If you'll turn with me in the back of your Psalter hymnal to page 22, we'll read together a small question from the Catechism, number 38. I'll read the question and if we could read the answer together. Question number 38, and the question there is, Why did he, that is Jesus, suffer under Pontius Pilate as judge, so that he, though innocent, might be condemned by a civil judge and so free us from the severe judgment of God that was to fall on us. That will be our confessional reference that we'll consider this evening from God's Word. And the reason I had us read that first is because we're going to be jumping around a little bit in God's Word. And so I want to start our reading at Luke 19, in verse 28, the well-known story of Jesus' triumphal entry. And then after that, we're going to skip ahead to chapter 23 and read about Jesus' trial. And then follow a few verses down to read about Jesus' crucifixion. So I'm going to try to keep you on your toes tonight. So hopefully you'll be able to follow with me. And the selections I'm going to read from are in the bulletin. so hopefully you'll be able to follow along. Let's pay careful attention for this is God's own word. Luke chapter 19, verse 28. After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead going up to Jerusalem. As he approached Bethpage and Bethany at the hill called Mount of the Olives, he sent two of his disciples ahead saying to them, go to the village ahead of you and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, why are you untying it? Tell him, the Lord needs it. Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, why are you untying the colt? They replied, the Lord needs it. And they brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt, and put Jesus on it. As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. When he came near the place where the road goes down to the Mount of Olives, The whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen. Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest. Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, Teacher, rebuke your disciples. I tell you, he replied, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out. As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it. Now if we can turn ahead to chapter 23. Chapter 23, this is the setting of Jesus on trial. And so we're going to read the first five verses and then skip down to verse 13. Luke 23, beginning at verse 1. Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. and they began to accuse him saying we have found this man subverting our nation he opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ a king so Pilate asked Jesus are you the king of the Jews yes it is as you say Jesus replied then Pilate announced to the chief priests in the crowd I find no basis for a charge against this man but they insisted he stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here. Skipping down to verse 13, Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people and said to them, you brought me this man as one who is inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. Neither is Herod, for he sent him back to us as you can see he has done nothing to deserve death therefore i will punish him and then release him with one one voice they cried out away with this man release barabbas to us barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city and for murder wanting to release jesus pilot kept pilot appealed to them again but they kept shouting crucify him Crucify him. For the third time he spoke to them. Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore, I will have him punished and then release him. But with loud shouts, they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. So Pilate decided to grant their demand. He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder and the one they asked for and surrendered Jesus to their will. And if you'd skip down to verse 44. It was now about the sixth hour and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour for the sun stopped shining and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. When he had said this, he breathed his last. The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, Surely this was a righteous man. When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching these things. Thus far the reading of God's word. May he bless it to us. Well, what is the point of jumping around like that to consider all these different pictures in the Gospel of Luke? All of these on their own independently important stories that we could, with much profit, spend much time talking about. But one of the reasons I wanted to go through these different ideas and particularly to go through these different scenes at the end of Jesus' life in relation to his trial before Pilate is we see for the first time really Jesus bringing himself before crowds to see this important activity at the end of his life. Oftentimes crowds had gathered around Jesus, but Jesus had done very little to encourage that. Remember in the past Jesus has even healed people and told them, now don't tell anyone what I did. And sometimes that can make us scratch our heads. Why doesn't he want these wonderful things being told? Because Jesus has not been drawing attention to himself. But now here, as he comes into Jerusalem, it seems that he is. And how are we to understand this? Well, I think it's important for us to acknowledge that each gospel writer has something different that they are trying to do in their gospel presentation. Football has started again. And you're either really happy about that, or you're really unhappy about that. And maybe that breaks down gender lines. whether or