Matthew 27:57-66 - And He Was Buried

Good morning, family.

Don't worry.

Even if I am preaching, I'm preaching it under the tutelage of Pastor Doug.

And we'll be concluding with what Pastor Doug gave me this Wednesday from his notes.

And also I have to remember what my wife, dear Santhy, dear wife Santi, he she keeps telling me, you have to project your voice.

All right.

So I have to remember.

And she says, for the benefit of Marge.

So wonderful.

So I will remember that.

And it is so overwhelming.

And as uh Walter said, it doesn't matter how many times you come here, it feels like the first time.

And it's a great honor to have an opportunity to stand once again before you to testify to the veracity of the scripture and the testimony that it does, it gives to the deity of Jesus Christ our Savior.

And we do that in utmost confidence in his sovereignty.

And this journey started about January 16th of 2022.

And we are almost at the end.

Four more sermons.

And we will conclude this journey through Matthew.

So two years, ten months, hence, we can tell stories of our journey through Matthew.

And what uh this reminds me is in the Hobbit, they take a journey and they come back and write the write the story of all their exploits.

I think we have no smaller story to tell.

Going through Matthew and witnessing the witness of Matthew and all the that prophets have told about Jesus Christ and everything that came true and came to fulfillment in Jesus Christ our Savior.

This morning's text of uh scripture comes from Matthew.

This is nothing significant on the first glance.

This is the portion we are we are all familiar with, and we do not see any memory verses that stand out of this scripture, and we may not have heard this portion preached from that often.

This seems like a rather routine portion which talks about the burial of Jesus Christ.

And here we come across several characters in this portion of scripture, and all four Gospels narrated this event to a different level of detail.

Understanding of these characters that appear in this portion will get us to see how wonderfully God uses all these characters and events that appear to, you know what, things do appear to go out of control, but God uses all this to testify to the deity of His Son Jesus Christ.

All these characters that appear here, they do not know how these events are unfolding according to God's eternal redemptive plan.

But everything that happens and everyone that is involved is used by God so beautifully to bring about God's redemptive purpose to fruition through the death of his son Jesus Christ.

And in Apostles' Creed, there is a portion that says, I believe in Jesus Christ, and it goes on to say he suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.

Looking at the burial of Jesus Christ, we see the events that have been brought about so wonderfully and supernaturally, and we'll stand and we will stand amazed at the precise way things came together.

Generally, we who are of Christian faith are aware of the significance of the cross of Christ.

To a true Christian, cross is everything.

In Pilgrim's Progress, John Bunyan portrays pilgrim's exuberance when he comes to the foot of the cross, where he is loosed from the burden that is encumbering him from his back.

And in the past few weeks, we've been studying the elements of the cross described by Matthew, and we are sort of ready for the resurrection.

And we cannot wait to get to chapter 28 and see Jesus risen from the dead.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a single greatest miracle the world will ever know.

Because it is that miracle of resurrection which demonstrated his accomplished work on the cross which redeems us and his power over death which brings us to glory.

And rightly so we extol the miracle of resurrection, and we extol the glory in the crucifixion, where our sins were born by the Lord Jesus Christ to free us from its sins, guilt, and penalty.

But between the crucifixion and resurrection, there is this burial of Jesus.

At first glance, it only will seem like it is a necessary act with little or no consequence, because the natural progression after one's death is the burial.

Except for what happens here tells us a magnificent story.

The burial of Jesus Christ is as supernatural and as miraculous in many ways as was his death and as will be his resurrection.

It is such a thrilling account of supernatural planning in every detail in the life of Christ, from his birth to his burial to his resurrection, everything is controlled by God the Father for the fulfillment of divine purpose and prophecy.

It is marvelous and thrilling to see God giving evidence as to the deity of Christ even through his burial.

There are people, places, events, behaviors that are narrated in this short portion of scripture that become important in how God's providence in the burial of Jesus Christ fulfilled many of the prophecies.

The constant refrain that we have heard so far that these things happened, that what was spoken by the prophet might come true or might be fulfilled.

And here in the burial account of Jesus Christ, many more of those prophecies were fulfilled.

You know, before reading this morning's scripture portion, let's go to the Lord in prayer.

Heavenly Father, we thank you.

