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[0:00] It shows us that God has not just arrived, but has personally entered into the sorrow and brokenness of our world.

[0:20] Tonight we're looking at Mark 14, starting in verse 32, where Jesus, after eating the Passover with his disciples, comes with them to the Garden of Gethsemane.

[0:33] So let's pick up there in verse 32. Mark writes, and they went to a place called Gethsemane, and he, that is Jesus, said to his disciples, sit here while I pray.

[0:47] And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, my soul is very sorrowful even to death.

[0:59] Remain here and watch. And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible for you.

[1:13] Remove this cup from me, yet not what I will, but what you will. And he came and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, Simon, are you asleep?

[1:26] Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words.

[1:40] And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to answer him. And he came the third time and said to them, are you still sleeping?

[1:51] And taking your rest, it is enough. The hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Jesus' prayer in the garden is the prelude to everything that's about to happen.

[2:11] Jesus is about to enter into the hour, as he calls it, of his passion. And he fully knows what he's headed into. Three times in chapter 8, and then again in chapter 9, and chapter 10, he told his disciples what was going to happen.

[2:23] He even said that this was the very reason why he had come, to give his life as a ransom for many. But as we look at this scene, you know, it's shocking that Jesus, he isn't facing his death like so many other heroes.

[2:39] Think of, if you remember the story of Socrates, how does Socrates meet death? Conversing with his friends, sort of gladly taking the hemlock, ready to pass on to the other world.

[2:53] Or think of all the war stories of great men charging into battle fearlessly. And yet here is Jesus, distressed, troubled, Mark says, sorrowful, even to death, we're told.

[3:09] Now on the one hand, isn't it a mark of the reliability of the Gospels that they describe Jesus this way? Who would want to remember their great leader trembling in fear before meeting his great hour?

[3:20] And yet that is exactly what Jesus in his humanity faced, and the Gospel writers tell it faithfully. But on the other hand, isn't this trembling of Jesus also a mark, not just of the reliability of the Gospel account, but also of the dreadful path that lay before Jesus?

[3:40] In his prayer, Jesus speaks of the cup, which throughout the Old Testament was a symbol, a symbol not of celebration, a symbol not of merrymaking, but a symbol actually of God's just judgment, that it's something that those who had rejected him would have to drink to the dregs.

[4:03] Jesus trembles in the garden, not just because physical death lay before him, but that in death, he would be bearing the cup, drinking the cup of God's awful and right wrath against sin.

[4:25] And Jesus, in his human will, we see here, pours out his heart to the Father. If possible, remove this cup from me. He trembles before its prospect. But then he prays, yet, not what I will, but what you will.

[4:45] Even though what lies ahead causes Jesus to tremble, still he submits his will to the Father's will in love and in trust. And if you think about it, isn't this exactly what our first parents, isn't this exactly what Adam failed to do in the story of the Garden of Eden?

[5:05] Isn't it Adam who essentially says, not your will, God, but my will be done? And isn't that exactly the way in which humanity has played itself out ever since?

[5:18] But now here in another garden, Jesus has come to reverse humanity's fate. To say, not what I will, but what you will, God.

[5:33] And while all this is going on, Jesus' closest disciples and friends, the inner three, Peter and James and John, as Jesus is in the grips of his hour, when he needs their comfort the most, what are they doing?

[5:51] Falling asleep. They're drifting off, leaving him alone with his sorrow. Which is all an omen of what's about to happen.

[6:04] Jesus comes to the sleeping disciples a third time and says in verse 42, let's pick up the story there, rise, he says, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand. And immediately while he was speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.

[6:22] Now the betrayer had given them a sign saying, the one I will kiss is the man. Seize him and lead him away. Under guard. And when he came, he went up to him at once and said, Rabbi.

[6:33] And he kissed him. And they laid hands on him and seized him. But one of those who stood by, drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear.

[6:45] And Jesus said to them, have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day, I was with you in the temple teaching and you did not seize me. But let the scriptures be fulfilled.

[6:58] And they all left him and fled. And a young man followed him with nothing but a linen cloth about his body and they seized him. But he left the linen cloth and ran away naked.

