So, we have spent the last 14 weeks walking through the whole Bible storyline, and then we've spent the last three weeks in particular talking about Jesus. We've kind of slowed down for Jesus because he's the center of the story. What are the three lessons about Jesus that we have seen up to this point? It's been the last four weeks because we had Memorial Day off. We first, four weeks ago, talked about the, if you look at the back of your handout, if you want to cheat. We talked about the incarnation of Jesus, meaning the coming of Jesus. So we looked at the narratives regarding his coming and how that fulfilled prophecy, his birth. Then we looked at the works of Jesus. And then we looked at the words of Jesus. And Chin-Wei pointed out last week how really the works and words really need to be understood together. They inform each other that it would be very incomplete if Jesus just came and did the works or if he just came and spoke the words he spoke, but they inform each other. And today we're going to look at the last of the lessons directly about the life of Jesus from the gospels, and that is opening the life gate. These are the events of his triumphal entry, his death and resurrection. So I want to ask you if all the things we've studied up to this point, his birth, his works, and his words, if that's all that happened, if Jesus did those things, lived to a ripe old age, died a natural death, and that was the end of the story, how would that affect the biblical storyline? We'd still be waiting. Is there a lot of prophecies and promises and types of something that hasn't been fulfilled? You want to elaborate a little bit more on that? What would we be waiting for? Yeah, a resurrected Savior. So what you're implying is that all these things were cooked into the story, the prophecy, the promises that there would be a savior, there would be a resurrection, there would be redemption. These are some of the things that we talked about in the prophetic hope of Israel, that there would be a king who had established an ideal kingdom, that there would be a savior, that there would be resurrection, even, even a hope of a global redemption. Some of these things that that we've already talked about, some things we haven't yet talked about, but there is certainly would be a big hole in the biblical storyline right in the center. And really that's what we're going to talk about today is really the center of the whole story. It's not the end of the story, but it is the hub of the wheel, one could say. The crowning events of Jesus' life on earth, and they give meaning not only to all of his life, his incarnation, his, and by the way, I keep saying incarnation, that just means he's becoming in flesh, God taking on human flesh. His incarnation, his works, and his words really find their ultimate meaning in relation to what we're going to talk about today. Again, we would just have, we would have a very incomplete story. We would have a man doing great works, speaking great words, and dying, and all we'd have is another good wisdom teacher. And it gives meaning to the whole story of the Bible. It really is the center of the story, as we hope to elaborate later. So, let's walk through the events. As you can see in your handout, we have three kind of stages we're going to look at. One is called the presentation of the King, which is what is called the triumphal entry. Jesus' entry into Jerusalem the week before his death and resurrection. Then we're going to talk about his suffering. And then we're going to talk about his exaltation. And then at the end on the last page, we're going to do some reflecting on kind of how, how the pieces fit together. How does, how do the events we're seeing today fit the larger biblical storyline? So let's first look at the presentation of the King. Can we have someone read John? And some of the texts cited in your handout are not exactly what we're going to read. Sometimes there's a little bit more in there than what we're going to read. So just pay attention to that please. So can someone read John 12 verses 12 to 15? the king of Israel. And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, fear not, daughter of Zion, behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's coal. Thank you. So how would you describe, how would you characterize the crowd's reception of Jesus? And what are they claiming about him? What? They're excited. They're excited, absolutely. Yeah, and where are you seeing that save now? Hosanna? Yeah, so Hosanna means save us, save us now. And then they're basically recognizing him as being the one that's going to be doing that saving. Yeah, so they're recognizing Him as the Savior. And they're quoting Psalm 118, which is a Psalm about the Lord's coming salvation for Israel. And these quotes from verse 13 is from Psalm 118. So they're saying, here it is, here's God's salvation. And this quote saying, your king is coming. Now this is John, the author, quoting scripture to say, this is the fulfillment of, this is from Zechariah 9.9, speaking of a king coming on a donkey. And the emphasis there in Zechariah is of the humility of this coming king, that he's sitting on a donkey. It's a more humble animal than one might expect maybe a king to come on a horse. But this is a humble king coming on a donkey. So this triumphal entry, sets up two great ironies about Jesus' crucifixion. And one of the themes we're gonna see keep recurring in this whole narrative is irony. This is the way God works. And it's a way we're gonna talk about. We've seen him working through ironic reversals all the way through the Bible, but we're gonna see it most particularly in Jesus' crucifixion. So see how this crowd of, these are pilgrims, Passover pilgrims who have come from all around Israel to the feast in Jerusalem, the Passover. See how they're emphatically welcoming him and celebrating him only days before his resurrection in the same city. I'm sorry, his crucifixion in the same city. Also, he's coming as a king and his humility leads to his suffering, which will lead to his exaltation as king. So we see a king, just the irony of a humble king. The king who will be king of kings. who begins in humility. And that's how he's lived his whole life. He had nowhere to lay his head. He lived in poverty. He