WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.179 Well, thank you everyone who's been involved in our service so far this morning. 00:00:04.259 --> 00:00:08.060 It's going to be really helpful if you have your Bibles open there at Luke 23, 00:00:08.220 --> 00:00:12.720 those verses that we just heard, read just a short while ago. 00:00:14.200 --> 00:00:16.420 Who remembers watching Sesame Street as a child? 00:00:18.300 --> 00:00:20.260 Some of us? Yeah? 00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:24.640 Well, this morning's sermon is brought to you by one simple question, right? 00:00:24.660 --> 00:00:26.400 In association with one simple question. 00:00:26.400 --> 00:00:28.920 And it's the question, what do you see? 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:32.179 What do you see? 00:00:33.799 --> 00:00:36.060 So, what do you see? 00:00:37.920 --> 00:00:39.439 Hands up for a saxophonist. 00:00:40.799 --> 00:00:43.079 Hands up for a lady's face. 00:00:44.539 --> 00:00:46.659 A few of us, great. Okay, here's the next one. 00:00:47.179 --> 00:00:47.900 What do you see? 00:00:50.359 --> 00:00:53.159 Hands up for faces. 00:00:55.100 --> 00:00:56.980 Hands up for candlestick. 00:00:56.979 --> 00:01:01.219 Now, if you're Scottish and you look hard enough, you can actually see a thistle there. 00:01:01.519 --> 00:01:02.679 That's what I noticed when I looked at it there. 00:01:03.159 --> 00:01:04.179 Here is one more. 00:01:04.539 --> 00:01:05.259 What do you see? 00:01:07.060 --> 00:01:08.259 Hands up for old woman. 00:01:10.299 --> 00:01:11.939 Hands up for young woman. 00:01:14.060 --> 00:01:15.039 Okay, we're doing well here. 00:01:15.099 --> 00:01:15.799 Here's the last one. 00:01:16.140 --> 00:01:16.840 What do you see? 00:01:18.159 --> 00:01:18.979 Hands up for duck. 00:01:20.579 --> 00:01:21.799 Hands up for rabbit. 00:01:21.799 --> 00:01:22.239 Right? 00:01:23.079 --> 00:01:23.399 Right? 00:01:23.700 --> 00:01:23.899 Yeah? 00:01:24.140 --> 00:01:24.459 Yeah. 00:01:24.780 --> 00:01:25.060 Yeah. 00:01:25.159 --> 00:01:26.219 Kind of a rabbit, isn't it? 00:01:26.979 --> 00:01:27.859 So, here's one more. 00:01:28.060 --> 00:01:30.000 And I wouldn't ask for a show of hands on this one. 00:01:30.019 --> 00:01:31.700 This is going to take us to the heart of the passage this morning. 00:01:31.759 --> 00:01:32.359 What do you see? 00:01:35.399 --> 00:01:36.200 What do you see? 00:01:37.799 --> 00:01:38.620 The cross. 00:01:39.620 --> 00:01:47.159 The symbol I was reading this week that beats both McDonald's and Apple to the title of being the most recognized symbol in the world. 00:01:47.159 --> 00:01:58.379 The symbol that, according to statistics, defines the lives of approximately 31% of the 7.3 billion people that call this planet home. 00:01:59.799 --> 00:02:01.560 What do you see as you look at the cross? 00:02:03.859 --> 00:02:05.579 A man dying on a wooden beam. 00:02:06.859 --> 00:02:11.060 Why do Christians get so excited about a man's death? 00:02:12.579 --> 00:02:15.699 It's a question I asked myself, I remember, before I became a Christian. 00:02:15.699 --> 00:02:17.319 It's school. 00:02:18.019 --> 00:02:19.839 Remember at the time I was reading Macbeth. 00:02:19.979 --> 00:02:24.659 If you've read Macbeth, if you grew up in the Scottish education system, you most definitely read Macbeth. 00:02:24.780 --> 00:02:25.819 What's Macbeth known as? 00:02:26.399 --> 00:02:27.419 A tragic hero. 00:02:28.399 --> 00:02:34.519 I thought to myself, is Jesus, is he just, as we see him die, this innocent man on the cross, is he just another tragic hero? 00:02:36.039 --> 00:02:40.500 Is the cross, as you look at it there to you this morning, is it utter nonsense? 00:02:40.500 --> 00:02:46.280 Or is it something that is staggeringly significant? 00:02:48.819 --> 00:02:59.039 Friends, what I want to suggest to you this morning is that what happened on Good Friday, AD 33, is the most life transforming of events. 00:02:59.039 --> 00:03:03.579 And don't just take my word from it as a Scottish bloke up the front. 00:03:03.959 --> 00:03:05.560 Take Luke's word for it. 00:03:06.500 --> 00:03:07.219 Luke, remember? 00:03:08.099 --> 00:03:10.879 Traveled with him for what feels like a long time now. 00:03:11.120 --> 00:03:12.319 Luke, the good doctor. 00:03:13.939 --> 00:03:15.019 An eye for a detail. 00:03:15.180 --> 00:03:16.979 A hunger for a truthful diagnosis. 