If you would turn your Bible to Matthew chapter 27, Matthew chapter 27 in your copy of Scripture, we will drop ourselves right in the middle of a rather intense scene, really an earth shattering scene, a history altering scene. Jesus has been betrayed into the hands of the Romans by the traitor, Judas Iscariot, working in collusion with the Jewish Sanhedrin. He has been seized and brought before the high priest Caiaphas, and then the whole council of the elders of Israel, and through a gross mishandling of justice, the decree that he is guilty of blasphemy and deserving of death. Now they are unable to carry out the sentence of death. However, they turn Jesus over to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. And while the Jews attempt to convince Pilate of Jesus' crimes, he is utterly unconvinced and does what he can to free Jesus. That is short of actually exonerating him out of the fear of a Jewish rebellion. However, in the last ditch effort, Pilate employs the use of a custom of releasing a Jewish prisoner to them, and he gives them a choice between Jesus and a murderer named Barabbas. And to his great shock and disappointment, the angry crowd chooses to release Barabbas. And he asks them what he should do with Jesus, and the mob shouts, crucify him. And so he symbolically washes his hands of the matter and Pilate then delivers Jesus over into the hands of the torturers to be scourged and then ultimately to be crucified in verse 26. What plays out in the next moments, however, are shocking events, horrifying events, nothing short of humiliating and incensing and heartbreaking. For any person to undergo the vicious treatment that Jesus endured would be awful in and of itself. But when we consider who it is who endures this, it adds another layer of sadness and wretchedness. This wasn't just a radical rabbi or a charismatic leader. He's more. He is the Son of God. He is the Son of Man. He is the Savior of the world. Jesus is the King of the universe. In fact, one of the accusations made by the Jews to Pilate was that Jesus had claimed to be the Christ and then they defined it a king. Considering his allegiance to Caesar, Pilate then seizes on the accusation and he presses Jesus on whether or not he actually is the King of the Jews. And Jesus responds in John 18, 37, he says, you say correctly that I am a king. However, he notes, my kingdom is not of this world. By this, he maintains that his mission is not to come and supplant Caesar on earth at that time. That's not the plan. And so to that degree, Pilate would be sort of relieved a little bit. Okay, well, that's not the plan or he's not a king of this world. I don't care what world he's a king of as long as it's not this one. But what Pilate doesn't understand, what he misses in the conversation is that Jesus is pointing out the reality that he is a king who is higher than Caesar. Forget Caesar, Jesus is the King of all kings. Pilate failed to realize that the man who's being delivered over to the Roman torturers is none other than the King of kings and Lord of lords. Throughout all the scriptures, the kingship of Christ is put on display. We see from places like Isaiah 9 that Jesus is the prophesied king. He is the prophesied king. A child will be born to us. A son will be given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of his government or of peace on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord will accomplish this. He is also the promised king. The promised king. 2 Samuel chapter 7 declares that in the Davidic covenant whereby the future son of David will be established on an everlasting throne whereby the house of David and the throne of David will remain forever. That's a promise. He's also the messianic king. We learn this from Daniel 7, verses 13 and 14. It portrays Daniel's words, I kept looking into the night visions and behold with the clouds of heaven one like a son of man. Son of man became a messianic title for the Messiah. One like a son of man was coming and he came to the ancient of days. That's God. and was presented before him and to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations and men might serve him. He's also the sovereign king, the sovereign king. According to the Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 6, verses 13-15, who writes, I charge you in the presence of God who gives life to all things, and of Jesus Christ, you testified a good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will bring about on the proper time. And then Paul elaborates, he who is the blessed and only sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords. He is the victorious king described in Revelation 19 at the very end. The one who will come on a white horse whose eyes are like a flame of fire, whose clothing is dipped in the blood of his enemies, who speaks with a sharp sword, who smites the nations and rules them with a rod of iron, and on his thigh has a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is the prophesied king, the promised king, the messianic king, the sovereign king, the victorious king. He also is, according to the apostle Paul in Ephesians 20-21, the eternal king. Jesus Christ, whom God raised from the dead and seated Him at the right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. This is who is standing in front of Pilate. This is who is blasphemed by the Jews. This who is mocked by the Romans. Keep all of this in mind, by the way, as we look at our text, Matthew 27. Moving in through verse 26, we covered this briefly last time, but Matthew 27, 26, the second half, talking about Pilate, but after having Jesus scourged, he handed him over to be crucified. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the praetorium and gathered the whole Roman cohort around him. They stripped him. and put a scarlet robe on him. After twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and a reed in his right hand. And they knelt down before him and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews. They spat on him and took the reed and began to beat him on the head. After they had mocked him, they took the scarlet robe off him and put his own garments back on him and led him away to crucify him. As they were coming out, they found a man of Cyrene named Simon, whom they pressed into service to bear his cross. Now with a mere passing reference in verse 26, Matthew records that Jesus was scourged before being delivered over to be crucified. Now Matthew says nothing of what this entails. He uses one word and then keeps on going. Readers at that time in the first century would have known what this was all about, but we are left to study history and learn what this practice really entailed. In a more general sense, scourging refers to whipping or flogging. However, the purpose is more than punitive. It wasn't just that you're going to whip somebody with this material, with this tool. Rather, this scourging was designed to prepare the victim to be crucified. There was a practical measure behind it. And we need to keep in mind here that this is the most extreme of the kinds of beatings that they would do. The Romans had three kinds of beating punishments. The first was called fustigatio, which was a less severe punishment for lighter offenses. They would catch a very small criminal, they would whip him or beat him for just a little bit and send him on his way with a bruised back and he would go off. But the second kind of beating was called the flagellatio. This is where we get our word flagellate which really refers to flogging or whipping or beating. This was a more severe beating reserved for hardened criminals. And then there was a third kind of beating the Romans administered. It was the most severe of the punishments known as verbaratio. Roman citizens were not allowed to receive this kind of beating. But this is the kind of beating that Jesus received. It involved fastening pieces of bone and sharp metal to a leather whip. It was also called a cat of nine tails. The prisoner would be bound and hunched over a small pillar with his back and his legs and his hindquarters exposed. And then two soldiers would take their position behind him to the left and the right, and they would take turns whipping him with their sharp bladed whips. Within only a few minutes, the victim's back would have become bloodied. It was not uncommon for their back to become so torn, in fact, that their bones and organs could be exposed. Beyond satisfying the sadistic desire for torture, the Romans used this scourging as a way to weaken the victims. They didn't want to be dragging a struggling and screaming victim to the cross and then be fighting to nail them there. And so they would weaken them through this process. For them, it was very practical as torturers. But this would hasten the death of the criminal, but it would also provide the most amount of agony possible. It was not uncommon for victims of scourging to die before they even reached their cross. And so Jesus was scourged by the soldiers and then handed over to be crucified. Of course, even this suffering was prophesied. We read about this in Psalm 22, the Psalm we read about last week and even this morning. Also Psalm 69 portrays the indignities of the cross, but here we read it's Isaiah 53 that tells us the chastening for our well-being fell upon him and by his scourging we are healed. There's a purpose even in Jesus's torture, even in the manner with which he's whipped. God had a purpose even for that. That that scourging would be a restorative power in our lives to heal us. That the suffering of his torture, the suffering of his blood loss, it would be shed not just on the cross, but even before the cross. The place that they would scourge their victims, there would be ruts in the stone where the blood would then drain out. And so Jesus would be standing in a puddle of his own blood being shed for his people. All of these things, as horrific and inhumane as they were, played a part, brothers and sisters, in our redemption. Don't miss that. It isn't only the cross. It is everything leading up to itself and then even beyond. The entire act of Jesus submitting himself to the will of the Father and taking on the full wrath and the punishment. All of that is what accomplishes salvation. We don't want to miss that. Verse 27. The soldiers then of the governor took Jesus into the praetorium and gathered the whole Roman cohort around him. Now we begin to see the humiliation. It was already humiliating for a Jew to be stripped bare in front of the Romans. That was bad enough. But now it gets worse. The Roman soldiers, they bring this bruised and bleeding Jesus into the Praetorium. The Praetorium is the Roman headquarters in Jerusalem. It's their HQ, if you would. It's their base of operations. And it says that once He's there, the whole Roman cohort gathered around Him. Well, how many soldiers are in a cohort? Well, a cohort was one-tenth of a legion. So as many as 600 soldiers. 