traveled around. He didn't live as one would expect a king to live. So there's this humble king entering Jerusalem, and that leads away to really the extended narrative of his sacrifice, of what's called the passion narrative, which is the stories in the gospels, the accounts in the gospels leading to his crucifixion. So we're going to look in several stages. The first is how his death is predicted. So in Matthew 26, can someone read verses one through five? When Jesus had finished all of these sayings, he said to his disciples, you know that after a few days the Passover is coming, and a son of man will be delivered up to be crucified. And the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, his name was Otheus, and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. But they said not to end the peace, lest there be an uproar among the people. Thank you. So, what is Jesus' prediction of his death? Tell us about him. Okay. So, it's going to happen in two days. Very specific. Okay. Be delivered up. What does this tell us about Jesus' attitude? What Jesus is thinking? He's correct. He's not surprised. He knows with detail what's coming. What else? Yes, tell us about the Passover. He connects it to the Passover. What is it? Yes, so it is a feast, an event God had instituted for Israel to recollect that event when they were leaving. It was his last plague when they were leaving Egypt and it was the angel of death taking the firstborn of every home. And the Israelites were spared, not just because of their ethnicity, but because they had by God's word, but he told them to do this, they had the blood of a lamb on their doorpost. And so the angel of death passed by every house that had that. And the lesson there was, as we saw back eight weeks ago or nine weeks ago, was that God would save through death, that their life would be spared through death. And they had this ongoing annual remembrance. And so it is significant that the events to which that pointed all those years was happening on the Passover. The fact that Jesus knows in detail what's happening, and he's not going anywhere. He's not running away. He actually, the narratives of the gospels show us that Jesus, far from being taken by surprise as an innocent victim, he is marching deliberately toward Jerusalem for this. So he's telling them, okay, they're going to kill me and deliver me up in two days, and he's not going anywhere. It shows the willingness, intentionality of his death, that he did not have his life taken away from him, but he laid it down of his own accord. And notice it's kind of, again, ironic that while he's sitting there predicting exactly what they're gonna do and not going anywhere, meanwhile, they're plotting by stealth how to kill him, as though they need to take him by surprise. So then we have the last supper, which if you go a little bit ahead in Matthew 26, going to Matthew 26, verse 26. We have the Last Supper. Now, two nights before the Passover, Jesus and his disciples observe the Passover, observe the feast in their upper room, the Passover feast. And this turns out to be his last meal with them before the cross. So, can someone read verses 26 through 29 of Matthew 26? Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it for hope, he gave it to the disciples and said, I tell you, I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. Thank you. So, there's the body and the blood. There's the bread and the wine. He says, take ye, this is my body. Now, in Luke 22, we have a little bit more detail. He says, this is my body which is given for you. So he's indicating, he's using bread as a symbol of his body. And as you may know, this is where the Lord's table comes from, is this ongoing remembrance that he instituted on the Passover. So he takes the Passover and he kind of makes a new Passover. in the Lord's Supper, a new remembrance for his people to continue. But he says, this bread is like my body, which will be broken, given for you. And then the blood of the covenant in verse 20 is for you. Now, what covenant is he talking? First of all, what's a covenant? A little bit of review here. What's a covenant? We've had a few of these already. What was that? Yeah, it's an agreement or contract. It's a framework of a relationship between two parties that defines how they're gonna relate to each other. And in the Bible, covenants come up several times as God creates these framework, these relationships with his people. And that defines, it usually has promises attached to it, sometimes has responsibilities for the people. But which covenant does he mean here? He says, this is the blood of the covenant, the covenant. There've been several already in the Bible. What covenant is this? The New Covenant. How do you know that? It says the New Covenant? Okay. Well, that would help. Yes, some manuscripts say New Covenant, so there's a, yeah, some manuscripts will say Covenant or New Covenant. Even without the word new, how would we know this is the New Covenant? Mm-hmm. Right, so it is a new covenant, right? So by saying the new covenant, we're referring to, of course, when Jeremiah, we talked about this a few weeks ago in the prophetic hope. One of the things Israel was looking forward to in Jeremiah 31 was a promise of a new covenant. The covenant that he had made with them at Mount Sinai, which says, you'll be my people. I'll be your God. You keep my law. You'll be my kingdom of priests. I'll bless you. They failed that. They didn't keep the law. So he said, okay, that didn't work because you failed. So I'm going to make a new covenant in which I will do everything. I will forgive your sins. I will write the law on your heart. Every one of you will know me. So it's, it's this beautiful promise. He said, I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more. That's the promise of a new covenant, which has not been instituted yet. So here comes Jesus hundreds of years later saying, here is the blood of the covenant. That's the beginning of this new covenant. And one way we know that is because it is, even in lowercase, it is a new covenant and there are no other covenants promised to come, but also because he says, for the forgiveness of sins. which was one of the promises in Jeremiah 31, 34 of the new covenant. So this is clearly saying, this