The Stone Pavement (John 19:1-16 Jeff Kliewer)

The Rejection of the King and the Rise of Tyranny

Adored as God. Drawing from these early sources, John Fox says that when the Caesar himself, Tiberius Caesar, got Pilate's letters, he actually believed it. And he called on the Senate to adore Christ as God.

However, they refused him. Because that, contrary to the law of the Romans, he was consecrated, said they, for God before the Senate of Rome had so decreed and approved him. That's very interesting, because the Roman Senate actually did believe themselves to have the power to make someone God, as they had done for Julius Caesar, and as other later emperors would try to have done for themselves, for themselves to be called God.

The Senate said no to the kingship of Jesus Christ, because the idea had not come through them, but the people were already worshiping him as God. Notice they rejected the king of kings. It was offered to them, just as Pilate had the offer made to him.

And the Jewish people were given this offer. Rejecting, they received instead the tyrants of the Roman Empire. It is said that prior to this time, Tiberius Caesar was a rather benevolent emperor, kind of like his predecessor, Caesar Augustus, who ruled to the year 14.

This was what was called the Pax Romana, the peace of Rome. But after the rejection of the king of kings, Tiberius Caesar became a ruthless tyrant. He continued to reign, where Christ should be as king.

He continued to reign and began to murder people left and right. One historian said he would kill as many as 20 people a day for whatever imagined crimes he had against them. And once he died in 37, the kingdom was handed over to Caligula.

Have you heard that name? It's pretty well synonymous with tyranny and murderous just hatred in his heart. Time and again, Caligula actually had two books when they discovered his body, when they discovered him dead.

One was called The Sword, and the other was called The Dagger. And in The Sword and The Dagger, he had a list of all the senators' names that he was intending to assassinate. And he had vials of poison there with The Sword and The Dagger, which they ended up throwing into the ocean and ended up killing a bunch of fish.

So he was a murderous tyrant. The Senate rejected the King of Kings, and they got Caligula. After him, the two Nero's and the one who so famously burned the entire city of Rome and sang the lines of Homer while Rome burned.

They rejected the King of Kings, and they received a tyrant. And then Titus, the next emperor, he would destroy Jerusalem and leave that in ruins. The rejection of the King of Kings always ends at ruin.

Gabbatha and the Choice to Accept or Reject Christ

Now, this presupposes that people are offered the opportunity to either accept or reject Jesus Christ. The title of today's sermon is called The Stone Pavement. The Stone Pavement, because here in the text, Pontius Pilate is brought to the Stone Pavement, which in Aramaic is called, anybody know?

Gabbatha. Gabbatha, the Stone Pavement. It's here at this place that each person presented with the offer of Jesus Christ must choose to accept him or reject him as king. Let's go to John. I'd like to begin by reviewing chapter 18, verses 28 to 40, because this is really one story.

Pontius Pilate, the king, presented with the true King, Jesus Christ, and his rejection of him. When you notice the date is 2023, when you write a check or you fill out a paper and you put the date, what does it mean that the year is 2023?

It is the year of our Lord, A .D., which in Latin is anno domini, the year of his dominion. The true King came into the world, and time itself is measured with reference to the true King. Even if people leave off A .D. and use some other CE, common era, it still has as its reference point the coming of Messiah, the coming of the King into the world.

It cannot be escaped. The King has come. And beginning in John chapter 18, we have this presentation of the King to Jerusalem. He goes to the governor's quarters, where there we have Pontius Pilate, the governor, standing as a placeholder for Caesar, reigning there as his vice regent.

In chapter 18, verse 28, he's come from the priestly quarters of Caiaphas to the governor's headquarters. It says in verse 30 that the charge that is brought against Jesus is what? Evil doing. If he hadn't done something evil, we wouldn't have brought him.

It's completely vague. There's no substance to it because the Jewish people have no charge to bring. It's made up. Jesus is innocent. And they are looking for grounds to accuse him. And so it's deliberately vague.

In verse 32, we learn why this all takes place. This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken to show by what kind of death he was to die. If the Jewish people considered him guilty of blasphemy, Leviticus 24, in the law of God, had a death penalty for blasphemy.

And that was to take stones and crush down the one who has blasphemed. But it was not God's plan that Jesus would be crushed down with stones under the judgment of Jewish law. It was God's plan that he would be lifted up on a Roman cross.

The Jews sought his death, but they did not do it themselves. They almost did in John 10 .33. They picked up stones. They also did this earlier in John 8. Picked up stones to stone him because they said he makes himself God.