[7:10] So it begins with Jesus being betrayed. By one of his own disciples, one of the twelve, a friend that he had spent three years with.

[7:23] But then lest we think too good of ourselves, we're shown that he's abandoned by all the rest.

[7:35] In this telling, Mark uses the word seize again and again. Did you notice that? As the crowd has come to lay their hands on Jesus, to seize him, ironically and tragically, in their act of taking hold of him, Jesus becomes more and more and more alone, betrayed and abandoned.

[7:55] And after all he had done throughout his ministry, in broad daylight, that they might truly grasp who he is, they come instead in the middle of the night to seize him and drag him away to the authorities.

[8:15] Now Mark is the only gospel to include the detail of the young man who runs away naked. And I wonder if he includes it because it represents the shame of the scene so well.

[8:30] And Mark actually leaves this young man anonymous, nameless, as if to say that what was true of this young man was true of all of them. They all ran away in shame.

[8:44] And indeed I wonder if Mark leaves this young man nameless to provoke us to search our own hearts. Do you see yourself in this young man? Given the option of identifying with Jesus, how often have we abandoned him instead?

[9:04] How often have we made our shameless and shameful flight away? The prophet Amos wrote, hundreds of years before Jesus came, even the bravest of warriors will flee naked on that day.

[9:21] And the apostle Paul wrote, there's no one righteous, not even one. All have turned away. And yet, as we look at Jesus in the midst of the garden, as his friends all turn faithless and run, he remains faithful.

[9:45] Let the scriptures be fulfilled, he says. You see, God had planned it this way. This was why he had come.

[9:58] As his betrayer sees him and the rest flee, Jesus himself keeps a firm grip on the will of his father. even as they lead him to be condemned.

[10:14] Look again at verse 53. Let's pick it up from here. And they led Jesus to the high priest. And all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together. And Peter had followed him at a distance right into the courtyard of the high priest.

[10:28] And as he was sitting with the guards and warming himself at the fire. Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none.

[10:39] For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree. And some stood up and bore false witness against him, saying, We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another not made with hands.

[10:51] Yet even about this their testimony did not agree. And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?

[11:05] But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? And Jesus said, I am.

[11:18] And you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven. And the high priest tore his garments and said, What further witnesses do we need?

[11:32] You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision? And they all condemned him as deserving death. And some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to strike him, saying to him, Prophesy.

[11:47] And the guards received him with blows. The scene now shifts from the Garden of Gethsemane to the house to the high priest.

[12:00] And under the cover of night in a gross miscarriage of justice, Jesus is condemned. And again, in Mark's telling of the event, he brings out another theme and this theme is the theme of testimony or witness.

[12:16] Again and again, Mark points out the false testimony and the conflicting testimony. And at first, Jesus is silent knowing that anything he says is just going to be thrown back in his face and used against him.

[12:29] Until the high priest asks him point blank, Are you the Christ? The Son of the Blessed? The Son of God? And in that moment, when his accusers are bearing down with their fangs ready to sink in, with their swords sharpened to strike, when they're ready to cast their verdict over his life, Jesus gives his own testimony, his own witness.

[13:01] And you see, friends, Jesus is, Jesus is the faithful witness. When everyone else has spun the truth and uttered lies, he says, I am.

[13:12] And you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power coming with the clouds of heaven. And in saying that, Jesus is taking two of the most potent texts about the Messiah in the Old Testament, the long-awaited coming King, the one who was supposed to bring the hope of Israel, Jesus is taking two of the most potent texts, the two that make some of the most boldest claims about the Messiah's relationship to the one true God and says, that's who I am.

[13:46] And of course, the irony here is thick indeed. Jesus, the one who is the world's rightful judge, being judged.

[14:01] How quick we are to cast our verdict over God when we ought to be more concerned about God's verdict over us.

[14:13] how often we sit in judgment when really it's we who are on trial before our living and holy God.

[14:32] But the deep irony of the scene quickly turns to tragedy as Mark turns back to Peter who had followed at a distance right into the high priest's courtyard.

[14:43] Verse 66, and as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, you also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.

[14:58] But he denied it, saying, I neither know nor understand what you mean. And he went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed. And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, this man is one of them.

