Were You There? Yes you were.
Good Friday Service 2015
April 3, 2015 CFBC Chester, IL Dr. Mike Fogerson, Speaker
A The Crucifixion narrative in the four gospels take place over about a 14 hour period of time.
PIX: BLOOD MOON
1 Tonight, I want to take you back to where, for all the reasons that really matter, over 2,000 years ago.
a This is a message that before its over . . . will engage your senses ...sight, smell, touch, taste, hear what Jesus experienced in the 14 hours leading up to the Cross.
b This message is designed to help you place yourself in Jerusalem at the time of Passover.
aa Jesus had shared His last supper with His disciples and the hour of His crucifixion and our salvation were hours away.
bb He would have six different trials, . . . endure immense humiliation, . . . severe scourging. . .acquire physical/emotional/spiritual exhaustion . . .allow Himself the excruciating pain of the Crucifixion.
SOUND: GARDEN
2 We find our Savior praying in the Garden of Gethsemane with Peter, James and John sleeping near where He pleaded with Father to remove this cup of suffering from Him . . .
a Jesus’ conversation with the Father was interrupted by the approaching sound of soldiers and Judas.
b Put yourself there. . .
B Matthew 26:48-50 (NASB) 48 Now he who was betraying Him gave them a sign, saying, "Whomever I kiss, He is the one; seize Him." 49 Immediately Judas went to Jesus and said, "Hail, Rabbi!" and kissed Him. 50 And Jesus said to him, "Friend, do what you have come for." Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and seized Him.
PIX: BLOOD MOON
1 “They” were a Roman cohort (600 soldiers), their commander and the Officers of the Jews (Temple Police), and the Pharisees (John 18.3,12, ) carrying torches, lanterns, and weapons.
a The small army led Yeshua to Annas house, the son-in-law of The High Priest, Caiaphas.
SOUND: FIREWOOD
aa Arriving at Anna house, a group of onlookers had gathered by a charcoal fire to keep themselves warm and their curiosities satisfied about the Galilean called Yeshua.
bb It was at Annas house that we see the first punch thrown at Jesus.
SOUND: PUNCH
John 18:19-22 (NASB) 19 The high priest then questioned Jesus about His disciples, and about His teaching. 20 Jesus answered him, "I have spoken openly to the world; I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews come together; and I spoke nothing in secret. 21 "Why do you question Me? Question those who have heard what I spoke to them; they know what I said." 22 When He had said this, one of the officers standing nearby struck Jesus, saying, "Is that the way You answer the high priest?"
PIX: BLOOD MOON
SOUND: MARCHING
b Jesus words sounded triggered the next step toward Calvary, it was time to wake up Caiaphas, The High Priest (v.24) “Annas, therefore sent Him bound to Caiaphas. . .”
2 Caiaphas house held for further interrogation, punishment, ridicule, and shame.
a Are you going to destroy the Temple that took 46 years of back breaking work to build? Did you say you would rebuilt it in 3 days without hands?“
aa Are you the Ha’Mashiah? Christ? The Son of the Blessed One? (Mark 14.60) “I AM.”
PIX: CAIAPHAS RIPPED GARMENTS - SOUND: SMALL RIP
bb At these words from Yeshua’s lips, Caiaphas tore his outer garment in rage and found Yeshua contemptible, deserving to die for His claim as Messiah.
PIX: JESUS SPAT ON - SOUND: SPIT/LOOGIE
b Some of the men in the room began to spit on him (face & eyes . . . globules of spittle dripped from his beard into his mouth, from his “payos”, long curls of hair, droplets of sputum found their way into his ears).
aa Spurgeon said, “See how patient Jesus Stands, Insulted in His lowest case! Sinners have bound the Almighty hands, and spit in the Creators face.”
bb The face of grace that angels desired to see was now covered in the spit, phylum of people like you and me.
PIX: BLOOD MOON
cc Isaiah 50:6 (NASB) I gave My back to those who strike Me, And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard; I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting.
