Crowned at the Cross (Matthew 27) | Louis Azuma

Speaker: Matthew 27 is where we're gonna be, so why don't you turn

there in your Bibles to Matthew 27.

But today, actually today is, is Matt and Brianna's anniversary.

In case you didn't know they've been married for one year and one of my

favorite memories with Matt and Brianna.

Two years, sorry, my bad.

Two years.

Tough.

Two years.

Two years.

They're, they're married for two years.

One of my favorite memories with the Daniels is that they helped

me find my wife's engagement ring.

And I always have that special moment with them texting them, figuring

out what, what my wife wanted.

And I proposed 540 something days ago to my wife.

One of the best moments of my life.

And.

The, the point of a marriage proposal, right?

When you, when you get down on a knee and you open up that box, hopefully

not upside down, right, Matt?

And, and you show your wife the ring that you got her.

And the point of the proposal is to show how much you love this person, right?

You're saying, look, look how much I care about you.

I wanna spend the rest of my life with you.

I'm this committed to you and I botched you this really expensive piece of

jewelry to tell you how, how valuable you are to me and how important

you are to me, that's the point.

Of, of a proposal, right?

You wanna show how big your love is for the person that you're proposing to.

Now, tonight is another display of really big love.

That's what we're gonna see a, a really big display of, of love, and that's

what Jesus' death on the cross is.

It's a, it's a huge display of his amazing, enormous love for us.

But the point of it is to show us that.

Not just Jesus love is big, but also that our sin is really big, that

it shows us that God takes our, our relationship with him really seriously.

And that's what I want you to see from Matthew 27 is that only

Jesus can love you this much.

No one else would love you this much.

Right?

A lot of people love their spouse this much to to do something like

this for them, but no one would love you so much like Jesus did.

And it shows that He's the one.

The king.

He's the Messiah, and that's our main point.

Tonight.

Jesus suffering and death prove that he's the Messiah.

That he's the king.

It shows everything you need to know about Jesus.

It shows you his love.

It shows you his qualification to to be the king.

It shows you everything Jesus is and stands for all of it at the cross.

So turn with me, Matthew 27.

If you're not there already, what we're gonna do is we're

gonna go through this passage.

It's a, it's a long passage.

We're gonna go through it real fast and I'm gonna give each

small group, I'm gonna give each of you a theme to look for, okay?

So depending on what small group you're you're in, you're all gonna

have a certain theme that you're on the lookout for while I explain the passage.

Okay?

So this is how it's gonna work.

So if you're a junior high girl, I want you to think about and, and

write down maybe, or mark down, anytime Jesus gets called a title.

So anytime someone calls Jesus the son of God, or they call him Christ, you

guys know that Christ is a title, right?

Christ isn't Jesus last name.

Christ is.

It means Messiah, so Christ or anytime he gets called King of the Jew.

So if you're a junior high girl, anytime you see Jesus getting called a title,

I want you to write something down or make a tally mark or something.

If you're a junior high boy, I want you to make a mark.

Anytime you see Jesus is rejected or anytime he's suffering.

Anytime someone abandons Jesus or turns their back on Jesus or doesn't

want Jesus or anytime he's suffering.

So anytime there's pain or emotional suffering, right?

Anytime he's abandoned or something like that.

So if you're a junior high boy, that's what you're looking for.

High school girl.

I want you to look for proof that Jesus is innocent.

I, a big theme in Matthew's gospel is that, that Jesus is righteous.

Jesus is is perfect.

And so if you're a high school girl, I want you to look for

evidence that Jesus is innocent.

Despite all the accusations that are thrown at him, and if you're

a high school boy, you got the most fun one in my opinion.

I want you to look for an illusion that Jesus is the king.

Something that shows you that Jesus is the king.

Now, I'll give you a hint in this, in this story, it's almost backward

Jesus, just like his, his kingdom so far, he's talked about humility.

He's talked about serving others.

The marks of Jesus kingship are more about humility, and in some ways

they're even coming from his opponent.

So you might see someone maybe give Jesus a crown, right?

But it's not a kingly crown.

It's a crown of thorns.

So that would be something that shows that Jesus, they're making

fun of Jesus for being a king, but really he is the king, right?

He's exactly who they're saying he is.

So that's what we're gonna do.

We're gonna go through this passage as quick as I can, but I want

you to look for your theme, okay?