[15:14] But again, he denied it. And after a little while, the bystanders again said to Peter, certainly you are one of them, for you're a Galilean. But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, I do not know this man of whom you speak.

[15:31] And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times. And he broke down and wept.

[15:49] It's hard to imagine a more poignant scene in the Gospels. And again, isn't it another mark of the authenticity of the reliability of these texts that we have?

[16:02] Certainly no follower of Jesus would have made up such a humiliating story about one of their key followers and published it for all the world to read unless it actually happened.

[16:15] But you see, more than just that, isn't Peter's denial the final wound? Jesus has been betrayed, abandoned, condemned, and now denied.

[16:29] God. While Jesus is bearing true witness to his identity, witness that will lead to a certain execution, Peter, perhaps one of Jesus' closest friends on earth, is denying him in the courtyard.

[16:47] So what are we to make of this passage? We often sing a hymn here at Trinity about Jesus that begins like this, Man of sorrows, what a name for the Son of God who came.

[17:11] In our passage tonight, we begin to see the depth of this sorrow. sorrow. This text shows us that in his passion, Jesus experiences not just the physical pain of the cross and the beating and the spitting, but even the full depths of relational and emotional pain and sorrow.

[17:34] I wonder tonight, as we've come here for worship, have you been betrayed? Have you been abandoned ever?

[17:45] Have you ever been falsely condemned? Have you ever been denied? Friends, what this text is telling us is that Jesus knows exactly what you are going through.

[18:03] That he drank that cup to the full for you so that he might know you and so that you might be fully known.

[18:13] God. Now, take what we see of Jesus in this passage and hold it up to your understanding of who God is.

[18:25] Is your God distant? Is he uninvolved? Is he unconcerned? Is he unaware? anywhere? And then consider the God that we know in Jesus, who enters into the most horrible of earthly exclusion and sorrow out of love for his lost creation.

[18:47] And though it's shocking, though it's hard to wrap our minds around a suffering God, consider it. what other God is worthy of worship?

[19:04] In a world of brokenness and pain and sorrow and exclusion and abandonment and betrayal and denial, what other God would you worship other than the one who knows exactly what that means?

[19:19] And friends, Christianity is the only game in town when it comes to that. There is no pain that you have felt or will feel that God himself does not know from the inside in a personal way.

[19:39] There is no tearing of the heart that Jesus himself has not felt. So when you draw near to him, when you go to him in prayer, don't think that he can't understand you.

[19:52] Don't think that you're knocking on a brick wall of heaven and the doors never open. Don't think that this God can't comfort you. In the Psalms, we read some just amazing verses, like this one from Psalm 34, the Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

[20:16] And again, in Psalm 147, the psalmist writes, he heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. And we see now, in light of the cross, in light of Jesus' passion, in light of the garden, how this can be true.

[20:38] In Jesus, God has truly come near to the brokenhearted and he's come near to heal because he too was broken and betrayed and abandoned and condemned and denied.

[20:55] Man of sorrows, what a name for the Son of God who came. But the verse continues, doesn't it?

[21:08] Ruined sinners to reclaim. Hallelujah. Praise God. What a Savior. You see, friends, Jesus drank this cup, not just to sympathize with sufferers, glorious as that is, but also to save the sinful and to reclaim the ruined.

[21:32] After all, don't you see, as you read this text, Christ, it's we who have betrayed God when something more immediately pleasurable presents itself.

[21:46] It's we who have abandoned him when the following gets costly. It's we who have sought to condemn him when we decided he ought to have done things differently in my life.

[22:02] It's even we who have denied him when the pressure of the world of friends and co-workers and colleagues presses in. And wouldn't it be right, wouldn't it be justice that would say, let the betrayers be betrayed, let the abandoners be abandoned, let the condemners be condemned, let the deniers be denied.

[22:28] Isn't that how your heart works? I know that's how my heart works. It's easy to forgive someone who breaks your things, right? But not so when someone breaks your heart.

[22:41] They get what they deserve. But instead Jesus comes and is betrayed and is abandoned and is condemned and is even denied so that those who deserve those things never ultimately have to be.

