Crucified

[0:00] If you would open up your Bibles to the Gospel of Mark, Mark 15, it's on page 1013 of your Pew Bible. You know, in just a few days, many of us will be sitting down for a Thanksgiving meal.

[0:21] And let's just pretend the host of that Thanksgiving meal, as the meal gets underway, asks this question. What are you thankful for?

[0:34] Now, I'm guessing that what comes right to your mind is probably, I am thankful for my family. I'm thankful for my spouse, my children, grandchildren.

[0:47] I mean, in our congregation, we have some young couples who just got married, and we have some young couples who are about to be married. That's things to be thankful for. But what happens if you don't have family to be thankful for?

[1:04] Maybe you think of health, you just got through a health scare. You're on the other side of it, or making progress. You're thankful for that. But what happens if you don't have anything to be thankful for, in terms of your health?

[1:25] A job-related, something to be thankful for, a new job, a promotion, a bonus on the way. You're just thankful to have a job. But if you don't have a job?

[1:38] If you're a Christian, this Thursday, you're going to have an opportunity to give thanks. Can I just encourage you on the outset of the sermon, you have something to share, a thanksgiving to give, that is of most importance.

[1:57] And it's got everything to do with the person and work of Jesus Christ. It's more important than family. It's more important than health. It's more important than jobs.

[2:08] And you can give thanks at any time. We've reached the climax of the Gospel of Mark. And Mark has been repeatedly showing us how extraordinary Jesus is.

[2:20] I mean, just think about it. At His baptism, in chapter 1, the heavens open up. God the Father says, this is my beloved Son with whom I'm well pleased. Who is this guy? That God speaks of him like that.

[2:35] We've seen multiple demons. Jesus confess him as the Son of God and then He says, silence. Who does that? Jesus forgives the sins of a paralytic.

[2:48] Only God can forgive sins. Who's this guy? Mark 4 and 5. Jesus exercises authority over the deeps, over the demons, over the disease, and over the death of a 12-year-old girl whose father's name is Jairus.

[3:04] He's transfigured. Extraordinary. He feeds the 5,000. He feeds the 4,000. He's transfigured. Who is this guy?

[3:17] Today in Mark 15, 1-39, we're going to see Jesus breathe His last on the cross. And we're going to hear a confession. A surprising confession.

[3:27] Truly, this man was the Son of God. Who is this guy?

[3:38] By the end of the sermon, I'm hoping that you all have a compelling reason to give thanks this Thanksgiving. Mark 15, 1-39 has a number of scenes with Jesus dying on the cross as the climax.

[3:55] And here's what I want you to see. Behold your crucified King, the Son of God, your salvation. Behold Him.

[4:07] Behold your crucified King, the Son of God, your salvation, and give thanks. Okay, if we look at scene 1, it has to do with Pilate, chapter 15, 1-5.

[4:21] Let me read it. And as soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. And they bound Jesus and led Him away and delivered Him over to Pilate.

[4:32] And Pilate asked Him, Are you the King of the Jews? And He answered Him, You have said so. And the chief priests accused Him of many things. And Pilate again asked Him, Have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you?

[4:45] But Jesus made no further answer so that Pilate was amazed. The Sanhedrin, the chief priests, and the elders, and the scribes, had no authority in the first century region they were in to execute anybody.

[5:03] So they consulted and they brought Jesus, because they've just condemned Him to death, to Pilate. Because Pilate, the Roman governor of the region, does have the authority to execute Jesus.

[5:14] This is outside Pilate's palace. It's early on that first Good Friday morning. First thing that Pilate says is, Are you the King of the Jews?

[5:25] To Jesus. That's really interesting. He must have already heard some of the accusations being made. Jesus says, You have said so. Which is a very interesting answer.

[5:36] Non-committal. It's neither yes or no. I'm guessing that made Pilate a little uncomfortable. We learn in verse 3 that the chief priests are making many accusations of Jesus.

[5:50] Surely they are saying, He has blasphemed. He's claimed to be God. And the consequence is death. They're pushing for execution by crucifixion.

[6:03] Jesus must not have said anything. Because, look what Pilate asks in verse 4.

[6:14] Have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you? Essentially what Pilate is saying is, You do realize that they're making a case to me against you so that I kill you.

[6:28] You do understand the weight of these things. Jesus responds in silence to him. It's Isaiah 53.7 playing out again.

