Hope Of The World: The Hope of the Cross | Good Friday | Ps Miles Paludan

Today we focus on the cross.

It is all about the cross and what the

cross means and what the cross has done.

It's kind of strange this instrument of

death would be so impactful for humanity

and for us personally that how this

simple structure

um has so much meaning,

such a strange

image that God used

a cross

um

changed everything for us. I don't know

if any of you own any jewelry that has a

cross. Anybody got a cross necklace or a

cross earrings?

Um maybe you got cross at home. A

parenting tip for those parents in the

room. Um we always spend a bit of coin

money on jewelry for our boys and what

we buy is a good cross. I love that my

four boys wear their cross. It's matters

to me. It's like a badge of honor. And

parents, get your kid across. In fact,

my youngest, my baby, he just is about

to graduate high school this year. And

every year we kind of get photos done

for the graduation for them. And here's

a photo just this week. It's a little

baby Jet, mate. He's the big dog. And

he's the baby of five. But look at this

photo zoomed in. He chose to get this

photo shoot with his cross.

And I thought, isn't it great that we

can be proud of the cross, that we can

wear the cross,

that it's just not something we're

shameful of or we hide behind, but we

actually boldly lift up the cross.

So parents, go to crowds, bit cheaper

than the other ones.

Who's those three brothers at the

towers? They all got that big sign up on

top of the escalator. They're always

selling bling. Those boys, maybe they

got a good-look cross, but go spend some

money, get a cross, and get your kids

wearing that cross. Uh let's look at the

cross today. The pain is where we're

going to start. The pain of the cross.

Three pains. Firstly, there's a physical

pain. So, we see that Jesus suffered

greatly physically. He was whipped 39

times with this uh cat tails. It was

this leather whip with bone and lead in

it that would deposit into the skin and

the flesh of a body and rip out when it

was withdrawn 39 times where organs were

actually exposed. Horrific. Horrific. In

fact, 40 times people would die. So they

cut it back to 39. You put you on the

edge of death. Then he was spat on,

mocked, his beard was pulled out, crown

put into his head, the most sensitive

part of the body, carried that cross,

nailed to this cross. And the nails went

through the wrist, which was where the

um sort of the pain senses of your body

are and and and the feet with the nail.

And you'd actually have to pull up on

those nails and push up on the nails to

get a breath because the cross would

cause you not to be able to breathe. And

so you'd have to pull up. And so this

instrument of death was designed to keep

you alive as long as possible to suffer

the most pain. And people would die from

affixiation, not being able to breathe.

And it was this horrific instrument that

of pain that God used to rescue us.

Physical pain beyond comprehension. Then

there was emotional pain. Jesus, the

King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the

creator of the universe, his creation

not only rejected him, his creation

didn't just misunderstand him, his

creation murdered him. The very people

he was trying to save. You think you get

offended at work when they misunderstand

an email or or you get offended when

someone uses up the toilet paper and

there's none left and no one lets you

know and you're sitting there and what

do you do now? And I mean it's like the

whole world is going to end. Let's talk

about emotional pain of rejection that

Jesus went through. It was significant.

I think for me as a pastor, the greatest

pain without a shadow of a doubt

is the pain of rejection when people

leave the church and leave their faith.

And I wonder how can you turn your back

on Jesus? I don't get it. It doesn't

make sense to me after all he's done for

you. Don't get bitter and don't get into

this spiral of church hurt. Don't get

into just losing your your your your

faith and being full of unforgiveness.

It just breaks my heart. Definitely. It

it beyond is is the greatest pain I

suffer is the pain of rejection when

people walk away. But there's another

pain. The third pain, not not just

physical or emotional, but there's a

spiritual pain that the cross represents

where

Jesus was separated from his father.

Matthew 27:46 about 3:00 Jesus called

Matthew 27:46

out with a loud voice, Eli, Eli, Lemur,

Sabakany, which means my God, my God,

why have you abandoned me?

spiritual pain, separated

from a relationship with his father. How

on earth can such

a day full of pain and suffering be

called good?

Because it's in that pain,

it's in that suffering that there was

hope of resurrection Sunday. that

without the Friday there would be no

Sunday.

Without the cross, the death, there'd be

no resurrection.

There is a hope that we have now through

Friday. That's why it's called good,

that we can be rescued and saved and

have a relationship with our God for

eternity. And what was interesting was

Jesus tried to tell his disciples this

was coming. And he was trying to prepare

them

like I'm trying to prepare you today

that Friday may be coming for you.

