WEBVTT 00:00:00.680 --> 00:00:10.660 Good morning. My name is Matthew Capone and I'm the pastor here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church and it's my joy to bring God's word to you today. 00:00:11.080 --> 00:00:15.320 A special welcome. If you're new or visiting with us, we're glad that you're here. 00:00:15.960 --> 00:00:22.859 And we're glad that you're here not because we're trying to fill seats, but because we're following Jesus together as one community. 00:00:23.460 --> 00:00:28.320 And as we follow Jesus together, we become convinced that there's no one so good. 00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:38.700 They don't need God's grace and no one so bad that they can't have it, which is why we come back week after week to hear what God has to say to us in his word. 00:00:39.439 --> 00:00:42.219 We're continuing our series in the Gospel of Mark. 00:00:42.320 --> 00:00:48.579 You'll remember that the Gospels tell the story of Jesus in his life and his death and his resurrection. 00:00:49.420 --> 00:00:54.340 And here we've come right up against Jesus' crucifixion and death. 00:00:54.340 --> 00:00:57.679 In fact, it's the crucifixion that we're looking at this week. 00:00:57.679 --> 00:01:03.219 And of course, there are many, many things that we could say about this passage. 00:01:03.820 --> 00:01:08.459 In fact, often when we're looking at different books of the Bible, we look at them and then we say, 00:01:08.560 --> 00:01:11.239 OK, how does this point us towards Christ? 00:01:11.340 --> 00:01:13.299 How does this show us Christ? 00:01:13.859 --> 00:01:17.260 How does this letter from Paul do that or this narrative from the Old Testament? 00:01:17.260 --> 00:01:25.840 In fact, here we have the privilege and the joy not of saying, how does this show us Christ, but of actually looking straight at him, 00:01:26.800 --> 00:01:31.660 of seeing Christ in all his beauty and his glory. 00:01:32.060 --> 00:01:36.600 And there's a lot of beauty and glory in this passage and the passages to come. 00:01:36.599 --> 00:01:43.739 And so the challenge here is knowing what to say and all the things that we could look at and meditate on about Christ's death. 00:01:44.199 --> 00:01:49.199 For us this morning, I want you to notice in this passage the repetition that we see. 00:01:49.280 --> 00:01:53.179 As I've told you before, repetition matters a lot when we're reading the Scriptures. 00:01:53.359 --> 00:01:59.739 And here we see not once, not twice, three times Jesus referred to as the King. 00:02:00.419 --> 00:02:03.199 Mark seems to want to emphasize that for us. 00:02:03.200 --> 00:02:04.480 Why? 00:02:06.740 --> 00:02:10.280 What is it that makes Jesus the ultimate king? 00:02:10.360 --> 00:02:15.219 What do we learn about his kingship from his crucifixion? 00:02:16.900 --> 00:02:20.719 With that, I'm going to invite you to turn with me to God's Word. 00:02:20.819 --> 00:02:23.319 We're in Mark chapter 15, starting at verse 16. 00:02:23.980 --> 00:02:25.900 You can turn in your worship guide. 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:27.080 You can turn on your phone. 00:02:27.159 --> 00:02:28.140 You can turn in your Bible. 00:02:28.680 --> 00:02:31.439 No matter where you turn, remember that this is God's Word. 00:02:31.439 --> 00:02:36.520 And God tells us that his Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path, 00:02:36.560 --> 00:02:40.919 which means that God has not left us to stumble alone in the dark, 00:02:41.139 --> 00:02:45.419 but instead he's given us his Word to show us the way to go. 00:02:45.780 --> 00:02:50.300 And so that's why we read now Mark chapter 15, starting at verse 16. 00:02:50.300 --> 00:03:13.920 Verse 19. 00:03:13.919 --> 00:03:33.739 Verse 21. 00:03:33.740 --> 00:04:03.719 Verse 21. 00:04:03.719 --> 00:04:33.699 Verse 22. 00:04:33.699 --> 00:05:03.680 Verse 21. 00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:33.660 Verse 22. 00:05:33.660 --> 00:05:35.660 Verse 22. 