WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:10.460 Loving Heavenly Father, once again we come to a text of scripture where at first we don't 00:00:10.460 --> 00:00:14.500 think we see ourselves, at best we see others. 00:00:15.620 --> 00:00:21.240 But we ask, Lord, that your Holy Spirit would bring your word and your gospel very deep 00:00:21.240 --> 00:00:27.480 into our hearts, that you would help us to see ourselves as we really are, and that you 00:00:27.480 --> 00:00:31.740 would help us to see our country as it really is. 00:00:32.859 --> 00:00:38.520 And Father, that you help us to see ourselves and our country as I am and as the country 00:00:38.520 --> 00:00:46.140 is, not Father with despair, but in light of the gospel, and that your Holy Spirit would 00:00:46.140 --> 00:00:51.200 give us the power to repent, and that we might grow in godliness. 00:00:51.659 --> 00:00:55.480 Father, we ask that you would do this gentle but wonderful work in our lives this morning. 00:00:55.479 --> 00:01:00.299 And we ask this in the precious name of Jesus, your Son and our Saviour. 00:01:00.839 --> 00:01:01.219 Amen. 00:01:02.059 --> 00:01:02.979 Please be seated. 00:01:02.979 --> 00:01:10.819 So this past Friday, once again I had the great privilege and honour of being invited 00:01:10.819 --> 00:01:14.299 to speak on Parliament Hill to the Parliament Hill Christian Fellowship. 00:01:14.399 --> 00:01:17.060 That's some of the staffers who work on Parliament Hill. 00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:19.280 I don't know how many there were, 15, 16, 17. 00:01:20.060 --> 00:01:25.659 It's not a big crowd, but I always think it's an honour to be able to speak on Parliament Hill. 00:01:25.659 --> 00:01:32.640 And I began my talk with them by saying that I wasn't sure how much of what I was going 00:01:32.640 --> 00:01:33.039 to say. 00:01:35.280 --> 00:01:39.780 I mean, on one level it was very practical to them, but I wasn't sure if I could help them 00:01:39.780 --> 00:01:41.060 know how to apply it. 00:01:41.780 --> 00:01:45.379 And that's because of the very specific environment that they work in. 00:01:45.379 --> 00:01:52.140 And that's because I'm going to talk, as I did on Friday and I will now, I'm going to 00:01:52.140 --> 00:01:52.979 talk about mocking. 00:01:54.319 --> 00:01:55.179 Mocking people. 00:01:56.060 --> 00:02:00.599 And as you know, that's a very hard thing for people who work on Parliament Hill and 00:02:00.599 --> 00:02:03.299 write speeches for their MPs at question time. 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:05.419 It's easy to bring in mocking. 00:02:05.420 --> 00:02:13.080 And then again, it's not completely something that it's mainly on Parliament that it might 00:02:13.080 --> 00:02:16.159 be hard to figure out the line in terms of mocking. 00:02:19.740 --> 00:02:26.000 But, you know, in the Church, in our own lives, it's funny, I was thinking, I can effortlessly, 00:02:26.240 --> 00:02:30.280 without any effort at all, effortlessly, that's what effortlessly means, right? 00:02:30.300 --> 00:02:35.219 Without any effort at all, I can think of sometimes my father mocked me when I was a 00:02:35.219 --> 00:02:35.639 teenager. 00:02:36.960 --> 00:02:40.560 And it still has a bit of a pain to it. 00:02:40.580 --> 00:02:41.719 I mean, I've forgiven him of it. 00:02:41.800 --> 00:02:44.819 It doesn't, you know, make me, bend me out of shape. 00:02:44.819 --> 00:02:53.379 But on one hand, many of us mock, and probably on the other hand, all of us have been on the 00:02:53.379 --> 00:02:57.180 receiving end of mocking, and we know how painful it can be. 00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:02.500 In fact, the old saying, sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt 00:03:02.500 --> 00:03:04.159 me, is actually quite wrong. 00:03:05.219 --> 00:03:07.939 We can often recover from physical blows. 00:03:08.580 --> 00:03:14.000 But words can end up lingering in us for a long, long time. 00:03:14.840 --> 00:03:19.680 So let's look at the story and see what it has to say about mocking and what it says about 00:03:19.680 --> 00:03:19.979 us. 00:03:20.120 --> 00:03:23.199 And once again, I'm going to be using as if we're doing a Netflix special. 00:03:23.360 --> 00:03:25.719 I hope this is a helpful thing for you. 00:03:25.719 --> 00:03:29.659 And so we've been looking through the Gospel of Mark from Mark chapter 1, verse 1. 00:03:29.759 --> 00:03:34.039 We're going to finish on Easter Sunday with the account of the resurrection and Mark's 00:03:34.039 --> 00:03:34.439 Gospel. 00:03:35.139 --> 00:03:40.620 And if we were watching this on Netflix or Amazon Prime, maybe I should find out a list 00:03:40.620 --> 00:03:41.960 of all the people so I don't show it. 00:03:41.960 --> 00:03:47.680 Like I'm favoring one streaming service over another BBC World, BBC or something like that. 00:03:47.920 --> 00:03:49.360 There'd be a little recap thing. 00:03:49.879 --> 00:03:53.980 And so just a couple of episodes ago, there was Jesus in the high priest's house. 00:03:54.420 --> 00:04:00.719 And it's a very, very telling thing that one of the most, maybe the most profound statement 00:04:00.719 --> 00:04:03.900 of Jesus's identity is made by his enemy. 00:04:03.900 --> 00:04:08.400 It's made by the man who wants to have Jesus killed. 00:04:09.000 --> 00:04:10.659 And that man nails it. 00:04:10.780 --> 00:04:14.500 He says, are you the Messiah, the God, the Son of God? 00:04:14.700 --> 00:04:16.160 And Jesus says, yes. 00:04:16.519 --> 00:04:20.560 And that's going to be the basis for them to want to have Jesus put to death. 00:04:21.060 --> 00:04:25.899 And then we have Peter's denial of Christ three times and his breaking down in complete and 00:04:25.899 --> 00:04:26.879 utter weeping. 00:04:27.360 --> 00:04:32.280 And then the episode just before this one is Jesus has been brought to the Roman authorities 00:04:32.279 --> 00:04:38.739 to Pilate and they've recast the charge against Jesus so that it's something that would interest 00:04:38.739 --> 00:04:39.119 Rome. 00:04:39.899 --> 00:04:43.679 And they've interpreted Messiah to mean the King of Israel, the King of the Jews. 00:04:44.439 --> 00:04:46.719 And Pilate finds him guilty. 00:04:47.419 --> 00:04:52.599 He offers the crowd the choice between Jesus, who is in fact the Son of the Father, and a 00:04:52.599 --> 00:04:55.039 man called Son of the Father, which is Barabbas. 00:04:55.199 --> 00:04:57.519 And the crowd chooses Barabbas. 00:04:57.739 --> 00:05:00.739 And now we come to this text today. 00:05:00.740 --> 00:05:06.300 And so scene one, we're looking at Mark chapter 15, verses 16 to 32. 00:05:06.400 --> 00:05:10.300 I'm sorry, I should have reminded you of that because it's really helpful to follow along 00:05:10.300 --> 00:05:11.180 in your own Bibles. 