They were ready to execute him by the judgment of the Jewish law, but were restrained from doing that because it was God's plan that he die, not for the charge of blasphemy, but what? High treason. Treason against Caesar.

So the Romans would execute him on the charge of high treason. This is why it happened as it did, that Jesus would be lifted up. This was God's plan and what was prophesied ahead of time. Even as Jesus himself said that he would be handed over to the Romans and be crucified and buried and rise from the dead.

This was all taking place according to God's plan. Going on in chapter 18 to verse 36, Jesus and Pilate are interacting, and Jesus makes a claim to absolute authority. My kingdom is not of this world.

His kingdom comes from heaven, the kingdom of heaven, and is not from this world, he says at the end of verse 36. That is to say, the true king does not have delegated authority. It doesn't come from man.

Man does not make him king, and it's not limited in scope like human government is. We went over this last week. Rather, this king has absolute authority that doesn't derive or come from man. Government is to be limited to the sphere that it's given in this world, but God himself remains king overall.

He has absolute authority. He doesn't come from this world or get his authority from man. He goes on to say in verse 37 and 38 that everyone who is of the truth listens to me. And how did Pilate respond to that?

What is truth? He doesn't even believe there is such a thing as truth, so he dismisses the claim. What is truth? Jews have their ideas, and Romans have theirs. Who's to say? And he just leaves it as an unanswerable question.

But he's dismissive of the claim. Then at the end of chapter 18, we see Jesus presented, and the people choose who? Barabbas, which means son of God. But this son of God, this Barabbas, is actually guilty.

He is a murderer and an insurrectionist, and he had actually put people to death in trying to take over and overthrow the government. This man, Barabbas, represents us. We are the sinners. We are the ones who have trespassed against God's law.

But instead of being put to death, here is another substituted. Jesus goes in the place of the guilty, and the guilty one, Barabbas, goes free. And so we pick up in chapter 19, verse 1. Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him.

And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. They came up to him saying, Hail, King of the Jews, and struck him with their hands. Pilate went out again and said to them, See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.

So Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, Behold the man. God presents the King of kings arrayed in the mockery of this world. A king's robe, a purple robe, where would they have found such a thing?

Do you have one of those laying around your house? A purple robe. But in the king's court, there were often jesters, performers, that would perform and often mock kings of the earth and put on plays. I suspect that they found a purple robe belonging to one of the clowns of the king's court.

We don't know that for sure, but notice the other elements that take place in this story. Look at verse 1. They took Jesus and they flogged him. This is a whipping on his back, a scourging. Isaiah chapter 53, verse 5, had said by his stripes, by his scourging, we are healed.

The minute details of that prophecy are fulfilled right here in the text. Scourged, flogged. Verse 2, the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns. This is to mock his claim to be king. A king wears a crown.

A king wears a robe. But this crown is made of thorns to pierce his brow, to mock his claim to be king. And listen to verse 3. They came up to him saying, hail, king of the Jews, which is the right thing to say to the king, but they say it disingenuously.

This is a mocking, scoffing kind of quote unquote worship. Hail, king of the Jews, because right after they say it, they slap him across the face or punch him with a closed fist. It says, they struck him with their hands.

Church, God is presenting his king to the world. And one would think that the king of the universe ought to be presented in splendor on a white horse with his sword drawn, with the light of his face shining and lighting up the world.

Instead, God presents his king arrayed in the mockery of this world. He's mocked and scorned. Turn back with me to Psalm chapter 22. This was precisely God's plan to present the king this way, arrayed in mockery.

And it is because he is wearing our sin. The king has come to be mocked, to be put to shame, because it's our sin being laid upon him. Psalm 22 presents this truth to us. We're just going to read verses 5 to 8.

Psalm 22, 5 to 8. We know that this psalm speaks of the Messiah and not just David who wrote it. Because when Jesus was on the cross, he cried out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Back in ancient Israel, they didn't have 150 psalms, each one numbered.

Instead, someone would begin to sing or recite the first verse of the psalm, and everybody would know it and join in. So look at verse 1 of Psalm 22. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? When Jesus says these words from the cross, he's pointing us to Psalm 22.

And all throughout this psalm, we see the fulfillment in the cross of Jesus Christ. We'll just look at verses 5 to 8, because here we're focusing on the mockery, the scorn. You and I ought to be put to shame for the things that we've done.

The things, the deeds done in the body are shameful, sinful, and something of which we ought to be embarrassed. Every lie, every time we've gossiped, everything that we've done, the thoughts of our heart are shameful.

