Standing in Awe of Christ’s Forgiveness | Mark 15:16-20 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series)

That was singing with joy. But I want to let you know that

our worship did not just end. It's continuing.

When we sit to hear God's Word. That is worship.

And worship is not limited to singing songs either.

That's praise. Worship is much broader than

singing a few songs. And so our hearts now are ready

to continue to worship as we hear God's voice through God's

Word. I want us to just pray one more

time. My brother prayed beautifully,

but it is a habit of mine to do so.

So please join me again. Help us to worship you, Lord.

Help us to keep your eyes on you.

Energize every faculty of our being.

Give us the grace that we need to absorb every truth that you

desire to convey. Lord, show us your son, Jesus

Christ. Oh Lord please, He is our

delight and we want him to be our greater delight and we know

that you will help us through your word as you sanctify us in

the truth. In Jesus name we pray.

Amen. In Psalm 130 verse 4, the

Psalms 130:4

psalmist says to the Lord, but with you there is forgiveness

that you may be feared. The correlation between

forgiveness and fear may be startling to some, perhaps

confusing to others, because those two ideas don't seem to

belong in the same thought. How does forgiveness provoke

fear? Should it not instead elicit

joy? Relief.

Should it not cause us to expect an inner freedom As we

experience God's forgiveness, Those rewards are indeed

included. But the Holy Spirit highlights

in this passage that God's forgiveness produces a level of

fear. How do we make sense of this?

Well, I think it helps to understand what the Bible means

with the word fear, especially as it pertains to our fear of

God. According to the Scriptures, to

fear God is synonymous with standing in awe of Him stated in

Psalm 33 verse 8. So if fearing God means that I

Psalms 33:8

respond and I remain in a position and posture of awe,

then we can understand Psalm 130, verse 4 as follows.

Psalms 130:4

But with you there is forgiveness, that we may stand

in awe of you. And there are many aspects of

God's forgiveness that should inspire awestruck wonder.

Consider the availability of it. The very fact that this holy God

even makes forgiveness possible is awesome.

Perhaps the inclusiveness of it that he does not discriminate

with his forgiveness. His arms are very wide, his

heart is very open to call any Sinner to experience his pardon.

How about the frequency of it? Peter thought he impressed Jesus

when he asked about forgiveness and said, yeah, seven times.

And Jesus multiplied that in a day numbering around the four

hundreds. There are so many aspects, so

many components about God's forgiveness that is capable of

melting the sinner's calloused heart when properly understood.

But today I want to present to you one of the most staggering

features about God's forgiveness.

And it is this, the price of it. If there is any hope for our

hearts to fear the Lord in light of His forgiveness, then we must

keep in mind the high cost of His great provision, His

greatest provision of mercy, namely, in the Person of the

Lord Jesus Christ. What we're going to read in a

moment is one of the most unsettling and alarming scenes

in all of the Bible because it gives us a sample of the

voluntary sufferings of Jesus Christ.

We are about to behold together just a glimpse of the pain, the

horror, the humiliation that the Lord Jesus endured to purchase

and secure your salvation and mine.

And this snapshot of Christ agony is incredibly valuable

because it invites us to perceive both the severity of

sin and the magnitude of God's love.

Severity of sin because we are going to see the brutality that

was inflicted against the Son of God because he became the sin

bearer of the world. And that is what was necessary

to satisfy humanity's immense debt before a holy God.

The magnitude of God's love because Christ here, though

excruciatingly and humiliation, was tortured.

He could have instantly put it to an end with one word.

He told us that He could call upon the Father, and the Father,

in a split second would release legions of angels to sweep Him

out of that place, bring Him into glory, and leave all of the

world condemned for eternity because of an incomplete

salvation. But He didn't do that.

He endured every lash. He embraced every striking blow.

He accepted every second of sickening mockery.

Why? Because the Bible says for the

joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross.

What was the object of His joy? Obeying the Father's will,

surely. But you and I also are included

in that joy, that He would bring you and I into His fold and to

His presence forever. I want us to also consider that

and remember this, that every part of the Bible contains

practical instruction. Every aspect of the Scriptures

provides personal instruction, every part even within the

framework of Christ's death. And if that's hard for you to

grasp, then let me give you one example of how even the New

Testament authors believe this. Remember the past two weeks

we've been beholding Jesus Christ standing on trial before

pilot and and that was a unique interaction, was it not?