00:05:11.660 --> 00:05:15.939 I know we'll have the text on the screen, but it's just very helpful to have your own 00:05:15.939 --> 00:05:17.800 Bibles to maybe be able to make notes. 00:05:18.379 --> 00:05:22.340 And there still are a couple of these note Bibles present. 00:05:22.560 --> 00:05:26.500 And by the way, Daniel and I have decided we're going to take parts of, we're not going to 00:05:26.500 --> 00:05:31.120 preach through every text, but our sermon series after this is we're going to go through the 00:05:31.120 --> 00:05:33.360 key texts in Ezra and Nehemiah. 00:05:33.399 --> 00:05:37.459 And we're going to probably buy a notebook to go with that as well, so that people can 00:05:37.459 --> 00:05:41.899 follow along and make notes on one side, or maybe questions that they'd like me to, they 00:05:41.899 --> 00:05:42.600 hope that I'll answer. 00:05:43.240 --> 00:05:47.480 So anyway, we now come up to this particular scene, the first scene. 00:05:47.480 --> 00:05:50.439 And it's scene number one, morale building. 00:05:50.900 --> 00:05:53.379 That's what scene number one is, morale building. 00:05:53.500 --> 00:05:55.939 It's verse 16, and it goes like this. 00:05:56.780 --> 00:06:02.300 And the soldiers led Jesus away inside the palace, that is the governor's headquarters, 00:06:02.900 --> 00:06:05.819 and they called together the whole battalion. 00:06:06.300 --> 00:06:09.860 So they've called the whole battalion together for a bit of morale building. 00:06:10.100 --> 00:06:14.800 They're doing something which is customary from what historians tell us when somebody's 00:06:14.800 --> 00:06:15.540 being crucified. 00:06:15.540 --> 00:06:22.379 So the earlier part of this, Jesus was scourged, which means that they have these leather whips, 00:06:22.620 --> 00:06:26.500 and with the leather whips, embedded in the end of the leather whips are either pieces of 00:06:26.500 --> 00:06:31.460 bone, pieces of glass, or pieces of lead, or some combination of all of that. 00:06:32.020 --> 00:06:37.400 And Jesus would have had his hands held up above his head, and they whipped them until, 00:06:37.660 --> 00:06:39.660 usually, you can see the bone. 00:06:40.600 --> 00:06:42.480 He's whipped until you can see the bone. 00:06:42.480 --> 00:06:46.580 And that's just, they don't have the whole battalion there for that, but now they want 00:06:46.580 --> 00:06:49.020 to have the morale building part of their day. 00:06:49.240 --> 00:06:53.780 So they bring the soldiers in, and Jesus comes in. 00:06:54.460 --> 00:07:00.840 And, you know, all of us probably have different times when we go to morale building exercises. 00:07:00.840 --> 00:07:03.600 There's maybe a speech from somebody high up. 00:07:03.600 --> 00:07:05.700 Maybe some awards are given. 00:07:06.500 --> 00:07:11.160 From what I can gather of small southern towns in the United States, when they want the high 00:07:11.160 --> 00:07:17.720 school team to win their big game, they'll smash a car, or maybe they'll play clips of 00:07:17.720 --> 00:07:22.020 the trash talk the other team has played, has said about them. 00:07:22.080 --> 00:07:23.000 So what happens here? 00:07:23.000 --> 00:07:25.740 How do they build morale for the Roman Legion? 00:07:25.939 --> 00:07:29.779 Well, that's scene number two, verses 17 to 20. 00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:35.019 And I call the scene, Perfecting the Art of Mocking. 00:07:36.379 --> 00:07:38.600 Perfecting the Art of Mocking. 00:07:39.560 --> 00:07:41.339 And it goes like this, verse 17. 00:07:41.339 --> 00:07:48.219 And they clothed Jesus in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they 00:07:48.219 --> 00:07:53.479 put it on him, and they began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews. 00:07:53.959 --> 00:07:55.759 Now, just sort of pause here for a second. 00:07:55.899 --> 00:08:01.579 So what they're doing is they're mimicking what the Roman troops and the Roman population 00:08:01.579 --> 00:08:05.079 would say to Caesar when he's triumphed. 00:08:05.639 --> 00:08:08.239 And so Caesar would be dressed in royal purple. 00:08:08.240 --> 00:08:12.620 He'd be wearing a victor's wreath around his head, and they would say, Hail, Caesar. 00:08:13.139 --> 00:08:18.840 So what they're doing here, here they have this man who can probably barely stand, dripping 00:08:18.840 --> 00:08:23.100 blood all over the place, his skin in tatters. 00:08:24.280 --> 00:08:29.280 They've covered him with a robe, or partially covered him with a robe, and the rest of them 00:08:29.280 --> 00:08:31.680 would have been naked, but partially covered with a robe. 00:08:32.060 --> 00:08:36.399 And they hail him, Hail, King of the Jews. 00:08:36.399 --> 00:08:44.120 And verse 19, and they were striking his head with a reed, and spitting on him, and kneeling 00:08:44.120 --> 00:08:46.139 down in homage to him. 00:08:46.600 --> 00:08:51.179 Now, in the original language, it isn't just that they tapped him on the head once. 00:08:51.639 --> 00:08:58.639 It says that they did it again, and again, and again, and again, and again. 00:08:58.639 --> 00:09:00.639 They all got in on it. 00:09:01.600 --> 00:09:13.879 And we all understand, you know, we all understand the power, the emotional, how emotionally wrecked 00:09:13.879 --> 00:09:19.659 we would be to have our head, even if it's just a reed, to have it again and again and 00:09:19.659 --> 00:09:20.039 again. 00:09:20.039 --> 00:09:26.319 And in every culture, spitting on somebody's face is a sign of great contempt. 00:09:28.699 --> 00:09:31.139 I've never had anybody spit in my face in anger. 00:09:31.240 --> 00:09:33.980 I've had people spit at me in anger. 00:09:34.719 --> 00:09:38.419 But I've never had somebody come and spit in my face. 00:09:39.799 --> 00:09:41.639 Maybe some of you have had that happen. 00:09:41.639 --> 00:09:43.639 It's very, very wounding. 00:09:45.799 --> 00:09:47.699 It is a great insult. 00:09:49.059 --> 00:09:49.819 And homage. 00:09:50.299 --> 00:09:55.600 So they hit him in the head, then they spit in his face, and then they kneel in front of 00:09:55.600 --> 00:09:55.720 him. 00:09:55.799 --> 00:09:58.899 And homage is an old-fashioned word. 00:09:59.120 --> 00:10:06.120 It's the word that implies that you're acknowledging a superior and the great worth that that superior 00:10:06.120 --> 00:10:11.980 has, and how you're going to be loyal to that superior, and how you're going to follow him 00:10:11.980 --> 00:10:13.600 and do everything to uphold him. 00:10:13.639 --> 00:10:18.000 And they do that after they've hit him on the head and after they spit in his face. 00:10:18.940 --> 00:10:25.060 Verse 20, and when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his 00:10:25.060 --> 00:10:30.000 own clothes on him, and they led him out to crucify him. 00:10:31.980 --> 00:10:34.279 Now, we're going to talk about mocking. 