Welcome to Walk in the Truth podcast. How do we know where to find answers to the toughest
questions in life? While the simplest answer is the Bible, where do we start this search
and how do we discover this truth? Today, in this teaching podcast, John Metter, lead pastor
of Cross City Church, takes a specific text of the Bible and helps us find truth for the
life we're searching for.
I'm so glad that you are here today. If you have your Bibles, please take them and turn
to the Gospel of Luke today. The Gospel of Luke, chapter 19 today, and we're going to
be talking about the week of the Passion of Christ. Now, as you turn in your Bibles, let
me just mention something that next week becomes extremely important for us. Everything we do
today is really in preparation also for what's going to be happening all week long. This
is probably one of the greatest opportunities to invite people to come with you at very,
very special services on Good Friday and on Easter Sunday morning, so don't miss a chance.
If you've been with us before, I built a cross on the stage here on Good Friday and preach
a message that I've been calling the message of the cross. I've been doing this for 25
years or more, and rarely is it that we don't have this service that dozens and dozens of
people come to Christ. Most of the time, 40 or 50 people will come to faith in Christ,
and I don't know how that number stays consistent, but I know that it happens because you invite
people who are impacted by the message of the cross, and I want to encourage you to
do that. And when they come, as we've already said, we'll be making available a copy of
this new book that we have out free to our guests, and it won't be released until the
16th, but we'll give them a voucher for that on Easter Sunday morning, and so don't miss
the opportunity to invite them. It's a great opportunity, and that's a great time for people
to want to respond well to that.
Well let's talk about the week of the Passion of Christ today. Luke chapter 19 beginning
in verse 28. You know, if I could plan the last week of my life, if I knew my last day
on the planet, and I could plan that last week so that the places I was and the words
I said had significance for those that I love, I would plan it well. I can't know that day,
you can't know that day, but Christ, from before the foundation of the world, did know
that he was on the word of the cross. He did know the day that he would die, and he did
plan that week out in such a way to keep us remembering the things that he wanted us to
remember.
As I look through the accounts of the crucifixion, I saw four significant things. I really saw
ten or twelve, but I'm only going to share four of them today. But four mountain peak
experiences that when we think about different places where Jesus walked, different words
that he shared, we think about these things as we move towards the cross. Things that
I believe that Jesus did so that we would remember some of the most important things
about his last week and some of the most important things about him. We're going to be looking
at this beginning in Luke chapter 19. Would you please stand with me as we read God's
word beginning in verse 28. This is what we normally know as the triumphal entry.
After Jesus had said these things, he's been teaching, he was going on ahead going up to
Jerusalem. When he approached Bethphage and Bethany near the mount that is called Olivet,
he sent two of the disciples saying, go into the village ahead of you. There as you enter,
you'll find a colt on which no one has ever sat, tied, untied and bring it here.
And if anyone asks you, why are you untying it? You shall say the Lord has need of it.
So those who were sent away went and found it just as he had told them. And as they were
untying the colt, the owner said to them, why are you untying this colt? And they said,
the Lord has need of it. They brought it to Jesus and they threw their coats on the colt
and put Jesus on it. And he was going and they were spreading their coats on the roadway.
As soon as he was approaching near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of
the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles that
they had seen, shouting, blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord, peace in
heaven and glory in the highest. Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to
him, teacher, rebuke your disciples. But Jesus answered, I tell you, if these become silent,
the very stones will cry out. Man, can you just imagine that scene as Jesus descends
the Mount of Olives and gets to the bottom and heads back up to Jerusalem and sees these
disciples just praising him, calling him King. What a moment that we need to look at for
a few moments. Father, in Jesus' name today as we look at
this text and the other events leading up to the cross of Jesus, help us understand
the message that you have for us today, 2,000 years later. The things that Jesus chose to
do, the places he was at, the words he shared, need to affect us today. In the same way it
did those disciples on that day. I ask this in Jesus' name and everybody said, amen.
Please be seated if you would. So what was Jesus communicating the last week
of his life? Well the first event as we've already looked at is the triumphal entry.
