King on the Cross - Luke 23 Vs 26-38

Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Faith Bible. Shall we pray? Dear Father, thank you for this privilege and opportunity to meet together in your name and praise you and learn from your word. And we just pray that you bless everyone involved in carrying that out, Lord, and give you this time in Jesus' name.

Amen.

The Cross at the Center of Christian Worship

So this morning, our first song is At the Cross. You know, we talk a lot about that. That's the center of what we share in our faith of Christ. The pastor's going to preach on that today. But let's stand together as we sing about At the Cross.

I want to read this verse.

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved is the power of God. This next song is Come, Behold the Wondrous Story. And it's really an invitation to set our eyes on Jesus.

It begins with a couple of verses of who he is, and it's followed up with what he did. And then it's our response and praise the Lord. He is alive.

Today's scripture reading is going to come from the book of Psalms, chapter 22, verses 12 through 19. Once again, that is Psalms, chapter 22, verses 12 through 19. Verse 12. Many bulls have surrounded me.

Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me. They gape at me with their mouths like a raging and roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It has melted within me.

My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue clings to my jaws. You have brought me to the dust of death, for dogs have surrounded me. The congregation of the wicked has enclosed me. They pierced my hands and my feet.

I can count all my bones. They look and stare at me. They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. But you, O Lord, do not be far from me. O my strength, hasten to help me. This is the word of the Lord.

So our next song is There is a Fountain Filled with Blood. Please stand together. Our next song is Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted. Again, it's a very contemplative song about Christ on the cross. It's very somber and sobering to know what really happened there on that cross.

Let's think upon these words and give them to the Lord.

Luke 23:26-38 and the First Half of the Crucifixion Narrative

Please turn with me to Luke 23. Luke 23, verses 26 -38. Luke 23, verses 26 -38. Now as they led him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon the Cyrenian, who was coming from the country, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus.

And a great multitude of the people followed him, and women who also mourned and lamented him, but Jesus turning to them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.

For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed. Then they will begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us, and to the hills, cover us.

For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry? There were also two others, criminals, led with him to be put to death. And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.

And Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. And they divided his garments and cast lots, and the people stood looking on. But when the rulers with them sneered, saying, He saved others, let him save himself, if he is the Christ, the chosen of God.

The soldiers also mocked him, coming and offering him sour wine, and saying, If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself. And an inscription also was written over him, in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew, This is the king of the Jews.

This is the word of the Lord. Let us pray. Father, we come before you only because the king of the Jews was crucified so that he may reconcile us sinners to the holy God. Help us to remember this morning what was truly accomplished, despite the mockeries.

What was truly accomplished, so that our sin is not ours to hold, but have been nailed to the cross and put to death. Help us to live as forgiven people, only in Jesus Christ. Amen. This is the first half of the passage of Jesus' crucifixion.

And I see that many of you have come for, really, the climax of Luke. This portion sets the background and also portrays the mockery that Jesus faced from the soldiers and the religious leaders. And the next passage will focus on Jesus' interaction with the two criminals who are crucified next to him.

Both the crucifixion and resurrection are to be taken as one event. You can't have one without the other. And these two events, crucifixion and resurrection, are the most important part of the whole Bible.

In fact, we have been anticipating the crucifixion since the beginning of this book. This king was born to save, to deliver his people. And what we see unfolds is that he came to save, even if it means he doesn't save himself.

And as early as chapter 9, Jesus set out on his journey to Jerusalem to die. And we've been tracking his journey ever since. Jesus' death and resurrection are the centerpiece of God's redemptive history.

Without Jesus' death and resurrection, this world does not have a happy ending. And without Jesus' death and resurrection, we are the most to be pitied. And that's because without the crucifixion, there is no gospel.

Without the crucifixion, we are all condemned, and we still remain in our guilt. After all, if God himself did not take our sin and died the death that we deserved, we are all left to perish in our wickedness.

Without the crucifixion, there is, frankly, no hope in the world. People often say, I trust in humanity. I trust in some chance. But the only person that you can trust so that the world actually has a happily ever after is Jesus Christ alone.

