Well, we're in Mark chapter 15, and we've come to the place of the crucifixion this morning. I'm going to begin in verse 16, which I read some of this out of another gospel, but I want to pause on it for a moment to consider the crown of thorns. But before I read it, let me pray for the Word. Our Father and our God, we pause before the reading of your Word to acknowledge in your presence that we're handling reverently the very Word of God. And Lord, your word is powerful and true. But Lord, we're weak. So we pray that you'd awaken us, open our ears that we can hear your word, open our hearts that we can receive your word, open our minds that we can understand your word. And Lord, all of this for your glory's sake and for our good. In Jesus' name, amen. So the crown of thorns, let me read verses 16 to 20. Then the soldiers led him away into the hall called Praetorium and they called together the whole garrison and they clothed him with purple and they twisted a crown of thorns and put it on his head and began to salute him Hail, King of the Jews. Then they struck him on the head with a reed and spat on him. And bowing the knee, they worshiped him. And when they had mocked him, they took the purple off him, put his own clothes on him, and let him out to crucify him. There's something deeper in the symbolism of what these soldiers are doing. And they're doing it in complete ignorance of anything holy or of God. And yet there's deep, deep meaning rooted in the fact that Jesus here is given a crown. He's mocked as a deity. And they don't believe any of that. And the crown he receives is the crown of thorns. God, the Bible says, gave the gift of this pristine planet to man. Our forefathers, if you will, Adam, Eve, and then on down through the generation. Psalm 115 says in verse 14, May the Lord give you increase more and more, you and your children. May you be blessed by the Lord who made heaven and earth. The heaven, even the heavens are the Lord's, but the earth he has given to the children of men. Think about that for a minute. The Creator God, creating all things, creates the world, this planet, and gives it to mankind as a gift, as a bestowment from himself to mankind. Candlish, the commentator, writes of this, And now what is seen is presented to the eye of the worshipper in this psalm. God is present before him in his glory, in the glory in which he came forth to this world when light began to be. The glory in which he reposed when he saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. What a bright and glowing picture, God dwelling with His creatures, all of them waiting upon Him, gathering His manifold gifts, and filled with the good that flows from His open hand. But alas, a change comes over the landscape. There is a blight in this seemingly serene atmosphere, a curse on this smiling earth. The creation is made subject to vanity. It groaneth and travaileth together in pain. There is sin. and death by sin, and a character of weary and bitter vanity is stamped on all things here below." It's because of the fall of Adam and Eve and our sin that we've added to that fall. It's a broken world. It's a broken world. Man, if you read the book of Genesis, mankind was created as the crown of creation. It's very good, God said. And now man is crowned, the Bible tells us, with a curse instead. In the curse that was pronounced in Genesis chapter 3, it says, Then the Adam, he said, Because you heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it. Cursed is the ground for your sake. In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken, for dust you are, and to dust you shall return. And again, Candlish comments, man, however, who was the crown, has become the curse of this earth. The work of God has been destroyed, and he must create anew. And it is, first of all, man himself that he must remodel and reform. The chaos now is not in matter, but in mind. not in the substance of this earth, but in the soul of man. In that world now there is darkness, disorder, death, but in the word is life." And the word is life. We can imagine this scene of Jesus being mocked by this garrison of soldiers who thrust a thorny crown on his head and beat him with a rod till he's dripping blood. He's wearing the crown which represents the curse. The curse that was upon mankind is now placed on Jesus who's going to the cross to die for the sin of the world. Paul labors that thought when he writes to the church in Galatia. In Galatians 3, beginning in verse 10, Paul writes, For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse. For it is written, Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for the just shall live by faith. Yet the law is not of faith, but the man who does them shall live by them. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree, that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith, Jesus, who is crowned with the symbol of the curse, becomes the curse, that we might, what, receive the blessing of Abraham in Christ Jesus. Isaac Watts wrote a great Christmas carol, it's really a hymn, Joy to the World. And he wrote that hymn based on Psalm 98, which I want to read to us. But in that great hymn, he writes, No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground. He comes to make his blessings flow far as the curse is found. Isaac Watts understood this. And I don't know if he was thinking of Jesus looking defeated, beaten and bloodied with a crown of thorns, but Jesus wore that crown symbolic of the fact that he was bearing the curse that was against us because of our own sin. Al Mohler comments on this and says, we are born under the curse. We are cursed by the curse and the law offers no escape. We cannot work our way from under the curse. You see, God had to enter into this world. Jesus, who is the eternal son, added to his deity, humanity, that he might come and bear the curse for us. What we could not do, what the law could not do, Jesus Christ did. And that's what Psalm 98 is really talking about. It's a very short psalm. Let me read it to you. It says, Oh, sing to the Lord a new song. Why? For he has done marvelous things. His right hand and his holy arm have gained him the victory. The Lord has made known his salvation. His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations. He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God." So what do we do? Well, we can't do nothing. All we can do is embrace Christ by faith. And all the blessings that flow, as far as the curse is found, is ours in Christ Jesus. So the psalmist says, well, what do we do? Verse 4, "...shout joyfully to the Lord all the earth. Break forth in song, rejoice and sing praises. Sing to the Lord with a harp, with a harp and the sound of a song, with trumpets and the sound of a horn. Shout joyfully before the Lord the King." Let the sea roar, and now he turns to nature. Let the sea roar, all of its fullness, the world and all those who dwell in it. Let the rivers clap their hands. Let the hills be joyful together before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth with righteousness. He shall judge the world and the peoples with equity. What we couldn't do, what the law couldn't do, God did with His own mighty right hand, His own holy arm. He gained for Himself the victory. So as we look at this scene of Jesus who seems to be defeated at the moment, beaten and bloodied and wearing the crown, it was that very beaten, bloodied Jesus Christ wearing the crown who goes to the cross and wins the victory. Second thing I want to look at a little bit here is the weight of the beam. It was customary in that day when Rome executed a convicted criminal for that individual to carry the cross beam through the streets to the point of the place where the crucifixion would take place. It was part of the deep humiliation of the death, even the death of the cross, the crucifixion, which was a horrible, horrible, obviously horrible way to die. But before they even died, they were made to carry the cross beam and typically they were convicted criminals and robbers and whatnot. And people would be hurling insults and throwing stuff at the individual. It was just part of the humiliation, almost as if Rome was trying to say, if you don't want to go through this, don't commit the crime that this individual just committed, is really the signal that Rome was trying to convey to the populace. In Mark 15.21 it says, Then they compelled a certain man, Simon, a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by to bear his cross. Now John, in his gospel, tells us that originally they had put the cross beam on Jesus. Jesus was carrying his own cross in John 19.17. And people want to speculate, what happened? Because the gospel writers don't give us a lot of detail here. But it seems that as Jesus is going out to be crucified, Simon the Cyrenian is coming in. They meet at the gate. And Simon's coming in probably for the Passover. And to come, he's probably a Jew from Cyrene. A lot of Jews had migrated to Cyrene around 300 BC. So it's very altogether possible and probable that this is a Jew who's come back to go worship and pay tribute to God through the Passover sacrifice. And yet the true Passover of God is heading out to Golgotha to be executed. And somewhere as they pass, I don't know if Simon had sort of a pitiable look to Jesus and the soldiers picked up on that and said, hey you, pick up this beam and carry it. Or Jesus, more likely, probably exhausted from being up all night, went through that evening of deep prayer. He's had sweat like drops of blood in Gethsemane. He had been beaten and mocked and ridiculed and scourged and probably was unable to continue on. And I always imagine Jesus at that moment with everything he had, pushing his muscles to go, because he needed to get to that hill to go be put to death, to die for the sins of the world. And in that exchange, maybe at the gate as they crossed paths, here Simon is now taken apart, and he's no longer heading off to go to downtown Jerusalem to worship. He's now carrying the cross of Jesus to Golgotha. Luke records this in 23 of Luke 26. Now, as they led him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming from the country. And on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus. So