[6:39] He is a lamb being led to the slaughter. And he's silent before those who will kill him. Pilate's amazed. He's not amazed that Jesus is the Son of God and bows down and gives thanks.

[6:53] Not that kind of amazement. He's amazed that Jesus isn't making a defense. He's amazed that Jesus seemingly is allowing himself to be condemned. The thing I want you to notice is twofold.

[7:08] This is a step towards the cross. And second, did you see the title? Are you the King of the Jews?

[7:19] We're going to see that title show up multiple times in this passage. It's for a reason. Second scene. The crowd. In verses 6 through 15. Let me just summarize it for you.

[7:32] Again, we're outside of Pilate's palace. It's early that first Good Friday morning. A Jewish crowd arrives. We see that in verse 8.

[7:44] They came and began to ask Pilate to do as he usually did. And that brings us to verse 6. Here's what's going on. Pilate had this great PR gig going on. Public relations.

[7:55] He is a Roman governor occupying a Jewish land. And so he, who knew who thought it up? But he's like, every year I will go to the Jewish people. And I will say, who would you like me to release from my prison?

[8:08] And he will present them to him. It's just great PR. So they come. They ask him, hey, can we do the kind of prisoner exchange thing? And Pilate says in verse 9, do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?

[8:25] Yes. And him asking that, he's zinging. He's getting under the skin of some people. He knows the chief priests have delivered up Jesus out of envy.

[8:41] And envy is evil. Those chief priests in verse 11, they stir up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead.

[8:52] Who's this Barabbas guy? Look at verse 7. Barabbas was a murdering insurrectionist. And so what the chief priests are saying, hey, okay, everybody, request Barabbas, not Jesus.

[9:11] It's very ironic because Barabbas is a murdering insurrectionist and Jesus is an innocent King of the Jews. Pilate asks in verse 12, well, what should I do with this man you call, Zing Zing, the King of the Jews?

[9:34] That's the second and third time now we've seen that title. What do I do with him? Crucify him! Yells the crowd.

[9:46] Brutal way to die. Humiliating way to die. It is intentionally horrifying way to die.

[9:59] 14, Pilate says, why, what evil has he done? It gets to the innocence of this one being called the King of the Jews. In contrast to the chief priests who are envious.

[10:13] Why? What evil has he done? And they don't give him a reason. They just shout all the more, crucify him! And because he's a consummate politician who wants to keep his, you know, contingency happy, he falls like a cheap suit.

[10:30] Wanting to satisfy them. He doesn't want them wrathful at him. He satisfies them, releases the murdering insurrectionist, and has Jesus scourged. I'll explain that in a little bit.

[10:44] Another step to the cross, and what I want you to see are those two titles, the King of the Jews. Do you want me to release to you? Want me to release you, the King of the Jews?

[10:56] What shall I do with this man you call the King of the Jews? And that brings us to scene three. Scene three and four are both having to do with Roman soldiers, but they're having to do in different places.

[11:10] Look at scene three. It's in verses 16 through 20. Let me read it for you. And the soldiers led him away inside the palace, that is, the governor's headquarters, and they called together the whole battalion.

[11:22] And they clothed him in purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him, and they began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews! And they were striking his head with a reed, and spitting on him, and kneeling down in homage to him.

[11:35] And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of purple cloak, and put his own clothes on him, and they led him out to crucify him. Okay, so these are Roman soldiers. Jesus has been handed over by Pilate to them to get them ready for crucifixion.

[11:50] They're going to scourge him. And what that means is, there is this whip. It's called the cat of nine tails. It's got nine lashes on the back of it. And at the end of the lashes, there were like bits of bone, bits of rock, bits of glass, bits of metal.

[12:03] And the design is, you whip someone, and rake it across their back. And the design is just to fillet somebody's back. Just to open it up. It's horrific.

[12:17] And so as part of this mockery, certainly that happened. We're going to see its effect in just a little bit. So they're inside the palace, and they call for an assembly.

[12:36] Who's been to a school assembly? All the teachers and students come together. Hoorah, rah! These Roman soldiers are calling the battalion of 600 together for a mock assembly.

[12:52] A mocking assembly. Look all the mockery. You ready? They strip him naked and put on him clothes of purple.

[13:04] It's the color of royalty. Do they think he's royal? No. This is mockery. They crown him with a crown of twisted thorns.

[13:17] Press it on his head. It's mockery. He's climbing. They... Him a king? Huh? Crown of thorns. They salute him, shouting, Hail, King of the Jews!

