Awe at the Cross

Good morning, everyone.

My name is James, and I heard some troubling news recently.

The shops were all out of Easter eggs.

I know, there was groaning.

Thank you, Brian, for sharing my sympathies.

I was worried.

But don't worry.

I've got a way to fix it.

We're going to make our own Easter eggs today.

I looked up the recipe online,

and I've got all the ingredients I believe that we'll need.

So, the ingredients.

Now, I thought, when I was setting out to make Easter eggs,

not everybody can eat Easter eggs,

so we're going to have to just be a little bit careful with the ingredients.

But the things that I read is that you need sugar.

So I've got my sugar from home, just a little bit there.

You can tell my wife likes to do some baking.

There's cocoa butter.

Well, I don't actually know what that is,

but I've got buttery margarine spread, so that's close enough.

I've got full cream milk.

Full cream milk.

I actually have that.

That's good.

There's lecithin.

Does anybody know what lecithin is?

No, nobody knows what that is, so I didn't bring it,

because I actually don't have any.

It needs cocoa and vanilla.

Vanilla flavoring imitation.

Okay.

But I think one of the problems is a number of people in this world are trying to be healthy,

trying to be fit people, and so sugar doesn't really fit into the diet,

so I think we probably need to put this one back.

We're not going to make chocolate with sugar.

And dairy.

Is anybody allergic or intolerant to dairy?

Yeah.

No, I'll put this away.

I'll put this away for you.

Just for you, Aiden.

Okay.

So, okay.

Here we go.

I'm going to make chocolate out of these three ingredients.

And I'm definitely not going to make a mess.

Okay.

So we'll put a bit of...

How much cocoa powder?

Lots.

Lots.

Thanks, Libby.

I'm so concerned now.

Okay.

There's a...

I don't know if you can see that on the camera.

Here we go.

Imitation flavoring.

I'm thankful for Queen.

You know, these guys do wonderful colors.

Again, lots?

I'm hearing loads.

Okay.

Okay.

Drops.

How about a good splash?

There we go.

And this is going to taste great, isn't it?

This is going to be the best.

Who needs coals and woolies?

They're missing out.

I'll tell you what.

And then just a good...

Just mix that together.

Does anybody want to come try this?

It's not very good.

Now...

Oh, it's bitter.

There's no sugar in it.

There's no sugar in it.

Thank you.

I'm just going to...

Sorry.

In our search for the best chocolate,

something that everyone could have,

something that, you know,

people who are allergic to dairy

and who are trying to be healthy

and not eat sugar...

I've taken out some key ingredients.

I've watered it down so much

so that it's not good for anything.

It's not good for eating.

I've taken the stuff that's made it good.

I wonder, as we come to Easter and the cross,

has Easter been watered down?

Have we lost awe at Easter?

The fear and wonder of Jesus dying in our place.

And without fear and wonder,

Easter has lost its goodness to us.

We lose our fear of God.

We lose our need for Jesus.

We lose our wonder of God,

showing us His amazing grace,

and we end up chasing things that look wonderful.

Today is Good Friday.

And in the weeks leading up to Easter,

we've been looking at Jesus' final days.

His last supper with His disciples,

the Garden of Gethsemane,

where He prepared to be crucified.

And we've seen that awe that we need to have in God,

awe, the combination of fear and wonder.

And when we take away these two things,

just like taking away crucial ingredients,

it just ruins it,

and we're left with nothing good.

And so as we see the crucifixion of Jesus today,

we're going to see two types of responses.

We're going to see the wrong response

and then the right response

as we are called to have fear and wonder,

making up awe of God.

And the challenge for us today

as we seek to restore our awe of God

is to check that it's not a watered down,

sanitized version with the heart ripped out,

with those key ingredients of the crucifixion ripped out.

Let me pray for us as we have a look at Matthew 27.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for today.

We thank you for the chance to stop,

to gather as a church,

and to remember that your Son died for us.

Be with us today, Lord.

Remind us afresh of the fear and wonder that we have.

Lead us to have awe of you, Lord.

We ask this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

We're in Matthew 27.

Have your Bibles open, please.

And we're going to start by seeing the wrong responses to Jesus.

Firstly, we're going to see Pilate and his wife.

Pilate and his wife both respond to Jesus out of fear.

So from verse 19,

while Pilate was sitting on the judge's seat,

his wife sent him a message.

Don't have anything to do with that innocent man,

for I have suffered greatly in a dream because of him.

Pilate's wife suffered greatly in a dream.

We actually don't know any more details than this.

I'd really like to know those details.

We can fill it in.

But all we can say with confidence

is that she wanted Pilate to avoid Jesus

because he was innocent

and because she was afraid of suffering and more suffering.

So she's responding to Jesus out of fear.

Pilate himself, well, he didn't listen to his wife.

That was his first mistake.

But instead, motivated by his fear of the crowd,

again, he's fearful just like his wife.

He's motivated by fear.

Verse 20,

Verse 24,

When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere,

but that instead an uproar was starting,

he took water.

He washed his hands in front of the crowd and said,

I am innocent of this man's blood.

