Good Friday Service

[0:00] Well, good evening, everyone, and a very warm welcome to you all to our Good Friday service! My name is Donald. I'm the Assistant Minister here, and it is great to welcome you here to! our service this evening. We are here this evening to remember the death of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary before we return on Sunday morning to celebrate his resurrection.

[0:34] This evening is going to look a little different to our usual services here at Bon Accord over the course of the next hour or so. We are going to be reading through the crucifixion narrative as presented to us in Mark's Gospel, so various members from the church here are going to come and read portions of Scripture for us. At a few points through that, I'll come up and just speak for five minutes or so just to help us think about what it is we are reading and why it matters so, so much. In response to the readings, we're going to sing to God's praise, and in the middle of the service, Joe Tuch, our ministry trainee here, who's somewhere, I can't find it, I hope he's here, he's there, good, he's not fled. He's going to come and share his testimony with us, just to share about what the story of God's grace in his life in drawing him to Jesus, and what God is continuing to do in his life since then. So we're really thankful to Joe for coming and sharing that with us, and we do look forward to hearing from you, brother, later on in the service. You'll be kept right by, hopefully, you've got a little order of service there on your way in. You can follow that to know what's coming next, but really, we are here to hear from God's Word and respond in humble worship together. So as we begin our time, we're going to read a few verses from Isaiah 53 before coming together in prayer and singing to God's praise. Isaiah 53, reading from verse 4.

[2:11] Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities.

[2:35] Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

[2:57] We're going to respond to these words by singing to God's praise. We're going to sing the wonderful hymn, Before the Throne of God Above. So please do stand, if you are able, as we sing to God's praise together.

[3:12] Before the Throne of God above, I have a strong and perfect glee, A great high Before the throne of God above, I have a strong and perfect king.

[3:39] A great high priest whose name is God, whoever lives and pleads for me.

[3:49] My name is graven on his hands, my name is written on his heart. I know that far in empty stands, no tongue can give me let's depart.

[4:10] No tongue can give me let's depart. When Satan tempts me to despair, and tells me of the guilt within.

[4:28] Awkward I look and see him there, who made an end to all my sin. Because the sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free.

[4:48] For God the just is satisfied, to look on him and pardon me. To look on him and pardon me.

[5:05] He holds it there, the risen Lamb, my perfect spotless righteousness.

[5:16] The great unchangeable I am, the King of glory and of grace. What with himself I cannot die.

[5:31] My soul is purchased with his blood. My life is made with Christ on high.

[5:42] With Christ my Savior and my God.

[5:55] Please do have a seat. Now we're going to come before God now in prayer together. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we come before you now to praise the Lamb who was slain for our transgressions.

[6:15] We recognize, as we have just heard from Isaiah, that we have all gone astray. But we come now to hear from your words of what price you were willing to pay to lead us back home.

[6:28] In giving us your one and only Son, Jesus Christ. And as we remember what you, our Lord Jesus, have done to bring us under your loving care.

[6:41] In bearing the punishment we deserved. We pray that you would renew and strengthen our love for you. As we marvel at the love you have for us.

[6:53] And we pray also this evening for any that do not yet know you. Who are with us here. We pray that they would hear the gospel.

[7:04] The wonderful news of Jesus Christ. And put their faith and trust in you alone, our rock and our salvation. In the name of Jesus we pray.

[7:15] Amen. Amen. Well, as I mentioned at the beginning, we're going to be reading through Mark chapter 14 and 15 together this evening. And Kirsten is going to come and begin this for us by reading from Mark 14.

[7:29] Thanks so much, Kirsten. Please, voy. Please, voy. Please, voy. Please voy. Please voy. Please voy. Please voy. Please voy. Please voy.

[7:41] Please voy. Please voy.