The triumphal entry, when you hear about it, when you think about it, remember that Jesus
is making a powerful statement and it says, I am the King. I am the King. That was his
message. In fact if you zero in on verse 40, the conclusion of that triumphal entry, the
disciples are worshiping him and the disciples are praising him. They're actually quoting
some Old Testament verses referring to Jesus as the fulfilled Messiah, that he in fact
was the fulfillment of the Messiah. And the Lord said to the Pharisees, it said, tell
your disciples to be quiet. I tell you if these people become silent, the stones will
cry out. It's a very, very public and a very visible moment for Jesus Christ and a moment
for everyone else around him to know that Jesus was declaring who he really was.
Maybe when you read the gospels you see what I see often. Jesus would do some healing and
he would heal a blind man, he would heal a lame man, and as the man recovered he said,
go and tell no one who did this for you. And over and over Jesus would heal and say, don't
say anything to anyone else about that. Now normally they went and said something to somebody
else about what God had done in their life, but he was always saying, keep it quiet, keep
it quiet. And now all of a sudden on the way to the cross Jesus is not keeping it quiet
anymore. He wants everyone to know exactly who he is. So he is riding on this colt and
he's moving towards the gates of Jerusalem. Now the disciples and the Pharisees and the
bystanders are all standing around and they're looking and they're listening and they're
taking this all in because the message he's giving them is, I am the king, the king you've
been waiting for in every way. Now you may remember Jesus' earthly ministry and the different
things that were happening and the different words that were said. Remember Jesus was baptized
by John the Baptist in the River Jordan and when he was baptized then the father spoke
audibly out loud and said, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased and everyone
that they had no doubt in their minds who Jesus was. Well maybe you remember Caesarea
Philippi, the place where Jesus had his disciples and questioned them, who do men say that I
am? And then more pointedly who do you say that I am? And the apostle Peter said, you
are the Christ, the son of the living God. That was his profession of faith. It was a
public proclamation. This is my son, my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. You are the
Christ, the son of the living God. Now he's just come back from the place where he healed
Lazarus. In fact, this spot at the triumphal entry is nearby where Lazarus was raised from
the dead. Does anybody remember what Jesus said when he called Lazarus out of that tomb?
He said, I am the resurrection and the life. He's identifying himself. The beloved son
of the father, Christ, the son of the living God, I am the resurrection and the life. And
now he's told his disciples to go get this coat, a coat upon which no one has ever written
a donkey that no one has ever been on. And I have to ask, is there a bigger picture of
sovereignty anywhere that Jesus knows the life of this donkey so well? He knows that
no one has ever sat on this donkey. He knows where the donkey is. He knows everything about
it and he knows he's going to ride down this path on that donkey towards the gates of Jerusalem.
I've got a picture here of an area that looks very much like and is at that place where
Jesus rode that donkey down that mountainside in order to get to Jerusalem. And as he's
doing that, he's actually fulfilling prophecy. Just as he did when he was born, just as he
did as he ended up on the cross, prophecy puts Jesus in those spots, helps us identify
exactly who he is. Well, in riding that donkey, he fulfills Zechariah chapter nine, verse
nine. Here's what it says. It says, rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, shout in triumph,
O daughters of Jerusalem. And then the three words, you can say it with me if you want
to, behold your King. Behold your King is coming to you. He is just and endowed with
salvation and humble and mounted on a donkey. And the people, the disciples at least knew
exactly what this prophecy was. They knew that this was being fulfilled. So Jesus' identity
is going public. All of a sudden he's becoming very public about who he is on the way to
the cross. In fact, what you see them saying, glory to God in the highest is just what the
angels said when they announced the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. And so these words
are echoing around and these disciples who knew the words so well were realizing what
was really happening. Jesus Christ really is the King. And then picture the Pharisees
of course. There's always a Pharisee in every group. There's always someone that doesn't
like what Jesus is doing and they said, make your disciples be quiet. And Jesus himself
says that they are silent, even the stones that lie in the roadway will shout out my
praise. Now I've been to Israel enough to know there's a lot of stones in Israel. It's
a rocky country. And that means lots of rocks and lots of stones crying out the glory of
God if we keep silent. Of course the disciples were not going to keep silent because they
understood exactly what was going on. Jesus said if these don't cry out my praise then
all of creation will do that. And he's right about that. All of creation does sing its
praises towards God. All the trees, all the mountains, all the seas, the rocks and the
animals. In fact, I'm forever intrigued by the fact that only man doesn't praise God
at every opportunity. Isn't that wild? All the creation does it but man does not. But
Jesus here says I am the king. The father has affirmed it. The disciples have affirmed
it. The works that Jesus did affirmed it. Prophecy affirms it. And now we have Jesus
Christ himself saying the words, I am the king. And you're thinking to yourself, got
it. It's simple to understand. Jesus is the king. And my question to you is this, if Jesus
is the king, do you worship him as king in your life? Do you lift him up? Do you worship
him? Do you bow before him? Do you give him your life if Jesus Christ is the king? And
actually from this moment on each person must decide how to respond to Jesus because even
those that were there on that day was no longer in question who he was. It was no longer in
the dark, no longer in the doubt. Jesus said I am the king. Decide what you will do with
me. And those disciples need to hear that so bad at that moment. And we need to hear
it so bad knowing that we cannot be neutral when it comes to this. He is king or he's
not at all. I don't know if you consider yourself a bystander or God forbid that you
just consider yourself a Pharisee. I hope you consider yourself a disciple who says
Jesus is king of my life. And beyond that so many vie to be earthly kings. There are
so many people who want to rule and be in power and authority but we only have one king
and that king is Jesus Christ. And that's who we worship. You have a king, King Jesus.
