John 19:27-30 "The Debt Paid In Full"

We're going to be in John chapter 19 today. Those are absolutely beautiful songs. Once again, to worship

God with each other today is an absolute privilege. But we're going to be in John chapter 19. So I would encourage you to start turning that way right now as we are going to open up in a word of prayer before we look even in this text.

But we're going to be in John chapter 19 verses 27 through 30. So let us begin with a word of prayer.

Lord, we thank you for this opportunity to come and worship you, Lord. God, we, once again, we want to be these willing vessels that want to take your gospel forward.

And so, Lord, I would just pray that you might help us see what your truth is,

Lord. That we might just stick to your word alone as truth, Lord. That we might not be swayed by feelings, emotions, things that are subjective to ourselves,

Lord. But that we would just be firm upon your word alone. And, Lord, I would just pray that through that kind of thinking that we just might have a deeper theology today.

And so, Lord, I would just lift this up to you. God, I, once again, God, if I say anything incorrect about this text,

Lord, I would pray that I would be held accountable for those things. But that upon our minds today, we might not remember anything that I say, but that we might just remember your almighty words, it is finished.

And so, Lord, we just say these things in your holy name, Jesus Christ. Amen. We're going to be in verses 27 through 30 today.

So, as we read this text, Church, I want to let us know real fast that as I went to study this week, this text, there is not enough words that can be said to unpack what we're about to be looking at.

We'd have to thoroughly look into the whole Testament and read from Genesis all the way until the beginning of Matthew to understand what's taking place here on this cross.

The amount of prophecy that's being fulfilled here, the amount of sadness that takes place, the amount of love, there's just not enough time that we could thoroughly understand these things.

And so I hope today that we might have a better understanding as we come to look at something like this, as recorded in the

Gospel of John. But let us read through this, and I hope that you understand after we're done reading here why it's with so much weight that we're looking at this kind of a text, why it's so difficult to understand fully what's taking place here, because I can't even rationalize my entire sin being paid for in the body of Christ, let alone each and every one of us underneath this roof today.

I just, I can't fathom an idea like that. And so let us look at this text.

This is coming from verse 26, and so what we'll do is we'll start out in verse 26, and we'll read all the way to 30.

It says in here, A jar full of sour wine was standing there.

So they put a sponge full of sour wine upon a branch of hyssop, and brought it up to his mouth.

When Jesus therefore received the sour wine, he said, It is finished.

And he bowed his head, and he gave up his spirit. Let us pray specifically over this text again.

Lord God, I would just pray that we would be edified by these verses, that we would love you more because of these verses, and that you would be glorified out of the reading of this text today.

Lord, it is at your cross that we are saved. It is at the cross that sin was atoned for. It was at this cross that the propitiation was done.

And Lord, it took you in flesh to pay this mighty price that was no doubt owed and due to us.

Lord, it is with the utmost praise that we come to you today and worship you as you are in a text like this.

So Lord, I just pray that once again you would be edified by these things. And we say this in your holy name,

Jesus Christ. Amen. There was much time that this week that I just stared at my notes empty, blanked, with no words written down on them, because I didn't even know where to start, or even write.

What can I say that would even add to what the Word of God has explained fully in this text? This is, just as a little bit of context to unpack a text like this from verses 27 through 30,

I really do think it's important that we remind ourselves of what has been taking place prior in the

Gospel of John. We've seen Jesus Christ before an unrighteous high priest that's representing

Jesus, that's supposed to be representing Jesus, but he's failing to do so, and he's passed a judgment on Jesus and has sent him on his way bound to Pilate.

Pilate has given three times, saying, I find no guilt in this man, and yet has turned him over to the

Jews to be crucified, has said that what their wishes are for him to be crucified, he's given into those pleas.

Jesus has been scourged upon the back, he has had a crown of thorns placed on his head, he has been mocked continually this whole time, he has proclaimed that this is my kingdom, my kingdom is not of this world, is what

Christ has proclaimed in John chapter 18, and we see what the king of not this world, how he's being treated in this kind of a text.