not you're happy about the advent of football season but one of the things that you notice whenever football starts is that you have all of this attention given to football and there's all this coverage of football and anything that happens in a football game you can see from a million different angles because they have a million different cameras on the field so they can show you every angle you want to see and some that you probably don't and it's to give you the fullest picture the fullest idea of what is going on and really the gospels function in much the same way there are different camera angles on the same event this most important event in history so that we don't miss anything and each gospel writer has a different camera angle that they are trying to take so that we understand a particular aspect of who Jesus is and what Jesus came to do so that we don't miss it so that we can zero in on it so that we can highlight it for ourselves so that we understand what the writer is after and it's interesting as a minister when you get to preach through things and you talk to other ministers about what they're preaching, how you can compare what you're doing and what they're doing, can be talking about the same story from a different gospel and get an idea that there's a whole different set of things being presented to us, highlighted for us. And I think one of the things that Luke is particularly concerned with here, particularly concerned with in these scenes before these crowds is showing forth the innocence of Jesus. That is what Luke wants to present to us. That Jesus was innocent. That Jesus was a man who things were said about him. And there were accusers who challenged those things. And Luke wants to present before us that Jesus was innocent of what he was being charged with. And to show forth the innocent Christ who died for God's people. And what I want to look at tonight is these three different crowds, these three different crowds of people as we consider this innocent king. The first crowd is a crowd of praising disciples, this crowd that greets him as he enters the city, these praising disciples. The second crowd is the accusing mob that takes him before Pilate. And the final crowd is the mourning witnesses who witnessed the crucifixion. And that's what we want to consider this evening, the praising disciples, the accusing mob, and the mourning witnesses. So how do we see these praising disciples? Well, Jesus enters in Jerusalem as king. This is a kingly entry. And again, we might be tempted to scratch our heads and say, why would Jesus put himself forward for attention now? This is a big event. This is a time in Jerusalem where there are a lot of people there. You could say this would be the perfect time for a marketing ploy. The city is full of people. But of course, Jesus is not doing this to highlight himself. What has he always done in his ministry? He has always been after highlighting his father's work and the greatness of what his father is doing through him. And so we see that even as he enters the city, the praise that comes up is because of the mighty deeds that they've seen him accomplish. Deeds that he said have been testimonies to the fact that my father is at work, that testified to the truth of who Jesus is, that he comes from his Father with a word for his people. And Jesus had done many blessed things among the people, many works of healing, many works of power, for which they were blessing him and praising his name. And we see that wonderful praise in chapter 19 that they lift up to him as he comes into the city. They praise him, we're told, in loud voices for all the miracles that they had seen. And this is the praise they give him in verse 38. Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest. Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. This is a quotation from Psalm 118. A quotation from Psalm 118. Of course, Psalm 118 says, Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. And these people have substituted the king because they realize the significance. This is how Solomon entered in riding on a colt and Jesus comes in riding on a colt and these people can put two and two together. And they say, this looks like a kingly coming. We've been expecting a king to come. A king to come who would relieve us from Roman tyranny. A king to come who would deliver the people of God. And we've been shown in the Gospels over and over again And how often they associated Jesus' kingship only with peace on earth. That they believed he would come and drive out the Romans. That's the kind of Messiah they were looking for. So it's very interesting that as he comes into the city, as they are praising him as king, they are not just concerned with the earthly aspect of what the king has come to do. Because what do they add to this praise? They don't just say, blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. they say, peace in heaven and glory in the highest. Now, does that sound somewhat familiar? Peace in heaven and glory in the highest? What about the angels who came to announce the birth of Christ? Peace on earth and goodwill towards men. The angels came and said from heaven, peace on earth. And those who are on earth say, peace in heaven. These disciples who are praising Jesus might not understand fully who he has come to be might not understand fully what he has come to do but they are lifting up praise whether they know it or not to the God who has sent this king to make peace between heaven and earth to make peace between God and men and we've seen it before when people maybe didn't quite know what they were saying they were still led by the spirit to confess the truth remember