[7:51] two days before the Passover and the feast of unleavened bread and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him for they said not during the feast lest there be an uproar from the people and while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper as he was reclining at a table a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard very costly and she broke the flask and poured it over his head there were some who said to themselves indignantly why was the ointment wasted like that for this ointment could have been sold for more than 300 denarii and given to the poor and they scolded her but Jesus said leave her alone why do you trouble her she has done a beautiful thing to me for you always have the poor with you and whenever you want you can do good for them but you will not always have me she has done what she could she has anointed my body beforehand for burial and truly I say to you wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world what she has done will be told in memory of her then Judas Iscariot who was one of the twelve went to the chief priests in order to portray him to them and when they heard it they were glad and promised to give him money and he sought an opportunity to portray him and on the first day of unleavened bread when they sacrificed the passover lamb his disciples said to him where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the passover and he sent two of his disciples and said to them go into the city and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you follow him and wherever he enters say to the master of the house the teacher says where is my guest room where I may eat the passover with my disciples and he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready there prepare for us and the disciples set out and went to the city and found it just as he had told them and they prepared the passover and when it was evening he came with the twelve and as they were reclining at table and eating Jesus said truly I say to you one of you will betray me one who is eating with me and they began to be sorrowful and say to him one after the other is it I he said to them it is the it is one of the twelve one who is dipping bread into the dish with me for the son of man goes as it is written of him but woe to that man by whom the son of man is betrayed it would have been better for that man if he had not been born and as they were eating he took bread and after blessing it he broke it and gave it to them and said take this is my body and he took a cup and when he had given thanks he gave it to them and they drank of it and he said to them this is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many truly I say to you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God thank you so much Kirsten well we're going to respond to that reading of God's word by singing to his praise once more we're going to sing him oh the deep deep love of Jesus and after this hymn please do just kind of have your seat and Flynn is going to come and continue our reading for us so let us stand as we sing to God's praise together amen oh the deep deep love of Jesus

[12:13] oh the deep love of Jesus across the john across the john across the john across the john across the john And lead me all around me Is the current of thy love Lead him onward Lead him onward To thy glorious rest above O the deep deep love of Jesus

[13:19] Spread his praise from shore to shore How he lovin' ever lovin' Changeeth never, never gore How he watcheth for his loved ones Thine to fault and fault it is all How for empty angels he did Watcheth shorten from the throne O the deep deep love of Jesus

[14:23] Love of every love of earth Is the handhold of heaven Is the handhold sweet of bread For the deep deep love of Jesus Is the handhold held to thee And it lifts me up to glory For it lifts me up to thee We continue on Mark's gospel from verse 26 of chapter 40

[15:34] And when they had sung a hymn They went out to the Mount of Olives And Jesus said to them You will all fall away For it is written I will strike the shepherd And the sheep will be scattered But after I am raised up I will go before you to Galilee Peter said to him Even though they all fall away I will not And Jesus said to him Truly I tell you This very night Before the cock crows twice You will deny me three times But he said emphatically If I must die with you I will not deny you And they all said the same And they went to a place called Gethsemane And he said to the disciples Sit here while I pray And he took with him Peter and James and John And began to be greatly distressed And troubled And he said to them My soul is very sorrowful Even to death Remain here and watch And going a little farther He fell on the ground And prayed That if it were possible The hour might pass from him And he said Abba Father All things are possible for you Remove this cup from me Yet not what I will

[16:35] But what you will And he came And found him sleeping And he said to Peter Simon Are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation The spirit indeed is willing But the flesh is weak And again he went away and prayed Saying the same words And again he came and found them sleeping For their eyes were heavy And they did not know what to answer him And he came the third time and said to them Are you still sleeping?

[17:00] And taking your rest? It is enough The hour has come The son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners Rise Let us be going See my betrayers at hand And immediately While he was still speaking Judas came One of the twelve And with him A crowd with swords and clubs From the chief priests And the scribes And elders Now the betrayer had given them a sign Saying The one I will kiss is the man Seize him And lead him away under guard And when he came He went up to him at once And said Rabbi And he kissed him And he laid hands on him And seized him But one of those who stood by Drew his sword And struck the servant of the high priest And coughed his ear And Jesus said to them Have you come out Out us against A robber with swords and clubs To capture me Day after day I was with you in a temple teaching And you did not seize me But let the scriptures be fulfilled And they all left them and fled And a young man followed him With nothing but a linen cloth About his body And they seized him But he left the linen cloth And ran away naked That's God's word Thank you so much Flynn

[18:07] Well we're just going to Pause for a minute here To just catch our breath You'll see in our service sheet That we're going to do this Just three times As we progress through This narrative And as we pause I just want to kind of focus Or highlight two things Each time As we go First I want us to see The suffering of Jesus But as we see The suffering of Jesus I want us also to see The sovereignty of Jesus Because as he is treated With unbelievable cruelty We see also That he is in Complete control We've covered a lot of ground In those two readings Haven't we We began with Jesus Surrounded by people And reclining at table But Flynn's reading Has just ended there Hasn't it With Jesus Handed over to his enemies

