WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.480 You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama. 00:00:06.980 --> 00:00:10.620 Our passion is to experience and express grace. Join us. 00:00:12.320 --> 00:00:18.440 Our consideration of the Easter story has led us here now to the cross. 00:00:19.339 --> 00:00:23.400 After betrayal, misjudgment, and false accusations, 00:00:23.399 --> 00:00:30.179 we will now see Jesus beaten, suffer, and come to the end of His life. 00:00:30.979 --> 00:00:36.560 Listen now as I read to us this most tragic parts of the Easter story, 00:00:36.679 --> 00:00:40.320 the death of our Savior, from Matthew chapter 27. 00:00:41.679 --> 00:00:46.399 As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. 00:00:47.039 --> 00:00:49.480 They compelled this man to carry his cross. 00:00:49.479 --> 00:00:55.059 And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means place of a skull, 00:00:55.799 --> 00:00:58.140 they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall. 00:00:58.640 --> 00:01:00.719 But when he tasted it, he would not drink it. 00:01:01.319 --> 00:01:05.399 And when they crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. 00:01:06.500 --> 00:01:09.340 Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. 00:01:10.340 --> 00:01:13.219 And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, 00:01:13.379 --> 00:01:15.560 This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. 00:01:16.379 --> 00:01:19.079 Then two robbers were crucified with him. 00:01:19.480 --> 00:01:21.540 One on the right and one on the left. 00:01:22.460 --> 00:01:25.939 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, 00:01:26.939 --> 00:01:30.939 You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself. 00:01:31.659 --> 00:01:34.920 If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross. 00:01:36.080 --> 00:01:40.420 So also the chief priests with the scribes and elders mocked him, saying, 00:01:41.060 --> 00:01:41.880 He saved others. 00:01:42.180 --> 00:01:43.380 He cannot save himself. 00:01:43.960 --> 00:01:45.240 He is the King of Israel. 00:01:45.320 --> 00:01:48.460 Let him come down now from the cross and we will believe in him. 00:01:48.459 --> 00:01:50.419 He trusts in God. 00:01:50.839 --> 00:01:53.479 Let God deliver him now if he desires him. 00:01:54.819 --> 00:01:57.259 For he said, I am the Son of God. 00:01:57.859 --> 00:02:02.539 And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way. 00:02:02.540 --> 00:02:09.800 Now from the sixth hour, there was darkness all over the land until the ninth hour. 00:02:10.920 --> 00:02:15.180 And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out in a loud voice saying, 00:02:15.599 --> 00:02:18.000 Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? 00:02:18.719 --> 00:02:23.180 That is, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 00:02:23.180 --> 00:02:27.819 And some of the bystanders hearing it said, this man is calling Elijah. 00:02:28.599 --> 00:02:35.040 And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. 00:02:35.560 --> 00:02:39.800 But the other said, wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him. 00:02:41.280 --> 00:02:46.340 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded his spirit. 00:02:47.040 --> 00:02:47.780 Will you pray with me? 00:02:47.780 --> 00:02:55.979 Father, this is the tragic story. 00:02:57.580 --> 00:03:00.840 The tragic story of the death of your Son. 00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:09.080 As we consider it now, would you begin even in these seconds to soften and break our hearts. 00:03:09.080 --> 00:03:15.700 To help us to see the tragedy, the tragedy of our sin and our lives. 