The Crucifixion, Matthew 27:27-44

In this sermon, Pastor Aaron Shamp explores the ironies of the crucifixion of Jesus in Matthew 27. Drawing upon insights from D. A. Carson, he highlights three main ironies: the man who was mocked as king was actually the true king, the man who appeared powerless was actually powerful, and the man who couldn't save himself actually saved others. Pastor Aaron emphasizes that Jesus' crucifixion was not just about the historical details but about the meaning and theology behind it. He encourages listeners to stake their lives upon the cross of Christ by loving God, wrestling with sin, and carrying their cross in active obedience.

Takeaways

• The crucifixion of Jesus was marked by several ironies, highlighting the shame and suffering he endured.
• Jesus, who was mocked as king, was actually the true king and the one who would establish the kingdom of God.
• Despite appearing powerless on the cross, Jesus was still powerful and could have saved himself, but he chose to save others by laying down his life.
• To stake our lives upon the cross of Christ, we must love God, wrestle with sin, and actively obey Him by carrying our cross.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction
00:35 Reading Matthew 27:27-44
04:05 The Shame and Irony of the Cross
05:30 Three Ironies of the Cross
06:26 Irony 1: Hail, King of the Jews
08:17 Irony 2: The Powerless One
10:01 Irony 3: The Man Who Saves Others
18:34 The Crucifixion Process
20:57 The Powerlessness of Jesus
25:06 Mocking and the Irony of Saving Others
29:05 Staking Your Life on the Cross
34:17 Conclusion and Prayer

Creators & Guests

Host

Aaron Shamp

Lead Pastor of Redeemer City Church

What is Redeemer City Church - Lafayette, LA?

Pastor Aaron Shamp preaches about the Gospel and facets of Christianity at Redeemer City Church. These podcasts are his sermons.

Aaron Shamp (00:00)
27 and we're going to start in verse 27 as well.

So once again, we'll be in Matthew chapter 27, verse 27. I'm going to read 27 through 44. If you don't have your Bible with you, we'll have it on the screens behind me so y 'all can follow along there. But once it looks like everyone's ready, we'll go ahead and jump in with reading this text and seeing what we have to learn from it this morning.

Alright, so in Matthew chapter 27 and verse 27 it says,

Then they spat on him, took the staff, and kept hitting him on the head. After they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe, put his own clothes on him, and led him away to crucify him. As they were going out, they found a Cyrenian man named Simon. They forced him to carry his cross. When they came to a place called Golgotha, which means place of the skull, they gave him wine mixed with gall to drink. But when he tasted it,

he refused to drink it. After crucifying him, they divided his clothes by casting lots. Then they sat down and were guarding him there. Above his head, they put up the charge against him in writing, This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. Then two criminals were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. Those who passed by were yelling insults at him, shaking their heads and saying,

You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself. If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross." In the same way, the chief priests with the scribes and elders mocked him and said, He saved others, but he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel. Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in his God. Let God rescue him now, if he takes pleasure in him. For he said, I am the Son of God. In the same way,

Even the criminals who were crucified with him taunted him.

So whenever we read the Gospels, not only in Matthew, but also in Mark and Luke and John, and we read about the scene of the arrest, trial, the beatings, and crucifixion of Jesus, we find that they don't give us, whenever they highlight in this story the details, they don't highlight the details of the crucifixion itself. You know, they don't highlight the gore and exactly like what happened whenever they...

made a crown of thorns, which would have been these very long thorns that they pressed into his head. You know, like what happened to him whenever they did that? They don't tell us about the details of the scourging and what it did to his body, because those aren't the details that they are interested in. You know, on the one hand, they don't go into that because in the context that they were writing their gospels, everyone kind of knew what it would have looked like. It was something that they were familiar with in their context.