But Psalm 22, verse 5 says, to you they cried and were rescued, in you they trusted and were not put to shame. How is it that a sinner like me or like you could stand unashamed in the presence of a holy God?

It's only because of verses 6 and following. But I, speaking of Christ, am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. All who see me mock me. They make mouths at me. They wag their heads.

He trusts in the Lord. Let him deliver him. Let him rescue him, for he delights in him. Notice the mockery of those who surround the king. As you read Psalm 22, and I'd encourage you to do this later, to read it all the way through, you see that the crucifixion of Jesus is in view.

He is mocked in his claim to be king. They wag their heads. They hold him in derision and in scorn. They make mouths at him. And they say, hey, if you're the Savior, if you're the Christ, why don't you save yourself?

And then the psalm goes on to say, like wild dogs, they surround him. The Gentiles are pictured as dogs, wild dogs surrounding the Messiah of Israel. And his tongue will stick to the roof of his mouth, being dehydrated and bleeding in the heat of the day.

And he'll say, they take my clothes and they cast lots for my clothing. His robe, not divided, not cut, but they gamble and cast lots. The soldier's gambling for his clothes. And then it says, they have pierced my hands and my feet.

The psalmist foresees the crucifixion of Jesus, pierced through his hands, pierced through his feet, lifted up on a Roman cross. Psalm 22 presents Jesus crucified. So go back with me now to John 19. What you see happening in verses 2 to 5 is a fulfillment of prophecy.

He's being mocked. They're pressing a crown on his head. You're a king. Wear this crown so blood runs down his face. He's scourged across his back. He's presented a bloody mess as the king of Israel. Mocked and scorned.

Fulfilling prophecy all the while, although the soldiers don't realize it. Notice next, though, Pilate comes out and says, I am bringing him out to you that you may know I find no guilt in him. Well, that's an odd thing to say, right?

You just scourged him and pressed a crown of thorns on his head and mocked him with a robe of purple because you find him innocent? Because you find no guilt in him? What manner of madness is this? You see, what Pilate is doing from a human perspective is appeasement.

He's trying to appease the wickedness of the Jewish people. He's examined him and sees no ground to the charge. What is truth? He can say what he wants to say. He has no qualm with Jesus. But to appease the Jews, he whips him, trying to stir up sympathy, to say, look, this chastisement has been given.

Isn't this enough? Look at him. Just look at him. Can't you see? He's done nothing wrong. He's an innocent one. And you would think that appeasement might work. Neville Chamberlain, before World War II, saw the evil of Adolf Hitler, and he thought appeasing him would work.

But it didn't. They continued to shout, crucify. Here, as in the case with Hitler. Appeasement doesn't work. As a matter of fact, after the war, did you know that the American soldiers would take the civilians, the German civilians, to places like the concentration camps that the Nazis had operated, and force them to walk through and see the instruments of torture, and see the chambers, and then leaving Buchenwald, they would see Jewish people now outside of the gate, warming themselves by a fire and eating.

They were emaciated, nothing but skin and bone. And then off to the side was a pile of Jewish bodies. And they were forced to look. Look, see what you have done. See the severity of this sin. You need to look.

The appeasement didn't work, and the result was ruinous tragedy in the case of Buchenwald and the Nazi concentration camps. But look in our text what we're seeing here. When Jesus is presented, this small crowd compared to the masses of humanity that would come into the world, billions of people will walk this planet, yet this small group of people are told, see, and look at the last part of verse five, behold the man.

They are brought face to face with the king of the universe now mocked and beaten and bloody. Behold the man. They are forced to look, see him. Is he your king? Is this your king? You must decide. And you notice we weren't there to see that.

And yet when Paul writes to the Galatians living way out in modern day Turkey, he says in Galatians 3 .1, you foolish Galatians, because they were beginning to depart from Christianity, you foolish Galatians, before your very eyes, Jesus was portrayed as crucified.

And so we understand that men and women today have not seen Christ crucified with physical eyes, but God has ordained this, that through the preaching, the proclaiming of the world, of the word of God, the world will see him crucified.

It is the job of every preacher on a Sunday morning to open this book and to proclaim to the world here in New Jersey, and the same thing is happening all over China and Japan and North Korea and on every continent and in every country on this planet this morning, the Lord's day.

On Sundays and throughout the week, listen, it is proclaimed, behold the man. Christ is presented as crucified, pictured in his suffering, proclaimed as the king of kings. And every person hearing this is brought face to face and cannot hide from the reality that this one claims to be king.