We thank you for our Savior Jesus Christ and His death on the cross and his burial and his resurrection.

Father, this portion of scripture that we will examine today, we will see today, Father, may it bring in us an utmost confidence in your sovereignty and in Father and Father and may it increase our faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and his finished work on the cross.

We pray in Jesus' name.

Matthew 27, verses 57 through 66.

Matthew 27:57–66

Let's read.

He approached Pilate and asked for Jesus' body.

Then Pilate ordered that it be released.

So Joseph took the body, wrapped it in clean, fine linen, and placed it in his new tomb, which he had cut into the rock.

He left after rolling a great stone against the entrance of the tomb.

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were seated there facing the tomb.

The next day, which followed the preparation day, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, Sir, remember, we remember that while this deceiver was still alive, he said, After three days I will rise again.

So give orders that the tomb be made secure until the third day.

Otherwise his disciples may come, steal him, and tell the people he has been raised from the dead, and the last deception will be worse than the first.

Take guards, Pilate told them.

They went and secured the tomb by setting a seal on the stone and placing the guards.

As I was saying, in any account of the scripture, we will never see an event describing and narrating the providence of God with any more certainty than we will see in this portion of the scripture and the scene that is described here.

The greatest illustration of the sovereignty of God and the providence of God is in the death of Jesus Christ.

That's what we saw in the past few weeks.

Jesus being tried by the Jewish Supreme Court Sanhedrin, Pilate, Herod, and God using everything and everyone involved to see to it that this sacrificial lamb was put to death.

Sacrificial lamb being moved from within the camp to outside the camp and eventually sacrificed on the cross.

And the events that unfolded at the crucifixion, the curtain of separation in the temple being torn, representing the access that has been granted.

God used all of the human and satanic forces to kill his son to accomplish his redemptive purpose.

God controlled every element.

Every piece of that entire scene was controlled by God.

So much so that Jesus even rode into the city on the very day that Daniel prophesied in chapter 9 and would that he would do it.

Jesus rode into the city on the very day everyone else was selecting their Passover lamb.

The true Passover lamb was coming into the city.

He died on the very day that the Passover lambs were slaughtered.

Every single detail was covered.

And all by the free choice of men.

So they thought.

All were against Jesus.

Pilate, Herod, Jewish leaders, Gentiles, people of Israel, all were against Jesus.

To do what?

To do whatever your hand will had predestined to take place.

They just did what God laid out for them to do.

And they did it with their own independent choices within the framework of their sin, yet worked out the perfect plan of God.

In our text, we see the person making this request can be seen in the verses 57 through 60, and his name is Joseph of Arimathea.

He does not appear anywhere else in the Bible.

Yet he is so important that Matthew identifies him, and Mark and Luke and John, all the gospel writers, identify him.

A man named Joseph, a member of the council.

This is the sonhedron.

This is his only appearance in the scripture, and it is such a marvelous appearance.

And there is enough detail given to us to tell us that this man is good and righteous in a true sense.

His story is brief, but boy, what a story it is.

This is a story of salvation.

This is an unexpected, somewhat shocking testimony of faith in Jesus Christ.

Set against the rejection of the whole nation and set against the hostility of the rest of the council.

At least we see two out of the seventy-one on the council believed in Jesus, the other being Nicodemus.

He's like the thief on the cross.

In the fact that he is saved, but he is unlike him.

The thief is an outcast.

The centurion is a gentile outcast, but he is but this Joseph of Arimathea is on the inside.

He is a soul rescued from the elite leaders of Israel.

He is a lone dissenter, a good and righteous man, the Lou in the Gospel of Luke, he says.

The good in the right sense of the spiritual goodness and righteous.

In those days, the garbage was disposed of through incineration.

The garbage was taken to a place in the valley of Hinnum and dumped and set on fire because of the constant supply of garbage, and the fire did not go out.

That place is called Gehenna in the Valley of Hinnum.

In this context, Joseph of Arimathea becomes the first focal point of the burial of Christ.

From verse 57 through 60, we look at this.

There are two key prophecies that must be fulfilled in the burial of Jesus.

There are many, but we will look at these two.

One is an Old Testament prophecy given by Isaiah.

In verse 9 of Isaiah 53, it says, He was assigned a grave with the wicked, but he was with a rich man at his death.

