>> Good evening, everybody. Welcome to our evening Good Friday service. We're glad you can join us to give worship to our Lord this night. And it is a special night in that at the center of our faith is our Savior Jesus Christ. And at the center of the redemptive plan is what we celebrate this week, Christ's death and resurrection, which to us is afforded to us our great salvation.

And so again, we are privileged and we're glad that we're able to worship in this way. And before we begin, I would like to just mention that if you are new, you're just joining us and tuning in for the first time, I want to welcome you and say that if you would like to connect with anybody at church or welcome team or any of the pastors, in the description of the video, there is a link for a welcome card.

Please click that and give us your contact so that we can reach out to you. Also, I'd like to give a reminder that this Sunday, we're going to be having our Easter service stream live at 10am. So please make sure you tune in for that as well. Also, I'd like to say a warm welcome and hi to our brothers and sisters from across life, virtually saying welcome to you.

It's a great privilege for us to be able to again worship together with our brothers and sisters in that way. If you would take a moment now to turn in your Bibles to Luke chapter 23, verses 33 through 46, I would like to take a moment to read from scripture the accounts of what happened on Friday.

The verses will also be on your screen as you follow along. And the scripture says, starting from verse 33, And even the rulers were sneering at him, saying, "He saved others. Let him save himself if this is the Christ of God, his chosen one." The soldiers also mocked him, coming up to him, offering him sour wine and saying, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself." Now there was also an inscription above him, "This is the king of the Jews." One of the criminals who were hanging there was hurling abuse at him, saying, "Are you not the Christ?

Save yourself and us!" But the other answered and rebuking him said, "Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds. But this man has done nothing wrong." And he was saying, "Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom." And he said to him, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with me in paradise." It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, because the sun was obscured, and the veil of the temple was torn in two.

And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." Having said this, he breathed his last. Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he began praising God, saying, "Certainly this man was innocent." And all the crowds who came together for this spectacle, when they observed what had happened, began to return, beating their breasts.

And all this, Quentin says, and the women who accompanied him from the galley were standing at a distance, seeing these things. Amen. We're going to begin our evening service with a time of singing praise. After that, there will be a short video presentation. But at this time, would you please bow your heads with me in a word of prayer?

Our God, we truly do want to thank you for the privilege of being able to worship you. And Father God, this evening we pray, God, that you would grant to us remembrance of the many times that we have perhaps heard this story. Help us, Father God, to know you and your suffering.

Lord, we know that physically you were beaten. Scripture says, Lord, that you have been pierced for our transgressions. You were beaten and bruised. You were scourged, Lord. But beyond all the physical suffering, we know that you endured an indescribable pain of the wrath of God, having carried our sins on your shoulders.

And so for that, Lord, your incredible work, we thank you so much. And we pray, Father, that every single person this evening would give to you their adoration and praise, would give to you their trust and faith, would give to you, Father God, the honor that you are due.

Lord, we thank you and praise you. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. Before the throne of God. The throne above. Ever strong and perfectly. Made a priest whose name is love. Ever lives and for me. My name is graven on his hand. My name is written on his heart.

I know that while in these days. Duncan did meet his creator. Duncan did meet his creator. Satan tempts me to his plan. Bows me up, but guilt within. How could I look and see him there? He had meant my sin. Because of sin and sinner God. My sinful soul is counted three.

For God the justice satisfied. God in heaven. He made it. God in heaven. There was in the land. A perfect spot of righteousness. A great unchangeable I am. The king of glory and of grace. One with himself I cannot die. My soul is purchased by his blood. My life is hidden in his honor.

That's my savior. Glory to God. That's my savior. Glory to God. One with himself I cannot die. My soul is purchased by his blood. My life is hidden with Christ on high. Christ my savior. Glory to God. Christ my savior. Glory to God. You're called to come. Behold the wondrous cross.

To its blows embrace. To be such cause. Bear your powers, love. Conquer my powers. Send me out. Mercy's arms will open wide. My heart is filled with a thousand songs. Singing the glories of Calvary. Every breath for how I long. Sing of Jesus who died for me. To the king.

To the glories of Calvary. Sing, let's rise to enjoy the triumph of your grace. By our saints who've fallen. The rite has been committed. And your saints below, join with your saints above. Rejoice in him who lives in heaven. My heart is filled with a thousand songs. Singing the glories of Calvary.

Every breath for how I long. Sing of Jesus who died for me. My heart is filled with a thousand songs. Singing the glories of Calvary. Every breath for how I long. Sing of Jesus who died for me. Oh, take me deeper into the glories. Oh, take me deeper into the glories.