He said, it is your responsibility.

Pilate was the governor of a city,

and he would be easily replaced

if this city turned into a riot,

if there was an uproar.

And so he calms it down

out of fear of his own position,

out of fear of an uproar.

He's operating from fear just like his wife.

And so Barabbas is released.

Jesus is sent to be flogged and crucified.

And the soldiers mock Jesus.

They dress him up.

They pretend that he is the king.

And they beat him.

Crucifixion is not enough

when you are an enemy of Rome.

You must be utterly humiliated.

He was humiliated so that those who knew him,

those who were associated with Jesus,

they would want to cut all ties.

The Pharisees,

those who were calling for Jesus to be killed,

they themselves are operating out of fear.

They were operating out of fear and self-interest.

They wanted Jesus dead because he was too radical.

He was countercultural.

He was teaching people

that they shouldn't be listening to the Pharisees,

that the Pharisees actually weren't following God.

And so the Pharisees were fearful of the changes

that Jesus wanted to bring,

to know a God who loved them.

And so they killed him.

And then,

when Jesus was hanging on that cross,

they mocked him further.

Verse 39,

those who passed by hurled insults at him,

shaking their heads and saying,

you who are going to destroy the temple

and build it in three days,

save yourself.

Come down from the cross.

If you are the son of God,

in the same way,

the chief priests,

the teachers of the law,

and the elders mocked him.

He saved others,

they said,

but he can't save himself.

He's the king of Israel.

Let him come down now from the cross

and we will believe in him.

He trusts in God.

Let God rescue him now if he wants him.

For he said,

I am the son of God.

The Pharisees rile up the crowd to mock Jesus

and they heap abuse on him.

And we see this build up

from a number of different people

of mocking responses,

of fearful responses leading to it.

But into this moment,

while Pilate,

while the Pharisees,

while the crowd are all against Jesus,

we see the right response.

We see that things just cannot stay as they are.

We see the heavens respond,

we see the earth respond,

and we see the right response to Jesus.

Verse 45,

From noon until three in the afternoon,

darkness came over the land.

The heavens respond to the son of God

dying on the cross.

Darkness comes across the land

as the people have been unable to see

that Jesus is the son of God.

It becomes literally dark

until Jesus cries out in his final moments.

Cries out to his father.

Alone,

his friends have all fled.

He's been betrayed,

and mocked,

abused,

spat on,

cursed.

But this moment,

this is what Jesus had come to do.

And in his death,

he defeats death.

And when he rises on Sunday,

he brings life.

Not only had the heavens closed over

with Jesus on the cross,

now the temple

that has a massive curtain in it,

the curtain is torn in two.

This curtain,

which was designed to separate God from people

and people from God,

because God is holy,

and only one person a year

could go into that innermost place

and come in with blood

because they were sinful.

Now that curtain is torn in two.

No sacrifice is ever needed again

because the sacrifice

has been laid on the cross.

That temple is defunct.

Its job is done

because Jesus,

in his death,

has defeated death.

Verse 51,

the earth shook,

the rocks split,

and the tombs broke open.

The bodies of many people

who had died

were raised to life.

They came out of the tombs

after Jesus' resurrection

and went into the holy city

and appeared to many people.

The heavens respond

by closing over

and becoming dark.

The earth responds

by shaking.

Shaking so much so

that these tombs

open up

and Jesus,

in his death,

defeats death

and people who were dead

come back to life.

Jesus had previously

raised people to life,

but even in his death,

the doors of death

are broken open

and people are brought back to life.

dead people

are coming back to life.

The temple is torn in two.

Jesus' death

has shifted everything.

And two small groups of people,

two small groups of people,

see and understand

what's happened.

verse 55,

many women were there

watching from a distance.

They'd followed Jesus

from Galilee

to care for his needs.

Among them were Mary Magdalene,

Mary,

the mother of James and Joseph,

and the mother

of Zebedee's sons.

Despite all the men

running away,

these women

have remained faithful.

They've seen Jesus

in his power

and in his humility.

And they will see him

in his resurrection

and they will be the first

to proclaim the gospel.

And there's one other group,

one other small group

who has the right response,

who sees Jesus

for who he is.

Verse 54,

when the centurion

and those with him

who were guarding Jesus

saw the earthquake

and all that had happened,

they were terrified.

And they exclaimed,

surely he was

the son of God.

The centurion

and those guarding him.

Well, these are the soldiers

of Pilate

under Pilate's control.

These are the soldiers

who had taken Jesus

from Pilate,

those who had beaten

and mocked him,

those who had pretended

he was the king.

Something rocks them

to their core.

When they saw

what had happened,

they were terrified.

Terror,

absolute terror.

We have killed him.

We've killed the son of God.

We are the ones

who put Jesus to death.

What's going to happen to us?

We've seen the heavens

close over.

We've seen the tombs open up.

Is God going to strike us

down where we stand?

And they exclaim,

surely he was

the son of God.

They have

a terrified response

of fear,

but they also respond

with wonder.

Surely he was

the son of God.