00:05:35.660 --> 00:06:03.640 Verse 22. 00:06:03.639 --> 00:06:11.019 At the end of every year, you'll see a summary come out of the major events in world history. 00:06:11.159 --> 00:06:14.379 And of course, every year has something significant that happens. 00:06:14.519 --> 00:06:16.759 Some years, though, more than others. 00:06:16.759 --> 00:06:26.259 The story of the past Możes and Shirley Herobstan, it's the story of Mae Sears. 00:06:26.259 --> 00:06:34.980 Toy Story 1. It's the story of a bunch of toys belonging to a six-year-old boy, Andy, 00:06:34.980 --> 00:06:40.399 and we're introduced very quickly to this rivalry, a tension between Woody, the sheriff, 00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:45.819 who's been among the toys for a long time. He's led them faithfully through many challenges, 00:06:46.180 --> 00:06:52.159 and this newcomer, Buzz Lightyear, who threatens to replace Andy as, or replace, 00:06:52.160 --> 00:06:58.840 Buzz, friends, replace Woody as Andy's favorite toy. Now, there's tension around that fact, 00:06:58.840 --> 00:07:03.660 just who gets to be on top in the world of this six-year-old, but there's another tension that 00:07:03.660 --> 00:07:10.620 emerges as well because they have, in fact, a different interpretation of reality. Andy and 00:07:10.620 --> 00:07:19.100 all, or Woody and all the other toys know that they're toys. Buzz, on the other hand, is convinced 00:07:19.100 --> 00:07:26.280 that he is a real space ranger. In fact, not only is Buzz a real space ranger, he's convinced that he 00:07:26.280 --> 00:07:32.920 can fly, and so he tells this, claims this, believes this over and over, and Woody tries to disabuse him 00:07:32.920 --> 00:07:43.980 of this idea. He tells him multiple times, look, you are just a toy. You can't fly. Buzz, of course, 00:07:43.980 --> 00:07:52.860 refuses to believe this until he has to face reality head on. At one point, he wanders into the room of 00:07:52.860 --> 00:07:58.720 the neighbor across the street, Sid, and there's a TV playing there, and what does that TV give but this 00:07:58.720 --> 00:08:08.819 advertisement for buying the Buzz Lightyear toy? And you can buy it at Al's Toy Barn. And what does it say 00:08:08.819 --> 00:08:13.959 near the end of the commercial? It says, you can read it on the screen and hear it spoken out loud, 00:08:14.259 --> 00:08:22.180 not a flying toy. Now, you can see this look of concern on Buzz's face as he realizes maybe 00:08:22.180 --> 00:08:28.639 everything he's believed is false, but then he gets this great confidence. He realizes, no, this TV is 00:08:28.639 --> 00:08:35.620 not telling the truth. I am a space ranger, and I can fly. And so the music swells, and Buzz gets out and 00:08:35.620 --> 00:08:42.460 climbs to the top of the second story of railing on this house, and he leaps out down the stairwell, 00:08:43.060 --> 00:08:51.419 knowing that he can fly out the window that he sees ahead of him. And what happens? Buzz plummets. 00:08:52.700 --> 00:09:03.759 He hits the stairs, knocks off of them, hits the floor, and his left arm completely breaks off. 00:09:05.620 --> 00:09:14.440 He hears Woody's voice from before. You are a toy. You can't fly. 00:09:16.519 --> 00:09:23.980 Woody's been right all along. Buzz looks at his costume, and what does he see written there, but made 00:09:23.980 --> 00:09:34.240 in Taiwan. The verdict is in. Buzz is just a toy. How do we know he cannot fly? 00:09:34.240 --> 00:09:44.120 The verdict is in. In this passage, in verses 29 through 32, we find the Jews, 00:09:45.759 --> 00:09:56.860 the Gentiles mocking Christ. And why are they mocking him? He's clearly not a real king. 00:09:56.860 --> 00:10:10.659 He's clearly not a real messiah. And how do we know? Well, it's obvious, right? Real kings aren't 00:10:10.659 --> 00:10:21.779 crucified. In fact, that's exactly how they mock him. Verse 31, he saved others he cannot save himself. 