So Jesus arranged this moment for the disciples and the rest of us who are now on this planet
to see Jesus Christ saw himself as the king. One day every knee will bow, every tongue
will confess Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father but here he is saying I
am the king and they needed to hear it then as he made his way to the cross. The second
event took place on what I call the Olivet Discourse, the Mount of Olives. And on the
Mount of Olives Jesus made this statement, I am coming back. Now you have to ask yourself
why is it so important for Jesus to say I'm coming back when he hasn't left yet. The disciples
are just becoming aware that Jesus is going to go and undergo suffering. They're just
letting it dawn on their minds and their hearts that he's about to be put to death. They haven't
accepted it yet, they haven't fully recognized that yet but Jesus is preparing them by saying
I am king and I will come back. Would you go to chapter 21 of Luke? Luke is the gospel
that is most chronologically correct. He writes everything in its own order. So we know all
these things are happening one event after the other, one paragraph after the other in
proper order. Jesus has this triumphal entry into Jerusalem and then comes back to the
Mount of Olives in order to be teaching his disciples and in verse 5 of chapter 21 it
says while some were talking about the temple that it was adorned with beautiful stones
and votive gifts. He says as for these things which you're looking at the days will come
which there will not be left one stone upon another which will not be torn down. They
question him saying teacher when therefore will these things happen and what will be
the sign of these things that are about to take place? And he says see to it that you're
not misled for many will come in my name saying I am he and the time is near do not go after
them. When you hear of wars and disturbances do not be terrified for these things must
take place first but the end does not follow immediately. For the next 15 verses Jesus
describes all the chaos of what we consider final days the last times. So there he is
on this Mount of Olives with this beautiful scenario beautiful picture if you will from
the Mount of Olives. You can see Jerusalem's walls you can see what was at that time the
temple and the temple of course is gone now but the disciples were talking about the temple
they felt the temple would be invincible it had been there for so many years it was a
forever kind of thing with them. That's where sin was forgiven that's where the sacrifices
were made that allowed them to be forgiven and be in right relationship with God and
he said all these stones will be torn down and the response was how? When? Why? And Jesus
response was such that we call this the Olivet Discourse. It left them concerned it left
them alarmed it left them wondering what is the future like this is not what their future
wanted to be what they wanted it to be. Massive events that Jesus talks about during the time
of the Olivet Discourse these are the last things kinds of conversations talking about
Jerusalem talking about Israel itself he talks from the book of Revelation he talks about
things that we read later on from Revelation and thousands of volumes have been written
about all the things that will be taking place that is in Matthew 24 and Luke chapter 21.
I consider this a double prophecy that Jesus gives in that context first as it happens
to Jerusalem now later on as it happens in the great tribulation period and if you read
chapter 21 of Luke verses 9 through 27 you see all these things before Jesus said that
and then I return I am coming back. All through the Olivet Discourse Jesus is assuring his
disciples kingdoms will clash nature will erupt disciples will be persecuted in fact
often what we see around us today is very similar to those kinds of things setting the
scene for some future apocalyptic fulfillment and the future of the world. And Jesus says
those kinds of things setting the scene for some future apocalyptic fulfillment and it
should say some day soon Jesus Christ is going to come back that all these things don't catch
God by surprise and we're supposed to lift our heads and look for the coming of the Lord
just like these disciples were to lift their heads and look for the coming of the Lord.