00:10:34.279 --> 00:10:37.699 We're going to go all the way through the text before we say a few things about mocking. 00:10:38.319 --> 00:10:41.799 But I did call this scene the perfecting of the art of mocking. 00:10:43.980 --> 00:10:49.139 You know, just not to give anything away later on, when we mock another person. 00:10:49.179 --> 00:10:53.000 By the way, it's going to be, you know, in terms of, you know, one of the things we need 00:10:53.000 --> 00:11:00.019 to pray into is how we as a church can support people who work in the business world and government 00:11:00.019 --> 00:11:07.779 and the different, the real, how they follow Jesus in the context of our culture, which 00:11:07.779 --> 00:11:12.259 is increasingly making it that Christians seem the bad guys. 00:11:13.379 --> 00:11:18.679 And so how do we have people work in the civil service and private industry when that sometimes 00:11:18.679 --> 00:11:19.899 can be a real challenge? 00:11:19.899 --> 00:11:26.419 And we need to figure out how to pray into that and help each other, how to give wisdom, 00:11:27.340 --> 00:11:33.740 how to know when to be innocent as dove and as subtle as a serpent. 00:11:33.740 --> 00:11:36.379 And we need to pray into it. 00:11:40.399 --> 00:11:43.820 You know, but one of the things when I say it's the perfection of mocking is that the heart 00:11:43.820 --> 00:11:46.000 of mocking is that you don't love the other person. 00:11:47.299 --> 00:11:51.519 The heart of mocking is that you treat the other person with contempt. 00:11:52.659 --> 00:11:54.120 You despise them. 00:11:54.120 --> 00:12:05.860 And when you have a culture that encourages mocking, when you have a culture that encourages 00:12:05.860 --> 00:12:12.039 verbal abuse that allows these types of minor physical abuse that's all centered around 00:12:12.039 --> 00:12:17.560 contempt of the other person, it is not very far before you want them dead. 00:12:19.080 --> 00:12:21.639 At that point in time, it's a very short journey. 00:12:21.639 --> 00:12:26.259 So we might say, well, why weren't they fired? 00:12:26.899 --> 00:12:31.559 Like if there was news reports that prison guards were doing this, and in fact, there's 00:12:31.559 --> 00:12:35.779 been cases, I don't know if any of you here are veterans, but there's been cases in the 00:12:35.779 --> 00:12:40.240 Canadian Armed Forces over the last couple of decades where they found out that soldiers 00:12:40.240 --> 00:12:46.139 have done certain types of degrading, demeaning, mocking types of things to people that 00:12:46.139 --> 00:12:50.299 sort of should have been under their protection or at least been guarded. 00:12:50.299 --> 00:12:52.539 And they've been fired. 00:12:52.659 --> 00:12:53.359 There's been inquiries. 00:12:53.559 --> 00:12:56.099 So would there something like that happen to these soldiers? 00:12:56.339 --> 00:13:00.719 Well, here's an important point before we go any further. 00:13:00.839 --> 00:13:02.219 And it's a very important point. 00:13:02.759 --> 00:13:04.839 If you could put up my first point there, Claire. 00:13:05.559 --> 00:13:14.519 For pagan Rome, for pagan Rome, crucifixion was a symbol of their glory, majesty, and might. 00:13:14.519 --> 00:13:18.259 It was not a flaw to repent of. 00:13:19.819 --> 00:13:27.759 If we don't understand that, the huge cultural gap between Rome and today, we won't understand 00:13:27.759 --> 00:13:28.799 what's going on in the text. 00:13:29.579 --> 00:13:34.659 So what I'm saying is if Pilate was heard about it, he'd be giving the guys all high fives 00:13:34.659 --> 00:13:36.620 as they lead out Jesus to crucify him. 00:13:36.659 --> 00:13:37.419 They'd be saying, way to go. 00:13:37.519 --> 00:13:39.699 Great morale building exercise, guys. 00:13:39.700 --> 00:13:45.080 I'm going to have you show other troops how to do morale building exercises like that. 00:13:45.120 --> 00:13:45.820 That was excellent. 00:13:45.920 --> 00:13:46.580 That was superb. 00:13:47.259 --> 00:13:53.879 It's very, very hard for us to understand that the cross could be one of the symbols 00:13:53.879 --> 00:13:58.620 of a country's glory, majesty, and might. 00:13:58.620 --> 00:14:02.060 It wasn't a flaw to repent of. 00:14:03.060 --> 00:14:09.419 You see, in our culture, because our culture has been formed by this story and by the gospel, 00:14:09.500 --> 00:14:13.500 even if people don't remember it, even if it's just, you know, that there's a memory of a 00:14:13.500 --> 00:14:17.440 memory of a memory of a memory, and in all of that, they've lost the original source of 00:14:17.440 --> 00:14:18.700 the story. 00:14:18.860 --> 00:14:26.500 In our culture, it is something to repent of and amend if you find soldiers treating people 00:14:26.500 --> 00:14:27.379 in such a fashion. 00:14:27.379 --> 00:14:30.220 But that wasn't the case back then. 00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:32.639 It was a symbol of their glory, majesty, and might. 00:14:32.759 --> 00:14:33.600 It was not something. 00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:39.620 And this is one of the things about this, you know, that in many, many ways, we don't 00:14:39.620 --> 00:14:40.700 appreciate this enough. 00:14:40.799 --> 00:14:42.019 I don't appreciate this enough. 00:14:42.100 --> 00:14:43.460 Maybe you do, and I just don't. 00:14:43.559 --> 00:14:50.000 Or I'm a very, very, that my wife would correctly say that I'm a very slow learner and in lots 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:50.539 of areas. 00:14:50.539 --> 00:14:58.439 But even if you just, if you think about it, it's very telling that we can't think of Roman 00:14:58.439 --> 00:15:04.839 actions, even most secular people, Roman crucifixions, without thinking of it through a Christian 00:15:04.839 --> 00:15:05.379 lens. 00:15:05.379 --> 00:15:16.820 You don't learn to see mocking and crucifixion as evil from paganism. 00:15:17.480 --> 00:15:19.139 You learn it from the Bible. 00:15:19.139 --> 00:15:20.139 Ultimately. 00:15:20.139 --> 00:15:30.539 It becomes something that our secular friends just think is obvious, but it's not obvious. 00:15:30.539 --> 00:15:38.360 And it's very powerful at a symbolic level in the story that goes along with it, that for 00:15:38.360 --> 00:15:46.199 Rome, crucifying a person like this is a sign that you might think it's horrible, but at 00:15:46.199 --> 00:15:51.699 the same time, a Roman man could point his son or daughter to that and say, that's a sign 00:15:51.699 --> 00:15:54.120 of the glory and the majesty and the might of Rome. 00:15:55.120 --> 00:15:56.279 Be proud of Rome. 00:15:56.279 --> 00:16:05.360 You know, it's no accident that one of the main symbols for Islam is the scimitar. 