SOUND: ANGRY CROWD
c Luke 22:63-65 (NASB) 63 Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking Him and beating Him, 64 and they blindfolded Him and were asking Him, saying, "Prophesy, who is the one who hit You?"65 And they were saying many other things against Him, blaspheming.
SOUND: PUNCH/SLAPS
aa Strong men, hard hitting fists, open slaps to beautiful face of grace, gouges to the eyes that saw the birth of eternity, first nanosecond of creation now blackened, swollen, throbbing with pain.
bb The blindfold pressed against his eyes as the Jewish leaders taunted him as one the mob violently strike Him and say to Him, “Meshiah, who is the one that hit you? Prophesy now!”
cc It’s the equivalent of hitting a blind person and then asking the victim, identify your attacker . . . but Jesus knew, they’re in the room tonight.
d Jesus didn’t want this abuse, attack, humiliation, spitting, hitting, . . . but He wanted you.
aa Swim through an ocean of spit, take every punch thrown at Him, endure every insult, injury just to call you . . . His child.
bb What have seen done to Jesus so far is unthinkable . . . but its not over. . . not by mile.
PIX: BLOOD MOON - SOUND: MARCHING
C At first light on Friday morning, the Temple Police and Caiaphas took Yeshua to before the Sanhedrin. . .His third trail in about as many hours.
1 Luke 22.66-67a, 70 “And when it was day, the Council of elders of the people assembled, both chief priests and scribes, and they led Him to their council chamber saying, “If you are the Christ tell us.” “Are You the Son of God, then?” And He said to them, “Yes, I am.”
PIX: BLOOD MOON - SOUND: MURMUR CROWD
a The Sanhedrin consisted of 70+ men from all over Israel with the High Priest acting as its president.
aa The Sanhedrin heard civil & criminal cases and issue an order of execution, but couldn’t impose the death penalty.
bb This the reason why the Jews couldn’t kill Jesus on their own.
cc That power to execute was reserved to the Romans, which explains why Jesus was crucified—a Roman punishment—rather than stoned, according to the Law of Moshe.
b In the eyes of the Sanhedrin, Jesus’ own Words have convicted Him . . . He’s guilty of blasphemy, He has said He is Messiah and they rejected Him even though their own Scriptures gave precise details how to identify the Savior King.
aa Supernaturally conceived (Is. 7.14), born in Bethlehem (Mic. 5.2), be Semitic in the line of Abraham and of David (Gen. 9.26; 22.18; 2 Sam. 7.13), be of the tribe of Judah (Gen. 49.10), and would perform miracles (Isa. 35.5-6.)
STOP MURMUR CROWD
bb In His death He would be executed by rulers (Ps. 2.1-2), forsaken by God (Ps. 22.1), betrayed by a friend for 30 pieces of silver (Ps. 41.9; Zech. 11.12), and have His beard plucked out and be spit upon (Isa. 50.6).
cc In 2010, one of Israel’s greatest Rabbi’s (Rabbi Kudri) said, “If Jesus is not the Messiah, then none is coming.”
PIX: BLOOD MOON
2 The Sanhedrin was looking for a political leader, military general who would destroy Rome and restore Israel.
a Jesus had much higher aspirations. . .
aa Destroy death & the grave; break the curse of sin.
bb Restore humankind and put them in relationship with YHWH.
b God’s plan was the order of the day, His schedule was being kept . . .
PIX: BLOOD MOON - SOUND: MARCHING
C Matthew 27.1-2, “Now when morning had come, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put Him to death; and they bound Him, and led Him away, and delivered Him up to Pilate the governor.” (TRIAL #4)
1 The Authority of the Land, Pilate, stood face to face with the Almighty of the Universe, Jesus. Matt.27.11, “Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor questioned Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews? And Jesus said to him, “It is as you say.”
a Pilate asked the beaten Yeshua question after question...
aa Do you not hear the accusations they are making to you?
bb Are You the King of the Jews? Are you going to speak in defense of yourself? They want to kill you, man.