That's what you're gonna be looking for.

Everyone.

Everyone on the same page.

We're good.

Let's get Pastor BJ, north South in here.

Alright, let's go Matthew.

We're gonna start at the very end of 26, actually.

Okay?

The very end of chapter 26, verse 57.

So remember, Jesus was in the garden praying and his disciples were asleep, and

he was like, you guys couldn't stay awake.

And then Judas comes and arrests him.

So then they bring Jesus to Caiaphas, the high priest.

All right?

So they bring Jesus to, to the high priest.

All the Jewish leaders are there.

Verse 58, Peter was following him far away, right?

So Peter is, he doesn't wanna be associated with Jesus.

He's, he's afraid to be there.

So he's following him from far away and he goes inside and verse 59, the chief

priest, the whole council, they're, they're trying to make up lies against

Jesus, that they might put him to death.

Matthew says that.

He says, look, they were bringing false charges, not real charges.

False charges against Jesus.

So then.

They didn't find any.

Verse 60.

You see that right there.

They, they didn't find anything.

All these people are, many false witnesses came forward.

All these people come forward and they can't find anything.

But finally, at last two people come forward and then said, this

man said I'm able to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days.

And so the high priest stood up and said, what are you,

what are you gonna say to that?

Jesus, we've finally got you.

We finally found.

People, right?

They need two people.

They can't just have one person, two people who agreed about what

Jesus said that would be bad, right?

They're saying, oh, he's a terrorist.

He's here to destroy the temple.

So then what did Jesus answer?

Jesus remains silent.

He doesn't say anything.

High Priest said to him, I adjure you.

So it is.

It's really important.

Like I beg you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the son of God.

Now that's the question.

Matthew's been trying to help us answer this whole time, right?

And the Jewish leaders are like, Hey, tell us.

And what did you just say?

You said it right?

You're telling me who I really am, even though you're opposing me.

You're telling me who I really am.

But I tell you right here, and this is the quote from Daniel, I tell you

from now on, you will see the son of man seated at the right hand of

power coming on the clouds of heaven.

So Jesus doesn't just say, yeah.

You're right, I'm the Christ.

He says, I'm actually the, I'm the son of God.

I'm gonna rule the nations.

Then 65, the high priest tore his robes and he said, he's uttered blasphemy.

He's claiming to be God.

What else do we need?

We should kill him.

That's basically what he's saying.

What's your judgment?

They answered, he deserves death.

So they spit on his face.

They struck him, some of them slapped him.

So they're, they're mocking Jesus.

They're beating him up and they're making fun of him.

They're saying, if you're the Messiah, you should be able to, to prophesy.

You should be able to tell us who struck you.

You should be able to tell us all these, all these things.

So they're calling him the Messiah, but in a, in a derogatory way.

So that's Judas on trial.

And then remember then the scene in 27 flips to Judas.

Who goes and hangs himself.

We're gonna skip that 'cause we covered that last week and we're

gonna pick it up in verse 11.

Okay.

Chapter 27, verse 11.

So now we're resuming the trial.

So the Jews, now they're bringing him to the governor.

That's Pilate.

The Jews couldn't crucify anyone.

Only the Romans could crucify someone.

So the Jews, they want Jesus crucified.

They don't just want Jesus.

Beat up.

They can't execute someone, so they need the Romans to do it.

That's what they're doing here.

They're like, alright, we finally have a charge against Jesus.

He's, he's committed blasphemy.

He's claiming to be God.

Let's take him to the Romans to see if they can kill him for us.

So the governor asked him, Pilate, are you the king of the Jews?

Jesus said, you said it.

I am the king of the Jews.

But verse 12, when he was accused by the Chief Reese, the Jewish

leaders, he gave no answer.

He didn't say anything.

Pilate said to him, don't you hear what they're saying?

They're, they're saying all these things about you, Jesus.

Are you gonna say anything?

No.

Jesus gives no answer, not even to a single charge.

So the Governor was amazed.

Now, verse 15 at the feast, the Governor, so Pilate, he was he, he had

this thing, his deal, usually at this big celebration, the Passover for the

Jews, he would release a prisoner.

A prisoner that was in jail, a Jewish prisoner that they would want.

He did it just so they wouldn't get super mad at him, and he could keep his job.

Verse 16, they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas, which we learned

means son of the Father, right?