600 soldiers. And they crowded around Jesus like dogs encircling Him. In Psalm 22, 16, David reflects on the future experience of Jesus when he says, Jesus lived that. As hundreds of Roman soldiers salivating for His blood gathered around Him to then mock Him. They gathered around Him like a posse of villains for the purpose of mocking and deriding the Son of God. Verse 28 says, they stripped Him and they put a scarlet robe on Him. After stripping him now to scourge him, the soldiers then would have dressed him again in his original robes, placing the burlap or the cloth back onto his bleeding shoulders and back. But now as his wounds began to clot, they rip it off again. And they put another cloak on his back. This is effectively re-whipping him. You see what I'm saying? And then they dress him, Matthew says, in a scarlet robe. Mark records it's a purple robe. But it's certainly clear what's happening here. They're wrapping him in a purple or even a scarlet robe that represents royalty. But it's a mockery. They don't actually regard him as being royal at all. As we'll see, the soldiers intend to mock him as king. They dress him up in their own lampooned version of a Jewish king. This is the Romans' opportunity to hit the Jews hard. To take one of the ones who've made their lives so miserable as occupying forces now. They're going to take out their aggression on Jesus. The first act is to grab a used, faded cloak that maybe at one time was purple, but now had discolored into scarlet, and they're gonna dress him in this royal robe. Well, every king needs a crown, so verse 29 says, after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head. Now, scholars aren't sure exactly what kind of thorns they were, But if they were the thorns of a date palm which was native to the area, those thorns could have been anywhere between a few inches to up to 12 inches long. And they take this crown of thorns and they press it into his head. And immediately with the head wounds of the thorns, blood would have been trickling down from his head into his face and into his eyes. And after mocking Jesus with a crown of thorns, they equipped him with a royal scepter. Not the scepter of iron that he will carry one day in Revelation 19.15, but a flimsy reed. And they place it in his right hand, the place of honor. With each addition to their costume, the soldiers are laughing at him and they're jeering at him. This is sport for them. This is something to occupy their time on a cold Friday morning. They take turns, the Bible says, kneeling down before him and mocking him, saying, hail, king of the Jews. Whereas before in chapter 26, verses 67 and 68, it was the Jews that were mocking Jesus, now he's being mocked by the Gentiles. But that wasn't enough for them. Verse 30 says they spat on him. A sign of contempt and derision. And they grabbed the reed that was in his right hand and then they begin to beat him in the head with it. Every crushing blow driving the crown of thorns deeper into his skull. I mean the indignity and the agony of this just keeps on ratcheting up. But verse 31 says, after they had mocked him, they took the scarlet robe off of him and put his own garments back on him and led him away to crucify him. And so now they've grown tired of mocking him. And so what do they do? They rip the robe back off of his body again, reopening the wounds again, and putting his own blood soaked garments back on him. And from there, they lead him away. Yet even as they were humiliating him, Jesus no doubt remembered Isaiah's suffering songs, particularly Isaiah 50 verse 6, where the servant says, I gave my back to those who strike me and my cheeks to those who pluck out the beard. I did not cover my face from humiliation and spitting. The servant did this willingly. Don't you think that at any point the sovereign Lord could have stopped them? Don't you think that at any point he could have said, do you even know who I am? And thrown them to the ground and stopped their hearts beating? And yet he said, I gave my back. I gave my cheeks to them. I did not cover my face. from the humiliation and from the spitting. Every agonizing abuse was prophesied and prescribed and the Lord endured all of it in submission to the will of God. Now at some point in the morning, After Jesus had been whipped within an inch of his life, Pilate brought him back out to the screaming crowds. Matthew doesn't record this, but John certainly does. But the Jesus that was taken away from the crowd is very different than the Jesus that's brought back to the crowd. His garments are now soaked. His face is swollen and bruised. Streams of crimson blood drip from his head and from his back. He would have been a ghastly sight to behold. And here's the thing, Pilate wanted them to see this. He wanted to rub their face in this. This is what you wanted me to do. And in John 19 five, he says, behold the man. He