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[0:00] We're going to read now from the Word of God and we're going to read in John's Gospel, John chapter 19, a passage about the crucifixion of Christ.

[0:13] So John chapter 19 and from the beginning, let's hear the Word of God.

[0:31] Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him, and the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and arrayed him in a purple robe.

[0:50] They came up to him saying, Hail, King of the Jews, and struck him with their hands. Pilate went out again and said to them, See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.

[1:07] So Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, Behold the man.

[1:18] When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate said to them, Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.

[1:32] The Jews answered him, We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die, because he has made himself the son of God. When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid.

[1:45] He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, Where are you from? But Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate said to him, You will not speak to me?

[1:58] Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you? Jesus answered him, You would have no authority over me at all, unless it had been given you from above.

[2:10] Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin. From then on, Pilate sought to release him. But the Jews cried out, If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend.

[2:23] Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar. So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called the Stone Pavement.

[2:36] And in Aramaic, Gabbatha. Now it was the day of preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, Behold, you are king.

[2:48] They cried out, Away with him. Away with him, crucify him. Pilate said to them, Shall I crucify your king? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.

[2:59] So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called the place of a skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha.

[3:17] There they crucified him. And with him, two others, one on either side. And Jesus between them. Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross.

[3:27] It read, Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews. Many of the Jews read this inscription. For the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city.

[3:41] And it was written in Aramaic and Latin and in Greek. So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, Do not write the king of the Jews. But rather this man said, I am king of the Jews.

[3:54] Pilate answered, What I have written, I have written. Then the soldiers had crucified Jesus. When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts.

[4:07] One part for each soldier. Also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. So they said to one another, Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to see whose it shall be.

[4:24] This was to fulfill the scripture which says, They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. So the soldiers did these things.

[4:35] But standing by the cross of Jesus, were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. And when Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, Woman, behold your son.

[4:53] Then he said to the disciple, Behold your mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own home. After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said to fulfill the scripture, I thirst.

[5:10] A jar full of sour wine stood there. So they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. And when Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, It is finished.

[5:22] And he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. Amen. And we pray for God's blessing on that portion of his holy word. So we're going to look at a...

[5:33] Well, if you can turn back to John, John chapter 19. John chapter 19. John chapter 19. And as we prepare to come and sit at the Lord's table later on in the service, it's right and proper to focus our thoughts on the events of the cross of our Lord and Saviour.

[6:06] It's right to think about the sufferings of Jesus. And the cross, in many ways, it is the pivotal moment, really in the whole of scripture, and indeed not just the whole of scripture.

[6:20] It's the pivotal moment in the whole of history itself. That moment where the Son of God, the Messiah himself, he endures what is one of the most torturous, cruelest, most painful forms of death that was ever invented by man.

[6:40] Now, what made the death of Christ bad was not just the physical element of what he went through, but nevertheless there was that physical element. It's a spiritual side as well, which I'll come on to, but it was a horrendous physical ordeal to actually go through.

[6:55] And the event itself, as we've read it there in John 19, it's actually recounted for us in all four of the Gospels. We have four accounts of the death of Christ.

[7:08] And you see the Lord's wisdom in that as well, in that he's given us four accounts. Because if you think about this as the pivotal moment in all of history, pivotal moment in the whole of scripture itself, it makes sense that we get a lot of detail about it.

[7:23] And because we have four Gospel accounts, we have a lot of detail. You know, when you gather all the detail together, all the physical details of what happened during those hours, it's actually a lot, a lot of little small, or what might seem to us as little small physical details, but details that teach us something, details that teach us something about what's going on spiritually.

[7:44] And that's the thing when you look at the events of the cross, all these little things that are going on, even around the cross itself, all these little physical details, they teach us something spiritually.

[7:56] They teach us about the spiritual sufferings that our Lord went through. And today, I want us to focus on John's account of the cross, and I want to pick out one little detail.

[8:07] Well, it's a big detail in many ways, but it's one of many details. And the thing I want to focus our thoughts on is in verse 17 there, Jesus bearing his own cross.

[8:20] We read there that he went out, verse 17, bearing his own cross to the place called the place of a skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha.

[8:32] So Jesus bearing his cross. That picture there. And what I want to do, I haven't really got points as such for this morning. What I want to do is to kind of follow through this journey that Jesus goes on.

