Passion Week 2026 | The Truth

So our theme for Passion Week this year, as you

know, comes from John 14, 6, where Jesus famously

said to his disciples, I am the way, and I am

the truth, and I am the life. No one comes to

the Father but through me. This is one of seven

I am declarations that Jesus makes in John's

Gospel. Seven statements where Jesus takes the

divine name from Exodus chapter 3 and claims

Exodus 3 · chapter mention

it for himself. You might recall when Moses asked

the Lord about his personal name, God responded

to him, I am who I am. Tell them that I am sent

you. And then in John's gospel, Jesus, while

in the flesh, picks up that divine name and says,

I am the truth. Now, has Jesus taught us truth?

Yes. Has he shown us truth? Of course. Has he

testified to the truth? Yes, he said that to

Pilate. But in John 14, 6, there's even more

meaning built into Jesus' declaration. He is

the present tense, continuous embodiment of truth.

So catch this. Truth is not just a list of propositions

as we often think of truth. Ultimately, truth

is embodied in the person of Jesus Christ because

he has revealed to us who God is, and what God

is like. Jesus was in John's day and still is

today the physical manifestation of the eternal

God who in himself is truth. And this is not

just a New Testament thing. God the Son is the

truth of the entire Old Testament as well. He

is the wisdom. He is the knowledge of Proverbs,

of the Psalms, of all the prophets. In fact,

Paul says as much in Colossians 2. He says, All,

all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And

think of this connection for a moment. In John

1, we all know Jesus is identified as the logos,

right? In Greek, it's the word. And we're told

that he existed in eternity past with God, that

he is God, and that all created things. came

into being through him. So he is the very word

of God. And then later in John 17, Jesus is praying

to his father and he asks, sanctify my followers

in the truth. Your word, me, your word is truth.

It's another way of saying, I am the father's

truth. And if Jesus is that word, then truth

is personal. It's found in the person of Christ.

He is the standard by which all truth is known

by creatures like you and like me. He embodies

all the truth that any man needs for life, for

salvation, for godliness. And that's because

He has revealed to us not just who God is, He's

revealed to us what righteousness looks like.

He has revealed to us how sin causes us to fall

short of His glory. And best of all, he is the

truth because he leads us to the only way out

of slavery and death and into freedom and life

eternal. As he promised and confirmed to Pilate,

everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.

And that is my prayer for all of you tonight,

that you hear the good shepherd's voice because

you are of the truth. Now, for our purposes tonight,

I want to talk about the truth as it relates

to one particular aspect of Good Friday, and

we'll do this fairly quickly, but I want to talk

about blood sacrifice and atonement. The question

is often asked by unbelievers and people who

are unfamiliar with Christian theology, and it's

a fair question. Why the agony of the cross?

why would god who could have used any number

of ways to satisfy his own justice why would

he put his one and only son through that kind

of suffering and agony going a step further why

the hostility and the rejection from his own

people the jews why the mocking and the cruelty

at the hands of the gentile romans could there

not have been a better way The answer to these

questions goes back to two things. First of all,

God's sovereignty over all things. And second,

His own consistency when it comes to the standards

of debt and satisfaction. The first of those

two reasons is very simple. All things are put

in motion by the Creator. All things are upheld

by the Creator. So He makes the rules. Right?

And he judges according to his perfect, infinite

wisdom. So if God says this is how sin must be

dealt with, guess what? That's how sin has to

be dealt with. And if he proclaims there's only

one way to eternal life, guess what? That is

the only way to eternal life. Mankind can object,

they can complain, they can whine about that

all they want, but they have no standing before

Almighty God. As Paul puts it in Romans 9, who

are you, O man, to answer back? To God. So the

creator and the sovereign of the universe sets

the ground rules. That's the first reason for

why the cross had to happen as it did because

God decreed it to be so. Then we come to the

second reason. The reason behind the rejection

of humanity, all the suffering, the shedding

of blood and death, the basis of which goes all

the way back to the very beginning, to the garden,

to the fall of mankind. How did God deal with

that first devastating sin committed by Adam

and Eve? Genesis 3 .21 says that animals were

sacrificed so that God could clothe Adam and

Eve with garments of skin. So right out of the

gate, we come to this understanding that if you

violate God's commands, it requires a covering,

and that covering requires a loss of life. All

the way back in Genesis 3, that truth is proclaimed.

Now why is that? Well, in the logic of God's

created order, a sacrifice of blood is required

because sin brings death. Sin brings death. And

that logic began right there in the garden. Listen

to God's fundamental command to Adam and Eve.

From any tree of the garden you may eat freely,

but from the tree of the knowledge of good and

evil you shall not eat. Was that clear? For in

the day that you eat from it, you will surely

what? You will surely die. God was very clear.

Now there's a dual meaning there. Spiritual death

was immediate, right? The relationship that Adam

and Eve had with the Creator was fractured immediately.