They need not get into the bloody and gory details. But on the other hand, they don't get into those details because those details of the crucifixion are not what they are primarily interested in. They are more interested in some of the other details. That being chiefly one of those is the shame that Jesus endured. The shame of the cross that he endured. Many of the details that they include are things that, once again, in this culture, highlight the shame.

that Jesus endured. You know, just one of the details reading it here that I noticed is how it says whenever they were beating him, Matthew specifically tells us that they were striking him in the head. In this, you know, social context, to be struck in the head, it says they were spitting upon him, to be spat on, to be struck in the head, were special symbols of shame against a person. Because once again, this was an honor and shame culture. And so, Jesus, who had been held in such high regard,

among all the people up until this point, has now brought absolutely down the social scale into the most shameful situation that can be seen. So that's what they are highlighting here. Matthew, even more so, I learned this this week as I was studying, Matthew is highlighting for us not only the shame of the cross that Jesus endured, the shame of the beatings, but he is also highlighting the irony of what is happening in

the passion narrative in Jesus' crucifixion. He's highlighting the irony of it. And that's what we're going to be looking at today when we go through this story. We're going be looking at three great ironies in the cross of Christ that also in the irony bring out the meaning of the cross of Christ, because that's been our goal in this series is to understand, you know, once again, not just the historical details of the cross, but the meaning of it, the theology of it and how it applies to our lives.

One of the things that I studied this week was actually another sermon by Don Carson named Ironies of the Cross, and I just found what he brought out so profound that I'm taking some of his points to make my points today. And so, the three points we're going to go through, we're going to be looking at some of these ironies of the cross that Carson brought out. As we've done in the last weeks, we're going to do this by pulling out a couple of phrases that show us these ironies.

So the first we're going to look at are the words of the Roman guards who are beating him, where they said, Hail King of the Jews, and they had him dressed in a robe with the crown. Then we're going to look at the words of the crowds who were passing by and mocked him, saying, You would destroy the temple. The meaning of that. And now look at how he can't save himself. And then finally, the words of the chief priests and the scribes who said specifically, he saved others, but he cannot save himself.

In each of these phrases, there is this great irony that's happening that helps us to understand the meaning of what is happening in Jesus' crucifixion on His cross. So, let's begin by looking at Hale, King of the Jews. After his trial, you know, he was initially brought before the Sanhedrin. They tried to put him on trial, but before they could have him executed, they would have to bring him before Pilate to get permission because the Jews were allowed a certain amount of self -government.

by the Romans. Remember, the Romans were in charge at this time. They had governors that would sit over each region of the Roman Empire. So, they had a governor sitting over this area in Jerusalem. His name was Pilate, right? And so, his job was essentially to make sure that the empire was funded, so, i .e. taxes, right? And two, that he kept the peace. Keep the peace, stop any uprisings from happening. And so,

especially in this area, you know, they had to govern differently, but especially in this area, the Jews were allowed a certain amount of self -government. The Romans were largely pretty hands -off with them. One thing that they did not allow them to do, though, was to execute someone just on their own authority. So, they would have needed to bring Jesus before Pilate. So, they put him on trial themselves, then they bring him for Pilate, and both trials, they cannot find any charges to bring against him that are worthy of capital punishment.

They're having to make things up and they have to twist his words in order to do this. Even when they bring him before Pilate, Pilate says, I cannot find anything wrong with this man, that he should be condemned to die. What Pilate decides to do is he says, OK, well, I'm going to give you a choice. You can have Jesus be condemned to death as you desire, or you can have Barabbas, who would have been on death row. He was a rebel leader. You can.

who have been on death row, or I can release him, right? So either Jesus goes free or Barabbas goes free and Jesus is gonna be the one put on death row. There's another irony there. Barabbas, the name means son of a father, right? Just like Jesus was the son of God, bar, son, abba, meaning father, Barabbas was a son of the father who was then let go, though he was guilty and Jesus who was innocent was put in his place. They wanted him to be put in his place.

So then after this, Jesus is brought back into a deeper area in the palace where it says the Roman guards put him under further beating. Now what is happening here is unique. It wouldn't have been unique for Jesus to have been beaten in the process of a trial and leading up to a crucifixion. You know, today in our jurisprudence, we see that as bad.

You know, we see that as brutality, obviously as torture, which is wrong, but back then, for them to kind of rough up a suspect before interrogating him was viewed as just good interrogation techniques, right? You kind of soften them up before you go and interrogate him. So for Jesus to have been beaten before being brought to Pilate, which did indeed happen, was absolutely normal.

That would have happened all the time. But for them to then bring him back and beat him again and to dress him up and to bow down before him and to mock him, this was unique. Notice that Matthew also says, before the whole company. You know, I think we often imagine this as three or four, maybe a dozen Roman guards around Jesus whipping him, dressing him, mocking him.