Oh, take me deeper into the glories of Calvary. Ark of ages, clap for me. Let me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood from thy wounded side explode. Be of sin a double cure. Save from wrath and make me pure. Not the lame of my year can fulfill thy love's demand.

Could my zeal nor respite know? Could my tears forever flow? All could see the sin atone. Thou must save and thou alone. With life and life within my hands I pray. Simply to the cross I pray. Make it come to thee, dress. Hopeless love to thee I praise. Pallor to thee, pound by pound.

Watch me save the war I die. I withdraw this bleeding breath when my eyes shall close in death. When I saw two worlds were formed, see beyond thy judgment thrown. Ark of ages, clap for me. Let me hide myself in thee. Ark of ages, clap for me. Let me hide myself in thee.

(speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) - Good evening.

The video that you just saw was a presentation of a witnessing that was taking place in Jerusalem and a gospel being shared straight out of the Old Testament and particularly Isaiah chapter 53. The events that we celebrate and remember this evening took place more than 2,000 years ago, but the prophecy about what was going to happen was prophesied in Isaiah and many other places, but specifically in Isaiah chapter 53, even 700 years before Jesus showed up.

He left his witness so clearly in the scripture. And what we're gonna be reading from and studying from is in Isaiah 53, again, from the Old Testament. So I'm going to be reading the prelude to Isaiah 53 and then let me pray, and then we'll jump into the text this evening.

Behold, my servant will prosper. He will be high and lifted up, greatly exalted. Just as many were astonished at you, my people, so his appearance was marred more than any man in his form more than the sons of men. Thus he will sprinkle many nations. Kings will shut their mouths on account of him.

For what had not been told them, they will see, and what they had not heard, they will understand. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we come before you with heavy hearts, remembering the suffering that Christ endured for our sake. I pray, Father God, that we would not simply be bystanders watching.

I pray, Father God, that you would bring to remembrance that all of this happened for us. We pray, Father, that as we walk through the preparation, the prophecies that are laid out in Isaiah 53, open our eyes, soften our hearts, that we may hear from you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

As you know, all over the world today is celebrated, and it's called Good Friday. Why is this day called good, since it is a day that we remember the suffering of Christ? Crucifixion, one of the most torturous, humiliating way a human being can ever be executed. We don't celebrate the crucifixion because of what happened.

We celebrate this day because of why it happened. And so I wanna go through the text in Isaiah 53, because it lays out for us who he is, and what it is that he has accomplished, and why it is called Good Friday today. So if you have, the parents, if you were able to download, we have an outline for the children, but that outline is gonna be consistent for the parents as well.

So if you wanna look at that as we go, and I wanna just jump straight into the text for the sake of time. There are six things that this text describes for us of who Jesus is, and again, why do we call this Good Friday? Number one, it begins by telling us that Jesus was a man just like us.

Jesus was a man just like us. In verse two it says, for he grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of parched ground. Now the description of the Messiah, he says he will grow up like a tender shoot. In other words, not much hope.

If you've ever planted anything in your home, or gardening of any kind, a tender shoot is a description of something that you've planted, and you're not sure if this is going to grow. There's no nurturing, it doesn't have all the necessities. You look at it, and it's feeble. The root out of the parched ground, talking about that not only is it a tender shoot, but the ground itself could not cultivate it.

In other words, this is a description of his humanity. The Bible says that he left everything, all of his glory, and he took on frail humanity, took on a tender shoot. So the first thing that we need to remember, what we celebrate this evening, or remember this evening, is that Christ was a human being, 100% human being, just like us.

You know, yesterday, as Pastor Peter Chung was sharing with us about Jesus's suffering, and as he was praying, or Pastor Nate was sharing with us about how Jesus was praying at the Garden of Gethsemane, and afterwards, our family got together, and one of my kids asked, "Was Jesus scared?" You know, when Jesus prayed before the Father three times, and he prayed to God, "Is there a way for this cup, this suffering, to pass?" And yet, he says, "But not my will, but thy will be done." You know, Christ, all throughout ministry, all throughout his life, he seemed like Superman.

You know, in the middle of the storm, when all the fishermen are afraid that they're gonna die, Jesus is sleeping. When the leaders wanted to kill Jesus, he would just walk through the crowd and just disappear. If he needed to get anywhere, he would just walk on water. He would tell the storm just to stop, and it would stop.