00:03:16.340 --> 00:03:25.560 To help us see the love and the care, the patience, the endurance that Jesus showed for us, your people. 00:03:26.860 --> 00:03:29.100 Father, would you speak through me? 00:03:29.920 --> 00:03:31.320 Would you speak despite me now? 00:03:32.020 --> 00:03:33.640 Pray these things in your heavenly Son's name. 00:03:33.980 --> 00:03:34.220 Amen. 00:03:34.219 --> 00:03:41.719 Our world, our life, our culture are filled with expressions of love. 00:03:42.620 --> 00:03:44.680 We see them played out on stages. 00:03:44.960 --> 00:03:52.020 We see them played out on films and song and poetry and acts of kindness and acts of service. 00:03:52.020 --> 00:04:00.260 The most compelling, most enduring expressions of love occur between two people who are often struggling, 00:04:00.939 --> 00:04:04.580 questioning, doubting the degree that each has for the other. 00:04:05.600 --> 00:04:09.800 Star-crossed lovers, unrequited love fit this bill. 00:04:10.820 --> 00:04:16.580 There's been many movies and songs that have penned things about these kinds of relationships. 00:04:16.579 --> 00:04:24.839 Romeo and Juliet, sleepless in Seattle, the Roman holiday are great examples of love being played out on stage and on screen. 00:04:25.899 --> 00:04:31.099 We find especially poignant expressions of love in romantic love. 00:04:32.379 --> 00:04:40.379 Romantic love is that love that goes beyond normal convention or reason when one person wants to express their love for the other. 00:04:40.379 --> 00:04:46.000 These expressions often answer the doubting heart of the lover. 00:04:46.139 --> 00:04:47.500 How much do you love me? 00:04:48.199 --> 00:04:50.199 How deeply do you care for me? 00:04:50.199 --> 00:04:55.100 A woman may ask her husband or a husband may ask his wife. 00:04:56.379 --> 00:04:59.920 The response normally describes what one would do for the other. 00:05:00.040 --> 00:05:06.079 The great links, the great distances, the great challenges that one would cover for the other. 00:05:06.079 --> 00:05:15.000 One of the more popular love songs that sounds like this is Make You Feel My Love by Bob Dylan. 00:05:15.899 --> 00:05:18.159 Listen to a few of the words from this song. 00:05:18.979 --> 00:05:24.879 When the evening shadows and the stars appear and there is no one there to dry your tears, 00:05:25.439 --> 00:05:29.099 I could hold you for a million years to make you feel my love. 00:05:29.939 --> 00:05:34.319 I'd go hungry, I'd go black and blue, I'd go crawling down the avenue. 00:05:34.319 --> 00:05:38.079 No, there's nothing I wouldn't do to make you feel my love. 00:05:38.800 --> 00:05:41.560 I could make you happy, make your dreams come true. 00:05:41.699 --> 00:05:43.379 There's nothing I would not do. 00:05:44.019 --> 00:05:47.560 Go to the ends of the earth for you to make you feel my love. 00:05:48.779 --> 00:05:53.259 Bob Dylan's song answers this question of how much do you love me? 00:05:54.259 --> 00:06:00.740 It answers this question by telling us of all the things that the other would do in love and in care and in devotion, 00:06:00.740 --> 00:06:03.980 the sacrifices that one would make for the other. 00:06:04.319 --> 00:06:09.420 Bob Dylan's expressing his willingness to sacrifice and to give. 00:06:10.360 --> 00:06:17.379 As we celebrate the cross tonight and this weekend, God answers that same question for us. 00:06:18.019 --> 00:06:21.519 He answers this question to a world that's desperate for love, 00:06:22.199 --> 00:06:24.519 that's desperate for someone who is faithful, 00:06:25.180 --> 00:06:28.639 faithful in relationship, faithful in care, faithful in devotion. 00:06:28.639 --> 00:06:32.579 And God responds by giving us his son. 00:06:33.800 --> 00:06:37.319 And his son goes to the cross and sings a love song. 00:06:37.779 --> 00:06:41.120 A love song which displays his love to his people. 