Maybe you're in a Friday. Maybe you're

in a great pain today. Miles, you got no

idea what I'm going through. I don't.

But

Sunday

is coming.

And Jesus tried to prepare his disciples

that Sunday was coming after the Friday.

In John 2:19, he said to destroy this

John 2:19

temple in three days, I'll raise it up.

Matthew 16, from that time on, Jesus

began to show his disciples that he must

go to Jerusalem. Why? Suffer many things

and be killed and on the what? Third day

be raised. Matthew 17, the son of man is

about to be delivered into the hands of

men and they will kill him. And he told

him upfront, "Here's what's happening,

boys. I'm going to be killed, but it's

okay. I'll be raised on the third day."

Jesus communicated

to his disciples that he would suffer

for a short time, but then overcome.

However, this seemed improbable

that the 12, it seemed improbable for

them.

And they had no idea

that although he would suffer

that he would also be delivered. And and

we are like the disciples

because if you remember the disciples

they bailed on Friday. They took off on

Friday. They ran for the hills on

Friday. They quit on Jesus on Friday.

And I feel sometimes we quit on Jesus

when the going gets tough. We just fall

into this spiral of anxiety and

depression and worry.

But when we get pressed up against it

with physical, emotional, spiritual

pain,

we bail on our God

and we quit on him.

And we forget that we got to go through

a Friday to see the hope that comes on a

Sunday. No matter how dark, how

impossible, how improbable Friday looks,

we must continue to place our trust in

Jesus.

No matter what you're going through, no

matter what rejection you've faced, no

matter what abandonment has happened, no

matter how much and how bad the betrayal

was, we've got to keep our trust in

Christ through the Friday and remind

ourselves that Sunday is coming. Hope

found in Christ is unique because he

alone offers a steadfast anchor of

meaning, identity, and future that

doesn't rise and fall with cultural

trends or social approval, but it rests

in the resurrection power of Jesus.

Don't give up on a Friday.

Don't give up.

Too many Christians, we give up. We give

up on the promises. We give up on the

dreams. We give up on our prayers.

We quit the church. We stop reading and

praying. We We just quit. We give up

because of the hurt and the pain.

Don't allow the pain of Friday to take

your eyes off the cross.

Colossians 2:13, you were dead because

Colossians 2:13

of your sins and because of your sinful

nature was not yet cut away. Then God

made you alive in Christ for he forgave

your sins. He cancelled the record of

all the charges against us and took it

away by nailing it to the cross. We need

the cross. The cross refineses us. The

cross exposes us. The cross humbles us.

In this way, he disarmed the spiritual

rulers and authorities. He shamed them

publicly by his victory over them on the

cross. We don't like the cross. We don't

like the pain. We don't like the hard

times, the trials, the tribulations,

but they bring about the hope

that Jesus,

only Jesus can bring on a Sunday.

Now, don't get caught up in the Friday

and the Sunday. It may not be three

days, Miles. I mean, I'm Hey, you call

me on on on Wednesday. Hey, you know, it

hasn't nothing's changed, mate. You

know, I still got this boss that's just

a loser. You know, he's just bullying

me, making me do it. Look, it it it's a

metaphor, right? It may be a bit longer

than 3 days, but the hope of Jesus that

he can restore, he can rebuild, he can

change you. So why is it that we don't

experience the Sunday? Why is it that so

many Christians get stuck on a Friday?

They're just, if you look at some

Christians, not you guys, but just some

Christians,

they look like just a sour puss. Like

they've been sucking on a lemon all day,

you know? They're just like, "What?

What's going on with your life, mate?

just get a bit of joy. Why is it the

Christians just get caught up in this

rot of bad talking and gossip and and

and just this church herd and and

unforgiveness and bitterness. It's

because hope on Sunday can only come

through faith

that we have to exercise faith.

That we have to actually do something

about the Friday. Not just weather it,

but we need to have faith in our God

that we can overcome it. What does that

look like? Well, it's pretty simple,

but often we fail to do it. I do. I

fail. I get stuck on a Friday. I feel

sorry for myself. Can't believe they

said that about me. Can't believe they

told me I was preaching too long and

wore a jacket. And why you wearing pink

on a Good Friday? Has your more

reverence than that. It's not pink, it's

salmon. Real men wear salmon. All right.