And it goes on to say, the prophecy goes on to say, because he had done no violence and had not spoken deceitfully.

In Isaiah 53 and verse 9, and this whole chapter is devoted to the death of Christ on the cross.

It talks about the fact that he was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering.

It talks about him being taken away unto judgment and so forth.

It tells us that punishment for our peace was on him.

And we are healed by his wounds and describes the meaning of his death.

In verse 9, it says he was assigned a grave with the wicked, but he was with a rich man at his death.

Now the Holy Spirit, through the prophet Isaiah, says it was an assignment for him to be placed with criminals in a criminal grave, yet it didn't happen, but rather he was with a rich man at his death.

Now that this strange and obscure prophecy would be very difficult to understand until one arrives at the burial scene of Jesus Christ.

Keep it in mind that he was to have been buried or he was to be put in a grave for criminals, but instead he was buried with a rich man in his death.

In the second prophecy in the New Testament, given by Jesus Christ himself, and we find that one in the 12th chapter of Matthew and verse 40, he says it's a it's Jesus says, For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of great fish, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Jesus here predicts that there will be three days between his death and resurrection.

Not only that, but he will be in the earth for three days, he will be buried for three days.

Now there he there calls them three days and three nights and three days and nights, and as Jewish colloquial expression was.

So there are two major prophecies that are very explicit, very easily recognized, and must relate to the burial of Jesus Christ.

He must be buried with the rich, and he must be buried for a period of three days.

Now God uses Joseph of Arimathea to fulfill these prophecies as the human instrument.

So Joseph then gives testimony to the deity of Christ through being used in the fulfill fulfillment of his this prophecy.

In verse 57, a rich man from Arimathya named Joseph came.

Why did he come?

Well, it was in his heart to come.

He had been a secret disciple, and having seen Jesus die, and having love for Jesus and affection for him, the one who is secret now is willing to take a stand for Jesus Christ in his death after Jesus died.

Not even for a he is he was willing to take a stand, not even for a living Christ, but a dead Christ.

He's going to sacrifice all his relationships.

He's a member of Sanhedrin.

He's going to forfeit that, his social status, his business.

He will be cut off in every way.

But his affection for the now dead Christ pulls his heart so much that he wants him to have a proper place of burial.

So a rich man comes just as Isaiah said.

And rich man is Joseph of Arimathea.

When we look at the life of Jesus, it is a progression from humiliation to exaltation to glorification.

But when does this when does this transition from humiliation to exaltation happen?

Some may think that it happens at the resurrection, but we look at the scripture portion in Isaiah, he was assigned a grave with the wicked, but he was with a rich man at his death.

And the prophecy goes on, because he had done no violence and had not spoken deceitfully.

Also, we see in the book of Acts, chapter 2, on the day of Pentecost, Peter says, For David says of him, I saw the Lord ever before me, because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices.

Moreover, my flesh will rest in hope, because you will not abandon me in Hades and or allow your holy one to see decay.

The body of Jesus remains substantially intact, even in the crucifixion, and now even in the burial.

Now, why would Pilate do that?

Given all the hostilities, one might think that Pilate would say, Leave the body there.

I want that to mock the Jews as long as possible.

And I know it is the Passover and they want it taken down, but the fact that they want it taken down is a good reason to leave it up there for Pilate.

He despised those who had intimidated him so much.

Is that important?

Yes, the Jews had come earlier and said, and get those bodies of the cross before the Sabbath.

We don't want them hanging up there on Sabbath, which is the Passover.

This is not any ordinary Passover.

This is a very high Sabbath.

We want the bodies down.

The Jews begged to have the bodies down.

Joseph wanted the body down.

The Pilate said, Take it down.

The reason it had to come down was Jesus had to be in the grave on Friday so he could be there Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

That's what the prophet said.

That's what God wanted.

And all these people acting on their own were really working out God's providential plan perfectly.

So when Joseph had taken the body down, wrapped it in a clean in a clean linen cloth, laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out of the rock, and rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb.

And he left.

And it was done.

Was that important?

Yes, it is important.

God worked out all these details to get Jesus into the grave before the day was over.

So that he would be there part of the Friday to fulfill the prophecy.