[13:34] Do they mean it? Absolutely not. This is mockery. They strike his head with a reed, and they spit on him.

[13:46] And then they kneel down in homage to them. Do you think they really reverence him? No. They're mocking him. Who knows how long?

[14:00] But what happens in this scene is the fulfillment of Mark 10.33 when Jesus says he's going to be handed over to the Gentiles and they will mock him. Spit on him.

[14:11] It's exactly what happens here. It's right according to plan. And after all this mockery, they strip him again. Naked in front of 600.

[14:22] And then clothe him back with his garments. And then they lead him out to crucify him. Another step towards the cross. Did you see the title? Hail, King of the Jews!

[14:36] Scene 4. Another scene with the soldiers. Part 2. It's in 21 through 26. And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.

[14:49] And they brought him to the place called Golgotha, which means place of a skull. And they offered him the wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them to decide which each should take.

[15:03] And it was the third hour when they crucified him. And the inscription of the charge against him read, The King of the Jews. So these soldiers are now on their way out to Golgotha.

[15:16] We also call that Calvary. And what's going on here is they're bringing him to be crucified.

[15:32] Now did you notice they commandeer Simon of Cyrene who's coming in from the outskirts minding his own business and they force him to carry Jesus' cross. Do you wonder why?

[15:44] Why would they need someone to carry Jesus' cross? It's because Jesus is physically incapacitated. He's at the end of his rope physically.

[15:56] He is barely able to walk himself. He's been scourged. He's been beaten. This has been the longest all-nighter ever. He is just at the end of his rope. He's not going to be able to carry his cross.

[16:08] So they say, Hey, Simon, come. You bring it to Golgotha. Now there's two things about this you need to know. The first one is this.

[16:22] It's... Jesus is a bloody mess. He can't bear the weight of a cross. And then you're left asking, Wait, Simon, Simon, that rings a bell.

[16:37] Where's Simon Peter? Here. And it reminds you that he's been abandoned. They bring him to Calvary.

[16:50] Golgotha. Mark translates it. It's the place of a skull. It would be like when you see a pirate ship and you see the cross and skull bones or the skull and cross bones. And it's like floating death.

[17:04] When you would hear Golgotha, you would think death place where people die. Where Jesus will die. They offer him mixed wine with myrrh.

[17:18] It was a narcotic. It was designed to take the edge off the pain. He refuses it. He wants to have all of his faculties about him. In verse 24, as a matter of fact, Mark records they crucified him.

[17:32] They don't go into the details. We know from the other gospels they nailed him to a cross. What we're shown is the dividing of the garments. Also in verse 24.

[17:44] And that is an allusion to Psalm 22. This is the first of three in this passage. In Psalm 22.18, we read, They divide my garments among them and for my clothing they cast lots.

[18:00] This is right according to plan, gang. This is God's will being carried out. In verse 26, we read of a plate that they inscribe with a title, nail it to the cross above its head, the King of the Jews.

[18:19] That's the fifth time we've seen this title. And then we're given a time stamp in verse 25. Time stamps are important in your Bible because they start to slow the story down.

[18:32] It starts to kind of raise the tension a little bit. And the time stamp is the sixth hour, which is 9 a.m.

[18:47] And so what I want you to see is that Jesus is now nailed to the cross and the horizontal beam of the cross has been dropped into a hole on the top of Calvary and up on top is inscribed the King of the Jews.

[19:06] There's that title again. And now we come to scene scene 5. Scene 5 is we're introduced to three groups of spectators.

[19:22] Let me read it and you will see them. And with them they crucify two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, Aha!

[19:34] You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself and come down from the cross. So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another saying, He saved others.

[19:45] He cannot save himself. Let the quote-unquote Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross. that we may see and believe. Those who were crucified with him also reviled him.

[20:01] This was a reviling group of spectators. We were at Calvary. It's now just after 9 a.m. And the first group are these robbers.

[20:14] Verses 27 and 32. They are reviling him. We know from Luke that they are saying, If you are the Christ, save yourself and us.

[20:25] We know one of them is going to change his mind. But there's two things you need to know about those robbers. The first one is this. One's on the left, one's on the right.

[20:39] That should ring a bell. Because if you flip back to Mark chapter 10, Jesus is pulled aside by James and John, the sons of Zebedee, and they ask him, grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.

[21:01] Here is Jesus in his glory on the cross. And neither are there. Amen. What also is going on here is Isaiah 53, 12.

