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you you you welcome to everyone it's good to be back in the house of our god you can turn with me to revelation chapter one for our call to worship revelation chapter one i'll begin reading in verse 9. we'll read to the end of the chapter i john both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of jesus christ was on the island that is called patmos for the word of god and for the testimony of jesus christ i was in the spirit on the lord's day and i heard behind me a loud voice as of a trumpet saying i am the alpha and the omega the first and the last and what you see write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in asia to ephesus to smyrna to pergamos to thyatira to sardis to philadelphia and to laodicea then i turned to see the voice that spoke with me and having turned i saw seven golden lamp stands and in the midst of the seven lampstands one like the son of man clothed with the garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band his head and hair were white like wool as white as snow and his eyes like a flame of fire his feet were like fine brass as if refined in a furnace and his voice is the sound of many waters he had in his right hand seven stars out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword and his countenance was like the sun shining in its strength and when i saw him i fell at his feet as dead but he laid his right hand on me saying to me do not be afraid i am the first and the last i am he who lives and was dead and behold i am alive forevermore amen and i have the keys of hades and of death write the things which you have seen and the things which are and the things which will take place after this the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lamp stands the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches amen we'll turn with me in your hymn books to psalm 134 psalm 134 will stand as we sing together [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] is is well let us pray our father we thank you for the great privilege to gather in your house again on this sabbath evening we know that you are a glorious and wondrous god that you are worthy of our praise and worship and adoration and we give thanks to you for so great a salvation that brings us together here tonight for god apart from your sovereign grace apart from your great love we would still be astray we would still be running far from you and yet you sought us out and you redeemed us through the blood of your son the lord jesus christ and we rejoice in this and we thank you for what christ did on our behalf and as we continue with worship tonight and as we focus upon the supper and as we consider his broken body and his shed blood on our behalf may it be the case lord god that our hearts would be drawn out in wonder and praise and adoration that you would increase our faith that you would increase our love for the son of man who loved us and who gave himself for us we ask now that you would forgive us for our sin and transgression against your holy law we thank you that there is forgiveness with you we thank you that through that precious blood we don't just have partial atonement we don't have just partial forgiveness but you have cleansed us from all sin and all impurity and we rejoice in this and god we do long to see and and and have a great desire that others would taste and see that you are good that this gospel would go forth and that many would come to know jesus christ as lord and savior and that they alongside of us would rejoice in that forgiveness of sins not so that we can continue in sin that may that grace may abound as the apostle says may it never be but the reality is is that there is remaining corruption and you have undertaken for that as well so god bless us now help us to enter into your presence with that fear and trembling that is requisite for such a great and awesome god as well lord give us that gratitude that thankfulness that response to your grace that we see so clearly portrayed in the scripture not only are we guilty and undone before you but your grace meets us and we respond with that gratitude so god help us as we sing help us as we pray help us as we focus upon the scriptures of the the new testament and as we consider the supper of the of the lamb of god and in all of this may you be exalted and praised we pray for your blessing upon those unable to be with us tonight we pray for those who have ongoing physical trials we ask god in heaven that you would bless them that you would sustain and encourage and strengthen them we know that long chronic ill injury and pain does lead to great sorrow of soul so god we pray for these brothers and sisters that you would just help them that you would encourage them that you would cause them to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our lord and savior jesus christ we pray for all of us in this local church with the spiritual maladies and the afflictions that we face on a regular basis not only that proneness to wander and that prone is to leave the god that we love in terms of our remaining corruption but this world that is opposed to our great god and the devil who roams about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour so god help us to to stand fast help us to put on that full armor of god and help us lord god to persevere and to endure by your grace and for your glory we ask for your blessing upon the situation and vernon we thank you lord god for the prospect of seeing a church plant there and we