Now these are about 15 or 20 verses that have so many details to it I've summarized it for
you and here are the things Jesus was saying to his disciples as he said I'm coming back
he said you must first of all be patient. Secondly you need to be watchful and thirdly
you need to be faithful. You know there's so much that we have to endure until Christ comes
back so many difficult things not only Israel must endure that but we must endure that.
There's so many things that we need to be watching for. There's so many things that
God calls us to be faithful in. But as it gets to the end of the Olivet Discourse
look 21, 27. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
I just love that verse because some day Jesus Christ is going to come back with power and with great glory.
Are you looking forward to that day? I'm looking forward to that day.
And the disciples needed to hear this so bad because they didn't realize that Jesus was just about to go
down to the Garden of Gethsemane later be betrayed by Judas later be scourged later be
crucified later die and go into the tomb before rising again on the third day. They needed so
badly to know that Jesus was King. They needed to know that Jesus is coming back and they needed to know
what to do until he came back. He was doing everything saying everything that they needed before
he went to the cross. Now let me just say that this has great application to you today.
You know being a follower of Christ in times like we live in is not so easy. It's so different from what it was
a few generations ago. You realize of course that if you take a biblical stance on creation or truth
or the Bible or sexuality or gender or morality or family or honesty or anything it makes you a target
in the minds of atheists and secular humanists who really want to really want to take a stab at us.
It's so important that you just learn to be patient. So important for you to realize that Jesus has everything
in control. Be patient, be watchful, be faithful because he's coming again and when he's coming again
he's going to reward you beyond anything you can find as a reward on this planet. He's going to come
and he's going to reward us. I am coming back.
Now then Jesus went to the Last Supper, the Passover meal. Keep turning in your Bible to Luke chapter 22
and you find in verse 19 and 20 the Last Supper. And at the Last Supper Jesus made a statement that we don't often
associate with the Last Supper. He made this statement in all that he said, I will take your place.
Luke 22 verse 19 and 20 said, this is my body which is given for you, this cup which is poured out for you
in the new covenant in my blood. Everyone knows about the Last Supper. You've seen the famous paintings
from the medieval times where Jesus is reclining at the table behind the table with 12 disciples.
So much detail in those paintings. Which one is Peter? Which one is Judas? Which one is Matthew?
As you look at those paintings, that was an intimate gathering with the disciples in that Passover meal.
It was bread, it was wine, Jesus was distributing all this. He was blessing it by praying to the Father first
before he handed it to the disciples. But what does it all mean and why did Jesus do this at the Passover?
Most of us know the Passover was instituted after Israel was delivered from Egypt. That's in the book of Exodus.
God used Moses to set the people free and from that time on they were free and they observed the Passover
which is what took place when the angel of death was going over Egypt and even those Israelites had that angel of death
passing over them but he did not put to death their firstborn because they were told to put blood of a lamb
over their door post. It's called the Passover because the angel of death passed over the homes with the blood
on the door post and that celebrated this for since the fifth century for hundreds and hundreds of years.
And it continues to be celebrated today even in Israel 2,500 years after it was first instituted.
Why does Jesus have this last supper with the disciples at the Passover?
He did that because he wanted them to remember that only by blood are we protected. Only by blood are we forgiven.
The temple was such a big deal to the disciples in that day as well because it was in the temple
and before the temple the tabernacle where the animals, the animals were slain and their blood was shed
in order to atone for guilty. Innocent for the guilty is the principle of the blood sacrificial system
and everybody associated that with the Passover and with the temple itself.
In fact if you go all the way back to the book of Hebrews chapter 9 verse 22, the author of Hebrews
the Holy Spirit inspired them to write this, all things are cleansed with blood and without the shedding of blood
there is no forgiveness so blood forgives guilty sin. So here's Jesus at the Passover and he says
this is the new covenant in my blood. Now the Passover was the old covenant.