Peter's confession of Jesus as the Christ Jesus said the Holy Spirit has shown this to you Peter this is something that God has worked in this crowd so that Jesus comes in and the Father gives him praise through these people who knew only in part the one they were praising it's a beautiful picture of God greeting his son with praise God the Father welcoming his son causing these people these disciples to acknowledge him as the true king he is the king who comes and brings peace between earth and heaven and it's interesting to see that in the midst of this crowd of praising disciples we have another group of people people who are not at all happy about these words of praise people who are religious leaders and understand the significance of what the people are saying and they are not happy about this and they are not happy that Jesus is receiving this praise. And that, of course, is the Pharisees in chapter 19, verse 39. As he is being lauded as the king, the one who brings peace between heaven and glory in the highest, they come to him and call him teacher. And they are here to give him orders. They say, teacher, rebuke your disciples. Stop this. Shut them up. You know that what they're saying is wrong. You know what they're saying is not true. You're only encouraging them. And it's clear that the Pharisees will often look to good motives for these reasons. They will say, now, of course, the reason we're doing this is this is just going to infuriate the Romans. If the Romans get wind of the fact that a king has come to Jerusalem, they are going to be unhappy. And the way Romans deal with unhappiness is they kill people. That's all the Romans do. The Romans don't usually stop to ask questions about what's going on. They just kill everyone. They figure that solves the problem. And so these religious leaders are saying, look, you're going to bring all kinds of trouble on us. You know this isn't true. Stop your disciples. Don't let this happen. And they do so pretending that they are really looking out for the good of the people, after all. What does Jesus say to them in verse 40? I tell you, he replied, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out. Now, boys and girls, I don't know, have you ever heard stones say anything? I've been listening this week. I haven't heard one yet. I'm really disappointed by that. I was really hoping to hear one. But I haven't heard stones say anything yet. So what is Jesus saying? That stones are suddenly going to start singing? No, Jesus is saying when God determines that praise is going to come to him for what he's doing, it can't be quieted. It can't be stopped. And even if you religious leaders could stop this, which clearly you can't because you have to come to me and ask me to do it, Jesus says if you somehow could stop them the rocks would cry out the stones would cry out see there are two competing people here there are the people that are confessing and praising God and there are the people that are trying to destroy that praise to quiet it to shut it up and to take it out of the world and this is an important lesson for us because this is there are still these two groups of people in the world those who seek to praise the Lord and those who seek to stop it. Those who seek to quiet it. Those who would love it if the name of Christ was never again confessed in this world. And the wonderful promise here is that that can never happen. And one of the reasons, boys and girls, that we've never heard the stones cry out is because God has always preserved a people to sing his praises. He doesn't need the rocks because he's always had the disciples there has always been a church in this world there will always be a church in this world there will be a church to greet Jesus Christ when he returns and we are testimony to that sitting here tonight that you are part of that continuing line of people that are called to be the witnesses to Christ in this world to sing his praises and to acknowledge him for who he is And you are faithful in doing that tonight. But we have to do that in recognition that there are voices in the world that are opposed. That singing praises to God can be costly. That it's not an easy thing to be called to be a disciple, as many of Jesus' disciples found out. There is this conflict going on. There is a conflict between the disciples who say, this is the Lord. This is the King. This is the one who comes in the name of the Lord and those who say, no, he's not. And what Luke is going to do as he moves to this next group of people, he is going to highlight for us who's right. Who's right? These people who call on the name of the Lord, who confess Christ as Lord, or these people who say, he's just another rebel. He's just another troublemaker. He's just another man. Now, that's what they want to do. But as Luke shows us, they have a lot of difficulty in doing it. Now, I know I have said this kind of thing before, and I've heard other ministers say it, where you say, you know, these same people that were praising him here will be accusing him later. But what's interesting about Luke's gospel is that's not how he presents it. He presents it as this crowd that praises Jesus, continuing to protect Jesus throughout Luke's gospel. This same crowd makes it very difficult for the enemies of Jesus Christ to do anything about him. We read about that four times as the Gospel continues leading up to the trial and arrest of Jesus. We read in Luke 19.48 that the priest couldn't do anything because the people were hanging on his words. They were afraid of what happened to them. The crowd was protecting him, in a sense. In Luke 20, verse 19, they sought to lay their hands on him, but