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Let's step back in Matthew a little ways to Matthew 16.
Beginning at verse 21, from that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go
to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and the chief priests and the scribes
and be killed and on the third day be raised.
And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him saying, far be it from you, Lord, this
shall never happen to you.
But he turned and said to Peter, get behind me, Satan.
You are a hindrance to me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but
on the things of man.
And Jesus told his disciples, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take
up his cross and follow me.
For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake
will find it.
For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?
Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?
For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then
he will repay each person according to what he has done.
Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see
the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.
Pray with me as I lead us.
Father, the inadequacy of my ability to communicate the truth that is here weighs heavy, maybe more
than most times.
So Father, I pray for just an outpouring of your Spirit, that you would use the foolishness
of a preacher, that you would draw us into the wisdom, the divine wisdom of God, the King,
and the significance and the treasure that this night represents.
Help us, we pray, to know you, to know ourselves.
Help us, we pray, in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Now, there's something wrong with Good Friday.
There's something wrong at its deepest levels.
You know, Easter is supposed to be one of, really should be one of the great celebrations
of the year, and it is because we celebrate that day when the first disciples beheld the risen
Christ.
And just try to imagine what that experience was like.
You know, when Peter writes in 1 Peter about this inexpressible joy, he was talking from experience.
You know, Sunday when we worship at Easter, it's going to be upbeat.
It's going to be celebrative.
Even tomorrow, we're going to have all the kids here.
It's going to be more like a party, trying to, you know, find eggs out here on the lawn.
And, but there's something wrong with Friday.
It is a, even as we worship here together, it's very sullen, maybe depressing.
You know, we don't like to talk about pain and suffering.
It's not in our cultural makeup.
I was just with some of my friends a couple nights ago, and somehow,
some way, and none of these friends are a part of the church,
but somehow we got on the subject of death at a Mexican restaurant.
And as fast as we got there, they ran as fast as they could away from it.
And so, we don't like to talk about pain and suffering,
but when we think about that Friday,
there was plenty to go around.
You know, Good Friday is just hard.
Because I think down inside, we feel that this, there is something wrong here.
This is not what it should have been.
You know, when we come to the gospel,
the gospel is good news.
And so, we want to talk about good news.
We want to be upbeat and positive,
and again, celebrate all the great things that God has done.
We think of Jesus.
We think how much He's loved us,
the hope that we have in Him.
We think of all of this infinite grace and mercy
that is poured out upon us.
And so, we should be celebrating.
We should be upbeat.
The gospel, indeed, is good news.
But it's only good news
when we contemplate
the wrong
that was done on Friday.
There is no resurrection.
There is no resurrected life.
There is no celebration
before.
There is a death.
And that death, we must look into deeply.
You know, it's interesting,
even as we read these verses in Matthew 16,
you know, it's not just our culture,
because the disciples had the same struggle.
I mean, as soon as Jesus starts talking about them,
he says, yeah, we're going to go to Jerusalem,
and I'm going to suffer,
and they're going to put me to death.
And he even tells them about the resurrection,
but that thought,
that totally escapes them.
And so, Peter,
at least exercising a little bit of tact,
didn't do this in front of the group,
but took him off to the side.
And basically saying,
you got this wrong.
This is not the script.
This is not the way it's supposed to be.
And then Jesus
refers to maybe his closest friend
as Satan himself.
And he says,
you are thinking in man's terms.
You're not thinking in God's terms.
And when you're thinking in men's terms,
you're a hindrance to me.
And so Jesus tells him here,
he's determined to go to Jerusalem,
because that's why he was called.
That's why he came.
He did not come just to make life better.
He did not come just to heal diseases.
He did not come
just to teach people a better way of life.
He did all that.
That was a prelude,
a foretaste of what the kingdom would look like.
But what Jesus came for
was a garden.
A very eventful garden.
But you know,
all this started,
you know,
there's two things I want us to see about this tonight.
And the first is the calling of Jesus
is all about death.
It is all about death.
The year,
you know,
as Jesus came,
you know,
his ministry was glorious
in so many ways,
but yet his goal
was this garden.
But way back in the beginning,
there was another garden.