And it should have been, the scourging shouldn't have taken place, the crown of thorns shouldn't have taken place, this cross that we're reading about in this text should not have taken place.

Before we even read over this text, I want to read one more time, as we have in these last couple of weeks,

Acts chapter 4. And the reason I want to read this, Acts chapter 4, 27 through 29, is to let us be focused on whom we're worshiping today, a

God that is sovereign over John chapter 19. And it's important that we do this. So Acts chapter 4, 27 through 29.

Acts chapter 4, 27 through 29. 27 through 29, it says this,

For truly in this city they were gathered together against thy holy servant Jesus, whom thou disappoint, both

Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever thy hand and thy purpose predestined to occur.

And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that thy bondservants may speak thy word with all confidence.

There is not a single hair upon a head of a Roman soldier that is crucifying

Christ that is not underneath the absolute sovereignty of God in John chapter 19. There is not a single action that takes place against Jesus Christ that is not underneath the absolute sovereignty, fulfillment of Scripture, so on and so forth of God in John chapter 19, and we need to remember this.

We read from Isaiah chapter 53, and that was written 730 plus years prior than the life of Jesus.

And just from that short section that we read, it is clear that Christ has had a predetermined plan this whole time, that he would ransom for himself a people for his own glory.

And this is why this text that we look at in John chapter 19, it makes me tremble to even try to understand this fully.

Let us go back to John 19 verse 27, and remember that this is according to the predetermined plan of God.

Verses 27 through 30. This is coming after Jesus in severe pain, as we talked about last week, that it would be excruciating to try to even breathe upon this cross, excruciating to even talk upon a cross, especially if the weight was being borne on his arms, and it absolutely was, because he was pierced through, as we read in Isaiah chapter 53.

He was pierced through, and so because of that, he has the weight upon himself. Hanging forward, he has to take a draw of breath in, which would mean that he would have to pull himself up while using his arms.

It is painful for Jesus to talk in this text. He says to the disciple whom he loved, or to his mother, he says, and then he says to the disciple whom he loved, and this text, we kind of talked upon it a little bit last week, and so we'll be quick in this, but the important parts that I think that we need to remember in a text like this is it reminds me of Matthew chapter 12, verses 46 through 50, and also

Ephesians chapter 2, verse 19, In the same way that John, this disciple whom

Jesus loved, has taken Mary, Jesus' mother, who is a sinner and has been saved by Jesus Christ, just like you and I, the disciple cares for her.

He takes her into his own household, and I want this to be a reminder to us to look around this room today and to remember that we are all in Christ, and we all call each other mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters and sons and daughters, and that we are to treat each other like we are underneath the same household, and then to think, how am

I serving one another? How am I serving my brother and my sister? This is not a friendship that we have underneath this household.

This is a family that we have underneath this household because we are in Christ, and think about the ways that we are disrespecting each other.

Are we hurting our fellowship by hurting our brothers and our sisters? Are we hurting our fellowship by hurting our mothers and our fathers?

Are we hurting our fellowship when we not obey each other in those ways? The disciple whom

Jesus loved has taken Mary in and has treated her as his own mother in his household, and I'm going to read from Ephesians chapter 2 verse 19 as a reminder of what we are to be in the church context.

Ephesians chapter 2 verse 19, it says, So then you are no longer strangers and aliens.

We are no longer these things, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and are of God's household.

We should love one another very, very deeply. When we speak of fellowship, it's not in the sense that we are friends with people.

That's not doing a good definition of that word fellowship. Fellowship is that because you are all equally, we are all equally under sin,

God has covered us, and because of that covering, we love one another. We are equal with each other.

We are all brothers and sisters in this God's household. And so we see the disciple whom

Jesus loved care for Mary in such a way that he invites her back into our household, and this is interesting in of itself because there are many people, in verse 27, it says,

And from that hour the disciple took her into his household. So he understands now this plea of Christ to take care of his own mother to the disciple, and John takes her into his own household.