Bar in Hebrew means son, Abba Father.

You see that son of the father, verse 17.

So when they all gathered together, all the, all the people, pilot's

gonna release a prisoner, right?

PIL said to them, who do you want me to release for you?

The rabbis or Jesus who is called Christ Jesus?

Who, who?

Which is funny, right?

Pilate is like, you guys called him the Messiah and they're like, no, we don't.

Verse 18.

Before he knew that it was out of envy that they delivered him up, right?

Not because Jesus was actually guilty.

He, Matthew says, look, Pilate knew Jesus was innocent.

He knows that it's the Jewish leaders who just don't like Jesus.

They want to get rid of him.

Verse 19, besides while he was sitting on the judgment seat,

his wife sent word to him.

Don't have anything to do with this righteous man.

You see that not, not a guilty man, not a sinner, not a troublemaker,

a righteous man for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream.

So pilot's wife had a dream that told her Jesus is innocent.

And she said, Hey, don't, don't mess with this guy.

Don't send him to death.

So then verse 20, now the chief priests and the elders persuade

the crowd and they say, kill Jesus.

We want baras.

Verse 21, the governor again said to them.

Which of these two do you want me to release?

So Pilate, he's almost like trying, right?

Like, please pick Jesus guys so I don't have to just release him.

Pilate doesn't want to kill Jesus, but he also is afraid of the crowd, right?

He's got all these angry people that want to kill Jesus.

So which of these two do you want me to release?

And they say, Barra, verse 22.

Pilate said to them, then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?

You keep seeing this, right?

They're like, oh, you know, we're saying that Jesus is Messiah, right?

And they all said, let him be crucified.

We wanna kill him.

And he's like, why?

What evil has he done?

So Matthew really wants you to know that Pilate doesn't think Jesus is guilty.

Pilate really is like trying not to kill Jesus, but they shout all

the more, let him be crucified.

Now remember, these are the same people, two chapters earlier who were

saying Hosanna to the son of David.

So the Jewish people have rejected Jesus.

The same people who the crowds who were celebrating him

are now wanting to kill him.

So verse 24, when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, right?

He's not getting anywhere with this, but rather that a riot is beginning, right?

So the, the Jews are getting upset, they're getting angry.

They wanna kill Jesus.

They're like, Pilate, why don't you kill Jesus for us?

He's like, all right, fine.

He took water, washed his hands before the crowd.

I'm innocent in this man's blood, right?

It's, you're killing an innocent guy.

It's not my fault.

That's what pilot's saying.

It's on you guys.

Verse 25, all the people answered.

His blood beyond us and our children, they're like, yes, we

want to be guilty for Jesus' blood.

We want responsibility for killing Jesus.

So he releases Barabbas and having scoured, Jesus sent him to be crucified.

Now, scoured, you might have heard this before, what they would do in

Roman times with prisoners is they would have not just a regular whip,

but a whip with like nine or so little like, I guess fingers, and they would

whip it and drag it across your back.

It had all these little pieces of like glass and bone and rock in it.

So it would literally just tear the skin off your back.

And so they, they beat Jesus with this whip and ripped his back up

and they sent him to be crucified.

Verse 27, the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's

headquarters and they gathered the whole battalion before him.

So they got all these soldiers and now Jesus.

So there's no Jews around now, it's just the soldiers.

And they took, they stripped him.

They put a scarlet, scarlet robe on him and twisting together a crown of thorns.

They put it on his head.

Now they're not just like gently placing it on his head, right?

They're like sticking it in his head.

So there's blood coming on his face.

They're making fun of him.

So this is the color of royalty.

So Matthew is saying they're pretending Jesus is a king, and

I think Matthew wants to see.

Jesus.

Really The king, right?

So they give him a crown, they give him a royal robe, they

put a reed in his right hand.

Now that usually if you're a king, right, you've got a scepter,

you've got some kind of staff.

Think of like, you know, Lord of the Rings, Gandalf with his staff, right?

That's what Kings had back in the day.

And so he's got a staff, so they're dressing up like a

king and they kneel before him.

They make fun of him, and they say, hail king of the Jews.

Now, isn't this the most ironic thing you could ever do, making fun of

the King of Kings for being a king?

So they're doing all this and they spit on him and then

they take all this stuff away.

They beat him up more.