People are hungry, thousands of them. All he has to say is just give them food, and food would appear. He doesn't, at least on the surface, doesn't seem like a man, or at least no man that you and I know, doesn't seem like he has superhuman abilities. But at the Garden of Gethsemane, he looks just like us.

His prayer doesn't fit, because all up to this point, he's been talking about how he's going to go to the cross, how he's gonna be beaten, how he's gonna be buried, and then he's gonna be resurrected. He's been telling his disciples that. He's been preparing them for the last three years.

And yet, just a few hours before the crucifixion, he is wrestling before his father, anxious, concerned, agonizing. Is there a way for this cup to pass from me? He was 100% human. Now, there is a debate as to whether Jesus can experience fear. Isn't that sin? But if you look at the text, and again, we can debate this, but when you look at the simple presentation of the text, why was he anxious?

Why was he concerned? Why was he agonizing? Like any other human being, he saw the suffering coming, and possibly there was some fear in him. I don't know why, but I can imagine another human being just like me, because that's exactly how I would be feeling in that situation, knowing that in just a few hours, not only would I be beaten, I'd be crucified, nailed, and I would experience the most excruciating pain that I've ever experienced in my life.

And I'm gonna be doing this all for people who are going to be mocking me, 'cause I can see that that's exactly what I would be feeling at that moment. He seems so human. Right before he went to the cross. He didn't have any special privilege. He wasn't born into a rich family.

He was just like us. His ministry, his childhood. You know, a lot of times I hear people say, because Jesus was 100% man, 100% God, that he may be just coming back from school, walked on water. Anytime he was hungry, he could've turned fish, you know, multiplied and fed his family, but I don't think that's how Jesus lived.

Because the only reason why he performed these miracles is so that he can point as a sign so that they would recognize who he is. I think Jesus lived a very ordinary life, like us. He was human. Sometimes we think of our Messiah as superhuman. So we think of his suffering, his beating, his rejection, his betrayal, and we can't relate because he's superman.

He doesn't get hurt. He doesn't have feelings. But the Bible describes him as just like us. So first thing that it tells us, he was human being, frail, just like us. And because he was human, number two, along with that, he says in number two that Jesus was not physically attractive.

Physically, in verse two, verse B, it says, he has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to him. I don't know about you, but ever since I was young, the picture that I've had of Jesus was always blonde hair, blue eyed, fair skin, tall, young, strong man, with perfectly straight hair.

Very attractive. I mean, the picture that I've seen when I was younger, he could easily be a movie star. But that's not how the Bible describes him. He says there was nothing about his physical appearance that any of us would be attracted to him. I remember years ago when I first became a Christian in the mid 80s, an archeologist who was challenging this European version of Jesus Christ and saying that a Jewish rabbi who lived as a carpenter in Nazareth would have looked very, very different than the pictures that we have in the Western world.

And I was very curious, so I picked up the article, and they had a physical rendition of what a Jewish middle-aged man would have looked like who worked with his hands all his life in that area. And I remember looking at that picture, and I got scared. Because it was so unlike the picture that I had in my head, and I didn't want Jesus to look like that.

Because that's not a type of person that I would run to. Because of Jesus, I pictured in my head, like a movie star. No wrinkles on his face. He's a type of person that every young teenager would want to be like. But the picture of Jesus that I saw in that newspaper saying that this is what an average, not an ugly man, an average man of this era who worked physically would have looked like.

His hair was unkept, wrinkles all over his face, teeth out of place. In reality, that's probably closer to what Jesus may have looked like. If you travel around the world where people don't have easy access to medicine or to dentists, and they've worked on the field all their lives, and I go to certain parts of the world where it's like that for missions, and I would run into somebody thinking that they must be 70, 80 years old, but I've run into people thinking, treating them, giving them respect, and realize that they were actually younger than me.

40, 50 year olds with no teeth and been out in the sun all their life, and they look 20, 30 years older than somebody who's in their 40s and 50s here. See, we have a Hollywood version of what Christ looks like, but the Bible describes that Christ was a man just like us.

Not only was he like us, physically there was nothing about him that we would have been attracted to. He would have never been a movie star. He wouldn't have been a good politician 'cause even politicians have to be attractive. There was nothing physically about him that would have attracted anybody.

Thirdly, Jesus experienced sorrow and grief in his life because he was human, because he was frail. Verse three, he was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and like one from whom men hide their face, he was despised, and he did not esteem him.

We did not esteem him. Because he was a human being, as there's nothing attractive about him, humanly speaking, he didn't grow up with privilege. He had to work with his hands. He experienced suffering like any other human being. Hebrews 4, 15, it says, "For we do not have a high priest "who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, "but one who has been tempted in all things "as we are, yet without sin." Says he was tempted in all things.