SOUND: MARCHING
cc Pilate doesn’t want to be involved in this drama so he asks where Jesus was from? Galilee. “And when he (Pilate) learned that He belong to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent Him to Herod, who himself also was in Jerusalem at that time.” Luke 23.7
SOUND: TWINKLE
b Herod, the same man who had John the Baptist head chopped off, had wanted to see the great miracle worker from Galilee for some time.
aa Not to hear him preach, expound on the deeper things of God . . .
bb Herod wanted to see Jesus do the incredible, miraculous, stupendous.
SOUND: CRICKETS
cc When they brought Him into the room, covered in blood, spit, bruised . . .TRIAL #5 would be a great disappointment for Herod for Jesus did nothing . . .said nothing before Herod.
dd Isaiah 53:7 (NASB) He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth.
STOP CRICKETS
2 Herod’s attention span was short, Jesus wouldn’t be at Herod’s place very long.
SOUND: ANGRY CROWD
a Luke 23.11, “And Herod with his soldiers, after treating Him with contempt and mocking Him, dressed Him in a gorgeous robe and sent Him back to Pilate.”
b The robe was surely on of Herod’s hand-me-downs, meant to mock Messiah’s royalty.
c Jesus was escorted back to Pilate’s Palace, about a 4 minute walk, to face his final trial . . . trial #6.
SOUND: CRUCIFY HIM
aa Can you hear the crowd of blood thirsty mockers, accusers, murmurs, boos, laughter, cruel jokes.
bb Angry bursts of orders from the Roman cohort: “Move faster, King. I don’t have all day. My shifts over soon and I don’t need you holding me up.”
“Where can I get robe like that? Some King you are.”
STOP CRUCIFY HIM
cc Less than 6 days ago the streets were alive with “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” but those sounds are nothing more than a faint echo of memory.
SOUND: WIND PLAYS OUT 30 SECONDS
D Pilate looks out his window to see the bug that he thought he had swatted away, the problem he thought he had solved by pushing Him on Herod.
1 Pilate said to the Sanhedrin, “You brought this man back to me! I have found no guilt in Him. Herod has found no guilt in Him.” “I will therefore punish Him and release Him.” Luke 23.16.
a In the other gospels it sounds like this . . . “Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged Him.” We would call it flogging.
PIX: FLAGRUM OVER BLOOD MOON
b Flogging involved stripping the prisoner and tying his hands to an upright post, while two soldiers stepped forward with the flagrums in their hands.
aa The flagrum was a short whip with a short handle.
bb At the end of the whip where several long leather thongs, attached to the end of the thongs, tied at various intervals, were small iron balls or sharp pieces of sheep bones.
cc The naked Jesus, with hands tide to the whipping post would by beaten on his back, buttocks, and legs.
c Most Christians believe Jesus was whipped with only 39 lashes, per Mosaic Law (Deut. 25.1-3), but this is not found in the ancient texts of the synoptic Gospels.
aa The men who flogged Yeshua were not His kinsmen, but Roman Legionaries who were not concerned about or obligated to follow the Law of Moshe’.
SOUND: WHIPPING
bb As the Roman soldiers took turns striking Jesus’ body with full force, each ball hitting his skin with similar kinetic force of .357 or 9mm round, the iron bearings would cause deep contusions, and the leather thongs and sheep bones would cut into the skin and Subcutaneous (Sub-que-taneous) tissues, the tissue just under the skin.
cc At first the blood would have oozed from the capillaries and veins of the skin. . . As the flogging continued, arterial bleeding would have spurted blood from the vessels in the underlying muscles.
dd The lacerations would tear into the underlying skeletal muscles, producing quivering ribbons of bleeding flesh.
ee Muscles were lacerated, veins and arteries were torn open, and it was not uncommon for the kidneys, spleen, or other organs to be exposed and slashed.