ask that you look with favor upon the group we ask that you look with favor upon our brother that you would just strengthen and bless him give grace as well to mike we thank you that he's able to take some time off and god just refreshed this brother he has been a faithful warrior over this past year and god we just com are so thankful for him and ask god that you would bless him and his dear family as well our god we pray for all of the churches in canada that as we gather together your gospel would be proclaimed the worship of god would be paramount and that the gospel would go forth and that many would come to know jesus christ as lord and savior we ask for the governing authorities in this land she would grant them wisdom and grant them the the ability to navigate through these things in a in a good way and god we pray that you would put the fear of god in their hearts that they would take seriously that admonition of david in psalm 2 that they would kiss the son lest he be angry and they perish in the way when his wrath when his wrath is kindled but a little be merciful to our prime minister be merciful to the premiers be merciful to those who have rule over us and cause them to stand in fear of god most high we also pray for your blessing upon the persecuted church we thank you for the great testimony that we have witnessed over these many many years specifically of the church in china as they continually face oppression and persecution they nevertheless remain steadfast and we pray for those underground churches that they would continue to meet together they would continue to worship you and they would continue to proclaim your truth to a to a lost and dying world bless the situation in myanmar give grace to those workers on the ground and give grace father to those christians in that land that they may continually be faithful and they may indeed seek to be of assistance as needed and that god in heaven you would restore stability and some degree of order in that land and father finally we pray for litten again for those displaced by these fires we just ask god in heaven that you would be merciful to them we rejoice in your loving kindness to our brothers and our sisters we ask that you would continue to look with favor upon the situation there and grant us help as your people to be full of love and compassion toward those in need and we ask these things through jesus christ our lord amen you can turn with me again in your hymn books to number 275 275 will stand as we sing together [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] is [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] is [Music] is [Music] well turn with me in your bibles to matthew 27 matthew 27 as we work our way through matthew's passion narrative in these lord's supper meditations our focus tonight is verses 27 to 31 the malicious mockery of the soldiers but i want to read beginning in verse 11 and then we'll read to verse 31. now jesus stood before the governor and the governor asked him saying are you the king of the jews jesus said to him it is as you say and while he was being accused by the chief priests and elders he answered nothing then pilate said to him do you not hear how many things they testify against you but he answered him not one word so that the governor marveled greatly now at the feast the governor was accustomed to releasing to the multitude one prisoner whom they wished and at that time they had a notorious prisoner called barabbas therefore when they had gathered together pilate said to them whom do you want me to release to you barabbas or jesus who is called christ for he knew that they had handed him over handed him over because of envy while he was sitting on the judgment seat his wife sent to him saying have nothing to do with that just man for i have suffered many things today in a dream because of him but the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for barabbas and destroy jesus the governor answered and said to them which of the two do you want me to release to you they said barabbas pilate said to them what then shall i do with jesus who is called christ they all said to him let him be crucified and the governor said why what evil has he done but they cried out all the more saying let him be crucified when pilate saw that he could not prevail at all but rather that a tumult was rising he took water and washed his hands before the multitude saying i am innocent of the blood of this just person you see to it and all the people answered and said his blood be on us and on our children then he released barabbas to them and when he had scourged jesus he delivered him to be crucified then the soldiers of the governor took jesus into the praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around him and they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him when they had twisted a crown of thorns they put it on his head and a reed in his right hand and they bowed the knee before him and mocked him saying hail king of the jews then they spat on him and took the reed and struck him on the head and when they had mocked him they took the robe off him put his own clothes on him and led him away to be crucified amen let us pray our father what a sober passage of holy scripture and what a great demonstration of the love of the savior for his people that he would go to these lengths for us is truly amazing and so god we pray now for the ministry of the holy spirit to shine the light upon this passage of scripture to encourage our hearts to strengthen us in the inner