There was a loss of innocence. There was a loss

of fellowship with Him. And from that time forward,

then physical death became inevitable. It was

just a slow march to the end. And so sin brought

death into the created order. Even today, sin

brings about death, both spiritually and physically.

Right now, listen to this, friends. Right now,

there are billions of people walking the earth

today who are spiritually dead in their sin.

And they are on that slow march to physical death

as well. Billions of people. And so the remedy

is important, is it not? That's a real problem.

What's the remedy? Only one thing. The precious

blood of Christ shed on the cross. The reason

for Good Friday. See, in the logic of Scripture,

the blood equals life. Leviticus 16 tells us

that the life of the flesh is in the blood. So

when sin needs to be covered, it costs a life.

And that means the shedding of blood. And it's

the blood that God has declared is the means

of atonement for sin. In fact, later on in the

book of Hebrews, we're told explicitly, without

the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.

None. That's how the Lord designed and structured

things to work within His creation. Again, you

can complain all you want, you can whine about

it, but those are the ground rules. When you

or I sin, we deserve death. We deserve death.

Our sin is serious business, and the guilt that

we bear because of it, God can't just ignore

it or just brush it away. It has to be dealt

with. Otherwise, God is not just. And that's

what the sacrificial system under the Old Covenant

revealed to the people of Israel, right? And

in very graphic ways, every time an animal was

slaughtered, which was constantly, the message

was very clear, sin is costly. It brings pain.

It brings suffering. It brings loss. And it requires

more than just an apology. It requires blood.

And it requires death. But there was also one

very important thing also revealed in that same

system at the altar in Israel. You ready for

this? That a life could be substituted in the

place of the sinner. A life could be substituted

in the sinner's place. And so the Israelites

brought regular offerings, right? Sin offerings,

guilt offerings, burnt offerings. And then once

a year, they had this big, big day on their church

calendar, right? The Day of Atonement. And on

that day, the high priest offered a bull for

himself and two goats for the people as the price

of atonement. And what happened to that first

goat? It was sacrificed. Blood was shed. It was

slaughtered. And on the other goat, the sins

of the people were put on its head. And then

it was sent out, out of the camp, into the wilderness,

with the sins of the people. And it's called

what? The scapegoat. And the sparing of his life

represented the removal of Israel's sin, Israel's

uncleanness. It was taken away from God's presence.

So two things were present there. There was a

bloody death. For sin, that had to happen. But

there was grace extended to the people, symbolized

by the scapegoat taking their sins and running

off into the wilderness. Does that sound familiar

to us? All of this was to foreshadow the new

covenant. This was all temporary. We're told

in the book of Hebrews, the blood of goats and

bills could never fully and finally remove the

penalty for a man's sin. It could only be a temporary

covering. We're told that the sacrificial system

was only a shadow of something far greater, something

more effectual, something that no human mind

would ever conceive of. One final, bloody, sacrificial

death for the sins of all mankind in every single

age. Can you imagine? Just one. Just one. Which

would require a lamb greater than any lamb the

world has ever known. A lamb whose death would

be capable of forever satisfying God's divine

justice for mankind. Where do you find such a

lamb? Do you see the beauty of God's picture?

From Genesis to Israel to the new covenant. The

way God has laid this before his people. What

a beautiful story. It all brings us to Good Friday.

That hallowed day almost 2 ,000 years ago when

Jesus laid down his life for the sins of mankind

as the Lamb of God. And not just as a unique

man, but as true God incarnated in the flesh.

See, his identity as the eternal son is the only

reason why he's able to satisfy an eternal debt.

Do you hear that? Because of who he is, that's

the only reason why he can satisfy God's justice

eternally. In the book of Hebrews, we're told

that Jesus entered into a much greater tabernacle

than any earthly sanctuary. He entered into the

true tabernacle, which is up in the heavenly

realms. And he didn't come in with the blood

of animals, right? The blood of goats or bulls.

He came by his own. precious blood into that

heavenly tabernacle the only blood capable of

forever washing away sins remember what he said

in the upper room we talk about it every month

but remember what he said when he looked at the

cup he said this is my blood of the covenant

my blood which is poured out for many for the

forgiveness of sins and so friends tonight on

good friday the cross is the greatest example

of love the world has ever known. It is the greatest

moment of sacrifice the world could ever conceive

of, but it's even more. Yes, it's love. Yes,

it's sacrifice, but it's effectual, meaning the

price was paid. The debt was satisfied. The judgment

we deserved has been taken out of the camp. Forgiveness

has been secured, adoption is confirmed, and

eternal life is guaranteed by faith in the one

and only Son of God. All we have to do is believe,

repent of our sins, and follow after Him. Lord

Jesus, how can finite creatures like us thank

You enough for who You are? Thank you enough

for what you've done on our behalf. Only this,

Lord, take our lives and consecrate them for

your glory and for your kingdom we ask. Amen.