STOP WHIPPING
2 Jesus scourging was meant to punish, terrify and weaken the condemned man, and hasten His death . . . but in all actually . . . Jesus scourging was meant for us.
a Isaiah 53:5 (NASB) 5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.
b Pilate gave the order for the punishment, but what the soldiers did next was simply a reflection of the evil nature that rests in all of us.
SOUND: MURMUR CROWD
E Mark 15:16-20 (NASB) 16 The soldiers took Him away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium), and they *called together the whole Roman cohort. 17 They *dressed Him up in purple, and after twisting a crown of thorns, they put it on Him; 18 and they began to acclaim Him, "Hail, King of the Jews!"19 They kept beating His head with a reed, and spitting on Him, and kneeling and bowing before Him. 20 After they had mocked Him, they took the purple robe off Him and put His own garments on Him. . .”
1 The soldiers who had wiped Jesus like an animal would now cruelly make sport of Him.
a As the shredded Savior was brought into the Praetorium, one of the soldiers thought it would be a good joke to put an old faded robe on Jesus’ mangled shoulders, mocking His royal claim as King of the Jews.
aa Another thought, “What else does a king need? A crown, just like Caesars!”
bb Thorns were plentiful, so a crown of thorns was hurriedly crafted and placed upon his head.
cc The thorns remind me that the curse that sin brought into the world: “Genesis 3:17-18 (NASB)
Then to Adam He said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat from it'; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. "Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field”
b The soldiers made light of the Light of the world.
aa There stands Jesus, face swollen from the beating by the Temple Police; covered with a vile concoction of spit, blood, sweat, and dirt.
bb His body ripped to shred by the scourging, lacerations from His shoulders down, exposing muscles, ligaments, blood vessels, and perhaps even internal organs.
cc Clothed in a crimson robe, coronated with a crown of thorns, clutching a crude wooden staff as a scepter in his right hand.
2 Next, the soldiers spat on Him some more, struck Him on the head with the wooden staff.
a Acting the fools in bending their knees in submission to the alleged “King of the Jews.”
b When they had their fill of fun, the soldiers tore the robe from Jesus’ back, reopening the wounds that had surely began to coagulate by this time.
c Jesus was whipped like a dog for hours on end before He ever saw the cross. . .but now . . . the cross was in sight.
F “ . . . they led Him out to crucify Him.” Mark 15.21
1 Although the Romans did not invent crucifixion, the perfected it as form of torture and capital punishment that was designed to produce a slow death with maximum pain & suffering.
a Since the Romans had invaded Israel in 63 BC, they had crucified over 30,000 of her citizens by the time Jesus was nailed on the tree.
aa Seeing a crucified person was as common as dirt in Israel in the 33 AD. . . however, we only remember the name of one crucified man, Yeshua.
SOUND: CRUCIFY HIM
bb Stripped of his robe, scepter, decency, rights, the soldiers “ . . . took Jesus therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the placed the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha. There they crucified Him. . .” -John 19.17-18a NASB.
b Jesus, as custom for the condemned to carry his own cross from the flogging post to site of the crucifixion, more than likely would have carried the top crossbar of the cross, the PATIBULUM, weighing approximately 125 lbs.
aa The 8 foot long, 1 foot wide, six inch thick beam would have been placed across the nape of the victim’s neck, balanced upon his shoulders, with his outstretched arms tied to rough and splintered cross-arm.
SOUND: DRAG CROSS OVER STONE
bb He was escorted by four Roman soldiers and their Commander down the winding, uneven cobble stone streets of the Via Dolorosa, 1,600 yards, 20 minutes, to The Skull
cc The smells of firewood, smoke, baking bread, roasted lamb, pungent smell of thousands of weary travelers, animal dung and incense would have filled Jesus’ nostrils.