But he says a whole company. In other translations, they say a whole battalion. This would have been about 600 Roman soldiers in a rather large area in a mob -like fashion gathered around Jesus mocking and laughing and whipping him and pressing the crown of thorns to his head. An enormous crowd around him doing this to him. But what they are doing is they're taking this man who is supposedly the king of the Jews and they are...

mocking him because look at where he is now. But what they don't realize is that in mocking him as king and bowing down before him and hailing him as king, in mockery they're actually giving him the kind of reverence that he is due. Because, and this is the first point, the man who was mocked as king was in fact the king. He was mocked as king though he was in fact

The king, Matthew begins his gospel by going through the genealogy of Jesus. He goes through his family history and he kind of does it in broad strokes. It's not an exact genealogy, right? But he kind of does it in broad strokes in these sections. And what he does is he's trying to show us how Jesus is in the direct line of King David, right? We did a whole long...

Eli, you're here today. How long was that series that we did on King David? It was long. You we did a long series on King David a while back. And so you remember that. And in that series, we talked about how King David in Israel's history was the archetypal king, right? He was the king that was supposed to that was like the model that what all kings should be. And they understood that it was going to be another king in the line of David who would be the Messiah, right? Who would be

the ultimate king who would set up another Davidic kingdom that would be without end. Matthew starts his gospel by telling us it is Jesus. He is the one in the line of David who will, he is the Messiah, he is the king who will set up the kingdom of God and his kingdom will be without end. But now look at where he is here, dressed up in a robe.

with a crown of thorns in his head being mocked and hailed as the king. They didn't know it, but they, as the creation, were mocking their creator. They were unknowingly abusing the true king. And that is the first irony that we see here. But if Jesus is the true king, how could he be enduring something like this? Right? Back then, just as we would understand today, that is not how a king is treated if they are a true king.

kings reign in authority, they reign in security, they reign in power, right? They are not the ones under condemnation and on death row, they place their enemies under condemnation and on death row. And so, we look at this scene and we say, he is the true king? How could that be? You know, what sort of king is this that we see here? Well, Jesus told us what sort of king he would be. If you go back to Matthew chapter 20, we've referenced this verse a couple of times now.

When in Matthew chapter 20, Jesus tells us what kind of king he was. The mother of the sons of Zebedee, that would have been James and John, go to Jesus and she asks him, can my sons be like your top two guys in your kingdom? So, when she asks Jesus this question, she says, your kingdom, she is recognizing he is the Messiah. He is the king. He is going to have a kingdom one day that he reigns in that we are citizens of.

And she says, and I want my boys to sit at your right and your left. I want them to be number one and number two. And Jesus tells her, he says, you know, you guys don't know what you're asking for because the type of king that I am is different than what you are expecting. It kind of causes a little bit of a dust up. The disciples start arguing and Jesus clarifies for them this in verse 25 of chapter 20. He says, you know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them. Right?

rulers, kings, reign as we've always seen them and as we understand them reign. He says, and those in high positions act as tyrants over them. It must not be like that among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. Just as the Son of Man, referencing himself, did not come to be served but to serve, this is a different kind of king. But moreover, not just that he flips up on his

head what it means to rule as a king in his kingdom that the path to greatness is actually through serving. He says this, and to give his life as a ransom for many. He tells the disciples, if you want to be great in my kingdom, you're going to serve. He flips that upon his head and he applies that to all of us. But then in that last phrase, he says something that's only about himself. To give his life.

That's the kind of king that he is. He is a king who does not demand that by virtue of us following his king, we will lay down our life for him. Instead, he is the king who lays down his life for us. He is the king who does not say, come and serve me and I will bless you. He is the king who came and by his service to us, blesses us, and then our service is done in return, in response.

to his first serving us, in return to his first laying down his life for us. You see, we lay down our life second in response to him. That's the sort of king that he is. This is why the disciples of Jesus, after his crucifixion and his resurrection, and him sending the Holy Spirit down upon them to go and carry out the word, to be witnesses, this is why they could not abandon the message of the cross, because of verses like,

that we read in Matthew 20, in Matthew chapter 20, because they recognized that it was the cross that signified the type of king that he is. He is the king who gave his life for us. Don Carson said that, he said, that's why for three centuries in the early church, Christians spoke of a Jesus reigning from the cross. You see, they understood the irony. This at a time when if a king reigned, he reigned with authority, where the cross was understood only,

to reflect shame and execution, destitution, despair, horrible suffering, and odium. Yet, Christians dared to speak of a Jesus reigning from the cross. Our King reigns from his cross. And that's the first irony that we see here in Matthew 27, that they were mocking as king the one who was the true king. After that, they strip him again and they bring him out of

So they might lead him to the place where he would be executed. They would do their crucifixions in very public places. Note that it says they lead him out of the city because they're taking him to a spot outside of the city. They had a designated spot located at a place called Golgotha and transliterated into Latin and into English. That's why we call it Calvary. But Golgotha, Calvary is the same location. OK.