Don't trust in humanity. It's only getting worse. Don't trust in chance. Why would you risk your eternal life to chance? Trust in Jesus Christ, who has suffered the wrath that we deserved and rose from the dead.

And for Christians, I'm sure many of you have heard the gospel, and I'm sure many of you have trusted the message, trusted the person of Christ. For us, we still need to hear the cross. We still need to go back to the cross.

And the reason is we are often so tempted and distracted to focus on ourselves instead of Jesus.

What do I mean?

Oftentimes, we carry the sin that has been put to death. We try to resurrect our past sin as if we have the power to revive. And we stay up late at night bearing the guilt that's been paid for. The cross is a message especially important to the Christians, not just the unbelievers who need to be saved.

Because in the end, we still need to go to the cross and surrender that to him who has paid it all. And this morning, we have the privilege of reading the passage of the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ, who remained on the cross for our sake.

King Jesus Saved Others by Staying on the Cross

The main point of today's text is, despite the humiliation, King Jesus saved others by staying on the cross. Despite the humiliation, King Jesus saved others by staying on the cross. Now, what did Jesus have to endure before the cross?

Before the crucifixion, Jesus compassionately cared for the future state of his people. Before the crucifixion, Jesus compassionately cared for the future state of his people. Verse 26 sets the context.

Now, as they led him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming from the country. And on him, they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus. After Jesus has been sentenced to die by Pilate, he was carrying the cross beam across his neck.

Quite a heavy load. And he gets exhausted. After all, he didn't sleep at all that night because of that long kangaroo court. So, the soldiers actually forcibly seized a stranger, Simon the Cyrenian, to have him carry it.

We find out that Simon the Cyrenian is not even a native Jerusalemite. He's from the country. He's there for the feast. He was just there to watch what's going on. Yet, in that moment, the Roman soldiers arrest him, really capture him, and have him carry the cross beam because Jesus is getting tired.

Simon the Cyrenian appears in other gospel accounts as well. In fact, Mark, the gospel according to Mark, goes a little further and tells us his son's name, Rufus and Alexander. And the question we might ask is, why?

Why do we need to know?

Right?

And this is because the gospel authors purpose to write the crucifixion as a historical account. Unless it happened, it really doesn't matter who carried the cross. That's just the flimsy detail that's unnecessary to the storyline.

But because it happened, Simon carrying the cross beam to Golgotha, the place of Skol, the hill on which Jesus was crucified, adds historical veracity. Early readers were encouraged to check it out for themselves.

In fact, you don't believe me? Go to Simon the Cyrenian. And even Mark would say, go talk to his sons, Rufus and Alexander. Just ask him, did you really carry Jesus' cross beam? What was that like? What was he like?

At the core of the gospel, we need to admit that it's not just a nice story, but it's a true story. In fact, Jesus' crucifixion is well attested. There are some cults and false religions that say Jesus was never put to death.

Islam is a great example of one. However, if you take a look at even extra biblical artifacts, now, don't get me wrong, I believe the Bible is a historical artifact and everything it says is true. Now, if you have to talk to an unbeliever or a Muslim who doesn't believe that Jesus was put to death, you can go to a lot of the sources that do talk about the death of Christ.

Tacitus, a famous Roman historian who wrote about the Roman emperors in the Annals, writes about Christians derived their name from Christ, whom Pontius Pilate executed during Tiberius' reign. Josephus, a famous Jewish historian, also writes about Jesus' crucifixion.

For Christians, Jesus' crucifixion is not just a philosophical concept that makes us feel good that someone would figuratively die for us, but rather it's a historical reality. What that means is your salvation depends on the fact that Jesus died for your sin and rose from the dead historically.

Why would you place your salvation and your eternal stay on some event that never happened? Christians must hold tightly to the historicity of the cross. In verse 27, we see the first group of people who witnessed Jesus' crucifixion.

And a great multitude of the people followed him and women who also mourned and lamented him. All throughout Luke, women are portrayed as faithful followers of Christ. Even before his birth, Elizabeth, Mary, they're honored.

Here, they're grieving because of what is happening to Jesus. He is about to be crucified. The word for mourning here is actually a physical action. It literally translates to to beat one's chest. I'm not going to do that because of the mic.