2 Most doomed victims of the crucifixion would have carried their cross to the pinnacle of Golgotha, but Yeshua had suffered more severally than others before Him.
a For He wasn’t receiving punishment for His sins, there were none to punish.
aa He took the full cup of punishment that belonged to all of humanity . . . past, present, and future.
bb He had endured hundreds of hits to His face & body, God knows how many lacerations the Roman legionaries had given him at the end of their flagrum.
cc In addition to the physical punishment He had not slept since Wednesday, had not drank water or food since the Last Supper. . . weak physically, dehydrated, hungry, exhausted. . .
dd Add to all this the mental agonies of betrayal, defection, and denial by His friends . . .manifested by hematidrosis, sweating drops of blood in the Garden of Gethsemane.
ee Jesus suffering was multiplied even more for He had been fighting a spiritual battle with Satan . . . tempting Him to go off script and let mankind fend for themselves.
b Is it any wonder why Jesus couldn’t physically carry the cross the entire path to The Skull?
aa “And when they led Him away, they laid hold of one Simon of Cyrene, coming in from the country, and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus.” -Luke 23.26
bb Jesus’ cross brought Simon, a man from Northern Africa closer than anyone to Him in the Passion thus far: Simon could hear Jesus breathe, speak, covered in His blood, follow Him to the very end.
cc The cross brings all of us close us Jesus . . . “Galatians 2:20 (KJV) I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
G We arrive (in Latin) at Calvary, (in Hebrew) at Golgotha, (in English) at The Skull.
1 Arriving at The Skull, Jesus would find three wooden crosses: two would soon be occupied by murderous marauders, probably associates of a cut-throat killer named Barabbas.
a The main 8 foot vertical stipe of the cross, which the patibulum would be soon be secured upon, was permanently fixed in the ground.
SOUND: WIND
aa This cross had once been a fine tree growing along the Judean hillside outside Jerusalem . . . at one time it’s branches reached toward heaven with leaves blowing in the wind in worship of its Creator.
bb Several years ago it was cut down by Romans, trimmed of its branches & robbed of its proud bark, it now stood as naked and beaten as the man it would soon hold.
b The Son of God was stripped of His meager garments, a further humiliation, the full extend of His wounds were no exposed to the world.
aa Psalm 90:8 (NASB) You have placed our iniquities before You, Our secret sins in the light of Your presence.
bb These where the cumulative results of all the sin of all the world for all to see.
2 “And when they had come to a place called Golgotha . . .they gave Him wine to drink mingled with gall; and after tasting it, He was unwilling to drink.” -Matt. 27.33a,34
a By Roman law, the victim was given this mix as a mild pain killer, meant to deaden the pain of sufferer.
aa Yeshua was not their to deaden pain . . . He was there to kill sin/death by becoming sin/death.
bb 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NASB) He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
cc “ . . .that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.” -Heb. 2.14c
SOUND: POUNDING NAILS/HEAVY
b In a few short hours death would be swallowed up in victory by the hands of King of Jesus . . .but first, the nails will go through those hands.
F Six simple words were given to us to sum up what Yeshua would endure from for six excruciating hours on top of Mt. Calvary, “ And when they had crucified Him . . .”-Matt.27.35a.
1 The word “exCRUCIate” has half of the word “cruci-fy” in the middle of it. . .and it is the middle cross that has our attention tonight.
a Joseph us describes crucifixion as “the most wretched of deaths”: Origin called it the “utterly vile death.”
b Messiah was thrown to the ground on his back, with His arms outstretched along the crossbar that He and Simon had dragged up the hill. . .
aa The Romans placed a tapered iron spike with a square shaft that was 5-7 inches long over Jesus wrist, , in a space between four carpal bones . .and began to hammer . . .
bb The driven nail would crush or sever the sensorimotor median nerve . . .producing bolts of fiery pain in both arms . . . resulting in paralysis of a portion of His hand . . .making the hand that feed the 5,000/healed the lame . . .to produce a claw like grasp.
c None of the crucifixion accounts tell us about the nails . . .but Thomas does. . .“Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails . . . I will not believe.” -John 20.25
2 After your Jesus’ hands were nailed to crossbar, the professional Roman executioners would hoist Him, dangling from the crossbar . . . and placed Him on the stipe.