So they lead him out to that place, which would have been on a highway leading in and out of Jerusalem. It would have been a place where everyone who would have been having to come in and out of that city would have seen the victims of crucifixion. In fact, it being the designated location, the Romans would leave the uprights of the cross in place there. You know, they didn't take them away and put them back in every time. That would have taken too long, but too much work. So instead, they would just leave the blood -soaked, stained,

crosses uprights in place there, but they would take down the crossbar of the cross. And the victim of crucifixion, after their trial, would have to carry their crossbar out of the city that they would be crucified and executed upon, and then they would have to carry it out to where the crosses were at Golgotha. The Romans would place the crossbar up there and then hang the victim upon it, either by nailing them to it or by hanging their arms with ropes and then nailing their feet in.

bottom of the cross. The victims of crucifixion most often didn't die because of the beating, they didn't die most often because of the loss of blood, they actually would die because of suffocation. Because whenever they were hung in that position with their arms out and they're hanging by their arms, it would constrict the muscles of the torso in such a way that the diaphragm couldn't work properly and so they couldn't breathe. So the only way for them to be able to breathe would be to press,

where their feet were nailed at the bottom to push their legs up so they were hanging by their arms and they could breathe. But they can only do that for so long where until the pain of either the nails and the feet, or they would start experiencing muscle spasms, they would drop again. And they would, of course, once again, start being suffocated. And so victims of the cross would actually be crucified and hung up there. And it was not quick. Their death would be prolonged as they were suffocating and they would stand up and

try to breathe, only to fall because of muscle spasms. They would usually die by muscle spasms or suffocation over the course of hours, if not in some cases days. This is why it says that the Romans brought him out there and then the guards, after crucifying, stood guard. Because what the Romans learned is that if they didn't stand guard and they just left the victim there, sometimes family and friends of the victim could come and actually take them down. And some victims of crucifixion survived because of that.

So the Romans would stand their guard for however many hours it took until the victim of crucifixion would die. If they needed to die a little quicker, what they would do is they would go and smash their shins so that they could no longer hold themselves up and they would die quicker. Jesus would have been brought through all of these normal routines of crucifixion, but because of his whippings and beatings,

He was too powerless to carry his own cross. He couldn't even carry it. Jesus, who taught that we are going to have to pick up and carry our own crosses, couldn't carry his own. It says that a Sirenia man named Simon was forced by the guards to carry the cross of Christ for Jesus out to Golgotha. And then as the Roman guards were standing there, you know, dividing his clothes among themselves, the people were mocking the powerlessness of Jesus.

who just had to have someone else carry his cross for him. And he's up there hanging helpless. And they said, you know, you once declared to all of us that you could tear down the temple and rebuild in three days. But look at you now. The second irony that we see in the story is that the man who is utterly powerless is actually powerful because we know that even on the cross, Jesus could have called down legions of angels. He could have called upon his father.

to come and rescue him, to smite the Romans, to smite those who are mocking him, to rescue him from the cross that he was hanging upon and to save his life. He was still powerful, but because of what he allowed himself to be subjected to, he was too powerless to even carry his own cross, and he had laid down his power so that he could not rescue himself. They were mocking him, saying that he could destroy the temple and rebuild it.

in three days, but here he is who cannot even carry his own cross. What they didn't recognize is that Jesus was referring to himself. One of the places that we see Jesus saying this is in John chapter 2, where he tells them he will tear down this temple and rebuild it in three days. You see, the temple was the meeting place between God and his people. They understood that God is omnipresent, right? That is,

You know, if we're going to get into theology here, philosophical theology, God is omnipresent. He is everywhere. We cannot escape the presence of God. But in another sense, the Jews understood that there is a special presence of God that one can enter into. Yes, we're always in His presence, but there is His relational, there is the covenantal presence of God that we might enter into where we know God, where we have fellowship with Him, relationship with Him. They understood that as being exclusively in the temple.