He treats her as his own. And in that sense, we need to remember there are some people that would tell you that Christianity, you have to sell your house, and you have to go and do this meditation thing and be at one in this way, not worldly in any sense.

Did you just notice that John has a house? John has a house.

They misquote, and they take the context from Matthew chapter 19, 16 through 26 out of context.

That's when this rich ruler who is prideful, sinful, and so on and so forth comes to Christ and says,

I have not broken any of these laws. I've kept them and obeyed them. How do I enter into this kingdom of God? And Christ says, well, you need to go and sell all your possessions, and then you're worthy to enter in.

And as we see, this rich man, he's unwilling to do that.

And so we see then the principle that Christ is getting at, that if you're not willing to leave this world behind and come to me, you're not worthy of me.

But John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, has a house. He has possessions in that sense. So it's not saying that you today need to go sell your house and become homeless.

That's not what that's doing. But that you should utilize what you have to bless each other with.

That you should love one another in that way. Let's continue on into verse 28.

Verse 28. After this, Jesus knowing. After this.

It's not before the cross that Christ says, I know all things have been correct.

It's while all have been complete. It's while on the cross, after this, that he says, knowing all things are complete.

All things have been fulfilled. All things have been accomplished.

I'm going to make mention of this word accomplished right here in this text because it's the first of the two times that it's ever used in the

New Testament. Accomplished, it is tetelestai. And we see that here in verse 30 where Christ says, it is finished.

It's that same word, tetelestai, that Christ says in verse 30. So Christ says,

John records that Christ knew all things had been tetelestai. All things had been fulfilled.

All things had been accomplished. And it's not prior to the cross that these things have happened.

It's not a year prior. It's not any of those things. But that all things had been accomplished on this cross.

And it's right before this that Christ will then finally give up his spirit that he knows this. But Christ says, all things have been accomplished.

Now, we're going to make mention of it a little bit more in verse 30 because verse 30 is once again this sweet, sweet text that we have here today.

But it says in verse 28 that Jesus knowing all things. I want to ask you, how many people in the

Roman time had been crucified? A lot. A lot. Did any of them know that all things had been accomplished?

No. Not a single one of them. I can't stand up here today, nor can you sit down here today and say,

I know what's going to happen in an hour. We can't say those kind of things.

But Christ in this text knows all things. This is because Jesus is omniscient.

He knows all things. And this is an attribute that only God has.

Only God has this attribute. And like I said, we'll talk about this a little bit more in verse 30. But we need to remember, this is

God upon the cross. This is Jesus Christ, fully

God and fully man upon the cross. We're going to continue on now. It says, Jesus knowing that all things had been accomplished in order that the

Scripture might be fulfilled. In order that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

This saying happens all the time in the New Testament. It's fitting for Him to fulfill all righteousness.

So Scripture might be fulfilled. We see that Christ, to be the Christ, to be

Jesus, to have this atonement, He has to fulfill all Old Testament prophecy.

He has to. If we say that there is one prophecy that Christ is supposed to fulfill in His first atonement that He failed to fulfill,

He is no longer the Messiah. Christ fulfilled it all.

And what great confidence do we take in that? That every single word of Christ in the

New Testament is not one that was spoken out of randomness, but it was spoken out of a predetermined, sovereign, prophesied thousands of years before the birth of Christ.

We can take great confidence in that. There is no randomness to this. When I speak to an atheist or somebody that is unbelieving,

I love to show them, look, this book is recorded hundreds of years before Jesus Christ.

Even if I study the Scriptures day and night, I couldn't fulfill what Jesus did.

I couldn't say the things that Jesus did and fulfill Scripture in the way that Jesus did. There is great confidence that we have, and I know that Christ said these things, one, to fulfill prophecy, and two, to also have us have great assurance in Jesus being the

Christ. And so in order to fulfill all Scripture, He says this, I thirst.

I thirst. John has purposely not recorded everything that takes place that the other synoptic

Gospels have recorded for us, and we're not going to turn and look at them all today. But it is said that before Christ had been nailed and pierced and put onto a cross, it is said that they offered

Him this wine mixed with myrrh, this gall, and they had tried to give it to Him, and He was unwilling to drink it.