we don't have much information on this individual. We know his name, Simon. We know where he's from, Cyrene, which Cyrene is North Africa. We know his boys' names. Now that would lead us to conclude, probably, that Mark expected that the church knew who these individuals were. Why would he say, oh, he's the father of Alexander and Rufus? I mean, if you said that to somebody, you'd expect they'd know who Alexander and Rufus are. It's interesting because in Romans, Paul writes to a set of greetings in chapter 13 where he greets somebody named Rufus. He says, chosen in the Lord, and also Rufus' mother, and Paul says, and she's also my mother. He was that close to the family. So I don't know if that's the same Rufus, but it very well might be. And some even speculate that Simon was so impacted by this interchange with Jesus, and who knows if they spoke, who knows, we're just seeing the face of Jesus looking up at you as he's heading off, bloodied, heading to Golgotha. Just something about the piercing look of Jesus that transformed Simon. And many speculate that he became a Christian. Some even speculate that perhaps when Acts chapter 11 is talking about those who were dispersed because of the persecution that broke out in the early church, where it says, but some of those men were from Cyprus and some from Cyrene. And some think, well, that's Simon who carried the cross for the Lord. That's all speculation, but it very well could be. So they go to the place of the skull, Mark 15, 22-24. And they brought him to the place Golgotha, which is translated place of a skull. Then they gave him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but he did not take it. And when they crucified him, they divided his garments, casting lots for them to determine what every man should take." So Golgotha, the place of a skull. Some speculate that it was a rock formation that maybe kind of looked somewhat like a skull, and that's why it was named that. But it was the place of crucifixion. It could just simply be because it was a place of execution and all that would happen there that it was called the place of the skull. But that's where he went to be crucified. The Bible says that they offered Jesus wine mingled with myrrh. Now, myrrh had many uses, and I won't get into a whole study of myrrh. But it is known that one of the uses of myrrh, if it was mingled with wine, was a painkiller. And in Mercy, it appears that some, maybe the citizenry, would come out as convicted people were brought off to be executed in this horrible, horrible way to offer them somewhat of a painkiller, that it wouldn't be so horrible of a death. And Jesus refuses it. Jesus refuses it. Once he figures out what it is, I'm sure he was parched. I don't think he would have refused a drink of water. But he refused the painkiller. He didn't want that. He wanted to be sober-minded, clear-minded. And think about this. Jesus still had more ministry to do. on the cross. And we'll look at that. He's got a mother to entrust to one of his disciples. He's got a thief to give comfort to, to let him know that he'll be this day in paradise with Jesus. He has to keep his mind about him until he finally can say, it's finished. It's finished. And he's not there yet. He refuses the cup. I understand that a little bit, and maybe you've experienced this yourself. But even when my own mother was dying, and we went to her, and she was just completely filled with cancer. It had gotten everywhere. And she didn't want any painkillers. And she was in bad pain. I could tell. It was like a day before she died. And she wanted to have, if something came to mind, she wanted to be able to say what she wanted to say. And my brother and my sister and I finally, on the day she died, finally had to go into her, because she was wincing in pain, and say, Mom, can you just let them give you a little something so we don't have to see you in pain? Will you do it for us? And Mom finally said, OK. And finally she got some comfort for the last couple hours. So I completely understand that, but Jesus never took a painkiller. He endured all of this with his full wits about him, enduring the brutality of what was to happen to him. He refused the cup, if you will, that he might drink another. Hebrews 2.9 says, But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. That He might taste death for everyone. And these calloused soldiers, they were professional executioners, and certainly probably had seen some war activity in their lifetime. But they were the professional regiment, usually four soldiers assigned to take care of this. But they were so calloused from having done execution after execution, it was nothing to them. It was nothing. And I imagine the scene of Jesus on the cross and they're just there on the ground tossing dice or whatever they used, you know, stones to gamble for the clothing of Jesus. One of the other gospel writers tells us that they realize that, wait a minute, this one tunic, it's not put together, it's one woven piece. I mean, this is a nice tunic. Let's gamble and see, you know, let's not tear it up and divide it. Let's see who gets