00:03:17.199 --> 00:03:20.840 He set about writing this detailed account of Jesus' life. 00:03:20.840 --> 00:03:30.599 So that Theophilus, the man who right at the outset commissioned him to write this report, can have certainty about who this man really is. 00:03:30.680 --> 00:03:35.340 The question in Theophilus' mind is, is this man Jesus really worth following? 00:03:36.300 --> 00:03:38.360 Now that's a great question to ask, is it not? 00:03:39.259 --> 00:03:45.319 Regardless of who you are this morning, regardless of where you've come from, regardless of what you think about this Christianity business. 00:03:45.420 --> 00:03:46.620 It all comes down to that question. 00:03:46.780 --> 00:03:48.560 Is Jesus really worth following? 00:03:48.560 --> 00:03:56.219 What Luke's going to say this morning is that his answer is an overwhelming yes. 00:03:57.479 --> 00:04:05.400 And Luke's headline in these verses this morning, quite simply, is that the cross changes everything. 00:04:06.819 --> 00:04:08.580 The cross changes everything. 00:04:10.039 --> 00:04:13.240 Now today we've reached the climax of this whole Jesus story. 00:04:13.240 --> 00:04:20.840 We've seen Jesus, the sinless son of God, God in the flesh, allow himself to be betrayed by one of his closest. 00:04:21.920 --> 00:04:24.960 Allowed himself to be handed over to the religious mob. 00:04:25.720 --> 00:04:28.019 And tried and condemned, we saw it last week, didn't we? 00:04:28.019 --> 00:04:32.819 To death by this kangaroo court who will stop at nothing, baying for blood to see him die. 00:04:32.819 --> 00:04:37.099 And so in our verses this morning we're going to see Jesus die. 00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:44.240 And you may have noticed, as Paul read it for us there, that Luke fills this scene with tons of people. 00:04:45.180 --> 00:04:46.100 Tons of people. 00:04:46.639 --> 00:04:50.579 All looking at Jesus on the cross. 00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:52.319 Many are following this man. 00:04:53.600 --> 00:04:55.240 Some are weeping for this man. 00:04:55.980 --> 00:04:57.459 Others are mocking this man. 00:04:57.839 --> 00:05:00.360 Others are even participating with this man. 00:05:00.360 --> 00:05:06.060 But all of these people, as we read this account, all of them are in one way or another reacting to what they're seeing. 00:05:08.340 --> 00:05:14.400 What they are witnessing, as they try in their own minds to try and wrestle with who this man Jesus is. 00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:16.879 What is happening to him? 00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:18.240 Why is he on the cross? 00:05:18.420 --> 00:05:22.520 And the most important question of all, what on earth does it matter? 00:05:22.519 --> 00:05:29.539 So Luke, as he takes us on that journey in the cross, he wants us to see four things. 00:05:29.620 --> 00:05:31.879 We're just going to rattle through these four things this morning, okay? 00:05:32.680 --> 00:05:35.839 So there's your binoculars, the top right of the screen. 00:05:36.579 --> 00:05:37.279 That's our question. 00:05:37.379 --> 00:05:38.019 What do we see? 00:05:38.199 --> 00:05:39.579 What do we see as the look at the cross? 00:05:39.879 --> 00:05:41.159 Luke wants us to see four things. 00:05:41.259 --> 00:05:43.899 Firstly, the path that Jesus walked. 00:05:44.659 --> 00:05:46.919 Follow with me, verses 26 to 31. 00:05:46.920 --> 00:05:52.580 Jesus, remember at this point, he's been beaten and he's been flogged. 00:05:53.199 --> 00:05:55.259 He's forced to carry his cross. 00:05:56.780 --> 00:06:02.120 This bit of solid wood that would have weighed something like 30 or 40 pounds. 00:06:02.340 --> 00:06:02.700 It's heavy. 00:06:03.860 --> 00:06:07.340 And he's forced to carry it to this place called Golgotha. 00:06:08.700 --> 00:06:11.840 His nickname with the locals is the place of the skull. 00:06:11.839 --> 00:06:22.779 Probably because the Romans loved it as an execution site, but also probably because the place where it was, the rock, kind of looked like a skull. 00:06:23.739 --> 00:06:26.319 The place of the skull, that's the nickname for this place. 00:06:26.979 --> 00:06:33.079 And at some point on that journey to the place of the skull, Jesus becomes too weak to carry on. 00:06:34.299 --> 00:06:35.139 And what do the Romans do? 00:06:35.139 --> 00:06:41.459 They seize a random passing man and they throw him down in front of the cross, force him to carry Jesus' cross. 00:06:42.639 --> 00:06:43.079 Simon. 00:06:43.899 --> 00:06:45.560 Here's our first individual in this scene. 00:06:45.699 --> 00:06:46.019 Simon. 00:06:46.180 --> 00:06:46.779 Where's he from? 00:06:47.519 --> 00:06:48.560 He's from Cyrene. 