00:06:42.599 --> 00:06:47.360 A love song which declares to the world how much he cherishes his bride. 00:06:47.360 --> 00:06:51.600 But this song is not the kind of song that we're used to. 00:06:52.160 --> 00:06:54.939 It's not a song that carries a pleasing melody. 00:06:55.699 --> 00:06:59.500 It's not one that strikes you with soft or poignant reminders. 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:06.020 This song, this cross, is a declaration of great pain. 00:07:06.019 --> 00:07:13.180 It's not soft or palatable, but it's harsh and it's difficult to receive. 00:07:14.180 --> 00:07:16.919 Blood is prevalent on the cross. 00:07:17.740 --> 00:07:19.279 Tears are plentiful. 00:07:19.740 --> 00:07:24.000 Cries of anguish and hurt abound on the cross. 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:30.740 The pain of the cross, this passage tells us, shows up in two ways. 00:07:31.620 --> 00:07:34.720 The first is through the pain of Jesus' physical suffering. 00:07:36.199 --> 00:07:40.180 Our passage contains just one simple reference to the crucifixion of Jesus, 00:07:40.379 --> 00:07:42.540 but our hearts should pause there. 00:07:43.540 --> 00:07:46.379 We ought to consider what it was that Jesus faced, 00:07:46.439 --> 00:07:49.560 what his physical body faced on our behalf. 00:07:49.560 --> 00:07:52.899 Jesus was struck with a whip, 00:07:53.519 --> 00:07:58.500 a whip that was made with bits of metal and glass attached to the end. 00:07:58.579 --> 00:08:02.860 He was repeatedly struck until there was little flesh left on his back. 00:08:04.319 --> 00:08:08.160 The crown of thorns with its naturally sharpened edges 00:08:08.160 --> 00:08:11.340 was pressed hard upon the head of Jesus 00:08:11.340 --> 00:08:15.779 until blood began to drip into his nose, 00:08:16.379 --> 00:08:17.939 into his eyes, into his mouth. 00:08:19.560 --> 00:08:22.100 Jesus' clothes were removed. 00:08:22.680 --> 00:08:26.280 They were divided and taken by some of the people who were gathered there. 00:08:27.480 --> 00:08:28.980 He was placed upon the cross. 00:08:29.980 --> 00:08:33.299 Nails were driven through his hands and into his feet. 00:08:34.440 --> 00:08:40.320 His suffering and his pain quickly reached extreme levels. 00:08:40.320 --> 00:08:46.620 Those who were crucified died either by shock from the pain 00:08:46.620 --> 00:08:49.120 or eventually by way of suffocation, 00:08:49.280 --> 00:08:52.420 by not being able to hold one's weight up on the cross. 00:08:52.840 --> 00:08:55.780 And it was there, high up on the hill, 00:08:56.360 --> 00:08:58.680 raised up for the whole city to see, 00:08:59.260 --> 00:09:03.760 Jesus enduring physical, intense pain. 00:09:03.759 --> 00:09:08.879 We additionally have details in our passage about the mockery 00:09:08.879 --> 00:09:11.559 and the shaming that Jesus received. 00:09:12.279 --> 00:09:15.840 This is the emotional suffering that Jesus faced on our behalf. 00:09:16.799 --> 00:09:18.939 There, on the cross, 00:09:19.659 --> 00:09:21.980 paying the penalty for sins that he did not commit, 00:09:22.399 --> 00:09:24.399 Jesus was defiled with words. 00:09:24.399 --> 00:09:30.840 After a divine, miracle-working, compassion-marked, mercy-filled ministry, 00:09:31.199 --> 00:09:34.299 the Savior of the world is being mocked and shamed. 00:09:35.159 --> 00:09:37.539 He's been betrayed by his friends, 00:09:38.799 --> 00:09:41.679 ridiculed by the Jews, and shamed by the public. 00:09:42.179 --> 00:09:45.779 Jesus is declared merely mortal now before the people. 00:09:45.779 --> 00:09:49.839 Onlookers, the chief priests and scribes, 00:09:49.919 --> 00:09:53.339 and even the robbers that hung beside him, 00:09:53.399 --> 00:09:55.860 wagged their heads, shook their fingers, 00:09:56.539 --> 00:10:00.159 and defiled him with words of dishonor and ridicule. 