wasn't presenting them as a prize. He's presenting him to them, look at what you made me do. Behold the man, and yet the crowd continued to chant, crucify him. John also records that Pilate at some point in that time began to find another way to release Jesus. But when the Jews catch on of his plan, they begin to cry out and they say, if you release this man, you are no friend to Caesar. Everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar. So now you have the Jews trying to convince the Roman governor that Jesus is a direct threat to Caesar. And if he doesn't consent to his death, now he, Pilate, is complicit. Here's the thing, since when have the Jews ever been concerned about Caesar or Rome? That's completely against their nature. That's abhorrent to them, and yet that's the descent to which they go. And so Pilate finally declares, behold, your king. But they continue to demand Jesus' crucifixion. to which Pilate, totally dumbfounded at this point, says to them, shall I crucify your king? To which the chief priests, the shepherds of Israel, reply, we have no king but Caesar. This is complete and total apostasy This is blasphemy of the divine kingship of Christ. And so with no other course of action, Pilate delivers Jesus over to his death. What else can he do? He would then be assigned a cross and be escorted outside the city walls to be crucified. After all, the Jews had a law. that they weren't allowed to execute criminals inside the city because, oh no, that would blaspheme the temple walls and the city and we don't want any kind of defilement on our holy holiday. So we're gonna bring the Son of God outside the city walls and we'll crucify him there. And so that's where Jesus goes. Now, scholars aren't exactly sure if Jesus would be required to carry the entire cross, the stake and the cross beam, or if he only carried the crossbeam itself. But depending on what kind of wood they used, even the crossbeam would have been upwards of 200 pounds. I watched our brother carry that crossbeam and set it in place. It took every ounce of strength that he had. And now Jesus has to carry this cross, at least at the very minimum the beam. on himself, and at first Jesus started doing it. Jesus bearing through all of this, the Bible says in John 19, 17, he bore this cross, but soon he became weakened. Beyond not sleeping all night, he was emotionally and physically exhausted from the entire ordeal. Keep in mind that as this is happening early in the morning, there's been a lot of things that have taken place in the last 24 hours. He's already been betrayed, which drained him. He was already in the Garden of Gethsemane, pouring out his heart and his tears and his own sweat of blood into the ground before the Father, feeling the crushing weight of the cup of wrath of God. That's already happened to him. It's on him right now. He's been arrested, and added to all of that is the severe blood loss and the bodily shock of being tortured. At a certain point, he's simply no longer able to carry this cross. And so what happens? Verse 32, as they were coming out, they, the soldiers, found a man of Cyrene named Simon, whom they pressed into service to bear his cross. The Romans, they force a Jewish man who is just passing through, the Bible says, to go and carry this cross. The cross of a total stranger covered in blood. Now, the Romans claimed the right. They could press anyone into service in the entire kingdom. They could actually make this man carry a burden for them up to a mile. And so they press Simon, who's just there on pilgrimage. Simon of Cyrene, that's his name. And they demand that he carry this cross for Jesus. Mark includes a detail for his readers that Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus. Well, who are they? Well, to us, they're total strangers. We have no idea who they are, but they were well known in the early church. That's why the names are included. In fact, some believe that the Rufus that Paul mentions in Romans 16, 13 is one of the sons of Simon of Cyrene. Perhaps in carrying Jesus's cross, Simon becomes a believer and then leads his sons to saving faith as well. We can only speculate. But one scholar, R.T. France, makes this note, that there was need for a new Simon to take the place of the Simon who loudly protested his loyalty in Matthew 26. Simon Peter should have been there. He should have been the one to help the Lord carry the cross. And yet he'd run away earlier, hours earlier, and so now the Lord, in his humanness, is in need of a stranger to help him fulfill this purpose. But see, again, all of this happened for a reason. And I want to caution you, because I think it's very common to preach the cross, to preach the passion narratives, and to do so in such a way where the net effect is that we simply feel bad for Jesus. That is not why we have the passion narratives. It is not so that we will simply feel bad for Jesus' plight. No, here is the thing. Jesus came to bear our sin. He came to bear our shame and our humiliation and suffering and punishment. The king of the universe came to earth to be treated as a common criminal because that's what we are. We are the spiritual terrorists. We are Barabbas. That cross belongs to us. And this is what is called the condescension. We use the word condescending