And you just heard even a slight touch of the jacket here. It's the physical expression of the inward grief. It's a tragedy. It's unexpected. They're lamenting. And noticing these grieving women, Jesus addresses them.

But Jesus turning to them said, daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. As he is walking to his death, as he is exhausted from the whole ordeal, both physical and emotional, he hears a cry and he turns.

He turns to these women. And out of his mouth is not, I'm going to go through something worse than what you can ever imagine. Although true, no one can possibly imagine the wrath of God that he suffered for his people.

That he cares for them, the women. Ironically, the one who is about to face death tells the living ones to weep for themselves instead. This shows that Jesus is still in charge despite his upcoming execution.

He knows he will be exonerated and exalted in a few days. Not only that, in his heart is care for the ones who will face a national tragedy that's to come. He is completely other-centered. Even during this crucial moment right before his death.

Second, daughters of Jerusalem is a term that represents the whole nation of Israel. So when Jesus tells these women, weep for yourselves and for your children, they're not the only ones who are targeted.

The whole nation will face something that will lead them to lament. Now why must they weep? The next verse tells us the reason. For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed.

Then they will begin to say to the mountains, fall on us and to the hills, cover us. While verse 29 tells us the reason for weeping, verse 30 tells us the intensity and severity of the judgment that's coming.

The reason for this national lament is the judgment that will be poured upon Israel for rejecting their Messiah. Notice the drastic reversal in the nation when God's judgment does arrive in A .D. 70. People will proclaim, blessed are the barren, womb that never bore, and breasts which never nursed.

All throughout history, barrenness was considered a curse from God. It wasn't always a curse from God, but a land that is cursed is barren. A people of God that has committed idolatry will not reproduce.

That's part of the curse at the end of Leviticus. Yet, when the day of judgment comes, Jesus prophesied that it would be better for them to not have anyone to take care of, because it would be that difficult for them to survive on their own.

When the judgment of God finally arrived, these people, what they once considered a blessing, was no blessing at all. Whatever they were blessed from God didn't matter, because the judgment of God was that horrendous.

Now, how severe will this day be? Verse 30 tells us that people will want the mountains to fall on them and the hills to cover them. This is, of course, figurative. No matter how much you scream at a mountain, it's not going to move.

But during the time of judgment, people will lose their will to live, because it is that bad. During the judgment, people will lose any desire to survive, because living is more tortuous. They'd rather face death than to live and face God's wrath.

They'd rather shorten their lives than to suffer through the torture laid out for them. And, of course, ironically, this comes from the mouth of the one who will face the full wrath of God momentarily.

And he tells these women, don't weep for me. Weep for yourselves. Really shows us how much he cares, even of a drastically lesser suffering compared to what he's about to go through. And verse 31 gives the reason for the severity of the judgment.

For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry? This must be taken figuratively. After all, they're not anywhere near a forest. Jesus is not talking about how to make a campfire, but rather, we need to consider what it means.

Green wood in real life does not burn well compared to dry wood. Burning here would be the judgment. Now, the green wood here represents the time of Christ. The coming of Christ heralded a joyful celebration.

Just, I mean, around this time, I think two years ago, we started Luke. I know it took a while, but very necessary. But what was it? It was a joyful celebration, right? No wonder pastors preach from Luke 1 and 2 for Christmas, right?

What does Mary sing? She sings the Magnificat, right? It's a joyful time of celebration because the Messiah has finally come. After all, these people joyfully welcomed Jesus when he first entered Jerusalem, right?

Hosanna, right? God save us. Yet, these religious leaders succeeded in turning his people against the Messiah and ultimately crucifying him. The dry wood then represents the time after Christ's departure when it is ripe for judgment.

How much worse will it be for Israel now that they have rejected their Messiah and he is not with them anymore? Right? He's ascended. And as a nation, the religious leaders and the political leaders have rejected Christ.

In fact, that's the structure of Luke 19, 35 through 44. The crowd joyfully received Jesus from 35 to 40. Yet, for some odd reason, Jesus pronounces a divine judgment against Jerusalem in 41 to 44. Because he knew if they crucified their Messiah during what needed to be a time of celebration, how much worse will it be during the time of divine judgment after they have rejected Christ?