Look at him, just look. And Isaiah 45, 22 says, look to me and be saved, all you nations of the earth. It was God's design that the king would be presented this way in his sufferings and ultimately strung up on a Roman cross, hung to die.

Every man hearing this word is confronted with this reality. Verses six to eight, when the chief priests and the officer saw him, they cried out, crucify, crucify him. Pilate said to them, take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.

He's frustrated that they're still seeking crucifixion. He sees no reason for it. But by what law are they judging? By their law, they could stone him, but by Roman law, they would crucify him. They're seeking Rome to do for them what they cannot do.

There's no justice here. There is no justice in what they're seeking. Verse seven, the Jews answered him, we have a law. And here they appealed to Leviticus 24. According to that law, he ought to die because he has made himself the son of God.

They come back to the Jewish law. When Pilate heard this statement, notice he was even more afraid. What fear is this? This is a hint of a fear of God. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

Why is he afraid? Because he heard them say he claims to be God. And there's some inkling in his mind to say, whoa, what if that's true? This one, so different than any I've ever seen, is actually claiming to be God?

The world is divided upon this claim. The Jews said he makes himself out to be God. And in John 10, 33, that's why they almost stoned him. You being a man, make yourself God. Part of this world, more than half, believes that Jesus makes himself God or someone else makes him God.

The Senate might confer this upon a Caesar. He makes himself God. The other part of the world, as the world is divided this way, believes that God made himself man. This is the dividing line of all human history.

Christ is proclaimed in his claim, in his person, in his suffering. His claim is to be God made man. There are those who regard Jesus as God who became flesh, John 1, 14. He always was God. He took on human flesh and became a man.

Born to the Virgin Mary, dwelling among us in flesh. God made man. They said he's man who makes himself God. Who do you say he is? Those are your two choices. There can be no other. Is he God who came in the flesh or is he merely a man who makes himself God by some claim?

When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. He fears God. What if Jesus really is God and I'm standing face to face with the King of Kings? But on the other hand, he fears man. Two fears, the fear of God and the fear of man.

It is the same in the world today. When Christ is clearly portrayed as crucified, the fear of God and the fear of man run headlong. To fear God is to believe in Christ and so endure the ridicule and the mockery of this world.

You will be considered narrow-minded, small-minded, a dupe to believe such a thing. And the world will scorn you and heap mockery upon you just as Christ was scorned in the world. Do you fear man or do you fear God?

To fear God is to come to Christ. To fear man is to reject Christ. Here, Pilate is torn between the two. And so we continue in verse nine. He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, where are you from?

But Jesus gave no answer. Now, if you were charged with the capital crime, you would be like every other man, an ordinary man, in the fear of man, pleading your case, pleading for justice, maybe blaming somebody else if you did it, if you're a liar.

But nobody just falls silent before a capital charge like this. It's baffling to Pontius Pilate. He's not answering me. Turn back to Isaiah chapter 53. We saw the scourging in chapter 53, verse five. By his scourging, by his wounds, we are healed.

Isaiah 53, verse seven. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.

The king grows up among the people like a tender shoot, like a root out of dry ground. No form or comeliness that anyone would desire him. But he's handed over to be scourged and chastised and whipped for us.

And by his wounds, we are healed. Why does, you can go back to John 19, why does Jesus stand silent before him? Why does he stand silent before his accuser? The wrath of God against the sin of man would utterly obliterate any who stands against the son.

The wrath of the lamb unleashed against Pontius Pilate would be Pilate's ruin. And yet he stands silent. Why does he stand silent? Everybody listening hear this. Like a lamb to the slaughter, he does not protest because he is allowing himself to be taken and killed, not for his own sin, but for ours.

A lamb is a sacrificial animal. He is giving himself up. He has the power as the king of the universe with all authority to overcome Pontius Pilate. He can call on the angels to defend him, but he doesn't.

He opens not his mouth because like a lamb, he is going to the slaughter. He's giving himself over to death. No one takes his life. He gives it willingly. He is the lamb of God. And the prophecy is fulfilled.

This is how we know all of this is true. God foretold it and now Jesus does it. In time, he opens not his mouth to defend himself. Now, of course he is interacting with Pilate, but not in self-defense, not to plead his case.

He's allowing himself to be taken like a lamb. Verse 10, so Pilate said to him, you will not speak to me? Do you not know I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you? Jesus answered him, you would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above.