it. And this is all in fulfillment of Psalm 22, where verse 18 says, they divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. Now the crucifixion of our Lord is divided into two. The Bible will divide it between the third to the sixth hour and then the sixth to the ninth hour. So we begin with the third to the sixth hour. This would be 9 a.m. to 12 noon. So our Lord hung and suffered on the cross for six hours. And now let me just read this section. This is from 9 a.m. till 12 noon, verses 27 to 32 of Mark 15. With him they also crucified two robbers, one on his right and the other on his left. So the scripture was fulfilled which says, and he was numbered with the transgressors. And those who passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads, and saying, Aha! You who destroy the temple and build it in three days? Save yourself, and come down from the cross. Likewise the chief priests, also mocking among themselves with the scribes, said, He saved others? Himself he cannot save? Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. Even those who were crucified with him reviled him. So we see here three hours on the cross and there are three hours that are marked by ridicule and scorn and mocking. There's those who pass by, they once again misinterpret what Jesus had taught about tearing down the temple and he would rebuild in three days, obviously speaking of his own physical death and his resurrection. That was the same teaching that they tried to twist in their accusation against Jesus at the trial. And then the chief priests, together with the scribes, he saved others. Himself he cannot save. They're just saying this to mock Jesus, as Jesus is in agony on the cross, physical agony at this point, and having to hear these jeers, this mockery. Come down, they say. Come down off the cross. Do a miracle. Do something spectacular. You can't come down off that cross. You show us that you can come down off the cross and we'll believe in you. You do that for us, is what they said to him. When truth be known, Jesus already taught about this. That if he did come down off that cross, one, they would die in their sins because Jesus had to atone. And two, they still wouldn't believe. Jesus taught this, and some say it's a story, it's probably a parable. of the rich man and Lazarus, where the rich man finds himself in agony and torture in hell, a great goal fixed between him and Lazarus, who's at the bosom of Abraham in glory, and the rich man is begging Abraham to send Lazarus to his father's house. And he says, this is in Luke 16, he says, I beg you therefore, Father, that you would send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, and he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment. And Abraham said to him, They have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them. And he said, Oh no, Father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent. But he said to him, if they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rise from the dead. That gives you not only the validity, but the all-sufficiency of God's Word. The Word's enough to convert the soul. It's God's Word. They don't need to see something spectacular. They won't even believe, and they didn't believe, even when Jesus rose from the dead. The Word of God can bring conviction to our souls and convert our souls. J.D. Jones comments on this scene. He says, Finally, what an illustration we have here of the self-sacrifice of Christ. He saved others, they jeered at him. Himself he cannot save? The taunt has been converted into a tribute. It is quite true, just because he wanted to save others, he could not save himself. Only the cannot was not the cannot of physical impossibility. The chief priests and scribes thought he could not come down because of the executioners, that they had done their work too well. because of the nails that were driven through his hands and his feet, and the ropes that were around his arms. But not all the nails and ropes in Jerusalem could have held Christ there had he wished to come down. What were nails and ropes to one who could still the tempest with a word, who had legions of angels at his command? No, it was not the nails and the ropes that held him there, but his own mighty and sacrificial love. No one took his life from him. He laid it down of himself, and he laid it down because that was the only way of gaining redemption for the world. So now the sixth to the ninth hour, 12 noon to 3 p.m., beginning in verse 33, Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabathani, which is translated, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Some of those stood by. When they heard that, they said, look, he is calling for Elijah. Then someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine. They put it on a reed and they offered it to him to drink, saying, let him alone. Let us see if Elijah will come to take him down. And Jesus cried out with a loud voice and breathed his last." Then the veil of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. So when the centurion who stood opposite him saw that he cried out like this and