First, we do need to clarify that there is a difference between an individual judgment and a national judgment. In the Old and New Testaments, individuals personally responded to God in faith or lack of faith, distrust.

People, individuals who trusted in God were saved, yet those who did not were judged. And the pronouncement of the national judgment against Israel, which unfolded in AD 70, does not mean that no Jews are saved.

In fact, the early Christians were ethnic Jews and all the apostles were Jews. So, however, when the nation rebels against God by rejecting their Messiah, a national judgment is in order. After all, they've rejected the best of what God could ever give, his only Son.

Consider the Babylonian exile. The Jews were taken away from their promised land because the nation rebelled against God. The priests and prophets led Israel and Judah into idol worship. The kings and leaders blatantly destroyed the word of God, right?

There's a king who cuts Jeremiah's scroll and puts it in the fire. And they disobeyed the Lord despite multiple gracious warnings. So, they were taken from the promised land for 70 years. Now, among them were faithful individuals who did respond to God in faith.

Think Jeremiah. Think Ezekiel. Think Daniel. Although they lived through the national judgment, they were eternally secure from the divine judgment to come. And as for as long as God wanted to use them for his own redemptive purpose, he provided for them and protected them.

But ultimately, the judgment in focus needs to be the eternal judgment. Individuals can still respond in faith, yet the national judgment is not nullified. God can still save souls despite the fall of a nation.

And this passage shows us that rejecting Christ comes with the future guarantee of a judgment. When people reject Jesus, judgment is coming because rejecting Jesus is nothing less than rebelling against God.

When you commit treason against the highest authority in the universe, the judgment is necessary. And this is why Jesus told the women to save your tears for what's coming against Jerusalem in AD 70. Rather than weeping for the king who will rise on the third day.

Jerusalem, after all, was a beautiful city. Millions of people gathered each year for the feast. And they were mesmerized by the structures, the buildings. The temple, so beautiful, even the Romans praised it.

And Josephus writes after the fact of AD 70, it looked like there was never any inhabitants living in it. That's the judgment of God. And this is especially important because the future judgment for rejecting Christ is in fact eternal.

Nations fall and rise, but ultimately the severest judgment is for all who reject Christ. And that is hell itself. The eternal torment for rejecting Christ is eternal condemnation. Unfortunately, we live in a culture where hell is just made fun of or just flat out denied.

And that's not surprising because the serpent's been denying God's authority to judge ever since Genesis 3.

You shall surely not die.

The serpent doesn't really change his tactics. But for some reason, humanity always falls for it. We just use hell like it's just a common language. What the hell? Damn it. If these people actually know what hell actually entails, they would not use it so flippantly.

Hell is the eternal torment place in which all the judgments that are recorded in the Bible are just a drop in a bucket in comparison to what's coming. And that's just an understatement. Knowing this, we too must compassionately share the good news of Jesus Christ so that people around us may have a chance to receive him.

We need to pray that our hearts would be softened to share the message that Jesus took our sin and suffer the wrath for our behalf, on our behalf. Suffer the judgment that we deserved and rose from the dead on the third day.

And ultimately, the whole world will be judged for not responding to Christ in faith. Just read Revelation. The judgment recorded in Revelation is horrendous. However, those who trust in Jesus Christ will be individually rescued from the coming judgment.

The same King who cared about others still reigns from above, and he compassionately desires to save sinners. And he will compassionately deliver his own, because that's his character and nature. Second, despite Jesus's enemies intended humiliation, Jesus saved his people by remaining on the cross.

Although the enemies intended to humiliate Christ, he remained on the cross to save his people. In this section, Luke portrays four public mockings. They are both physical and verbal. First, they mock Christ by how they place him, where they place him.

There were also two others, criminals, led with him to be put to death. Luke shows that Jesus, although innocent, was treated just like a criminal as he was crucified beside them. According to verse 33, Jesus is placed in between the two criminals in the place called Calvary.

The mockery here is that Jesus, although declared innocent multiple times prior to this, is treated the same way as the other criminals. In fact, he actually sticks out more because he's placed in between them.