And so you I I I can get stuck in my

mental, you know, the petrol price is

going to affect giving and now we're

going to do Yeah. Look, I'm no different

to you. I'm human. I I I I feel the

emotional uh loss of rejection when

people leave the church, when when

things don't work out, when finances are

what I get it. I'm normal. I'm real. I'm

with you. But I'm reminded today, and I

hope you're reminded, that we can

through faith find the hope and pull

ourselves out of the nose dive on Friday

because we celebrate Friday, but we

can't live there. We can't spend our

whole life in despair.

So, I'm going to talk to you what

happened on Friday with two people, and

you'll be one of these two. I I

flip-flop a little bit, but I'm hoping

I'm more like the second one, but let's

read it together. Luke 23. One of the

criminals hanging beside him. What?

Criminals? You telling me I'm a

criminal? Yep. You are a criminal.

You've got sin. All my sin. Welcome to

Good Friday at Elevation. We just want

to tell you you're a criminal and you

got sin in your life.

Make you feel good about yourself. Uh

one of the criminals hanging beside him,

remember there were two criminals. They

scoffed. So you're the Messiah, are you?

prove it by saving yourself and us too

while you're at it. But the other

criminal protested, don't you fear God?

Even when you've been sentenced to die,

we deserve to die for our crimes, but

this man has done nothing wrong. Then

Jesus says, remember, and then he said

to Jesus, "Remember me

when you come into your kingdom."

The second criminal had faith. Had faith

in this God was pure. He was sinless and

he had the power to save. Verse 43. And

Jesus replied, I assure you today that

you will be with me in paradise. Two

criminals, both on Friday, both

suffering, both hanging on the cross,

one on either side of Christ. One choose

faith and was saved.

The other

chose bitterness, resentment,

entitlement, victimhood, and remained a

slave. Two criminals, same place, same

time, yet two responses. Which one is it

a picture of you? Which one sort of

reflects you?

The repentant criminal. All he brought

to the table was faith. Didn't bring

good works. Didn't bring money. didn't

bring serving, didn't bring, you know,

his instruments or his ability. All he

brought was faith. He recognized he was

a sinner and he recognized Jesus could

save him. And by faith, he was saved.

The other criminal kind of felt was

undeserved.

Who are you to think you can if you are

this God save us? He was rebellious,

selfish.

John Sto famously wrote, "Before we can

begin to see the cross as something done

for us, we have to see it as something

done by by us." What does that mean by

us? Well, we have to realize we're

sinners. And all of us have caused Jesus

to hang on a cross. And that's where

faith and repentance starts when we

recognize our own sin and our own flaws.

The thief understood this. He

acknowledged his guilt and he turned to

the only sinless one beside him. In

response, Jesus declares a promise of

prove sin does not have the final word.

He does. And maybe today you're here on

Good Friday because you're searching.

You're wondering. Is God good? With all

the pain, the suffering, the injustice,

all the problems in the world, you look

at a life through the eyes of a Friday.

It's dark. It's hurting. How can a good

God

be active and working?

But the truth is, you need the cross.

You need the Friday to recognize our own

sinful nature, to recognize we're doomed

to a death of hell and despair. But it's

in that recognition of our own sin that

we can set our eyes upon Jesus who can

forgive us and change us, but do far

more, restore us. And this is the great

news that comes on Sunday. We don't just

get through Friday.

But God actually restores us into

something wonderful. Let's give you some

examples. Peter's Friday. He denied

Jesus three times. Pretty dark day. One

of them was a little school girl. He he

he was boldly saying at the Passover,

"Mate, I'll never deny you. I'll go to

the grave with you." Well, couple hours

later, he's whimpering and crying and

denying Jesus in front of a little girl.

Yet, his Sunday came after the

resurrection. He visited Peter in person

and restored calling on his life by

saying three times, "Feed my sheep. Feed

my sheep. Feed my sheep. I'm restoring

you, Peter. Even though you failed on

Friday, Sunday, resurrection, the

calling on your life is here." Thomas

refused to believe in the resurrection.

He's supposed to stay awake and keep

watch. And he falls asleep while Jesus

is praying. Gosh, that's me, mate. I'm

supposed to pray and I forget. I fall

asleep. But Sunday came, James actually

become the first

apostle to be martyed. He went from

falling asleep to dying for his faith.

These stories remind us remind us that

failure isn't final. When we surrender

to Christ, he restores, recommissions,

and empowers imperfect people for his

purpose. I I I still wonder how God is

using me. I I do. I just This just never

goes away. I think, how on earth am I

preaching on this day? If you look at my

past, like yours, it's full of Friday. I

was so dumb that they didn't want to

promote me in grade two to grade three.

