All Community Night, A Walk On Mt. Calvary

They clothed him in a purple robe and went up to him again and again, saying, Hail, King of the Jews. And they struck him in the face. Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews, Look, I'm bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him. And when Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to him, Here is the man. And as soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, Crucify! Crucify! But Pilate answered, You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him. It wouldn't be an inappropriate question tonight to ask, Why consider Jesus' death when we already know the outcome, when we already know the benefits of his resurrection? Why consider mourning when we already have a certain security of love's victory at the resurrection? You know, it's not unlike someone saying, Well, should I put a band-aid on and cry over the pain in a wound that's already been healed? But dear ones, the answer is, no, it's not inappropriate. And yes, we should examine the death of Christ. You see, because the Bible says it's only as we identify with his death that we can then identify in fullness with his resurrection. Romans 8.17 says very clearly, We only share in one if we share in the other. And we come to this Good Friday just a few hours away with a sobering sense of the magnitude of the suffering of Jesus. And if we look at it properly tonight, there's a sanctifying quality about considering the death of Christ. And I unfortunately have to tell you that far too many believers, many in this church, will show up on Easter Sunday to celebrate a resurrection without really taking the time. I so want to commend you tonight for taking the time in these next hours to contemplate the death so that when you come on Sunday, there'll be something of a fresh release of love for the God who gave his life that you might know. Forgiveness of sins and eternal life. So I want us tonight, in the next moments, and with the video and the choirs and orchestra's presentation, to take a walk on Mount Calvary for just a few minutes. Not to reenact his journey as though somehow we can add to what he did. Most of you are aware that in certain parts of the world over these next days, you'll hear reports of people in the Philippines and Mexico and other places who will literally themselves go through the physical torture that Jesus did all the way to the point of some of which will be crucified because they've been led to believe that somehow that will add merit to their standing before God. We're not doing what we're doing tonight to in any way add merit to what Christ did. We're doing it so that we might have a full appreciation for this great salvation that Christ has won for us. I want us to look at just three simple things. The weight, the substance, and the provision of this great salvation. First of all, the weight of it. There's an outline in your notes if you'd just like to record this. You see, in considering the exhausting burden of the cross of Jesus, it's not just the weight of the wooden beams that he carried. Some, by the way, estimate that those two beams together probably weighed in excess of 250 pounds. What we want to consider tonight is the real weight of truth that that cross transmits to us as God's people. Because you see, each of us are called likewise. Didn't Jesus say to pick up our cross, what? Daily, and walk with him. The truth is this. As we walk beside Jesus on Mount Calvary tonight, we can see that however heavy, however crushing, however burdensome our cross may be, if we carry it through to the end of our journey, that cross in our lives will be an instrument of God's redemption. Dear ones, I shared on Sunday the paradox of Scripture, that it's through suffering that we experience victory, not in spite of. The Scripture teaches the principle of the victory of the cross very clearly, so much so that Satan was surprised, the Bible says. It says the rulers of this age would not have crucified him had they known what was going to result. And what resulted was their total annihilation, their destruction by the power of God. It says it very clearly in Colossians 2. Can we put up that overhead, please? This is what the Bible says happened at the cross. Jesus having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them. Notice that. Through the cross. It was the cross. And you see tonight, the full weight of the cross for us is the knowledge that if we carry whatever our cross is, whatever pressure, whatever disappointment, whatever physical affliction, whatever burden we carry tonight, if we carry it through to the end, the Bible says that cross will become a sword in your hand to slay the evil one. Hallelujah. The second thing that I see here tonight, as we walk with Jesus on Mount Calvary, is the substance of his salvation. And that substance is not measured by the suffering of the droplets of blood that he shed for us or the pangs of pain that he felt, but that substance is measured in terms of the agony of his separation. Consider this. Have you ever thought about this? Jesus only complained one time throughout that whole... If we take the time to read the whole record of his crucifixion, he only one time complained. Do you know what he said? Who remembers what he said? One thing. He said, I thirst. Think about it. The only other cry was the complaint that came, not about his physical torment, but at the very end when he said, Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani? My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And when I contemplated that this week, I thought, God, just imagine, we read today, the physical beatings, being struck in the face over and over again. That crown of thorns, someone brought a crown of thorns into our office today from the Middle East to show us just how painful it must have been. Long, sharp thorns pushed down into his head. Imagine someone, men, those of you who have facial hair, someone coming and plucking your beard right out of your face. And I have in other times shared with you the enormity of the pain that was felt by those 39 lashes, leather tongs with on the end bits of metal and glass woven in so that the flesh was literally pulled off his back. And yet throughout all of that, there's no record, not once do we read that God's Son looked down and somehow Jesus never looked up to the Father and said, God, it hurts, stop it. He never said, my body is in pain. The only time he uttered anything was when he felt that momentary sense of isolation. Because the Bible says, God made him who knew no sin to become sin for our sakes. You see, in that moment, on that cross, God's Son became sin. And dear ones, it wasn't that the Father turned his back on his Son, the Father turned his back on the sin that his Son became. I don't know how we'll ever fully understand that. But let me share an insight that I had this week as I was at the bedside of Fred's sail late last week and Fred's wonderful wife, Jerry, was there. And as Fred was basically in a coma and just lying there helplessly, Jerry looked up at me and she said, to see what the effect of sin can do in just one man, in the fall, not his sin, but the fall, disease, which is a result of the fall of man. And she said this to me. She said, I can only imagine what Jesus Christ must have looked like bearing the full weight of all the sin of humankind before the Father. And that's why the Father turned his head away from his Son. And in that moment, you see, Jesus experienced, now listen carefully, what you and I need never experience. We will never have to go through the agony of the Father's turning his back on us. Because Jesus bore that for us and as he bears our sin, the Bible assures us that he will never fail us or forsake us. And the glorious truth, you see, dear ones, is Romans chapter 8. Nancy, please, says this. Read it with me. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And again I say, hallelujah. That's the substance of our salvation. And it's only as you walk with him on Mount Calvary that you understand that you'll never walk alone and that you'll never cry out that God won't hear you. And finally, number three, the provision of his salvation. You see, when you walk beside the Lord, you know this. When you witness his sufferings and when you hear him utter, it is finished. We're hearing the Lord of heaven and earth authenticate the twofold adequacy of Jesus' sacrifice. Number one, it's adequate to pay for my sin and for yours. The atonement is secure. We are fully justified. And number two, there's the promise of life's full and abundant resource provided to us. It's not just that our sins are forgiven, dear ones. It's also that God said, from now on I'll give you what you need to live. Truly live. That's what Jesus meant when he said, I have come that they might have life and have it abundantly. And that's what we find when we gaze at the cross tonight and hear Jesus whisper those words. Therefore, tonight as we watch and listen, as we identify with our Lord, as we walk with him up the mountain, understand that the cross, as horrific as it was, was a place of ultimate triumph. And so I want us tonight to consider the weight of the truth that if we bear our cross to the end, it ultimately will become for us an instrument of triumph in our life. And if we consider the substance of Christ's agony of separation, we'll never need sense that we're separated from our Father's love. And if we look and see his hands outstretched and hear his words saying, Father, it is finished, we know with certainty that God has forgiven our sin and provided all that we need for life. Not just in this moment, but for all eternity. Would you stand and pray with me, please?