[8:45] Because he does, he goes on a journey here, carrying this cross, bearing this cross, bearing it through the streets of the city, outside the city walls, eventually to Golgotha itself, where he's nailed onto the cross.

[8:59] So I just want to follow this journey that he's going on. Follow him as he's bearing the cross. And you see there from the verse there that he's clearly carrying his own cross.

[9:11] He's carrying his cross to the place of execution. And that was fairly common practice in the Roman form of execution, certainly at this particular time period.

[9:23] They would get those who were being crucified to carry their cross. So they would carry at least a part of the cross to the place of execution itself.

[9:34] And here, you know, sometimes we imagine maybe Jesus carrying the whole cross. That's more than likely not what happened. More than likely the vertical section, the vertical part of the cross is actually in situ in the place of execution itself.

[9:52] And what the victims would, in this case Jesus, would be carrying would be the cross beam. So that cross beam section where eventually his hands would be nailed to, that's most likely the section that he's bearing and the section that he's carrying here.

[10:10] And, you know, that would have been difficult to carry. Because although I'm saying it's just a cross beam, you know, it would have been a pretty hefty piece of wood. It's a large piece of wood to carry.

[10:22] And if you're going to carry a large piece of wood like that, more than likely you're going to bear it. You're going to go under it and carry it on your back, on your shoulder. And that is, again, the most likely way that people would carry that part of the cross to their place of execution.

[10:40] So you can imagine Jesus there with the cross beam and under it in some way, on his shoulder, on his back in some way. And, again, that would have been hard as well.

[10:52] I mean, yes, on the human level, after all, he was fully human. It's hard in terms of the weight. But it's especially hard for Jesus in this context. Because we read earlier on in the narrative that Jesus had actually, by this point, he'd been flogged.

[11:10] So there's already been a scourging taking place. And that was another terrible ordeal. It's not just a, you know, I remember thinking this was just a whipping.

[11:22] It's not just a whipping. It's not just a whip on the back at all. The Roman scourging was a torturous thing. What they would do is they would tie little hard things, bits of bone and things like that, to the bottom of the whip.

[11:38] And then they would whip the back. And rather than just cause pain, it would strip the skin from the back itself. So it was a terrible thing to actually experience.

[11:50] And Jesus, he'd experienced this even before he takes the cross on his back. So he's already, even before this journey, he's drained. Drained more so than many other criminals would have been by this point.

[12:03] He's beaten and bloody. It's not the case that all the, for example, the thieves or the other criminals, they wouldn't necessarily have been flogged beforehand. But Jesus was. So he was in a worse state to begin with at the beginning of this journey than most people were.

[12:17] So he's drained. He's beaten. He's bloody. He's in great pain as well. And he's weak physically. He was physically speaking weak at that point.

[12:29] And now he has to carry this cross. Now he has to bear the weight of this substantial piece of wood. And you can imagine with the wood on his back, you can imagine the blood going all over that piece of wood.

[12:41] You can imagine that cross being to be almost covered in the blood of Jesus. How else would he have got it there without his blood getting all over it? And, you know, thinking about that image there of his blood being smeared onto the cross beam, it's similar to, remember if you think back to the Exodus.

[12:59] And think back to that time where the Israelites were coming out of Egypt. And remember the Lord on that Passover night. He told them to slay the Passover lamb and to take the blood, take the blood of the lamb and to apply it to their doorposts and their lintel.

[13:17] And here you have Jesus, the true Passover lamb. And here he is and his blood is quite literally smeared, applied to this wooden cross beam as he's carrying it.

[13:28] And of course he's carrying it as the true Passover lamb of God himself. So you can imagine him there carrying this wood with his blood soaked back as he makes his way.

[13:43] Now, some of you might be thinking at that point when you're imagining Jesus carrying this cross, you might think, well, wait a second, I thought somebody else carried the cross.

[13:54] I thought Simon of Cyrene carried the cross of Jesus. Because, as you'll know, in three of the other gospel accounts, that's exactly what we read. That Simon of Cyrene was carrying the cross of Jesus.

[14:08] So, for example, in Matthew chapter 27 and verse 32, we read this. Now, as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name, whom they compelled to bear his cross.

[14:24] So, what's going on there? Who carried Jesus' cross? Did Jesus carry his cross? Did he carry it himself?

[14:34] Or did Simon of Cyrene carry the cross? Is that a contradiction? Are the other gospels contradicting themselves? Now, that's not the case at all. And I think the explanation is fairly straightforward. It's clearly the case that Jesus, because of the physical weakness of having been scourged, he would have struggled to carry the cross itself the whole way.