I didn't hit the marks. and Monaval

Primary School. Uh the PE teacher called

my mom in and said, "Mate, you got a you

got you got a kid here. He's not really

he's not all there, mate. We got to hold

him back and and he's got to repeat." I

I was just dumb. And and I had a severe

stutter. I couldn't speak that I needed

elecution lessons. And I had this growth

impediment that caused people to laugh

at me and bully me. And didn't have a

Christian family, didn't grow up with

Jesus, didn't know anything about God.

My father was an atheist, parents

divorced, raised by a single mom and a

little fibroshack in Monaval, working

three jobs. Yet somehow

God reached down

and [snorts] rescued me out of my

Friday. He saw something in me that I

had no idea. No one else had any idea.

And maybe you've gone through a Friday

of bullying, abuse,

betrayed.

God can pull you out of your Friday. God

won't leave you in your Friday. God in

his grace, he'll reach down no matter

what you're facing today and pull you

out of your Friday and restore you into

your destiny and calling that he has for

you for his kingdom. In his great mercy,

he saved me.

In his great mercy, he saves you.

Corinthians 15. Oh death, where is your

victory? Oh death, where is your sting?

For sin is the sting that results in

death. And the law gives sin its power.

But thank God, he gives us victory over

sin and death through our Lord Jesus

Christ. The cross is the turning point

where death begins to lose its grip.

The cross is the beginning of the

journey where God rescued mankind.

Jesus steps into death willingly, not a

victim, but a conqueror, knowing that

through the pain of his sacrifice.

The power of the grave will be broken.

Jesus conquered death. We no longer have

to face the pain of Friday forever. We

may go through it. If you're not going

through it, just wait a while. You will

go through trials. Friday will come. But

the hope we have is when we have faith,

God can restore us and pull us out

of a Friday. We don't have to have fear.

We don't have to have worry. We can have

our truth and our hope.

As we take communion right now, we're

going to reflect on the cross.

and remember the cross.

What Jesus did on the cross. Communion

is remembering the cross. It's the blood

that was shed, the body that was broken.

And we're going to listen to the words

of Isaiah 53,

written 700 years before the cross. It's

one of the most significant chapters in

the Bible. Why is that? Because it gives

a detailed prophecy of the suffering

servant.

It prophesies and speaks ahead of time

what Jesus will do and go through to

save you and me. If you need the

elements, you can raise your hand and

we'll pass those out if you don't have

them.

But you can eat and drink at any time

during this video as we share Isaiah 53,

the suffering servant.

In the Bible, Isaiah 53 says,

"To whom has the Lord revealed his

powerful arm? My servants grew up in the

Lord's presence like a tender green

chute, like a root in dry ground.

There was nothing beautiful or majestic

about his appearance, nothing to attract

[music] us to him. He was despised and

rejected. A man of sorrows acquainted

with deepest grief.

We turned our backs on him and looked

the other way. He was despised and we

did not care.

Yet it was our weakness he carried. It

was our sorrows that weighed him down.

And we thought his troubles were a

punishment from God, a punishment for

his own sins.

But he was pierced [music] for our

rebellion.

Crushed for our sins. He was beaten so

we could be whole. He was whipped so we

could be healed.

All of us, like sheep, have strayed

away. We have left God's path to follow

our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the

sins of us all. He was oppressed and

treated harshly. Yet he never said a

word. He was led like a lamb to the

slaughter. And as a sheep is silent

before the sheerers, he did not open his

mouth. Unjustly condemned, he was led

away. No one cared that he died without

descendants. That his life was cut short

in midstream.

But he was struck down for the rebellion

of my people. He had done no wrong and

had never deceived anyone. But he was

buried like a criminal. and he was put

in a rich man's grave.

But it was the Lord's good plan to crush

him and cause him grief. Yet when his

life is made an offering for sin, he

will have many descendants. He will

enjoy a long life, and the Lord's

[music] good plan will prosper in his

hands. When he sees all that is

accomplished by his [music] anguish, he

will be satisfied. And because of his

experience, my [music] righteous servant

will make it possible for many to be

counted righteous, for he will bear all

[music] their sins.

I will give him the honors of a

victorious soldier because he exposed

himself to death. He was counted among

the rebels. He bore the sins of many and

interceded for rebels.