Episode Transcript
WEBVTT
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I'm going to begin reading at Verse
Twenty Three and I'll read to the end
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of the chapter. This is the
word of God, may He bless it
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to us. When the soldiers had
crucified Jesus, they took his garments and
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divided them into four parts, one
part for each soldier. Also his TUNIC,
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but the TUNIC was seamless woven in
one piece from top to bottom.
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So they said to one another,
let us not tear it, but cast
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lots for it to see whose it
shall be. This was to fulfill the
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scripture, which says they divided my
garments among them. For my clothing they
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cast lots. So the soldiers did
these things. But standing by the cross
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of Jesus where his mother and his
mother's sister, Mary, the wife of
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Clopus and Mary Magdalen. When Jesus
saw his mother and the disciple, whom
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he loved, standing near by,
he said to his mother, woman,
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behold your son. Then he said
to the disciple, behold your mother,
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and from that hour the disciple took
her to his own home. After this,
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Jesus, knowing that all was now
finished, said to fulfill the scripture.
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I thirst a jar full of sour
wine stood there. So they put
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a sponge a full. So they
put a sponge full of the sour wine
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on a hiss of branch and held
it to his mouth. When Jesus had
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received the sour wine, he said
it is finished, and he bowed his
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head and gave up his spirit.
Since it was the day of preparation and
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so that the bodies would not remain
on the cross on the Sabbath, for
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that Sabbath was a high day.
The Jews asked pilot that their legs might
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be broken and that they might be
taken away. So the soldiers came down,
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or so the soldiers came and broke
the legs of the first and of
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the other who had been crucified with
him. But when they came to Jesus
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and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs,
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but one of the soldiers pierced his
side with a spear and at once there
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came out blood and water. He, who saw it, has borne witness.
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His testimony is true and he knows
that he is telling the truth that
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you also may believe, for these
things took place that the scripture might be
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fulfilled. Not One of his bones
will be broken and again. Another scripture
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says they will look on him,
whom they have puerist. After these things,
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Joseph of Arimathea, who was a
disciple of Christ, but secretly,
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for fear of the Jews, asked
pilot that he might take away the body
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of Jesus, and pilot gave him
permission. So he came and took away
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his body. Nicodemus also, who
earlier had come to Jesus by night,
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came bringing a mixture of mirror and
allows, about seventy five pounds in weight.
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So they took the body of Jesus
and bounded in linen cloths with the
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spices, as is the burial custom
of the Jews. Now, in the
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place where he was crucified there was
a garden, and in the garden a
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new tomb in which no one had
yet been laid. So, because of
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the Jewish day of preparation, since
the tomb was close at hand, they
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laid Jesus there. As you see, we have the final death, the
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execution of our Lord, of our
Savior, Jesus Christ. The scene here
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begins with the executioners, the soldiers
in charge of making sure that this man
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is hung on a cross and that
this man dies and they are there,
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they have stripped him, there they
take his garments and they divide them among
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themselves. And because he had a
nice Tunic, one that was seamless,
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you wouldn't want to mess it up, they decided in that case not to
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divide it but to cast lots.
So there by the cross are these executioners
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gambling on, playing games and gambling
for the shame of the Lord of the
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universe. Also there, though,
and quite a contrast to these four soldiers,
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are these for women and and John, the beloved disciple of Christ,
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a great contrast on those the Jesus, our Savior, hanging there on a
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cross, some gambling away their time
in spite of him, even to shame
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him, and others devoted to following
him. It reminds us again of the
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choice that we have to make of
which camp we will reside in. The
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soldiers take the things. Jesus is
crucified or Jesus was crucified. At some
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point he is offered this vinegary wine, the sour wine, and then it
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comes time to take them and the
other men who are crucified with him down
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from the Cross. And as John
says. What happens is they want to
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get down these bodies so that the
land would not be defiled, because anyone
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who hangs on a tree, Deuteronomy
says, is curse and if to leave
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them in this position would defile the
land. And so concerned, ironically,
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for cleanliness, for purification, they
take they go to the forest soldier and
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are not soldier, the criminal there, and they break his legs. This
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would have the effect of speeding death
along that shock to the system, likely
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of having one's legs broken would have
that effect also because crucifixion, you typically
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you you typically die of Aphyxiation,
loss of oxygen. Having the legs broken
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means that you wouldn't be able to
push yourself up anymore to get air.
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So it would be a way too
quickly and a very long and painful torture.
