What Jesus did for us

[0:00] Mark chapter 15 and we read from verse 16. We've been stepping through this over the past while and we have the context here of the trial where Jesus is brought before Pilate and Pilate has to make his decision about Jesus.

[0:27] And Pilate who wants to satisfy the crowd, he releases Barabbas who was sinful, who was guilty and he has Jesus who is innocent and guiltless handed over to be flogged and to be crucified.

[0:46] And we come in now at verse 16. The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace, that is the praetorium, and called together the whole company of soldiers.

[0:58] They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. And they began to call out to him, Hail, King of the Jews.

[1:10] Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spat on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him.

[1:28] Then they led him out to crucify him. A certain man from Cyrene, Simon the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country and they forced him to carry the cross.

[1:43] They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha, which means the place of the skull. Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.

[1:57] And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get. It was the third hour when they crucified him.

[2:09] The written notice on the charge against him read, The King of the Jews. They crucified two robbers with him. One on his right and one on his left.

[2:24] And those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads. And saying, So you who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself.

[2:36] In the same way, the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. He saved others, they said, but he can't save himself.

[2:48] Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down from the cross that we may see and believe. Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

[3:04] Amen. And may God bless that reading of his word to us. Neil Cameron, I think, is now going to lead us in prayer in Galilee, please. Let us pray again, of his journey.

[3:27] James Mternies He was a drunkist.

[3:52] He must extend his arms,Sir. He must earn little cars and his two streets.

[4:03] And we left the rump of my fellow and knew that he sh ин мяс and about him. He looked so sure he did of religious spirit say hallholz Pedigatrich , , to .

[6:24] For I know the true father's father, don't Harry and Don I change the life.

[6:45] I hui like A JULIA 2 They are Martian��다 and Elysian.

[7:29] They try to teach therzynos of to learn what they seek. Let's look at Jetzt, and that led me through it.

[7:47] ny oneHey it man To increase the change.

[8:20] And so on that с Орлemer control.だから… Corn и Western Europe. Things like… Capitalism, Esto… ...

[8:38] … … … Police know the students stresses in their hearts andau they, as well as how the mothers faced with their backs, and who ones in their heads, and who saw them as they wanted because they were there and then said yes, you were której.

[9:12] and say that this is another way for him to be caught. His own direction and saying, we御事ongeeinggest che ugrsta âng peşoình gizman ok sann and ate the skin.

[9:49] Feel free toclick the crow Priorities to your Kaufman seat Amen.

[10:42] Amen. We sing again to God's praise, this time from Psalm 22.

[10:54] And we sing verses 3 to 5, two stanzas. A psalm that takes us to the cross. But thou art holy, thou that dost inhabit Israel's praise.

[11:05] Our fathers hoped in thee, they hoped, and thou didst them release. When unto thee they sent their cry, to them deliverance came, because they put their trust in thee, they were not put to shame. These two verses of Psalm 22, and we remain seated to sing in Gaelic.

[11:22] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[11:33] CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS

[12:35] CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS Thank you.

[13:35] Thank you.

[14:05] Thank you.

[14:35] Thank you.

[15:05] Father, we pray that you would come amongst us in the power of the Holy Spirit now as we think upon these verses which take us close to the cross of Christ.

[15:19] We pray that you would work in each one of our hearts, that you would soften hearts that are hard, Lord, that you would declutter minds which are distracted.

[15:32] And Lord, that you would bring that silence, that sense of your presence, that hush which we feel as you're at work in us and amongst us.

[15:47] So help us, Lord, we pray to see Jesus and to see where we are before Christ today. And what we pray for ourselves, we pray for the children as they meet in their classes, that they would understand the gospel as it's presented simply to them, that they would believe that they would be saved.

[16:12] And what we pray for ourselves, Lord, we pray for all the churches around us where Christ's crucifix is preached. Lord, that you would add your blessing, that you would seek, that you would save sinners, that you would sanctify your people, that we would be made holy, that we would be made more like Christ.

[16:31] So hear us, we pray, and help us, Lord, as we look to you. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. There's sometimes that we read a story, an article, a report in a newspaper or, you know, online on a website.

[17:00] And it might be the account of an attack or some kind of an incident. And when we read the details of it, and when we have a description and it's brought into our mind's eye, something of the violence and the horror of the attack that's been reported, it shocks us.

[17:21] We find it hard to read. We should find Mark 15 hard to read. This should shock us.

[17:35] What is happening to Christ. This should upset us. This should disturb us.

[17:49] And yet sometimes it doesn't, if we're honest. Because it's so familiar. For many of us, we've grown up with the account of the crucifixion from our Sunday school days.