00:16:05.819 --> 00:16:06.899 It's a warrior religion. 00:16:08.139 --> 00:16:10.220 For Buddha, Buddhism, it's the Buddha. 00:16:10.699 --> 00:16:13.980 For Hinduism, it's the different Hindu goddesses and gods. 00:16:14.500 --> 00:16:16.299 But for Christians, it's the cross. 00:16:16.299 --> 00:16:22.620 And the symbol changes how you view everything. 00:16:25.399 --> 00:16:33.579 Makes a very big difference if you're modeled, if you have in your home the goddess of death 00:16:33.579 --> 00:16:34.879 in Hinduism. 00:16:35.099 --> 00:16:35.479 I can't remember. 00:16:35.620 --> 00:16:36.279 It's Kali, right? 00:16:36.299 --> 00:16:36.699 Is that right? 00:16:37.879 --> 00:16:38.079 Okay. 00:16:38.219 --> 00:16:38.620 I'm looking. 00:16:38.740 --> 00:16:42.519 No, I can't remember the name of the goddess of death in Hinduism. 00:16:42.519 --> 00:16:47.000 It makes a very big difference between that and the Buddha, the scimitar, and the cross 00:16:47.000 --> 00:16:47.579 of Christ. 00:16:48.960 --> 00:16:50.460 Very, very different worlds. 00:16:53.100 --> 00:16:57.120 Now, in the next part of the story, God messes with our categories. 00:16:57.759 --> 00:16:58.699 How does he do that? 00:16:58.759 --> 00:16:59.679 Look at scene three. 00:17:00.620 --> 00:17:04.599 In fact, I've called it the triune God messes with your categories. 00:17:04.599 --> 00:17:06.299 It's verse 21. 00:17:07.299 --> 00:17:12.819 And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father 00:17:12.819 --> 00:17:15.619 of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. 00:17:16.179 --> 00:17:18.779 The word compelled there could also be conscripted. 00:17:19.019 --> 00:17:22.039 And this is recorded as something that the Roman authorities would do. 00:17:22.639 --> 00:17:30.539 If you watch World War II movies or other movies of oppressive states like the USSR and 00:17:30.539 --> 00:17:37.119 China and Nazi Germany, when you have the camps of the prisoners and one of them is weak, you'll 00:17:37.119 --> 00:17:38.519 see the person being shot. 00:17:39.180 --> 00:17:41.960 But in Rome, they wouldn't do something like that. 00:17:42.019 --> 00:17:43.159 They wouldn't say, oh, look at that. 00:17:43.240 --> 00:17:45.119 Jesus is too weak to carry his cross. 00:17:45.220 --> 00:17:47.579 Let's just stick a sword in him and be over with it. 00:17:47.920 --> 00:17:48.299 Why? 00:17:48.799 --> 00:17:52.079 Because that would rob them from the crucifixion. 00:17:53.420 --> 00:17:55.240 The crucifixion is the point. 00:17:55.240 --> 00:17:58.559 They don't want him to die on the road. 00:17:59.440 --> 00:18:05.960 They want to have the body hung on a cross outside of the city by a major road where in 00:18:05.960 --> 00:18:09.799 our culture, we'd be looking about where you want to put a Tim Hortons or a McDonald's. 00:18:10.059 --> 00:18:13.859 That's where they would be thinking is the perfect location to do the crucifixion. 00:18:13.940 --> 00:18:15.720 So as many as possible could see it. 00:18:16.299 --> 00:18:19.799 They don't want to kill him in advance. 00:18:19.839 --> 00:18:22.799 So they conscript somebody to have him continue the journey. 00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:25.799 But here's where he messes, God messes with our categories. 00:18:27.399 --> 00:18:28.779 Africa is in this story. 00:18:30.180 --> 00:18:31.339 Simon is an African. 00:18:34.899 --> 00:18:36.299 It's very, very interesting. 00:18:36.460 --> 00:18:41.240 How do, if you were to probably talk to the Globe and Mail or the CBC, they would tend to 00:18:41.240 --> 00:18:44.740 think of Christianity as being the white man's religion. 00:18:45.559 --> 00:18:51.700 Women are only sort of somehow sucked into Christianity because of the supposed persuasive powers of white 00:18:51.700 --> 00:18:55.299 men like me, which would only make my wife laugh. 00:18:56.860 --> 00:18:58.860 And they think of it as a white man's religion. 00:18:59.120 --> 00:19:00.519 But Europe is in this story. 00:19:01.319 --> 00:19:05.900 Europe is Pilate who causes Jesus to be put to death. 00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:07.400 Africa is in the story. 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:11.700 It's an African who carries the cross of Jesus. 00:19:11.700 --> 00:19:19.080 And it's this African's African sons who are mentioned because they had important roles in the early church. 00:19:20.120 --> 00:19:22.200 And God messes with our categories. 00:19:26.039 --> 00:19:35.340 Now, if you've seen The Passion of the Christ, you know that the crucifixion is very, very, very gory. 00:19:35.339 --> 00:19:44.379 But it might surprise you that the way they talk about this within the text is actually quite chaste, actually. 00:19:45.159 --> 00:19:47.559 It's not sensationalistic at all. 00:19:48.500 --> 00:19:51.159 It's not how, in a sense, Hollywood would do it. 00:19:51.779 --> 00:19:54.139 Look how they actually go to the next part. 00:19:54.259 --> 00:19:56.559 Scene 4, verses 22 to 25. 00:19:57.179 --> 00:20:00.339 And I've entitled it, Mocked, Stripped, and Crucified. 00:20:01.279 --> 00:20:02.179 Verse 22. 00:20:02.180 --> 00:20:08.400 And they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha, which means place of a skull. 00:20:09.620 --> 00:20:14.200 And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. 00:20:14.360 --> 00:20:20.620 Now, there's some debate in the literature as to whether myrrh has a bit of a numbing product, aspect. 00:20:20.779 --> 00:20:21.840 We know that wine does. 00:20:22.620 --> 00:20:25.560 But others think that it's an ongoing part of the mockery. 00:20:27.019 --> 00:20:30.759 Just as their servant brings a glass of wine to the king, 00:20:30.759 --> 00:20:37.460 here they are bringing a glass of wine to the king of Israel, crucified on the cross. 00:20:38.339 --> 00:20:40.940 It's probably another aspect of mockery. 00:20:42.299 --> 00:20:45.759 And then if you continue on, verse 24. 00:20:45.940 --> 00:20:49.940 And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, 00:20:50.440 --> 00:20:53.180 casting lots for them to decide what he should take. 00:20:53.180 --> 00:20:57.860 Once again, Jesus would have died on the cross naked. 00:20:59.560 --> 00:21:00.000 Why? 00:21:00.160 --> 00:21:03.320 Because you want to humiliate this person to the nth degree. 00:21:06.200 --> 00:21:10.640 And it was the third hour, verse 25, when they crucified him. 00:21:10.840 --> 00:21:12.320 That's all they say. 00:21:13.420 --> 00:21:15.380 It was the third hour when they crucified him. 00:21:15.380 --> 00:21:22.940 The Romans crucified hundreds of thousands of people. 