But I want you to see how Paul uses this and exhorts Timothy

with it. So turn with me in your Bibles

to First Timothy chapter 6 and look at verse 13 with me.

1 Timothy 6 · chapter mention

And the reason why I'm showing you this is so that your faith

and mine can be built up and believing that every aspect of

the Scriptures wants to speak to you.

Speak to you not just about Christ, but about you in Christ.

First Timothy 613 I charge you in the presence of God who gives

life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his

testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession to keep

the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the

appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Do you see it? We've been studying about Pilate

the past two weeks, and here's now Paul, a spiritual father

trying to inspire his timid spiritual son, and he points to

the greatest example of courage and boldness.

It's as though Paul is saying to Timothy, remember how Jesus

stood alone? Timothy, remember how he was

left abandoned? Timothy, remember how he was

faced by the interrogation of the Roman government and yet he

was not ashamed, nor did he shrink back from affirming who

he was, even though he knew it would cost them his life.

Imitate that. Timothy, Another way to put it

is in the same way that Jesus Christ confirmed his identity,

though it would cost him everything.

So you, Pastor Tim, do not be ashamed to confess his identity

before anybody. So even looking at the passion

of the Christ has practical instruction for us, and it is no

different for what we are about to study together this Sunday.

So let us read our main text in Mark 15, beginning in verse 16.

I'm inviting you today to stand in awe of Christ's forgiveness.

Mark 15, beginning in verse 16. It is amazing how we are

approaching the end of this gospel.

And the soldiers led him away inside the palace that is the

governor's headquarters, and they called together the whole

battalion, and they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting

together a crown of thorns, they put it on him, and they began to

salute him. Hail, King of the Jews.

And they were striking his head with a Reed and spitting on him,

and kneeling down in homage to him.

And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple

cloak and put his own clothes on him, and they let him out to

crucify him. Pilot surrendered to the

bloodthirsty desires of the Pharisees and the Jews.

And after doing so, we read of this band of soldiers that led

him away inside a particular location to continue their

cruelty. You have to remember something

from verse 15. Look at it very quickly.

So Pilot, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them

Barabbas and having scourge Jesus, he delivered them to be

crucified. Before Christ was mocked in the

way that we just read, he was flogged by the Romans.

The Roman flogging experience was horrific.

History has much to tell us about how this happened, and one

of the most brutal expressions of this kind of punishment was

experienced through what is known as the Roman Roman

flagram. Specifically with a device.

It was not too long, it was short enough, and because it was

necessary for accuracy, it was a handle that had leather straps

attached to it. And nodded.

On those leather straps were weights and shards of sharp

bones and metal fragments. And that instrument of torture

had one specific purpose in its design, to RIP off human flesh

when it came into contact with it.

And this kind of weapon was held in the hands of professional

torturers. This is what they did for a

living. And so the victim would be tied

to a pole, specifically with his hands, and he would be stripped

naked. And these soldiers would

alternate in beating this victim, this criminal, until his

skin hung like ribbons, until arteries and veins ripped open,

and to to some extent in many cases, until organs were

exposed. This was savage, it was brutal,

and there were different levels of offering this kind of

punishment, but it would often prove to be fatal.

The trauma and the blood loss explains that for less severe

offenses, it would produce such a scarring but also free

advertisement so that as these victims would walk the streets

of Jerusalem or any other part of the world, people would

understand. Don't mess with Rome.

But the worst of the worst of flag flogging was reserved for

the most despised criminals. Crucifixion wasn't enough.

What Jesus experienced under this kind of experience was in

preparation for the crucifixion. It's almost as though they would

beat you and beat you until you're one step away from death

and then they would pull away. You have to understand that

there was a type of flogging under Jewish law for specific

crimes, but there was a limit to the lashes, no more than 40.

No such thing existed under Roman law.

It was left up to the cruel discretion of those tortures.

So Jesus here experiences the scourging.

We're told about it in one word, but oh, if you just look into it

a little bit, you would be a very cold person to not be moved

by the imagination of this. After that, the soldiers let him

away. And I want you to notice here

that they didn't just lead him away with a handful of soldiers.

We're told here that the whole battalion was called.

This was a large body of soldiers, usually numbering

around 600 people. So you had 600 people who were

invited to participate in this, not because it required 600

people, but because Christ butchery became a show.

You have to understand that the Romans didn't feel too nicely

about the Jews. The Jews didn't feel too great

about the Romans. And so you can imagine the pent

up frustration and the anger and the hatred that energized these

soldiers. So you can just imagine the

atmosphere as crisis there, silent, embracing this kind of

fate. But there's somebody or some

group of people that are missing from this audience, and it may

surprise us. Remember, this took place where

look again at verse 16, the governor's headquarters.