00:10:01.299 --> 00:10:04.839 The final words that Jesus heard about himself 00:10:04.839 --> 00:10:08.919 surely caused him to be filled with great sorrow and anguish. 00:10:09.620 --> 00:10:12.659 He cannot save himself, they cried. 00:10:12.659 --> 00:10:17.500 And it was there, in the midst of that physical pain, 00:10:18.379 --> 00:10:20.120 in the midst of that emotional suffering, 00:10:20.959 --> 00:10:23.819 that Jesus breathed his last breath, 00:10:24.539 --> 00:10:28.620 and he faced that great pain of being separated from his Father. 00:10:30.059 --> 00:10:33.659 In his final breath, and in his final cry, 00:10:34.620 --> 00:10:37.500 Jesus felt the presence of his Father no more. 00:10:37.500 --> 00:10:43.419 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 00:10:44.539 --> 00:10:49.799 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 00:10:51.059 --> 00:10:54.120 This is not unlike the separation anxiety 00:10:54.120 --> 00:10:57.379 that many of our children experienced when they were young. 00:10:58.059 --> 00:11:01.059 Unable to grasp the reality of their parents' 00:11:01.200 --> 00:11:02.539 continued love and presence, 00:11:02.759 --> 00:11:05.559 small babies cry out for their mother and father 00:11:05.559 --> 00:11:06.379 when they leave them. 00:11:06.379 --> 00:11:09.860 Afraid of the pain of separation, 00:11:10.019 --> 00:11:13.620 they expressed their deep anguish and sorrow through their cries. 00:11:14.360 --> 00:11:15.659 Jesus, on the cross, 00:11:16.159 --> 00:11:19.919 expressed a separation anxiety that knew no match, 00:11:20.740 --> 00:11:24.580 a separation anxiety that spanned all emotional capacity, 00:11:25.179 --> 00:11:28.539 that spanned all time and all spiritual presence. 00:11:28.539 --> 00:11:33.759 Now, taking the sin of the entire world upon himself, 00:11:34.339 --> 00:11:36.899 Jesus was left alone to suffer, 00:11:38.179 --> 00:11:43.199 left alone to face the punishment for the sins that he did not commit. 00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:54.440 The accounts that we have read tonight tell us that there are a number of people who contributed to or are responsible for Jesus' death. 00:11:54.440 --> 00:11:55.680 The disciples deserted him. 00:11:55.680 --> 00:11:57.080 The disciples deserted him. 00:11:57.080 --> 00:11:58.180 Judas betrayed him. 00:11:58.220 --> 00:12:00.480 The chief priest and the Sanhedrin accused him. 00:12:01.320 --> 00:12:03.080 Pilate ultimately delivered him. 00:12:03.080 --> 00:12:04.120 Pilate. 00:12:04.120 --> 00:12:06.400 However, make no mistake. 00:12:07.100 --> 00:12:08.280 It was your sin. 00:12:08.660 --> 00:12:10.180 It was my sin. 00:12:10.820 --> 00:12:14.660 It was the sin of the world which puts Jesus on the cross. 00:12:15.520 --> 00:12:16.360 These men, 00:12:16.700 --> 00:12:19.460 these people were the ones through whom Jesus was punished, 00:12:19.560 --> 00:12:21.020 but it was our sin, 00:12:21.560 --> 00:12:22.960 our transgressions, 00:12:23.280 --> 00:12:24.520 our evil acts, 00:12:24.519 --> 00:12:33.100 and the heart which produces them all that place Jesus on the cross. Jesus faced extreme pain 00:12:33.100 --> 00:12:42.659 because your sin was extreme. His punishment was awful because your sin was awful. His suffering 00:12:42.659 --> 00:12:50.439 was deplorable because your sin was deplorable. Jesus paid the penalty that was required for your 00:12:50.440 --> 00:12:58.560 sin. The pain of the cross was powerful and strong because your sin is powerful and strong. 