Behold the Lamb of God who's come to take away the sin of the entire world, that the moment you put your faith in Jesus, that he came to do what he said he was going to do, that he paid the sin debt." That's exactly what happened. That's why the cross matters. And then here's the best part. And now comes the invitation. So Jesus, the Son of God, breathed his last on the cross.

Verse 51, "And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn into from the top to the bottom." Ooh, we're 21st century Americans. We don't know what this means. What this means is in the temple, there was this room called the Holy Holies, and that's where the presence of God was. And there was this big old curtain, and it separated the presence of God from the people of God. And one time a year, the high priest would consecrate himself and he could go in there and do the blood sprinkle thing. And then when Jesus, who is the Lamb of God, we don't need sacrifices anymore. He's the full and final sacrifice. And when he dies on the cross, and the payment has been paid for us, then the curtain is torn, not from the bottom to the top, like we work our way in, but it's torn from the top to the bottom as an invitation for anyone who would believe to boldly approach the throne room of the king because he is your heavenly father, that whoever believes receives the right to become a child of God. That's what's happening in the earth's chute, and the rocks were split, and the tombs were also open. It gets weird, ready? And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised.

It's like a thriller video, man. It's like the walking dead. Everybody's just walking around and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection. They went into the holy city and appeared to many. In verse 54. And when the centurion... You know who the centurion is? He's far from God, man. He ain't going up in church. He ain't going to have Hebrew school. He was actually a part of the group that flogged him and nailed him to the cross. He ain't looking for Jesus. And yet when the centurion... And those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place. They were filled with awe. That means worship. That's what that means. They were filled with awe. And he said... Truly, this was the Son of God. He saw and he believed and he trusted. So why did Jesus have to die? Here's why. He died for you and me. He didn't just die for us though. He died instead of us.

The reason that Jesus had to die first and foremost is because God is just. And because God is just, all sin must be paid for. And for God to just overlook sin, would make him an unjust judge. Like mamas and daddies, look at me real quick. Imagine if somebody did the most horrific thing you could imagine to your child, as you're right there, your boy laying on you. Imagine, some bad man grabbed that little boy. Don't think about it too much and did those things. And they caught him. Now I know what you would do. I bought guns from him. So I know what he would do. But just imagine they caught him. Red handed. He was guilty. And he gets to the court. And there he is guilty before the judge with all of the evidence and he even confesses. And the judge goes, you know what? Nobody's perfect.

Don't worry about it. What would you do? You would say that is an unjust judge. And when we sin, we don't just mess up a little bit. Every time we sin, we fall short of the glory of God. And every time we sin, it's the slap in the face of a holy righteous king. And so for God to overlook sin, would make him an unjust judge. And he will not do that because he always operates within his character and in his nature. So the reason all sin must be paid for is because God is just but because God is love. Romans 3 says he is the just and the justifier. That he requires the penalty to be paid. But the good news is he says and I'll pay it in your place. If you look at the two beams on a cross, you'll see the perfect justice and love of God for us. That vertical cross is about the justice of God where God pours out his wrath upon beam at the cross which shows us his love and I did this for you and then because of his grace poured out of the cross every single one of us have been invited to put our faith in him,

have the bill paid for Jesus to say it is finished and for us to be washed clean by the blood of the lamb and invited into the very family of God. For the religious person that thinks you can wash your hands clean of it, it won't work. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus and for the really rebellious centurion person, you're not too far gone either. You've been your knee and you say truly you're the son of God and you put your faith in him. So why does Jesus have to die? Because God's just all sin must be paid for because he loves you, he made the payment on your behalf and because of his grace he invites you to put your faith in him right now and have your sin washed away and you be adopted into his very own family. It all comes back to that question that Pontius Pilate asked, that I want to ask you, what will you do with Jesus who is called the Christ? You can ignore him in rejecting and one day you'll give an account that's not to scare you, it's just to tell you the truth or you can bend your knee to him right now and say God I admit it. I am a sinner, I can't clean up my life, I thought I was too far gone but apparently I'm not and I believe I trust that when you said it is finished somehow that counted for me and if that's you then you say Lord Jesus saved me and that's a prayer that he answers 100% of the time Romans 10-13 says all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved and when you call his name Lord what that means is you're saying okay I put my life in your hands I trust you as my Lord and Savior I want to give you that opportunity right now would you bow your heads would you close your eyes and in your heart of hearts answer that question what will you do with Jesus called the Christ and if today right now for the very first time you were ready to trust Jesus for your salvation for the very first time you were ready to believe that when he died on the cross somehow that counted for me and the answer to the question what will I do with Jesus who is called the Christ I want to accept him as my Lord and Savior if that's you right now would you lift your hand as high as you can and you use whatever words you want but Lord Jesus saved me that wouldn't works our good and gracious heavenly Father God we love you more than anything and we love you because you first loved us God we praise you for your holiness and your justice and God we follow in our faces and we thank you for your mercy and your grace Lord for all of us that have tried to clean up our own hands God would you remind us it just won't work God there's nothing nothing that could wash away our sin nothing but the blood of Jesus and God for those of us that think we are too far gone Lord I thank you that there is more grace in the cross of Jesus and there has been sin in us and Lord we just welcome we welcome your sons