We've seen that before if you've read the Gospel accounts.

And let me remind you of what the Jews decided to do upon

their arrival to pilot with Jesus in their hands.

Turn to John 1828. It says here, then they they

being the religious leaders who were seeking to condemn Jesus,

then they led Jesus from the House of Caiaphas to the

governor's headquarters. It was early morning.

They themselves did not enter the governor's headquarters so

that they would not be defiled but could eat the Passover.

So Pilot went outside to them and said, what accusation do you

bring against this man? So we read in Mark that they

brought Jesus into the headquarters.

But we realize here in John that the Jewish leaders stood

outside. Why?

Because they did not want to risk coming into contact with

something or someone that would contaminate them and then thus

disqualifying them from experiencing the Passover feast.

Now you have to understand that there is no law, no injunction

from Moses prohibiting Jews from entering the House of Gentiles.

This was a tradition later developed as a precaution.

But do you see the irony here? Here you have a band of

religious men refusing to get into a place, fearing ritual

contamination. All the while they are plotting

the murder of an innocent man out of cancerous envy.

The hideousness of hypocrisy. Religious hypocrisy.

And this is not unique to the Pharisees, is it?

It didn't end with them. How many people today emphasize

strict adherence to traditions while overlooking what really

matters? So they're willing to murder,

but God forbid that we come into contact with something that

would render us disqualified to eat the Passover feast.

How many inflate petty laws? You know, some people, I'm sure,

while ignoring true righteousness.

Again, this deliberate inconsistency of the Pharisees

did not begin with him, nor did it end with him.

I I think of a little detail connected to Bathsheba.

You remember Bathsheba when we were introduced to her?

When David commits that notorious sin, I want you to

turn to that passage just for me to confirm this point.

From Second Samuel Chapter 11, turn with me to the left side of

2 Samuel 11 · chapter mention

your Bible. Look at Second Samuel 11 verse

2 Samuel 11:4

4. This is after David was eyeing

Bathsheba from his rooftop. He was supposed to be at war,

but he was not at war. It is a very dangerous thing

when you willingly walk outside of God's call for your life.

You become very vulnerable when you know that you are supposed

to be obeying God in a certain way, but you prolong that

disobedience. David did so.

There was a trap laid out for him, and he gave into it.

Notice what it says. So David sent messengers and

took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her.

Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.

Then she returned to her house. You see what's there in

parentheses? Don't skip over things like

this. Meditate on.

The mention of Bathsheba's purification here alludes to the

Levitical law that called for women to refrain from sexual

intercourse for a certain amount of time after their monthly

period. And it suggests to us that

Bathsheba was not pregnant before she met with David and

had intercourse with him. So that prepares us to know that

when she does become pregnant, it's David's baby.

But more than that, it's a clue that she honored the law

regarding her ceremonial cleanliness, preparing her for

sexual relations. But she had a husband.

Some would even say that Bathsheba, after being proposed

by David to have these relations, informed him that she

was ceremonially clean. Others would believe that this

means that she went on to perform ceremonial washings

after her affair with David. Either way, you have the same

mindset of the Pharisees, just with a different sin.

Think about it in that one verse you read of a woman who complied

with ritual ceremonies and at the same time commits adultery

with her husband's boss. Unfortunately, many live

comfortably this way. It's one thing to slip into sin

as you're pursuing Lord. It's another thing to convince

yourself I can live this way. And when you when you do so

without your conscience being pricked, you are failing to

realize that among all the sinners that Jesus interacted

with, he expressed the greatest disapproval towards hypocrites.

Is there hope for hypocrites? The Bible speaks a lot about

hypocrites. You know what's fascinating

about hypocrites? Even hypocrites don't like

hypocrites. Is there a hope for hypocrites?

There's hope for hypocrites. Who were the men who were in

charge of Jesus's brutal torture?

They were known as the Pharisees, generally recognized

as the expert of not theology Hypocrites.

And whenever I think about the Pharisees in light of the

gospel, in light of Christ, my mind always goes to this obscure

verse found in the book of Acts, and it it never fails to warm my

heart. Can I show it to you?

You don't have a choice. It's in Acts 15, verse 5.