[19:10] Arrested And abandoned by his friends The shepherd Has been betrayed And the sheep Have scattered Overfamiliarity Can sometimes Dampen our senses Can't it But Jesus He was betrayed Betrayal Isn't it Is an act of Treachery Against someone You should Treasure We're never Betrayed by our enemies Are we We're betrayed By our friends Judas was not An enemy spy Who had Infiltrated Jesus' camp He was a disciple When Jesus says there In verse 18 Truly I say to you One of you will betray me The disciples aren't Looking at each other Are they And saying Oh that'll be Judas then We knew he was a rotten one

[20:11] From the beginning He wasn't a wolf Wearing a dodgy sheep outfit That no one was really buying He really looked To all the world Like a sheep Following this shepherd And yet he goes He goes To the enemies Of Jesus And hands him over To the cruelest Of deaths Jesus was not Bested by an enemy He was betrayed By a friend Unto death The shepherd Was betrayed And then His sheep Scattered Didn't they Peter usually Gets singled out here Because well I mean the narrative Does focus on him But look there What happens Verse 31 Peter said emphatically If I must die with you I will not deny you And they all Said the same Every one of them

[21:13] Promises Never to leave Jesus Never to deny him One disciple Betrays him Every other disciple Promises to remain With him And every other Disciple Runs And we can read About them Can't we Fleeing from Jesus As he was in the Garden of Gethsemane Sorrowful to the Point of death And think How could they How could they Do that To one Who had shown Them such love Who had taught Them so much Who had been By their side For years Who they had seen Perform so many Miracles And who they knew Was the Christ They confessed him To be the Christ How could they Run from him What we've heard Haven't we In Isaiah 53 We all We all Like sheep

[22:13] Have gone astray Each one Has turned To our own way Not only Would we Have done the same In their circumstances We have done The same thing Albeit in Different circumstances Sheep Running from Their shepherds In the moment Where Jesus Was sorrowful And to the Point of death He is betrayed And his sheep Scatter But as shocked As the disciples May have been By Judas' Betrayal As surprised As they might Have been To find themselves Running Having promised To do just The opposite Moments ago We see Don't we That Jesus Knew it was Coming Jesus Knew what Was going On Verse 8 There My body Has been Anointed For burial And then Judas Jesus Goes To the

[23:13] Chief Priests Jesus Knew he Was going To die Verse 18 One of you Will betray Me Before Jesus Has left Them Jesus Knows he Is going To be Handed Over Verse 27 You Will all Fall Away I Will Strike The Shepherd And the Sheep Will be Scattered Before the Disciples Flee Jesus Knows they Will run Jesus Suffers But he Is sovereign Jesus Knows what Is happening And so he He knew Didn't he How to Avoid it If he So chose But he Doesn't Jesus Chooses To continue On the Most Storful Path To the Most Painful Death Bearing the Greatest

[24:14] Punishment For the Very Ones Who Fled From him For the Disciples And for You and Me Here This Evening In light Of this We are Going to Respond By singing From Isaiah 53 Now We're Going to Sing The Verses There The Equivalent Of Verses Three To Six As We Marvel At The Wonder Of The Good Shepherd Laying Down His Life For Scattered Sheep Who Go Their Own Way So Let's Stand As We Sing Together Before Edna Comes And Continues Our Reading Through This Gospel Together Rejected And Despised Was He In Suffering

[25:14] And Pain We Hid Our Faces From The Side With Horror And Dis Day But Surely He Took Up Our Fains Our Sorrows He Has For For Yet We Yet Ex In Hurst By God Afflicted Fear Shant Torn But For Our Sins He Was Condemned For Our

[26:15] Transgressions He Brought He Brought Us He Healing Peace With God Though Wounded And Abuse We All Like She Have Gone Af Af Af Af We Wanted To Be Free And Yet The Lord Has Laid On Him All Our Iniquity And

[27:24] They Led Jesus To The High Priest And The The And Followed At A Into Courtyard And Was With Guards Warming The Fire The Chief Priests And The Whole Council Put To Death Found None Many False Against Him Testimony Did Not Stood And False Against Saying We Him I Destroy This Temple Is With Three Days I Will Another Not Made Hands Yet About Their Testimony

[28:25] Agree And High Priest Up Midst Asked Have Answer Make These Men Testify Against You He Remained Silent Made Answer Again The High Priest Asked Him Are The Christ The Son of Blessed And Said I Am See The Son of Man Seated At Right The The Tore Garments And Said What Witnesses Do Need?