And there's a lot of skepticism and thinking on why these Roman soldiers had this vinegar -wine mixture thing that was next to the cross.

It was often, sometimes people would say it was so that it could prolong the pain, and then some people would say it was also to make a person, the

Roman that would look at this cross, they would say, that has been enough torture. They've been on this cross for four days.

We're going to give them this poison now and kill them. And that's just a historical context for us right now.

And so prior to the cross, Jesus has been offered this, and He was unwilling to drink it. And now

Christ says, I am thirsty, knowing that all things have been paid for. We can't go beyond Scripture and say that this drink that the

Romans offered was either poison or something to prolong the pain, because it's not said. All it says is that it was wine mixed.

It says that it was this sour wine here in this text that we have. It says that it's sour wine, and so Christ says,

I am thirsty. And if you were in this cycle of excruciating pain, where people would often die because of dehydration, they didn't have any fluid in their body,

Christ requests, I am thirsty. What would you, as a human, want to do? If you had somebody walk by your house and knock on your door and say,

I am thirsty, what would you give them? You'd give them water. I would hope you would give them water.

And here's Jesus on the cross saying, I am thirsty. And what did they give Him? Sour, bad wine.

Now, it does say that it was to fulfill Scripture, and so what is that Scripture that is fulfilled in this? It comes from Psalm 69, verse 21, and it says,

They gave me gall for food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

And that's David that's speaking in Psalm 69 in that text. Isn't it interesting that before the cross, they gave

Him this wine mixed with gall. They gave Him gall to eat, and vinegar to drink, this sour wine that we read here in this text.

When is enough enough? When is mocking enough to Christ? They are unwilling to help

Him in any sort of idea. They are always seeking to mock Christ as who

He is. This King, I'm not of this world. They were unwilling to give

Him the water. They were unwilling to give Him sour wine. Thus, fulfilling Old Testament prophecy again.

In order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, it said, I am thirsty.

And so we see in verse 29, it gives us this explanation. A jar full of sour wine was standing there.

So they put a sponge full of sour wine upon a branch of hyssop.

This hyssop plant is used all throughout the Old Testament. It was often used to sprinkle the blood of a sacrifice all over the temple.

And it was to signify the shedding of the blood of a sacrifice that would cover ourselves.

And so there's no coincidence that they used this plant of hyssop to lift this sour wine to Christ, who would sprinkle us with His blood.

We actually just read about that in Isaiah chapter 52, verse 13, I believe it says in there.

That He will sprinkle the nations. Psalm 51, we're going to turn to this real quick.

Psalm 51, and in this text, you might want to keep a finger here as we'll turn back to this chapter just a little bit.

But Psalm 51, Psalm 51, verse 7, it says this.

Psalm 51, verse 7, it says, Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean.

Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Like I said, keep a finger in this area.

Keep a pen or whatever you have because we're going to be turning back here in just a moment. It says that with this hyssop,

He has sprinkled us. He has sprinkled us the nations. He has sprinkled us according to Isaiah 52.

There's no coincidence that this hyssop plant has been brought up to the mouth of Jesus. Jesus, as the thieves were hurling abuses at Him, said,

Get yourself off this cross and get us down too. Christ had absolutely every authority and power to do such.

If He wanted to get off that cross, He could have. And so why I'm mentioning this is it says that they brought this up to the mouth of our

Savior. They had to bring it up because Christ was nailed to a cross.

And it is because that He was fulfilling all things and paying for our sins that He wouldn't get

Himself off that cross. It was the love of God that held Him in that place. It was the wrath of God that was being poured out in that place.

He didn't get Himself off that cross. He stayed up there until it had been completed as we are going to look here in just a second.

Verse 30. When Jesus therefore received the sour wine,

He said, Tetelestai, it is finished. And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.

When Jesus. This is so vitally important as we have been talking very much as a church in prior weeks and especially in this week.

Faith is only as good as the object that we place it into. I can use the same terminology as any of us.