Acts 15:5

At the Jerusalem Council, there was a theological debate about

how the Law of Moses should be honored in light of the New

Covenant. And we're told of this

particular sect in that meeting, and I want you to see with your

eyes in Acts 15, verse 5. This will make you smile.

Acts 15:5

But some believers who belong to the party of the Pharisees rose

up and said it is necessary to circumcise them and to order

them to keep the law of Moses. Don't look at the latter portion

of this verse. Look at the first part.

But some believers who belong to the party of the Pharisees, see,

I see some smiles after Christ died, was buried, resurrected

after the Spirit was poured out on the church and overflowed in

Jerusalem. You had some Pharisees who

became believers. It's possible for hypocrites to

be saved. Oh, they still struggle with

understanding how things relate to the new covenant.

That's why they said what they said.

But the Bible is emphatically clear.

They were believers. Who's the most notorious

Pharisee that we read of all the time?

His name is Paul. He says, I'm the Pharisee of the

Pharisees. So this gospel is not only able

to save hypocrites, it's able to save the president of

hypocrites. When I came to Christ, one of my

greatest struggles of understanding his willingness to

forgive me was just that. Being a church kid that grew up

in a Christian home but was a hypocrite.

But his love overcame my doubts and I can testify that there is

hope for hypocrites. Are you living a hypocritical

life as I speak? Have you soothed your conscience

because you're obeying God in this area?

But in this area you know it's wrong, but you've convinced

yourself somehow, some way. Let me tell you something.

That's not God's will for your life.

And if you're willing to believe it, there's hope for you to

actually know true holiness, true righteousness, true

completeness in your walk with Christ.

Unfortunately, some of these Pharisees could care less.

They weren't in attendance when Jesus was being brutally handled

by the hands of Rome. But let's come back to Mark 15

and look. Let's look at some of the

aspects, the elements of this experience to further instruct

us. And they clothed him in a purple

cloak and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on

him. And they began to salute him.

Hail, King of the Jews. And they were striking His head

with a Reed and spitting on him. This crown of thorns was an

obvious addition to the mockery, but it was also a gruesome

addition to His affliction. Notice if you read 19 very

carefully, verse 19, it says that they were striking His

head. So they placed this crown of

thorns on His head. And then they went beyond that.

They took the Reed, and they begin to drive it further into

His scalp, into His forehead, into that precious face until it

was covered with fresh, warm blood.

And as difficult as it may seem to shake off that image, the

mention of thorns in connection to the price of our redemption

is meant to transport you back to the very first mention of

thorns in the Scriptures. Let me read these verses to you.

After Adam and Eve committed humanity's first transgression

in Genesis 317, the Lord says to Adam and to Adam, he said,

because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and I've

eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, you shall not eat

of it. Cursed is the ground because of

you and pain. You shall eat of it all the days

of your life. Thorns and thistles it shall

bring forth for you, and you shall eat the plants of the

field. So in the eyes of Rome, this was

just scorn, but in the eyes of those who are familiar with

redemptive history, they see not a symbol of disgrace.

They see, in fact, a symbol of a curse.

You know, God called for thorns and thistles to be a permanent

visual and physical reminder of the pain that sin would bring

into the world, the heartache that sin did bring into the

world. When you see it in your garden,

you're supposed to be reminded of it.

And I've done enough work in my yard to feel that pain.

So every time that thing pierces you or you step on it, your mind

is supposed to go. The world wasn't supposed to be

like this. This is sin.

This is our rebellion. This is Adam, our federal head

that plunged the world into this kind of reality.

So knowing this adds commentary to what we are seeing here in

Mark 15, that Jesus receiving this crowning of the thorns is

not just receiving scorn. He is willing to wear a curse

for what reason? With the full knowledge that His

blood would undo it and would begin the glorious process of

reversing the curse. And know this, His redemption

with His blood does more than just redeem mankind, you and me.

It will restore creation itself. Creation, the order of the

universe, will be realigned because of what Christ has done.

If you don't believe me, you have to read Romans 8 and let me

quote to you a few words from Romans 820 where creation was

subjected to futility. Not because Paul says that there

were it was willing to The world did not want plagues and

diseases and tsunamis and tornadoes and eruptions.

It was subject to futility, not willingly, but because of him

who subjected it. He was called to have dominion

over the world, betrayed the world and surrendered it into a

whirlwind of disaster, a fractured world because of a

fractured man. But Paul goes on to say that

this creation, creation itself, is longing for the sons of God

to be revealed so that the freedom that would come from

that would liberate itself from bondage.