00:10:21.779 --> 00:10:30.740 What a joke. Here's this man who's been claiming to be a messiah and a king, and finally reality has 00:10:30.740 --> 00:10:37.159 landed. Finally, he can see what the rest of us have seen all along. Verse 32, let the Christ, 00:10:37.259 --> 00:10:46.759 the king of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe. Show us. Come down. 00:10:46.759 --> 00:10:59.539 Fly for us. This is clearly pretend, right? The gig is up for Jesus. He is not the king of the Jews. 00:11:01.299 --> 00:11:10.980 You're not a real space ranger. You're just a toy. How do we know? You can't do what real space 00:11:10.980 --> 00:11:18.600 rangers can do. You can't fly. You're not a real messiah. You're just a man. How do we know? You 00:11:18.600 --> 00:11:27.039 can't do what real messiahs do. You can't free yourself. And so the Romans here mock him because 00:11:27.039 --> 00:11:35.420 he's not a real king. And the Jews mock him because he's not a real messiah. 00:11:35.419 --> 00:11:43.079 It's not just, though, that Jesus seems to be powerless. It's not just that he has done the exact 00:11:43.079 --> 00:11:48.039 opposite of a king by ending up on a cross. It's not just that he freed others but cannot save 00:11:48.039 --> 00:11:54.719 himself. The entire symbolism of this passage undermines what they expect. Where would you find, 00:11:54.839 --> 00:12:05.059 who would you find on a cross? Crosses are not for kings. Crosses are for slaves. 00:12:05.419 --> 00:12:15.360 You can't be on a cross and be a king. Those two things do not go together. They cannot be true at the same 00:12:15.360 --> 00:12:24.679 time. And so he's clearly not a king. He's just a slave. It's worse than that. It's not just that he's a 00:12:24.679 --> 00:12:33.579 slave but he's flanked by robbers. Verse 27, and with him they crucified two robbers, one on his left, 00:12:33.580 --> 00:12:42.060 right, and one on his left. And it's worse even than that. It's not just that he's flanked by robbers. 00:12:42.139 --> 00:12:52.100 He's mocked by them. He's so low, even the robbers make fun of him. Verse 32, again, those who were 00:12:52.100 --> 00:13:04.820 crucified with him also reviled him. Is he clothed like a king? No. Look at verse 24. He's hanging naked. 00:13:04.820 --> 00:13:15.300 Is he crowned like a king? No. Look at verse 17. He doesn't have a crown of gold. He has a crown 00:13:15.300 --> 00:13:31.480 of thorns. Everything points towards Jesus being a joke. He is the toy who thinks he's a space ranger. 00:13:31.480 --> 00:13:39.480 He's not God. He's not the Messiah. He's not certainly the king of the Jews. He is just another 00:13:39.480 --> 00:13:44.720 foolish, deluded man crushed under the machine of the Roman Empire. 00:13:47.519 --> 00:13:56.180 Nor is it just the symbolism. The soldiers make fun of him as well. Verses 16 through 20, 00:13:56.179 --> 00:14:03.579 they're saying basically this. It should be as clear to you as it is to us that you are just pretending. 00:14:04.819 --> 00:14:14.419 You're just a live action role play Messiah. What king finds himself so easily arrested? 00:14:15.459 --> 00:14:25.659 What king finds himself hanging on a cross? Verse 17, it's all pretend. And what do you do? 00:14:26.179 --> 00:14:33.120 When you play pretend? Well, it's time for a little dress up, right? 00:14:35.319 --> 00:14:40.599 That's their mocking of him, right? They put on him a purple cloak and twisting together a crown of 00:14:40.599 --> 00:14:52.199 thorns, they put it on him. Everything here is meant to undermine the statement we hear not once, 00:14:52.200 --> 00:15:01.900 not twice, but three times, that Jesus is the great king. All the evidence points in the opposite direction. 00:15:02.020 --> 00:15:12.060 Of course, he's not a king. He's just a man. A man whose run, perhaps a good run, has finally come to an end. 00:15:12.059 --> 00:15:27.339 There's only one problem, which is that they don't know that Jesus is operating under a completely different paradigm. 