00:06:49.839 --> 00:06:56.139 This man is from North Africa and he's come to Jerusalem as a Passover pilgrim. 00:06:57.159 --> 00:07:00.439 Now you can imagine that he's probably done this journey tons of times before. 00:07:00.439 --> 00:07:11.500 But this year, he found himself thrown into a moment which he never saw coming and into a moment that he will never forget. 00:07:13.319 --> 00:07:22.120 You know that moment when you've just come back from holiday and then the first day back in the office or the first day back when you see friends, what's the question they always ask you? 00:07:22.879 --> 00:07:23.720 How was your trip? 00:07:25.100 --> 00:07:25.800 How was your trip? 00:07:25.800 --> 00:07:32.400 As much as Simon, he gets back to North Africa, turns from Jerusalem, meets up with his pals. 00:07:32.540 --> 00:07:33.079 What do they say? 00:07:33.139 --> 00:07:34.079 Simon, how was your trip? 00:07:35.020 --> 00:07:36.480 Simon, you go every year to Jerusalem. 00:07:36.579 --> 00:07:39.020 Did you get a good selfie of you and the temple this year? 00:07:39.879 --> 00:07:40.400 How was it? 00:07:40.400 --> 00:07:41.139 How was your trip? 00:07:41.960 --> 00:07:46.280 And Simon says, sit down and let me tell you. 00:07:47.639 --> 00:07:48.519 What did he do? 00:07:48.879 --> 00:07:50.120 Follow it with me in the verses. 00:07:50.280 --> 00:07:53.000 He carried Jesus' cross. 00:07:53.000 --> 00:07:54.899 And what did he see? 00:07:55.000 --> 00:07:55.759 Verse 27. 00:07:57.120 --> 00:08:00.560 He saw lots of people following this man. 00:08:00.839 --> 00:08:01.779 And what did he hear? 00:08:02.879 --> 00:08:04.959 Weeping and mourning. 00:08:05.100 --> 00:08:17.220 And he heard this man Jesus tell those who were walking with him, get this, not to cry for him, but to cry because of the state of their people. 00:08:17.220 --> 00:08:21.740 This people, this nation, remember, who were meant to be God's holy people. 00:08:22.080 --> 00:08:26.580 The surrounding nations were meant to look in and say, wow, isn't there God's great? 00:08:27.300 --> 00:08:31.980 They're meant to be God's holy people and yet their hearts, Jesus knows, are rotten before their maker. 00:08:31.980 --> 00:08:39.360 Jesus, in his moment of agony, is loving these people. 00:08:40.440 --> 00:08:48.440 And he's pleading with these people to seize the day and turn back to God before time runs out for them because their lives are just like our lives. 00:08:48.560 --> 00:08:50.700 They are here today and they're gone tomorrow. 00:08:53.220 --> 00:08:55.639 What a pilgrimage trip that was for Simon. 00:08:56.740 --> 00:08:58.220 Imagine him telling his friends that one. 00:08:58.220 --> 00:09:02.620 Now, here's the question as you try and get into this passage. 00:09:03.820 --> 00:09:12.060 Do you think Simon, when he got to Golgotha, do you think he dusted himself down and he wished Jesus all the best? 00:09:12.220 --> 00:09:13.019 What did they say in France? 00:09:13.139 --> 00:09:13.519 Bon chance. 00:09:15.580 --> 00:09:17.379 And he carried on with the rest of his life. 00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:19.180 I think that's what happened. 00:09:20.560 --> 00:09:21.879 Of course it's not what happened. 00:09:22.320 --> 00:09:25.139 What a life transforming event for this man, Simon. 00:09:25.139 --> 00:09:34.659 If you want to flick to the end of Mark's gospel, he tells us the names of Simon's two sons, Alexander and Rufus. 00:09:35.220 --> 00:09:42.059 The reason being, Mark is doing it for his Roman audience that not only can you go and you can talk to Simon's sons, 00:09:43.039 --> 00:09:46.639 they'll tell you about what happened to their dad that day in Jerusalem, 00:09:46.740 --> 00:09:50.919 but presumably that they too became followers of Jesus, just like their dad. 00:09:50.919 --> 00:09:55.759 See, here is a life transforming moment for Simon. 00:09:55.939 --> 00:09:59.839 Simon's declaration that the cross changes everything. 00:10:01.339 --> 00:10:03.500 Luke says, see the path that Jesus walked. 00:10:05.219 --> 00:10:07.099 What do you see as you look at the cross? 00:10:09.159 --> 00:10:12.759 Secondly, Luke says, see the pain that Jesus suffered. 00:10:13.839 --> 00:10:16.559 Verses 42, sorry, 32 to 43. 00:10:16.559 --> 00:10:27.579 So Jesus arrives at Golgotha, place of the skull, and Luke, in the account, he spares us the gory details of what happened on the cross. 00:10:27.899 --> 00:10:32.839 Presumably because his generation are all too familiar with what crucifixion means and what it entails. 