God had a covenant with Israel and the old covenant was about that and the Passover was celebrating that
but now Jesus says in spite of all those years of celebrating the Passover this is not the old covenant
this is the new covenant in my blood. It's my blood now. It will be my blood that shed from this day forward.
He's telling them and everyone else in the world that needs to see this that there is finally a different
a perfect permanent sacrifice for sin and Jesus is that sacrifice once for all.
I am going to take your place. I'm sure that by now the disciples have forgotten what John the Baptist
said about Jesus when he first saw Jesus. You remember what he said, John chapter 1 verse 29
behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. Behold the Lamb of God the one who will be
slain for us who takes away the sin of the whole world. And basically Jesus is saying the Lamb's blood
has taken your place before this day but from this day on it will be my blood that takes your place.
Can you fathom what it means for someone to take your place? For someone to stand in the gap for you
when death comes. I'm always moved by war stories of soldiers who gave their lives to rescue their comrades.
They're so noble, so incredible, so selfless. Or stories of mothers and fathers who would absolutely
give their lives for their family and sometimes have done that. It's such a testimony of love, such a testimony
of willing sacrifice to take care of someone that they love so much. This is much, much greater
because this is God in the flesh. It's like I'm going to lay my life down for yours. I'm going to die in your place.
I'm taking your place. You should die on the cross. You should die for your sin but I'm standing in the gap for you.
I will take your place. Romans chapter 5 verse 6, 7, 8 is such a great passage that explains that.
For while we were yet still helpless at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man
though perhaps for a good man someone would dare even die. But God demonstrates His own love for us.
In that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Can you imagine for just a few moments where you are
and who you are apart from Christ, without Christ? If you don't have Christ today or if you can for just a few moments
remember who you were, what you were before you came to Christ, imagine with me for a moment what it will be like
to endure all of the wrath of God on your life if you had to bear it yourself. Imagine all the wrath of God poured out
on mankind for our sin. Imagine being blinded by the brilliance of the brightest light and burned by the fire of
a thousand furnaces, being pummeled by the tempest of the most powerful hurricane for sin and we justly deserve
all that punishment but Jesus Christ goes to the cross and stands in our place. And at the Passover meal,
the last supper with the disciples, that's exactly what He's saying. He's saying, I will take your place.
I must go to the cross to take your place. He wants them to remember this moment. He wants them to understand
when they look at Him on the cross, that's why Jesus died. He didn't die in punishment that the Roman
rulers put on Him. He didn't die because of some mistake. He willingly laid His life down on the cross
as a sacrificial lamb in order to pay for my sin. Jesus is saying on the cross and to the disciples at the
Passover meal, I'm giving my life for yours. Let me just pause for just a moment. Let me ask you to sit at that
table with those disciples at that last supper. And the significance of Jesus' life and His eternal nature
means that in the same intimacy with which He died for each one of those disciples, He died for you.
It's just as real that He died for you as it is that He died for Peter or James or John or Matthew.
It's just as real that He took your place as He took their place. Will you accept it? Will you embrace it?
Will you by faith say, Lord Jesus, I acknowledge You took my place on the cross? And if you'll acknowledge
that, you'll realize that Jesus has completely cleared you of sin because of His sacrifice on the cross,
completely forgiven you before God Almighty. You have righteousness before God because Jesus took your place.
It's important that these disciples hear this message, I am a king. I'm coming back. I will take your place
because the moments of the cross would completely make them forget many things that Jesus said, but He
didn't want them to forget these things. The fourth and final thing that Jesus did that's so significant
is the Garden of Gethsemane. And in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus said, I will overcome. I will overcome.
In Luke chapter 22 verse 42, the prayer that Jesus prayed and repeated three times actually was this
prayer, Father, if You're willing, remove this cup from me. Yet not my will, but Yours be done.
Three times Jesus prayed that in the Garden of Gethsemane, some significant moments of prayer.
The Garden of Gethsemane is a beautiful place. It's serene with centuries old olive trees spaced throughout.
I have a picture of that on the screen. Those olive trees, some say they're well more than the thousand years.
Some said that one of those trees was almost 2,000 years old. It's the smallest piece of real estate that
Jesus undemandably walked upon. Has been untouched over the years as it was then it is now.