00:15:27.340 --> 00:15:40.220 Jesus is not the expected king. He's the unexpected king. He's not the king who fits what they want and what they know. 00:15:40.340 --> 00:15:48.720 He's the upside down king. There is something about the world that Jesus understands and they don't. 00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:57.700 And what they don't know is what C.S. Lewis calls the deeper magic. 00:15:59.000 --> 00:16:07.860 In his children's story, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Lewis tells the story of four children who are sent to a professor's house during World War II. 00:16:07.980 --> 00:16:12.660 And they have this wardrobe that they find that serves as a door into a different world. 00:16:12.659 --> 00:16:20.399 And that world's called Narnia. Now, while they're in that world, one of the siblings, Edmund, betrays his brothers and his sister. 00:16:21.000 --> 00:16:29.459 And so he has to die. The White Witch, which is the representation of evil, comes to Aslan and she cites the deep magic. 00:16:29.600 --> 00:16:33.740 She says, look, you know all these things that were set in place at the beginning of the world. 00:16:33.799 --> 00:16:39.579 And so you know traitors belong to me. Traitors have to die. 00:16:39.580 --> 00:16:43.240 Aslan, then, the great lion, makes this switch. 00:16:43.280 --> 00:16:47.060 He says, look, I'll make a deal for you. I will die in his place. 00:16:47.759 --> 00:16:49.020 And so the witch kills him. 00:16:50.060 --> 00:16:52.420 Witch thinks that she has won at this point. 00:16:52.520 --> 00:16:59.520 She declares victory and says, now that Aslan is dead, you think you've saved Edmund, but actually I can just kill him now. 00:17:00.540 --> 00:17:03.620 I'm going to rule over all of Narnia. 00:17:03.960 --> 00:17:06.980 What a fool Aslan has been. 00:17:06.980 --> 00:17:13.240 He didn't realize that once he was gone, everything was on the table. 00:17:14.579 --> 00:17:22.220 Susan and Lucy, the sisters, visit the place where Aslan died, but they find not Aslan's body, but Aslan himself. 00:17:24.420 --> 00:17:29.940 And very confused, Susan asks him, what does all this mean? 00:17:31.019 --> 00:17:34.200 And so Aslan explains it to her, and this is on the back of your worship guide. 00:17:34.200 --> 00:17:42.580 Though the witch knew the deep magic, there is a magic deeper still, which she did not know. 00:17:43.480 --> 00:17:46.880 Her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of time. 00:17:46.880 --> 00:17:57.400 But if she looked a little further back into the stillness and the darkness before time dawned, she would have read there a different incantation. 00:17:58.540 --> 00:18:05.540 She would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in the traitor's stead, 00:18:05.539 --> 00:18:12.720 the table would crack, and death itself would start working backwards. 00:18:15.379 --> 00:18:20.359 What does Jesus know that the Jews and the Gentiles do not? 00:18:21.519 --> 00:18:24.759 Jesus knows the deeper magic. 00:18:24.759 --> 00:18:30.779 They believe it is his defeat when it is his victory. 00:18:32.099 --> 00:18:41.960 They believe that his crucifixion shows he must not be a king when, in fact, it proves that he is. 00:18:42.920 --> 00:18:53.420 They think that Jesus has made a fatal mistake when, in fact, it is the keystone of his entire plan. 00:18:53.420 --> 00:18:57.039 They think he is a pretend king. 00:18:59.380 --> 00:19:04.380 But Jesus here shows us he is the greatest king. 00:19:06.160 --> 00:19:07.920 He saved others. 00:19:08.560 --> 00:19:11.220 He cannot save himself. 00:19:12.400 --> 00:19:17.840 Well, of course, that is what the king must do. 00:19:19.200 --> 00:19:20.860 And so that is what Calvin tells us. 00:19:20.900 --> 00:19:22.660 This is on page 8 of your worship guide. 00:19:22.660 --> 00:19:31.340 It was because our Lord Jesus Christ chose to be our king and head that he did not save himself. 00:19:33.440 --> 00:19:37.779 Why is Jesus hung on a cross in the place of a savior? 00:19:38.180 --> 00:19:42.200 Not because he is powerless, but because he is powerful. 