[14:54] So, there must have been a point at which the soldiers saw that he's never going to make it, get Simon of Cyrene, they see Simon of Cyrene, they compel Simon of Cyrene to come and effectively to help Jesus carrying the cross.

[15:06] So, both are true. Yes, Simon carried it, but so too Jesus did as well. Both things are true. But importantly here, John doesn't mention Simon. See, John doesn't really want us to think about Simon.

[15:18] He's not saying Simon wasn't there, but his focus is on the fact that Jesus carried the cross, which he did. Now, why does John do that? Why does John focus on that?

[15:29] When the other gospel writers tell us about Simon, John just specifically focuses on Jesus carrying it. And that's because he wants us very much to focus on Christ. And he wants us to focus on the obedience of Christ here.

[15:42] The obedience of Christ towards his father as he's there carrying this wooden cross to the site of execution, where he was going to become an atoning sacrifice for the sins of his people.

[15:55] And again, if you think about that, Jesus carrying the wood. And then if you go back, I know we looked at Exodus a few moments ago, but if you go back again to Genesis, now if you think about the story of Abraham and Isaac, I think that that story is relevant at this point as well.

[16:13] Because there at Mount Moriah, remember God was testing Abraham. And he was testing Abraham to see if Abraham was willing to sacrifice his own son.

[16:24] To sacrifice his own son. And when we're thinking about that narrative of Abraham and Isaac, very often we think about the obedience of Abraham there, how hard that must have been for Abraham. And of course it would have been.

[16:35] It would have been hard. But it's not just the obedience of Abraham that you see there. You see the obedience of Isaac as well. Because Isaac wasn't just a young child. Isaac was a teenager at this point.

[16:47] He would have been able to overpower his father if he wanted to. And there in that scene, Isaac is carrying the wood for his own sacrifice.

[16:58] Remember? Remember, Isaac himself is actually carrying the wood. He's the one who's lifting up the wood. There's this wood that was going to be used for the sacrifice. And of course he himself was intended to be sacrificed on that altar.

[17:11] And he's carrying that wood to the place of sacrifice. And here Jesus is doing the same. Just like Isaac carried the wood. Jesus here, he's carrying the wood for his sacrifice.

[17:22] Carrying the wood to the location where he would give his life. And Isaac, he did that out of obedience to his father. He did all that he did out of obedience to his father.

[17:35] And that's true of Christ as well. When you see Christ here carrying this cross, he's not lifting this cross because the Roman soldiers are telling him to. He's not lifting this cross because the Jewish leaders want him to.

[17:49] He is doing this because this is his father's will. It's my father's will that I am crucified on that cross. And I will take this wooden cross and I will make my way there.

[18:01] He does it in obedience to his father. Out of love for his father and love for his people as well. And in Genesis, remember again the Abraham story.

[18:12] When Abraham had laid his son on the altar of sacrifice. Famously of course the Lord intervenes at that point. Sends his angel and he says, no, stop.

[18:24] Just when the dagger is about to be thrust into Isaac. Stop. Stop. Don't do it. And the Lord then at that point he promises to provide another sacrifice. A substitution.

[18:36] And in that Genesis narrative, the substitution is a ram. A ram caught in a thicket and a ram becomes the sacrifice at that point.

[18:48] But that's not the true substitute. The ram wasn't the substitute for Isaac. The ram was pointing forward to something else. The ram of course was pointing forward to the Lord Jesus Christ.

[19:01] Instead of Abraham sacrificing his son, God was going to sacrifice. Sacrifice his own son. And that's what we're seeing happening here. This is all a fulfillment of what you saw there in Genesis.

[19:15] Even what you saw in Exodus as well. And you picture here Jesus with this, the wood for a sacrifice on his back. Just like Isaac. And I mentioned at the beginning that all these physical things that you see are intended to teach us about what's going on spiritually as well.

[19:34] And I think that's true here of this wooden cross on the back of Jesus. Because when you see him there with the weight of the cross on his back, it's as though you see him as carrying much more than just the weight of a cross.

[19:47] He is carrying the weight of the sin of his people. And that's true, isn't it? As he's making his way there to Calvary, he's there and he is carrying the weight of his people's sin.

[20:03] That weight that, as it were, gets heavier and heavier. The more he goes on, the weight of that getting more extreme, the closer he gets to the cross itself.