is the blood of the new covenant that you are being, so to speak, you are being sprinkled by, just as Israel was sprinkled with the blood instituting the old covenant. That's what we remember when we take the cup, that we have been brought into a new covenant in which he has provided forgiveness of sins, he has provided a new heart that wants to know and obey God, and he has done it all. So that is the heart of what happens in the upper room. Are there any, so far, before we move on to his betrayal and arrest, are there any questions or comments? Yeah, Jeff. of the Old Covenant. There's no more sacrificial system needed now. So he is, the words that Hebrews talks about in chapter nine, is he is fulfilling the obligations of the Old Covenant. So he's going to, he is the one obeying his way all the way through his life and fulfilling, not just doing away with, not abolishing, but fulfilling and completing the requirements of, so that it makes that covenant obsolete. For all who are in Him, this is this, we've talked before a little bit about union with Christ. If you are in Christ by faith, you have kept the old covenant. In that, Christ has kept it for you. So that's what He is bringing to completion as He nears His death. That is exactly right. Good. Any other thoughts or questions? Yeah. Yeah, so you're saying the talk of the blood of the covenant reaches really back into promises and other covenants. What about the bread? Is this a brand new thing? I can't go into much detail, but if you look at John 6, there's a parallel passage where it's before the Last Supper, but he's talking about eating his flesh and drinking his blood as a metaphor for faith. And there are a lot of parallels between that passage and Israel in the wilderness eating manna. And there's actually direct comparisons there where he says, you know, He talks about, actually the people talking to him say, oh, God gave, you know, Moses gave us manna in the wilderness, what's your sign? What are you gonna give us? And he says, I'm gonna give you my flesh to eat, which means faith. But so there are parallels there that Jesus, so if you wanna study John six to see some parallels even there with Israel in the wilderness and manna, and Jesus drawing those parallels with his own provision of his, he says, I am the bread from heaven, the ongoing provision of God for his people's survival and sustenance. So that's maybe just a homework assignment to go take a look at John 6. Take a good look at John 6. There's a lot in there. Good question. Let's go on and talk about his betrayal and arrest. So after the upper room in verse 30, it says that when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. He and his disciples go out to a place called the Garden of Gethsemane, and he has this last crucial moment of prayer, or really a crucial moment of decision, knowing all that's about to happen before the betrayal comes. So can I have someone who would read a little bit of a longer passage, verses, we're still in Matthew 26, verses 36 to 46. Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, who began to be sorrowful and troubled. And he said to them, my soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch with me. And going a little farther, he fell on his face and prayed, saying, my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, So could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not injure into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Again for a second time he went away and prayed, my father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done. And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. Then he came to the disciples and said to them, sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand. Thank you. So can you describe Jesus' state in the garden? What's he like? Yes, so there's this emphasis on distress. Extremely distressed. What else? Submission, yeah, where do you see that? Right, verse 39, verse 43. No, I'm not, I'm sorry, not 43. 42, your will be done. If this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done. He first, you know, in 39, he says, if this cup could pass for me, if there's any other way that this, your plan could work without me taking the cross. Lord, go ahead and do that. But he knows that that's not the case. He says, nevertheless, your will be done. So there's this wrestling and distress, but ultimately submission to the will of the Father and resolving himself to the will of the Father that he knew. And as we know, hopefully we have a heightened appreciation of this moving through the storyline of how necessary this was, necessary for God's purpose. And God didn't have to design any of this plan, but given that he had and given that his desire was to redeem, this was the only way it was going to happen. And Jesus knew that. He knew it had been prophesied. He knew that it was the will and the purpose of God. So he said, not as I will, but as you will. Now, why might it be significant? In light of the biblical storyline, why does it significant that we have Jesus here overcoming temptation, resolving himself to obey God in a garden? Right, so it's full humanity. He has all the emotional, all that we are emotionally. It's not sin to have distress. But there's submission to the Father in that, yeah. We've got the son of man now having to come to the place of enduring temptation, and yet he's going to be successful in it, whereas Adam is not. Right. So there's a parallel with Adam, and there are New Testament parallels drawn explicitly between Adam as the first Adam, the head of humanity, and Jesus as the last Adam, the new head of a new humanity in him. a covenantal representative. And there's this parallel where the first Adam failed temptation in a garden. That was the fountainhead of all of our sin and our curse. And here is the second Adam succeeding and obeying the father in the garden. And that will be the fountainhead of all of our redemption and all of our life. So there's this, this powerful moment where we have, we have a new moment of decision for the second Adam and he's going to make the right the right commitment, the right decision. So he's choosing to obey. It's in this garden then that Judas, who's the disciple who betrayed him, comes bringing the officers to arrest Jesus. So can someone, moving ahead a little bit, read verses 51 through 56? We're still in Matthew 26. Thank you. What is the event of the sword? The disciple who pulled out a sword, and we know from other gospels is Peter, pulls out a sword, cuts off the high priest servant's ear. And then Jesus' response to that. What does this show us about Jesus? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So we have, in a way, and we didn't really talk about this, but in the garden, while Jesus is praying, wrestling, resolving himself to the Father's purpose, the disciples, who he says, watch and pray that you don't enter into temptation, and they fall asleep. And then so we see those kind of, those responses bearing fruit here, right? And you say, Peter is, falling into temptation. In one sense, he's taking matters into his own hand, cutting off the servant's ear, whereas Jesus' attitude is, how would you describe Jesus' attitude contrary to that? Yeah, he's calm. He says, oh, if we were going to go that route, disciple, don't worry, I could call angels, like, I don't need your sword. If I was interested in physically stopping this, don't worry, I would be able to do that. But what it shows is, again, this theme of he is willing, he's voluntarily walking into this. John says it, that when they were all coming, he says, Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, went forward and said, whom do you seek? So he's driving it along and saying, here I am. He's also, he's also concerned about fulfilling the scriptures. He says in verse 54, how then, you know, let's say, let's say Peter, let's say I call these angels and they save me and ha ha, you know, no one's going to get the better of me. But then he says, how then would the scriptures be fulfilled? And it must be so. That's enough for Jesus to say, I can't do that. That wouldn't allow the scriptures to be fulfilled. And then verse 56, all this has taken place that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. So he's deeply concerned that this all happened according to plan, according to promise, as God had said, God's good plan. He had wrestling in prayer. He had resolved himself to the Father's good plan. And you see this, almost this distress in the garden kind of giving way to to a quiet resolve by this point, right? He's come to his conclusion, his decision, and you see him now resolve to the will of the Father. So they take him and this leads to his trial. Now we could really say trials, and it's kind of complicated. There's a number of trials. It's a sequence that goes, and we're going to only look at some of the highlights, but the sequence goes from standing before, the high priest is Caiaphas. His father-in-law, who seems to have been kind of like a high priest emeritus, like he was a former high priest, chief priest, I should say, still held a lot of influence, kind of patriarchal, and he's Annas. So first they take him to Annas for a trial. This is all at night, you know, in the house, take him to Annas for a trial. Then they take him to Caiaphas, the chief priest, for a trial. Then they take him to Pilate, who's the Roman governor, for a trial. Then Luke tells us in Luke, let's see. Sorry, I don't have the reference. Luke tells us that he takes him to Herod. 23? Okay, that he takes, thank you. Pilate sends him to Herod, who's the Jewish king under the Romans. And then Herod talks to him and sends him back to Pilate. So there's, so it's Annas, Caiaphas, Pilate, Herod, Pilate, so it's back and forth. We're gonna look a little bit at Caiaphas' trial and then a little bit at Pilate's trial. So before Caiaphas and the high religious council, which is called the Sanhedrin, in Matthew, again, 26, verses 59 to 67. Can someone read verses 59 to 67? that they might put him to death, but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last, two came forward and said, this man said, I am able to destroy the temple of God and to rebuild it in three days. And the high priest stood up and said, have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you? seated at the right hand of power, and coming on the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest tore his robes and said, he has uttered blasphemy. What further witness do you need? For have you now heard his blasphemy? What is your judgment? They answered, he deserves death. Then they spit Thank you. So first of all, the fact that this whole trial is based on false witnesses shows that they're not interested in justice. They're interested in their outcome. They're interested in His blood. So this whole thing is built, it's a sham trial in so many ways, including it's at night. That's not legal, but it's false witnesses. Now, this whole question in verse 63, tell us if you're the Christ, the Son of God. This is very interesting. Ultimately, they're trying to build a case against him. They're trying to build a case of blasphemy against him that can lead to a tenable death sentence. And what they're asking in verse 63 is, are you the Messiah, the Son of God? Now, this, it's not necessarily blasphemy to say yes to this. to say that I am the Messiah. And that phrase Son of God was a title connected with the Messiah in 2 Samuel 7, the promised Davidic King. It would not have been blasphemy to just say yes to that. Now they could have used it in their case if they're building up a case, right? But listen to what Jesus says. He says first, yes, you've said so. So what you said, yes, I'm the Christ Son of God. But then it goes on. in verse 64, but I tell you from now on, you'll see the son of man seated at the right hand of power and come in the clouds of heaven. Now you might think son of God is a higher claim than to say son of man, but because of the background of each of these terms in the Old Testament, to say the son of man is a claim to deity. To say I'm the son of man is referring back to Daniel chapter 7 where there's this divine figure to whom is given all authority and this is what Jesus has been calling himself throughout his ministry. So they're asking, okay, they're trying to get, you know, draw him out and say, are you the Messiah? And he says, yes, and I'll give you more than that. I'm the son of, I'm the divine son of man. This is why I, it's like, it blows him out of the water. You