And if I reject who Jesus Christ claimed to be, it doesn't matter the same terms I'm using as you.

I'm unsaved. It says when Jesus, who is this Jesus that we're speaking of in this text?

Because if I go on and say this Jesus is the Son of Man, He's this

Lamb. But I will reject Him as being Almighty God. But I use the exact same terms as you in every other respect.

It is no longer the Jesus that died upon a cross that I'm speaking about. It's no longer a

Savior. We have to understand and take Jesus at His word in this text.

When it says, when Jesus did this, it means that it's the Jesus of the Bible. Psalm.

We're going to go back to that Psalm text like I told you. Psalm 51 verse 4. It says in there,

Against thee, thee only, I have sinned and done what is evil in thy sight, so that thou art justified when thou dost speak, and blameless when thou dost judge.

Who do we sin against, church? When we break the Ten Commandments, when we break the law, when we are morally unclean, who is it that we sin against?

It is against the one and only God. I want to give you an example of forgiveness.

And I want you to be thinking in your mind, are these examples true forgiveness? When I was going to this

LDS seminary, there were two LDS seminary teachers and one backed into another and hit his car.

Struggling. And this was his example of forgiveness. And he actually had this conversation with this seminary teacher, and he said, wouldn't it be great if for our students, that we explain to them what forgiveness is.

I forgive you, but I'm going to let you still pay for everything that you did to my car, the one that was struck.

Is it forgiveness if you struck my car and I said, oh I forgive you, but you can pay the debt.

Because that is the Mormon view of salvation. That Jesus forgave us and allows us to pay him back with our words.

Is that forgiveness? No, I'm using the same term, forgiveness. That's not forgiveness.

That is getting what is owed. That is getting what is due. Let me give you another example.

Let's say somebody was to strike my car, and I said, don't worry, I forgive you, but I'll make your wife or my wife pay the debt.

It's my vehicle, but I'm going to make somebody else pay it. Is that true forgiveness? No, it's not.

What is true forgiveness? You strike my vehicle, I forgive you,

I pay the debt. That is true forgiveness.

And so, we read from Isaiah that we have forgiveness of sins, that they have been washed away, that they have been wiped clean.

Who died upon the cross? Because if it's God alone that I have sinned against, then it's God alone that you have sinned against.

Who, in order for you to have forgiveness, had to pay your price? It's God alone that has to do that.

Don't you see now, if we misunderstand who Jesus Christ is, we don't have forgiveness.

We can use the same terms, we can use the same definitions, we can use the same terms with different definitions, and get a completely different understanding of who

Jesus Christ is. Jesus Christ has to be fully God and fully man to pay this price.

Is this payment that Christ did an eternal payment, or is it only partially done, that you will have a hundred years of forgiveness and then you'll have to pay a price?

No, it is eternal. It took an eternal being to pay the price for you and I. Why did

Jesus have to be fully man in order to pay the price? That's a really great question, is it not?

Let's turn to Romans chapter 6, verse 23. Romans chapter 6, verse 23.

Romans chapter 6, verse 23. It says, for the wages of sin is death.

The wages of sin is death. So, I have sinned against the one and only

God, and it's against Him alone that I have sinned? And what is my payment? What is the wage that I receive for my work that I have done against Him?

It's death. So the only thing I'm deserving from the one and only God that I have sinned against is death.

Can God die? That's a really great question, can God die? He's the

Alpha and Omega, He's from everlasting to everlasting. He doesn't have that nature of dying, so no, He can't die.

But a man can die. Now do we see why

Jesus Christ had to be fully God and fully man? Jesus died on a cross.

Romans 6, verse 23. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is the eternal life in Christ Jesus our

Lord. So God has to pay this price, and it has to be done as a man to pay this price.

So we see Christ Himself being fully God, fully man, this hypostatic union, those big words that in the last 2 ,000 years that we've used to help understand this kind of idea.

I want to turn now to, we'll turn to Colossians 2, verse 13 -14.

And as you're turning there, Colossians 2, verse 13 -14, I'm going to read again in John 19, verse 30.