[29:10] And Condemned As Death And Began To Him To Face To Him Him Prophesy The Received With Blows And Was Below In The High Priest Came And Peter Himself She Him And Were The Nazarene Jesus But He Denied It Saying I Neither Know Nor Understand What You Mean And He Went Out Into The Gateway And The Cock Crowed And The Servant Girls Saw Him And Began Again To Say To The Bystanders This Man Is One Of Them But Again He Denied It And After A Little While The Bystanders Said Again

[30:10] Said To Peter Certainly You Are One Of Them For You Are A Galilean But He Began To Invoke A Curse On Himself And To Swear I Do Not Know This Man Of Whom You Speak And Immediately The Cock Crowed A Second Time And Peter Remembered How Jesus Had Said To Him Before The Cock You Will Deny me Three Times And He Broke Down And Wept Thank you So Much Edna Well I'm Going To Invite Joe To Up Now Joe As I Mentioned Earlier Joe Our Ministry Trainee Here At Bon Accords And He's Going To Come Now And Share His Test The Story Of God's Grace In His Life And Bring Him To Jesus And Growing Him In His Love For Jesus So Thank

[31:11] You So Much Joe I Was Fortunate Enough To Grow Up In A Christian Home With Both My Parents Being Christian And The Youngest Sibling Of Three Having An Older Brother And Sister And As A Family We Would All Go To Church Together On Sundays And I Had A Great Childhood And Very Fortunate For The Upbringing That I Had Growing Up I Would Have Always Called Myself Being Known As A Christian Started To Cost Me Things That's When Things Really Started To Change When Being Known As A Christian Kid In School Was No Longer The Cool Thing That's When I Started To Resent It And If I'm Honest I Started To Resent God Now That Didn't Show Itself In Wild Rebellion Because When Your Dad's A Cop You Know That Won't I

[32:11] Couldn't Wait Till I Was Old Enough And Then Finally Be Able To Drop The Whole Pretense I Remember As A Teenager Sitting In Church And Listening To The Minister Preach And I Remember Sitting There Almost Laughing On The Insight Smugly Thinking To Myself I Know What You're Trying But It Isn't Going To Work I Know You're Just Trying To Scare Me And Guilt Me Into This And I Ain't Buying It So That Was My Heart Posture Towards God And I Didn't Want God In My Life But I Know I Also Didn't Want Hell Either So Very Often In A Frightened Moment Of Conviction After A Sermon Where It Was Mentioned I Ask God For For For For A New Leaf But I Only Ever Saw The Gospel As A Get Out Of Jail Free Cart And That Was It Yes I Was Open To The Benefits Jesus Could Offer But That Never Deepened To Actually Wanting Him There Was Never Any Lasting Change In My Life Now My Plan

[33:12] Was That As Soon As I Was Old Enough To Move Out And I Could Finally Leave This Whole Christian Thing Behind And That's How My Life Should Have Panned Out That's I Might Not Have Wanted God But The Amazing Truth Is He Wanted Me And He Was Going To Ensure That He Brought His Lost Sheep Home Now God Started To Really Get My Attention During The Second Lockdown And He Did It By Really Let Me Accomplish Many Of The Goals I Was Chasing After At That Time And He Let Me Taste The Hollowness Of All And That Now There Was A Famous Christian Sports Person Called Rich Froning If You Don't Know Who He Is You Can Search Him Up Later But I Looked At Him And I Thought He's A Cool Guy And He's A Christian You Know What If God Can Make Me Like Him Then

[34:12] I'm In I Basically Came To God With A Contract Saying If You Give Me This Then I'll Start Living This Christian Lifestyle Again Now I Can Look Back I Can See The Total Arrogance Of It All But That's How I Thought It Worked At The Time And God Had To Take Me On A Long Journey To Show Me That It Wasn't To Be Honest He Needed To Humble Me And That's Exactly What He Did The More Of The Bible I Started!