And then when they mocked him, so they make fun of him, they take off

all his clothes and they put his regular clothes back on him, which

are probably totally destroyed, right?

'cause they've whipped him and they let him away to crucify him.

This is horrible, right?

This is terrible.

All, just think about what Jesus would look like after all this happened.

Think about having the thorns in his, in his head and being beaten up and

having people spit all over his face.

So then they went out and they found a man from Siren, his name's

Simon, and they said, all right, you need to carry Jesus cross.

Now think about it across is a really thick wooden beam.

If you, if all this just happened to you, would you want to carry that?

Would you be able to carry that?

So Jesus needs help and they want to carry it, but also they don't want Jesus to die.

'cause they wanna torture him more.

So they get Simon and carry Jesus cross.

Verse 33, they came to a place called Go Gotha, which means place of the skull.

And they offered him wine to drink mixed with gall.

When he tasted it, he wouldn't drink it.

Now what some people say is that this is probably a painkiller and

Jesus is saying No painkiller for me.

Also, it's an illusion to a Psalm, which is connecting Jesus to David.

That's another reason Matthew includes this detail.

Verse 35.

They crucified him.

Which by the way, the fact that that's just like a throwaway statement when

they crucified him just happened.

Like think about that, right?

That they crucified him, and then they divided his garments

among them by casting lots.

That's actually a quote from Psalm 22, which talks about Jesus' death

too, before Jesus was even born, verse 36, they sat down, they kept watch

over him and over his head they put the charge against him, which read.

This is Jesus the king of the Jews.

Jesus who said he was king of the Jews.

Jesus, the king of the Jews.

And I think that's another note of irony, right?

Is Jesus really the king of the Jews?

Yeah.

So Jesus died.

And by the way, about crucifixion, when you, when someone was crucified,

they usually suffocated to death because to breathe you have to pull

yourself up because you're, you're hanging so your lungs are collapsed.

So you have to pull yourself up.

Now what's holding you up a nail.

So you're pulling yourself up on a nail that's in your hand or your arm.

And also do you think they like varnished the cross and made it

nice and smooth and all that?

Right?

It's probably just like splintery and all that and that.

And remember Jesus' back is already all whipped and destroyed, so he's pulling

himself up against this beam to breathe and then probably suffocates to death.

Meanwhile on the cross, the two robbers that were crucified with him, one

on the right, one on the left, and they passed by, or sorry, and those

who passed by him, they made fun of him, and they're wagging their heads.

That just means they're, they're making fun of him.

They're saying bad things about him.

You, you know, you said you destroyed the temple and rebuild it.

Can't you save yourself?

Jesus, you said you were so powerful.

Why don't you do something if you're the son of God, come down from the cross.

Could Jesus have done that?

Yeah, if you are the son of God, so they're saying, if you

are really, what do we know?

Jesus is right.

Verse 41, the chief priest with scribes and elder, they mock him.

They make fun of him.

He saved others.

He can't save himself.

He's the king of Israel.

Let him come down from the cross and we'll believe in him.

He trusts in God.

Let God save him for he said, I am the son of God.

So the Jewish leaders know that Jesus said this, right?

If, if someone ever tells you, Hey, Jesus never claimed to be God.

Let's go to this passage, right?

The Jewish leaders are saying, Jesus said this right?

The people who dislike Jesus the most, and the two robbers, even the

robbers who are crucified with him, they're in between, I guess, breaths.

They're making fun of Jesus, and they're saying, why couldn't you save yourself?

So then verse 45, from the sixth hour, that's about noon.

There was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.

Not a storm, right?

Darkness.

Uh, verse 46, and then about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud

voice saying, and this is Aramaic.

So that's the language at the time.

Eli, Eli Ani, which that is my God, my God.

Why have you forsaken me?

All the stuff that Jesus endured up to this point.

This is the worst thing.

Here's why Jesus isn't just dying a physical death.

He's suffering God's wrath against every sin that for

anyone who would trust in him.

So Jesus is essentially suffering all that people normally would

suffer in hell from God on the cross.

He's suffering God's wrath on the cross too.

Not just people beating him up, not just nails in his hands.

Not just whipped on his back, not just splinters, crown of

thorns, all that he's suffering.

God's wrath, God's punishment for for sin.

For my sin, maybe for your sin.

And so he's separated from God.

Verse 47.