As you walk in the Garden of Gethsemane, you've got that sense of reality that Jesus really did walk on this ground
and He really did pray this amazing prayer of surrender. If you're in the Garden of Gethsemane, you can look up
towards the city of Jerusalem and you can see the Eastern Gate. It's now closed. It's now blocked.
But it was the gate through which Jesus went through and nearest to those gates on the other side was the temple
that Jesus had cleansed prior to this time. The photo from the Garden of Gethsemane shows us that wall and that Eastern Gate.
It's also said that when Jesus Christ comes back and puts His foot on the Mount of Olives,
that He'll also be straddling the Eastern Gate of the temple as well, the Eastern Gate of the walls of Jerusalem.
That's in biblical prophecy. So the Garden is a place of serenity, but it's also a place of surrender.
It's a place where Jesus said, I will endure this and I will overcome.
You know the word cup here is in His prayer, if it's any possible, if you're willing Father, remove this cup from me.
It's a cup of suffering. Jesus knew exactly what He was about to undergo in these hours before the cross.
In fact, the Gospel of John said Jesus knew what was ahead of Him. He knew what He was going to face.
And it was a moment of agony where He's sweating drops of blood, where He knows He's about to be betrayed by a disciple.
He's aware that He'll be tried by wicked men. He knows He's going to be scourged and flogged by the whip,
which was called a cat-o-nine-tails and His back laid open. He knows He's going to be mocked and disfigured
by all those beatings the Bible said, almost beyond recognition.
And then He knows He's going to be nailed to a massive cross where He'll die.
But that's not the agony. The agony that Jesus is experiencing here, the cup of suffering He's talking about,
is not physical pain. It's not humiliation. It's not shame, even though all those things will happen to Jesus on His way to the cross.
The greatest agony is this one. It's described in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21.
Every believer needs to have this verse memorized. And here's what it says.
He that is God made Him, that is Jesus, He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf,
so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Would you look at that statement for a moment? I've put the words to be in parentheses because they're not actually in the original.
It literally reads, He made Him who knew no sin, sin on our behalf.
This does not say that Jesus had an act of sin. It doesn't say that He sinned in any way.
This says that God placed the sin of mankind on His Son, Jesus Christ, His perfect Son, His holy Son, became sin on our behalf.
He did that in our place. And the agony that Jesus was going through in the cross was the agony of taking upon Himself that which has never touched Him before.
It's a powerful statement. And all the sin of the world being placed on Him, that weight, that condemnation, that judgment, that shame placed on the one man.
Can you imagine the difficulty of knowing that you would bear the sins of the entire world?
Could you imagine the love that had to be going on in His life where He would say, I'm willing to do that.
I'm willing to become sin. I'm willing to feel the weight of wickedness.
And in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus ended that moment of prayer by saying, I'm ready, I'm going, I'm going to overcome this too.
I will gladly drink this cup of suffering so that you might become the righteousness of God.
I will gladly walk through all that is coming so that you might become the righteousness of God.
I will bear the sins of the world and overcome so that you might become the righteousness of God.
I will be beaten and spat upon and overcome in so many ways so that you might become the righteous of God.
I'll endure a harsh death at the hands of wicked sinners so that you might become the righteousness of God.
I'll be buried in a tomb, dead for three days,
descended to Hades and come back from the dead
and overcome so that you might become
the righteousness of God in me.
That's what I'm doing.
That's why I'm going to the cross.
That's why you'll see all these things unfold on me.
Jesus suffered, bore our sins,
died and overcame it all for you.
That's why he is away in the truth and the life
and no man comes to the Father except through him.
Because only Jesus could have done that.
Only Jesus did that.
He leads the way for us.
It means he secures salvation for us.
It means that we're not required to live to perfection
because we can't anyway.
And whatever has been done in our past
in the way of sinful actions,
he has forgiven and covered that
by the blood of Jesus Christ.
It means that you and I are right with God.
We have the righteousness of God
that we only get through Jesus Christ.
We've become righteous by his actions, not ours.
These disciples needed to hear this
before they saw Jesus naked, bleeding and dying on the cross.
Otherwise they could not have processed that well.
There's no song that is sung in many churches.
It's an old hymn.
And I thought of the song whenever I was reading
through this text this past week
and I actually posed the question to myself
before I thought of the song,
how can it be that God would love me so much?