man to cause us to stand in awe of the son of god and lord we pray again forgive us for all sin and everything that darkens our understanding and we pray through jesus christ our lord amen well remember that jesus first stands trial before the jewish sanhedrin which was the highest political and religious court in israel at that time and then he stood trial before pontius pilate pilate of course had the authority to deliver up jesus to be executed so essentially the plan is going just as the jews had wanted but the trials before the sanhedrin and pilate were essentially the same there were false charges groundless accusations a disregard for jesus innocence and ultimately a capital sentence and after the verdict was rendered we see the mistreatment of the son of god if you go back for just a moment in chapter 26 in the trial before the sanhedrin notice what we find in verse 65 then the high priest tore his clothes saying he has spoken blasphemy what further need do we have of witnesses look now you have heard his blasphemy what do you think they answered and said he is deserving of death then they spat in his face and beat him and others struck him with the palms of their hands saying prophesy to us christ who is the one who struck you so in that instance it was the actual men of the council these men were acting like beasts and mistreating the son of god we see the same thing with reference to these soldiers as the capital sentence has been handed down so i want to look first at the participants in the crime verse 27 and then secondly the specific elements of the crime in verses 28 to 31 but with reference to the participants pontius pilate remember he tries to maintain his innocence he tries to distance himself from this court he's trying to make sure that he is not seen as culpable or as responsible for this great travesty of justice he didn't act in accordance with his knowledge of jesus innocence notice in verse 24 when pilate saw that he could not prevail at all but rather that a tumult was rising he took water and washed his hands before the multitude saying i am innocent of the blood of this just man you see to it so pilate recognized jesus innocence as well he disregarded his wife's warning look at verse 19 while he was sitting on the judgment seat his wife sent to him saying have nothing to do with that just man for i have suffered many things today in a dream because of him and as well he has disregarded or rather he has disregarded that knowledge of the accusers of our lord jesus that they were driven not by a pursuit of justice but rather by envy notice in verse 18 for he knew that they handed him over because of envy so when we move to verse 27 notice it's then the soldiers of the governor these men are under his control they are under his direction and the uh the the governor's praetorium should have been a place of justice it should have been a place of protection it should have been a place of safe haven for even criminals they should not be mistreated in this manner but it'd become a theater for abuse and a place where jesus is treated so poorly and so badly but then notice as well the roman soldiers notice what it says the soldiers of the governor took jesus into the praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around him or the whole cohort now these soldiers were more than likely auxiliaries recruited from non-jewish population in israel and they were under pilate's command and the number is the whole cohort and this is a technical term in our literature and it probably always refers to cohort the 10th part of a legion and thus it was normally 600 men and rt france makes this observation imagine you've got godless soldiers who are looking to engage in sport and mockery and they have a man who is proclaiming that he is a king so france says to have a supposedly self-proclaimed king in their power offered unusually good sport and for non-jewish soldiers to have such an opportunity of abusing a jewish dignitary with impunity was a chance not to be missed so they enter into this with great relish this is not something they are hesitant they are chomping at the bit as it were and ready to sink their fangs into him in fact john gill makes that observation based on the psalter he says think in what hands in company our dear lord now was how he was encompassed with dogs and enclosed with the assembly of the wicked indeed psalm 22 16 tells us that for dogs have surrounded me the congregation of the wicked has enclosed me so you've got the governor you've got this cohort and of course they're operating at the behest of the jewish leaders those men that had uh conspired to commit execution those men who had been plotting all the way back to chapter 12 in matthew's gospel on how they might destroy the lord jesus christ so what we find in terms of the malicious mockery of the son of god is absolutely wretched and it is absolutely vile but again as we move our way through this it demonstrates the love of jesus it demonstrates the mercy of god for us in that he was not or he did not relinquish or did not spare in delivering up his own son for us now notice secondly the specific elements of the crime they engage first and mock homage secondly in violent abuse and then thirdly the preparation for the cross and with reference to mock homage this is psychological abuse and with reference to the violence that's physical abuse and again this is what soldiers do and in this context it's wretched it's vile but in a context of war that is the way that they would have engaged the enemy