They see in his death

no ordinary execution.

The sun had darkened,

the earth had shook,

it was no ordinary power.

They hadn't heard

from an angel

or a prophet,

but they had seen

God's power

in Jesus

on the cross.

And these people

had awe.

the centurion,

the soldiers.

They had this combination

of fear and wonder.

Fear because they realized

what they had done.

But wonder because

what they had heard

about Jesus

was right all along.

He is the son of God.

Awe is fear and wonder.

And at Easter this year,

we run the risk

of missing out

on these two key ingredients

to seeing

who Jesus is.

There's two things,

awe and wonder.

When you take away one,

you lose awe.

And you lose the heart

of the good news

of Jesus' death

on the cross.

Because the good news

of Easter

is a combination

of these two,

fear and wonder.

God is right

to punish us.

We are right

to fear God,

fear Him for our sin,

for our rebellion.

But we don't need

to fear Him.

Because in His

great love for us,

His son died

in our place.

And so we can wonder

at His amazing love

for us.

When we lose

the fear of God,

we lose the awareness

of our sin.

My sin,

my mistakes,

the people I hurt,

they just become

something to move on from.

I'm not going to dwell

in my mistakes.

I'm not going to consider

that I could be at fault.

I'm just going to move on.

I'm going to hope

I don't get cancelled.

As long as my sin

isn't on a big stage

slapping someone

in front of an

international audience,

I can be guaranteed

I can escape

the repercussions

of my own sin.

I can hide

from my issues.

I can be known

as a good person.

I'm a good guy.

Unless I actually

ask those closest to me.

Or even ask the God

who knows me best.

In the current

political climate

as we head towards

an election,

reporters

and politicians

on all sides

are pulling up

the dirt of the past

and saying,

look at this.

This person's terrible.

Look at their sin.

But can you imagine

someone doing that

to you?

Actually looking through

all the people

you'd hurt,

all of your sin,

all of your

innermost

darkened thoughts

and bringing them

to the light of day.

I'm pretty fearful

of that actually happening.

That would be terrifying.

Terrifying for

you to know

actually what I'm like.

I'm so thankful

for my God

who knows who I am

and yet loves me.

God sees

all of who we are.

He knows

how darkened

and terrible

our hearts are

and we can pretend

it's fine.

We can hide

from that

but the right response

is like the centurions

to be terrified

before God

but also

not to stay there.

To move

to wonder

that He would

forgive.

When we lose

wonder

at God's

amazing love

we're just left

with fear

and so

we can seek

all kinds

of other remedies

to make us feel better.

I'm just left

with fear

so I'm going

to chase success

to bring wonder.

I'm going to

deal with

these issues

of fear

that I have

so I'm going

to make myself

successful

or I'm going

to escape.

I'm going

to chase

being wonderful

because there is

nothing wonderful

in life

other than God

and yet God

says be in awe

of me.

Be fearful

because of who you are

but wonder

because of my

amazing grace

for you.

The cross

is the centerpiece

of Christianity.

When we lose

the importance

of Easter

when we lose

both the fear

and the wonder

it just all

falls apart

and it can just

leave a bitter taste

in our mouth.

And so what

we're going

to do right now

we're going

to seek

to restore

our awe

of God.

We're going

to do both

of those things.

We're going

to sit

in fear

of God

and we're

going

to sit

in wonder

and praise

of God.

We're going

to come

to a time

of the Lord's

Supper now

and we're going

to in a moment

say a confession

together,

celebrate the Lord's

Supper

and then we are

going to stand

and sing praise

and be in wonder

for our God.

So a confession

is going to come

up on the screen.

Let's say

this confession

together.

Almighty God,

Father of our

Lord Jesus

Christ,

you made

all things

and you call

everyone to

account.

With shame

we confess

the sins

we have

committed

against you

in thought,

word and

deed.

We rightly

deserve your

condemnation.

we turn

from our

sins

and are

truly sorry

for them.

They are

a burden

we cannot

bear.

Have mercy

on us,

most merciful

Father,

for the sake

of your

Son,

our Lord

Jesus Christ.

Forgive us

all that is

past.

Let me

continue.

We're going

to continue

now.

I will

say the

unbolded

words and

we'll say

the bold

words together.

Lift up

your hearts.

We lift

them to

the Lord.

Let us

give thanks

to the

Lord our

God.

He is

worthy

of all

praise.

And we

pray you

are worthy

our Lord

and God

to receive

glory and

honour and

power.

For you

created all

things and

by your

will they

existed and

were created.

Therefore

with all

those gathered

around your

throne in

heaven,

we lift

our voices

to praise

you saying

together,

holy,

holy,

holy is

the Lord

God

almighty,

who was

and is

and is

to come.

We praise

you especially

for your

son, our

saviour Jesus

Christ,

who by his

death on

the cross

and rising

to new

life,

offered the

one true

sacrifice for

sin and

obtained an

eternal

deliverance for

his people.

Together,

worthy is

the lamb

who was

slain to

receive praise

and honour

and glory

and power

forever and

ever.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.