Some of the bystanders, they heard it and they say, oh, he's calling for Elijah.

Verse 48.

One of them at once took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a a

stick, gave it to him, and they're like, wait, let's see if Elijah's gonna come.

And then Jesus cried out.

With a loud voice yielded up his spirit.

Now, what some people think, who's the one giving up the spirit here?

His spirit, Jesus is right.

So some people think Matthew is actually showing.

Look, Jesus chose when to die because Jesus is in control, right?

This whole time, Jesus is the one in control.

Jesus wouldn't die unless he let himself die.

So then when Jesus died, this is what happens.

Verse 51, the curtain of the temple was torn in two.

From top to bottom.

Now the curtain in the temple separates the holy place.

If you, if you think back at the tabernacle, separates the place

where God is from everyone else.

So this is symbolizing.

Now that barrier between you and God is gone because Jesus

took God's wrath, right?

So now you can come to God because God can put all your sin on Jesus Now, right?

Also, top to bottom.

Why does that matter?

Well, how tall is this thing?

It's huge.

So could you reach the top and, and tear it all the way down?

No.

Right?

So someone had to fly up there and do it right?

God did it.

So the earth shook, the rocks were split and the tombs were open.

So all these dead people are, are coming outta their graves.

And after the resurrection, they're walking around

Jerusalem, which is wild, right?

Like.

Who like saints.

I mean, maybe what, like Abraham, David, I don't know.

They're walking around Jerusalem after Jesus comes back from the dead.

Verse 54, when the centurion, so the Roman general and those who

are with him, they're keeping watch over Jesus while he is dying.

They see the earthquake and they see everything, all this stuff,

this crazy stuff that's happening.

They're filled with awe, right?

They're, they're, they're essentially amazed.

They're worshiping and they said, truly, this was the son of God.

So look who's recognizing that Jesus, the son of God?

Is it the Jews who know their Bibles really well?

It's the Roman general who's probably never heard of the Old Testament in his

life, and he's the one who says, you know what I think, I think this guy was legit.

I think this was Guy was everything he said he would be.

So you see how Matthew was showing us this picture of, of Jesus'

death that is actually telling us everything Jesus said he was was true.

This is the last couple verses, verse 55.

There are also, there's many women there looking on from a distance who'd

followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering him, among whom were Mary Magdalene,

married the mother of James Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zedi.

Now, I think those details are there because Matthew's telling

like, Hey, if you know these people, you could go ask them.

They were there.

They saw it happen.

So what Matthew's doing in this whole section.

Of of Jesus' death is he's showing us that Jesus really is

everything he said he would be.

He really is innocent, righteous, perfect.

He really is the Son of God, divine, the king, the king of the Jews,

but also the promised King from the Old Testament who would do

everything God said he was gonna do.

And also that he's really showing us that Jesus is conquering.

Jesus is winning.

Jesus isn't a victim.

Jesus is winning.

He's he's doing something big here.

He's conquering sin.

He's conquering death.

He's making a, a way to God.

And Jesus is the one.

He's doing this on purpose.

He is, he's the king here, even in his death.

But also, Matthew puts a lot of details in there, right?

Like, if, if this was a movie, it would be rated R it would be a, a horror movie.

'cause there's 'cause of the amount of bad stuff that's happening.

Like, you guys would not be allowed to watch this if this was a movie.

Matthew wants us to see that Jesus is, is suffering God's wrath.

Jesus is being treated terribly because that's what sinners deserve.

Sinners deserve God's wrath.

Matthew wants us to see how big a deal that our sin is.

So for our first point tonight, I want you to remember that Jesus suffered

because of you, because of me.

Everything that Jesus went through was because we sinned.

Right?

If, if we didn't sin, Jesus wouldn't have had to do this.

Right?

Essentially, it's kind of our fault all that is because I

did, I broke God's law, right?

I lied.

I lusted, I cheated.

I stole.

I was selfish.

I was prideful.

I was arrogant.

That's why this happened, right?

Not just, oh, Jesus died for sin.

Yes, but like my sin.

Your sin.

That's why.

Why all of this happened.

God wants you to see how big of a deal your sin is, and actually God's been

doing this throughout all of history.

Think back to the Old Testament.

Think back to.

Your favorite book of the Bible.

Think back to Leviticus, right?

