Mark 14:12-26

Lord, we ask that you would, by your Holy Spirit,

in a very deep way, touch our minds and our hearts

and also our mouths this morning

as we encounter your word,

that we would think differently,

we would speak differently,

and we would feel differently,

Lord, that we would grow closer and closer to you,

that we would behold your Son in a new way this morning,

a deeper way, a more loving way,

but more than that, Lord, I pray that we would know

the deep love that you have towards us

and that you show in such an incredible way

through your blessed Son.

So, Lord, we ask that by your Spirit,

you would move in such a deep way among us this morning,

we pray in Christ's name.

The past few days, I'll turn this off,

the past few days have seen a lot of evil things happen

here in Canada, in the States, abroad.

Just a few examples.

In the news, there's been a rash of attacks

on Toronto Transit.

It's been completely, it seems, unprovoked.

People have died.

People have been hurt.

We see a situation in the South

where an innocent black man,

I mean, it seems completely innocent,

he was beaten to death by five police officers

that were there to uphold the law and to protect.

We see in Jerusalem, two gunmen,

one, 13 years old,

opened fire on people on their way to Sabbath prayers.

There, I'm sure, is scores of other tragedies

that have gone on in this time frame,

unreported, maybe even worse,

than those that we have read about.

Scores and scores of tragedies,

both at home and abroad.

Evil, clearly, on full display.

How about in our own lives?

The tragedies that may be,

the difficulties, the lows that we have gone through.

Some of the heartache that we have felt in the past,

maybe have been in the present,

maybe has continued on from our earliest memories

to today, the pain, the lows,

the heartache that we have felt.

And it's a good thing to consider,

a very hard thing to consider.

How can we hope to make sense of injustice and evil

done to others and to us?

Especially if the hurt comes from those we ought to trust

or situations completely, completely out of our control.

How do we make sense of this?

Trials and temptations.

So today, we're going to look at

Jesus giving instructions to his disciples

to prepare the Passover meal for him.

And although we read verses 12 to 21,

really, we're going to focus on verses 12 to 16.

The other part where Jesus, 17 to 21,

we're going to do a bit more of a deep dive next week.

There's some minefields in that text.

And I think in some ways,

it would be better to have more of a devoted time to that.

But in verses 12 to 16, in this short little section,

Jesus, through the instructions given to his disciples,

will help us to answer some of the important questions

about how we are to make sense of evil and suffering.

So we'll consider two items from our texts.

That first, Jesus is in complete control

and knowledge of what is about to happen to him,

his passion and his death.

He is in complete control and knowledge of it.

And the second thing is that Jesus is the true host of the Passover meal.

That the Passover meal that he is about to partake in,

that he sends his disciples to prepare for him,

that it is all about him.

So first part, Jesus is in complete control

and knowledge about his passion and death.

And the second thing is that

Jesus is the true host of the Passover meal.

So a bit of a background.

But first, it is warm.

And I'm going to take off my sweater.

A bit of a background.

Mark has detailed the account of Jesus' ministry in the Galilee

for two-thirds of the gospel account.

And then the last third, he slows it right down

to the last week of Jesus' ministry in Jerusalem.

And now in chapter 14,

the longest chapter in Mark's account,

he will slow it down even further

to the last, more or less, 24 hours of Jesus' life

before he is crucified.

He slows it right down

because he wants his readers, us,

to understand the importance of the last 24 hours of Jesus.

The Passover meal, what's happening in our text today,

leading into Gethsemane,

where Jesus prays,

where he's handed over to the religious leaders

and then handed over to Pilate,

where he stands trial, where he's tortured

and where he's ultimately crucified.

So we're at the beginning, in a sense,

of this last 24 hours.

Jesus' whole, and that's a bit of a background.

We'll get into the first point.

Jesus' whole,

it seems like this whole ordeal,

this last 24 hours,

it reads like a tragic story.

There's this huge affront to justice.

It's a great disaster.

Jesus is simply at the whims of the ruling elites

who are trying to consolidate their power

to snuff out this wonderful light

that is opposing them, Jesus.

And Jesus here is without agency whatsoever.

He is clearly at the whims of the religious establishment.

And although a lot of that is true,

Jesus' story is certainly,

it's unjust.

He was innocent.

He did have a conspiracy against him by the religious elites.

He will be handed over.

The big and defining difference between this tragic story

that seems to be Jesus' story

and the actual reality of Jesus' story

is simply that Jesus is in complete control

and knowledge of everything that is happening to him.