[21:18] It's the suffering servant is to be numbered with the transgressors. And he has been numbered with two robbers on either side of him. Which means this is all according to plan. We go from verse 27 to verse 29.

[21:33] And if you notice in your Bibles, there's no 28. And you're like, what? What's going on? There's nothing to fear. What is happening there is verse 28 was believed to be put in by scribes.

[21:47] It's not in the earliest, most reliable manuscripts. In verse 28, that showed up in later manuscripts, just simply said that this is the fulfillment of Isaiah 53, 12.

[22:00] But in verse 29, we're introduced to the second group of people, of spectators, passerbys, and the deriding Jesus. Look what they're doing. They're wagging their heads.

[22:11] And those who pass by derided him, wagging their heads. If you flip back, if you're just in Psalm 22, it's on page 540. This is the second allusion to Psalm 22, verse 7.

[22:22] All who see me, mock me. They make mouths at me. They wag their heads. It's all according to plan. Psalm 22 is about an innocent man who suffers and then is vindicated by God.

[22:44] Well, they're saying something. They're saying something with an earshot of Jesus. They're saying, uh-huh, see? See? You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days?

[22:55] It's what he was accused of in chapter 14. They have no idea what they're talking about. Because Jesus was referring to his body being raised on the third day.

[23:10] They totally miss it. They see, but they don't perceive. They're kind of like saying this, hey, if you're all that, like, if you were able to do that, save yourself, buddy.

[23:25] Come down from the cross. And they're missing it all because he's not going to come down from the cross.

[23:36] He's not trying to save himself. He's at the cross and will remain on the cross not to save himself but to save others.

[23:48] Totally missing it. He's on the cross as a ransom for many. In 31 and 32, the chief priests get in the mocking.

[24:01] They're mocking him to one another. It's almost self-congratulatory. It's like, you don't mess with a Sanhedrin. If you mess with a Sanhedrin, that's what happens. He saved others.

[24:14] He cannot save himself. We know otherwise. He cannot save himself. If he wanted to, he could call upon legions of angels to come and deliver him.

[24:29] But he doesn't because he's unwilling to come down from the cross. Out of love, he has gone to the cross.

[24:40] Out of obedience to his Father's will, he's on the cross because he's giving himself as a ransom for many. Not to save himself but to save others.

[24:56] What they say contains the sixth reference to king. Let the quote-unquote Christ, the king of Israel, these are Jews speaking, so they're not saying king of the Jews, they're saying king of Israel, come now now from the cross that we may see and believe.

[25:13] Again, the irony is so thick that they're calling him Christ, king of Israel but they obviously do not believe that.

[25:27] And they're saying if you would come down, we'll believe. But he's not going to come down. The king is not coming down.

[25:38] The king is going to stay on the cross and breathe his last. Not to save himself but to save us. They do not see it.

[25:52] Now, if they did see it and believed, they didn't. They didn't. They are looking at God's salvation and they don't see it.

[26:13] So, all of these spectators are deriding Jesus while he's on the cross. And there's that title, the king of Israel, the Christ.

[26:28] And now, we've come to the climax. Scene six. The crucified son of God. We've seen Pilate, crowds, soldiers, spectators, all interacting with this Jesus, all calling him the king of the Jews.

[26:50] But they don't see him for who he is. We've got another time stamp in verse 33. And when the sixth hour had come, there were darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.

[27:01] So, the sixth hour, well, that's noon. The ninth hour is 3 p.m. What's all this darkness? This is God showing up in a particular way.

[27:16] It's like when God, the plague of darkness on Egypt of judgment. This darkness is God's judgment. It's just judgment.

[27:29] gathering over Jesus, filling the whole land with darkness. All of God's wrath is being gathered here to be poured out.

[27:45] Do you know on whom? The one on the cross. Do you know who for? For all who would believe.

[27:58] Verse 34, we have another time stamp. And at the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice. Again, so at 3 p.m., Jesus cries out. Now, Jesus, Mark has recorded Jesus saying nothing since he was with Pilate.

[28:14] And he said, you say so. Jesus has said nothing. He's been like a sheep before being led to a slaughter. And here we have it. Jesus from the cross.

[28:27] This high point in the book, 3 p.m. on that first Good Friday. And Mark records what Jesus says in the original language, in Aramaic.

[28:39] And it's to emphasize what he said. It's to sear in your mind what Jesus actually said at this moment from the cross. Eloi, Eloi, lame sebechtani.