When, when you lived in the wilderness in the tabernacle, there were, think

about how many animals were dying every single day because of sin.

Think about how many animals were killed every single day because

you broke God's law, right?

Because you didn't honor your father and mother because you worshiped

another God instead of God.

Because you were selfish, because you gossiped, right?

The, that's why all these animals are dying.

So imagine you lived in this camp and every day you're going to the

temple, you're coming up to the priest.

You put your hand on the, on the animal, you kill the animal.

The blood gets everywhere, every day, you're doing that to show

you your sin has consequences.

Your sin deserves death.

That's the whole point of, of the Old Testament sacrifices, and that's the

whole point of what Jesus is doing.

God wants you to see how big of a deal your sin is.

So remember that Jesus suffered because of you, because of my sin.

Now, even if you're a Christian, it's still good for you to think

about that because you can use that to help you fight temptation.

You ever thought about that?

Maybe when you're tempted to be selfish or you're tempted to lie, or you're tempted

to watch something, you shouldn't, you're tempted to say something you shouldn't.

Or you're tempted to be disrespectful to someone.

Think about, you know, Jesus died because of that.

Think about someone driving nails into Jesus' hands.

Think about someone whipping Jesus on the back, right?

If you're struggling with sin, you're actually fighting it.

You're a Christian.

You, you've been saved and, and you don't wanna sit anymore.

Think about that.

It'll help you.

You'll be like, man, Jesus died for that.

I don't wanna do that.

Because sometimes when you're, when in your everyday life, you know, on Tuesday

afternoon, you need something to, to shake you awake, to be like, this matters God.

God matters.

Sin matters.

Jesus matters.

How I live matters.

So think about it.

Use it to help you.

That's why there's all these details in the Bible about the

consequences of sin, right?

Maybe.

Maybe you're a Christian, but you take forgiveness for granted.

You've been, you've been saved, but you're just like, oh, well now, now

I'm not that bad, so I don't, you don't feel your need for forgiveness.

That's why passages like this are in the Bible, so you can think about,

you know what, I still need that, that still should be me on the cross.

That's to help you think about, you know what, I maybe not as as

righteous as I thought I should be.

I still need God's forgiveness every day.

That still should be me based on how I live today.

I deserve that even as a Christian.

But maybe you're, you're not a Christian and your sin is

just not a big deal to you.

You're just like, whatever.

It doesn't matter.

Maybe you are a Christian and you've got some little sins that

you don't think are a big deal.

Maybe you don't want to forgive someone, or maybe you don't really

talk to your parents very respectfully.

Those are still big deal.

A big deal.

God.

God says bitterness is a sin.

God says gossip is a sin.

God says, not honoring your father and mother is a sin.

If, if you don't think those sins are a big deal, look at Jesus.

Remember what he did on the cross.

So this is something for, for you to do as a Christian on a regular basis.

Think about it when you, when you need to feel the right way about something.

That's why there's all these details about it in God's word.

Also, God wants you to see how much he loves you.

That's also why he, he gave you all of all of these descriptions about Jesus' death.

Because not only does it, is it supposed to help us see our sin and how serious

our sin is, but it's also supposed to help us see how serious God's love for us is.

Right?

Would you do what Jesus did for anyone?

Would you go through all that for anyone else?

You'd have to love someone a lot to do that.

It made me think about Abraham and Isaac, right?

God.

God said, Hey Abraham, I want you to, to take Isaac up the mountain to show me that

you love me more than you love your son.

Well, ultimately,

can you think of a father who gave away his son because of

his love for other people?

That's what the, the cross is about.

The cross, which by the way, happened on this same mountain.

Is to show you God's love.

The Father giving away his son for you, his only son, the son he loved for you.

That's how much God loves you.

So use the cross to think about how much God loves you.

Maybe you're, you're a Christian, you doubt God loves you.

You're not sure if God forgives you.

You're not sure if your sins really paid for.

Think about Jesus on the cross.

Is that enough to pay for your sin?

I hope.

I hope so, right?

Because if that's not enough, what is So When you don't feel forgiven by God,

when you don't feel good enough for God, think about what Jesus did and

remember, that's the payment for my sin.

I'm, I can't add anything to that.

I can't take anything away from it.

So if, if you're a Christian, you're not sure if you're forgiven, you're, you're

having doubts about your salvation, think about God's love at the cross.