The only innocent one is placed in between two guilty people. In this ironic position, Jesus rather prays for his enemies. Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do, and they divided his garments and cast lots.

Despite all of this, despite the mockery, Jesus prays for his enemies. And the reason is because they've rejected the Messiah. Some unknowingly, because they truly had no idea. Others, they totally misinterpreted Scripture and just were flat out wrong.

They missed the Old Testament, which pointed to Christ. Next, they humiliate him further by dividing the garments. Not only does he suffer publicly lifted up, but he is also stripped. Moreover, they make a game out of it.

Let's see who's going to get his clothes by casting lot. After all, he was wearing a marvelous robe gifted by the rulers to mock him. Whether they put on a robe or disrobe him, it's all done to humiliate.

And just for the fun of it, they leave it to chance. Let's see who's going to get it. Ironically, nothing was left to chance on that day. In fact, their wicked scoffing was precisely prophesied in Scripture.

Jesus fulfilled both Isaiah 53, 12 and Psalm 22, 18, which was the second one was read this morning. As the righteous one suffers on behalf of sinners in utter humiliation. Isaiah 53, 12, the righteous servant is counted among the criminals and suffers on their behalf.

And that's what's happening now. He's counted among the criminals who are crucified on the left and the right. In Psalm 22, 18, the enemies of David, because Psalm 22 was ultimately written by the human author, was David.

These enemies divide his garments among them. They divide my garments among them and for my clothing they cast lots. Here, Jesus is the ultimate Davidic king who suffers at the hand of God's enemies despite his perfect righteousness.

While David never was pierced, as it was read in verse 16 by Dexter, Jesus' hands were literally pierced and they did cast lots for his garment. Jesus typologically and prophetically fulfilled David's psalm written over a thousand years ago.

Although the wicked men acted in their own sin, God sovereignly used them to fulfill his promised redemption. Even to the T. No detail was missed all throughout the Old Testament. The next three mockeries are verbal.

First, the rulers start their jeer. These are the religious leaders. And the people stood looking on, but even the rulers with them sneered saying, He saved others, let him save himself if he is the Christ, the chosen of God.

Looking at the stripped and crucified Christ, the leaders gained their confidence. There is no way to reverse this now. The crowd can't save you. You're lifted up. You're nailed to the cross. That is the worst form of punishment even in Roman Empire.

These leaders mock him because they feel in control now. And in that arrogant attitude, they mock him. He saved others is a reference to all the miracles that Jesus performed prior to this. From the healing of the ear that's been cut off to his first.

And when you take a look at what Jesus did, whether healing the lepers, or casting out thousands of demons, or calming an uncontrollable storm, to reviving dead people during their funerals, Jesus' miracles delivered those who called out to him.

Jesus' miracles never, ever served him, but were completely other-centered. However, their sneer has an ironic twist. By remaining on the cross, Jesus is saving others once again, except this time from a greater enemy.

And except this time in the widest scope possible, the whole world will be redeemed by Jesus Christ because he precisely stayed despite the sneer. Furthermore, it is exactly because he is the Christ, the chosen of God, he stayed on the cross as his father ordained him to.

Second, the soldiers jump in after seeing the religious leaders mock Jesus. They get the confidence. The soldiers also mocked him, coming and offering him sour wine. The sour wine was often given to those who are crucified because it quenched the thirst.

And, you know, when you can quench the thirst of those who are crucified, you can elongate the time of entertainment. So it's pretty cruel. It's not really for the sake of Jesus, but rather it's the cheap wine that's sour, more like vinegar.

And, hey, don't let him die of thirst. Just get him going. Get him to respond more. And this is what they say. If you're the king of the Jews, save yourself. The Roman soldiers do not understand the significance of the term Christ or Messiah.

After all, they're not Jewish. But as we will see in the next verse, they know Jesus' title. He's the king of the Jews. And it is exactly because Jesus is the king of the Jews, he does not save himself, but stays on the cross to save his people because this king, unlike any of the Roman Caesar's emperors who sacrificed their people to further their empire, this king is God's chosen king who sacrificed his life to rescue his own.

He's the only king who doesn't require his subject to lay down their lives. He's the only king who lays down his life for his subjects. Third, they wrote the inscription above him. And an inscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew.