to mean something else today when someone is sort of being snickering and sneering and sarcastic. But that is not the doctrine of the condescension. The condescension is that God in highest heaven, in perfection and glory, would choose to condescend and travel to the lowest reaches of the earth and humiliate himself and die for the people who have transgressed his law. That is what is meant by the condescension. And we see this if you'll turn with me to Philippians chapter 2. Paul's letter to Philippi, Philippians chapter two. The suffering and the humiliation of Christ accomplished many things, foremost being our salvation, but it also serves as our model for what it means to follow after him. There is so much wrapped up in the cross even beyond salvation, if you could even venture to think of that. But there is so much here. Philippians chapter two, starting in verse one, the Apostle Paul writes to the beloved church, therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, If there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in Spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, regard one another as more important than yourselves. Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped. but emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of men, being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." For this reason also God highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. It is so easy for us to think so highly of ourselves and simultaneously to think so poorly of other people and to walk around with sort of a self-gratifying, self-exalting, self-aggrandizing view. I don't deserve to be treated this way. I'm better than that. I'm going to do whatever I need to do for myself and I'm not going to lower myself to that level. Unless we forget that Christ deserves only glory and yet he humbled himself below everyone. And yet he was despised, and he was rejected, and he was abused, and he was tortured, and he was mocked, and he was murdered. And yet in this, in his righteous obedience, God exalted him. God lifted him up and seated him in the heavenly places and bestowed on him a name that is above every name. and planted his feet at the base of the throne where he is seated. And at his feet, he places his heels on the enemies of the cross to be used as a footstool. God lifts up the lowly, beloved. He gives grace to the humble. And so as we're applying this, again, we see the magnitude of salvation. This whole week leading up to Friday, and even the events of this Friday, where Christ is accomplishing salvation, forgiveness for sins, we're also seeing in the cross where we belong. The Reformers, mostly Martin Luther, have this view where the self-righteous leaders of the Roman Catholic Church, and by virtue of the self-righteous leaders in Israel, had what he calls the theology of glory. That all of this exists to make ourselves bigger. Where Luther says, no, there's actually a theology of the cross whereby I see my life, my value, my plan of action, my worth, my everything in the sufferings of Christ. That I align myself with him. He is the only one to suffer for us, but if I'm gonna be made in the likeness of this, then I also need to take up my cross, humble myself, and follow him. We are not Christians of glory on this planet. We don't live for ourselves. No, everything is to be in line and in view of the cross of Christ. Christ is the one who is glorious. Christ is the one who is exalted. We're the ones in need of his payment. We're the reason he died. We're the reason he had to give his back. Were the reason he had to give his face for spitting and slapping? Were the reason he had to have nails driven through his hands and feet? Were the reason he had to have a crown of thorns placed on his head? Were the reason he was mocked? Because in truth, in our sinfulness, we're the mockers. We're the ones who stand in derision by our sin. We're the ones, when we look down our noses at other people, we're the ones who slap Him. And so when you look at the cross of Jesus Christ, what do you see? What do you see? Do you see your sin and your rebellion? and your wretchedness nailed there with him? Do you see God's wrath that was meant for you? Do you see a Savior willing to endure absolute hell so that we would be brought to heaven? Is that what you see? Because I believe that's what we're meant to see. That Jesus Christ went there, yes, for us, But there's an even transcendent purpose even to that. He went there for God. He went there to glorify God, to satisfy His wrath, and to deliver to the Father a people who will be given back to Him as a possession. We are His possession. And on that cross, He bought us in His own blood. When the soldiers took turns mocking him, the Bible tells us that they would take turns running up and kneeling before him and jeering and saying, oh, hail, king of the Jews. But the Bible says that there's coming a day when every knee will bow, every Jew, every Gentile, every man, every woman, every prince, every president, Every tongue, tribe, and nation. Every religion, affiliation, philosophy. And furthermore, every soldier that pretended to bow down to Jesus in the praetorium will one day bow the knee in reverence and in awe. And the Bible warns us in Psalm 2, kiss the sun. In other