00:21:23.860 --> 00:21:26.740 Maybe not hundreds of thousands, but way north of 100,000. 00:21:27.220 --> 00:21:30.940 As I said before, they would always do it, if they could. 00:21:31.620 --> 00:21:37.060 They would always do it in a place where there would be maximum visibility. 00:21:37.059 --> 00:21:43.419 Because it was an act to terrorize the population. 00:21:44.500 --> 00:21:48.319 And so every one of Mark's early readers would have seen a crucifixion. 00:21:48.879 --> 00:21:52.299 And they didn't need to see all of the details put down. 00:21:52.639 --> 00:21:54.919 We need to hear them, but they didn't. 00:21:56.419 --> 00:21:59.980 And some of you might wonder a little bit about the time. 00:21:59.980 --> 00:22:01.839 And I just want to make a comment about it. 00:22:01.880 --> 00:22:05.680 Because sometimes people make a big deal about the difference in time 00:22:05.680 --> 00:22:08.599 between Mark and John. 00:22:09.720 --> 00:22:14.360 This past Tuesday night, I'm teaching a course on how to preach and teach the Bible. 00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:17.519 And one person's online watching it. 00:22:17.640 --> 00:22:22.279 And when we come up to a time for a break, I look at my phone and I say it's 7.28. 00:22:22.819 --> 00:22:24.019 And I'll say it's 7.28. 00:22:24.099 --> 00:22:25.819 We'll meet back at 7.43. 00:22:26.799 --> 00:22:28.519 It's a very Canadian thing to say, right? 00:22:28.519 --> 00:22:30.119 It's 7.28, 7.43. 00:22:31.359 --> 00:22:34.500 And so when we see two times, we get really puzzled by that. 00:22:34.900 --> 00:22:39.200 But you need to remember, in those days, they had no clocks. 00:22:40.839 --> 00:22:45.039 And in fact, they wouldn't even understand what 7.28 meant. 00:22:45.980 --> 00:22:48.240 Because you only had when the sun rises. 00:22:48.599 --> 00:22:50.119 I don't know if I'm pointing in the right way. 00:22:51.879 --> 00:22:53.279 Actually, this is east. 00:22:53.420 --> 00:22:55.759 But we'll pretend this is east that way? 00:22:56.720 --> 00:22:57.119 Okay. 00:22:57.119 --> 00:22:58.119 There you go. 00:22:58.519 --> 00:23:02.299 So all they have is the sunrises and the sunsets. 00:23:03.299 --> 00:23:05.039 And then they have three other things. 00:23:05.200 --> 00:23:06.700 They have the third hour. 00:23:07.059 --> 00:23:11.900 And the third hour is sort of from there to somewhere over there. 00:23:12.420 --> 00:23:13.220 Or is it there? 00:23:13.220 --> 00:23:18.559 And the sixth hour is sort of somewhere from there to about there. 00:23:18.559 --> 00:23:24.019 And then the ninth hour is any time from about there down to about there. 00:23:24.019 --> 00:23:31.920 So if you had two people, one of them could say, that's about the third hour still. 00:23:31.980 --> 00:23:33.740 The other one would say, no, no, it's time for a break. 00:23:33.799 --> 00:23:34.639 It's the sixth hour. 00:23:34.700 --> 00:23:36.079 I'm sure that's the sixth hour. 00:23:36.920 --> 00:23:40.119 And there's that whole area where it's not really clear what the time is. 00:23:40.119 --> 00:23:41.639 That's just how they told time. 00:23:41.700 --> 00:23:42.900 And it were big blocks of time. 00:23:42.900 --> 00:23:49.400 And so that's what's going on here in particular in the text. 00:23:49.400 --> 00:23:51.540 Jesus is crucified. 00:23:52.180 --> 00:23:54.040 They don't go into all of the details. 00:23:54.039 --> 00:23:56.399 And they don't go into all of the gore. 00:23:57.379 --> 00:24:04.099 And you have to remember that for pagan Rome, crucifixion was a symbol of their glory, majesty, and might. 00:24:04.359 --> 00:24:07.220 And it was not a flaw to repent of. 00:24:09.920 --> 00:24:15.319 Well, we have a few more examples of mocking before we sort of learn a few things from it and what's going on. 00:24:15.379 --> 00:24:21.220 Let's read the final scene, which is scene five, the spiritual and social danger of mocking. 00:24:21.220 --> 00:24:25.059 The spiritual and social danger of mocking. 00:24:26.600 --> 00:24:29.539 And it goes like this, verse 26. 00:24:30.900 --> 00:24:36.000 And the inscription of the charge against him read, the king of the Jews, which is mocking him. 00:24:36.980 --> 00:24:43.519 And with him, they crucified two robbers or two rebels, one on his right and one on his left. 00:24:43.519 --> 00:24:52.000 And those who passed by derided, mocked, scoffed, reviled Jesus, wagging their heads and saying, 00:24:52.139 --> 00:24:59.619 Aha, you who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself and come down from the cross. 00:24:59.619 --> 00:25:10.379 That's just the people who are passing by, the merchants, the tourists, the pilgrims coming to pray and celebrate the Passover. 00:25:10.719 --> 00:25:17.859 They shoot those little barbs up as they walk by, maybe as they stand and watch for a while with their kids. 00:25:19.459 --> 00:25:20.039 Verse 31. 00:25:20.039 --> 00:25:25.920 In other words, there's a group of them. 00:25:26.039 --> 00:25:30.379 They're all yelling out to each other and jostling each other and elbowing each other. 00:25:30.680 --> 00:25:36.119 And they're all saying in loud voices so each other can hear and so Jesus can hear. 00:25:36.240 --> 00:25:37.079 He saved others. 00:25:37.200 --> 00:25:38.460 He cannot save himself. 00:25:39.000 --> 00:25:45.339 Let the Christ, the king of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe him. 00:25:45.339 --> 00:25:50.759 And then finally we hear that those who were crucified with him also reviled him. 00:25:51.579 --> 00:25:57.339 We know from Luke's account that one of those two thieves later repented of this ongoing mocking. 00:25:58.139 --> 00:25:59.899 It wasn't just something they said once. 00:26:01.000 --> 00:26:06.399 This summarizes the different ways that they made fun of Jesus and mocked him while he was on the cross. 00:26:08.000 --> 00:26:10.000 So what can we say about this text? 00:26:10.579 --> 00:26:11.659 Well, there's a couple of things. 00:26:11.660 --> 00:26:15.480 The first thing to notice is that it's a text from beginning to end about mocking. 00:26:16.500 --> 00:26:19.240 And the second thing we can notice is that they were wrong. 00:26:20.720 --> 00:26:22.120 They were wrong in everything. 00:26:24.279 --> 00:26:27.640 They were wrong when they quote about him doing the temple. 00:26:27.759 --> 00:26:29.940 They don't even bother to get his statement right. 00:26:30.759 --> 00:26:33.000 You see, why don't they bother to get the statement right? 00:26:33.040 --> 00:26:36.640 Because when people mock other people, you don't actually care if you get it right. 00:26:36.740 --> 00:26:38.400 That's what people who mock do. 00:26:38.400 --> 00:26:42.960 We don't care if we get it right because we want to mock. 00:26:44.340 --> 00:26:46.519 Like that's part of the spiritual condition. 