[20:13] He's the sin bearer. He is the sin bearer. He's not just a cross bearer. Yes, he's bearing the cross, but he's bearing something you can't see. At least you can't see with physical eyes. He's bearing sin.

[20:24] He's carrying the sin of his people there to the cross. So, for example, Isaiah 53. The prophet Isaiah tells us about the suffering servant.

[20:35] And he says there, For he shall bear their iniquities. He shall bear it. Carry. He shall bear the iniquities of his people. Again, in the New Testament as well, Peter, the Apostle Peter, he tells us in his epistle that Jesus bore our sins in his own body on the tree.

[20:55] He bore our sins. So, he's not just carrying a wooden cross here. So, when you see him making his way to the cross, don't just think about the physical weight or a cross. He is there bearing, carrying the sins of his people.

[21:08] A physical weight, yes, but more importantly than that, a spiritual weight. Now, when, this is a question that theologians sometimes ask.

[21:20] When did Jesus become the sin bearer? When was sin placed on him? And there's a bit of debate, actually, as to when exactly that was.

[21:34] We know for sure that when he's on the cross itself and when he's being crucified, definitely, at that point, he is bearing sin. He is the sin bearer. The Lord is dealing with him there as though he were sin himself.

[21:49] Not a sinner, but sin. Bearing the sin of his people. So, that's true. Definitely on the cross we can say he's the sin bearer. But the question is, does the sin bearing start at that point?

[21:59] Does it only start at the cross itself? Well, surely, his sin bearing began actually earlier than that. It's on the cross that he atones for sin.

[22:10] It's on the cross that he experiences the wrath of God, yes. But he has been the sin bearer his whole life. He's come into the world as the sin bearer. He's entered into the world as the sin bearer.

[22:21] And there's just a sense in which he has been the sin bearer throughout his life on earth. And you see that even in what he's going through himself. You know, even before you get to the cross, he starts to feel something of the weight of sin.

[22:34] The sorrow of it. The depth of what he has to go through. So, for example, in John chapter 12. And this is when he's in Jerusalem. A few days before his death.

[22:46] A few days before the events of the cross. And he says this. My soul is troubled. And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour.

[22:57] But for this purpose, I came to this hour. So, you sense even at that point. That's a few days before the cross. You sense something there.

[23:08] Of Jesus experiencing something of the weight of sin. Of the suffering that he's actually going to go through. And as you sort of progress through that point. And as you read on through the gospel narrative.

[23:21] It's like you see the weight of that sin getting heavier and heavier. The reality of what lies before him. Becoming more and more real all the time. And then you're in the garden of Gethsemane.

[23:33] Remember in the garden of Gethsemane. He's sweating blood. I mean, that is extreme. That's an extreme physical response to what he's going through. He's sweating blood.

[23:44] And then he says, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful. Even to death. So, even at that point, there's an element of the spiritual suffering beginning. He's sorrowful.

[23:54] Even to death itself. The weight of sin bearing down more and more heavily on him. So, as you see Jesus struggling, as it were, under the physical weight of his cross.

[24:09] And carrying that as part of his physical suffering. You cannot but look at him in that spiritual sense and see him bearing something much worse. Bearing the sin of his people.

[24:21] My sin. Your sin. Here today. Jesus. Bearing that as he makes his way. And as he goes to suffer in a way in which we can't even begin to imagine.

[24:34] You can maybe imagine the physical side. Because we know what pain is like. There was other people that experienced what crucifixion itself. The physical element of it.

[24:45] But nobody's experienced what Jesus went through spiritually. And the physical side. That helps us to understand something of the spiritual. But we'll never grasp the magnitude of what it was that Jesus went through there on the cross.

[25:00] So, we follow Jesus then as he carries this cross. And one of the reasons that the Romans made the people carry their cross was to humiliate them.

[25:12] You know, it was full of shame and humiliation. And they wanted to do that. They wanted to humiliate these people. And here you see Jesus carrying the cross.

[25:23] Yes, as our sin bearer. But not just bearing our sin. Bearing our shame. Bearing our guilt. Bearing our humiliation as well. And again, that's quite something. To see Jesus doing this for us.

[25:35] Bearing our shame. He doesn't have to do this. But he does this because of his love for his people. And that's quite something. That the Son of God. The God-Man. The one through whom all things were made.