It says when Jesus, so we have a good understanding of who this Jesus is now, and with that understanding, we can have atonement for sins.

With that understanding, we can have forgiveness. With that understanding, you and I can be made whiter than snow through His blood.

Praise Him for that. So let us see now what Jesus says. He says, What a sweet word.

If I was to get a tattoo on my face, which I'm not going to do, I would get tetelestai right across my face because it is a sweet word.

Tetelestai. It is finished. What does this word mean?

Because it is after Christ has said this, and once again, we're not going to turn to the other gospel accounts, but it says also,

Father, into my hands I commit thy spirit. Does he say that prior to it is finished or post to it is finished?

There's a lot of speculation on there. We're looking at John though right now. He says it is finished, and because He's God in flesh, we can take that word very seriously.

Because if I said it is finished, does it mean anything? No, it does not. Colossians 2, verse 13 -14.

This is what it means when somebody says it is finished upon a cross, and it's God in flesh that says it.

It says this, And when you were dead in your transgressions, in the uncircumcision of your flesh,

He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven, that forgiveness word again, forgiving us all our transgressions, having canceled out the debt, the certificate of debt.

Once again, what is that debt? The wage of sin. He has canceled out the certificate of debt, consisting of decrees against us which was hostile to us.

And this is the sweetest thing ever, church. Pay attention to this. And has taken it out of the way, and having nailed it to the cross.

That word tetelestai is a payment word. In that day, if you bought something, you would get a certain kind of a receipt.

And we have these kind of documents that are still left today. If you wanted to buy a donkey from me, I would write out a receipt, and when you gave me the payment, at the bottom of the certificate,

I would write tetelestai. You pay the debt in full. It is no longer a debt.

You have given me what is owed. Here is the donkey, or whatever example you want to use.

So when Christ said tetelestai, what does that mean? The certificate of debt, the thing that we owed, the price that needed to be paid from us, had been paid by Christ.

It had been paid by Christ. This is one of my most favorite doctrines in the entire

Bible. This word tetelestai, and trying to understand what reconciliation means.

Christ paid the price for me. He paid the price for you.

He paid it 90 %? 80 %? Or how much did he pay, church? He paid it all.

If Jesus Christ isn't God in flesh, and he says this word tetelestai, it would be like you and I saying tetelestai.

That means nothing. That means nothing to me. It is only when

Jesus Christ, when we understand him correctly, when he says tetelestai, it has any power at all.

It has been paid in full. And if Jesus had just died and he was still in the grave today, there's a lot of speculation that could be made.

Is it not true, church, that we could say, well, how can we know anything that Christ said was absolutely true?

That would be a great accusation and a great thinking that you could do. Luke chapter 5 gives us a great picture of what the resurrection was for us.

Luke chapter 5, verses 19 through 26, I believe it is, it says that there's this paralytic man who is lowered through the roof of a house in front of Jesus.

And Jesus says to this paralytic man, because I have seen your great faith, your sins are forgiven.

And the Jews accuse him of something. They say only God can forgive.

I say amen to that. Only God can forgive, because it's only

God that I have sinned against. Only God can forgive sins.

And so the Jews were absolutely correct. Only God can forgive. Who are you then to say your sins are forgiven you?

And Jesus asks the Jews, instead of rebuking them about him not being this God that can forgive, what does he say to them?

He says to them, what is it easier for me to say, your sins are forgiven or get up and walk?

And the answer is very clear. Get up and walk has a actual physical flesh thing that we can see to it.

That when he says it, it validates his previous statement that his sins are forgiven. And so to the paralytic man, he says, get up and walk and take your bed home.

And the paralytic man stood and rose, and he took his bed home, praising God because it was

God himself that forgave his sins. Likewise, we see in Jesus's death, when he said it is finished, was not the resurrection included in this, that when he rose from the dead, it validated his claims just in the same way the paralytic man rose from his bed.

It validated the claim of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven. This all falls apart if there is a resurrection or not, and there was.