And so we see the providence of God working to proclaim the deity of Christ through the fulfillment of prophecy, even in his burial.

Now, do you see this?

This insignificant portion of scripture, how meticulously it was planned by God.

In verse 61, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were seated there facing the tomb.

If Joseph of Arimathea was used to show the deity of Christ through fulfilled prophecy, there these women are used to show that it is the firsthand testimony to give firsthand testimony to the burial of Jesus Christ.

And then we come to the third group of people God used in verse 62, who are the chief priests and the Pharisees, and they provide this in this testimony as forceful as any proof of his resurrection anywhere in the scripture.

In verse 62, it says the next day which followed the preparation day.

That's another way to say Saturday or Sabbath.

This is Passover Day now.

The day of preparation is Friday.

You cannot make it any other thing in Jewish chronology.

It is always Friday.

It was the term for Friday because it was the day that they prepared for the Sabbath.

All their meal planning and everything else had to be done for Sabbath because they could not do it on Sabbath.

It is the Sabbath.

Chief priests and Pharisees, they come together only once before one other place.

That is in Matthew 21, verse 45, we see them coming together.

Matthew 21:45

It is an uncommon kind of combination.

Chief priests were Sadducees, and the and the Pharisees were, of course, were their their theological enemies and opponents, as we have seen before.

It wasn't enough to have him dead.

And they get together in a small group and they come to Pilate.

Verse 63 saying, Sir, a term of dignity and honor.

Say, sir, we remember that while this deceiver was still alive, he said, After three days I will rise again.

And they accomplished what they were set out to accomplish.

And they put Jesus Christ to death.

Now they want to take care of the business by addressing what they perceived to be another threat to their authority.

If disciples were to hide the body and say that he rose from the dead according to what he had what he had claimed, then they will have another problem on their hand.

Their hostility, hatred, and brutality extends even beyond Jesus' death.

And the thing that they are concerned about is that he said, After three days, I will rise again.

And when did he say that?

Back in chapter 12 earlier, they wanted a sign.

And chapter 12, verse 38 to 41, we want a sign.

We want to see you do your magic trick.

We want to see a miracle.

Do something for us.

And he says, Nothing will be given to this generation except the sign of Jonah.

As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of great fish, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

In other words, they understood that he was saying what he was, he they understood exactly what he was saying.

They knew what he was saying.

He was saying, I'm going to go into the ground and be buried and rise and will be resurrected.

Disciples didn't even understand it.

Disciples thought he was talking mystically, spiritually, and figuratively.

They didn't understand that he was actually talking about a real death and a real resurrection.

But the Jews did not think about the mystical, spiritual, and physical thing because they did not believe that he was Messiah anyway.

They thought he was just an imposter who was going to try to pull something off, which obviously he couldn't do.

But it is in their mind.

But the fact that he said he was going to do it, the disciples must have thought that he was supposed to do it, and they might even try to pull it off themselves.

Little did they know, all the disciples were hiding somewhere cowering through all this.

So their concern was Jesus had said that he was going to be three days in the earth.

And so in verse 64, they say, Command, therefore, and they're commanding Pilate to command.

And as we have examined when we saw the previous portion of scripture, he's intimidated by them for the fear that they will report him to Caesar if there is any other conflict.

So they say, Command, therefore, that the grave be made secure until the third day.

And you will notice that in the chapter 12 and 40th verse, it was three days and three nights.

In verse 63, it's after three days, and in verse 64, it is until the third day.

So that we all, so that we say all those phrases mean the same thing.

Not three full 24 hour periods, according to Jewish colloquial expression, but part of three days.

Any part of Friday, any part of Saturday, any part of Sunday.

And here is why, lest his disciples come by night and steal him away and say to the people he is risen from the dead.

See how everything is coming together?

Because all the objections that could be raised for the resurrection of Jesus are being addressed by whom?

By the Jewish leaders.

Now they are not afraid that he will arise because they did not believe in his deity.

They are afraid that the disciples will fabricate a resurrection to keep the movement alive.

That's what they are afraid of.

You know, the irony of it is the disciples had no such thought.

And disciples couldn't get their own heads together.

They are afraid.

They are hiding somewhere else.

Jesus told many times about the manner of his resurrection.