[25:50] The one through whom this piece of wood on his back even exists. It's through him. The soldiers who are leading him. It's him who has effectively given breath to these soldiers.

[26:02] The one through whom everything is made. And here he is. The Son of God. And he's shamed. And he's humiliated. In this unspeakable way here. And the nature of the cross carrying exercise.

[26:18] It wasn't just to humiliate. It wasn't just to shame. It was also to act as a deterrent. A deterrent to deter anyone else from breaking the laws of Rome.

[26:29] And that's why they wanted to make this a public spectacle. That's why Jesus is taken through the streets. He's not taken a direct route. He's taken through the streets to make sure as many people as possible see.

[26:41] See and witness these events. And there would have been a lot of people looking on at that. And here we are. You know thousands of years later.

[26:51] And we're like bystanders. Watching Jesus here. And we have to ask ourselves. What do we think? Can we imagine Jesus carrying the cross bearing sin? What do we think? And you know for some people.

[27:04] They would read this. And hear me speaking just now. And say well Jesus he was a poor innocent man. And he was dealt with very unfairly. You know by the religious leaders.

[27:15] And they might feel sorry for him. And maybe even feel compassion for him. And perhaps maybe that's how you feel yourself. But of course as the Lord's people we see much more than that.

[27:27] We don't just feel sorry for Jesus. We don't just see a man who was treated unfairly. When we put our faith in Christ. And the spirit opens our eyes. We look at Jesus here.

[27:38] And we see him carrying our sin. Our shame. Our humiliation. Our cross. You see we're not just bystanders.

[27:49] Independently looking on watching these things. We're involved. Because as a Lord's people we are responsible. It's because of our sin that he's going through all this.

[27:59] Everything that we're reading of and thinking about here. It's because of us. It's because of our sinfulness. That he's enduring all. That he's enduring here.

[28:09] And he makes his way. And he walks through. With all the shame connected to it. In that very public way. And eventually. He makes his way outside the city walls.

[28:21] So he walks through. He gets outside the city walls. Carrying the cross. And probably at this point. Simon of Sidini is probably helping him. By this point. But he's carrying the cross outside the city walls.

[28:33] And again. There's an Old Testament link there as well. I already mentioned the Old Testament link with Isaac. And the similarities between what Jesus is doing here.

[28:44] And Isaac carrying the wood for his sacrifice. Well. There's also a similarity here with the scapegoat. Remember the scapegoat. In Leviticus chapter 16.

[28:55] The scapegoat. That was. That was. Something that happened at the time of the Day of Atonement. It was one of their big festivals that they had. Back in the Old Testament. And as part of the Day of Atonement.

[29:06] The priest. The high priest would. Would take a goat. And he would put his hand on the goat's head. And then he would confess the sins of the nation. And. In a kind of. I suppose.

[29:16] A symbolic way. The sin was being transferred. Onto the goat. And the goat. In that sense. Becomes the. The sin bearer.

[29:26] And. Then what would happen is. In Leviticus 16. You can read it if you want. Later on. The goat would then be led outside the city walls. Just like Jesus. Led outside the city walls.

[29:37] And then the goat would be. Taken into the wilderness. Into the abyss of the wilderness. And the image was. This idea of. Our sin being taken from us. Onto someone else. And then. That someone else.

[29:48] Taking our sin far away. That was the picture of the scapegoat. What the scapegoat was. Was doing. And here. That's what Jesus is doing. He's the sin bearer. Bearing our sin.

[29:59] Bearing the sins of all his people. And he's led there. Just like the goat. Outside the city walls. Walls. And he's taken outside the city walls. This picture of our sin being removed. But of course.

[30:09] Jesus. Isn't taken into the wilderness. He's taken onto this hill of death. This place of a skull. Golgotha. And then he arrives at Golgotha.

[30:20] So he's gone on all that journey. With a cross. And he arrives there. And he arrives at Golgotha. And at that point. The soldiers. Lay Jesus on this cross beam. And then they drive the nails into his hands.

[30:34] And they drive the nails into the vertical. Into his feet. In the vertical part of the cross as well. And the cross is lifted up. And at that point. As gravity takes hold.

[30:47] The physical sufferings of Christ. Really begin. At that point. At that point. He's no longer just carrying his cross. Now he's nailed to it. He's nailed to it.

[30:57] And he might have felt the weight of that cross. Hard and heavy to bear. When he was carrying it to Golgotha. But now. Now his sufferings enter into a whole new sphere.