How can that really be?
And the song word is, the lyrics go,
amazing love, how can it be
that thou my God should die for me?
Have you ever thought about that?
Have you ever thought about how amazing
his love for you must be?
For him to undergo all that he did in order to secure you,
forgive you, cleanse you, draw you,
save you, redeem you.
It's incredible love.
You've never been loved like this before.
No love that you have ever experienced on this planet
will come close to comparing with the amazing love
that God has for you expressed through Jesus Christ.
God demonstrated his own love for us
and that while we were yet sinners, Christ did.
He died for us.
Wow.
He wants his disciples to know
that how does that make you feel?
What does that make you want to do?
What do you think when you think about
the amazing love he had for us to die for us?
I've written three things down.
I'm first of all grateful.
I am so grateful that I have somebody
that loves me so much
that he would lay his life down on the cross for me.
Secondly, I'm humbled.
I'm humbled.
He did what I could never do.
He fulfilled the law.
He was righteous before God.
I could never do that.
You could never do that.
None of us could do that.
There's not enough religion in the world
to get us to that place.
There's not enough good works in the world.
But Jesus did all that for us and it leaves me humbled.
I continue to believe there are no proud Christians.
If they're truly Christians, they must be humbled.
He did what you could never do.
It also leaves me surrendered.
If he did this for me, how could I not follow him?
If he loved me this much,
why would I find love in any other place
that would vie for my loyalty
to the one that died on the cross for me?
Four events in places.
Four distinct statements before going to die.
I am king.
I'm coming back.
I will take your place.
I will overcome.
Is he your king?
Are you watching for him to come back?
Have you accepted his offer of dying in your place?
Are you surrendered to him as king today?
You know, if what Jesus did is true,
if you believe that this is historically a fact,
it has to change the way we live.
It has to change the way we worship.
It has to change the way we look at life.
He's done all those things
so that you might have real life with him.
In just a few moments,
we're going to invite you to two or three things.
First of all, we have invitation stations
that are in our building,
and we'll light those up over these next few moments.
On your way out, you'll see the big banner,
an invitation station.
You'll see people that are ready to pray with you
and talk with you.
Today, if you've not responded
to what Jesus did on the cross to you yet,
or if you've responded in a way that was clearly
inadequate for what he did for you,
if you're only paying lip service as a disciple
instead of yielding your life,
surrendering your life to him,
would you stop and talk to someone
and let them visit with you
and pray with you about the decision
to follow Jesus as king,
knowing he's coming back,
knowing he's died in your place,
knowing he's overcome on your behalf.
Stop by and talk to them.
But we're here to pray with you
and help you in the simplest way to know
I've made my decision to follow Jesus Christ.
Secondly, I want to invite you, if you're a guest,
to come to our guest reception room
right outside the center exit doors across the hallway.
I'll be there to greet you. Love to meet you.
If you're a first-time guest,
I actually have a voucher for a free food truck lunch outside,
and I would love to give that to you.
And I'm the only one that has those,
so you have to come see me if you want to get those.
Thirdly, I want you to realize
this is an amazing week for you to invite others.
We've mentioned this earlier in our service.
And what an opportunity for you
to bring others with you this next week.
At the end of our service, I hope you'll hang around,
enjoy lunch at the food trucks,
meet some people that may be brand new here.
This is their first time here,
and we would love for them to meet you
because we believe that those relationships
can be so good, so helpful.
Would you stand with me as I close us
in a word of prayer today?
Father, today I thank You that we can look at Passion Week,
the week of the love of Jesus spread out, poured out for us.
And see those significant moments,
the moment where Jesus rode the colt, the donkey,
down the Mount of Olives,
the moment where He came back to teach,
the moment in the garden,
the moment in the Last Supper.
Father, I pray that You would use these words of Jesus
and these events to impress on our heart
what You think about us and what You've done for us.
And then, Father, I pray that we would have the capacity
to respond in faith and gratitude and humility and surrender.
Lord, help us not take these moments lightly.
These are so real, so powerful.
Thank You for doing all this for us.
As we leave today, I pray that we'll experience incredible things this week,
Easter week, as we contemplate, as we worship You,
and as we give thanks to You for dying in our place.
Father, I ask all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.
God bless. You're dismissed.