00:26:46.680 --> 00:26:48.100 We don't care about the truth. 00:26:48.200 --> 00:26:49.340 We just want to mock. 00:26:49.920 --> 00:26:53.900 And then, of course, they're also wrong because, you know, I mean, this is Friday. 00:26:54.100 --> 00:26:58.100 This is, you know, they still have a couple of more hours before Jesus is finally going to die. 00:26:58.660 --> 00:27:00.380 Everybody dies of crucifixion. 00:27:00.460 --> 00:27:01.540 That's the whole point. 00:27:01.539 --> 00:27:08.200 And it's, and, but they're going to be wrong because, in fact, he is going to save people. 00:27:08.359 --> 00:27:09.500 He's going to rise from the dead. 00:27:09.539 --> 00:27:13.000 He's going to do all these things to show that they were completely and utterly wrong. 00:27:15.500 --> 00:27:15.779 Mocking. 00:27:17.079 --> 00:27:18.599 Well, here's a couple of things. 00:27:18.659 --> 00:27:20.960 If you could put them up, they'll be very brief in each case. 00:27:21.460 --> 00:27:24.319 Here's a couple of things about the problem with mockery. 00:27:24.319 --> 00:27:29.419 First one, 2A, you feel godlike when you mock. 00:27:31.980 --> 00:27:35.839 You feel godlike when you mock. 00:27:36.700 --> 00:27:39.899 You might not recognize that that's what you're feeling, but that's what you feel. 00:27:40.899 --> 00:27:42.059 You feel godlike. 00:27:44.700 --> 00:27:50.379 You're looking down from your exalted place at this person that you don't like. 00:27:50.380 --> 00:27:54.100 Maybe you despise. 00:27:56.400 --> 00:27:58.540 And the words roll off your tongue. 00:27:59.040 --> 00:28:00.700 And the jokes roll off your tongue. 00:28:02.380 --> 00:28:06.160 And you share the jokes and the things with the other people who are around you. 00:28:06.920 --> 00:28:12.120 And when you're doing that, in the moment of doing that, in the moment of mocking, you feel godlike. 00:28:12.119 --> 00:28:19.979 And the fact of the matter is that we human beings like feeling godlike. 00:28:22.019 --> 00:28:25.379 Every single one of us likes the feeling of feeling godlike. 00:28:25.380 --> 00:28:31.260 And I got some help with a... 00:28:31.260 --> 00:28:32.460 I can't remember her name right now. 00:28:32.560 --> 00:28:33.520 I should have written it down. 00:28:33.640 --> 00:28:35.200 But the next point, if you could put it up. 00:28:36.200 --> 00:28:43.200 Mocking quietly moves from being a slippery slope to a fun toboggan ride. 00:28:43.200 --> 00:29:02.440 Last week, we talked about the spiritual danger of pride and the spiritual danger of envy. 00:29:02.440 --> 00:29:11.279 And mocking is closely tied to these two types of sins. 00:29:12.120 --> 00:29:19.160 You see, if you have the experience of being godlike, and if you're in a position of power that you can get away with mocking, 00:29:19.759 --> 00:29:26.960 if you're very, very quick with your tongue and sort of assertive and looking for being able to mock people, 00:29:26.960 --> 00:29:30.960 it's something that becomes like a drug that you want to do again. 00:29:30.960 --> 00:29:36.140 And it becomes like something you do occasionally, and then you do it often. 00:29:36.340 --> 00:29:40.200 And then before you know it, it's becoming a bit of a habit of being for you. 00:29:40.500 --> 00:29:44.620 That you can't even really talk to many people unless it's your own inner circle, 00:29:44.740 --> 00:29:47.059 your own people who think like you and believe like you. 00:29:47.160 --> 00:29:51.019 That it just comes rolling off your lips to mock them. 00:29:51.640 --> 00:29:55.940 And so at first, maybe you might have that pointed out to you, that there's a problem with this. 00:29:56.000 --> 00:29:58.940 That you shouldn't be mocking, and you might try to rein it in. 00:29:58.940 --> 00:30:02.160 And because that's when you realize that it's a slippery slope. 00:30:02.160 --> 00:30:10.120 That if you're not careful, this habit of contempt to people, you know, and it can be contempt at your kids. 00:30:10.279 --> 00:30:13.059 You know, when you do something that you just, you feel contempt for them. 00:30:13.120 --> 00:30:15.460 When your wife does it, you feel contempt for it. 00:30:15.500 --> 00:30:18.100 When your husband does it, you feel contempt for them. 00:30:18.099 --> 00:30:22.759 In a moment, it reveals the contempt that you feel when you say those cunning words. 00:30:23.059 --> 00:30:28.619 And then when it's political or cultural or your neighbors or whatever, and there's this godlike sense to it. 00:30:28.639 --> 00:30:31.559 And you do it a couple of times, and then you realize you need to stop that. 00:30:31.619 --> 00:30:35.439 Because it's something which is a slippery slope that you could go down. 00:30:35.500 --> 00:30:39.299 But at some point in time, and this is the problem with all deadly sins like this. 00:30:39.539 --> 00:30:43.319 Before you know it, it's not a slippery slope that you're trying to not fall down. 00:30:43.319 --> 00:30:45.759 It becomes fun to you. 00:30:48.759 --> 00:30:52.119 And you like going deeper into it. 00:30:56.359 --> 00:30:58.039 If you could put up the next one. 00:30:59.039 --> 00:31:01.779 You cannot mock and love. 00:31:04.200 --> 00:31:07.439 You cannot mock and love. 00:31:07.440 --> 00:31:13.240 It's a very nature of mocking that you feel contempt for the other person. 00:31:14.940 --> 00:31:16.059 You don't love them. 00:31:21.440 --> 00:31:26.680 Love is what Canadians desire maybe more than anything else. 00:31:26.680 --> 00:31:40.840 And yet increasingly, if you look at the Twitter world, if you look at comedy, if you look at much that goes on in the entertainment media, 00:31:40.980 --> 00:31:48.920 and even from what I gather in universities, even though what we desire most is love, what we often practice now is mocking. 00:31:48.920 --> 00:31:55.100 And we do not realize that the more we mock, the farther love recedes. 00:31:57.320 --> 00:31:58.740 If you could put up the next one. 00:31:59.800 --> 00:32:04.500 And when you mock, you abandon seeking to know truth. 00:32:07.000 --> 00:32:11.980 When you mock, you abandon seeking to know truth. 00:32:11.980 --> 00:32:18.140 None of the people mocking Jesus were interested in the truth of what he actually said. 00:32:21.700 --> 00:32:27.160 None of them were interested in trying to figure out how this could fit on with all the miracles that he'd done and the healing he'd done. 00:32:27.220 --> 00:32:28.480 And why was he still up there? 00:32:28.500 --> 00:32:30.900 If he could calm a storm, why was he allowing? 00:32:31.079 --> 00:32:33.839 Like, this is nothing compared to stopping a storm. 00:32:33.839 --> 00:32:39.500 Like, he raised dead people from death to life. 00:32:39.819 --> 00:32:42.500 Like, how could he be allowing this to happen to him? 00:32:42.659 --> 00:32:44.899 Like, he can effortlessly heal this. 00:32:46.139 --> 00:32:49.119 But they'd abandoned seeking to know truth. 