[31:08] As he is nailed to this cross. And as the weight of his body is hanging from that cross. Now. Now his sufferings really begin.

[31:19] And there you have the climax of his suffering. And just as his physical suffering is climaxing. So too. His spiritual suffering is climaxing as well.

[31:29] Because remember as I said. Remember he's bearing sin. He's a sin bearer. And we've seen evidences of him experiencing something of the weight of that sin. Up until this point.

[31:40] But now. Now the spiritual suffering. Now that enters into this new phase. When he's nailed there to the cross. You see. In John 12.

[31:51] His soul was troubled. In the garden of Gethsemane. His soul was exceedingly sorrowful unto death. But now. Now that he's on the cross. Now.

[32:02] He enters into a whole new phase. He plummets to new depths. And he says there. My God. My God. Why have you forsaken me? And as he's nailed there to that cross.

[32:15] It's as though he's nailed to the very sins of his people. As I said earlier. At no point does Jesus become a sinner. At no point can we say Jesus was a sinner. But we can say Jesus was sin.

[32:27] And that's exactly what's happening there. As our sin bearer. As God the Father looks at Jesus here. He sees sin. He sees the sins of his people. Jesus was never a sinner.

[32:39] But there he is bearing. He is bearing sin itself. And he experiences God's just punishment for sin. It's unleashed. And it's unleashed.

[32:50] On his own son. And. That's where our difference comes in. Between what I mentioned earlier on with Isaac. Because I mentioned the similarities with Jesus and Isaac.

[33:01] You know. Isaac carrying the wood to the place of sacrifice. Jesus carrying the wood to the place of sacrifice. Isaac being bound by his father. Jesus being bound by his father as well.

[33:12] Because. Make no mistake. Even though it's the Roman soldiers who are physically binding Jesus here to the cross. This is the Father's will. This is the Father. Who's very much involved in it as well.

[33:26] But there's a difference. There's a big difference. And the big difference is that when Abraham took his dagger to slay his son. And I said earlier. Remember. The Lord came.

[33:38] The angel of the Lord came and said stop. Stop. Don't do this. Don't harm the lad. But here. God doesn't say stop. Here the Father doesn't come and before Jesus is crucified say stop.

[33:51] There's no angel sent. To stop this. At all. Here. He takes the sword of his justice. The Father takes the sword of his own justice. And he thrusts it into the very heart and soul of his own son here.

[34:07] And that's quite something. You have to think about that. The active nature of what the Father is doing. The Father isn't passive in this. There's an active element. The Father with the sword of his justice thrusting it into his son.

[34:19] And Christ here. Yes he's enduring physical pain. But that is nothing. That is nothing compared to the pain he experiences. The spiritual pain of experiencing the sword of the Father's justice piercing his soul.

[34:35] And he experiences at that point the very pains of hell itself. And he experiences that. In order that we might be saved. And you can look at that and say.

[34:46] How can God treat his son like that? And some people will say things like that. How can God treat his son like that? But the thing is. When God looked at Jesus at that point. He sees my sin.

[34:58] He sees your sin. He is the sin bearer. And he experiences there. The wrath of God on sin. And he does that.

[35:09] In our place. And as we sit and look at that scene there. We marvel at what he did for us. We're amazed at what he did for us. And he did that for us in order that we might be cleansed.

[35:22] And that's why just a few moments now we're going to come to the table. And we're going to remember what he did. Because this is what he did for us. Because of our sin. So that we might be saved.

[35:33] And it's our duty to come. And to remember that remarkable sacrifice of our Lord and our Saviour. So what we're going to do is. We're going to pause for a few moments here.

[35:43] We're going to sing. Then we're going to come to the table. And I'll carry on by looking at some of these things. Just for a few moments afterwards. So we're going to sing just now in Psalm 118.

[35:58] Psalm 118. That's in the Scottish Psalter. So Psalm 118. And verse 15.

[36:17] Verse 15 down to the verse marked 21. And dwellings of the righteous is heard the melody of joy and health the Lord's right hand. Do they ever valiantly this picture of victory.

[36:29] And remember that's the crosses. The crosses and the defeat. For all the world it looks like a defeat. You know it looks like death and a defeat. But it's not. It's a victory. A living victory as well.

[36:41] Of joy and health the Lord's right hand. That ever valiantly the right hand of the mighty Lord exalted is on high. And then in verse 20 there you read about this gate.