[34:40] To Read The More Guilty I Felt Like I Wasn't Doing Enough The More Sermons I Listened To The More Questions I Had And For Roughly Six Months My Head Was Just Spinning I Couldn't Switch My Brain Off No Matter What I Tried I Began To Think God Was Some Tyrant In The Sky That I Needed To Appease Yes He Might Offer Me Thing Wrong And There's A Quote That I Came Across During That Time That I Now Have Hanging Up In My Bedroom That Says This Your Purpose In Life Is To Glorify God And Enjoy Him Your Task Is To Seek His Will And To Do It It Is Not Meant To Be A Relationship Of Servitude And Fear But Of One Of Love And Sonship You See I Looked Around At Christians I Knew And They Knew God To Be Their Loving Heavenly Father Not A Tyrant In The Sky And

[35:41] I Wanted That But The More I Tried The More It Felt Impossible I Was Doing All The Right Things Reading Praying Listening To Sermons It Was Having The Total Opposite Result And I Didn't Know Why But Looking Back I Can See It Was God Many Of The Idols That I Had And Taught Me That I Didn't Get To Be The One Who Came To God With A Contract Saying Sign Here That's Not How It Works But I Could Only Ever Come To God As One Asking For Mercy And I Can't Put A Date On It But Gradually My Mind Began To Switch Off My Fears Settled And I Started To Get To Know A God Who Was Loving Gracious And Kind I Began To See The Weight Of My Sin The Goodness Of The Cross And How Jesus Had Dealt With It All There But Not Only That He Didn't Just Come To Give

[36:41] Me A Blank Slate He Came To Make Me A Child Of God And By Placing My Faith In Jesus And Now Being In Christ I Got To Know God As My Heavenly Father And In A Nutshell That's What Changed It Was Very Gradual Full Of Ups And Downs That God Began To Reveal Himself To Me Through His Words As Someone To Be Loved And Adored Not Resented He Totally Changed My Desires That's The Best Way I Can Put It People At Church I Began To See As Family The Bible Was No Longer Something To Be Tucked Away In A Drawer And Prayer Was Now An Impulse Not A Ritual And From Then It's Just Been A Journey Of Me Gradually Growing In My Relationship With Him And Growing In My Relationship With My Brothers And Sisters In Christ Being A Part Of A Local Church Is Where I Find The Perfect Place To Grow And Mature In My Faith Now Someone

[37:47] Who's Looking To Train To Be One And Even How That Has Developed Over Time Is Just Another Testimony Of God's Grace And Faithfulness I Never Would Have Guess That's How It Would Have Panned Out But In God's Grace It Has Even How I Came Down To Aberdeen In The First Place Was Never A Part Of My Plan My Plan Was To Stay In In With My Church Family Up There In Merk Inch Church Where I Had Done A Year's Internship I Absolutely Loved My Time There With Chris The Minister Who Had Invested So Much Into Me And He's A Guy I Owe A Debt I'll Never Be Able To Fully Repay But After Coming To The End Of My Internship My Decision Was That I Definitely Wasn't Going To Be Going Into Ministry Anytime Soon So I Knew The Only Option Was To Go Away And Get A Degree So I Applied To Different Unis Through Clearances Very Last Minute Of Me I Must Confess And Long Story Short It Balled Down To Aberdeen To Study Social Work So I Came

[38:47] Down To Aberdeen And Started Coming Along To Bonacord With The Intentions Of Getting My Social Work Degree But Again Thankfully It Didn't Work Out That Way Because During My Time Upon Accord Unknown To Me But Known To God It Was Going To Be A Place That God Was Going To Use To Break Down Every Reason I Was Giving Him For Why Ministry Wasn't For Me Through The Prayer Meeting Sermons Where I Was Taught About God Being Able To Use The Most Unlikely People If He Discussions With Joe And Donald As He Asked Me Questions That Got Straight To The Point And Through Bible Readings As I Read Romans Chapter 10 Verse 14 How Then Will They Call On Him In Whom They Have Not Believed And How Are They To Believe In Him Of Whom They Never He Never Heard And How Are They To Hear Without Someone Preaching And How Are They To Preach My