00:10:34.359 --> 00:10:37.419 And what the Romans did to their victims, it wasn't pretty. 00:10:37.419 --> 00:10:40.879 The physical agony of the cross. 00:10:42.419 --> 00:10:43.719 The loss of blood. 00:10:45.419 --> 00:10:46.979 The shock to the system. 00:10:47.219 --> 00:10:53.159 The suffocation when they no longer had the energy to lift themselves up to breathe. 00:10:55.079 --> 00:10:57.740 It wasn't sanitized, what Jesus went through here. 00:10:58.479 --> 00:11:01.159 Luke tells us, isn't he, that Jesus is led out with two other criminals. 00:11:01.360 --> 00:11:01.980 Up they go. 00:11:03.319 --> 00:11:06.199 Jesus in the middle, one criminal on the right, the other on the left. 00:11:06.200 --> 00:11:15.240 And even in this horrific moment, take a moment just to ponder the words that come from Jesus' mouth at verse 34. 00:11:17.780 --> 00:11:25.320 In response to everything that he's just gone through, with people presumably mocking him from every angle, 00:11:25.320 --> 00:11:36.580 feel the compelling words that communicate to us God's indescribable love for his creation and for the very creatures who are subjecting him to this. 00:11:36.580 --> 00:11:41.660 And I don't know how you react when you are wronged. 00:11:43.080 --> 00:11:46.060 I got my bill from, my phone bill this week. 00:11:46.900 --> 00:11:48.639 For the month, 15 pence over. 00:11:48.759 --> 00:11:51.560 Honestly, my first thought was, heads at Vodafone need to roll. 00:11:53.740 --> 00:11:55.379 What happens when you get wronged? 00:11:55.379 --> 00:11:56.200 How do you feel? 00:11:57.340 --> 00:11:59.759 The sense of injustice, the sense of this is not right. 00:11:59.759 --> 00:12:04.779 I look at this moment and I'm thinking, go on Jesus, make your words here. 00:12:05.220 --> 00:12:08.500 Father, blitz them because they know exactly what they are doing. 00:12:08.720 --> 00:12:09.700 This is how I would have reacted. 00:12:11.779 --> 00:12:13.379 But Jesus is not like me. 00:12:14.500 --> 00:12:16.179 And Jesus is not like you. 00:12:17.120 --> 00:12:18.980 Father, forgive them. 00:12:19.559 --> 00:12:22.779 For they do not know what they are doing. 00:12:22.779 --> 00:12:24.899 Now, savor this, take this in. 00:12:24.980 --> 00:12:27.600 That the one who said, turn the other cheek. 00:12:28.279 --> 00:12:30.379 He lets them hammer in the nails. 00:12:31.740 --> 00:12:35.740 Jesus, the man who is truly innocent in his final moments. 00:12:36.259 --> 00:12:37.819 He's not pleading for his own innocence. 00:12:39.339 --> 00:12:43.339 He's pleading the defence of the guilty. 00:12:44.879 --> 00:12:51.899 Friends, see the throbbing heart of God that oozes grace and love for a world that has rejected him. 00:12:52.779 --> 00:12:57.939 John Stott, famous Anglican minister, said this as he looked at the cross. 00:12:58.980 --> 00:13:03.919 He said, the essence of sin is man substituting himself for God. 00:13:04.659 --> 00:13:10.179 But the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man. 00:13:11.360 --> 00:13:14.079 It's the heart of what's going on here on the cross. 00:13:15.519 --> 00:13:16.319 Let's keep going. 00:13:16.419 --> 00:13:20.000 Verse 35, the soldiers, they divide up his clothes by lot. 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:22.179 But the people watch. 00:13:23.059 --> 00:13:24.240 The soldiers mock. 00:13:24.620 --> 00:13:30.360 They offer him wine, vinegar, this cheap drink so popular with Roman soldiers. 00:13:30.539 --> 00:13:37.960 They offer Jesus this and they do it so that the agony that he's going through can be prolonged just that little bit more. 00:13:37.960 --> 00:13:44.800 And Pilate puts this sign above his head as he hangs on the cross saying, this is the king of the Jews. 00:13:44.900 --> 00:13:45.400 Here he is. 00:13:45.620 --> 00:13:46.660 This is the king of the Jews. 00:13:47.320 --> 00:13:48.720 Mocking in his own kind of way. 00:13:50.759 --> 00:14:02.660 Public notice of a crucified person's crime was intended by the Romans to be a warning that if you, anyone else, so dares, as tries to do what he's done, this person's done, 00:14:02.659 --> 00:14:05.279 then this is what's going to happen to you. 00:14:07.259 --> 00:14:13.600 And so Jesus, the one truly innocent, is officially executed as a political rebel. 00:14:14.079 --> 00:14:16.699 The rulers sneer, they gloat and they ridicule. 00:14:16.759 --> 00:14:19.500 He saved others, but he can't even save himself. 