[18:07] And we could speak to any of the children, I think, almost. And they would be able to tell us something about what happened to Jesus on that cross. We can see in our mind's eye these pictures in our children's Bible.

[18:21] We see pictures that the children have drawn of that hill and these three crosses. These are things that we know. And it's good that we know them.

[18:32] It's right that we should know these things. But I think we need to realize it's dangerous too. Because we can get so familiar with accounts like this.

[18:47] That it doesn't make an impression anymore. And we can come to passages like this.

[18:59] And we think we already know it. Perhaps there's somebody sitting here this morning. And you think, well, there's nothing here that I don't know.

[19:09] I've read this a thousand times. And maybe you have. And yet there's so much in this short passage.

[19:20] So many details that Mark records. That I think sometimes just pass us by. So today what I want to do is I want to slow down.

[19:34] And just look at some of the details. Some of these small details. That are recorded here.

[19:45] That we might miss. If we move that pace. And as we look at what Jesus went through. We'll hopefully see something.

[19:57] Of why he went through it. What he did for us. As he suffered. So I have seven points.

[20:07] And I could make a sermon from each point. But I'm really just going to give you the points. In order that you and I will go away.

[20:18] Think about these things. And not just have everything spoon fed to us. But let's go away and think upon these things. In this day that's been set aside for us.

[20:32] First point. The first point is we see there. Jesus is led away to die. Why? In order that we could be led into life.

[20:45] Look at verse 16. The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace. That's the praetorium. And called together the whole company of soldiers. They put a purple robe on him.

[20:57] They twisted together a crown of thorns. And set it on him. And they began to call out to him. Hail king of the Jews. Again and again they struck him on the head.

[21:08] With a staff. And spit on him. Falling on their knees. He paid homage to him.

[21:21] And when they had mocked him. They took off the purple robe. And put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out. To crucify him.

[21:33] We'll come back to some of these details. But the first detail I want you and I to note. Is that Jesus is led away to die. Twice we read that little phrase.

[21:45] Jesus is led away. Verse 16. The soldiers led Jesus away. Then at verse 20. They led him out.

[21:56] To crucify him. And yet as we note this detail. This fact that Jesus is led by force. By these burly Roman soldiers.

[22:09] Let's not think for a second. That Jesus has been led here against his will. In the direction of the cross. He wasn't. He wasn't being led against his will.

[22:21] He wasn't being led. In a direction against the father's will. This is the very reason. That Jesus came into this world. And Jesus has been telling his disciples. Repeatedly as we've seen.

[22:32] This was why he was here. So yes he is led. But let's not think for a second.

[22:45] That he is being led. In a direction. That he did not want to go. And also let's. Let's not make the mistake.

[22:56] Of thinking that Jesus. We've been overpowered. By these soldiers. As he was led. Because he wasn't. You know it's true that there were many soldiers here.

[23:11] We're told. In these verses. That the whole company of soldiers. Were called together. To see this. That could have been anywhere between 200. And 600 men.

[23:22] The whole company. It's a lot of Roman muscle. That was present there. To lead Jesus. In the direction of the cross.

[23:33] But let's remember. Heaven's armies. Could have wiped out every soldier. In one second. With one word from Jesus. Jesus. So yes.

[23:44] Jesus was led. But. He was permitting himself. To be led. It was purpose. In his being led.

[23:57] He was being led. As Isaiah. Prophesied. In Isaiah 53. 7. He was being led. Like a lamb. To the slaughter. He was being led.

[24:11] In the direction. Of the cross. That he. Saw. From the moment. That he came into this world. And he was being led.

[24:24] To the cross. Knowing that he would die. But the reason. He allowed himself. To be led there. Was. So that we could live.

[24:35] If Jesus. Had. Protested. If he had stopped.

[24:50] If the father. Had said enough. Then there would be no life. We couldn't have met.

[25:00] As we have met. In these last few days. Facing the reality. Of death. With a hope. That is beyond the grave. But because. Jesus. Is led away. To death.

[25:14] We are able. To know the reality. Of eternal life. If we trust him. That's the first point. Jesus is led.

[25:26] Away to die. In order that we could be led. Into life. Life. Second point here. The second detail here. Is we see. That Jesus. Is clothed in a.

[25:37] A purple. Or a scarlet robe. So that we could be clothed in white robes. Says in verse. 17 there. That they put.

[25:48] They. That's the soldiers. They put. A purple robe on him. If we went to Matthew's account. Of the same scene. Matthew. Records. That the color of the robe. Was scarlet.