SOUND: POUNDING NAILS/LIGHT
a As Jesus hung by His wrists, suspended between heaven & earth, the specialized team of soldiers bent His legs . . . and placed one foot over the other . . .driving another spike through the first or second inter meta-tarsal space...
b The feet that had walked where angels had trod . . that had ran all over his father’s wood shop, . . .that walked on water were now nailed to a tree.
c Above the head of Jesus, “. . .Pilate wrote an inscription also, and put it on the cross. And it was written, “JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” -John 19.19
aa It was written in three languages: Hebrew, Latin, & Greek . . . so there would be no mistaking who this victim was or why He hung there that day.
bb As the thousand or so witnesses fixed their eyes upon Jesus . . . their eyes couldn’t comprehend the full grasp of what this King was securing, . . .price He was paying, . . . grace He was displayed. . . battle being won.
SOUND: ANGRY CROWD
3 For three hellish hours, from 9 to 12, Jesus heard the howls and heckles from the people He was dying to save.
a “He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from cross, and we shall believe in Him.” -Matt.27.42.
aa “ . . .He saved others; He cannot save Himself.” -Mark 15.31b
bb Even the vile offenders who hung alongside Jesus said, “ . . ."Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!" Luke 23:39b(NASB)
STOP ANGRY CROWD
b At noon, Luke’s gospel tells us that darkness fell over the land for three hours . . . and he uses the word “ekleipo” . . ., which means “failing” or more literally . . . cease to exist.
. . .It was if at that moment the sun was obscured by a
heavenly veil.
SOUND: THUNDERSTORM
4 Many times in the Old Testament, darkness was a mark of divine judgement, punishment . . . (Black screen/do not put the following texts on screen)
a In describing the Day of the Lord, Isaiah wrote, “. . .that the stars of heaven and their constellations will not flash forth their light . . . and the sun will be dark when it rises, and the moon will not shed its light. Thus I will punish the world for it evil. . . and the wicked for their iniquity.” -Isaiah 13.10-11
aa Joel wrote, “ . . .a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness” -Joel 2.2.
bb Amos asks, “Will not the day of the Lord be darkness instead of light, even gloom with no brightness in it?” -Amos 5.20.
cc Jesus owns sermons associated darkness with divine judgement in terms of “outer darkness where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teach.”
(Blood moon slide slowly reappears)
b The cross was a place of immense divine judgement, where the sins of the world were poured out vicariously on the sinless, perfect Son.
G Matthew 27:46 (NASB) About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?" that is, "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?"
1 Jesus was crying out not of anguish from the lacerations on His back . . . or the thorns that still pierced His head . . . or the nails that held Him on the cross . . .these were paper cuts in comparison to Jesus’ greatest pain . . .loss of fellowship with His heavenly Father that His becoming sin for us had brought.
a It is the only time in Scripture that Jesus did not address God as “Father.”
aa The Father had turned His back on His Son.
bb “Thine eyes are too pure to approve evil, and Thou canst not look on wickedness with favor.” -Hab. 1.13. NKJV
cc The Father poured out the full contents of His cup of furious wrath . . . and for a brief time at Calvary . . .The Father had to eyes off His Son . . . because He could not look upon sin
b The Father forsook the Son because the Son took upon Himself . . .
aa “our transgressions . . .our iniquities”-Is. 53.5
bb “He who knew no sin became sin on our behalf” -2 Cor. 5.21.
cc Jesus became the curse . . .”He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross” -1 Peter 2.24a
dd Jesus didn’t come to teach or to be good example to follow but “ . . . to give His life as a ransom for many” -Matt. 20.28b
c He died in our place so we could live with Him forever.
aa He took the beating, humiliation, rejection, separation from the Father that rightfully belonged to us . . .that we earned . . .that we deserved.
bb The only word that describe His love for us is “Amazing.”