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So they do this to the first, they do is the second,
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but they do not break the legs
of Jesus, and it's not because he's
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alive, but it's because he's dead. And then, to ensure that the
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work is done completely, this is
their job, their professionals, they pierce
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his side and outcomes these bodily fluids
on blood and water. John sees all
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these things, the rider of our
Gospel, he sees them, and here
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he swears to the truthfulness of them. So as in verse Thirty Five,
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He who saw it has borne witness. His testimony is true and he knows
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that he's telling the truth. But
he doesn't just want us to know that
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they're true. He wants more than
anything for you to believe in the truth.
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And so he says here, as
he'll say again in chapter twenty.
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I'm telling you this that you also
may believe. It's not just believing that
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these things are true, but it's
depending on them for our very lives.
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We remember the reason why Jesus is
here is very sovereignly ordered. Jesus has
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above his head on the cross this
word put by a pilot King of the
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Jews. This is not an accident, and he's more than the king of
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the Jews. He's King of the
world. He's King of the new world,
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the new age. He's King of
the new heavens and the new earth,
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a kingdom that will have no end. Jesus is there because it has
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been divinely ordained by the trying in
God, the Father Calling the son to
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this task, the sun taking on
that task willingly, lovingly going to the
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cross to die for us, his
people, the spirit perfectly anointing Christ and
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connecting us, uniting us with that
work, not in a mere intellectual way,
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not merely to know it, although
that's a huge part of it,
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but in our hearts, so that
the law of God might be written not
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only on tablets of stone but on
the tablets of our hearts, and even
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changing our wills so that we go
and we love as free men and women,
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no longer slaves to send and death. This is God's divine plan that
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had been planned from the beginning,
and John so much wants you to know
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that. The Holy Spirit of God
wants you to know that. And one
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way we know that he we know
that he wants us to know that,
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is in the many ways throughout this
passage that he says the scriptures have been
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fulfilled, not only in this passage
but in other places throughout John. When
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Jesus says it is finished, this
is one of the things that he means,
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that the scriptures are being fulfilled.
What do we mean by fulfilled?
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One Way, I like to think
about it as like a rose, when
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you have a bud of a rose. You're waiting right for it to open
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and it starts to open. You
Oh it's going to be so pretty,
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and then it opens and it flowers
and you say there it is. That's
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what the scriptures are like. Even
back in the very early passages, at
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the beginning of the Bible, in
Genesis, we have this rose of the
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Gospel proclaimed the God would overcome the
curse that he would crush the head of
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the serpent, even though he himself
would be bruised, and that little beautiful
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bud flowers and flowers throughout the New
Testament until here all is fulfilled in in
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Christ. The first example of this
that we have of the work of the
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scriptures being finished and fulfilled in Christ
is in is in verse twenty four,
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where it says this was to fulfill
the scriptures, they divided my garments among
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them, and for my clothing they
cast lots. This is taken from Psalm
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twenty two. If you would please
turn there with me, like to read
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this psalm with you and look at
a few particular verses that you might see
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the work of the Lord here.
Psalm twenty two. Notice how this begins.
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It begins with something that Jesus is
quoted as saying in the other gospels.
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Some twenty two, verse one.
My God, my God, why
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have you forsaken me? Why are
you so far from saving me from my
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words and my groaning, the particular
words about the garments we have? I'm
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here as well, but let's let's
continue reading and see what other things we
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might know. I'll read through up
till twenty four and at the end of
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the sermon I'll read the end now, verse to. Oh my God,
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I cry out by day, but
you do not answer, and by night,
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but I find no rest. Yet
you are in your holy enthroned on
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the praises of Israel, in your
father's in your in our, in you
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are father's trusted. They trusted and
you delivered them to you. They cried
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and were rescued in you. They
trusted, and we're not put to shame.
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But I am a worm and not
a man, scorned by mankind and
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despised by the people. All who
see me mock me, they make their
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they make mouths at me, they
wag their heads. He trusts in the
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Lord. Let him deliver him,
let him rescue him, for he delights
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in him. Yet you are he
who took me from the womb. You
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made me trust you at my mother's
breasts. On you was I cast,
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from my birth and from my mother's
womb. You have been my God.
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Be Not far from me, who, for trouble is near and there is
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none to help. Many Bulls encompass
me. The strong bowls of Baichon surround
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me. They open wide their mouths
at me like a ravening and roaring lion.
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I'm poured out like water and all
my bones are out of joint.
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My heart is like wax, is
melted within my breast. My strength is
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dried up like a potsherd and my
tongue sticks to my jaws. You lay
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me in the dust of death.
For Dogs Encompass me. A company of
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evildoers encircles me. They have pierced
my hands and feet. I can count
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all my bones. They stare and
gloat over me. They divide my garments
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among them. For my clothing,
they cast lots. But you, oh
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Lord, do not be far off. Oh You my help. Come quickly
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to my aid. Deliver my soul
from the sword, my precious life from
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the power of the dog, save
me from the mouth of the lion.