[36:52] This is the gate of God. By it the just shall enter in. And who is that gate? But Christ himself. Christ is the gate that we enter through. And that's the only way of access into the God's kingdom.

[37:03] The only way of access into the Lord's presence. Jesus Christ himself. It's poor to remember that. Christ is. The Psalms are all about Christ. Some people say Christ isn't in the Psalms.

[37:14] He absolutely is. It's all about him. And he's very much there in this Psalm as well. The stone that the builders rejected. Again that's our Lord and Saviour. So we'll sing Psalm 118 verse 15 down to the verse marked 21.

[37:29] To the praise of God as we make our way now to the table of the Lord. to the taşple này.

[38:02] So we must visit the Purpose Qu old we call it from pottas and pottas and pottas. So we will pray that there will be all the way of Accesschu up until the of the Holy gehtпис and pottas.

[38:17] I am all the mighty voice, I am the highest king.

[38:29] I shall not die, you can't die, I am all the mighty voice, I am all the mighty lord.

[38:48] I am all the mighty maar, I shall not die, I am all the mighty woeel, Amen.

[39:32] Amen. Well, we now come to the table of our Lord, the table of the King himself.

[40:00] And we remember the death of our King. Of course, much has been made in recent days of the death of our Queen, and rightly so. But today, we come to remember the death of our King.

[40:13] And even in the text that we saw there in John chapter 19, we read there of Pilate. Remember, Pilate puts a title, an inscription. You see that in verse 19. An inscription over the head of Jesus.

[40:26] And it says, Jesus, the King. The King of the Jews. Now, he did that to annoy the Jews. But nevertheless, Pilate was right. There, hanging on that cross, is our Lord and our King.

[40:38] And that's who ought to sit at the Lord's table. That's who ought to partake of the elements. Those who see the Lord as their King. Those who acknowledge Jesus as their Lord and King.

[40:52] And as we come to the table now, I just want to read a few verses again from that passage we read in John 19. And reading in verse 23.

[41:03] Just a couple of verses. And we read there. When the soldiers had crucified Jesus. They took his garments and divided them into four parts. One part for each soldier.

[41:15] Also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless. Woven in one piece from top to bottom. So they said to one another. Let us not tear it. But cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.

[41:27] This was to fulfill the scripture which says. They divided my garments among them. And for my clothing. They cast lots. So the soldiers did these things.

[41:40] So there you have a remarkable picture really. Of one of the soldiers getting, receiving the garment of Christ.

[41:51] So presumably at the end of this day, at the end of these events at the cross. One soldier walks away with the garment of Jesus. The garment of the Lord himself. And the reason I highlight that is because when we come to the table of the Lord.

[42:05] Lord, we come to the table of our King. And we feel, spiritually speaking, underdressed for such an occasion. We are aware that we are coming with filthy rags of our own righteousness.

[42:20] We are so aware of the fact we are sinners. And we sometimes sit at the Lord's table and we think to ourselves. My presence here. Marge. The beauty and the glory of such an occasion. How can I as a sinner, I think of all the things I have done.

[42:33] I think of who I am. How can I sit at the table of the Lord? How can a sinner like me sit at the table of the King? But then we read in scripture that we have been clothed for this.

[42:46] We have not dressed ourselves. We have been dressed by the Lord. Because just as here in that passage, one of the soldiers receives the garment of Jesus. We are told in scripture that we receive the garment of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[43:02] Everyone who puts their faith in Christ. We receive the garment of Christ. Because I was talking earlier on about Jesus being our sin bearer. Taking our sins. But he doesn't just take from us.

[43:12] He gives us. He gives us something. And he gives us the garment of his own righteousness. The robe of his own righteousness. It's as though he takes it off himself. And through his work on the cross, he places it around our shoulders.

[43:26] So that now when God looks down at us. When he looks down at the table. He sees us as blameless. He sees us as blameless. Our sins covered.

[43:38] He sees us as righteous. Our faults covered. And covered because we are robed. Not with our own clothing. Not with our own righteousness. But we are robed with the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ himself.

[43:52] See this table isn't a table for sinless people. It isn't a table for perfect people. It's a table for sinners. But it's a table for sinners who are clothed. And who are robed in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[44:05] But our king, he doesn't just robe us. Clothe us. He feeds us as well. And that's what we have today. We have these elements of the Lord's Supper.