He experienced sorrow. Many people say that Joseph, his father, earthly father, is not in the picture by the time Jesus comes into ministry. Many people think that the reason why is he may have lost his father at a young age, which would have been very typical of that time.

So being the oldest brother, he had the burden to take care of his mother, his brothers, sisters, or whatever siblings that he may have had, working hard. Could he have been teased at school? Maybe he had been bullied. You know, Tip, I hear stories about people imagining what Christ would have been like.

He would have been a carpenter, and every table he made was perfect. Every measurement that he made was exactly perfect. It was 12 inches, it was exactly 12 inches because he was perfect and he never sinned. Well, it's not sinful to make crooked tables. If he was a human being like the rest of us, he probably dealt with difficult customers.

I didn't want the table to look like that. I didn't want the chairs to look like that. You know, maybe Jesus may not have been an average child. And you know what happens to children who aren't average and they don't fit in? Maybe get bullied. Maybe his siblings resented him because his parents were always comparing them to Jesus.

My guess is he experienced suffering like the rest of us. He grew up poor. I could imagine the loneliness that Jesus must have felt. You know, I think one of the hardships of living in a fallen world is loneliness, isolation. I know we're all isolated in our homes and we're trying to connect through the internet, but if you read the Genesis account, the very first thing that happens when Adam and Eve fall is they hide from each other.

And you can be surrounded by hundreds of people. You can come to church where hundreds of people are your friends. Loneliness isn't equated with the number of people who you are with or without. Loneliness and isolation comes with sin. Now Christ, his loneliness was different because he was a man of God.

His loneliness was different because he was the only one that was righteous. No one would have possibly understood him. He experienced all of this. In fact, I believe Jesus was more acquainted with sin than all of us because he was more fully aware. Remember when Jesus was taken up to the mountain after Satan tries to tempt him?

And then finally he takes him up to and shows him all the things that he is in charge of. And he says, looking at all the glory of all the kingdoms, he said, "If you would just bow down, "I would give this to you." Can you imagine Jesus looking at all what he has declared, what Satan has declared to be glory, knowing that he came down because of the filth that was in this kingdom?

When he was looking at what Satan called glory, he saw sexual perversion. What Satan declared to be glorious that he was offering and tempting Jesus, there's division, there's hatred, there's murder, there's strife, there's sex trafficking, prostitution. All that, all the kingdom that Satan is talking about, Jesus was more than fully aware.

Sin is ugly. That's our tendency, is to always put our best foot forward. We dress up, we watch our speech, our conduct, especially when there's a lot of people. The more people that we are surrounded by, the more attention that we give to how we present ourselves. But with sin, which is in all of us, we do our best to hide.

Jesus Christ knew all of that. He suffered because he took on humanity. He experienced the temptation that we experienced. He experienced the grief that we experienced and the agonizing prayer that he offered up to his father. Now, whether you wanna call it fear or anxiousness, he was human. But not only did he, was he acquainted with his own grief, number four, Jesus also experienced our grief and our sorrows on top of his own sorrows.

Verse four, "Surely our griefs he himself bore "and our sorrows he carried. "Yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken, "smitten of God and afflicted. "But he was pierced through for our transgressions. "He was crushed for our iniquities. "The chastening for our well-being fell upon him "and by his scourging we are healed." Not only did he experience suffering because he himself was human being, the scripture says that he experienced our grief and our sorrow upon himself.

Now, some people may say, you know, I don't know if Jesus would really understand. If you are a Jewish man between the age of 30 and 33 and you happen to be a carpenter, maybe you can relate to him. Or maybe if you're a male, you can relate to him.

We might say, Jesus was never married so he doesn't know the kind of strife that I have. He's never raised sinful children so he doesn't know the struggle that I have. He wasn't a female. So the challenges that come living in a fallen world with surrounded by a bunch of crass men, he doesn't know that suffering.

Well, he knows that more intimately than you and I know. Any of us who have children, or it doesn't even have to be children. It could be somebody that you dearly love. You know when they suffer, you suffer along with them. I remember my oldest child, Jeremy. He's turning 23 this year, this Sunday actually.

You know, this is our church's 23rd anniversary and he's turning 23. I remember as a young child, when he was about a year and a half old, he broke his elbow, his arm. And so we couldn't console him. I was carrying him around. I was walking back and forth down the hallways and I see a lot of pictures of parents consoling your children at church or in your home on Instagram.