breathed his last, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God. There were also women looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses, and Salome, who also followed him and ministered to him when he was in Galilee, and many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem. So the third to the sixth hour, 9 a.m. to 12 noon, it's marked with Jesus's physical suffering and the jeers and the mocking and the scorn that comes from those that are around Jesus. But now something changes. At the sixth hour, Mark tells us there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. Three hours of darkness. This is not some solar eclipse that took place. The Passover is always at the full moon. A solar eclipse is impossible. This is a divine, supernatural darkness that's been placed over, the Bible says, over the land, over the whole land, while Jesus hangs on the cross for these last and final three hours. Amos in chapter 8 verse 9, Amos is raised up by God to prophesy a prophecy of woe to the people because of their idolatry. And they began to worship things like the stars and the sun, like the pagans around them. And God tells Amos to write this down, to pronounce this to the people. Amos 8, 9, And it shall come to pass in that day, says the Lord God, that I will make the sun go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in broad daylight. This is a supernatural darkness. I think one of those things that are more than just something seen and not seen, but something felt. Something almost eerie about it. Isaiah 45, 7. I form the light and I create darkness. I make peace and create calamity. I, the Lord, do all these things." It's symbolic of judgment. God's judgment upon the sin bearer. Hendrickson, in his commentary, says, the darkness meant judgment, the judgment of God upon our sins. His wrath, as it were, burning itself out in the very heart of Jesus, so that he, as our substitute, suffered most intense agony, indescribable woe, terrible isolation or forsakenness. Hell came to Calvary that day, and the Savior descended into it and bore its horrors in our stead. And at the end of this time period, at the ninth hour, Jesus gives up this agonizing cry, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And again, Hendrickson says, in the gospels, what happened between 12 noon and three o'clock, is a blank. All we know is that during these three hours of intense darkness, Jesus suffered indescribable agonies. He was being made sin for us, a curse. He was being wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities. Jehovah was laying on him the iniquity of us all. I can't fully wrap my mind around what exactly transpired in these three hours as Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin, that we in Christ might be the righteousness of God in him, in his righteousness. I can't fully understand. Obviously, God can't be separated. That would destroy the attribute of God. But in some sense, in some way, God deserted Jesus's human nature. And again, I can't fully understand that, but the agonies of that, none of us can fully appreciate. What Jesus endured in going to the cross willingly to be sin for us. When you read Psalm 22, where this cry comes from, it says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me? And from the words of my groaning, oh my God, I cry in the daytime, but you do not hear. That's what the Lord experienced on that cross. And again, I don't think we can fully appreciate all that he endured. And then he says that he cried out and he breathed his last. John 19 says, when Jesus had received the sour wine, this is not a painkiller, this is cheap wine. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, it is finished. And bowing his head, he gave up his spirit." And Luke tells us that Jesus, when he had cried out in a loud voice, he said, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. And having said this, he breathed his last. There's a couple witnesses that Mark records for us at the death of Jesus. And the first is the veil. It says, and then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. This isn't somebody grabbing the veil, this is a huge piece of fabric, and tearing it from the bottom up. It's almost as if God reached down and ripped the veil in half with invisible divine hands from the top down. The veil divided humanity from the presence of God. And only the high priest, and only once a year, was able to go beyond it on Yom Kippur to give atonement for the nation. It was a veil of separation. And only that mediator, that high priest, could enter in to sprinkle the blood to atone for the sin of the people. But 1 Timothy chapter 2 tells us, in verse 5, That there is one God and one mediator between God and men. The man, Christ Jesus. The man, Christ Jesus. Because as a man, he died for our sin. And he rose again. Praise God. Jesus, the Bible tells us, is within the veil, the true holy of holies in glory, and he's there functioning as our high priest. It's not the high priest that Israel had. Jesus is our high priest. In Hebrews chapter 6 verse 19, it says, This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the