00:14:21.559 --> 00:14:24.839 Remember, God has said that cursed is anyone who hangs on a tree. 00:14:24.840 --> 00:14:37.860 So what the religious leaders do, accusing Jesus of blasphemy all the way through this gospel, they look at Jesus on this tree and they think that this is proof that Jesus is getting his divine just deserves. 00:14:39.800 --> 00:14:51.519 And don't miss the irony that it's precisely because Jesus will not save himself that he's able to offer salvation to others. 00:14:51.519 --> 00:14:55.480 Jesus wasn't bearing the curse for his own wrongdoing. 00:14:56.159 --> 00:15:01.279 Jesus was bearing the curse that we deserved for our wrongdoing. 00:15:03.000 --> 00:15:07.899 Some of you may have seen Mel Gibson's film, The Passion of the Christ, that came out a number of years ago. 00:15:08.419 --> 00:15:12.939 This film that he put together to try and capture the final moments of Jesus' life. 00:15:14.139 --> 00:15:19.620 Gibson directed the film, but actually Gibson's only in one scene in that whole film. 00:15:19.620 --> 00:15:26.539 And it's his hand that holds the hammer as it drives the nails into Jesus' hands. 00:15:26.620 --> 00:15:31.940 It was Gibson's way of saying that he took some responsibility for what happened at the cross. 00:15:34.639 --> 00:15:38.879 And it's true because all of our hands are on that hammer. 00:15:40.620 --> 00:15:43.899 It was my sin and your sin that put him there. 00:15:43.899 --> 00:15:49.740 It was because of our wrongdoing and our rebellion against God that Jesus took the hit. 00:15:51.399 --> 00:15:54.379 He goes here to deal with our sin. 00:15:55.620 --> 00:15:59.699 And with Jesus suspended on the cross, we get this little conversation at verse 39. 00:16:01.360 --> 00:16:05.779 Between Jesus and the two criminals who were crucified with him. 00:16:05.779 --> 00:16:09.659 One of them, understandably, hurling insults at Jesus. 00:16:10.500 --> 00:16:11.399 Mocking him. 00:16:11.939 --> 00:16:12.779 Ridiculing him. 00:16:13.939 --> 00:16:15.419 You claim to be the Messiah. 00:16:16.379 --> 00:16:18.379 You can't even save yourself. 00:16:18.500 --> 00:16:21.100 What are you doing up here alongside us if that's who you truly are? 00:16:21.179 --> 00:16:22.600 Some Messiah you are. 00:16:23.519 --> 00:16:27.019 But for the other criminal, the grace penny. 00:16:27.019 --> 00:16:30.860 It somehow appears to have dropped. 00:16:31.819 --> 00:16:38.679 So presumably as he's heard Jesus pray that God would forgive those who confess their sin before him. 00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:41.419 He concludes that Jesus is a man who is dying differently. 00:16:43.179 --> 00:16:44.480 Shouts to his pal, doesn't he? 00:16:45.519 --> 00:16:48.659 Here we are taking the punishment for our crimes that we rightly deserve. 00:16:48.899 --> 00:16:50.620 And yet this man has done nothing wrong. 00:16:52.379 --> 00:16:53.740 And he pleads with Jesus. 00:16:53.840 --> 00:16:54.299 What does he say? 00:16:54.299 --> 00:16:55.179 Remember me. 00:16:57.019 --> 00:16:58.860 I pause and think about this man for a minute. 00:17:00.299 --> 00:17:07.119 This man has no time to create a portfolio of good deeds so that he can be considered good with God. 00:17:08.099 --> 00:17:14.119 This man only has time to say to Jesus, in the words of John Newton, the famous slave trader from Bristol, 00:17:14.720 --> 00:17:19.000 I am a great sinner, but you are a great saviour. 00:17:20.099 --> 00:17:23.180 And the response from Jesus is remarkably beautiful. 00:17:23.180 --> 00:17:26.799 Today, you will be with me. 00:17:27.019 --> 00:17:28.019 In paradise. 00:17:28.019 --> 00:17:29.019 In paradise. 00:17:29.960 --> 00:17:34.039 Do you see how this man, his eternal destiny has been changed forever? 00:17:34.299 --> 00:17:41.420 Whereas before he was separated from God, now he will spend eternity with God, enjoying him and worshipping him forever. 00:17:41.420 --> 00:17:47.039 Such a poignant illustration of everything that Jesus came to do. 00:17:47.800 --> 00:17:51.039 To save wretches who had no hope of saving themselves. 00:17:52.779 --> 00:17:56.480 To bring hope to people who were facing despair. 00:17:56.480 --> 00:18:04.059 To restore broken and fractured people to the God who made them and who loves them. 00:18:04.120 --> 00:18:04.920 This is grace. 00:18:05.460 --> 00:18:06.180 Right here. 00:18:07.860 --> 00:18:13.819 Remember growing up as a child being taught that grace, being given something that I don't deserve, 00:18:13.880 --> 00:18:16.599 a really easy way to remember it, and you've probably heard this one before, 00:18:16.680 --> 00:18:18.059 is just by a simple mnemonic. 