And I remember that day like it was yesterday, trying to console him for hours and hours. And clearly something was wrong. We couldn't comfort him. So eventually we realized something was wrong, so we took him to the hospital and they needed to take the x-ray. And Jeremy just freaked out.

I mean, usually you can contain him and give him lollipop or promise him something and then he'll calm down. But as soon as we put him on that x-ray table, he was only a year and a half to possibly two years old. And as a grown man, I literally had to get on the table and pin him down because he was screaming at the top of his lungs for a good 10, 12 minutes straight.

And the only way that the doctor was able to take a picture of his elbow was because I was on top of every other part of his body except for his arm. And I remember that whole time thinking, "Hurry up and get this over with." Every part of me felt the pain and the agony of what my son was going through.

I think every single one of us can relate. If you have children or maybe your father or mother. Every one of my children, at some point, we could see the sin that was growing in them. And it's heartbreaking. Whether it happens one or two or three where they just look straight in your eye, they just lie.

And you realize they're sinners too. You try your best to protect them, to teach them the right ways. You do home Bible study, memorize scripture, Sunday school. And when you see sin in them, and it's not that you didn't know, but it's different when you see it. They're fallen too.

And I remember Isaiah. I don't remember too many times that I spanked him. I probably maybe once or twice, but I remember not that long ago, maybe about six, seven months ago, I had to give him a big spanking. And I took him upstairs. And again, I'm not in the habit of spanking him, so it's pretty rare.

And I could tell he knew exactly why he was getting spanked. And I could tell that he was sorry. And I could tell he felt really bad for disappointing us. But it was bad enough where we felt that he needed the spanking. So I took him upstairs and I spanked him.

Spanked him hard, three times. And I remember the whole time thinking, I wish I could take his place. If you've loved anybody in your life, and you see them suffering, even if it's their fault, you know exactly what I'm talking about. 'Cause you suffer with them. When they get punished, you get punished with them.

And as a father, every single one of my children, you see sin overtaking their hearts. I wish I could take their place. 'Cause I know what that sin is going to do. I know that sin is going to bring a hardship. It's going to bring pain and isolation. Jesus, not only suffered because of his humanity, he suffered because of our sins.

As much as I look at my children and wish that I could take their place, I have no power to do that. Bible says that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. How much did God love us? How much did Christ love us? That he'd be willing to let go of all of his glory and take our place.

That's exactly what the scripture says. And yet he came and he suffered on our behalf. And it says in verse six, all of us like sheep have gone astray. Each of us turned to his own way. Young, old, rich, poor, educated and uneducated, well-informed and uninformed. 100% of humanity has been infected by this disease.

And the fatality rate for this infection is 100%. When God looked at us, instead of smashing us, he had compassion. He suffered because he loved us. He bore our grief, he bore our sorrows. Yet, it says, we did not esteem him because we did not recognize him. We esteemed him as strict and smitten by God and afflicted.

The leaders, as he was going to the cross, was angry with him. Even though Christ came to die for the sins of the world, the leaders of Israel who represented God was angry with him because they felt that Jesus was getting in their way. The crowds were disappointed with him because Jesus let them down.

He wasn't the Messiah that they expected. They thought he was going to feed him and heal him, take over the Roman government, put them in the high position. But when it looked like Jesus was just gonna give in, the crowd yelled, "Barabbas, Barabbas." They were disappointed with him. His disciples that he walked with, ate with, for three years, they were confused.

And the leader of that group, Peter, denied him to his face. Have you ever been betrayed in your life? Somebody that you loved and cared for? Jesus was just like us. Jesus was a human being just like us. How do you think he felt when the crowds that he wept for turned and he started hearing, "Barabbas, Barabbas?" How do you think he felt when he turned around and all his disciples are already gone?

And the only disciple that he sees, his close earthly companion, "I don't know this man. "I don't know this man." The leaders were angry, the crowds are disappointed, the disciples were confused, and in the end, they all abandoned him. But despite all of that, the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him.

Number five, Jesus kept silent despite the great injustice. Despite all of that. It says in verse seven, he was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth like a lamb that is led to slaughter and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so he did not open his mouth.

Have you ever been wronged or accused of something that you didn't do? Maybe you got in trouble by your parents. Maybe your younger brother was crying and it wasn't your fault, but you got into trouble. Do you remember what that felt like? Maybe you were driving the speed limit and you got pulled over and they gave you a ticket.

The whole time, you say, "I didn't do it, I didn't do it." Maybe you're at work and you worked your tail off and somebody else at work got the promotion besides you and they got the credit. Something as simple as somebody else taking your parking spot. You're waiting, you're next in line and a guy just pulls in and comes in.