[39:54] Testimony Is Simply Just The Story Of A Gracious God Showing Favor To An Undeserving Sinner And Jesus Really Has By The Work Of His Spirit Transformed Me From The Inside Out If There's Anything I've Learned From My Walk With God So Far It Is That He's Faithful And Jesus Words Really Are True When He Says I Am The Good Shepherd I Know My Own And I Lay Down My Life For The Sheep And I Have Other Sheep That Are Not Of This Fold I Must Bring Them Also And They Will Listen To My Voice So There Will Be One Flock And One Shepherd Amen Amen Thank you So much Joe It Is Always Wonderful Isn't It To hear About How God Is Work In

[41:23] To Receive It He Said I Listened To Donald's Test And I Thought If God Can Use Someone Like Him That He Can Probably Use Me Too So I'm Still Thankful To Have You Here Joe But It Was A Humbling Moment We Are Going To Continue Reading Through God's Words Through The Book Of Mark And Eugene Is Going To Come And Read!

[41:49] To Us From Mark Chapter 15 Thank You So Much Eugene And As Soon As It Was Morning The Chief Priest Held A Consultation With The Elders And Scribes And The Whole Council And They Bound Jesus And Led Him Away And Deliver Him Over To Pilate And Pilate Asked Him Are You The King Of Jews And He Answered Him You Have Said So And The Chief Priest Accused Him Of Many Things And Pilate Again Asked Him Have You No No Answers To Make See How Many Charges They Have Bring Against You But Jesus Made No Further Answer So That Pilate Was Amazed Now At The Feast He Used To Release For Them One Prisoner For Whom They Asked And Among The Rebels In Prison Who

[42:50] Committed Murder In The Insurrection There Was A Man Called Barabbas And The Crowd Came Out And Began To Ask Pilate To Do As He Usually Did For Them And He Asked Them Saying Do You Want Me To Release For You The King Of The Jews For He Perceived That It Was Out Of Envy That The Chief Priest Had Delivered Him Up But The Chief Priest Stirred Up The And Pilate Again Said To Them Then What Should I Do With The Man You Call The King Of The Jews And They Cried Out Again Crucify Him And Pilate Said To Them Why What Evil Has He Done But They Shouted All The More Crucify Him So Pilate Reaching To Satisfied The Crowd Release For Them Barabbas Having Scorched Jesus He Delivered Him To Be Crucified

[43:50] Thank you So much Eugene Solemn Words Aren't They That We Will Consider A Little More In Just A Moment's Time But Before That We're Going To Respond Once More To God's Words By Singing His Praise We're Going To Sing Him Man Of Sorrows And After This Him Judy Is Going To Come And Continue Our So Let Us Stand As We Sing Together Let's For the Son of God who came Ruined sinners to reclaim

[44:53] Hallelujah, what a Savior Wearing shame and scoffing hurt In my place condemned sin Sealed my pardon with His blood Hallelujah, what a Savior Guilty, helpless, lost were we Blameless, glad of God was He Sacrifice to set us free Hallelujah, what a Savior

[45:59] He was lifted up to die In His finished was His cry Now in Him exalted high Hallelujah, what a Savior When He comes our glorious name All His ransom, long to pray Then I knew this song we'll sing Hallelujah, what a Savior Carry on reading from verse 16

[47:14] And the soldiers led Him away inside the palace That is the governor's headquarters And they called together the whole battalion And they clothed Him in a purple cloak And twisting together a crown of thorns They put it on Him And they began to salute Him Hail, King of the Jews And they were striking His head with a reed And spitting on Him And kneeling down in homage to Him And when they had mocked Him They stripped Him of the purple cloak And put His own clothes on Him And they led Him out to crucify Him And they compelled a passer-by Simon of Cyrene Who was coming in from the country The father of Alexander and Rufus To carry His cross And they brought Him to the place called Golgotha Which means place of a skull

[48:16] And they offered Him wine mixed with myrrh But He did not take it And they crucified Him And divided His garments among them Casting lots for them To decide what each should take And it was the third hour When they crucified Him And the inscription of the charge against Him read The King of the Jews And with Him they crucified two robbers One on His right and one on His left And those who passed by derided Him Wagging their heads and saying Aha!

[48:57] You who would destroy the temple And rebuild it in three days Save yourself and come down from the cross So also the chief priests with the scribes Mocked Him to one another saying He saved others He cannot save Himself Let the Christ, the King of Israel Come down now from the cross That we may see and believe Those who were crucified with Him Also reviled Him Amen Amen Thank you so much Judy Well how do you react When you hear about a miscarriage of justice?