[23:05] He's betrayed so that all who believe in him can be accepted. He takes our curse so we can receive his blessing. Don't you see from the garden of Gethsemane and from the house of the high priest rings out the good news of the gospel.

[23:21] Christ is taking the cup of sorrow so that you and I can take the cup of his joy so that abandoners can be counted as faithful friends in the eyes of God so that those who have denied him can be counted in Christ as those who are faithful and true.

[23:43] Friends, this is what Holy Week is all about. This is what Easter is all about. This is what Christianity is all about. This is what the world is about. This is what God is about. That he bears our cross so that we can share in his resurrection and so that God's glorious grace will be demonstrated for all eternity.

[24:09] Man of sorrows, what a name for the Son of God who came, ruined sinners to reclaim. Hallelujah. Praise God.

[24:20] What a Savior. Let's pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[24:41] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. word messault, Amen.

[24:55] Amen. Amen. Buddy, give me a good news for us. And may we be willing, Lord, seeing your great mercy to stand for you.

[25:12] In your name we pray. Amen. We're going to sing a song of meditation and response. Use this time to pray. Use this time to connect with the Lord. Use the words of this song. 20 minutes after the sermon, just doing some Q&A, trying to interact with this text together. So this is a time for us to ask questions on some things we might not have been able to get to or any questions you might have had about the text.

[25:37] So we'll take questions. If I don't know the answer to your question or if it seems kind of far afield from where we were tonight, I will confess my ignorance or maybe we can talk about it afterwards. But yeah, we'll do our best. So why don't we begin? Who has a question?

[25:53] Andrew, yeah. Can you expand perhaps on why all the gospel writers, Mark includes the story of this young guy, like you would think Luke would have done that given the length of Luke's gospel?

[26:08] Yeah, yeah. That's a great question. So the question is, why do we think Mark is the only one who included the story of this young man who runs away naked, especially when some of the other gospels are a lot longer and it seems like they've got more space to include stuff like that? You know, ultimately we don't know. Some people think that the young man is actually Mark himself. Total speculation, but I guess it's possible. It's a bit of an odd detail, isn't it? It's very strange. It's striking too. It's an arresting detail. So one wonders if, you know, some of the other gospel writers just choose not to include it because of the other things that they felt like they wanted to emphasize in their accounts of Jesus. I mean, remember that the gospel accounts are not exhaustive. We don't have in the gospel accounts every single thing that Jesus ever said and did. All of the gospel accounts are engineered to present in a compelling way the truth about Jesus Christ. So they're all selective and they're all strategic and they're all carefully crafted. So yeah, it's a good question.

[27:19] Any other questions? Jonathan? Yeah. Good question. So when Jesus says, not my will, but your will be done, is the implication that Jesus has a separate will from the Father. We actually talked about this in Sunday school this morning, actually. So there's a really neat conversation throughout the early church about the relationship of Jesus's will to the will of the Father. And it seems, and especially as we look at this passage, we know that Jesus is fully human and we know that Jesus is fully divine. Two natures in one person.

[28:00] That is sort of the biblical teaching and the teaching that the church affirmed throughout the ages about who Jesus is. So this question of wills, as you read a passage like this, it seems as if Jesus has a fully human will, in addition to a fully divine will. Not just one, but he's got two, and that he submits that fully human will to the will of the Father. And that's the real beauty of it, that in Jesus's earthly ministry, he's doing everything that we failed to do.

[28:33] So all those times, I mean, isn't that our great spiritual battle? That our wills are rebellious? That they're disordered? That our passions don't go in the way that God created them to go because we've fallen? And Jesus comes and takes on our flesh, and even takes on our will, and says, no, I'm going to do it in the right way. So it becomes this great message of hope.

[28:55] And as Malcolm pointed out this morning as he was teaching his class, it becomes this awesome picture of the future where Jesus is taking us in the new heavens and the new earth as a place where our wills, our still totally human wills, are utterly conformed to God, such it will never sin, that we'll always love God above all else and do whatever he says, and in that find perfect freedom and joy. So this battle that's happening here in the garden has massive significance for our salvation.

[29:22] So yeah, so what the church has said is that there are two wills in Jesus, a human will and a divine will. Yeah. Any other questions? Yes, Kevin. Yeah.