Do you remember how you felt when you felt injustice? Even something as trivial as somebody taking your spot in line? See, when we are wronged, when we experience injustice, it is our natural, natural reaction to proclaim justice that this is wrong. In fact, I was reading in a CIA report, they said one of the consistent characteristics of somebody in the interrogation who is not guilty is that when you accuse them of their guilt, they react with anger and they persist in their anger, saying that they are wrongly accused and they will fight, they will scream, they will go into lawsuits, sometimes for years and years and years and they said that is a consistent behavior of somebody who is innocent.

And yet, the scripture says, Jesus in the midst of being accused of the greatest injustice in human history, he says, "Never opened his mouth." When Jesus was being captured by the temple guards, Peter took out his sword, he's, "I'm ready to fight." Jesus rebukes him, said, "Put your sword away." And this is what he says, "Peter, if I wanted to defend myself, "I could have called 12 legions of angels." Now, if you know anything about angels, a one angel can wipe out an army.

A legion is 6,000 of them. Jesus says, "I could have called 12 legions of angels "if I wanted to." Not a word. Not a word. Doesn't open his mouth. He rebukes Peter, "He who lives by the sword "shall die by the sword," and he surrenders. And that's why Peter was so confused, because he knew what Jesus was capable of.

This is a man who just a day or two ago, a few days ago, raised Lazarus from the dead. This is a man who wakes up from his slumber and says, "Calm down, be silent." And the storm calms down. This is a man, all he has to do is say, "Get up and walk." And the man who was lame all his life, he just gets up and walk.

And yet, these soldiers come, he says nothing. He does nothing. He doesn't even open his mouth. He surrenders and he just follows. In John 19, 10 through 11, before Pilate, he says, "You do not speak to me," Pilate says to him, "Do you not know that I have authority to release you "and I have authority to crucify you?" Jesus answered, "You would have no authority over me, "unless it has been given you from above.

"For this reason, he who delivered me to you "has the greater sin." Jesus just surrendered himself. He kept silent. Jesus prepared all his life for this moment. But he was just like us. He was just like us. He probably was infuriated just like us. You know, I was talking to my wife, thinking, just how much restraint that Jesus must have practiced all his life.

Because all Jesus had to do when he became angry was just like that. And he could have just gotten rid of them. When the leaders were coming to kill him, he would have said, "That's enough." They would have been gone. Consider how often you and I are bitter, are angry, and only if we had the power, what we would do with that power in our anger.

But Jesus was restrained all his life, all his life. The sinners were spitting on him, striking him, making a crown of thorns, and pushing that deep into his skull, and refraining to speak. When Jesus rode in on the donkey, he wept. But he didn't weep for himself. He wept for them.

He wept for them, 'cause he knew what was coming. As he washed the disciples' feet, he knew they were gonna betray him. He was frail. But in his silence, he was powerful. Sixth and finally, Jesus was crucified, crushed ultimately by his own father, by his own father. Verse 10, it says, "But the Lord was pleased to crush him, "putting him to grief.

"He would render himself as a guilt offering. "He will see his offering. "He will prolong his days, "and the good pleasure of the Lord "will prosper in his hand." He was pleased, it says. The father was pleased to crush him. Obviously, he's not talking about pleased as in it brought him joy.

He was pleased in the sense that he willed it. This was his purpose. This was his doing, to crush his son. You know, I've been a father for 23 years, and never, ever have I ever made a decision to sacrifice my son and any of my children for good of somebody else.

Every decision that I made was to protect them. Every decision I made was to provide for them, as much as I could. But never have I ever even entertained the thought of hurting any one of my children, so that another child would benefit from their suffering. But that's exactly what it says here.

The father and son planned from the beginning that they would do this. When Jesus hung upon the cross, he did yell and scream before he gave up his final breath. But he wasn't yelling at the Roman soldiers who were mocking him. He didn't yell, "Do you not know who I am?

"How dare you?" He didn't yell at the Jewish leaders. "Vengeance will come upon you." He didn't scream at the crowds. "How could you betray me after all I've done for you?" He didn't cry out to his disciples. "How can you abandon me in my greatest time of need?" He cried out to his father.

Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani. He cried out to his father. "My Lord, my Lord, my God, my God, "why have you forsaken me?" He didn't yell at us. He didn't yell at the Jews. He didn't yell at the soldiers. He didn't yell at his disciples. He cried out to the one who put him on the cross.