just totally incriminated yourself. Look in verse 65, he rips his clothes and says, what, he is out of blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? He's like, we got it. He gave us more than we even asked for here. So again, Jesus is far from trying to acquit himself. He's saying, let me cut to the chase and tell you that I'm divine. Let me give you more than you're even asking for. So again, Jesus is not trying to avoid the cross. He is claiming, I'm God. He's claiming to be the son of man. So, and then even earlier than that, in his silence, they're uttering false things about him and he doesn't speak up to correct them. His silence is really telling as well, that he's not interested in being acquitted by this court. So then again, he ends up before Pilate twice. There's a back and forth between Pilate and Herod. Pilate, what we see in these gospel accounts, Pilate doesn't really wanna crucify him. Pilate would rather just put this problem away. And having some, at least modicum of fairness, he's like this. This guy doesn't deserve to die. Maybe he's crazy at worst, but he doesn't deserve to die. But he's trying to play a political game with the Jewish leaders who are whipping up the crowds. And he really doesn't want the unrest that might come about if he didn't give them their way. So there's that kind of political game going on. Oh yeah, I have the reference, yeah. So he goes, first to Pilate, if you wanna write down references, John 18, 28 to 38. Luke tells us about Herod, going before Herod, Luke 23, six to 11, Matthew 27, 15 to 26. So can someone read Matthew 27, 15 to 26? would destroy Jesus. The governor again said to them, which of the two do you want me to release for you? They said, perhaps. Pilate said to them, then what shall I do with Jesus, who is called Christ? They all said, let him be crucified. He said, why? What evil has he done? They shouted all the more, let him be crucified. You know, let's just stop it right there. Thanks, thanks, that's good. So how would you characterize Pilate's attitude? What are some clues here that tell us about Pilate's attitude? Ambivalence? So he's certainly not trying to get Jesus to the cross. What are some indicators? Yeah, what evil has he done? So he's in a way kind of appealing for Jesus? He was willing to let his wife dream. Right. So his wife, he's willing to let the wife's dream be as out potentially. That may be how we know that this happened. I mean, his wife tells him, don't, don't mess with this guy. I had a dream about it. And he's plenty willing, like, all right. You know, he's a wise man. He's like, you got it. I agree with you. I don't want to, I don't want to mess with this guy. He offers twice Barabbas. Are you sure you wanna release this verified criminal instead of Jesus? And they're like, yes, yes, we definitely want Barabbas, not Jesus. So what all this highlights, it's another irony that this is the Messiah of the Jews. This is Israel's promised king, and it is the Jews. It's very clearly the Romans are the tool that are used, but it's really the Jews that drive this along. is the Jews saying, kill him, crucify him. And really the whole trial with Pilate drives them to say more and more explicitly and clearly. In John it says, the last thing they say before he says, fine, go ahead, is we have no king but Caesar. That's the last thing they say. And he goes, all right. It's kind of like, well, I'm glad you see it my way. Let's go ahead and send your quote unquote king of the Jews to the cross. So again, this sad irony that the people he came primarily for have gotten to the point where they say, we don't want him. Just so emphatically and finally. So, which leads, of course, as Pilate gives him over for crucifixion, to the humiliation and crucifixion. So, now if Pilate had listened to his wife, he wouldn't have been the one who put Jesus to death. So, just saying. But it was all part of God's plan, so. Pilate caves, he ultimately doesn't do the right thing. He doesn't uphold justice. He does what's expedient. He gives the Jews their way. So in Matthew, I'm gonna read 27, verses 27 to 31. I'm in the wrong chapter. Here we go. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews. And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him." So what's, again, the irony of the way that they are treating Jesus? Right, as though he's nothing. They're assuming that this outcome is proving his claims to being a king to be obviously discredited. So they're like, what a fool, you claim to be a king. And they're mocking him in king-like kind of mockery. And yet it is on the basis of this death that his kingdom will be established. So they think that this whole event is proving, oh, of course, you're not a king. And what in reality, this is how he is going to work to build his kingdom. This is how he will establish his kingdom. Yes. Yeah, and they'll say, Trulia's man was the son of God in the way he died. Yeah, it is amazing. So again, there's this upside downness to this, we see by faith, this is the king. And they put these king, just imagine the picture of this king like mockery, you know, crown of thorns and things like that. And we're saying, well, he really is our king in that crown of thorns. And they think it's just, it's just silly. And then can someone read verses 33 to 44 of Matthew 27? And when they came to a place You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself. If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross. So also the chief priests with the scribes and elders mocked him, saying, He saved others. He cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel. Let him come down now from the cross. Thank you. So again, I'm going to ask about irony. Verse 42. He saved others. He cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel. Let him come down now from the cross. This is a mockery of the religious leaders. What's the irony of that statement? Yeah. He could have. Yeah, so he could have saved himself. They assume the reason he couldn't save himself was because he truly wasn't the king, he truly wasn't the son of God, he was lying or whatnot. But the reason in reality is he could have and he chose not to. Yeah. That's true. Exactly. They saw him raise people from the dead. He said, if someone comes back from the dead, they won't believe. And they're saying, we'll believe you if you come down. And ironically, if he came down from the cross, there would be no one to believe in. Yeah. So yeah, exactly. Their logic is, Their logic is, if you could save others, why can't you save yourself? The reality is, I will save others by not saving myself. That's how it works. I save others by not saving myself. Their logic is, surely a king would save himself. And his logic is, I'm gonna do the unheard of for a king, I'm gonna die to save others. I'm gonna be the king who gives his life as a ransom for many. Yeah, Paul, did you have a? Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Fulfilling Scripture. Yeah, and the Gospel writers are so careful to document all these ways that all these prophecies are being fulfilled and they don't see it. And in a way, you could see the argument, because there are all these Psalms about God delivering His chosen one, all these Davidic Psalms that kind of look forward to God delivering. Psalm 1611, He won't abandon His Holy One to see decay. And they're like, well, you could argue, well, there you are up on the cross, where is God preserving His Holy One? What they don't realize is that it's gonna go all the way to death and then resurrection. So whether or not they're thinking in those terms, they might think, oh, if you were the king, God would be preserving you. And it's almost like, oh, he will. Oh, he will. But that doesn't mean there isn't death first itself. And there are a few statements, we won't talk about all of them, but there are a few key statements Jesus makes on the cross. And you're probably familiar with many of these. I'm gonna read Mark 15, 34. where he says, at the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, Eloi Eloi, lama sabachthani, which means, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Now there are different, there's kind of a debate about what this means. Now some say that Jesus is actually expressing that he feels what is reality, which is God has abandoned him. God has turned his favor away from him. He's turned to him in wrath. As he, Isaiah 53 10 talks about, it is the will of the Lord to crush him. as he is the wrath-bearing, justice-absorbing sacrifice for the sins of his people. He's the Lamb of God, taking upon himself and suffering for the sins of his people. So, some say, oh, Jesus is feeling that abandonment. God is abandoning him. And then some others will point to where that quote came from, Psalm 227, and say, well, this is a Psalm of David, crying out, he's being oppressed by men, he's crying out to the Lord in the midst of that oppression, and he's feeling abandoned. And he's yet looking forward to God's vindication of him. And I think those are both possible. He's looking ahead. He's not ultimately being abandoned by God. He's feeling abandoned, but he's looking ahead to another David who will be truly abandoned by God. And will say, why have you forsaken me in the fullest sense? Yet with hope in his salvation, his vindication beyond the grave. So Jesus cries out in his his estrangement from God, that God has turned away in wrath. And then John, can someone read John 19 verses 28 to 30? It is finished. Now what is finished? It's a hard question to answer here. The atonement is finished. There's kind of a lot of layers to this statement, right? That because of all atonement is finished, but all of the ripples that come out of that, meaning the redemptive work of God has been accomplished, not fully applied and consummated, but the accomplishment of that is finished. You talked, Jeff, about the obligations of the old covenant have been finished now, as the lamb, the perfect sacrifice has now died under that covenant. Prophecies of God fulfilled, justice of God satisfied, Romans 3, 26 points to this moment. Even for the saints from the past, God's justice was satisfied in the cross. forgiveness of sins procured, redemption of man accomplished. There's so many layers to this accomplishment of the atonement. It is finished. Really the power of, ultimately the power of sin's bondage over us, the power of death that we could not escape from. Hebrews 2, 13 and 14 talks about him abolishing the power of death by his death, the power of death over us. It is such a glorious, and again, this is really the center of the whole redemptive story, is the finishing of all of God's purposes. His death leads to his burial, which we sadly aren't gonna be able to spend really any time looking at for the sake of time, but I think there's a reference there in your handout about his burial. Something to just take away from the way two disciples, Joseph and Nicodemus, not the 12, but they're followers of Jesus, and they take Jesus' body and they prepare it, and it seems to be the way they prepare it seems to indicate both reverence, but also just not an expectation that he will rise from the dead. They revere him, they regard him highly, but they're not expecting this to be any different than a normal death. And all throughout the gospel accounts, we see that nobody really expected Jesus to rise from the dead. Everyone's surprised when he actually does. And so they bury him in a garden near where he's crucified in a tomb. which leads to the exaltation of the Lord, which we just saw the phrase, it is finished. In a sense, that phrase is partially prospective in the sense that the full finishing of all that his death accomplished really was sealed in the resurrection. Yeah, Frances. I was just thinking about the irony that you keep pointing back to. The irony in that last statement about nobody expecting him to rise is that the Pharisees and the ones who actually pushed for his death Yes, yes. They, yeah, and so Matthew 27, 62 to 66 talks about that where they say, and we don't want anyone like stealing his body and faking something. So then they, they, they get some political, they get Pilate to put some Roman guards in the way and to guard and seal the temple, not temple, guard and seal the tomb. So yeah, so the, the irony is that it's like the, the, The Jews, the Pharisees were listening to Jesus more carefully than the disciples. Not believing him, but concerned about what the disciples might do. Yeah, so they do seal the tomb, and yet on the third day, what we find is a resurrection. Other passages in the New Testament make it clear that if Jesus had stayed in the grave, then his suffering ultimately would not have meant anything, wouldn't have accomplished anything, ultimately. So Romans 4.25 says, he was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. His raising sealed and fully completed our justification. And even more explicitly in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul says, If Christ has not been raised, then your faith is in vain. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, which would be the implication of him not being raised, it means we're not gonna be raised, which means we have hope only in this life. If that's the case, he says, we are of all people most to be pitied. Christianity is nothing without the resurrection of Jesus. The cross of Jesus is nothing without the resurrection of Jesus. With the resurrection of Jesus, the cross is everything. And so the resurrection is, in a very real way, it is the source, and First Peter calls it the source of our living hope. We have a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Could someone read Matthew 28, verses one to 10? Who's got Matthew 28, 1 to 10? Do not be afraid for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here. and they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Jesus said to them, do not be afraid. Go and take word to my brethren to lead you to Galilee, and there they will see. Thank you. Verse five, the angel tells him, do not be afraid. Verse 10, Jesus tells him, do not be afraid. Verse eight, they departed with fear and great joy. So. They were still afraid, nevertheless. John 20, 19 and 20. This is later that same day. On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, peace be with you. When he had said this, he showed them his hands in his side. Why fear and why joy in Jesus' resurrection? Yes, he's kept the promises he made to them. I'll bet they're remembering those promises now. Right, he said he would be raised and there's joy certainly in recognizing that. Mm-hmm. Yeah. So in a way, fear is just a normal reaction to something very awesome. And I don't mean awesome like really good, the way we cheaply use awesome, but something that induces awe. There's a fear, there's like a trembling of I'm in the presence of something big. And we have a guy walked out of a tomb. And this isn't just like all the other miracles raising to life. The people like Lazarus, those were, we might call them resuscitations in that Lazarus just got his old life back. Then, you know, however many years later, Lazarus died again. This is a whole different thing. Jesus, this is resurrection, glorified new body. Like Jesus is still in this body in heaven. that he came out of the grave in and will forever be in this body in a glorified state. So this is the first fruit of what we will experience in the last days in the resurrection. So this is not a resuscitation, just a reset back to being alive again. This is a whole new kind of being alive in physical body. And so, yeah, I mean, he's walking through doors and yet eating fish. So it's like physical, but a little different kind of physical. But it's, yeah, so it's awesome. It's fearful. It's like, who is this? He's more awesome than we realized. And joyful because he's kept his promises. I mean, you can just imagine the disappointment when the one they were following died and they probably, oh, how disorienting must that have been. All this, what did it mean? Was it all a sham? And then they just loved him. He was a brother and friend. He was their Lord, but he was a brother and friend. And so there's relationally, I mean, everything has been restored and so much more. And going, wow, he, and he's conquered death. This is the greatest sign they've seen. He is exactly, he's been proving himself to be, but even more fully, he's shown himself authority over not only storms on the Sea of Galilee and demons and sickness, but over death itself. And so there's obviously cause for great joy here. And then his resurrection gives way to his ascension. And again, we're going to have to be super brief on his ascension, which is sad because his ascension is glorious and has a lot of implications. But in Luke 24, If you look at verses, starting verse 44, so he has appeared to his disciples, he's told them how the scriptures all pointed to him, from the law of Moses and the prophets. Because remember, they didn't expect him to die, they didn't expect the Messiah to die or be raised from the dead. So he's like, okay guys, remember, I told you this, and then showing them that this was all in the Old Testament. He did kind of a Chronicles of Redemption thing for them. and said, this was all prophesied. And so starting in verse 44, he said to them, these are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. That's a whole of Testament. And then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures and said to them, thus it is written. So here's what's written. Here's all this, three things. Thus it is written that the Christ should suffer Number one. Number two, and on the third day rise from the dead, that was written, and verse 47, the third thing, and that redemption and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. This was all written, that the Christ would be crucified, that the Christ would be resurrected, and the Christ would be proclaimed to forgive the sins of everyone who would repent in all the nations. That's all over the Old Testament too. And he's saying, so here, it's happening. So guess what time it is now, now that I've been raised from the dead? Guess what time it is, disciples? It's time to proclaim repentance and forgiveness of sins in my name to all the nations, which is what Acts begins the process of. And then he says, I'll sin in verse 48, you're witnesses of these things and behold, I will send to you the promise of my father upon you, to stay in the city until you're clothed with power from on high. What's that a reference to? The Holy Spirit, the promise, which is again an Old Testament reference. The thing that was promised, the Old Testament promises the Holy Spirit in the last days. It says, yes, the promise will come to you, power from on high, power to bear witness and proclaim