presence behind the veil where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become high priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. And because this is true, beloved, the Bible tells us and actually encourages us to come to God's throne in Jesus Christ in prayer often. And it's not a throne of terror. It's not a throne of wrath and a throne of anger because Jesus took all that upon himself. The Bible tells us that we go to the throne of what? the throne of grace, the throne of grace. Hebrews 4, seeing then that we have a great high priest who's passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses. but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us, therefore, come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. In Hebrews 10, therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way which he consecrated for us through the veil that is his flesh. He refers to his death on the cross as that entry point that we come in Jesus' name to the very throne room of God. The second witness that Mark records is the centurion. So when the centurion who stood opposite him saw that he cried out like this and breathed his last, he said, truly this man was the Son of God. Think of all the centurion probably had witnessed that day. He probably heard the sayings of Jesus that he uttered from the cross, Father forgive them, they know not what they do. Today you shall be with me in paradise, he tells the thief who had repented. Woman, behold thy son, behold thy mother. He entrusts his mother to John. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And then he said, I thirst. And then when he receives the sour wine, it is finished. And finally, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And the centurion surely heard the mocking of the mockers. Matthew 27 says, one of them said, He trusted in God, let him deliver him now, if he will have him. For he had said, I am the Son of God. I think that struck the centurion. He thought, he said he was the Son of God? And then this darkness, this deep darkness that falls on the land, I think it just brought the soul to just shudder somewhat at the magnitude of this divine darkness. And there was an earthquake, Matthew records for us. It says that the earthquake, the rocks were split, graves were opened. I mean, this was an incredible event, Jesus' death. And Luke tells us also that the centurion, this is Luke 23, 47, said that he was a righteous man. So he says something along the lines that this is Jesus, the righteous son of God. What a declaration that is from the centurion that we don't know anything else about him. I pray that he was brought fully as a converted soul to Jesus Christ. Wouldn't that be an amazing thing to be in glory one day and get to meet that person who's now a brother in Christ. What an amazing thing. What an amazing grace and mercy our Lord has. And then lastly, the watching women. You can't picture this whole scene of the cross and not have the women in your mind somewhere. They're there. They're there. Originally, they were a little bit closer in. Obviously, Mary's right there where Jesus can entrust her to John. But whatever happened, it seems like maybe after the darkness hit, they're a little farther off. And Mark records, there were these women that were looking on from afar. Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and Joseph and Salome. who also followed him and ministered to him when he was in Galilee. Many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem. We don't think about that a whole lot. Luke, probably more than the other gospel writers, includes all that these women did for Jesus and the parts they played during Jesus's ministry. But you think, well, who took care of Jesus to some degree? He was Heavenly Father, of course, but He does that so often, even in our day, through the hands of other human beings that God moves upon their heart, that they would be compassionate and be helpful. And that's who these women were to Jesus when He did His ministry. Probably helped Him to find places to rest and bathe and probably brought food to Him and His disciples. It's a beautiful, beautiful picture here. J.D. Jones says, they ministered unto him. And what an enlarged conception of ministry a little phrase like that suggests. Mary of Magdala and Mary, the mother of James and Salome, ministered to Christ by just attending to the needs of our Lord and of the needs of his disciples. So Jesus, the God-man, dies for our sins. And I'll end with this small quote from Max Lacado, who says, No angelic shield protected his back from the whip. No holy helmet shielded his brow from the thorny crown. God crawled neck deep into the mire of humanity, plunged into the darkest cave of death, and emerged alive. Let's pray. Our Father and our God, we thank you for the truth of the gospel. Lord, thank you for your word. I just pray that your Holy Spirit would just massage these truths into our minds, Lord, this week as we contemplate what you endured to save sinners. And Lord, all we can do is praise you and give you thanks. In Jesus' name, amen.