That's why you had to go to the temple to really engage in true worship, to enter into the presence of God. And even within the temple system, it was only certain priests that could get into that real close covenantal presence of God and the Holy of Holies. That was in the temple. Jesus, whenever he said, I'm gonna tear down this temple and rebuild it in three days, what he was saying is that through his work, there will be a new way to enter into the presence of God. Not just theoretically in that sense that he is omnipresent,

but into that covenantal relational presence of God, where God might be known, fellowshiped with, communed with, where friendship might be developed. And it's now in Jesus, where once the people of God could only enter into that in one place, and even the priest go into that place. You see, what was reserved only for that priest to go into the Holy of Holies is now available to all of us because Jesus has replaced the temple.

They didn't realize it, but he was tearing down the temple and is hanging upon the cross and in his resurrection three days later, rebuilding it in himself. He is now the temple. He's the tabernacle where God and man might meet together. He who is utterly powerless in this moment is actually still the powerful one.

Moreover, just as a point of application, you know, we see Jesus giving up his life on the cross and Simon having to carry the cross for him. It reminds us that Jesus does call us to pick up our cross and carry it with him. When he calls us to do that, he is not calling us to do something that he has not done first for us. Simon carrying Jesus' cross is a picture of what we are all called to, of what you and I are called to every day.

because Jesus is ultimately the one who died upon our cross. We carry the cross he has given us, giving up our lives to him in return. So people who are passing by mocking him saying, you who would destroy the temple, look at you now. It says that the chief priests and the elders, moreover, they come and they mock him saying, he saved others, but he cannot save himself.

He is the king of Israel, supposedly. Let him come down from the cross and then we'll believe in him. He trusts in his God. Let his God rescue him now if he takes pleasure in him. It says moreover that even the criminals who are being crucified with him are mocking him the same way. Once again, Matthew is highlighting for us here the shame of the cross that Jesus endured that even other crucifixion victims are mocking him.

saying similar things to him. If you're so great, come down from that cross, then we'll believe in you." We see the third irony here, that the man who can't save himself actually saves others. What does it mean to save? Whenever we hear that word today, you know, in secular America, what that word often means or what we usually go to is it means maybe putting your money in a bank, you know, you're saving your money in that way.

Sometimes we talk about save in terms of a goal being stopped in a game, right? They made a save there on the basketball court or on the soccer field. Maybe sometimes we talk about saving in terms of, you know, you're backing up files, you're saving those things. But here what it means, whenever they talk about saving and the work of Christ on the cross, what it means is that Jesus is saving people from their sins. He is saving people from their sins. But how is he able to do that?

You know, it is, I've used this illustration a lot of times before, so some of you guys have heard it. If, let me see, if Eli goes over to Matt and he goes and he jumps and punches Matt in the face, I'd have to jump too, it's okay. If he jumps and punches Matt in the face, and then I come step in and I say, it's okay, Eli, I forgive you, right? That would make no sense at all.

Because in that situation, I'm not the offended party. I am not the one who can forgive Eli's sin. I'm not the one who can pay Eli's debt to Matt. Matt is the one who has to forgive. He's the offended party. He is the insulted party, the injured party. He is the one who holds the power to be able to forgive. No one else can come and step in and do that. So what does it mean that Jesus, by not saving himself, is saving others? By not...

Allowing yourself to be taken down from the cross and saving others. Well, what it means is, is that he is able to save us from our sins. He has the authority to forgive because he is the one who was sinned against. He is the one who is personally injured. He is the one who is insulted by our sins because he is, though they're declaring it a mockery, it was in fact truth. He is the son of God.

He is the one who whenever we break the law, we are breaking his law. Whenever we rebel, we are rebelling against him. Whenever we insult and hurt the heart of the Lord, we are insulting and hurting his heart. He is the offended party whom we have sinned against, where in consequence, we should have died on the cross. But instead, the one who was offended, the one whom was sinned against, he went.

and died on our cross. So, by virtue of not saving himself, he saves us. They mock him saying, come down from the cross and then we'll believe in you. What they didn't realize is that it was by him not coming down from the cross that he was saving us. They say, if you trust in your God, then your God will come and rescue you. You always talked about obeying your father, trusting your father, what they didn't know.

is that it was because he trusted in his father that he remained on the cross.