words, pay homage to the sun, kiss the sun, lest he become angry and you perish along the way, for his wrath will soon be kindled. But there's a promise. How blessed are all who take refuge in him. Oh, that promise is so sweet. How blessed, how happy, how joyful. are all those who take refuge in Him. Well, you might be asking, how do I take refuge in Him? I see Christ being crucified. I see Him being tortured. We're about to see Him being nailed to a cross. How do I get that? How do I take refuge in Him? It starts by believing the gospel. By taking your own life of sin by seeing your wretchedness and prostrating yourself before the throne of God and saying, have mercy on me, oh God. Forgive me of my sins, calling them by name. Friends, don't confess your sins in general. It is not enough to say, oh, I'm a sinner, even though most people can't even say that. Don't just say, oh, I know I have some sins. Tell him. Confess what it is. Ask him to examine you and prepare for the worst. And then when he brings them to bear in your mind and into your heart, confess them, pour out all of these things to God and say, oh Lord, I've sinned against heaven and in your sight, I've done these things, forgive me. And then in that repentance, believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Believe that he died for you. Believe that he was smitten for you. Believe that he was chastised and scourged and pierced for you. That by His stripes, you're healed and receive the promised gift of salvation. For God so loved the world, for God so loved you, sinner, that He gave His only begotten Son. That whosoever would believe in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life. Trust in that. Take refuge in that. I'm not good enough. Of course you're not. That's why he had to die. But take refuge in Him. Own the wretchedness of your sin. Call it by name. Look at it in the face if you can. And the truth is, is that most people, all people, we can't really even look at the depth of our own depravity. It would turn our stomach. And yet, in order to confess our sins and repent, we have to look at it. We have to see it. But what do you do with it? That's the question. See, most people in the world, they look at their depravity and they run the other way. And they try to cover it up and they fill every possible void they can with something else. What do I do with my sin? What do I do with my wretchedness? You give it to Christ. And he takes it from you. And he places it onto himself. And when the nails pierce his body, your sins are pierced with him. And when he dies on that cross, your sins die with him. And when he's buried in the ground, your sins are buried with him. And when He's resurrected, new life and glory, you are resurrected in Him. He is your refuge and your strength. He is a very present help in times of trouble and in need. He is the God of your salvation. He is the captain of all of the armies of the host of heaven. And as 1st Timothy 1.17 says, Now to the King, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. Oh God, our Father, Consider the magnitude of the Scriptures. And Lord, if we have been a Christian for any length of time and we read the Gospels, shamefully, it is all too often that we just glide over top of these verses. We see them. We read them. Maybe we define a few terms, but in truth, we would rather just go watch a movie or think of something else and not consider because our hearts are fickle, oh Lord. We don't want to look at the depth of our depravity. We don't want to look into the face of a suffering Christ. We don't dare to venture to give one glance at the fury of your wrath. And yet we have to face this. And yet, in facing it, O Lord, you don't rub our nose in it and destroy us. Rather, you deliver us. And we are not consigned to Gethsemane to agonize and sweat drops of blood at the coming cup of your full wrath. That's not us. That's Christ. Who bears all of that for us, for his people whom you call beloved, and we are not beloved in and of ourselves, and yet you deem us to be beloved. Because you, by your own love and glory and promised will, you have wrapped us in your robe of perfect righteousness. And you have removed the penalty of our sins. And you've chosen to set your love upon us. What can we do? How can we repay? How can we live lives that are worthy? We're lost because we can't. And so what do we do? We seek refuge in you. We come to you by faith. All who are weary and heavy laden, we lay our burdens at your feet. We come to you dragging our feet, tired, exhausted, worn down with regrets and sins too heavy to bear. And we say, Lord, will you please carry this? And not only do you carry it, oh, Lord, but you tell us I will take this from you and I will put this to death. And in doing so, you give us life. And by faith in you, we have life in your name. How blessed are you, O Lord, our God? How blessed is your holy name? How exalted and magnified, how glorious are you? How wonderful are your precepts? How brilliant is your wisdom? How unsurpassing is your love. How transcendent is your beauty. How marvelous are your attributes. How pure and lovely is your holiness. Let us take refuge in the King of creation who is given as a ransom for us. We thank you for all of these things. In Jesus name. Amen.