[28:55] And then he translates it. He says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? From the cross, darkness gathered, nailed, the King of the Jews above his head.

[29:09] This is the third reference to Psalm 22. It's actually verse 1 of Psalm 22. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

[29:21] It's all according to plan. It was the will of the Lord to crush Him. It's the word forsake.

[29:36] My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Jesus is experiencing something at this moment that all of us, all of us need to understand.

[29:50] Jesus is experiencing at this moment the wrath of God for all sin of all who would believe. He's experiencing all of God's wrath for all of your sin, for all of my sin.

[30:06] He's experiencing that in full on the cross. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? It registers as forsakenness.

[30:19] And He grabs hold of Psalm 22.1 to express it. This is the only time in the eternal existence of the Trinity in which the Father was wrathful towards the Son.

[30:35] Unbelievable. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? We know the answer. Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, the Son of God, willingly bore God's wrath.

[30:54] He was forsaken so that we would be forgiven. All of God's wrath for your sin and mine poured out on Jesus on that afternoon.

[31:09] In verses 35 and 36, there are more bystanders kind of there listening. They hear Jesus say, Eloi, Eloi, and they think it's Elijah, Elijah.

[31:19] They think He's calling Elijah. Totally misses it. They have eyes that do not perceive. They have ears that do not understand. Blessed, they turn and be forgiven.

[31:31] Isaiah 6, 9. They do not understand that immediately before Him is salvation being accomplished by the Son of God.

[31:56] Verse 7, Jesus utters a loud cry. The Gospel of John records it as, it is finished. Payment made. He breathes last.

[32:08] And He dies. And so in verse 37, Jesus is dead on the cross. On the Passover. The greatest sacrifice ever made for human sin.

[32:20] And what happens in verse 38 and 39 are two immediate results. Jesus breathes His last and then something happens to a curtain and then someone makes a confession.

[32:38] In verse 38, the curtain in the temple is torn in two. The curtain in the temple, there's actually two. They separated sinful people from being in the presence of a holy God.

[32:48] He breathes His last and the curtain is rend in two. Torn apart. And what it's a picture of is God has made access available to all sinners through the death of Jesus.

[33:06] Salvation accomplished. Did you notice it was from the top to the bottom? This is God's doing. Not our doing.

[33:16] God has made a way. The second result is in verse 39. Standing across from Jesus, watching Him suffer is a Roman centurion.

[33:36] Most likely a Gentile. Most likely an officer. He is charged over the kill squad. In verse 39, we read, and when the centurion who stood facing Him saw that in this way He breathed His last, He said, truly this man was the Son of God.

[33:57] And He means everything by that. Truly this man is the I Am. Truly this man is God in the flesh dying for humanity.

[34:08] truly, surely this man was the Son of God. Of all the human beings that we've seen, of all the human beings we've seen in the Gospel of Mark, all the chief priests, all the disciples, everyone healed, everyone raised from the dead, there is only one human being that confesses Jesus to be the Son of God.

[34:36] Surprise, surprise. it's one of the Romans who killed Him. In His death, in His glory, He's revealed as the Son of God.

[34:53] What's the point? What's the point of Mark 15, 1 through 39? It gets us facing the cross, doesn't it?

[35:09] Just like that centurion. Behold your crucified King, the Son of God, your salvation, my salvation.

[35:22] Behold your crucified King, the Son of God, our salvation. salvation. This passage, it makes that point in three ways. It uses irony.

[35:34] Do you remember that Jesus, that Barabbas was chosen in front of Jesus? Do you remember that? That's irony. Do you remember these kind of allusions to His missing disciples?

[35:48] but the irony that stands out most is person after person calling Jesus, referencing Him as the King of the Jews, but not meaning it.

[36:05] And the irony is He is the King of the Jews. He's the King of all. They're saying it, but not meaning it.

[36:19] He is the crucified King. Behold Him. It uses irony to get that out. But there's also fulfillment.

[36:31] Throughout Mark, we have allusion after allusion to Isaiah 53, three references to Psalm 22, not to mention the fulfillment of Jesus' own words in 831 and 931 and 1033 and 34 in Mark where He's saying I will be rejected, killed, and on the third day raised.

[36:51] All of these are addressing suffering Messiah, forsaken. it was God's plan all along.

[37:04] It was the will of the Lord to crush Him. It's fulfillment. This is God's plan. And not just irony, not just fulfillment, there is surprise. The only human being to confess Jesus as the Son of God is a Gentile centurion who's been overseeing who's been overseeing his killing.