00:32:49.399 --> 00:32:51.079 And that's what happens when we mock. 00:32:53.279 --> 00:32:59.159 It's all part of what we really value the most is expressing our own opinions, not knowing the truth. 00:32:59.160 --> 00:33:07.640 And our opinions are often prejudices and lies and half-truths. 00:33:08.040 --> 00:33:16.040 And part of the thing which is essential to knowing truth is the humility needed to want to know more. 00:33:16.500 --> 00:33:17.880 To know that you're not always right. 00:33:18.380 --> 00:33:23.320 To know that you can get great value from listening to a conversation with another person. 00:33:23.319 --> 00:33:33.720 That even somebody who is your enemy, that there is possibility that you can learn something from this experience in terms of listening to them and trying to pick out what they're talking about. 00:33:33.819 --> 00:33:35.220 That there's more truth to know. 00:33:35.359 --> 00:33:42.099 But if you just value your own opinions and you look down at people, you're not going to seek that truth which is there to know. 00:33:42.240 --> 00:33:44.839 You close yourself off from truth. 00:33:46.579 --> 00:33:51.759 And finally, if you could put up the last one, making mocking stirs up strife. 00:33:51.759 --> 00:33:56.480 You know, you see this time and time again. 00:33:58.099 --> 00:33:59.619 In fact, I'm going to say this. 00:33:59.920 --> 00:34:00.720 I have to be careful. 00:34:01.019 --> 00:34:04.819 So one of the problems with Trump is that he mocks people. 00:34:05.960 --> 00:34:07.859 And all it does is cause strife. 00:34:09.780 --> 00:34:13.400 But so does Biden and so does Harris. 00:34:13.400 --> 00:34:19.900 Trudeau mocked the truckers coming to Ottawa. 00:34:19.900 --> 00:34:22.480 And good grief, they didn't like it. 00:34:22.840 --> 00:34:23.559 Imagine that. 00:34:23.760 --> 00:34:28.940 Imagine not liking being called, you know, a racist, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. 00:34:29.019 --> 00:34:30.619 Like, imagine not liking that. 00:34:30.740 --> 00:34:37.500 Imagine not liking it when the CTV and the CBC and the Ottawa Citizen and the National Post repeats these slurs. 00:34:37.619 --> 00:34:39.119 Imagine not liking that. 00:34:39.119 --> 00:34:39.839 Imagine not liking it. 00:34:39.839 --> 00:34:42.039 Well, they can't imagine not liking it. 00:34:42.480 --> 00:34:43.779 They're lost in mockery. 00:34:45.279 --> 00:34:48.139 And then are puzzled at the strife that ensues. 00:34:48.139 --> 00:34:57.799 When you mock, you see, those of us who've been married for any length of time know that you always hurt your spouse. 00:35:00.960 --> 00:35:02.039 Like you always do. 00:35:02.319 --> 00:35:03.819 I mean, not every day, hopefully. 00:35:03.820 --> 00:35:07.420 But you can't be married for very long without hurting them. 00:35:07.500 --> 00:35:09.780 You can't be married very long without hurting your kids. 00:35:09.940 --> 00:35:12.300 And that's why repentance is so important. 00:35:13.380 --> 00:35:14.519 An amendment of life. 00:35:14.780 --> 00:35:15.620 And saying you're sorry. 00:35:16.200 --> 00:35:17.500 And wanting to know the truth. 00:35:17.680 --> 00:35:18.460 And wanting to listen. 00:35:18.980 --> 00:35:22.980 And all of these things are shut off when mocking consumes you. 00:35:23.380 --> 00:35:27.539 And all it does is stirs up strife because anybody can mock back. 00:35:27.539 --> 00:35:32.340 And if they don't have the ability to mock, there's always the punch. 00:35:33.500 --> 00:35:34.840 Or there's always the leaving. 00:35:34.840 --> 00:35:44.019 Now, in terms of the things they said to wrap this up, the three things are all very, very important. 00:35:45.500 --> 00:35:51.079 They said that Jesus should come down from the cross to save himself so that they would see and believe. 00:35:51.280 --> 00:35:58.840 But if you could put up the next point, it is precisely that we now know that it is because Jesus did not save himself that he can save you. 00:35:58.840 --> 00:36:05.820 If they had listened to anything he had said for his entire three years of ministry, they would have understood that he predicted all of the things. 00:36:05.920 --> 00:36:13.340 In fact, the irony is that if you go back and you look at Mark chapter 10, he predicts that he's going to be beaten and spit upon. 00:36:14.059 --> 00:36:23.579 And so the irony is that these guys mocking him, all they do is they mock him and spit on him, is actually showing that they don't know what they're talking about or doing. 00:36:23.579 --> 00:36:33.119 Like if they really wanted to show him wrong, they would have said, okay, guys, he predicted that we were going to spit on him and beat him. 00:36:33.219 --> 00:36:34.559 So let's not do it. 00:36:35.079 --> 00:36:36.199 And he's wrong. 00:36:36.319 --> 00:36:37.719 But no, they don't care about what he said. 00:36:37.779 --> 00:36:39.799 They just do what they want to do because they want to mock. 00:36:40.400 --> 00:36:46.299 And so we now know that it is precisely because Jesus did not save himself that he can save you. 00:36:46.659 --> 00:36:47.239 Next point. 00:36:47.239 --> 00:36:53.959 Jesus tasted all there is, rather than anybody in a sense, not anybody, nobody came down from the cross. 00:36:54.579 --> 00:36:56.479 Everybody who got crucified got killed. 00:36:58.059 --> 00:37:00.299 But in a sense, anybody can avoid death. 00:37:01.939 --> 00:37:04.719 But Jesus is completely and utterly different. 00:37:06.119 --> 00:37:13.759 Jesus tasted all there is to taste of the cause and the judgment and the punishment and the reality of death. 00:37:13.760 --> 00:37:16.020 He partook of it. 00:37:16.100 --> 00:37:17.240 He experienced it. 00:37:17.320 --> 00:37:23.840 He ate of all there is to eat and partake of, of the cause, the judgment, the punishment, and the reality of death. 00:37:24.220 --> 00:37:26.860 And he defeated death in his resurrection. 00:37:28.000 --> 00:37:29.860 He defeated death in his resurrection. 00:37:30.640 --> 00:37:33.220 That's why we worship Jesus and not Lazarus. 00:37:33.380 --> 00:37:41.580 Lazarus died four days and Jesus brought him out of death back into life on this side of death, meaning he still would have to die. 00:37:41.579 --> 00:37:46.940 Jesus tasted all there is to taste of death and emerged on the other side, having triumphed over it. 00:37:47.659 --> 00:37:49.400 And that leads us to the final point. 00:37:49.500 --> 00:37:50.519 If you could put it up, Claire. 00:37:51.880 --> 00:38:02.199 Your only hope in life and death is that by repentance from sin and faith in Jesus, you will be included in his victory over sin and death. 