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" I think about who I am as a man. I know my sins. I know my sins intimately. I am not worthy of his blood. I am not worthy of his suffering. I am not worthy of his love. Yet he gave it to me anyway.

This is why I want to tell the world about this man. This is why this ugly day (coughs) this ugly, dark day, betrayal, mocking, flogging, piercing, crucifixion is called good. Scripture says, after he cried out, and he says, "It is finished." And he gave up his spirit. Let me ask you, you know, sometimes we celebrate these events as a religious festival because we are told it's important.

Because the world celebrates it, it must be important. But it's not personal. Sometimes we worship him from a distance. He's no more than an idea. Something, some historical figure who's done good. And it's a tragedy that we would remember his suffering as if he had nothing to do with us.

All this was for me. All this was for you. The same invitation that he gave 2,000 years ago. Come to me, he said, all who are weary and heavy laden. We are weary and heavy laden, not because we don't have enough money, not because we don't have enough friends, not because we don't have this or that.

We're weary and heavy laden because of the burden of sin in our lives. Nobody, nothing in this world can cure that. No amount of love of the father, love of the mother, no amount of the parent's sacrifice can change a sinner's heart toward God. He said, come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

This rest he's not talking about is vacation. He's not talking about lack of work or putting enough money in our bank account. He's talking about a rest that can only come when we are reconciled to the author of life. Jesus said, if you drink of the water from this world, you will thirst again.

If you eat of the bread of this world, you will hunger again. But the bread that I give you, you will never hunger. And the water that I give you will spring up into eternal life, and you will never thirst again. If there's anybody out there who haven't given your life to Christ, and you feel the weight of your sins, come to Christ.

Ask for forgiveness. You know, I asked Richard, our AV director, to put my email on the bottom of the screen, because I want to invite you. I wanna personally invite you. If you have questions, you wanna pray, you wanna meet God, and you don't know how to do it yourself, email me.

I wanna answer your questions. I wanna pray with you. I wanna guide you. If I need to direct you to some right people, I wanna do that. But I wanna invite you now. If all of you who are out there, if you can take a minute to pray with me.

Just close your eyes, wherever you are, and I know you parents who are sitting next to your children, it might be difficult for you, but just close your eyes with me and pray with me. First, I wanna speak to the believers. I pray that Jesus' death and resurrection will not just pass us by like it does every year, thanking Jesus, and never really having any real impact in our lives.

Let the suffering of Christ and his resurrection change everything about who we are. Live as if we are passing through, because that's exactly what the Bible says. We're here for a short period of time. We're here for a short period of time. Let's live for eternity. Take some time to pray.

If you haven't cried out to God in a while, it doesn't have to be audible. You could just be quietly in your heart. Cry out to God. I need you. I need you. If there's anybody who's out there who's been struggling and drifting, take this opportunity to come before God.

You don't have to pray many words. It doesn't have, you don't even have to quote scripture. Just be honest before God. Lord, I've been strayed, and I'm just so frustrated with myself. I need your help. Make an honest confession. If there's anybody out there who's been curious, but has never committed your life to Christ, I pray that you would do that now.

Just come before God and say, "God, if you're there, "and if what you've said in Isaiah 53, "if what you've said in the scripture, "if what I've been hearing from my friends, "if this is true, "that the God of the universe had compassion on me, "and he died and took my sorrows upon himself, "Lord, I wanna be recipient of that gift." Forgive me.

Lord, forgive my sins. And honestly confess that to him. He is faithful and just if you confess your sins, to forgive you of all your unrighteousness. Let's take a few minutes to pray before we ask the praise team to lead us. Let me pray for us, and I'm just gonna give you a few minutes to pray, and then we'll go straight into the final worship.

Heavenly Father, Lord, the message of the cross is everything to us. Lord, I remember that night when you opened my eyes, and that I believed, and I saw you for the first time in my life, how it changed everything. I pray, Father God, that you would do that for someone tonight.

Open their eyes, soften their hearts, Lord God, that they may see you. Let them see the glory of what you have done for us on the cross, so that they may not hear these words as just historical facts. They may hear the loving voice of their Savior calling out to them, "Come to me, "if you are weary and heavy laden." If you are weary and heavy laden, that they may truly find rest in you.

I pray for our brothers and sisters, Lord God, whether we have been doing well, or we have been struggling, I pray that the word of the cross, and the suffering that you endured, that you may take our sorrows and grief and bear it upon Christ, your Son, would deeply affect our hearts, that you would bring a revival.