[37:28] Surprise! Surprise! Mark, the narrator, says this at the beginning of Mark. In the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

[37:40] So Mark is arguing that Jesus, he wants to show us that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. God says, this is my beloved Son. Twice, baptism and transfiguration.

[37:52] Demons call Jesus the Son of God. Even a chief, the chief priest comes so close in 1461. Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed, the Son of God?

[38:04] But the only one to confess and believe that Jesus, only human, is the Son of God, is the centurion facing the cross.

[38:19] seeing Jesus in his death as the greatest king who has done the greatest act of love ever. Dying for his rebellious people to make him their own.

[38:36] Through irony and fulfillment, surprise, behold your crucified king, the Son of God, your salvation.

[38:47] salvation. This passage has two ways to respond. Response number one, see Jesus but not believe.

[39:01] See Jesus but not believe. Pilate, soldiers, crowds, robbers, passerbys, chief priests, bystanders, they see but they don't believe.

[39:14] Do you know what this means? It's possible to be real close to Jesus even to use the right titles but not believe.

[39:32] It's possible. And if you're not a Christian in the room and you've been giving Jesus lip service but you know you're not a follower of Jesus, you've got to ask the question this morning, is this true?

[39:49] You need to face the cross. You need to face the one hanging on the cross. And you need to ask the question, is it true? Is he God in the flesh hanging on the cross for your sins? Is it true?

[40:03] And for us Christians, here's what this reality says for those who see Jesus but don't believe. There will be people in our lives that we love dearly who see Jesus but they don't believe.

[40:19] They will be our children and our grandchildren. They will be parents and friends, fellow workers, even spouses. What this does is it ends up tempering us.

[40:34] heartache lies ahead followers of Jesus for those people we love who see but don't believe.

[40:46] We pray, we speak boldly, and we wait on our Lord. The second response to seeing and not believing is seeing and believing.

[41:01] Face the cross, you see the one hanging on it and you believe. You see Jesus mocked by Pilate and you realize he endured that for me.

[41:13] You see Jesus rejected by the crowds. They chose a murdering insurrectionist over the innocent king. He endured that for me and for you.

[41:26] Jesus mocked by soldiers. Hail king of the Jews! He did that for you and for me. crucified, reviled by passerbys.

[41:38] For you and for me. We believe it. But as we face the cross, what is most striking is that Jesus would bear God's wrath, breathe his last for you and for me.

[41:57] We believe it. He was forsaken. God's wrath poured out on him to have all of our sins forgiven. When we see this crucified Messiah, we believe he's our salvation.

[42:13] When we hear Golgotha, we hear place of the skull, dying place, and it's good news.

[42:24] this is what's of first importance. So if you believe, confess him as the son of God.

[42:35] Confess it to him. You are the Christ. You are the son of man. You are the son of God. You are the I am. You are my king. Confess it to him. Not just confess it, follow him.

[42:50] If he's done all this for us, deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow him. We proclaim him. We proclaim a crucified king.

[43:05] For some, it's utterly scandalous. It's disgusting. To others, it's just ridiculous. But for those who like us are being saved, it is the power of God unto salvation.

[43:27] Let me close by saying this. This Thanksgiving, Christian, you're going to have the opportunity to share what you're most thankful for.

[43:41] And when you face the cross, and you see what this king did for you, oh, you've got more than enough to share.

[43:53] And it doesn't limit it to a feast this Thursday. You've got something to share all the time. Despite your circumstances, you have something that God has done for you.

[44:05] So, this Thanksgiving, when you've been given the opportunity to share what you're thankful for, here's what you can say without apology and without qualification, I'm thankful that Jesus, my king, died for me.

[44:21] I'm thankful that I'm forgiven. Behold your crucified king, the son of God, our salvation, and give thanks.

[44:35] Next Sunday, we will behold our risen king who's reigning. Let's pray. God in heaven, thank you so much for Mark 15, 1-39.

[44:48] Thank you, Father, for giving us a line of sight once again to face the cross of what you've done. Father, thank you for making a way through the death of your son for us to come into your presence.

[45:02] Thank you for forgiving us of all of our sins, past, present, and future. At that moment, he paid it all, and we are so grateful so thankful.

[45:16] Lord, we confess you as the Son of God, and we recognize Golgotha as, yes, a killing place, but our place of salvation.

[45:30] In your name we pray. Amen. Amen. Let's grace see you as the peace of you as the holy communities.