[49:46] In recent years In recent years A couple of prominent cases Have hit the national headlines Haven't they? When you think that the post office horizon scandal Last year The case of Andrew Malkinson But the year before that There's outrage, right?

[50:08] Innocent people punished for crimes They never committed As the crowd chanted for Christ's crucifixion That the cruelest form of execution That the most severe penalty That Pilate could impose That the Roman governor asked the crowd A very simple question Why?

[50:36] What wrong has He done? There should have been a deafening silence But instead there is a deafening shout No answer to the question But shouting all the louder Crucify Him No one No one here, do they Has an accusation That would stand against Jesus Their testimonies Could not match No one could bear witness against Him No one could condemn Jesus He has done no wrong And yet they shout all the more Crucify Him The only charge they could write above His cross Was the supposed crime of being who He was

[51:39] The King Pilate asked Him Are you the King of the Jews? Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews? What shall I do for the King of the Jews?

[51:51] Hail, King of the Jews The inscription of the charge against Him Read the King of the Jews What evil has He done? Crucify Him Here was the only The only truly innocent man Ever to have walked the face of the earth In Him was no sin Not a moment Not a wrong thought Not a word spoken out of turn He loved God with all his heart He loved his neighbour as himself He never coveted He never gave a lustful glance He was never bitter He never grumbled He never gossiped He never lied The gentlest form of punishment

[52:58] Would have been a grave injustice But what do we see? In verse 65 of chapter 14 Some began to spit on Him And to cover his face And strike him Saying to him, prophesy!

[53:21] And the guards received him with blows Verse 15 of chapter 15 Pilate scourged Jesus And delivered him to be crucified Being scourged It was a soldier taking a whip With multiple lashes on the end Each and every one of them Embedded with pieces of metal and bone And severely beating someone His skin would have been brutally lacerated And then verse 16 and 17 They call together the whole battalion 600 soldiers Surround this one innocent man And mock him Striking his head Spitting on him 600 Roman soldiers One betrayed shepherd

[54:22] One true king Beaten Mocked And then And then And then they crucified him They hammered nails into his hands and feet They lifted him up on a cross To hang there and die in public Mocked Mocked by everyone who passed by If you want to see the greatest injustice there has ever been Look no further than those words we have just heard read for us This beaten and bloodied man hung on a cross He suffered But he is sovereign Did you see through it all He opened not his mouth

[55:26] Andrew Malkinson Alan Bates They fought for justice didn't they And that is good, that is right They took every opportunity to shout as loud as they could about the injustice that they were facing But Jesus goes silently Not because he had no evidence to offer Everyone knew he was innocent Pilate was amazed wasn't he that he gave no answer But Jesus was silent He suffered horrendously but he was still in control He went without a fight He suffered the greatest injustice there ever has been or ever will be For you and for me Every laceration Every blow Every strike Every strike

[56:27] He silently bore Because he knew that if he walked free We could not And so he would be led to the cross where he would bear the punishment Our sins deserved Pierced for Iniquities This is The king The servant king This is our sovereign savior So we're going to praise him again We're going to praise him by singing the words of Psalm 22 These are the words that Jesus himself spoke as he hung on the cross of Calvary So let us stand once more as we sing together These solemn words of Jesus Before Stuart comes and reads our final passage together

[57:28] Let us sing together Let us sing together Let us sing together Let us sing together Let us sing together My God, my God, oh, why have you For saken and abandoned me Why are you far from giving help From this in you I anguish thee My God, I cry to you by day You do not hear when I complain I call to you throughout the night

[58:35] In silence I cannot remain Yet you are holy On the praise Of Israel You are engrossed In you our fathers They trusted and were not his own In you our fathers Through their cross They trusted and were not his own They call and you behaved And you behaved And you behaved And you listened to them When they cried And you behaved And you listened to them When they cried Our fathers were not food to shame

[59:39] Because of you But I'm a worm man, not a man Because of you They have relied But I'm a worm man, not a man By people's storm With brooch by all And those who see me Shake their heads They steal at me And thus they call This man has trusted in the Lord So let him save him from his life

[60:46] Now let his God deliver him Because in him he takes me by And when the sixth hour had come There was darkness over the whole land Until the ninth hour And at the ninth hour Jesus cries with a loud voice Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani Which means My God, my God Why have you forsaken me?