they feared the people. Again, the praising disciples are protecting the Lord, listening to the Lord, following the Lord in such a way that his enemies can't get at him. In chapter 22, verse 2, they were seeking how to put him to death, but they feared the people. And it's the reason ultimately that they will hire Judas to try to betray him, and we're told they pay Judas to look for an opportunity to betray him in the absence of a crowd. Because the crowd is surrounding him, these disciples are listening to him, jesus is not unprotected in that sense and they have to wait to take him at night to take him unawares and to haul him before pilot before an accusing mob and they bring him before this judge and really we see the culmination of this challenge who's right is jesus innocent or is jesus guilty and if they bring him before the judge and we figure we're going to get our answer Is he to be accused? Is he to be found innocent of the charges? And so we're told in chapter 23 that they bring him before Pilate and they accuse him of various crimes. Really, they allege three counts against Jesus. This is what they say in chapter 23, verse 2. They began to accuse him, saying, We have found this man subverting our nation. That's the first accusation. He's subverting the nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar. Now, no government official likes to hear that you're opposed to the paying of taxes. So that's intended to get Caesar's attention. He's opposed to the payment of taxes to Caesar, and he claims to be Christ, a king. He is subverting the nation. He doesn't want us to pay taxes, and he's claiming to be a king. Interestingly enough, Pilate doesn't deal with the first two charges. He doesn't actually seem interested in this charge of subverting the nation. He doesn't really seem very interested in this charge of paying taxes, which I think would probably be because the charge is easily disproved. Because what had Jesus said? Render to Caesar what is Caesar's. Pilate only seems interested in this third question. Are you a king? That's the only question he puts to Jesus. Are you the king? And it's interesting what Jesus answers. Look at verse 3, the end. So Pilate asks Jesus, are you the king of the Jews? and Jesus responds, yes, it is as you say. Now, the NIV says, yes, it is as you say. If you have an ESV, you would have, you said so. Part of the problem is, really, all he says is, you said. Pilate says, are you a king? And Jesus said, you said. And, of course, the problem for translators and for us is, well, what does that mean? And what does it mean to answer the question by saying, you said? Well, what is he accused of? He's accused of going out proclaiming himself to be king, proclaiming to the nations that he's king. And in a sense, this is a very wise answer because when Pilate says, are you a king? Jesus says, you said. I've been accused of going out into the world and proclaiming myself to be a king, but I'm standing here and you're the one who says I'm a king. You're the one who says I'm the king. I mean, it seems to me the only way to read it because why then would Pilate clear him of this charge in the next question, in the next verse? Then Pilate announced to the chief priest and to the crowd, I find no basis for a charge against this man. Now Jesus has convinced him. You said I'm a king. I'm not going around saying I'm a king. I'm not going around claiming to be Christ. And I'm not going around trying to subvert the nation. And I've told no one not to pay taxes to Caesar. And Pilate, who's used to dealing with criminals, says, I've seen criminals. This isn't a criminal. He can go. And you see how this accusing mob responds to that. That doesn't make them happy at all. What do they say in verse 5? They insisted he stirs up people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here. They want to bring up that subverting charge again because the king charge doesn't seem to be sticking. They say, but what about the subversion? He's been subverting people all over Judea, all over Galilee. And Pilate, being a good politician, hears that and he says, ha, not my jurisdiction. This is Herod's problem. And as any good politician does, he passes the buck. and says, you know what, go talk to Herod about this. Of course, we didn't read that part, but Jesus goes to Herod, and Herod can't find anything wrong with him. So he sends him back to Pilate. And that's why in verse 13, Pilate feels that now he has an ally. Now, like any good politician, he has someone else to blame if this goes wrong. And he says to the people in verse 13, Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, and said to them, You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us. As you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. You see what Luke is doing by all this? Why we're spending the time to go through and to look at all these things? Because the Bible is presenting for us over and over and over the declaration of the authorities is, this man is innocent there is nothing that he has done deserving of punishment but pilot being the good politician he is has now covered himself by trying to pass jesus along and so now he works towards a compromise where he can save face before the people and what does he say i have found no basis for charges against him neither has herod as you can see he has done nothing to deserve death In verse 16, therefore I will punish him and then release him. I told you already that the Romans liked to punish people. And sometimes they just punish people just in case. So you would stand trial and they would declare you innocent and they would say, okay, well you didn't do what you were accused of doing, but you must have done something that landed you here. So to make sure you keep your nose clean, we're going to have you beaten before you go anyway. Not exactly a not guilty verdict where you go scot-free. And that's what Pilate is offering to do here. He's saying, let me declare Jesus innocent because he is innocent. But to make you happy, I will give him this sort of warning beating before I send him away. That way everybody wins. I don't have to accuse him of anything. I don't have to find him guilty, but you can still have him punished. So everybody wins. He'll still be punished. He'll still be beaten, but I can release him. Of course, they're not happy with that at all. And with one voice they cried out, Away with this man, release Barabbas to us. Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city and for murder. They don't want Jesus released. And the irony of this is what did they accuse Jesus of? Of subverting the nation. And who do they want back? A man who's been accused of subverting the nation. We want Barabbas. We don't want Jesus. But again in verse 20 we're told Pilate wants to release him. Pilate knows he's innocent. Pilate tries for another compromise. He wants to release Jesus. He appealed to them again, but they kept shouting, and this time they shout, Crucify him! Crucify him! That's a worse thing Pilate could have done to someone. So this is not going the way Pilate had hoped this would go. Because now they're calling for sort of the ultimate penalty. And we sort of see the surprise and hear the consternation of Pilate when he responds to that. And for the third time he spoke to them in verse 22 saying, Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore, I will have him punished and release him. He tries to get them to go back and say, Look, this is reserved for the worst of the worst. This is an accursed death. This is a terrible way to die. Not only is this man innocent, he's done nothing to even deserve the death penalty. I'm sort of hesitant even to beat him and release him. But let me do that. Let me give him this sort of warning beating. But in verse 23, with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified. And their shouts prevailed. So Pilate decided to grant their command. He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will. The point of this over and over again is the accusing mob gets their will in his punishment, but they cannot get what they want, which is someone declaring he's guilty. Over and over and over again, the testimony that Luke brings before us is that Jesus is innocent. Jesus is innocent of these charges. And so he's finally crucified, and we're told there is yet another crowd that gathers to witness the crucifixion. Not a crowd of praising disciples, Not a crowd of accusing mob members, but a crowd of mourning witnesses. A crowd of people who are from both camps. To see what has happened to this one, either that they praised or that they accused. As he comes to be crucified. And we are brought in verse 44 to that darkest moment in all of human history. When Christ is crucified on the cross. And the sun stops shining and darkness passes over. This too is a sign, a sign that testifies to the people that something important is happening. And so these witnesses who are gathered around to witness the crucifixion, they both see and don't see. They are standing there as the sun stops shining and as darkness falls over this dark picture. And they see this heavenly sign that something terrible is happening. They are kept from seeing the true horror. But we know what the darkness hides. And the darkness hides hell coming to earth. Hell coming to the Lord Jesus Christ. And his bearing an eternity of wrath for each and every one of us who believe in him. It's a terrible thing that is going on behind the darkness. And it's a terrible thing that we are spared from seeing by God's grace. And the good news is if we believe in Jesus Christ, this is as close to that darkness as will ever come. It's to hear this horror and to perceive it, but not to perceive it in a way where it touches us and envelops us. This is a terrible moment because God comes in wrath against his son and punishes Jesus for the sin of us all. We can't imagine that terror, but we're not told that that's the only sign, the darkness that falls. When the sun stopped shining, we're told in verse 45 that the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Now we're told that this all happens about the ninth hour. This would have been an hour that the priests were in the temple preparing the evening sacrifice. And you can imagine the shock and horror of priests working in the temple when suddenly the temple curtain is torn in two. That's why many people think in Acts when it refers to many priests being brought to faith, it's referring to this incident of them being in the temple as the veil is torn. That veil that we're told had a picture of a cherubim on it, like the cherubim that guarded the way to the Garden of Eden and to the Tree of Life. that that temple veil is torn. So while the sacrifice of Jesus is hidden, the Holy of Holies is revealed. Heaven is opened. And what is shut behind the veil of darkness, the punishment of the Lord, His presence is opened to the people. These two important heavenly signs that testify to who this man is who is dying for the sins of His people. That He is cut off for our sakes, but because He is cut off, heaven is opened. Because the Holy of Holies that was hidden by that curtain was a symbol of the presence of God. That God dwelt there. And there had always been a curtain between God and between his people. And now that curtain is torn. That way