00:13:00.120 --> 00:13:06.920 But the glory and the beauty of the cross is found in this. The degree to which Jesus suffered, 00:13:07.760 --> 00:13:14.240 the degree to which you faced agony, torment, and pain was the degree to which you are loved, 00:13:14.240 --> 00:13:22.379 you are forgiven and you are redeemed. When you reflect upon the cross, remember your sin and 00:13:22.379 --> 00:13:28.259 remember the depth of payment and the degree of love which was required to set your heart free. 00:13:29.720 --> 00:13:37.519 And just as you reflect that your sin sent Jesus there, remember that it was the love of God 00:13:37.519 --> 00:13:46.960 that held Him there. Your sin sent Jesus to the cross, but it was the love of the Father that kept 00:13:46.960 --> 00:13:56.740 Him there. So the cross is ultimately God's love song to His people. Listen to it from the poetic 00:13:56.740 --> 00:14:05.559 words of Isaiah in chapter 53. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed Him 00:14:05.559 --> 00:14:11.919 stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed 00:14:11.919 --> 00:14:17.379 for our iniquities. Upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are 00:14:17.379 --> 00:14:25.839 healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to His own way, and the Lord has laid 00:14:25.839 --> 00:14:31.919 on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth, 00:14:31.919 --> 00:14:36.759 like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that is before its shearers is silent. 00:14:37.099 --> 00:14:44.399 So He opened not His mouth. And they made His grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in His death, 00:14:44.959 --> 00:14:53.059 although He had done no violence, and there was no deceit in His mouth. Yet it was the will of the 00:14:53.059 --> 00:15:04.519 Lord to crush Him. He has put grief on Him. The song of the cross was the Father's expression of how 00:15:04.519 --> 00:15:09.899 much He loved His people, and the great lengths that He would go to to save and redeem them. 00:15:09.899 --> 00:15:20.579 He was willing to leave His Son, to abandon Him on a cross to die. He allowed Jesus to receive punishment 00:15:20.579 --> 00:15:29.120 for us, to pay the penalty for our sins. The cross is a song, an expression of the heights, the depths, 00:15:29.439 --> 00:15:36.939 the greatness of God's love. The song of Good Friday, the song of the cross, however, is a dirge, 00:15:36.940 --> 00:15:47.160 a funeral song, a mournful song, because today our Savior died. There is a new song coming, 00:15:47.860 --> 00:15:55.580 but today we mourn. Today we consider the pain of the cross, the sin which placed Him there, 00:15:56.460 --> 00:16:04.580 and the great love that He had for us, His people. Today we mourn the one whose pain was required 00:16:04.580 --> 00:16:10.700 to save and redeem us. Will you pray with me? Father, 00:16:11.800 --> 00:16:15.780 it is hard for us to imagine 00:16:15.780 --> 00:16:25.759 that it had to go like this. Did someone have to die for us? Couldn't we have saved ourselves? 00:16:25.759 --> 00:16:35.319 The atonement of Your Son, the life of Your Son tells us otherwise. We know that there is no one 00:16:35.319 --> 00:16:42.899 fit to fulfill Your law, no one who can perfectly pay for our sins other than Your Son, Your very being 00:16:42.899 --> 00:16:50.539 taking on flesh on earth. So, Father, thank You for that good news. Thank You for the expression of love 00:16:50.539 --> 00:16:57.360 that we find in the cross. Father, would You help our hearts to mourn, though, to mourn as we understand 00:16:57.360 --> 00:17:05.740 the greatness, the gravity of our sin. And Father, as we do that, might we understand in greater and more 00:17:05.740 --> 00:17:12.299 profound ways the love that You have for us. It is in Your Son's name that we pray. Amen. 00:17:12.299 --> 00:17:20.019 For more information, visit us online at southwood.org.