In all the gospels we read about what he has said, the Jews, of course, thought he was claiming that and he couldn't pull that off.

But they were afraid that the disciples would have thought, just like they did, that he really meant what he was saying.

And so to keep their movement alive, they would come and steal the body.

So to prevent that, they go to Pilate and say, We want a God, and we want that God put on the grave so that the disciples are unable to come and steal away the body, or else.

At the end of verse 64, so give orders that the tomb be made secure until the third, until the third day.

Otherwise, his disciples may come, steal him, and tell people he has been raised from the dead.

And the last deception will be worse than the first.

What they are saying to Pilate is this if you think Jesus' triumphal entry caused an uproar.

And if you think that caused a problem, just watch what happens if the disciples are able to fabricate that he rose from the dead.

So they say, give us a guard so we can make sure that they don't steal his body.

And in verse 65, Pilate says, Take guards, go and make it as secure as you know how.

And in then verse 66, they went and secured the tomb by setting a seal on the stone and placing the guards.

Now the grave was sealed with a Roman seal, and if anyone were to move the stone, then the mechanism by which the tomb was secured would be compromised, and that would cause the new movement, if there was any, to not to succeed.

Do you know what would have happened if there was no God or no seal?

Nobody was watching the tomb, and all of a sudden they were they were trying to preach a message that Jesus rose from the dead.

And somebody would say, Don't give me that.

It never happened.

They just took his body and somebody took on his identity, and somebody who looked like him made a few appearances.

And many people who set out to prove that this was the case became believers in Jesus Christ.

Looking at the evidence, looking at, and we see that case for Christ in the least robot, investigative reporter in his book, he details the account and how he came to know Jesus Christ.

But the unbelieving world itself made sure that there is no other explanation for the absent body of Christ except a resurrection.

If no seal and no God, the resurrection could have been explained as anything else like grave robbery.

God is using chief priests, Pharisees, and a lot of pagan authorities in this process to testify without any doubt about his resurrection.

Burial of Jesus Christ is important because God Himself is testifying and using all those who are involved to bring about his redemptive purposes and those unwilling and hateful actors, along with the faithful followers who are altogether testifying to the events that unfolded in the burial of Jesus Christ.

If they would have tried to prevent some of these things that happen in their utter ignorance and hubris, they also serve to bring about the eternal purposes of God.

Here, one thing we need to observe this Joseph of Arimathea, he was a secret follower of Christ.

You know, I remember a story in my childhood.

My mother became a believer, and my father was not a believer then.

And about eight years into their marriage, my father came to know Christ.

And after that, I was, you know, just um to fit in with my friends.

So I am my mother, and and he she testified to us about Christ and and uh um his work on the cross.

Okay, I know that that that was true, but the thing is, you know, I was I wanted to be uh a secret thing because there is a stigma associated with being a Christian in in that society, and same thing here, you know, he was a secret believer now when he came face to face with crucified Christ, and all those things went away, and he risked everything.

He goes to Pilate asking to give Jesus' body a proper burial, and when you come face to face with Christ, and it doesn't matter, everything will fade away, and that is exactly what happened in his life.

Let's bring all this together as follows.

As we see in this text, there was a dangerous request.

A dangerous request.

The Mishnah, the oral tradition of Jewish believers, sentenced the elder that rebels against the decision of the court to death by strangling.

And Chris Ostom wrote that Joseph was a man of special courage, for he exposed himself to death, taking upon him the enmity of all by his affection for Jesus Christ.

Through what he did, he testified to the deity of Christ by fulfilling major prophecies.

And the next one we see in this text is a devoted vigil.

And Chrysostom celebrated these faithful women.

Let us, and he says this, let us men unite imitate these women.

Let us not forsake Jesus in times of trial.

These women exposed their lives so much for him even when he was dead, even as they had spent so much for him when he was alive.

Through their vigil, they served as eyewitness testimonies.

See if Joseph of Arimathea by what he did, he fulfilled the prophecies, and now Here, they're sir these women are serving as eyewitness testimonies to the resurrection of the Lord.

All these disciples all his disciples were hiding somewhere else.

And if a disciple were to give an eyewitness testimony, they could have ruled them out, ruled them out, saying, You are his disciple.

You're fabricating a story.

But these women served as eyewitness testimonies.