[26:00] Now that's not. A contradiction. That just shows. That Matthew. And Mark. Were not. Colluding together. To get their story straight. They're reporting. The same thing.

[26:10] But they're. They're reporting it. From a. Slightly different angle. It's possible. The commentators. Tell us. That the sun. As it shone on these robes. That the Roman soldiers wore. It caused them to fade.

[26:22] So. Some could look. And see them. As purple. Some could look. And see them. As scarlet. But even if a. A purple. Faded robe. Had been placed on Jesus.

[26:33] Bloodied. Battered body. In seconds. It would be scarlet. From the blood.

[26:45] That was pouring out from him. And when we think. Even about this robe. The scarlet robe.

[26:58] It gives us another clue. As to what Jesus was. Was doing here. It should send us back. In our minds. To Isaiah 1. Where God.

[27:09] Says to us. In that. In that gospel. Call. Isaiah 1. 18. Come. Now. Let us. Reason together. Says the Lord. Though your sins.

[27:22] Be like scarlet. They shall be as white as snow. Well what's happening here? What is happening here?

[27:36] As we look in. On this horrific scene. Well what we're seeing happening here. Is the. Is the white robe. Of Jesus.

[27:47] Of Jesus. Perfection. His sinlessness. Being taken from him. And the scarlet. Robe. Of your sin and mine.

[28:01] Being put on him. That's what we're seeing happening. In picture form. Paul. Paul. Writes in that. Verse that I quote so often.

[28:13] 2 Corinthians 5. 21. God made him. Who had no sin. To be sin for us. So that in him. We might become. The righteousness of God.

[28:25] And we're seeing the beginnings. Of that here. We see a preview. Of what would happen. On the cross. On the cross.

[28:36] Christ would be wrapped. With the filth of our sin. In order. That we. Could be clothed.

[28:47] With the white robes. Of his righteousness. Theologians call it. The great exchange. Our.

[28:59] Scarlet. Sin stained. Lives. Swapped. With the perfect. Pure. Sinless. Life.

[29:10] Of Christ. When we believe. So for this great exchange. To be affected. In your life. And mine. We need to believe.

[29:24] We don't just look in on this. From a distance. We don't just. Observe this. As some. Scene in history. We need to believe this. We need to come.

[29:35] To the Lord Jesus. As the children. So often. Tell us. So. So clearly. And so plainly. And ask him. To take our sin away. To take the. To take the scarlet robe. Of our sin.

[29:46] Off us. To take the scarlet robe. To take the scarlet robe. And to place the perfect. White. Robe of his. Righteousness. On us. There's no place in heaven.

[29:58] For those who are not clothed. With the perfect robe. Of Christ's righteousness. He paid.

[30:08] Such a great price. For us. To be able to take hold of it. But we must take hold of it. By faith. Third point.

[30:23] Jesus. Wears the. The cursed crown of thorns. So that sin's curse. Could be lifted from us. Remember when Adam fell.

[30:38] You know. If we go back. To the beginning. If we go back. To Genesis. Chapter 3. We have that. That awful. Sad. Tragic. Story. Of when sin came into the world.

[30:52] God made everything perfect. And yet. Adam. He. He refused. To believe God. He listened to the voice. Of the serpent. He fell.

[31:05] And sin came into the world. And with sin. Came the curse. And Adam heard. These words. And. In Genesis. Chapter 3.

[31:16] In verse 17. And 18. God says to Adam. Cursed. As the ground. Because of you. Through painful toil. You will eat. About all the days. Of your life.

[31:26] It will produce. Thorns. And thistles. For you. So thorns. Were a symbol. They were a sign. Of the.

[31:37] Of the curse. Of sin. And here. As Jesus. Is being brutalized. By these. Roman soldiers. They find. A thorny shrub. And the commentators.

[31:50] Tell us. That the thorns. You know. We're used to. Rose bushes. With thorns. Like that. The thorns. On the shrubs. That they would have. Taken hold of. Were up to six inches. Long. Big.

[32:02] Gnarly. Robust. Thorns. They found this. The shrub. They take the. The shrub. And they. They shape it. Into the. The shape of a crown. For a king.

[32:17] And they press it. Down into his head. You know. We sometimes say to each other.

[32:29] When we're speaking about guilt. Well. If you're going to do that. Then. On your head. On your head be it. If you're going to go down that path.

[32:40] If you're going to. Cause that offense. If you're going to. Do that unwise thing. Well. The consequences will be on you. On your head be it. And the crown of thorns.

[32:52] That is pressed. Down upon the head. Of Christ. Speaks to us. About our guilt. About. Sin's curse. Jesus takes the curse.