A garden where things
should have gone better.
God created all things,
declared it to be good,
and at the heart of that creation
was man,
and he put him in a garden.
And man was made
to give glory
to his creator
through his trust,
through his submission,
through his service,
to declare the creator's
greatness
and value
above all things.
It was a perfect world,
a perfect environment.
He had one,
only one way
to do that,
and that was simply
to stay away from
this one tree.
And at that critical point,
where he should have bowed
in trust,
and in submission,
the one point
when he should have
given glory to the creator,
he took it
for himself.
He said,
I will submit to only one,
and that's me.
And so in doing that,
as promised,
they were cursed.
They were exiled
from the pleasure,
the intimacy,
the love,
and joy
of the creator.
They were enslaved
to futility
along with
all of the rest
of creation.
They were
enslaved
to suffering
to suffering,
and ultimately
to death.
Everything they touched,
everything they thought,
everything they dreamed,
everything they did
from here on
was corrupt.
it was polluted
by a heart
that wanted
glory.
The friend of God
was now an enemy,
separated
in enmity
with no hope
of making it
any better.
well,
now we can fast
forward
to another garden,
a garden
where Jesus
finds himself.
After the supper
with his disciples,
he goes to
a garden.
but there
in that garden,
it was not
the created man
that was put to test,
but it was the God man.
It was Jesus himself
facing
the same
challenge
with the odds
so much heavier
against him.
This was not
the perfect world.
This was now
a very broken world.
He was not
promised
this
you know,
riches
of intimacy
with the Father.
He was promised
exactly the opposite.
He said,
if you obey,
if you trust,
if you serve,
you will be
separated
from the one
through all eternity
he has
enjoyed
and loved.
In this second garden,
the son
faced
rejection
and suffering
beyond belief,
beyond our
comprehension.
He did not
choose prosperity.
He
did
what the first
man
should have
done.
He bowed
and said,
not my will
but yours
be done.
He trusted,
submitted
himself
to the
Father.
He chose
alienation.
He chose
judgment.
He chose
death.
He chose
death.
what the
first man
should have
done,
now the
second Adam
did do.
He put
the Father's
glory above
all things
and he
bowed
in submission
and trust
to the
one
who
was
above
all
others.
This
was his
journey.
His
journey
came.
He came
to this
garden
to stand
in
for that
first man
who had
now lived
for centuries
in this
slavery of
futility,
but he
stood in
for him
in two
different
ways.
He
stood in
and obeyed.
He served.
He worshipped
the creator
the way
that first
man should
have done.
He did
it for
him.
But he
also stood
in and
took the
payment.
It was
not his.
it was
a payment
that
belonged
to
someone
else.
He
was the
sacrificial
lamb,
the
innocent
standing
in
for the
guilty.
and there
is
something
very
wrong
with this.
There's
something
very
unfair.
The
righteous
one
is
treated
as a
criminal.
The
righteous
one
is now
the
recipient
of
contempt
and
wrath
and
alienation
while the
guilty
party
gets
off
scot-free.
We need
to feel
the weight
of this.
A lot
more than
we
typically
do.
Because
we are
the
guilty
party.
He
received
the
punishment
on
himself,
the
innocent
one
that we
should have
received.
But this
was his
calling.
the
death
Jesus
died,
I
should,
you
should
have
died.
The
glory
that the
father
deserved
that he
gave,
I
should
have,
you
should
have
given.
He
did
all of
that
in our
place.
He,
the
beloved,
was treated
as the
enemy.
in
eye,
the
enemy,
and I
have now
become the
friend of
the throne.
He was
treated with
contempt,
so I can
now be
treated with
joy.
scorn,
so that I
can now
be
welcomed
home.
He was
treated with
wrath,
so that I
can now
know peace.
let the
weight of
Jesus'
death
sink in.
Let it
weigh heavy,
because this
is why he
came.
But as he
continues in
Matthew to
talk to his
disciples,
Jesus came
to glorify
the father,
and in that
process was
a road to
a cross,
to his
death.
And now,
all of those
who follow
him, as he
tells the
disciples there,
are to,
everyone who
would come
after me
must take
up his
cross.
cross, we
are called to
follow him
into death.