00:38:02.199 --> 00:38:14.799 My only hope in life and death is that by repenting from sin and faith in Jesus, I will be included in his victory over sin and death. 00:38:15.559 --> 00:38:17.639 That's my only hope in life and death. 00:38:17.639 --> 00:38:31.099 And if it wasn't a, if I could have sung it today by myself acapella, we would have sung that great praise song that Deborah introduced to us from the Heidelberg Catechism. 00:38:31.239 --> 00:38:32.000 But it's very true. 00:38:32.059 --> 00:38:33.699 It's my only hope in life and death. 00:38:35.239 --> 00:38:40.599 Now, just in closing, see, remember earlier on, maybe some of you remember, I said that, you know, 00:38:40.599 --> 00:38:46.019 the symbol and the story that's connected to the symbol shapes your life. 00:38:46.819 --> 00:38:55.299 If you are committed to the symbol of Buddhism and Buddha and the image of Buddha that you see, it's going to shape very much how you see your life. 00:38:55.299 --> 00:39:00.279 If you're shaped by the scimitar, it's going to shape how you live your life. 00:39:00.280 --> 00:39:12.280 If you're shaped by, in a sense, just either the circus that is secularism or the empty void that is secularism, it's going to shape your life in very, very powerful ways. 00:39:12.860 --> 00:39:21.360 But at the very, very heart of the Christian story, at the very heart of what I've shared for you is that Jesus, rather than mocking, he chose love. 00:39:21.620 --> 00:39:24.560 Rather than mocking, he chose truth. 00:39:25.440 --> 00:39:29.880 Rather than mocking, he chose to bring peace. 00:39:30.280 --> 00:39:37.080 Rather than clinging to being godlike and having everybody praise him. 00:39:37.100 --> 00:39:46.820 And we all look up, he chose the lowest place that you and I might have, the highest place that we might have, be included in his victory over sin and death. 00:39:47.460 --> 00:39:53.380 And at the very heart of our story is that it's expressed beautifully in the book of Common Prayer, Morning and Evening Prayer. 00:39:53.720 --> 00:39:57.400 It's a summary of three different verses in the book of Ezekiel. 00:39:57.400 --> 00:40:03.760 God takes no delight in the death of a sinner, but rather that he would turn from his wickedness and live. 00:40:04.200 --> 00:40:06.840 And that's the story being presented here. 00:40:06.960 --> 00:40:14.940 God takes no delight in the death of a mocker, but that a mocker would turn from their mockery and their sin and live. 00:40:14.940 --> 00:40:28.179 And that means when that story, when we realize that that is a word from God to us, that he takes no delight in me shaking my hand, my fist at him, at mocking him and at mocking others, 00:40:28.500 --> 00:40:38.000 and being a person who becomes more and more a mocker, that he takes no delight in me falling into that hell before hell of mocking. 00:40:38.000 --> 00:40:42.039 But that he desires that I would turn from that to live. 00:40:42.179 --> 00:40:44.559 That's the exact opposite of mocking. 00:40:45.659 --> 00:40:52.699 And as we understand that that is to be my new story, that I am included in what Christ did for me. 00:40:52.699 --> 00:41:01.859 To share in his victory over sin and death and his victory over hell and all hostile spiritual powers. 00:41:02.299 --> 00:41:06.000 And that he would take no delight if I had rejected that. 00:41:06.679 --> 00:41:09.099 The longing of his heart is that I would turn. 00:41:09.099 --> 00:41:22.199 Then the more that story forms us, the more we should want to choose love over contempt and the mockery that goes with it. 00:41:22.299 --> 00:41:31.400 And that we would want to show to know the truth rather than the lies and the half-truths and the insults which characterize mocking. 00:41:31.400 --> 00:41:36.059 And that we would desire time and time and time again in a culture. 00:41:36.660 --> 00:41:40.019 Whether it's the poor, whether it's the mentally ill. 00:41:40.160 --> 00:41:50.099 And our country wants to include and make it easier for people who already suffer isolation and depression to choose death over life. 00:41:50.240 --> 00:41:52.360 And we are to be people of life. 00:41:53.740 --> 00:41:56.400 That is the story that's to form us. 00:41:58.119 --> 00:41:59.860 To choose the truth. 00:42:00.099 --> 00:42:01.280 To choose love. 00:42:01.400 --> 00:42:05.539 To choose the patience that goes with knowing the truth and knowing love. 00:42:05.660 --> 00:42:08.320 And to choose and hope that people choose life. 00:42:09.300 --> 00:42:12.559 That is to be the story of our lives. 00:42:12.920 --> 00:42:18.539 As this story becomes more and more real to the very center of who we are. 00:42:18.880 --> 00:42:22.420 And we can pray that it becomes the center of who we are as a congregation. 00:42:23.619 --> 00:42:25.880 I invite you to stand in closing. 00:42:25.880 --> 00:42:26.000 Thank you. 00:42:31.400 --> 00:42:44.000 Father, we give you thanks and praise that Jesus is our hope in life and death. 00:42:44.460 --> 00:42:47.480 Not just our hope in death, but he's our hope in life and death. 00:42:47.480 --> 00:42:55.599 And we ask, Father, that first of all, that each of us would repent and turn to give our lives to Jesus. 00:42:55.599 --> 00:42:57.400 That he might be our Savior and Lord. 00:42:57.599 --> 00:43:03.420 That he might be the one that shares his victory over sin and death with us. 00:43:03.420 --> 00:43:07.619 And we thank you that he always says yes when we come to him humbly and penitently. 00:43:08.119 --> 00:43:09.659 We thank you for that, Father. 00:43:09.659 --> 00:43:18.559 And we ask, Lord, that who he is and his wonderful presence and power and the story of his life and the story of his teaching. 00:43:19.179 --> 00:43:22.819 And the very symbol of your glory, which is the cross. 00:43:22.920 --> 00:43:25.980 That that would become more and more real to us at a very deep level. 00:43:27.679 --> 00:43:30.980 And that you would form us, Father, into being people of the truth. 00:43:31.179 --> 00:43:32.039 People of life. 00:43:32.199 --> 00:43:32.940 People of love. 00:43:33.739 --> 00:43:34.460 People of beauty. 00:43:34.460 --> 00:43:38.079 That you would form us as individuals more and more. 00:43:38.199 --> 00:43:39.539 That that would characterize us. 00:43:39.599 --> 00:43:42.039 That that could be the salt that we bring to Ottawa. 00:43:42.480 --> 00:43:49.360 It could be the salt and the music and the beauty that we bring to government and to enterprise. 00:43:50.079 --> 00:43:52.440 And to this country of Canada and to the world. 00:43:53.440 --> 00:43:56.360 Father, that we would be gripped by this truth. 00:43:56.360 --> 00:43:59.760 We ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. 00:44:00.280 --> 00:44:02.619 And all God's people said, Amen.