00:18:18.059 --> 00:18:23.819 Grace, God's riches at Christ's expense. 00:18:25.059 --> 00:18:26.740 It's exactly what's going on here. 00:18:27.819 --> 00:18:31.460 God's riches at Christ's expense. 00:18:31.859 --> 00:18:32.339 What is it? 00:18:32.379 --> 00:18:33.539 The old hymn says, 00:18:33.539 --> 00:18:36.460 Oh perfect redemption, the purchase of blood. 00:18:37.159 --> 00:18:41.500 To every believer, the promise of God, the vilest offender who truly believes. 00:18:41.599 --> 00:18:46.200 That moment from Jesus, a pardon receives. 00:18:46.619 --> 00:18:47.159 Luke says, 00:18:47.879 --> 00:18:49.659 See the pain that Jesus suffered. 00:18:51.220 --> 00:18:53.119 What do you see as you look at the cross? 00:18:54.700 --> 00:18:55.779 Thirdly, Luke says, 00:18:56.779 --> 00:18:59.039 See the possibility that Jesus opened. 00:18:59.039 --> 00:19:03.619 Verse 44 to 49, Jesus hangs on the cross for something like six hours. 00:19:05.379 --> 00:19:09.399 And Luke tells us that as Jesus dies, that darkness covers the land. 00:19:09.759 --> 00:19:18.700 This supernatural work of God that was telling the watching world that Jesus was bearing God's judgment for the sin of the world on himself. 00:19:20.220 --> 00:19:21.680 Dealing with our sin. 00:19:22.500 --> 00:19:25.559 And declaring it to be paid for, finished. 00:19:25.559 --> 00:19:33.559 Again, I remember when I was young, there was a trend that started among my friends that some of them started wearing wristbands. 00:19:34.480 --> 00:19:36.159 It's a trend that you see still going today. 00:19:36.480 --> 00:19:41.200 But these wristbands had the letters on them, WWJD. 00:19:42.440 --> 00:19:46.139 If you're around a certain time in the 90s, you'll probably remember that trend. 00:19:46.799 --> 00:19:47.240 WWJD. 00:19:47.419 --> 00:19:48.799 What would Jesus do? 00:19:48.799 --> 00:19:52.419 I think the idea behind it was a great idea. 00:19:52.500 --> 00:19:59.000 It was that every time you were faced with a situation in life, that you would look at your wrist and you would see WWJD. 00:19:59.079 --> 00:20:01.379 And you would think to yourself, right, what would Jesus do in this situation? 00:20:03.779 --> 00:20:06.819 Well, friends, see before we WWJD. 00:20:07.980 --> 00:20:10.139 We've got a WHJD. 00:20:11.139 --> 00:20:11.859 Stay with me. 00:20:11.859 --> 00:20:12.259 It works. 00:20:12.359 --> 00:20:12.479 Okay. 00:20:12.579 --> 00:20:14.099 Before we, what would Jesus do? 00:20:14.139 --> 00:20:19.219 We have to build it on a foundation of what has Jesus done? 00:20:20.659 --> 00:20:23.659 What has Jesus done? 00:20:23.740 --> 00:20:25.079 He has paid for my sin. 00:20:26.079 --> 00:20:27.179 Not in part. 00:20:28.299 --> 00:20:29.159 But the whole. 00:20:29.839 --> 00:20:33.199 I am saved not because of my best efforts to try and be Jesus. 00:20:33.200 --> 00:20:42.080 I am saved by trusting that Jesus' death in my place has made me right with God. 00:20:44.559 --> 00:20:52.640 You see, the cross is the place where we see God's perfect justice and his perfect love kiss one another. 00:20:53.640 --> 00:20:57.680 The apex of God's perfect love and perfect justice. 00:20:57.680 --> 00:21:04.039 And you see with that little detail that Luke drops in, the curtain of the temple torn in two. 00:21:04.900 --> 00:21:06.860 The 60 feet high. 00:21:08.120 --> 00:21:11.220 I'm 6'1", if that helps you do the math. 00:21:11.360 --> 00:21:12.720 60 foot high. 00:21:13.160 --> 00:21:14.400 30 feet wide. 00:21:14.460 --> 00:21:15.759 I've got no idea where I am this way. 00:21:15.820 --> 00:21:17.039 But 30 feet wide. 00:21:18.140 --> 00:21:23.680 Curtain that separated the holy place from the most holy place. 00:21:23.680 --> 00:21:30.600 The place that God had said that so holy is he and so unholy are his people. 00:21:30.740 --> 00:21:37.180 That only one man once a year was allowed to go in there because it was a very dwelling place of God. 00:21:39.120 --> 00:21:42.600 But now this curtain is torn open in two. 00:21:43.500 --> 00:21:51.380 And here is God declaring to the world that through Jesus he has made a way for us to come and know him. 00:21:51.380 --> 00:22:00.180 It reminded me of the famous picture of John Jr. Kennedy playing in the Oval Office. 00:22:00.760 --> 00:22:07.860 A place that no other person would ever be allowed except by invitation from the president. 