is open because of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we hear in verse 46 his words that testify to the truth of all that has been seen, all that has been said, all that has been experienced to this point. When he says, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. Amazingly, he says this in a loud voice so that the crowd that is there can hear and bear witness to this cry, which is a cry of the innocent. A cry of one who is innocent before his God. He is quoting Psalm 31, verse 6, a portion of which we sang tonight. But the verse that Jesus begins here, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit, that verse ends with, You have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God. This is the cry of the innocent. This is the cry of the redeemed. This is a cry of one who knows he is innocent before his Father and is going to be with him. And this is the innocent cry that we see that this crowd that was gathered around sees and hears and he breathes his last. It's an unusual way to talk about somebody dying that they breathe their last. It's not a normal way to express death. What it means is he gave up his life. Remember he said no one can take it from me. I lay it down. And his work having been done for us, he laid down his life. And what was the reaction of this crowd gathered around? This crowd that were his friends who had been with him, were his followers and his believers. This crowd that also included his accusers, his mockers who said, you've saved others, let's see you save yourself. What is the reaction of those who have gathered around as he breathes his last? In verse 47, the centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, Surely this was a righteous man. Surely this man was innocent. And when all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. It didn't matter who you were in this crowd. Everyone who was there saw the same thing and realized the same thing. That the man who died here was innocent. And he died unlike anyone had ever died before. And it had a tremendous effect on everyone who was gathering around. You see how Luke is intentionally drawing our attention to the fact that everything about this man, everything about this death testifies that he was innocent. That he being innocent died this terrible death. And the reason God tells it to us this way, the reason that God emphasizes this point over and over and over again is because he doesn't want us to miss it. He wants us to know that Jesus was innocent because it's in his innocence that we find our hope for our innocence before the Lord. It's only in the innocence of Jesus that any of us can hope to stand innocently before the Lord. And as the Apostle John tells us in 1 John chapter 4, to even to be able to stand in the last judgment before the judgment seat of God with boldness. That's an amazing thing to think of. Of being able to stand before the judge of the heavens and the earth with boldness. And how are we able to do that? Because Christ's innocence has been made ours. He's taken away our guilt. He's taken away our fear. He's taken away the condemnation that should have fallen on us. Luke is saying don't miss the fact that he's innocent. Because he was innocent for you. So that you might be found innocent before God. And by doing this, what God has done is he has made us witnesses like these people to the innocence of Christ. And the question is that we have to answer is how do you walk away from this picture of innocence? Because we acknowledge there were accusers there and there were disciples there. There were those who saw, and everyone there understood that this man died an innocent death, but they went their separate ways. Some persisting in their unbelief. Some mourning the loved Lord that they'd lost. And the question that we have to answer is, who are we? We are all witnesses, through God's word, to this sacrifice, to this death. We are witnesses to his innocence. And the question is, is this the God you will believe in and find your faith in? Put all your trust in and make your only hope to stand before God in that day. Because the sad reality is there were those who saw and beat their breasts because they realized that a righteous man had died and went away unaffected. Don't walk away unaffected by the innocent Lord who gave up His life for sinners. Go in faith and in confidence in the God who gave up His own beloved Son for you so that when His Son returns in judgment, in glory, to judge the living and the dead, He will say, I died for you. Enter into my rest. May that be true of all of us who are here this evening. May we put our trust in Jesus Christ alone and have confidence that his innocent sacrifice covers us from the wrath of God. Amen. Let us pray together. Father in heaven, we acknowledge once again what a great and wonderful God you are, that you placard before us, that you showcased before us this evening the innocence of the Lord Jesus Christ. That you do it for us over and over again, accommodating our weakness to say this man was innocent and yet he died the death reserved for the most guilty. And we know that he did this so that he, being innocent, could be a perfect sacrifice for sin. Could lay down his life for sinners. Lord, may we not be content to be merely those who say, What a terrible thing. And walk away unaffected. Work in us by Your Spirit so that we might believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and believing we might find hope in His name and that when He comes again, the great judge in glory, He would say to us, Enter into my rest, for I was innocent for you. Hear us, for we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you.