In other words, in the same way that we are yearning to be

completely set free from the effects of sin, the natural

world is longing for that same reality.

You know, Jesus spoke about this himself.

Yes, He prioritizes you and I being saved, but Jesus himself

alluded to the reality of the whole world being transformed.

One day you'll see it. In Matthew 1928, Jesus said to

them, truly, I say to you, he's talking to his disciples in the

new world, in the new world. The ESV renders it in the new

world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, You

have followed me, will also sit on 12 Thrones judging the 12

tribes of Israel. Yet you have two options here.

Either Jesus is speaking literally or he's speaking here

allegorically. I'm going to go to literal

approach. He's talking about a real new

world. He's talking about an actual

glorious throne. He's talking about the 12 who

will sit on actual 12 Thrones and they will judge actual

tribes of Israel. Now here's a question for you.

Do you see how it says New world there?

There's only one other place in all of the New Testament where

the Greek word for new world appears.

If you know it and you say it, I'll give you a prize.

Good guess, but no. The answer is found in the book

of Titus. Titus chapter 3, verse 5 gives

Titus 3:5

us the one other place in all of the New Testament where the

Greek word for New world is made known.

Notice what Paul says. He saved us not because of works

done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by

the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.

Underline the word regeneration. It's the same word used.

What does regeneration mean? New birth.

And in this verse it speaks about our spiritual new birth.

We have been regenerated. That's what Jesus meant in John

three. You are born again, transformed,

renewed from the inside out. And the Holy Spirit uses the

same word back in Matthew, not to describe a human experience,

but what the universe will one day undergo when Christ comes

back to rule and reign for 1000 years.

In other words, the world will know a transformation and

deliverance from sin. Why?

Because Jesus Christ conquered death and He's coming to rule

and reign and make everything, absolutely everything, right.

And that's why many of you mentioned Revelation.

You read in Revelation 22, verse three.

No longer will there be anything accursed.

Not one thing will be under any curse in that new world,

specifically when the eternal age comes in, but the throne of

God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will

worship him. Can you imagine a world without

a hint of Adam's curse? It's almost hard to fathom, but

that's our reward. That's where we're headed

towards. And so when Jesus wears this

crown of thorns, and as it punctures his skin and his

skull, what we have to keep in mind is that he was willing to

take it because that's what was required to clean everything up.

And we come back to Mark and we get the impression that as they

were striking his head, spitting on him, and the word there for

spitting on him was not just a couple.

They were continually spitting on him.

I wonder how many of those 600 people participated in that,

spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him.

And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple

cloak and put his own clothes on him, and they let him out to

crucify him again. You get the impression that from

Mark's account, after this took place, they immediately rushed

him off so that he can be nailed on a cross and that he would

hang there suspended between heaven and earth.

But that's not exactly what happened.

Mark is a little bit faster here in writing of this.

But John tells us of an episode, episode that took place between

his flogging and his torture and his crucifixion.

And this is what we're going to be ending here in John 19.

This is why it's so important to collect the Bible together and

to compare to see the full picture in John 19, verse one.

This is again what happened after they let Him away from

this and before they brought Him to Golgotha in John 19 one we

read then Pilate therefore took Jesus and scourge them.

We covered that already, and the soldiers planted a crown of

thorns and put it on His head, and they put Him on him, a

purple Rd. robe. We covered that and said, Hail

king of the Jews, we seen that and they smote Him with their

hands. Yes, but look what happens in

verse 4. Pilate therefore went forth

again and saith to them, Behold, I bring Him forth to you, that

you may know that I find no fault in Him.

Then came Jesus wearing the crown of thorns and the purple

robe, and Pilate said to them, Behold the man.

So again, before Jesus went to the cross, Pilate sought to do

something with Christ. He brings him out to the public

eye, and he wants to showcase what they did to Jesus.

For what reason? Pilate again is desperate and

hoping that now after he was battered, slapped around,

punctured, bleeding, that they would have some kind of pity and

they would see this and say wow. And that in their rage, they

would have some kind of compassion and they would

realize he's no longer a threat. And they would say just release

him, that that's enough. That would be horrific enough

for them to put it to an end. But what do you read instead?

The venomous hatred that this people had for Jesus.

It's as though the site only excited them more because in the

very next verse we read that they said crucify him, finish

the job. Yes, this is what we want, but

we want more. Kill Him saying this is crazy,

this is hard to believe. No, this is the potential of

man's hatred for God. And so Pilate said, if this this

is beyond hope, but after all this, you still want to kill

him. He finally gives in as we

studied. But I wonder if this man knew

the words that he said, at least the significance of them.