And I pray, Father God, that this period of isolation would wake up the church, that we would be mindful, Lord God, of the world that we live in. That as you said, that we are the light, and we are the salt of this earth, help us, Lord God, to live as salt and light.

Open our eyes to see those who are living in fear, Father, because they do not have hope for death. Help us, Lord God, to be a light in this dark world. May this unique opportunity that you are giving us, may it not pass by like another day, another year.

Lord, bring revival. We pray all this in Jesus' name, amen. (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) ♪ See the dawn of the darkest day ♪ ♪ Christ on the road to Calvary ♪ ♪ Tried by sinful men ♪ ♪ Torn and beaten then ♪ ♪ And to a cross of woe ♪ ♪ This the power of the cross ♪ ♪ Christ became sin for us ♪ ♪ Took the blame ♪ ♪ Bore the wrath we stand forgiven at the cross ♪ ♪ Forgiven at the cross ♪ ♪ Won't you see the pain ♪ ♪ Won't you see the pain ♪ ♪ Bitten on your face ♪ ♪ Bearing the awesome weight of sin ♪ ♪ Every bitter thought ♪ ♪ Every evil deed ♪ ♪ Crowned in your bloodstained brow ♪ ♪ This the power of the cross ♪ ♪ Christ became sin for us ♪ ♪ Took the blame ♪ ♪ Bore the wrath we stand forgiven at the cross ♪ (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) ♪ Now the daylight flees ♪ ♪ Now the ground beneath ♪ ♪ Waits as its main roof ♪ ♪ Bows his head ♪ ♪ To tell the truth ♪ ♪ There is still life ♪ ♪ To finish the race ♪ ♪ Be crowned ♪ ♪ This the power of the cross ♪ ♪ Christ became sin for us ♪ ♪ Took the blame ♪ ♪ Bore the wrath we stand forgiven at the cross ♪ (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) ♪ Won't you see the pain ♪ ♪ It's in the blues ♪ ♪ Worn through in the sun ♪ ♪ I am the wind ♪ ♪ This cross to bear ♪ ♪ I was born to live ♪ ♪ Born to yourself ♪ ♪ This the power ♪ ♪ This the power of the cross ♪ ♪ Son of God ♪ ♪ Saved for us ♪ ♪ Bore the wrath ♪ ♪ Bore the wrath we stand forgiven at the cross ♪ ♪ This the power ♪ ♪ Of the cross ♪ ♪ Son of God ♪ ♪ Saved for us ♪ ♪ What a love ♪ ♪ What a cost we stand forgiven at the cross ♪ ♪ This the power ♪ ♪ Of the cross ♪ (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) - And before we pray and finish our Good Friday service, again, we wanna remind you of the 10 o'clock resurrection service.

We don't have our normal early rise service this year, but again, at 10 o'clock, we wanna invite you to come and again, learn with us, not only his suffering, but his resurrection and what it means for us as Christians. Let's pray. Father, know the amount of praise that we give you.

Forever come close to what you deserve. I pray, Father God, that you would cause all of our hearts, wherever we may be, deeply in gratitude. Lord God, not just superficially from a distance, know Father God that all of this was for us, was for me. Help us, Lord God, to see your word differently.

Help us, Lord, to worship differently. Help us, Lord God, to see finance differently. Help us to see what is going on around us, Lord God, with this virus. Help us, Lord, not to see it and to act like the rest of the world. Help us to live, behave, and speak as men who have hope, women who have hope.

Lord, as you promised that one day that you will come, and that when Christ, who is our life, when he appears, that we would appear with him. Help us, Lord God, to prepare our hearts for Sunday worship, that this celebration all around the world, Lord God, I pray as people's hearts are more fertile now than ever, that you would anoint this special season for your glory, that we may hear of thousands, of millions of people who may have never heard the gospel if it wasn't for this.

May this situation bring you much glory. May it bring revival. May your name be honored. May our hearts be renewed. Now the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit and eternal love of God the Father, rest and restore and magnify your church for the sake of your glory.

Amen. ♪ Promises are yes and amen ♪ ♪ Faithful you are, yes ♪ ♪ Faithful forever you will be ♪ ♪ Faithful you are, yes you are ♪ ♪ All your promises are yes and amen ♪ (gentle music) ♪ I will rest in your promises ♪ ♪ My confidence is your faithfulness ♪ ♪ I will rest in your promises ♪ ♪ My confidence is your faithfulness ♪ ♪ I will rest in your promises ♪ ♪ My confidence is your faithfulness ♪ ♪ I will rest in your promises ♪ ♪ My confidence ♪ www.mmtoolparts.com