00:19:43.600 --> 00:19:45.680 Why does he take this place? 00:19:45.800 --> 00:19:51.460 Not because the gig is finally up, but because the culmination is here. 00:19:51.460 --> 00:19:57.840 The greatest king comes not as a conquering warrior, at least not yet. 00:19:59.180 --> 00:20:03.160 But he comes instead as a suffering savior. 00:20:04.319 --> 00:20:05.940 Why did he not spare himself? 00:20:06.319 --> 00:20:09.319 Why did he endure so bitter and shameful a death? 00:20:09.319 --> 00:20:16.119 Because only by such a ransom could we be set free? 00:20:16.119 --> 00:20:25.279 Jesus had to die to be the king of the Jews. 00:20:25.279 --> 00:20:32.460 His death does not show and does not prove that he is a fraud. 00:20:33.079 --> 00:20:34.920 In fact, it is quite the opposite. 00:20:35.160 --> 00:20:40.480 It shows that he is the real and true and genuine king. 00:20:40.480 --> 00:20:50.160 The great irony of this passage is this, that the soldiers and everyone else are telling the truth, 00:20:50.460 --> 00:20:53.779 even though they think they are mocking Jesus. 00:20:54.779 --> 00:21:01.799 He is the king for the very reasons they think he isn't. 00:21:01.799 --> 00:21:07.619 So what are we to make of all this? 00:21:09.339 --> 00:21:12.180 What's the mistake of the soldiers and of the Jews? 00:21:13.039 --> 00:21:18.539 Mistake is simple, that they don't know the deeper magic. 00:21:18.740 --> 00:21:22.039 They don't know that Jesus' kingdom is the upside down kingdom. 00:21:22.039 --> 00:21:24.700 They're almost right. 00:21:26.200 --> 00:21:28.259 They're just not completely right. 00:21:28.339 --> 00:21:32.039 And so let's pull out our red pens for a moment and let's do some editing. 00:21:32.200 --> 00:21:34.399 Look with me at verse 31. 00:21:34.920 --> 00:21:35.659 They say this, 00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:40.180 He saved others, he cannot save himself. 00:21:41.779 --> 00:21:44.539 We only need to change a couple words there. 00:21:45.319 --> 00:21:51.399 He saved others, he will not save himself. 00:21:52.039 --> 00:22:01.619 He saved others because he will not save himself. 00:22:03.440 --> 00:22:06.940 Jesus is not a victim. 00:22:08.200 --> 00:22:11.039 He is not an accident of history. 00:22:12.039 --> 00:22:19.420 It is because he is on the cross that he is the great king. 00:22:19.420 --> 00:22:27.140 That is how he is able to be your king. 00:22:28.420 --> 00:22:34.820 That is how he pays the ransom so that you could be set free. 00:22:34.819 --> 00:22:45.779 This is the king who should have a robe and a crown. 00:22:46.659 --> 00:22:52.460 And the Roman soldiers actually tell the truth, even as they mock. 00:22:53.220 --> 00:22:56.899 What kind of crown does this kind of king have? 00:22:56.900 --> 00:23:02.259 The upside down king does have a crown of thorns. 00:23:03.640 --> 00:23:09.860 The king who suffers for his people does have a crown of thorns. 00:23:09.859 --> 00:23:19.339 The king who gives up his life so that others might live does hang on a cross. 00:23:19.759 --> 00:23:22.719 Meant only for slaves. 00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:29.660 They were telling the truth. 00:23:30.440 --> 00:23:33.880 When they gave him a crown of thorns, they were telling the truth. 00:23:34.680 --> 00:23:37.039 When they said he saved others. 00:23:37.799 --> 00:23:38.900 He did. 00:23:39.860 --> 00:23:40.880 And he will. 00:23:43.160 --> 00:23:44.880 They think it's a fatal flaw. 00:23:44.880 --> 00:23:49.700 They think it's a mistake. 00:23:50.480 --> 00:23:52.040 But it's actually the plan. 00:23:52.940 --> 00:23:54.320 They think it's Jesus' defeat. 00:23:54.760 --> 00:23:56.720 When in fact, it's his victory. 00:23:57.560 --> 00:23:59.400 They think he's a pretend king. 00:23:59.900 --> 00:24:03.580 When in fact, he is the greatest king. 00:24:04.700 --> 00:24:08.720 The king who hangs on a cross for his people. 