[44:16] We have the broken bread. And the wine as well. Representing his shed blood. And usually when a king would put on a banquet.

[44:28] We've heard a lot about banquets over the last few days. With the light of the queen's passing. And usually if a king was to put on a banquet. He would get servants to prepare the meal.

[44:40] But our king, he doesn't just invite us to the table. He doesn't just clothe us. But he feeds us and he prepares that meal for us. This is a meal prepared by him.

[44:51] Not by some servants. Not by someone else. A meal prepared by him. Through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is a meal like no other. It doesn't look much, does it?

[45:02] When you look at it. Just some bread and some wine. A very simple meal. It doesn't look like an expensive meal. You've probably been for meals that look much more expensive than this.

[45:14] But this meal here is actually the most expensive meal that you'll ever partake of. It's a meal that's free to us. But it costs more than we could imagine. It costs the very blood of the God-man himself.

[45:29] Freely received by us. But at a great cost. A cost that we can't even begin to imagine. And as we partake of these elements now. We're going to think about these things.

[45:40] Think about what our King has done. Think about his death. Think about how his robe does. Think about what he's provided for us. All through his death on the cross.

[45:52] And what we're going to do now is we're going to read our warrant for the Lord's Supper. So we'll read in 1 Corinthians 11 and from verse 23 down to verse 29.

[46:06] So this is a warrant for the supper itself. So let's hear the word of God. For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you.

[46:19] That the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread. And when he had given thanks he broke it and said this is my body which is for you.

[46:30] Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way also he took the cup after supper saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.

[46:43] For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Whoever therefore eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner.

[46:55] Will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself then. And so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment to himself.

[47:12] Amen. We pray for God's blessing on that reading of his word. So according to the institution command and example of our Lord and Saviour we're going to give thanks.

[47:24] So let's bow our heads and give thanks to the Lord. Heavenly Father as we come now to your table.

[47:38] We come humbled. Very much aware of our sinfulness. Very much aware of the different ways in which we have failed you even perhaps since we last sat at the Lord's table.

[47:51] But we are reminded as well that we come here not on our own merits. We don't come here because of our own righteousness. But we come because we are robed in the righteous robes of our Lord and Saviour.

[48:02] And how we give thanks for that. That we give thanks for the mercy with which you have shown us. And we pray that as we take these elements now. The broken bread and the wine.

[48:14] Symbols of the broken body and the shed blood of our Lord and Saviour. That we would take these things by faith. And that we would remember what Jesus has done for us. We have reflected somewhat on elements of the sufferings of our Lord today.

[48:29] And help us to not be detached from that. Sometimes we can be because of the nature of the way in which these events took place 2,000 years ago. And we can think of ourselves as being disconnected from these things.

[48:41] But your word reminds us that we are very much connected. That it is because of our sinfulness. Because of what we have done. That our Saviour died. And then because he has died.

[48:54] We can now be washed and made new. And may these thoughts go through our minds. Even as we partake of these elements now. And help us to remember the sense in which we are a community as well.

[49:07] The fellowship side as well. That we are taking us together. As a family of the Lord's people. As sons and daughters of the King. Of kings himself. And we come with that in mind.

[49:18] So bless these things to us we ask. Cleanse us from sin. For Jesus sake. Amen. Amen. That the Lord Jesus.

[49:29] On the night when he was betrayed. Took bread. And when he had given thanks. He broke it. And said. This is my body. Which is for you.

[49:42] Do this. In remembrance. Of me. Let us eat. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. In the same manner also.

[50:18] He took the cup after supper. Saying. This cup. Is the new covenant. In my blood. Do this. As often as you drink it.

[50:30] In remembrance. Of me. Let us drink. For as often as you eat this bread.

[50:49] And drink the cup. You proclaim. The Lord's death. Until he comes. Again. Let us pray. Heavenly Father.

[51:01] We have come. And we have partaken. Of these elements. And we pray. Oh Lord. That they would do us good. That they would nourish us. Not only in body. But especially in soul.

[51:11] And that we would go away. From this place. Refreshed. And reinvigorated. With a new boldness. To proclaim the death of the Lord. To others. We have proclaimed it here today ourselves. But help us to proclaim it.

[51:23] To those in our communities. Those we interact with each day. That others too may taste and see. That the Lord is indeed good. Oh may we receive these things.

[51:34] And may we receive them with gratitude in our hearts. And we ask that you would wash us from our sin. For Jesus sake. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.