And because of Jesus's resurrection, we have great confidence in what he has said to Telestai.

And if we place our faith today, or if you've done yesterday, or if you do tomorrow, whenever it happens, if you place faith in Jesus Christ, and believe that gospel, his death, burial, and resurrection, our sins have been forgiven.

The debt has been paid. You are now covered, you have been sprinkled and made clean by the blood of Jesus Christ, and you are whiter than snow before a holy and just God.

That is forgiveness. And so when Christ has said this to Telestai, he bows his head and he gives up his spirit because death had to take place for this payment to be fulfilled.

It has been paid in full. There is nothing left in it. You are secure in Christ.

That payment has been made. Isn't that beautiful?

I absolutely love this kind of a text. I want to finish out in 1 Peter 2, verse 24.

I'll read it quickly for us. It says in Galatians chapter 2, verse 20, it says,

For I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives inside of me.

It says 1 Peter 2, 24, we'll just read verse 24 in here. It says here,

And he himself, speaking of Christ, and he himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, for by his wounds you are healed.

I need you to look at Christ today and remember two things. The wrath of God is a real thing, and we see the way that God treats wrath in the person of Jesus Christ on the cross.

As we've been reading through this text of the crown of thorns all the way to the cross, we've all been shaking our head.

How could they do this? Why is this taking place? It's because Christ was made sin on our behalf.

It is the wrath of God that is poured out upon him in his body on the cross. Remember, your sin is laid there on the cross, and you can see how

God deals with your sin. God is just, and he pays the price of sin.

The second thing I need you to remember when you look to Jesus Christ, and it's because of that wrath that we see poured out on Jesus, and because of his resurrection, and that final word he says to Telestai before he dies, you have great confidence in your salvation.

It is the love of God that you also see. This most terrible and horrendous act is also the most great and beautiful and exalted and kind and loving and so on and so forth kind of an act that God could do.

It's this duality that we see in the cross, that it's the most evil, but yet the most loving.

It's the most wrath, but it's the most righteous. We see it all fulfilled in that final word that Christ says to Telestai.

For on the cross he bore my sin and your sin in his body. It is no longer we who live, but it is

Christ who lives inside of us. What a great reminder as we come about in Christmas, as we celebrate the birth,

God becoming flesh, this Emmanuel, God with us. He had to be born incarnate so that he could then eventually walk this hill of Calvary.

So church, let us finish out in this final word of prayer, and we're going to be directing this prayer to the one and only

Triune God of the Bible, the second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ. In this prayer, let us pray to Jesus Christ who paid for our sin and your death.

Jesus, Lord, God, we love you, and we cannot even comprehend fully the hour of sin that you paid for on this cross,

Lord. It is because of your resurrection and that alone that we take assurance in that word that you said to Telestai.

We take assurance in that atonement that was effectual and purposeful for those who had had faith in you,

God. We thank you, God, for this cross that you bore on behalf of us.

We thank you for this death, Lord, this most horrendous picture of death, this picture of Isaiah 52 that says that you were marred more than any man,

Lord. We thank you for that, as that is what we deserve and that is what you have taken,

Lord. We thank you for this forgiveness that has come about only and solely in you,

Jesus. And, Lord, I would just pray that today, from here on out, we might worship you as our

King, our Lord, our Savior, our Priest, our Lamb, our Prophet, our so on and so forth,

Lord. All these titles that we see through the text, Lord, we want to worship you as those things because you deserve all glory.

For you are before all and in all and after all, Lord. You are this Alpha and Omega, Lord. You are the

Word of God and you are my salvation.

You are our salvation, Lord. God, let us lift up this final word of prayer and this final song that we are going to sing in praise and adoration to you,

Lord. Let us take great confidence and assurance in the salvation that you have given us that there is not one sin that we could add to that word to tell us,

Ty, that would null and void the blood that you shed on the cross, Lord. For you paid that debt in full.

Jesus, we just say these things in your name. Amen. Church, let us finish out with one final song of worship to this holy

God that we pray to today. And I would ask you today to please stand with us as we leave out in this song of worship.