You know, when people say things, sometimes they don't

know what they're saying. There are some who say things

and they don't realize how foolish their statement or the

reaction was, while others speak with a profoundness that they

don't even recognize. And I believe when Pilate said

those 3 words, behold the man, he did not comprehend what we

should be familiar with in light of God's Word.

Remember Caiaphas accidentally prophesied when the Pharisees

didn't know what to do with him. He said, you know, it's better

for one man to die than for the whole nation.

And he was speaking about Christ's death and the

significance of it. And I I'm persuaded that even

when Pilate here in his own way, by saying behold, the man was

making an illusion, he echoed a prophecy about Messiah.

That phrase, behold the man, doesn't appear too much in the

Old Testament, but there is one very crucial place where it is

found and it speaks about Jesus. I wonder if you've ever

considered it in Zechariah 6 verse 12.

Zechariah 6:12

And say to him, Thus says the Lord of hosts, Behold the man

whose name is the branch, for he shall branch out from his place,

and he shall build the temple of the Lord.

It is he who shall build the temple of the Lord, and shall

bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule on his throne, and

there shall be a priest on his throne, and the council of peace

shall be between them both. The title branch is Messianic.

It speaks of fruitfulness, it speaks of life, and it is indeed

attributed to the person of Jesus of Nazareth.

And here Zechariah says, behold the man.

And we know this is Messianic because whoever this king would

be would also be a priest. That's the last part of the

prophecy, right? And there shall be a priest on

his throne. Never was there a time where the

priest could become a king or king, become a priest.

Whenever anybody attempted to do that, it was deadly.

There's an exception with David, but that's because he pointed to

Christ. But here we see that there is

coming a king who's also going to be a priest, sitting on the

throne that is Jesus Christ. And when Pilate says, behold the

man, all of them missed it because what they were supposed

to see is the branch. What they were supposed to see

is the kingly priest. Instead, what they saw was an

enemy. You know pilots words here are

for us as well. Behold the man after this very

brief time, looking at what Christ endured for the mission

of salvation. What do you see?

What do you see? What comes to mind when you see

this Jesus? Do you see a misunderstood

teacher? Do you see a revolutionary that

was caught? Do you see a philosopher who

provided good moral framework for mankind?

What do you see when you behold him?

Or do you see what you're supposed to see?

The fulfillment of prophecy? The anticipated Savior?

The Anointed 1. That has been predicted and

proclaimed centuries and thousands of years ago.

What do you see today? Come on, with a little bit of

strength and energy. Now I ask you to see.

What do you see? What do you behold?

How do you perceive it? Does it move you?

What you're supposed to see is the one who is willing to go to

such lengths to win your salvation and to call you his

own. I I wonder if that moves you

today. I wonder if that stirs you

today. I wonder if that makes you want

to know Him more, and if you don't know Him, to know Him and

to experience Him. I wonder if looking at the

severity of sin causes you to want to shun it with a strength

that you've never experienced. I wonder if beholding the

magnitude of God's love wins your loyalty as you realize that

it has won your salvation. What do you see today as you

behold the man? I hope today that you see your

Savior. And if you have not acknowledged

that today, that today would be the day where you say I will not

crown him with my betrayal, with my rejection.

I will crown him with my allegiance and I will give my

life to him and surrender. And how you do that is by

accepting His forgiveness and His grace.

And from that place of gratitude you now live with the energy of

His love to serve Him with your love.

Have you made that conscious decision today to make Jesus

Christ your Lord? What more can He do?

What more can He offer? God gave all that He can Himself

so that He can have you. I pray that you would accept

them if you haven't yet. Let's pray.

Well, we know that the prophet Isaiah said about the Messiah

that he gave his back to be smitten.

And we acknowledge that a man can only say and do so much to

try to paint the picture of your salvation and the sufferings

linked to it. But we acknowledge that only the

Holy Spirit can make this real to us.

So we do pray in humility that you would open the eyes of our

hearts to behold the man for those who know him, that we

would love him more for those who don't know him, that they

would be won over by his love. Lord, today we worship you.

Yes, with this very somber scene before us, but also realizing

that there is a joy in this picture, a joy that you had in

mind and a joy that we get to enjoy forever at your expense.

Lord, help us honor you today as a church in Jesus name, Amen.

Amen. If the priest team can come and

help us sing.