00:22:08.760 --> 00:22:13.280 To every other human being, that place was no go. 00:22:13.780 --> 00:22:15.360 That man was no go. 00:22:15.359 --> 00:22:22.859 But to John Jr., as well as being Mr. President, he was dad. 00:22:25.199 --> 00:22:32.199 He was God, as it were, with this curtain torn open inviting us to come and be John Jr. 00:22:33.899 --> 00:22:35.399 Come and be John Jr. 00:22:36.099 --> 00:22:38.240 Come and know me. 00:22:38.240 --> 00:22:43.059 Come and know that I have made a way for you to be made right with me. 00:22:43.500 --> 00:22:46.200 And to enjoy life with me forever. 00:22:47.039 --> 00:22:51.180 You see, Christ's death on the cross has flown the doors, heaven's doors wide open. 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:55.740 The scandal of the gospel is that Jesus died for his enemies. 00:22:57.640 --> 00:23:01.660 But the gift of the gospel is God himself. 00:23:01.660 --> 00:23:09.920 And so Luke says, oh, would you take a leaf out of this Roman centurion's book who we meet in verse 47? 00:23:11.580 --> 00:23:12.160 Do you see him? 00:23:13.279 --> 00:23:15.720 Of all people, a Roman centurion? 00:23:17.019 --> 00:23:19.100 He looks at Jesus and what does he see? 00:23:21.300 --> 00:23:22.440 Well, he praises God. 00:23:22.440 --> 00:23:26.720 And he looks and he sees a righteous man. 00:23:28.240 --> 00:23:31.240 As if to say, that's who I'm following now. 00:23:32.940 --> 00:23:35.120 Luke says, see the possibility that Jesus opened. 00:23:35.539 --> 00:23:38.240 And fourthly, Luke says, see the place that Jesus rested. 00:23:38.600 --> 00:23:40.600 Verses 50 to 56. 00:23:40.900 --> 00:23:44.620 Luke introduces us to Joseph from Arimathea. 00:23:45.620 --> 00:23:47.500 A member of the religious council. 00:23:48.480 --> 00:23:50.920 A devout man who's placed his hope in God. 00:23:50.920 --> 00:23:56.539 And a man, crucially, who didn't agree with the decision to put Jesus to death. 00:23:57.720 --> 00:24:04.160 And what's going on here is that Joseph is coming out into the open as to how he views Jesus. 00:24:05.620 --> 00:24:09.600 He goes to Pilate and he says, Jesus deserves a respectable burial. 00:24:10.620 --> 00:24:12.620 And so, verse 53, he wraps. 00:24:12.660 --> 00:24:13.720 Look at the effort he goes to. 00:24:13.900 --> 00:24:16.220 He wraps Jesus' body in a linen cloth. 00:24:16.220 --> 00:24:20.799 And he places his Jesus body in a specially crafted tomb. 00:24:20.920 --> 00:24:23.140 The one that he's probably had made for his family. 00:24:24.600 --> 00:24:28.500 What's going on here is that Joseph is nailing his colours to the mask. 00:24:28.680 --> 00:24:32.319 At a time when it's extremely risky to be associated with Jesus. 00:24:34.600 --> 00:24:37.420 Here is Joseph declaring to the world that I follow this man. 00:24:37.420 --> 00:24:40.000 I follow him. 00:24:42.460 --> 00:24:46.740 Friends, I wonder if some of us this morning, as we see Joseph going public, 00:24:48.600 --> 00:24:53.220 are convicted in our own lives, in our own friends, in our own families, that we need to go public. 00:24:54.980 --> 00:24:58.080 To our friends, to our families, to our colleagues, standing tall and saying, 00:24:58.180 --> 00:24:59.279 this is the man that I follow. 00:24:59.279 --> 00:25:05.599 A great way to do that is to invite your friends to church next Sunday. 00:25:07.139 --> 00:25:08.500 He says, looking for the flyer. 00:25:09.619 --> 00:25:10.680 I knew you'd tucked it away somewhere. 00:25:11.839 --> 00:25:12.579 Great thing to do. 00:25:12.920 --> 00:25:14.420 Why don't we make a commitment this week? 00:25:14.480 --> 00:25:16.399 Easter Sunday, we've got tons of flyers to give away. 00:25:16.500 --> 00:25:17.599 Tons of flyers to give away. 00:25:17.819 --> 00:25:20.000 Why don't we make a commitment as a church family this morning? 00:25:20.599 --> 00:25:24.579 To pray about and to ask at least one friend to come along next Sunday. 00:25:25.500 --> 00:25:28.319 And say, come and meet the man who has transformed my life. 00:25:28.319 --> 00:25:29.720 Come and meet the man who is not dead. 00:25:30.439 --> 00:25:32.679 Come and meet the man who has conquered the grave. 00:25:33.039 --> 00:25:35.259 Come and meet the man who is able to give life. 00:25:35.359 --> 00:25:36.039 Come and meet Jesus. 00:25:37.659 --> 00:25:39.720 Why don't you come to church with me this Sunday and find out? 00:25:42.139 --> 00:25:47.299 As we leave the scene, verse 55, Luke tells us that there are eyewitnesses to what Joseph did. 00:25:47.379 --> 00:25:50.480 Really important to see some women, the ones who had followed Jesus, 00:25:51.059 --> 00:25:55.419 all the way from Galilee in the north, all the way to the cross. 00:25:55.420 --> 00:25:58.539 They see the tomb. 00:25:59.600 --> 00:26:03.320 They see that Joseph really has laid Jesus' body there. 