[29:43] Yeah. Yeah. Oh, good question. Yeah. Okay, so, yeah, it's kind of, kind of, it makes sense of that. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

[29:57] Yeah. Yep. Yeah, right. Uh-huh. Yeah.

[30:08] Yeah, good, good observations, Kevin. So the question is, you know, how do these details work out in this scene when the mob comes and the, and Judas comes to betray Jesus and hand him over?

[30:22] It seems like, right, it seems like at first, uh, so John tells us that the disciple who strikes the ear is actually Peter, sort of impetuous Peter, kind of lashing out. Uh, and, you know, and we, it, doesn't that fit with the arc of the gospel's narrative, right?

[30:37] That the disciples were always sort of trying to figure out, like, okay, Jesus, when are we going to start to do the military sort of project that we were expecting you to do? Uh, so Peter's like, okay, let's do this.

[30:48] Game on. Um, but obviously it's, it's immediately futile. And in the other gospel accounts, Jesus actually rebukes them for trying to do it and then says, no, this is, this is where it's going to go.

[31:01] Um, and then I think, I think you're right, Kevin. And it's after that point, once, once they see that the die is cast, they all run. Um, and of course we know that, that Mark's speaking generally there, because Peter then does sort of follow behind at a distance.

[31:18] And John's gospel tells us that, that John himself actually fought. There was, there were actually two of them in the courtyard. Um, so. Tyrone, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[31:37] Good. Good. Is that, did Mark? Yep. So if you look a little earlier in Mark 14, in verse 27, they had just finished up, uh, the Passover meal and Jesus had just instituted the Lord's supper communion.

[31:50] And then Jesus says to them, you'll all fall away for it's written, I'll strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. Yeah. Yeah. That's right. So that's, I mean, that's probably one of the scriptures that Jesus has in mind that's being fulfilled in that very moment.

[32:05] Um, yeah. Which is ironic, right? Because later when, after the Sanhedrin, the council sort of condemns him, they start mocking him and spitting him, saying, prophesy, you know, tell us who hit you.

[32:24] And the, the sad irony of that is that everything that's happening is happening exactly like Jesus said it would. That, that, that Jesus's status as the true prophet of God is held up throughout this whole narrative, even while they mock him for it.

[32:42] Um, Michael, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah.

[33:12] That's a neat connection, yeah. Yeah, so Michael's question is, why is Jesus so disappointed with him for falling asleep? What's he wanting from them in that moment? What's he expecting and what's he hoping happens in that time?

[33:26] Yeah, that's a good question, Michael. I think on the surface what he wants is for them to just be near to him and pray with him just one last time before the events happen, before the machinations start turning that lead to the cross.

[33:46] So, I mean, you see here both sort of Jesus' consternation but also his mercy, don't you, at the end of verse 38 where he says, this spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak. So even in that moment, Jesus is merciful towards these guys and yet, and yet it's heartbreaking, right?

[34:04] That in his hour of need, they're sleeping. There's one Puritan who's written like a 400-page book on the phrase watch and pray.

[34:20] Just those three words, John Owen. It's a whole book on watch and pray, so I can recommend that to you. I've not read it, but you know, if you want something to do over, you know, dead week, Michael, you can take up some John Owen.

[34:33] So, watch and pray. Yeah. Kelly. I think you said that when Jesus says his statement when he's being condemned, the Old Testament references.

[34:45] Mm-hmm. Can you cite that? Yeah, so you'll see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power. That's an allusion to Psalm 110.1, which Jesus actually brought up earlier in the temple disputes, if you remember that.

[34:59] The Lord says to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. And Jesus says, if the Messiah is David's son, how does he call him Lord?

[35:10] Sort of provoking them to start to get a little deeper about the identity of the Messiah. And then the second reference is the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. That's Daniel 7. I think 7.14.

[35:23] Is that right, Craig? 7.14? Yeah. Which is part of Daniel's sort of visions, his prophetic visions, of how God was going to bring his redemptive plans to completion. And he has this sort of powerful, heavily symbolic vision of the ancient of days, sort of the Lord in splendor.