[33:04] On his head. So that it can be lifted. From our head. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Is taking. Sin's curse. In our place.

[33:17] That's what we're seeing here. Fourth point. Jesus. Is mocked.

[33:29] So that we could be honored. Verse 18. And they began to call out to him. Hail.

[33:40] King of the Jews. Again and again. They struck him on the head. With a staff. And spit on him. And falling on their knees.

[33:52] They paid homage to him. And when they had mocked him. They took off the purple robe. And put his own clothes on him.

[34:05] Then they led him out. To crucify him. Sometimes we can think back in our lives. At particular events.

[34:17] Where we felt. Humiliated. You know. It can be as simple as something. Like being the last pick. In the football team. You're standing there.

[34:29] And you're waiting for your name to get called. And it never gets called. You feel. As a little boy. Humiliated. Or maybe. We've. Had a friend.

[34:40] And we've trusted them. And we've. Confided in them. And told them. Something. Personal. And something that. That really cut deep with us. And. And they've betrayed our confidence.

[34:51] And they've gone. And they've. They've told other people. And in a public place. We. We find that. What we've shared. And confidence. Comes back out into the open. And we're standing there.

[35:03] Unexpecting. Not expecting this. And all of a sudden. We feel this. This humiliation. And this. This shame. We know something about humiliation. But nothing.

[35:15] Like this. The humiliation. That we see here. Is at a very. Different level. It's not. Possible.

[35:25] For us. To. To grasp. What Jesus. Was. Was. Suffering here. We sang last week. Bearing shame. And scoffing.

[35:37] Rude. In my place. Condemned. He stood. And here. Jesus. We see it. So graphically. He's bearing the shame. He's subject.

[35:48] To the. To the scoffing. Of the religious leaders. And the Roman soldiers. And the crowds. As they look in. The whole company.

[36:01] Of soldiers. Are there. If you ask the question. In your mind. Why the whole company? When here is one man. And he has been.

[36:12] Battered. And brutalized. To the point. That he's almost. Dead. Physically. He has no. Physical power. To launch. Any kind of.

[36:23] Attack. As far as they could see. So why are there. Six hundred. Roman soldiers. Here. It's because.

[36:34] This was their entertainment. For the evening. That's why. This was a comedy. Sketch for them. And so they're told.

[36:45] Everybody gather. Everybody come and watch. Watch the show. We're going to have some fun here. So they put the kingly robe.

[36:59] On Jesus. Remember purple. Was the color for royalty. They sarcastically. Fall to their. Knees. And they. They pay. Homage to him.

[37:10] They. They've beaten him. With their fists already. Now they beat him. With sticks. And they spit. In his face.

[37:24] This was a big joke. To them. Jesus is mocked. It's the most. Thorough mocking. That you'll ever read of. And how did Jesus.

[37:36] Feel about this. Did he feel nothing. Was. Was all this. Just. Impervious. Did he. Did he. Did he just not experience.

[37:48] Any of this. This shame. And this. This mocking. Did it just. Rise. Did he rise above it. Because of the state of mind. That he was now in.

[37:58] As he comes. Into the cross. No. We know from scripture. He felt this pain. He felt the humiliation. He felt the shame. In Hebrews. 12.

[38:08] 2. It says that. He despised. The shame. The shame. The shame. The shame. The shame. The shame. The shame. The shame. The shame. The shame. The shame. The shame. this didn't pass him by.

[38:26] It hit him. And he despised it. So why did he endure it? Ryle asks that question.

[38:41] Why was Jesus insulted and made a lack of laughing stock by the Roman soldiers? Then he answers the question. It was so that we, vile as we are, might have glory, honor, and eternal life through faith in Christ's atonement.

[39:07] Jesus is mocked. He is humiliated so that we could be honored. Fifthly, Jesus is crushed under the weight of the cross so that we would not be crushed under the weight of our sin.

[39:35] Verse 21, a certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country and they forced him to carry the cross.

[39:52] So here we see a man who walks on scene. We've never seen him before. His name was Simon. He's passing by.

[40:04] You could say he was in the right place at the right time or he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. And he's taken hold of by the Roman soldiers and he's forced to carry the cross of Christ.

[40:15] Now, why was it that Simon of Cyrene was stopped, manhandled, and forced to carry the cross of Christ? Why was that? The reason for that was because Jesus couldn't take the weight of it.

[40:32] That's why. Jesus is, at this point, so broken and bruised and physically weak that he can't carry his cross.

[40:56] He's crushed physically under the weight of this cross. And that's a preview, physically, of what was about to happen spiritually.

[41:10] We often sing the lines from that hymn, How Deep the Father's Love for Us. Behold the man upon a cross.