This is the king of the Jews. These three languages were the most popular languages in Judea and, frankly, the whole known world. The first one is Greek. Greek, they actually call it Koine Greek. You might have heard it.

It's the Greek language that they spoke around the first century, Koine Greek. The translation of Koine actually means common, common Greek. It's so common, they call it the common Greek. Why is that?

Well, after Alexander the Great really conquered the most of the known world, all these places from Europe to Egypt just Hellenized. It became Greek-cultured. And with the Greek culture comes with the language.

So most anyone who's anyone living in that area would have spoken Greek. In fact, the whole New Testament is written in that Greek. Latin, of course, is the famous language. It's probably the most famous dead language.

It's the language of Rome. Some of you might have taken Latin classes growing up because Rome had a huge influence in other cultures, even our own language. Hebrew or Aramaic was spoken by the Jews of the first century.

In fact, that's probably the language that Jesus spoke. In some of the verses, that's the language we get. We get the exact wording of what Jesus said. For example, Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

That's Aramaic or Hebrew. And this title, though written to mock Christ ironically, depicted Jesus' kingship publicly. It is precisely on the cross Jesus conquered his enemies, not from a war chariot, but from the cross.

Jesus was precisely crowned king, not with golden crowns, but with a crown of thorns. After all, how fitting is it for the Messiah to undo sin, to be crowned with the effect of sin. He's the only king in human history who didn't require lives from others, but he himself died to give life.

And this morning we worship the same crucified king. Oftentimes we forget how much God loves us. And sometimes we go back to really hard time when it might have been financially difficult or physically difficult or relationally torturous.

And you think back and say, well, Jesus saw me through that. And that's a great thing. And praise the Lord that you can do that. Praise the Lord that you have a record of that. This morning I'm here to tell you that needs to be second.

The primary example of God's love for you has to be the cross. The fact that he endured it. The fact that he stayed on it, even though he didn't need to. The fact that he remained nailed to it, even though he could have escaped it.

He could have left it at any second. The angels were just one command away from basically overthrowing Rome. As he was pierced for our sins and hung from the cross, Jesus conquered sin once and for all.

Because he stayed on the cross, he suffered the judgment that we deserved. Because he stayed on the cross, he once again saved others by choosing not to save himself. Because he stayed on the cross, he is the chosen Messiah of God who redeemed his own.

And because he guiltlessly stayed on the cross, your sins are forgiven and your guilt forever erased. There is nothing heavier than unforgiven sin that you need to carry. I don't know how people who don't know Jesus live their lives or wake up in the morning with the weight of guilt that they have to carry on their own.

But for Christians, you don't have to carry any of it. Because someone else bore it for you on the cross and he stayed until every ounce of it was paid for. Other religions might say that your good deeds can outweigh the bad.

That doesn't remove the weight of sin and guilt. Let's be honest. How many nights have we stayed up late mainly bothered and tortured by the things we've said? No amount of good words you have spoken can erase that.

But what does erase the record is the one who was pierced for it on the cross. Colossians says that the record of your transgressions have been pierced, nailed to the cross. When you see Christ nailed to the cross, so was your record.

When you see Christ nailed to the cross and he stayed, so was your guilt and so was your shame. And for Christians, it is not our job to bring that back because the only person that God raised from the cross is his own son.

None of your records are raised back. They've been buried with Christ. Now, if you have not yet placed your faith in this king, it is not too late. The judgment has not come yet. If you trust that this king, although stripped and afflicted, has suffered the divine judgment for your sake and rose from the dead, then you will be forgiven and you will be his forever.

There is nothing more comforting than that. If you trust this king, he will not leave you. Oftentimes, we have this slight fear of our most beloved people in our lives would leave us. And in one sense, that's not wrong.

The people you love the most will one day leave you or you will leave them. It's called death. But if you trust in this king who stayed on the cross, he won't leave you because death doesn't affect him anymore.

Moreover, if he endured the worst of human history, if he endured the worst suffering that any person could possibly endure to have you, what makes you think that he'll leave you now? If you trust this king, your only plea before the holy throne of God on the judgment day will be, I have no other plea.