Everything.

Not one detail is new to Jesus.

It doesn't take him by surprise.

Throughout Mark's Gospel,

and especially since chapter 8,

Jesus has made it clear in no uncertain terms

that he is heading to the cross.

He is going to die.

And that he will rise again,

but that he will be handed over

to be crucified.

And time and time again,

Jesus,

he validates his ability

to have foreknowledge,

to prophesy what's going to happen

by supernatural means.

He peers, in a sense,

into the inner life of people,

knowing what they think.

What's happening in Jesus' ministry,

what Mark shows us,

is Jesus is a man like no other.

He is not like a regular woman

or man like you or I.

He is fully God.

There's something divine about him,

something supernatural about him.

And Jesus,

from the earliest bits of chapter 1

to right now,

he is not surprised.

He knows what is happening.

He has full knowledge of his crucifixion.

The disciples obviously struggle with this

time and time again.

We'll see more of that next week.

But in this scene,

Jesus once again gives extremely detailed,

detailed instructions

for preparation to his disciples.

And if you have your Bible,

you can turn with me.

And at any time,

you can grab a Bible.

I think they're at the back

or in a box.

You can follow along.

But look with me in verses 12

and following.

And on the first day of unleavened bread,

that's another way of talking about the Passover,

when they sacrificed the Passover lamb,

his disciples said to him,

where will you have us go

and prepare for you to eat the Passover?

We'll just pause really quickly right there.

What's coming up

is something that we have seen before.

Back in chapter 11,

when Jesus is entering into Jerusalem,

he sends two disciples ahead of him

with very detailed instructions.

And in chapter 11

and chapter 14,

we see a string of 12 identical words

in consecutive order.

And Jesus, once again,

is giving detailed instructions

that will completely come to pass.

And here they are in verse 13.

And Jesus sent two of his disciples,

and this is where the consecutive wording

is the same with chapter 11.

He sent two of his disciples

and said to them,

go into the city

and a man carrying a jar of water

will meet you.

Follow him

and wherever he enters,

say to the master of the house,

the teacher says,

where is my guest room

where I may eat the Passover

with my disciples?

And he will show you

a large upper room

furnished and ready

and there prepare for us.

And the disciples set out

and went to the city

and found it just as he had told them

and they prepared the Passover.

So the consecutive wording here is,

and he, Jesus,

sent two of his disciples

and said to them,

go into the city.

And just like in chapter 11,

the disciples, those two,

find exactly what Jesus instructed them.

And what's interesting is that

a man carrying a jar of water

was a woman's job.

take it up with

first century Jerusalemites,

if you don't like that,

but a woman would carry water.

So to see a man carrying water

would be a bit of a bizarre thing.

And to know the exact house,

to ask the specific person,

to reserve an upper room

that is furnished

for a big enough gathering

that's at least Jesus

and his 12 disciples,

it's something that you can't,

you can't just think

that I'm going to say,

I'm going to predict the future,

there's going to be a coincidence

or something like it.

And Jesus clearly

is not going into the city

and setting all of this stuff up

so he could go back to Bethany

and pretend as though

he has foresight.

Jesus, at this point,

knows that Judas is

looking for ways to betray him.

The city, in a sense,

is looking to identify Jesus

and the religious elites

are trying to arrest him.

So what Jesus,

what we see here,

is Jesus,

he is prophesying the future.

He knows exactly

what is happening.

And it also tells us

that Jesus does not suffer

a tragic and avoidable death,

but deliberately

and unflinchingly

walks towards the cross.

He goes to Jerusalem

knowing what's going to happen.

He partakes in this Passover meal,

this Last Supper,

knowing that right after

a few events

that will come after it,

he will be arrested

and beaten and tortured.

He knows what's going to happen.

And he does it

without a hint of desperation

in his demeanor.

Apart from his time of prayer

to the Father in Gethsemane,

Jesus does not show anguish.

He's not double-minded

about his impending death.

What we see is that

Jesus is freely following

the Father's plan

in full submission

as the Son of God.

He says as much in verse 21.

We see this.

If you want to go down

to verse 21.

For the Son of Man goes,

and that's a very loaded goes,

he's going to the cross,

as it is written of him.

It's always God's will.

Always God's will

for God, the Son of God,

to take on human flesh,

to die for the sins of many

and to rise again.

Illusions and inferences

and prophecies and Scripture,

it is of Jesus,

what he will do,

is peppered throughout

the Hebrew Scriptures,

the Old Testament.