00:26:04.300 --> 00:26:09.539 Really important to see because it's these women who will come back to the same tomb on the Sunday 00:26:09.539 --> 00:26:11.120 and they will find it empty. 00:26:11.240 --> 00:26:11.840 They got it right. 00:26:11.900 --> 00:26:12.800 They went to the right tomb. 00:26:12.860 --> 00:26:13.500 They saw it. 00:26:15.700 --> 00:26:18.820 And Luke says, see the place that Jesus rested. 00:26:18.819 --> 00:26:27.139 And so as we take in this scene, as Jesus dies, let me ask you, who do you think is in control? 00:26:29.299 --> 00:26:32.519 Luke has been showing us all the way through this account, all of this that is happening, 00:26:32.879 --> 00:26:35.879 it's all happening exactly as God said it would happen. 00:26:35.880 --> 00:26:40.340 Casting lots for Jesus' clothes, not a throwaway detail. 00:26:40.480 --> 00:26:42.220 Jesus thirsting, not a throwaway detail. 00:26:42.340 --> 00:26:45.040 Jesus mocked and ridiculed straight out of Psalm 22. 00:26:45.200 --> 00:26:46.100 You can read it afterwards. 00:26:47.420 --> 00:26:51.280 Jesus, the righteous sufferer who that psalm was pointing to. 00:26:51.600 --> 00:26:56.840 Jesus suspended on the cross with two criminals, literally being numbered with the transgressors, 00:26:57.860 --> 00:26:59.240 buried with a rich man in his death. 00:26:59.240 --> 00:27:07.140 Straight out of Isaiah 53 is to say, Jesus is the long-awaited suffering servant who has come to save God's people. 00:27:07.240 --> 00:27:09.720 It's Luke's way of showing us that the cross is not an accident. 00:27:11.039 --> 00:27:13.519 It's a glorious salvation plan of God. 00:27:13.839 --> 00:27:17.500 And it's going down exactly as God said it would. 00:27:17.640 --> 00:27:19.359 Friends, what do you see as you look at the cross? 00:27:22.799 --> 00:27:27.720 Paul would write 1 Corinthians chapter 1 that the message of the cross is foolishness. 00:27:27.720 --> 00:27:32.839 To those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved, 00:27:33.259 --> 00:27:37.480 it is the very power of God unto salvation. 00:27:39.059 --> 00:27:40.519 The cross changes everything. 00:27:42.079 --> 00:27:44.799 See what Luke's doing is he's been doing all the way through this gospel. 00:27:45.279 --> 00:27:50.440 One man from North Africa, one criminal, one Roman centurion, one religious leader, 00:27:50.720 --> 00:27:52.500 different people, but with one confession. 00:27:54.279 --> 00:27:55.740 The cross changes everything. 00:27:55.740 --> 00:28:00.019 Luke has shown us how it's transformed the lives of his generation. 00:28:00.640 --> 00:28:07.099 And the truth is that the cross continues to transform lives today as Jesus offers newness of life and forgiveness. 00:28:07.579 --> 00:28:11.940 As we close, I was at a East of Scotland Gospel Partnership joint service a few weeks ago. 00:28:12.160 --> 00:28:18.279 And people from all over Edinburgh, all over the church is coming together to pray and to share and to celebrate 00:28:18.279 --> 00:28:21.400 how God is at work in this city through his people. 00:28:21.400 --> 00:28:26.860 Hearing testimonies, stories about how people have come to faith in the last year. 00:28:27.220 --> 00:28:31.620 And just as we close, we're going to watch this short video testimony of a man called Jimmy. 00:28:32.680 --> 00:28:33.480 Scottish, okay? 00:28:33.680 --> 00:28:33.920 Jimmy. 00:28:34.300 --> 00:28:34.740 Love it. 00:28:35.300 --> 00:28:36.080 From Musselboro. 00:28:36.079 --> 00:28:40.460 And it's his story about how he came to follow Jesus. 00:28:41.259 --> 00:28:45.500 And it's his story about what he sees as he looks at the cross. 00:28:45.539 --> 00:28:46.480 And then we'll pray to close. 00:28:46.579 --> 00:28:47.379 Why don't we watch this? 00:28:50.980 --> 00:28:51.980 Let's pray, shall we? 00:28:52.500 --> 00:28:56.319 Father God, thank you that you loved us so much. 00:28:56.319 --> 00:29:00.639 That you sent Jesus to be our saviour. 00:29:02.779 --> 00:29:08.039 Help us to know that the cross really does change everything. 00:29:08.980 --> 00:29:16.939 And would you help us at this time of year as we seek to share that wonderful news with everyone that you would put in our path. 00:29:17.019 --> 00:29:24.339 That they too would come to know the incredible love that is shown to us by your son, Jesus. 00:29:24.480 --> 00:29:26.119 Father, thank you so much for this time together. 00:29:26.119 --> 00:29:28.979 Be with us this week, we ask, because we pray in Jesus' name. 00:29:29.259 --> 00:29:29.539 Amen.