Therefore, he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin. He answers very interestingly. The Jewish people who handed me over to you have a greater sin. They know what they're doing maliciously handing you over.

Pontius Pilate is just a governor and this was thrown in his lap. He wanted nothing to do with it. And he's looking for a way to release Jesus, but they have the greater sin. This is a side sermon, okay?

Just a little sermonette because it's very important. Very often, you will hear it said, a sin is a sin is a sin. There's no such thing as greater or lesser sins. That comes from Romans 3 .23, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

And even the wages of one sin is enough to send somebody to hell. That's true, but that doesn't mean that all sins are equal. There are greater and lesser sins. Sins that have greater or lesser consequence.

It's very important because often Christians misled by that teaching think, you know what? I've already had a bad thought. I might as well go on to the next step of disobedience. A sin is a sin is a sin.

There are in fact greater or lesser sins. The punishment for some of the towns cited by Jesus, Chorazin, will be worse than the punishment given to Sodom. There are greater or lesser punishments, but I want you to see this because Pilate is not as culpable as the others, yet he's still guilty.

He will still be punished. Now, Pilate is moved by what he hears. Verse 12 says, from then on Pilate sought to release him. He was already trying to end this thing, but now he's actively seeking. He really wants to get Jesus off of this charge.

But, and this but is very important because it applies not only to Pilate, but to you and to every listener and to every person on the planet. You see Pontius Pilate is a prototype of every man. Pontius Pilate is presented with Christ the King, arrayed in the mockery of the world.

It came to him physically in his sight. See, behold the man. It comes to you through preaching as evangelists go out into all the earth. Their voice is gone to the ends of the earth. Christ proclaimed as crucified.

And every man must stand on this stone pavement and make a decision. Yes, he is God made man. Or they will say he is just a man, a prophet or some other thing that makes himself a God perhaps. But every person like Pilate stands at Gabbatha, the stone pavement and must decide.

It says, if you release this man, verse 12, you are not Caesar's friend. So the Jews won't let him off the hook. He can't secure the release and he's stuck. He has to choose. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.

So when Pilate heard these words, it's fear of man versus fear of God. He brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at the place called the stone pavement or in Aramaic, Gabbatha. You are sitting at Gabbatha.

If you've never yet trusted in Christ as God made flesh, this could be your Pontius Pilate moment. You may never hear this again. Now is the day of salvation. At Gabbatha, now it was the day of preparation of the Passover.

It was about the sixth hour. The sun is now fully high in the sky. Sixth hour means from daybreak. So these trials had been going on for some time. He said to the Jews, behold your king. There it is, look at him, see him.

And they cried out, here's their decision. Here's their verdict. Away with him, away with him, crucify him. And Pilate said to them, shall I crucify your king? The chief priests answered, we have no king but Caesar.

If not the king of kings, you will worship something. People worship government, Caesar, very often when they have no God. They make their choice, but now look at tragically the decision, the verdict of Pontius Pilate.

We close here and then some comments. So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. This is the tragic, tragic story of Pontius Pilate rejecting the king of kings. He makes a choice, he's brought to a place where he had to choose.

Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility

Now I have a question for you because theologians have debated this for years and it's very difficult to understand. If there is a stone pavement, if there is a Gabbatha, Christ is preached in the world and you must believe upon him or else reject him.

Is it then true that the final decision comes down to you? And salvation is really dependent on the human will, this way or that. Arminian theology says that's the case, Calvinist theology says the opposite.

And many people get hung up on this question, is there a choice that ultimately decides your eternal destiny? I want to encourage you to take some time this week to listen to a sermon by Alistair Begg, B-E-G-G.

It's called Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God. He's expositing from John 6, verses 37 to 40 and the point that Alistair Begg makes, and that's actually drawing from the title of a book by J .I. Packer, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God.

The sermon takes the title. I want you to take some time to think about this and to listen to that sermon because we're almost done the book of John and I want to make sure that everybody has tracked with two important threads.

One repeated again and again, which is God's sovereign choice in election. John 6, 44, John 6, 65, John 10 with the good shepherd, John 17, it's replete with that teaching. But the other is the human responsibility.

That teaching is very important in the book of John as well. In John chapter five, Jesus gives the evidence to you. You are the judge and here is the evidence. John the Baptist proclaimed him. He did miracles.

The father proclaimed the son and through the scriptures, John 5, 29, these are they that testify, they give witness of me. Here's the evidence, John chapter five. John chapter seven, verse 24. He says, stop judging by mere appearances and make a right judgment.