It's everywhere.

Jesus isn't surprised

or taken aback.

He goes on his own accord,

submitting himself

to the will of God.

And what's interesting

is that no one has power

over him to upend

God's plan in any kind of way.

And this is what is the difference

between a tragic story

and Jesus' story.

If it was a tragic story,

Jesus,

the great liberator,

is being snuffed out.

His flame is being quenched.

But instead,

the conspirators

are actually playing a part

in this grand plan.

Remember that last week,

the conspirators,

they were trying to capture Jesus

after the Passover

because they wanted to avoid

all the messianic fervor.

And then Judas comes up to them

and says,

listen,

I'm going to betray Jesus.

And they're excited.

And then they shelf

all of their plans

and totally get on board

to God's plan.

And we'll see

in next week,

especially,

that Jesus will end up

being slain on this,

in a sense,

the same day of the Passover.

Even the enemies of God

can't upend

the plans of God.

They are participants in it

in an unwilling way.

Jesus does not suffer

a tragic and avoidable death,

but deliberately

and unflinchingly

walks towards the cross.

He does it.

Unflinchingly walks

towards the cross.

And this can be a very

deeply comforting thing to us

because we can trust

that Jesus is in complete control

and has full knowledge

of what will happen

to us in the future

because he knew

what was happening to him

in the future.

Including the highs

and the lows of life.

And our difficulties

and even our tragedies

are not wasted with him.

But like his unjust

murder

hung up on the cross

that resulted in redemption

and healing,

so too can he take

our difficulties

and use them for

redemption

and healing

and refining us

precisely because

of the example

of his suffering.

We become,

in a sense,

conduits of God's plan

of redemption.

The evil that was

intended for us

is used by God

for good.

And that sounds

nice and hopeful,

but

life is full

of tragic events

and talking about things

in an abstract way

is great,

but when you're in

the midst of heartache

and tragedy,

it is hard,

it's hard to say,

oh,

it's deeply comforting

that Jesus goes

to the cross.

It can be very hard.

It sounds very nice.

However,

an injustice

that is deeply

grievously done

or a loss

that is felt

in a deep way,

they are tragedies

and they are hard

to overcome.

How are

the people

that have lost

loved ones

in Jerusalem,

how are they

supposed to cope?

How about the parents

of the young man,

the 29-year-old man

who was beaten to death

or the countless

family members

of those that have

been assaulted

or killed

in the metro

in Toronto?

How are they

supposed to

deal with this tragedy

in a very kind

of real way,

you know?

Instead of these

kind of cliche

niceties,

these,

they can be kind

of,

I don't know,

they can make us

gag sometimes.

They seem fake.

It's okay.

God has you.

How does he have me?

How on earth

am I supposed

to see this

as a potential

thing that God

will use

for my good?

The fact is,

evil truly exists.

No one can deny

the morality,

can deny that

morality and truth

are relative concepts.

Real evil exists.

How are we then

to make sense of them?

Our tragedies,

the tragedies

in the world.

In the case

of Jesus' death,

we can see how

this unjust

death,

it achieved

a great redemption

for the world.

And the reality is,

I do not know

how God will use

such tragedies

and evils

to achieve his ends.

We just don't know.

I'm not sure.

He has ultimate purposes

that are at play.

We think of the story

of Joseph,

where he is

getting the,

he's getting done dirty

on, it seems like,

every turn.

And yet, at the end,

God uses it for his glory.

But we don't always

get to see that, do we?

We don't always get to see

how it is,

things are redeemed,

our difficulties

are redeemed.

God clearly allows us

to make evil

and sinful decisions

that affect other people.

And yet,

he uses such things

to achieve his

four ordained purposes.

And we're going to get

into the weeds

later on

because there's this bit

in verse 21

that's really kind of,

it's difficult for us

to really grapple with.

It's the second part

of what I read

in verse 21.

But woe to that man

by whom the Son of Man

is betrayed.

It would be better

for that man

if he had not been born.

We're going to jump

into that next week.

But here's the thing.

God does not owe us

a look at his playbook.

He has not promised us

that we will get to peek

behind the curtain

and see how he is going

to unravel history

and our difficulties,

how they're going to be used

to achieve his ultimate ends.

He doesn't promise that at all.

It is very difficult for us

in a sense

to come to grips

with that reality

because we want to know.

Instead,

what does he do?

He beckons us

to have faith in him

and to trust in him

and to look to him

for comfort

in our afflictions

whether or not

we get to understand

the why.