my name to all the nations. Again, that's so much of what Acts is, is that starting to be fulfilled. So then after this 50 days post-resurrection and giving them their mission of proclaiming him and telling him to wait in Jerusalem until the spirit comes, then in verse 50, then he led them out as far as Bethany and lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple, blessing God. What are some implications of Jesus' ascension into heaven? Yeah, so it secures a place for all his people. That's why when we die, we depart and be with Christ until his return. Yeah, in heaven. What is he doing there? You all know Jesus is in heaven in bodily form still, right? That we talked about, Eric uses big five dollar word, the hypostatic union a few weeks ago, that means it's in humanity in Jesus. So Jesus, the eternal son of God, the eternal second person of the Trinity will always now be a man. So he still is now, resurrected man in heaven. Awaiting his return, doing what? Interceding for us at the Father's right hand. What a basis of comfort and encouragement, beckoning us to prayer. That's been so much of what's in Hebrews, as we've seen. Yeah? What was that? A resurrected man in heaven pleading our case. Yeah, well said. One of us. He sits as head over all things, especially the church, Ephesians 1 says. So there's an authority he's been given. Now he will come to earth and consummate that kingdom on earth. But in a way, even in heaven, he's reigning over all things and reigning over the church. We believe actively. especially reigning over the church. That is our hope when we do ministry, when we preach the word and when we pray and we seek to proclaim the gospel just as the disciples did and the power of the spirit, that it is Jesus, the head of the church, giving life to his body. That is our hope. So his ascension is a glorious thing. He is in heaven now at the right hand of the Father. There's only a few moments, basically none left. So I have the last whole page about how does this fit with... How does the meaning of, again, the gospels themselves don't really give us a ton about what the, kind of the ultimate meaning of these events are. It gives us some, but really the apostles go on and interpret these things theologically. They give a kind of inspired interpretation. And really the whole Bible storyline gives us more of a context to understand the significance. So my goodness, without hardly any time to do this, but this is some homework maybe or lunch conversation. Skipping the first question, important themes, maybe you can work on that yourself. Let's look at the actually C right there at the end. How does Jesus' death and resurrection fit with the biblical storyline? What are some thoughts there? First of all, what are the four stages of the biblical storyline? We're talking about the meta-narrative. Creation, fall, Redemption, consummation. Where does the death and resurrection of Jesus fit in that scheme of the whole flow of the story? It is redemption. It is the peak, the high point of accomplishing redemption. It's not consummation, it's not bringing together all the consequences of that redemption. That's still to come. But it is the accomplishment of redemption. You've seen all throughout the story this pattern of, and I've talked about this, this ironic reversals. And this is the most extreme version of that, that God would bring about life through death. That's God's way of working all throughout the Bible. God taking the ruin of death and using that and turning it backward to create, to bring about life. So even in Genesis 3, the serpent's head would be bruised, but only through the bruising of the heel of the seat of the woman. The shame of Adam and Eve's sin would be covered, but only through the death of an animal to cover them with skins. in Genesis at the end, when the patriarchs are saved, the people of God's promise are saved from famine, but only through the persecution and then subsequent exaltation of their rejected son, Joseph. Israel would be protected, we're talking about this at Passover, from the angel of death in Egypt, but only through the blood of a lamb, only through death. Israel would have its impurities cleansed, but only through the elaborate sacrificial system of the temple and the tabernacle in Leviticus. And the prophetically promised kingdom and global redemption would only happen on the other side of Israel's exile, as the prophets are looking beyond the exile to these even more restoration, even beyond what was ever lost. So God, all throughout the Bible, he takes what sin ruined, what Satan and man ruined in sin, and he uses that very thing and turns it upside down. and he creates life and renewal. And here he is in the cross. He's using the utter darkest depths of human wickedness and using that to secure redemption and set into motion the redemption of souls, of his people, and ultimately of the new heavens and the new earth. So just marvel at the wisdom of God and how he's written the story and how he used the cross to bring about life. If you are in Christ, I hope this is a great encouragement always. This is probably familiar things about his death and resurrection, but just to remember what a willing savior he is, what a willing sacrifice he was for you and me. And Paul says, he loved me and gave himself for me in Galatians, and may we receive it and be encouraged by his love for us as Christians. And for the lost, for those who may not know Jesus yet by faith, I hope this is just a good view of what he did. What a glorious sacrifice has been made for all who believe to have their sins taken away. You need not suffer the judgment of God for your own sin if you'll only look to Christ and His perfect sacrifice by faith. So are there any questions or comments as we close? Okay, let's pray. Father, we thank you for Jesus. Thank you for your perfect plan. in sending Him and putting Him on the cross, in raising Him up to life again, and bringing Him up to your right hand in heaven. Thank you for all of the glorious forgiveness of sin, cleansing, the new resurrection life, and the living hope, even for today, that have been secured through that work of Christ. We pray we'd be a people that love and are humbled by what He did for us. And we pray all this in Jesus' name, amen.