He who was mocked as being unable to save himself was by not sparing his own life. By trusting in the Lord to the point, trusting in his father to the point of death, he was saving us. He was paying our debt so that our sins might be forgiven.

So as you look at these ironies of the cross this morning, you know, I've only pointed out a few, there are more, and we'll see some next week as we go into looking at the moment of his death. But as you see the ironies of the cross and the shame that Jesus endured, the suffering that Jesus endured, the mockery that he endured, and you recognize that he had to endure it, he went there because of my sin, because of your sin.

He was taking the place that we should have been in. As we sing in that song this morning, in that grave should have been us, but he took our place. As you recognize that this morning, will you stake your life upon it? You know, it's like seeing a great investment opportunity and you're saying, wow, that looks promising. That could really be great. It could bring great reward, but you know, unless you stake your money in it.

then it's not gonna bring any kind of reward for you. It's the same with Jesus' cross. You might look at it and say, wow, how wonderful, how nice, what great love. But if you don't go and stake your life in it, if you don't lay down your life upon his cross, if you don't forsake your sin, forsake your idolatry, forsake your rebellion against him, and then go and with empty hands, not bringing good works, not bringing our own robes of righteousness, but with, oh.

open hands go down and lay our life down before Him to follow Him in obedience, service, and worship, then friends, the reward of the cross will not be yours. You have to stake your life upon it. How do you know if you've staked your life upon it? This will just be off the cuff a few applications as we go. If I can speak to you as a pastor this morning.

How do you know if you have staked your life upon it? Number one, you love God. You love Him. You know that you have moved from just religion to knowing Christ and haven't been saved by Him, whenever you move from just wanting what He can give you to wanting Him. You love Him. And even in times when you recognize that you are not loving Him, but you desire to love Him better, that shows that you love Him. That's number one. Number two.

you wrestle with your sin. Sin does not rule over your life. There is a conflict, there is a war within you over your sin. Being a Christian, the sign is not that you have perfect victory over your sin. The sign is that you are wrestling with it, that you are at war with it. Guys, if you are not at war, if you are not conflicted with your sin, that's a bad, bad sign. It means that sin is ruling over you.

John in 1 John said, if we say that we have no sin within us, we show that we are liars and the truth is not within us. The sign that the truth is in you is that you are confessing your sin because you see it there, you're fighting it, so you're confessing your sin on and on. Martin Luther told us that repentance is not a one -time moment, it's an ongoing project. So, you love him. By virtue of your loving him, you are wrestling.

with your sin and then you are carrying your cross. It is not just about avoiding and fighting sins, but following Him in active obedience. You know, we got to see a wonderful example of that this morning with that video message from the Lewis's where they're talking about how they recognize God has placed His calling on us. Why are we waiting for some big sign? He's called us to obey. You know, similarly, how many of us, maybe we've been trying to fight some sins,

avoid some temptations, but God's been placing a calling on you. He has been putting before you opportunities, not just to avoid sin, but to actively pursue righteousness, you know, take holy risks and follow godly ambitions, but you've been sitting back. Whether it be out of fear, maybe the devil has been telling you you're not worthy of those things. Maybe it's been just logistics, as Trey said, things like money and time that have been holding you back from radically obeying Christ.

but you haven't been picking up your cross. So you know that you have staked your life upon Christ whenever you love God. You love Him, you want Him. Even whenever you don't want Him, you want to want Him.

You are fighting sin, there's a war. And you are picking up your cross and obeying Him in holy ambition, in active obedience, and walking the path of righteousness. Let's pray.

Lord, we praise you.

at the wonder of the cross, that you stood in our place, that you died what should have been our death, and that you laid our death down in your grave. We thank you, Lord, that by your work we see not only the wonder of your love, but we recognize that it is the wonder of your love in substituting yourself, that you, our King, would lay down your life for us.

that you would not save yourself, but because you love us and because you trusted in the Father, you remained on the cross so that we might be saved. We praise you for this this morning, and we ask that you would fill us with your spirits, that we might repent from sin, mortify the flesh, be at war with our sin, that we would not give up in the war, but that we would vigorously and strongly fight, and that we would take up.

those opportunities to pick up our cross and follow you in obedience in the mundane moments and in the moments where you're calling us to take risks. We praise you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and we pray these things in the name of our King who died for us. Amen.