[61:42] And some of the bystanders Hearing it said Behold, he is calling Elijah And someone ran And filled a sponge with sour wine Put it on a reed And gave it to him to drink Wait Let us see whether Elijah Will come to take him down And Jesus uttered A loud cry And breathed his last And the curtain of the temple Was torn in two From top to bottom And when the centurion Who stood facing him Saw that in this way He breathed his last He said Truly this man was the son of God There were also women Looking on from a distance Among whom were Mary Magdalene And Mary Magdalene And Mary the mother of James And of Joseph When he was in Galilee They followed him And ministered to him And there were also Many other women

[62:44] Who came up with him To Jerusalem And when evening had come Since it was the day of preparation That is the day before the Sabbath Joseph of Arimathea Joseph of Arimathea A respected member of the council Who was also himself Looking for the kingdom of God To encourage And went to Pilate And asked for the body of Jesus Pilate was surprised to hear That he should have already died And summoning the centurion He asked him whether he was already dead And when he learned from the centurion That he was dead He granted the corpse to Joseph And Joseph bought a linen shroud And taking him down Wrapped him in the linen shroud And laid him in a tomb That had been cut out of the rock And he rolled a stone Against the entrance of the tomb Mary Magdalene And Mary the mother of Joseph Saw where he was laid Thank you, Stuart

[63:53] The curtain in the temple Torn in two From top to bottom It seems maybe at first Like an odd detail In that story, doesn't it?

[64:10] But if you were to Look back In your Bibles Through the Old Testament You'd see that The temple curtain Was like a big Keep out sign Between God's And his people He wanted to dwell with them But his holiness And their sinfulness Meant they could not Dwell together And so there was a curtain Between the presence of God And the people he loved But not anymore Because this death The death of Jesus Christ The death of Nazareth Was a death like no other Just look at the testimony there

[65:14] Of the centurion at the foot of the cross A man who would have witnessed Countless crucifixions When he saw That in this way Jesus breathed his last He said truly Truly This man Was the son of God On the cross Jesus not only bore Physical agony Of crucifixion He, Jesus Christ The son of God For the just punishment Of every sin Of every believer So that The temple curtain Might be torn in two So that the way to God Might be opened to all Might be opened to all

[66:16] Through Christ's death What sin Our sin Has separated Christ willingly walked this path To bring back together The stone is rolled over the tomb Of the innocent Jesus The only son of God On the darkest day in history So that what our sin Has separated Christ's death Might bring together once more That is the hope Of Good Friday That is extended to everyone To you Sitting here this evening The gates of heaven Have swung wide open To all Everyone Who would put their faith

[67:20] And trust in Jesus From their sins Through his death So let me ask you Very directly If you haven't already Would you ask Jesus now To save you from your sin And what they deserve For that is why he lived Suffered And died He was nailed to the cross By sinners But he went to the cross To save sinners Let us close by singing together The wonderful hymn The power of the cross So please just stand once more As we sing these wonderful words together Let us pray for your singing

[68:40] Oh, to see the dawn of the darkest day, Christ on the road to Calvary.

[68:56] Dry by sinful land, torn on beach and dead, nailed to a cross of wood.

[69:12] This the power of the cross, Christ became sick for us.

[69:28] Took the blame for the wrath we stand forgiven at the cross.

[69:42] Oh, to see the grave written on your face, bearing the awesome weight of sin.

[69:58] Every bitter thought, every evil deed, crowning your blood-spained crown.

[70:12] This the power of the cross, Christ became sick for us.

[70:28] Took the blame for the wrath we stand forgiven at the cross.

[70:40] Now the daylight flees, now the ground be. Wings of its maker, clouds its head.

[70:58] Words entorn in truth, head of race to life. Finish the victory cry.

[71:12] This the power of the cross, Christ became sick for us.

[71:27] Took the blame for the wrath we stand forgiven at the cross.

[71:39] Took the blame for the wrath, Christ, Christ, and the dead, For through your suffering I am free Death is crushed in air Life is mighty But through your selfless love This is the time of the cross Son of God Sing for us What a love What a cross We shall forgive in air Declared To him who loves us

[72:43] And has freed us from our sin by his blood And made us a kingdom Priests to his God and Father To him be glory and dominion Forever and ever Amen Amen Thank you.