Now, third one, third point, a destined purpose.

In Isaiah 53 9, Jesus was assigned a grave with the wicked.

Since the Romans intended to bury him among the crucified criminals, but he was with a rich man at his death.

Because of Joseph's intervention, this fulfillment serves as confirmation that Jesus had done no violence.

That's what the verse says.

Had done no violence and had not spoken deceitfully.

Even when things seemed to go out of control, they were not out of control at all.

But everything is following God's perfect providential plan and his purpose.

And that brings us to the fourth point: a deceptive plan.

The leaders had misled Pilate and the people to ensure that Jesus was put to death.

After his resurrection, they would spread an even worse lie to hide the fact that they were responsible for the that that to hide the fact that they were responsible for the crucifixion of the one whose messianic claims had been verified by his promised resurrection.

The statement we remember, he said, they said, seems to imply that the chief priests and Pharisees had direct knowledge of Jesus' statement that after three days I will rise again.

They are not ignorant of his teachings.

In fact, they probably were watching very closely, more closely than his disciples themselves.

This is evidently a reference to Jesus' statement that Son of Man will be in the earth for three days and three nights.

Chapter 12, 1 verse 40.

A statement made to the scribes and Pharisees.

And that brings us to the fifth point, a derisive permit.

Pilate is no fan of all these Jewish leaders.

In fact, there is so much bad blood between them.

And now I come to Pilate, who did not like Jewish leadership and not particularly he was not a good man, as we have seen previously.

The command, go and make it as secure as you know how seems like an ironic statement that implies that keeping the tomb sealed may be more difficult than the Jewish leaders assume, even with the Roman God.

Perhaps the details of his wife's dream, mysteriously confirmed by supernatural phenomena that accompanied Jesus' death, seem to fit with Jesus' promise of resurrection, and Pilate suspects that a series of events is about to unfold that Jewish leaders will be able to, will not be able to thwart.

Or perhaps Pilate is simply being condescending and implying that the Jewish leaders are inept and will botch their attempt at securing the tomb.

And now that brings us to the fifth, sixth point, a defeated power.

In Daniel 2nd chapter 44th, it says, In the days of those kings, the God of heavens will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and this kingdom will not be left to another people.

It will crush all the kingdoms and bring them to an end.

But it's uh but but will itself endure forever.

The imperial seal stamped on the clay or wax signified Rome's authority, but a higher power is arriving at the scene.

There are many, many other prophecies that were fulfilled in the burial of Jesus Christ and in his crucifixion and everything, every detail was controlled by an Almighty God through the actions of independent independent actions of men with integrity, without integrity, with evil motives, with good motives, everybody, all the circumstances were used by God to bring about his redemptive plan together.

How does this relate to you and me?

And going through this life has many perplexing and disappointing moments that defy our understanding.

Political, personal, societal, and economic problems.

Don't we see in Romans 8th chapter, Apostle Paul starts that chapter by saying, There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus?

And he goes on to verse 28, he says, We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God and who are called according to his purpose.

Does this verse come to us with a new meaning now?

Do we understand what it says?

Even the burial of Christ was planned to such an excruciating detail by the Almighty God.

And that must give us confidence that all things are controlled by God to work together to fulfill his eternal purpose for his own beloved and for his glory, which is to their good.

The idea of God's sovereignty and God's providence is not some distant doctrine which is only reserved for theologians.

It is when you cannot explain the trouble we are going through.

Or that is when we need to understand the providential power of a sovereign God who takes every circumstance of the universe and controls it all for your good and for his glory and for his eternal purpose.

That should be very comforting, isn't it?

It doesn't matter what you're going through.

And he demonstrated his ability to do it in the death and burial of Jesus Christ.

And if the burial of Jesus Christ is this marvelous, the resurrection is coming.

Consummating the exaltation of Jesus Christ.

What a savior! What a God.

Let's go to the Lord in prayer.

Heavenly Father, we thank you and praise you for Savior Jesus Christ.

Father, thank you, Father, as we heard this word, increase our faith that we may testify to the veracity of the scriptures.

Father, to the redeeming power that you exercised on the cross in putting death to your Father, putting to death your Son Jesus Christ.

Give us supreme confidence in your sovereignty and give us supreme confidence in our Savior, we pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.