[41:22] My sin upon his shoulders. And it was our sin that held Jesus to that cross.

[41:36] It was our sin that literally crushed Jesus to death. He did it for us. He took the weight.

[41:51] He took the penalty of our sin so that we would not have to. Sixth point.

[42:07] Jesus took the pain so that we could avoid it. Verse 22. They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha, which means the place of the skull.

[42:22] They offered him then wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. Now this drink that was offered to Jesus, it was likely a drink that was prepared and offered to Jesus by the women who were gathered around the cross who were sympathetic towards Jesus.

[42:45] The drink likely was a kind of narcotic mix, something that would dull the pain. But if it was to dull the pain, it would cloud the senses.

[43:02] So Jesus, he refuses it. Why did he refuse this drink? It's because he must suffer the pain.

[43:16] He must go through this with a clear mind. He must stay alert. He has things that he needs to say. There is a way that he must conduct himself.

[43:36] The pain was not something that he could avoid. It's not something that he sought to avoid. It's something that he knew that he must face. And he faced it.

[43:49] He took it for us. He took it from us. You know, parents, when we see one of our children and they're in pain, there's nothing worse.

[44:07] Now, we want to take it away. we want to take it from them. We would even take it into ourselves for them. But we can't do that.

[44:22] God, our Father, he saw the pain that our sin was accruing against us. God, he saw the suffering that was coming our way.

[44:40] And so, what did he do? He, God the Son, he came between us. He came between us and the suffering.

[44:51] He took it from us. He took it for us on the cross. And finally, we see here that Jesus takes the curse of the cross for us so that we could be redeemed.

[45:18] And I want to just finish halfway through verse 24, where we read there what Mark records. And Mark records as Jesus goes from that place we've been brutalized in the courtyard onto the cross.

[45:40] So what does Mark record? Well, he simply records four words and they crucified him.

[45:51] And I'm always amazed by the brevity of this statement. This is the most significant event that ever had happened or ever will happen.

[46:09] And it seems to be recorded in such an understated way. And they crucified him. Now we almost want to say to Mark, shouldn't you use more words?

[46:26] Yes, this is painful for us to read, but shouldn't we see more here? Shouldn't you tell us about the nails that were driven through the hands and the feet of Jesus' body?

[46:40] Shouldn't you tell us and give us a picture of the blood that was pouring from him at this point? shouldn't you tell us something about the cries of anguish and the ripping flesh and muscle and the horror of Jesus gasping for breath?

[47:05] But Mark, who is inspired by the Holy Spirit, tells us none of these things. Why not?

[47:18] It's because Mark is not trying to get our pity for Christ. He's not trying to stir in us some kind of sympathy as we look on Jesus' physical sufferings.

[47:37] Mark is trying to get us to understand that the depths of the sufferings that Jesus was going through were spiritual. The darkest sufferings that Jesus endured were because he was taking the curse of our sin for us so that we could be redeemed.

[48:08] Galatians 3 13, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.

[48:31] And that's what we finished today. we see Jesus hanging on a tree, suffering, dying for us.

[48:53] There's a lot to see at Calvary. there's a lot to survey as we come to this wondrous cross.

[49:05] And my prayer is that God will give us eyes to see and ears to hear and hearts that will cry out to Christ to be our Savior as we see all that he did for us.

[49:28] And we'll pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for your great love for us.

[49:41] We so often sing that hymn, how great the Father's love for us, how vast beyond all measure, that he would give his only son to make a wretch his treasure.

[49:53] And Lord, we thank you for all that we see on the cross that enables us who are wretched because of our sin to be saved and to be given hope.

[50:09] We thank you that Jesus allowed himself to be led to that cross to die so that we could be led into life that is eternal. We thank you that he was clothed with the scarlet robes of our sin so that if we believe in him, we can be clothed with the white robes of his righteousness.

[50:34] We thank you that he allowed the crown of thorns to be pressed down into his skull and took the curse of our sin for us so that we could be spared of it.

[50:54] We thank you that Jesus, although he despised the shame he went through it. He endured it, he suffered the mocking so that we could be promised the prospect of glory.

[51:11] We thank you that Jesus was crushed on that cross under the weight of our sin so that we could be redeemed so that we could be set free.

[51:28] We thank you that he took the pain of the penalty of sin so that we could avoid it. And we thank you that through all that he did on going to that cross, he has made it possible for us to be redeemed.

[51:46] So give us eyes to see, give us hearts, Lord, that would respond in faith and being able to say there is a redeemer, Jesus, God's own son, Jesus, my redeemer, name above all names.

[52:06] We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.