And the reason?

Because our king

and elder brother,

Christ Jesus,

did just that.

He's our example.

And we can trust

if God can take

the most unjust act

done in human history

taking the perfect,

the only perfect

human being ever to walk

and to string him up

naked upon a cross

for crimes he did not do

and he uses that

for redemption.

We can trust that

God makes bad things good

and we just have to have

a faith and a trust in him

that he will do that

and that is not easy

and it's hard

and it might not be satisfying

but this is what

he is calling us to do.

And here's the thing,

we can trust that

whether we see it

play out frame by frame

or we are ignorant of it,

the triune God

will use tragedies

and lows,

also victories

and highs

to achieve his will.

So like Christ,

we too are to pray,

not my will

but yours be done.

And if God's ways

are always the best ways,

we have to trust

that in the end,

in the end,

it will be okay.

Even if it's a season

of grief,

it will be okay.

And I'll give an example

of how God

can use incredible things,

incredibly tragic things

for incredibly wonderful things.

I remember,

I think I was like 11

and my mom came home crying

and it was a friend

from church,

one of her friends

from church

and her friend's little boy

died in a really tragic way

at home.

And my,

like the whole church,

everybody was just

absolutely gutted

by it.

and of course they would be,

little boy named Isaiah.

And they grappled with it,

asking questions why,

but in the meantime,

what they ended up doing

was they started

a grief group.

There's other people

in the town we grew up at

that struggled

through loss,

whether it was,

you know,

an elderly parent

or,

you know,

an untimely

death of a child

or a brother,

a sister,

or husband.

And out of this grief group

developed a ministry

where people,

in a sense,

were able to

process loss

in a way

that,

that had God

in a,

I mean,

they weren't overtly

pressing God onto people,

but just the hope

of the gospel

was clearly there.

And a big ministry

developed out of this

and many people

came to faith

and had a network

of people to,

to share their births

and maybe

it would not have happened

if little Isaiah

didn't pass away.

And that's not to say

that,

you know,

their parents

would have,

you know,

traded it all

for that little boy

to come back.

But look how God

can use a tragedy

to achieve blessing.

And oftentimes

that's how the deep

blessing happens

through deep tragedy.

It's a case with Christ.

There's a case

with this little boy.

And if we

choose

by God's strength,

by the encouragement

of each other,

to have faith

in this God,

because faith

many times

is a choice.

If we choose

to have faith

in this God,

we will become

glass half full,

maybe all the way full,

people

in a non-superficial,

fully authentic way.

And that is

an incredible thing

to consider.

Romans 8, 28 to 30

says this,

I'll just read verse 28,

And we know that

for those who love God,

all things work together

for good,

for those who are called

according to his purpose.

Even the bad stuff.

That all right here,

it's without exception.

All.

Even the most terrible tragedies

we have gone through.

And the Apostle Paul

in 2 Corinthians,

he talks about

this good,

and he gets

even more specific,

and he talks about it

being an eternal

weight of glory

beyond all comparison.

Oftentimes,

the tragedies

and the brokenness

of this life,

if we are trusting

the Lord,

and that doesn't mean

we paint on a smile,

but we trust in the Lord,

he will use it

for incredible blessings,

whether we see it or not.

And we know this,

why Christ,

the innocent one,

will die

like the Passover lamb,

spotless and without blemish,

and through his death,

through his suffering,

will bring eternal life

that will be

beyond all comparison.

The Apostle Paul

in 2 Corinthians 4,

he talks about

the difficulties of life

aren't worthy

to be compared.

And Paul went through stuff.

He went through

the ringer.

And I don't think

it's Paul downplaying

the difficulties

that he went through,

but he is keeping

an eye on eternity.

And this is what Christ

is giving to us

as he will die

in our stead

as the Passover lamb.

So Jesus

does not suffer

a tragic and avoidable death,

but deliberately

and unflinchingly

walks towards the cross

as the true Passover lamb.

And this means

for us

that we can trust him

even with our tragedies

and our difficulties.

Who else can you trust

with your tragedies

and your difficulties?

Who else can bear that weight?

It is only Christ.

So what does it mean then

for Christ to be the true

and greater Passover lamb?

What does this mean?

And this goes into

our second point.

As I mentioned earlier,

Jesus sends out

two disciples ahead of him

with very specific instructions

of which no one

could have predicted.

And we saw this

in chapter 11.

The same pattern.