2 “And immediately one of them (presumably a soldier) ran, and taking a sponge, he filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink.” -Matt. 27.48
a 14 hours before, Jesus had been praying in the Garden,
“. . .if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. Matthew 26:42b (NKJV)
aa This cup wouldn’t pass . . . the sour taste of sin must be sup.
bb The cool mixture at the end the 18' reed was placed up to Jesus’ mouth . . . hardly enough to wet His lips . . .but that was alright . . . He only three more words.
b These three words would cause a shiver to dance across Satan’s spine . . . fulfill all 613 Laws of the Moses . . .close the chapter on the Old Covenant and start the better Covenant . . .usher in an age of grace . . .take the stinger out of death . . . (Start earthquake sound)
SOUND: EARTHQUAKE
aa With Jesus’ last breath He shouted the words . . . that would shake the universe . . .tear asunder the veil in the Holy of Holies . . .that would accomplish what no other sacrifice could secure . . .
bb What the Devil started in the Garden . . . Yeshua was about to finish on Golgotha . . .with three words. . .
cc “When Jesus there had received the sour wine, He said, “IT . . . IS . . . FINISHED!” -John 19.30
H Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh... sometimes, it causes me to tremble, (tremble, tremble,)
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
1 Yes, we were.
a We were there. . .
aa when they nailed Him to the cross,...
bb when they pierced Him in the side...
cc when the sun refused to shine . . .
b When He was on the cross . . . you were on His mind.
2 Tonight, I hope you have tagged your face in the mocking crowd . . . located which stripes on His back belonged to you . . .which thorn on his head should have been planted on yours . . .which nail had your name on it . . .how much of your portion of the sour wine did He drink for you?
a Starting from the back of the church, one pew at a time . . . I invite you to make your way to the cross . .
aa touch the rough wood . . .feel the nails . . .swab your lips with the sour wine.
bb Our hands may not have picked up a hammer . . . but our fingerprints are all over Calvary. . . we were there.
b In a real way, I want you to personally identify with your part/role in the crucifixion.
aa After you’ve felt the wood, nails . . . (be careful because the wood is rough and the nails are sharp), lightly dip one of your fingers in the paint and put your fingerprint on the cross.
bb None of us in this room share the same fingerprint . . . but we share the same Jesus.
cc He died for your sin and He would have sacrificed Himself if it had ONLY been your sin He was dying for.
c When you’ve walked through the paces of the crucifixion at your own pace . . . please return to your seat by way of the outside walls of the sanctuary.
START VIDEO: WERE YOU THERE
aa Pam , the boys and I will walk up to the front first . . . show the crowd what this moment is to look like and then the ushers will begin escorting each pew, the back pews first/one pew at a time, until every worshiper who wants to participate has participated.
bb [Play appropriate videos at a low volume during the passion participation]
PLAY VIDEO: VIA DOLOROSA
SOUND: WIND
cc When the last person has been seated. . .KILL ALL THE HOUSE LIGHTS, NO MUSIC, BLOOD MOON SLIDE, AND TURN ON BLACKLIGHT.
3 See, our fingerprints are all over the Cross.
a Allow SEVERAL seconds to pass . . . que wind blowing.
b “You are asked to quietly leave the sanctuary . . .” (SCREEN). (House lights come on enough to see to leave.)
Notice to Sermon Central Users:
My name is Mike Fogerson, and I pastor a Southern Baptist Church in Chester, Illinois. I have been a long-time user of Sermon Central and truly appreciate its content and contributors. Some of the best sermons I’ve ever preached have been reworked material from this website. As you use the material from my sermon bank, understand that it is work that has been done from not just myself, but from hundreds of other pastors as well. If you see part of your message, or a bunch of your message with my name on it and this upsets you, please email me and I will quickly respond and cite you as the main source. My intent is not to claim someone’s work as my own. I am disclaiming up front that I use the resources from Sermon Central and appreciate the tool. I simply want all those who use my work to know that some of these messages were inspired by the Holy Spirit working through other pastors. Because I do use the messages of other pastors I waive all claims of originality or origin of creativity for the messages posted under my messages. I pray God blesses your preaching ministry for the glory of His Kingdom.
Respectfully,
Mike Fogerson