When Luke
writes this, he
adds a word.
He says, to
take up her
cross daily.
This is not a
one-time thing.
This is a
constant, I've
got to do this
every day kind
of thing.
Because as we
follow Jesus,
that self-determining,
self-centered,
self-glorifying
aspect of who
we are,
must die.
You know,
coming to
Jesus is a
good thing.
Life goes so
much better in
many ways because
of him, you
know, relationships
and so forth,
but,
Easter,
the joy of
resurrected life,
only happens
after death.
And so what
does it mean for
us to take up
our cross daily?
We don't die
like Jesus
died.
His death
was once
for all.
So what is he
calling us here
to?
Well, I think
we are to die
in multiple
ways.
And all of
it is,
centers around
this core of
self-glorification.
First thing is,
it means dying
to our self-determination.
It was,
last week I was
reading through
the Psalms,
and I got to
Psalm 100,
110.
And at
verse 2,
this verse had
never struck me
this way,
but verse 2
simply says,
the Lord sends
forth from Zion
your mighty
scepter.
Rule in the
midst of your
enemies.
And I read
that verse,
and I got a
knot in my
stomach.
Because there
was something
down deep
inside that
says,
I do
not
want
someone
ruling
over me.
I do
not
like
submission.
I want
to determine
my own
thing.
Just like
every other
part of our
culture,
I am
hopelessly
determined
to be the
king
king and
to rule
over
Klagastan.
It's
my kingdom
and I'll
do what
I want.
But that
self-rule
must die
daily.
I need to
join with
Jesus and
pray
constantly,
not my
will,
but yours
be done,
even to
the point
of my own
death,
that I
might declare
the glory
of the
true king,
not this
imposter
king.
I also
need to
die to
my own
personal
significance.
You know,
one of the
things that
terrifies me
is
obscurity.
You know,
that I would
mean nothing.
You know,
I want to
be somebody.
I want to
be somebody
important.
I want to
be somebody
that's known.
I want to
be somebody
that's wanted.
I want to
be somebody
that people
will look up
to and find
value in
them.
And so I
live and
govern all
that I do
around this
pursuit.
I am
addicted to
glory.
I am
addicted to
creating it
for myself.
I need
to come
once again
daily to
the place
where I
see I'm
only the
creature.
Yes,
I'm
significant.
Yes,
I'm
created in
the image
of God,
but I
am
created in
the image
of God
just like
everyone
else.
And my
significance
does not
come from
me and
what I
produce.
It comes
from bowing
before the
king and
serving him
and exalting
him.
My glory
daily
must die.
You know,
Good Friday
is a good
time to
contemplate
Jesus'
death in
our place.
It's also
a good time
for us to
contemplate
the need
of our
own
deaths.
Yes,
yes,
yes.
Yes,
yes,
yes.
Yes,
yes,
we need
to acknowledge
the weight
of our
sin.
We need
to acknowledge
the weight
of that
sin in
our rebellion
against the
glory of
God
that we're
addicted to.
We are
addicted to
this rebellion.
We are
addicted to
our own
glory.
We must
contemplate
also
the cost
of that
rebellion.
It doesn't
cost you
a whole
lot.
You are
really the
beneficiaries
of great
riches,
but it
cost
someone
terribly.
I must
come to
terms
that the
cross
where Jesus
died
was my
cross.
It's
coming to
terms,
too,
with that
daily dying
that I need
to be as a
follower of
Christ to
embrace,
not to
fight.
Christ.
We who are
in Christ
can't
embrace such
a death
because we
know Easter
is coming.
But let's
don't go to
Easter too
soon.
Let's
linger.
Linger here
on Friday.
Linger here
in the drama
of the death
of Christ.
And then
when Sunday
morning gets
here,
the
sweetness
will be so
much greater.
Let's
pray.
Lord Jesus,
help us to
contemplate
death.
A death
that was
necessary.
The death
that you
took that
should have
been ours,
but a death
that you
gladly took
for the
glory of
the Father.
Thank you.
Amen.
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information,
visit us
online at
southwood.org.
over
hugs.
With
ANKS,
bye.
與
あり
on go.