And what ends up happening

in chapter 11,

chapter 12,

and into chapter 13,

but really chapter 11 and 12,

is that Jesus,

he teaches

and condemns

the false worship

at the temple.

And by doing so,

he makes it very clear

that he is the true temple.

He is that place,

the temple was the place

where,

in the ancient world,

where the divine

would meet the human,

God would meet man,

and that the temple

in Jerusalem,

as grand as it was,

no longer

had that purpose.

But that the new temple,

the ultimate temple,

the true temple,

was Jesus himself.

Likewise,

here in chapter 14,

this pattern that we see

is not just Jesus

predicting

what's going to happen

once again,

but it should tip us off

that Jesus is going to,

in a sense,

appropriate something else

that is dear

to the Jewish religious mind.

Before it was a temple,

now it's going to be

the Passover.

So let's take a look

at what all this means,

and let's take a look again

at the text.

We'll start in verse 13.

And he sent the two disciples

and said to them,

Go into the city,

and a man carrying a jar of water

will meet you.

Follow him.

And wherever he enters,

say to the master of the house,

The teacher

says,

Where is my guest room

where I may eat the Passover

with my disciples?

We'll actually go back

to verse 12.

The disciples,

whether they know it or not,

they say,

in a sense,

they're tipping their hand

at what is happening

with Jesus.

They say,

Where will you have us to go

and prepare for you

to eat the Passover?

We'll continue on

in verse 15.

And this man

who owns the house

will show you

a large upper room

furnished and ready

there prepared for us.

And the disciples

went out to the city

and found it

just as he told them,

and they prepared

the Passover.

The Passover meal

was a commemoration

of God's,

a yearly commemoration

of God's deliverance

of the nation of Israel

from Egyptian slavery.

The meal itself

remembered the specific event

of the tenth

and last plague.

It would be the death

of the firstborn.

And if you have time,

we're not going to do it

this morning,

but Exodus 12

recounts all of this.

So that Israel,

the Israelites,

would be safe

from the tenth plague.

A lamb without blemish,

one year old,

would have to be slaughtered

and the blood

would have to be smeared

on the doorposts

of the home

of the Israelite family.

And when the angel of death,

the destroyer,

the plague,

would come

looking for the firstborn

and would see the blood

smeared on the doorposts

and would pass over

that house.

This is what commemorates,

or this is what

the Passover commemorates.

It's more than just

the Passover of death

of the firstborn.

It really is God's deliverance

from Egyptian slavery

for the Israelite people.

But what we see here

is that a lamb without blemish

is slaughtered

and its blood is spread

on the vertical

and the horizontal doorposts.

This communal meal

was supposed to be celebrated

in such a way

as if you were actually there.

You're supposed to do this

every day.

Now, it's not the case now

where there's slaughterings

of animals all over the world

at Passover.

But even today

at Passover,

you wear your shoes

at the meal

because you had to eat in haste.

You had to wear your belt.

You had to act

as if you were present

at the first Passover

because if God

didn't deliver your people,

your forefathers,

you'd still be in

Egyptian slavery.

That's kind of the idea

behind it.

So it's a communal meal,

a family meal,

young and old,

remembered what would happen

in the past,

how God had delivered them

from slavery

and made them

into a nation.

And this was,

at the time of Jesus,

the most important

holy holiday

of the calendar.

Three pilgrimage

fests,

feasts,

people of Israel

would come to Jerusalem

and the Passover

among them

was the most important.

And on that day,

there was hope

that God would restore

what was lost

like he did in the past.

It was a meal

of thankfulness

for the past

but also a meal

of great hope

for the future.

So it's interesting

that Jesus takes

this communal meal

and both him

and the disciples

speak of the Passover

not as the feast

that God

or even Moses

commanded them to keep

but with a suggestive language

that the Passover

was all about Jesus,

that he was the host,

that it was about him,

that this meal

was his meal.

It is seemingly subtle

in verses 12 to 16

but the emphasis

is there

and especially

if a Jewish reader

in the first century

would read this

and something would be off.

Why is Jesus

talking about this meal

as if it was his?

And it is Jesus' meal

not simply because

he is a leader

of the disciples

and a small but growing

group of Messianic followers

but because this meal

is about him.

That the hope

that the meal communicated

would only be a thin hope

if it did not point to him.