[35:42] And then one like the Son of Man approaching the throne, coming with the clouds of heaven, ascending to him. So tradition then picked that up as a messianic reference. So that would be that one.

[35:54] It's Daniel 7. That's also the one that Jesus has quoted in Mark 13, too, when he's giving his discourse about the destruction of the temple and the return of the Son of Man and those kinds of things.

[36:06] He's referencing Daniel there, too. Maybe one or two more questions before we close. Noelle.

[36:16] Yeah. I wish you had a question. I wish you had a question. When you speak about it, I should probably get a good idea of myself into Jesus' death. But you talk about how...

[36:28] Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

[36:41] Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

[36:56] Wow, that's a really good question, Noelle. So Noelle's question is, on the cross, Jesus is drinking the cup of God's wrath against sin. Does that... Sort of living post-cross now, does that change God's sort of general relationship with the world?

[37:11] Because we see in the Old Testament there are moments where it seems like God's wrath comes in maybe natural ways or in specific historical events. Maybe a general point on that question.

[37:22] As Christians, we should be incredibly reticent to identify things in nature or in history as sort of direct, wrathful acts of God against sin without any kind of biblical precedent.

[37:39] sin. I think in a general way, yes, the world is broken and the world is sinful and the evil and corruption and destruction that we see is a product of that. But I think we should be very careful to say that event happened because those people did this and God was judging them.

[37:56] I just don't think we have biblical warrant to do that. And I think the reason why the Old Testament does that is because it's God himself giving the interpretation of the events to his people. So, without that kind of God's sort of stamped interpretation of events, I think we should be very reticent to do that.

[38:15] Your other question, though, is God's sort of fundamental posture towards the world now changed, though, because of what Jesus has done? And I think the answer where we can be on safe ground is to say that it's very different towards those who are in Christ.

[38:33] And in and through the church now, that sort of, that new covenant community is now salt and light in the world such that that joy and peace is now spreading as that leaven kind of goes out.

[38:48] Jesus is very clear that just as God is king, he is also judge. So just as he rules all things, he will judge all things. But the distinction in God's judgment is between those who have repented of sin and placed their trust in Christ and those who continue to sort of rely on self-righteousness for their standing with him who continue in sin.

[39:12] Is that helpful, Noelle? Is that maybe a start to that? Yeah. One more question. Yes? Yes? It's a little strange.

[39:27] I know. Yes, it seems very arcane, doesn't it? It seems very sort of abstract or confusing. Maybe one way of saying it is to say we know that Jesus has a fully human nature, right, and a fully divine nature, but he's one person, right, that there's one person, Jesus Christ, but it's both of these natures together.

[39:49] And those natures never are separated in his person, but they're never confused. And what that means is they never sort of collapse into one another. So Jesus has a fully human will, but he also has a fully divine will.

[40:04] In his human nature, he has a fully human will. In his divine nature, he has a fully divine will. And they interact in his person. I'd encourage you to talk to Malcolm after the service about that because he is our resident expert on Christology, which is sort of our understanding of who Jesus is theologically.

[40:22] And he can help you more with that afterwards if that's not clear enough. When I read the Bible, I've always seen my Father say to me.

[40:34] Yeah. And also, why the Father said to Jesus Christ is because the will of the prophets before who have only Jesus Christ is the same.

[40:47] That's right. That's the way of understanding. Yeah. That's right. I would, yes and amen. That's completely true. That Jesus has come to accomplish the will of his Father and to do what no one else could do.

[40:59] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[41:09] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's right.

[41:22] Yeah. That's right. Good. Yeah. That's right. That's right. That's right. Yeah. Oh, I think that's right.

[41:34] I think Jesus is making a not so veiled reference to himself there and saying that I'm the one, I'm the son who's finally come. And he doesn't, he prophesy there that the people will reject him.

[41:47] And yet, even in being rejected, God makes him the cornerstone of a whole new, of the whole new renewed people of God. That even in his rejection, God accomplishes his plan for our salvation.

[41:59]  Which, that's the beauty of the gospel. Yeah. Let's end there. It's already 10 of 8. Let's end there. Let's end there. Let's end there. Let's end there.