Who is the judge? You, you stand at the stone pavement, you must decide. This teaching is very important and it's reaching its climax here in the book of John. The stone pavement, Gabbatha. Why are we told the name Gabbatha?

It's the place where you must reach a verdict. You must decide. So you can't miss that thread in the book of John. You will be presented with the claims of Christ and you will choose this way or if not, you have chosen the other.

Pontius Pilate seeks to wash his hands of it and is ruined because of it. Listen, is light a particle or a wave? Both. You cannot understand light as a particle only or as a wave only. And it seems impossible to our human understanding that light could behave in ways that only a particle could and not a wave.

Conversely, there are ways in which light can only operate as a wave, but not as a particle. But light itself pictures this same antinomy. Two things that seem like they cannot coexist, which are actually true at the same time.

Light is both a wave and a particle, even though the human mind has never been able to put together how that could be so. Except to describe it, the wave particle theory explains it, but cannot reconcile it in our minds.

In the same way, church, hear this, this is so important because if you get too far on one side, you'll miss the flip side. You have to have divine sovereignty in election because that's true. And you have to have human freedom and responsibility in responding to the gospel call because that's true.

It's like two railroad tracks that go parallel that seem like they could never converge. Charles Spurgeon was asked, how do you reconcile divine sovereignty and human responsibility? Charles Spurgeon said, I don't.

You don't have to reconcile friends. The two are not opposed to one another. It's just that our minds, it's an antinomy. Two things that are obviously and completely revealed to be true, two items that seem to our minds irreconcilable.

That's the case with divine sovereignty and human responsibility. Did that help somebody? For those who haven't fallen asleep, did that help somebody? One of my seminary professors described it this way.

When you look up at the gates of heaven, it says, whosoever will. It is a genuine offer of salvation. Whosoever will, come drink the waters of life. It is a true and genuine offer of salvation. Come, decide, believe.

When you get into heaven and you look back on that same gate, written across the top of that gate, it says, chosen from the foundation of the world. Whosoever will, chosen from the foundation of the world.

These things are both true. Depends on what perspective you're taking. From our perspective, where we live in this human realm, we must respond. We must go to Gabbatha and accept the king. When we get there and see all from God's perspective, we'll understand our names were written in the Lamb's book of life before the foundation of the world.

Let's pray. So Father God, we thank you for this passage. So far beyond us and yet so simple, we are presented with the king of kings, the Lord of lords. Arrayed in the mockery of the world and we must choose to fear God rather than man to worship this king.

And so I pray Lord, for those who have heard this word, who are standing at a place of decision, unable to decide on their own God, I pray in Jesus name that you help them. Open their eyes to see. Give them a heart that believes.

Grant them the saving faith, this repentance. And Father, next week we come into this place and we will read of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. We will wear our t-shirts that say to tell us die and we will read the words of John 19 verse 28 and 30.

It is finished. And I pray God that you would send us out this week to invite people who need to hear this message. Who have not yet come through Gabbatha to believe in the son of God. Send us to our neighbors with boldness.

It is not natural to us. We know we will face rejection and mockery. Many will laugh us off, but I pray that we would not fear man but fear you. Send us out as evangelists to invite our neighbors and our friends and our relatives to come to this place to hear the gospel next Sunday.

And Lord, if we could be so bold as to ask Lord, would you save some that people would be saved in this building next week through the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ in whose name we pray. Amen.

Even Christ risen from the dead He now reigns victorious His kingdom knows no resurrection Death has lost its hold I know on that final day arises Jesus Lord On that day we will see you shining brighter than the sun On that day we will know you as we lift our voice as one Till that day we will praise you for your never ending grace And we will keep on singing on that glorious day Oh what a blessed hope, though now tired and worn We will spend eternity around our Savior's throne Though we grieve our losses, we grieve not in vain For we know our crown of glory waits beyond the grave On that day we will see you shining brighter than the sun On that day we will know you as we lift our voice as one Till that day we will praise you for your never ending grace And we will keep on singing on that glorious day Hallelujah, what a day it will be, my joy is complete Into your arms open wide, I will see my Father who is waiting for me What a day it will be, my joy is complete Into your arms open wide, I will see my Father who is waiting for me My Father who is waiting for me On that day we will see you shining brighter than the sun On that day we will know you as we lift our voice as one Till that day we will praise you for your never ending grace And we will keep on singing on that glorious day On that day we will see you shining brighter than the sun On that day we will know you as we lift our voice as one Till that day we will praise you for your never ending grace And we will keep on singing on that glorious day