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You who have rescued me from the
horns of the wild oxen, I will
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tell of your name to my brothers
in the midst of the congregation. I
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will fear you, you who fear
the Lord. Praise him, all,
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you offspring of good of Jacob.
Glorify him and standing off him, all
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you offspring of Israel, for he
has not despised or abhorred the afflicted or
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the fliction of the afflicted, and
he is not hidden his face from him,
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but has heard when he cried to
him. I'll stop there for now,
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so you hear when the Lord,
when our Lord, takes these words
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on our lips, his heart is
crying out. I am in pain,
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I am in a desperate situation,
and many of the things that we have
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described here happen either literally or figuratively. The mocking, the jeering, the
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piercing, the Devi the stealing and
a division of his clothes, the desperation,
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the first that he describes here,
are all of these things we see
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in the Cross of Christ. This
is a psalm of David. David himself
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suffered persecution and trial and various times
when he felt alone, when he felt
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a far away, but he remembers
in this Psalm, as our Lord remember
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is even better and perfectly the Yah
way, and that God, the father,
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will not abandon son, that God
will work through this affection and that
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we who belong to the Lord our
right to praise God, our right to
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not give up on God, because
in fact what we see on the Cross
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is God himself at work, God
himself becoming the afflicted to save the afflicted,
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God himself taking on sin to save
the sinful, God himself being surrounded
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by evildoers and wickedness to save them
from their own evildoing and wickedness. To
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one of those criminals, he says
in one of the other gospels, today
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Jesus says you will be with me
in paradise. What an amazing way the
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Psalm is then transposed and fulfilled in
the work of Christ. This desperation of
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being surrounded by evil doers becomes a
promise and I'll hope for those very evil
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doers. Will Not only rescue his
servant, but he will rescue all of
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those who are who who are attached
to the Lord, who are united to
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the Lord. The scripture is being
fulfilled not only in Psalm twenty two,
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but another places as well. For
example, in John One thousand nine hundred
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and thirty six, John Points out
that his legs were not broken, and
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this was to fill the scriptures to
possible references. Here I'm one. Is
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that a Passover reference from exodus forty
six. It shall be eaten in one
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house, you shall not take any
of the flesh shall outside the House and
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you shall not break any of its
bones. Here, Jesus, as the
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sacrifice, as the Passover lamb in
the feast of Passover, on this high
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day, that John has as marked
for us, a noted for us,
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Jesus, the Passover lamb. His
bones are not being broken. We also
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have a verse in Psalm Three Thousand
Four and twenty. He keeps all his
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bones, not one of them is
broken. A phrase, a reminder of
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God's preservation of the one who belongs
to him. The piercing of the Lord
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also is testified and prophesied in the
scriptures. Listen to these spectacular words from
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Zachariahewe ten and I will pour out
on the house of David and the inhabitants
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of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and
please for mercy, so that when they
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look on me on him, whom
they have pierced. They shall mourn for
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him as one mourns for an only
child, and we bitterly over him as
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one weeps over a firstborn. Here
God promises by His Prophet that there are
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coming a day, there's coming a
day when the Holy Spirit, a spirit
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of grace, will be poured out
on his people and they will look on
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God, whom they have pierced.
And this is indeed what happens. In
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revelation one seven we are told to
look, behold, he is coming with
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the clouds, and every eye will
see him, even those who pierced him,
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and all tribes of the Earth will
wail on account of him. Even
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so, men, in all of
these things, we see that the scriptures
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are being fulfilled. This is no
accident, this is no thing that Jesus
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just happened to find himself in.
Jesus has purposefully gone to the cross to
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be pierced so that the spirit of
mercy might be poured out, so that
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those who have died in their trespasses, those who have done the evil things,
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would be saved. And that takes
us to the second thing that Jesus
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is finishing here. Not only is
he finishing and fulfilling the scriptures, but
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it is his mission also that is
being completed here on the Cross and the
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nicene creed. We confess that Jesus
became man to save man. He became
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manned to create a new mankind.
We also say, and I believe in
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the church, holy, Catholic and
Apostolic, the Work of the spirit of
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God this God is doing, and
we see this reality here, even here
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is Jesus is a hanging on the
cross. He became man to save man.
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How do we know he became man? Will? Because he was born
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of a woman, because he hungered, he first and when the soldier pierced
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his side, water and blood flows
out like any other human being. Jesus
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is no ghost, he's no phantasm, he's no projection, he's no hallucination.
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Water and blood flow out of his
side like they would any other this
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is particularly important in a culture that
speaks often of God's who are bloodless.
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They have in their blood's the AMBROSIA
that they eat, this ECOR. They
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don't have blood, but Jesus,
he does. He's fully, fully human.