So the original Passover

saved the firstborn

of Israel from death

by the lamb

that was slain

but this ultimate Passover,

this new Passover,

this new and true

and ultimate Passover

that is the life

and death

and resurrection

of Jesus

sees the Son of God,

the firstborn of all creation

being slain as

the Lamb of God

that would take away

the sins of the world

but instead of

his blood smeared

on the doorposts,

his blood would be smeared

on the vertical

and horizontal beams

of a cross.

We see the same imagery

and symbolism

taking place

at the cross

as with the Passover.

His death

would be the ultimate death

where the ultimate enemy

of God's people,

eternal death

would pass over

all those who have trusted

in him.

So you see,

Jesus does not suffer

a tragic

and avoidable death

but deliberately

and unflinchingly

walks towards the cross

but as the Passover Lamb

who was slain

for the sins of the world

as the embodiment

of the Passover.

So once again,

just like with the temple,

Jesus interprets

a key pillar

of the Scriptures

to show how he is

what the Passover

is truly about.

That he is

the ultimate Passover

that all of Scripture

points to him.

He is the head

over the Passover meal

and he is the meal himself.

Very interestingly,

next week we're going to

take a look at

the Last Supper

and we're going to

take a look at

again,

what it means for Jesus

to be that Passover meal.

So to wrap things up,

the Bible is clear

that evil exists.

It makes no mistake

about it.

Evil exists.

And if we are

just to have a shred

of honesty,

we can see it

everywhere we go.

In the news,

in the lives

of those around us,

evil exists.

And it exists

because humanity

is bent on making

themselves God,

glorifying ourselves,

putting ourselves

in the place of God,

treating all others

with varying degrees

of contempt

and shame.

And the fact is

that the brokenness

has seeped

into the very fabric

of this existence.

An evil that needs

to be dealt with

in its fullness,

in its fullest way.

So what does God do?

Instead of hitting

a cosmic reset button,

compelled by love,

God, the Son of God,

condescends,

comes down,

takes on human flesh

and bears the punishment

for us all,

willingly and lovingly

as the ultimate

Passover lamb.

Not in any way

getting tripped up,

not in any way

getting upended,

but completely

by his own desire

and his love,

compelled by love,

his own agency,

he goes to the cross

as the Passover lamb.

And us,

finding ourselves

united to him,

we will enjoy

an eternal glory

that will be

far exceeding

anything we could hope for.

And that,

in a sense,

when you're feeling low

and broken,

that can be a hard thing

to see.

And when you're feeling

elated,

you can't really imagine

things being better

than they are.

But the scriptures

tell us

that it will be better

than anything

we could imagine

or hope for.

But we have to have

this eternal perspective

like Christ did.

And it helps us

to understand

that even our most

difficult earthly

trials and pains

can have meaning

that go beyond

this life

into the life

to come

and are used

by God

as Christ's trials

were used

to redeem

and heal

and restore.

and all of a sudden

when we can have

meaning

on our suffering,

that takes,

in a sense,

the edge off

of hopelessness.

That can give us hope.

Friends,

let us have faith

and trust

and hope

that Jesus,

who is in complete control,

he will not leave us

or forsake us,

but instead

give us strength

and grace

to endure

and to be conduits

of his blessing

to a broken

and broken

and broken

and bent

and bent

and bent

and evil

and evil

and evil world.

He can redeem,

he can restore,

he can heal.

Let's pray.

Lord,

we thank you

that your son,

he did not suffer

a tragic

and avoidable death,

but deliberately

and unflinchingly

walked towards the cross

and that he suffered

something

that was not due to him.

This was not justice

being fulfilled,

it was a complete

abdication of justice

and yet

you use it

to pour grace

upon grace

on us.

You do not deserve

this kindness

and yet you give it to us

because you,

compelled by love,

sacrificed

your son on the cross

for our sins.

Lord,

help us

as we consider

our own sufferings,

our own trials,

whether we are

in the midst of them,

whether we have gone

through them in the past

or whether they are

coming up in the future,

that we will look to Christ

and how he suffered well

and how he entrusted

his very person to you

and that you used him

to redeem

and to heal

and to restore.

And Lord,

that is our prayer

in our lives,

that not only will you

comfort us

when the difficulties

and the hardships come,

but Lord,

whether we see it or not,

we ask that you would

use our trials

and our brokenness

and our pain

for your glory,

for the blessing

of others,

for the restoration

and the healing

and the redemption

that only you can bring.

Lord,

we thank you for the cross

and we thank you

that we,

week after week,

can behold your son afresh

and be thankful

in deeper measures

for what he has done for us.

We pray these things

in Christ's mighty name.

Amen.