and daughters home and into your family and God for those of us that have been walking with you for a minute would you just fix our eyes on the cross God we have no idea how much it costs to you to nail sin to that cross and for that we give you honor and glory and worship and we pray this in Jesus name amen church reduce stand to your feet as we respond to the gospel we're gonna sing and we're gonna sing about the cross I'll never know how much it costs to see my sin upon that cross so if you say we should sing like it and we're gonna bring our ties in our offerings our first and our best we're not gonna be like Judas we're not gonna be like Pilate that says no no no no this stuff defines me no we're bringing our first and our best to say no you are the one thing that drives everything in my life Lord and we are gonna pray some of you you've been a Christian now for like one minute the curtain has been torn helping man you have an all-access pastor to the throne room or the king of kings you run down here like a kid going to this dad that needs something and you get on your face or maybe you've been a Christian a long time, but it's just gotten a little stale and you just need to come and Let us sing, let us bring, let us pray." Let's respond. ♪ I'll never know how much it comes ♪ ♪ To see my sin. ♪ ♪ The boy that comes ♪ ♪ I'll never know how much it comes ♪ ♪ To see my sin upon the cross ♪ ♪ Oh, I'll never know how much it comes ♪ ♪ To see my sin upon the cross ♪ ♪ Oh, I'll never know how much it comes ♪ ♪ To see my sin upon the cross ♪ ♪ Oh, I'll never know how much it comes ♪ ♪ To see my sin upon the cross ♪ ♪ Oh, I'll never know how much it comes ♪ ♪ To see my sin upon the cross ♪ ♪ Oh, I'll never know how much it comes ♪ ♪ To see my sin upon the cross ♪

♪ Oh, I'll never know how much it comes ♪ ♪ To see my sin upon the cross ♪ ♪ So here I am to worship ♪ ♪ Here I am to bow down ♪ ♪ Here I am to say that you're my God ♪ ♪ You're all together, loving ♪ ♪ All together way ♪ ♪ All together, wonderful to me ♪ ♪ You're all together, loving ♪ ♪ All together, worthy ♪ ♪ All together, wonderful to me ♪ ♪ All praise to the Lord who was high ♪ ♪ All praise to the one who saved my life ♪ ♪ All praise to Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ I keep healing, my King forever ♪ ♪ All praise to the Lord who was high ♪ ♪ All praise to the one who saved my life ♪ ♪ All praise to Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ I keep it there ♪ ♪ I lift my hands and play my whole life ♪ ♪ My whole life down to free ♪ ♪ I lift my hands and play my whole life ♪ ♪ My whole life down to free ♪ ♪ I lift my hands and play my whole life ♪ ♪ My whole life down to free ♪ ♪ I lift my hands and play my whole life too ♪ ♪ I lift my hands and play my whole life down ♪ ♪ My whole life down to free ♪ ♪ I lift my hands and play my whole life down ♪ ♪ My whole life down to free ♪

♪ All praise to the Lord who was high ♪ ♪ All praise to the one who saved my life ♪ ♪ All praise to Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ I keep it there and I keep forever ♪ ♪ All praise to the one who saved my life ♪ ♪ All praise to the one who saved my life ♪ ♪ All praise to Jesus Christ ♪ God, it's my hands, I blame my whole life My whole life down, it's me I miss my hands, I blame my whole life My whole life down, it's me Oh, I miss my hands, I blame my whole life down My whole life down, it's for you I miss my hands, I blame my whole life down My whole life down, it's for you All right, let's celebrate 188 people coming to know Jesus Cross all our campuses and all our services If that was you, we would love to walk with you Text surrender to 44, 11, 22, surrender to 44, 11, 22 Next week is Resurrection Week in October It's going to be amazing at all services And so be here, bring your one more We're going to be talking about Jesus coming back from the dead And everything that means for us And we're celebrating with baptism And so if you've not gone public with your faith You have an opportunity if you missed last month Get baptized next week and we got baptism classes going on Right now, and we got signs going to where that class is We love you like crazy, be angel free

We love you like crazy, be angel free We love you like crazy, be angel free We love you like crazy, be angel free We love you like crazy, be angel We love you like crazy, be angel We love you like crazy, be angel We love you like crazy, be angel We love you like crazy, be angel We love you like crazy, be angel We love you like crazy, be angel We love you like crazy, be angel We love you like crazy, be angel We love you like crazy, be angel We love you like crazy, be angel We love you like crazy, be angel We love you like crazy, be angel We love you like crazy, be angel We love you like crazy, be angel We love you like crazy, be angel We love you like crazy, be angel