Maybe you aren't a Christian.

You feel like, you feel like maybe you can't come to God.

Uh, you know, God doesn't love me.

I'm too dirty.

I'm too sinful.

I can't do it.

God wouldn't want me.

God gave Jesus right?

For, for.

That's John three 16.

For God so loved the world.

Are you, are you part of the world?

Crosses for you.

God gave his son for you.

You're, you're not.

Left out of God's love.

So think about Jesus'.

Death.

Remember it.

Call it to mind when you, when you're tempted, when you're, when you're

struggling with sin, when you're fighting against it, when you're

apathetic, you're not feeling the way you should about Jesus or your sin.

You're not convicted by something the way you should be.

Or maybe you're doubting God's love.

Think about how much God loves you to do that.

But if all you do is feel bad for your sin.

You never, there's, that's all you do.

You just feel bad for your sin all the time.

All the time.

You might end up like Judas, right?

Judas felt really bad for his sin.

We talked about that in our baseball game.

Judas felt bad for his sin, but that's a good starting point.

But we need to take our sin to Jesus, right?

Judas ran away from from Jesus with his sin.

We need to take our sin and our conviction to Jesus.

So our second point tonight is only depend on Jesus to take away your sin.

There's only one way that you can get your guilt taken away.

Feeling bad.

Doesn't get rid of your guilt.

Feeling bad.

Doesn't get rid of your sin.

Hiding from God doesn't get rid of your sin.

Sitting on it and, and just feeling terrible and saying how horrible you are.

That doesn't take away your sin.

Only Jesus can take away.

You're a sin and you can't make up for it either.

Right.

It reminded me, I was thinking about, about Jesus and his sacrifice, and

I was thinking about, about the Chronicles of Narnia, if you've ever

seen this movie or read the book, right?

Who's this guy, Edmond?

What does Edmond, what does Edmond do in the line in which, in the

wardrobe, what does Edmund do?

So Edmond in the story, he betrays all the good guys.

So Edmond, this, this kid, he betrays all the good guys and he, right,

he's, he's a bad person, right?

He's, he's Judas, right?

He betrays all the good guys.

And then what happens is Aslan the lion talks to Edmund and he says, Hey, look.

By the way, like, I'm not gonna explain that.

There's a talking lion and, and all that stuff.

All right.

You can watch the movie, but Aslan the Lion talks to Edmond and, and he

says, Hey, they had this conversation and you don't see the, you don't

see the conversation in the movie.

You don't know what happened.

And they come out and the lion looks really sad.

And then what happens later that night, the lion goes to this scary looking

rock and gives himself up to die.

All the, all the bad guys kill the lion.

They tie him up.

They, they cut all his, his mane off and they kill him.

And this is what he, they kill him and they leave him on this rock.

And later what you find out is that what happened was when you, when

you go back and put all the pieces together, what you realize is that, that

Edmond here, Edmond should have died.

When, when the bad guy came to get rid of Edmund Aslan said, here, take me instead.

That's because there's these laws that in, in the land, there's

these deep magic whatever, that you can't just let Edmund go free.

Someone has to die for what Edmund did.

And so the lion says, take me instead.

And so the lion dies and Edmund lives.

So Lan dies.

Edmund lives.

That's what it took for Edmond to be free to be forgiven, someone had to die.

That's how God gets rid of your guilt for your sin.

Someone had to die.

Jesus had to die.

He had to suffer the, the punishment that you deserve.

God, if we want God to be a good judge, you don't want God just being

like, oh, your sin is not a big deal.

'cause what if God did that to other people?

Right.

Someone.

Beats you up and takes all your money, and the judge is like, cool.

No worries.

I'm nice.

I forgive you.

You don't want that God.

So you want a God who's gonna do something about sin.

But the problem is, is we've all sinned.

We all deserve God to do something about us.

And so Jesus says, take me instead I'll die so he can live.

But you have to trust Jesus to take away your sin.

You can't look for other ways to get rid of your sin.

I think sometimes we look for other things that can take our, take away our sin.

We think, oh, maybe if I start doing good things, maybe if I start

repenting, or maybe if I read my Bible more, or once I stop doing this sin,

maybe then I'll be okay with God.

Maybe then God will love me.

You can never do enough good things for God to love you.

Jesus can take away your sin.

You can't earn your way to heaven.