00:24:08.720 --> 00:24:15.000 Christian, the king who hangs on a cross for you. 00:24:18.279 --> 00:24:19.259 So what? 00:24:21.720 --> 00:24:28.920 So what do we do with this picture, this knowledge of the true and greatest king? 00:24:29.740 --> 00:24:31.259 One pastor says this. 00:24:31.680 --> 00:24:37.900 Jesus had said that the greatest love is to lay one's life down for one's friends. 00:24:37.900 --> 00:24:42.720 At the cross, he ups his own ante. 00:24:43.759 --> 00:24:51.740 His love is greater than the greatest love because he lays down his life for his enemies. 00:24:52.960 --> 00:24:59.880 His love is greater than the greatest love because he lays down his life for his enemies. 00:24:59.880 --> 00:25:08.940 Christian, no one loves you more than Christ. 00:25:10.580 --> 00:25:13.860 And you see that right here. 00:25:16.360 --> 00:25:23.260 Christian, the greater the love, the greater the loyalty. 00:25:24.160 --> 00:25:24.300 Right? 00:25:24.299 --> 00:25:29.240 Who is it that you follow no matter what? 00:25:30.359 --> 00:25:34.240 The person who's stuck with you no matter what? 00:25:35.220 --> 00:25:38.480 Who do you trust no matter what? 00:25:39.379 --> 00:25:44.539 The person who's helped you at great personal cost. 00:25:44.539 --> 00:25:50.299 Who do we love more than any other? 00:25:51.899 --> 00:25:53.240 It's our Lord Jesus. 00:25:54.559 --> 00:26:01.859 And we love him more than any other because his love is greater than any other. 00:26:01.859 --> 00:26:05.979 In fact, we're already saying that this morning. 00:26:07.119 --> 00:26:08.819 Page four of your worship guide. 00:26:09.000 --> 00:26:11.199 We're the whole realm of nature mine. 00:26:11.779 --> 00:26:15.599 That we're a present far too small. 00:26:16.699 --> 00:26:18.959 Love so amazing, so divine. 00:26:19.599 --> 00:26:23.339 Demands my soul, my life, my all. 00:26:23.339 --> 00:26:29.899 What do we do with the king who's treated like a slave? 00:26:32.379 --> 00:26:36.839 We give him our soul, our life, our all. 00:26:38.359 --> 00:26:41.519 Who would we want to follow more? 00:26:43.480 --> 00:26:52.199 Who would we be compelled towards greater obedience than the one who does this for us? 00:26:53.339 --> 00:27:00.139 How is it that our lives are filled with love and joy and affection? 00:27:00.759 --> 00:27:02.599 Not just for Christ, but for others. 00:27:03.519 --> 00:27:06.599 It's when we see his love first. 00:27:07.500 --> 00:27:17.379 It's when we see Christ on the cross doing the very opposite of what the Jews and the Gentiles expect. 00:27:17.380 --> 00:27:30.240 When we see Christ's love, there is nothing more appropriate than joy and love and obedience. 00:27:31.520 --> 00:27:39.860 And until we see Christ's love, unless we see his love here on the cross, 00:27:39.859 --> 00:27:45.000 we will not have joy and love and obedience. 00:27:47.219 --> 00:27:51.759 This, Christian, is the foundation of your faith. 00:27:53.159 --> 00:27:57.500 This, Christian, is the starting point for everything else. 00:27:57.699 --> 00:28:02.199 This, Christian, is the foundation and the baseline. 00:28:02.200 --> 00:28:32.180 This, Christian, is the foundation of your faith. 00:28:32.200 --> 00:28:33.500 This, Christian, is the foundation of your faith. 00:28:33.500 --> 00:28:37.380 It means that Jesus is worth following no matter what. 00:28:38.840 --> 00:28:44.660 He's worth loving and living for, and he's worth suffering and dying for. 00:28:46.620 --> 00:28:50.460 And if we ever need a reminder or a motivation, 00:28:51.460 --> 00:28:56.220 we look at him here. 00:28:56.220 --> 00:29:01.220 We see and savor Christ on the cross. 00:29:06.220 --> 00:29:07.720 If you're not a Christian, 00:29:08.680 --> 00:29:13.120 I hope that this image of Jesus is a challenge to you for this reason, 00:29:13.259 --> 00:29:18.019 that you cannot think simply of Jesus as a good teacher. 00:29:19.180 --> 00:29:24.039 C.S. Lewis famously presented three options for how you should view Jesus. 