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He's also fully divine, as we
have seen. And in being this
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one man, in being this savior, both man and God. He does
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this divine work of creating the people
and we see that even now, as
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the scriptures are fulfilled, both foretold
and fulfilled, and as the Word Incarnate
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is crucified, we see that work
of God beginning in the world because,
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as I said, here are these
four women and John submitting themselves to the
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Lord, devoting themselves to the Lord, not hiding from his suffering but following
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him in it. Can you imagine
they gumption that it would take to have
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the authorities crucify like a big uproar, right all the city in an uproar,
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to crucify, to execute this person? And then you go publicly and
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show yourself as being devoted to that
person, even when all the other disciples
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have fleed? Risky and, if
not risky, certainly humiliating. You are
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identifying yourself with the lowest of the
low, the person they're going to take
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down in a moment from the cross
so we don't have to look at him
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on the Sabbath. And there they
are, there we are, whenever we
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submit to the Lord on the Cross, in His crucifixion, as the one
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who died for us, and we
see the kind of community, the church
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that he is creating. He looks
at Mary and he says to her,
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woman, behold your son, and
he says to John Disciple, behold your
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mother, behold your mother, and
all of a sudden, these two people
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that do were not related to one
another our family, and ever since then
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people have been calling themselves in the
church brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers.
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In the Lord, he unites people
from totally not only different families but
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different parts of the world together into
a communion in him, adopted into his
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house, receiving his inheritance and to
go on even more in this spirit of
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grace and mercy that we see even
now, is Jesus is hanging on the
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cross. We also see the work
that is happening in the lives of these
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men like Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. Joseph of these were not faithful followers
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from the beginning. Joseph of,
in our myth, is still afraid of
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the Jews, and so he goes
to pilot and ask for permission. But
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he is a disciple of Christ.
He was a member of this council that
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had been that it acted to make
these decisions regarding this crucifixion, and now
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here he is coming and seeking to
take the Lord's body down from the cross.
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And then you have Nicodemus, a
Pharisee, one of the ones who
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were also a part of this great
uproar, one of the clap, part
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of the class of people who were
responsible for this death, responsible for this
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execution. And here he is,
not coming in the middle of the night
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like he came before to Jesus,
but coming out in the open and anointing
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Jesus with massive amounts of ointment,
seventy five pounds. Remember what Judas said
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when Mary anointed, annointed Jesus.
It's like, I think it was a
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hundred Denaris, like we're a hundred
Denari. Couldn't this be given? As
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she pours it over his body,
extreme amount? Here comes Nicodemus with seventy
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five pounds. Can you imagine what
that would smelt that would be intense,
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I have imagined, no doubt at
a great cost not only to his pocketbook
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but to his honor, to his
place in his class. But he gives
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it up, just as Paul will
and many, many others will throughout the
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history of the church. Saying more
than family, more than friends, more
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than honor. In my culture,
in my society, Jesus matters the most,
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this one who is crucified, this
one who has died, because he's
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died for me, and apart from
him, I am still dead in my
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sins. And so this is what
Jesus does on the Cross, this is
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what he means when he says it
is finished. He's beginning the work of
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creating his church, forgiving sins,
of ruling over the devil and of softening
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our hearts so that we would no
longer be in secret or afraid or not
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following him, but coming to him, humbly, struggling, but loving him
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and following him. I want to
conclude now with finishing psalm twenty two.
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At the end of Psalm twenty two, after the division of the garments and
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the thirst and the cries for agony
and the bones sticking out and all of
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these things, we have this great
note of victory. From you comes my
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praise in the great congregation. My
vows I will perform before those who fear
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him. The afflicted shall eat and
be satisfied, those who seek him shall
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praise the Lord. May your hearts
live forever. All the ends of the
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Earth shall remember and turn to the
Lord, and all the families of the
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nations shall worship before you, for
kingship belongs to Yahway and he rules over
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the nation's all the prosperous of the
earth eat and worship before him. Shall
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bow down all who go down to
the dust, even the one who could
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not keep himself alive. Posterity shall
serve him. It shall be told of
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the Lord to the coming generation.
They shall come and proclaim his righteousness to
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a people yet unborn, that he
has done it. It is finished.
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The afflicted shall live forever. They
shall not die. Psalm Twenty three comes
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after Psalm twenty two. Psalm twenty
three this famous psalm that we tend to
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read at memorial services and death this
last this week, I was at a
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memorial service for my friend whose father
died, and we read Psalm Twenty three.
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Lord is my shepherd. I shall
not want he makes me lie down
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in green pastors. He leads me
besides still waters heaven. That happens because
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our Lord suffers the affliction of Psalm
twenty two. Let's pray