Or maybe you think if I just wait long enough, or maybe if I hide my sin and

no one else knows about it, or maybe if I hide from God, I don't really

talk to God, I just try to do the the church thing that'll get rid of my sin.

That's not gonna work.

You have to go to Jesus to get your sin to away.

Another thing I think we might do to get rid of our sin is

we try to make excuses for it.

You know?

Well, I was, I, I, I get really upset, but you know, my siblings are really annoying.

Or, uh, well, you know, I, my friends at school, just, they, they use

those words and, and say those jokes and, and so I just, I can't help it.

Or, well, this is how I'm wired.

This is the way, this is the way I am, this is my personality, or this

is, this is the way, God, this is the way my body works, or whatever.

We use our excuses to say, well, it's not really that bad.

It's not my fault.

Still sin.

The only thing that can take away your sin is when you go to Jesus

with it and ask him to pay for it.

God punishes sin.

He's either gonna punish Jesus for it or he's gonna punish you for it.

So trust Jesus.

Say, God, I need you to take away my sin.

I can't get rid of it any other way.

Please forgive me because of what Jesus did.

That's what gets you into heaven.

That's how God forgives sin.

But Matthew doesn't also just, he doesn't want you to see that

Jesus is just a sacrificial lamb.

He also wants you to see that Jesus is the king.

Right?

That was a big theme in, in that chapter, right?

The high school boys are right now, all the, all the times that, that

Jesus was painted out to be a king.

And so Matthew also wants you to see that Jesus conquers through.

Suffering and death.

So our last point tonight is to give King Jesus your allegiance.

Give him your loyalty.

Give him your life.

He deserves everything and anything you can do.

So we've talked a lot about Jesus upside down kingdom, right?

We've talked about how greatness is, is through humility and serving

others and laying your life down.

Jesus becomes king the same way Jesus becomes king through suffering and death.

That's how, that's how God chooses to make Jesus the king,

to show that Jesus is the king.

Jesus at the cross.

He, he actually accomplished a lot, right?

He accomplished the salvation of his people.

In the New Testament talks about how Jesus disarmed Satan.

Satan can't do anything to you 'cause the only thing Satan can do to get you to

hell is to not let your sins be forgiven.

But guess what?

You all could get your sins forgiven if you trust Jesus.

No one can stop you from doing that except you.

So Jesus won the salvation of his people.

He defeated Satan.

He defeated death.

He rose from the grave three days later.

We see that Jesus is glorified by his father.

You ever remember that from John 17 when, when we were in John in main

service, that in that prayer that Jesus does right before when in the upper

room, he says, father, glorify me, Jesus is, he's lifted up on the cross.

It's says, if the cross is his throne, he's the king.

He's a, he's conquering.

He's winning at the cross.

So he's living out all of his.

His teaching.

So this is, this is God's picture of a king.

This is what God wants you to see.

This is King Jesus.

King Jesus beaten, bloody dying, but conquering victorious.

That's God's king.

And so Jesus has, he has authority over everything.

He's, he's, if he's really the king, he has authority over everything.

He has authority over your relationships.

He has authority over your free time.

He has authority over your future.

He has authority over your homework, your body, what you like, all your

stuff, your feelings, your words.

Jesus needs your obedience.

He's your king.

He's your Lord.

And I think sometimes even as Christians, maybe we hold onto something.

Say, well, God, you can have everything else but not this.

I really, you know, God, I really wanted to do these things in

college, and if I don't get to do these things, then I'm out.

Or, oh, God, as long as you keep me relatively safe and

healthy, then I'll follow you.

We come up with all these conditions.

There's no conditions with the king.

He's either the king or he is not.

So tonight, I, I wanna ask you, is Jesus your king?

Are you giving your allegiance to King Jesus?

Are you trying to give him part of your allegiance or

are you giving him everything?

Because if he's really your king, he deserves everything.

You can't say, well, I'll give you this part of my life and, and not this part.

Or I'll give you maybe these things.

But, but not that.

If he's the king, he deserves everything.

And, and if you're here and you've never trusted Jesus, or maybe you're

here and you've only wanted to give Jesus a little part of your life.

You, you could change that tonight and, and follow the king who

loves you so much that he would be crucified for you and die for you.

He gave everything for you.

It's not too big of an ask for you to give everything for him.

Let's pray and we'll go to small groups.