00:29:24.039 --> 00:29:28.059 He is either a liar, a lunatic, or a lord. 00:29:29.879 --> 00:29:32.859 And this passage here gets to the center of the second one. 00:29:34.859 --> 00:29:38.980 If Jesus is not the Christ, if he is not the king of the Jews, 00:29:39.139 --> 00:29:41.799 then he is clearly a lunatic. 00:29:43.559 --> 00:29:46.639 He believes he's a king when he isn't. 00:29:46.640 --> 00:29:53.360 He is Buzz Lightyear thinking he's a space ranger when he's just a toy. 00:29:56.160 --> 00:29:58.960 But if he is the great king, 00:29:59.520 --> 00:30:04.340 if he is the one who has taken the place for his people, 00:30:04.480 --> 00:30:09.840 if he is the one who is treated as a slave so that you could be a son or a daughter, 00:30:09.839 --> 00:30:13.139 he's not just a lord, 00:30:13.659 --> 00:30:15.579 he's the greatest lord. 00:30:17.299 --> 00:30:18.919 He's not just a king, 00:30:19.240 --> 00:30:21.359 he's the greatest king. 00:30:21.359 --> 00:30:27.799 What the Jews and the Gentiles run up against here 00:30:27.799 --> 00:30:31.979 is what the Apostle Paul will speak about later in 1 Corinthians 1 00:30:31.979 --> 00:30:33.039 when he says this, 00:30:33.099 --> 00:30:37.419 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, 00:30:37.919 --> 00:30:41.419 but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 00:30:42.599 --> 00:30:46.619 Jesus on the cross was folly to the Roman soldiers, 00:30:46.619 --> 00:30:50.719 and it was folly to the Jewish leaders. 00:30:56.339 --> 00:30:59.819 But to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 00:31:01.439 --> 00:31:02.699 And what is the folly? 00:31:03.919 --> 00:31:06.500 The folly has been described by one person in this way, 00:31:06.559 --> 00:31:11.159 that an instrument of torture would be used as an instrument of salvation. 00:31:12.199 --> 00:31:15.179 The folly is that an instrument of torture 00:31:15.180 --> 00:31:18.440 would be used as an instrument of salvation, 00:31:18.779 --> 00:31:23.160 which takes us back to verse 31. 00:31:24.720 --> 00:31:26.039 He saved others. 00:31:26.620 --> 00:31:29.940 He cannot save himself. 00:31:31.060 --> 00:31:31.820 No, 00:31:32.400 --> 00:31:35.400 he saved others 00:31:35.400 --> 00:31:40.420 because he refused to save himself. 00:31:41.100 --> 00:31:44.860 That is why he's the greatest king. 00:31:45.180 --> 00:31:48.019 The king worth living and loving for 00:31:48.019 --> 00:31:50.880 and the king worth suffering and dying for. 00:31:51.580 --> 00:31:52.560 And that's why we sing, 00:31:53.660 --> 00:31:56.360 And wonder at such mercy that calls me as I am. 00:31:57.120 --> 00:31:59.000 For hands that should discard me 00:31:59.000 --> 00:32:01.480 hold wounds which tell me come. 00:32:02.720 --> 00:32:05.140 Beneath the cross of Jesus, 00:32:05.960 --> 00:32:08.440 my unworthy soul is one. 00:32:08.440 --> 00:32:10.640 Let's pray together. 00:32:12.080 --> 00:32:13.240 Our Father in heaven, 00:32:13.400 --> 00:32:19.420 we praise you and thank you for the beauty and the glory of Jesus Christ. 00:32:20.920 --> 00:32:24.960 We thank you that he was willing to be treated as a slave 00:32:24.960 --> 00:32:28.140 so that we could be your sons and your daughters. 00:32:28.140 --> 00:32:34.759 We thank you that he embraced not the way of this world, 00:32:34.880 --> 00:32:36.720 but the upside down nature of the kingdom. 00:32:37.440 --> 00:32:41.259 We thank you that you use an instrument of torture 00:32:41.259 --> 00:32:43.600 as an instrument of salvation. 00:32:44.759 --> 00:32:47.580 And so we ask now that you would use that beauty 00:32:47.579 --> 00:32:50.000 to melt our hearts, 00:32:50.500 --> 00:32:53.859 to transform our lives, 00:32:54.500 --> 00:32:58.000 that you would change us and grow us 00:32:58.000 --> 00:33:01.559 to be more and more like our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 00:33:01.839 --> 00:33:04.279 And it's in his name that we ask all of these things. 00:33:04.779 --> 00:33:05.019 Amen. 00:33:05.019 --> 00:33:05.179 Amen. 00:33:05.179 --> 00:33:05.240 Amen.