psychologically abuse them and then physically abused them that is what soldiers are engaged in the fact that they're doing it to the holy harmless undefiled one the fact that they are doing it to the one that the governor in judea three times proclaims i find no guilt in this man just underscores the wretchedness of the situation but notice in the first place this mock homage they first give him the attire of the king in verses 28 and 29. notice verse 28 and they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him this was likely a rope from one of the officers present and again it's calculated the whole scene is to be a mock enthronement they are making fun of him they are belittling him they are are are poking fun at this son of god and then notice specifically the crown of thorns they stripped him and put a a scarlet robe on them uh uh the scarlet robe and then when they had twisted a crown of thorns they put it on his head again some have explained that that crown of thorns wasn't meant to be for pain but rather it was simply to be part of the mockery now these were long thorns and it was embedded into the head of the son of god and with reference to this it is a horrific way to treat a man who's already been scourged remember when when a pilot gives the execution order he has jesus scourged now add to that the fact that jesus was sleep deprived you may think that's a bit odd to point out remember true humanity he wasn't just pretending to be a man he was fully or very man just as he was very god he was very man well remember gethsemane takes place at night he is arrested in the garden in the early morning hours of friday he then stands before the sanhedrin in the early morning hours of friday and then it's morning time when he is brought by the sanhedrin to pontius pilate so he's sleep deprived he's been scourged now they're mocking him by putting the scarlet robe upon him and then they take this crown of thorns and they embed it into his head so the gross in dignity and the gross violence that is being perpetrated on the son of god is horrific gill says with reference to this crown both to reproach him as a king and to torture him as a man i mentioned at one point moving through the passion narrative that none of the gospel writers engage in a long extended treatment of the physical suffering of our lord jesus christ but they do give us enough of it so that we can appreciate what the prophetic testimony gave us in isaiah 53. he was a man of sorrows and he was acquainted with grief it was the case that he was treated as a criminal and that ultimately for us and for our salvation they then put this reed in his hand which they will ultimately take from him again and bash it into his head it was a piece of cane most likely bamboo or something similar now notice they not only uh uh mock him by the attire they place on him but notice the mock homage they give to him in verse 29 be and they bowed the knee before him and mocked him saying hail king of the jews now one of the difficulties as we move our way through written narrative is that we don't really feel the impact this wasn't just that way okay hail him uh king of the jews and off they went into the next statement that the new the that matthew records for us they are engaged in vicious sever uh savagery directed toward the son of god the other instances of gentiles bowing before the lord jesus is in matthew chapter 2 at verse 11 when the magi come at the incarnation at the nativity of our lord and then again in chapter 15 when that woman bows before the lord jesus christ but davies and allison capitalizing on the chapter 211 the magi coming before the savior and this they make this observation if at the beginning of the gospel gentiles reverently bow down before jesus and offer him treasures at the end gentiles mockingly bow down before jesus hail him as king of the jews and give him bogus signs of a kingship robe crown staff the one scene is a burlesque of the other and then they they repeatedly mock him by claiming hail king of the jews just like they would have but not mockingly when they hailed caesar or ave caesar and so this is a big sham as far as they are concerned and just by way of a practical observation or a practical implication we don't like it when people make fun of us do we we don't like it when people don't treat us with the great esteem we think that they should we don't like it when people treat us lightly and they don't afford us the respect that we feel is requisite look at what the son of god goes through on behalf of the mission to redeem his people from their sins when we contemplate the incarnation of the lord the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth we stand amazed but when we see that one go to the lengths that he went to on our behalf we ought to stand in awe at the incarnation in a way that we hadn't before christ goes to these lengths for us men and for our salvation and again the enthronement or rather the whole scene is a mock enthronement scene of the king of the jews spurgeon said surely the world never saw a more marvelous scene than the king of kings thus derided as a minute a mimic monarch by the meanest of men and france says the whole scene is a mock enthronement with improvised cheap substitutes doing duty for the royal robe crown and scepter and physical abuse substituted for royal homage after the brutal torture of the roman flogging jesus would be in no state to resist even if he had wished and his already battered physical condition would only add to the pathetic appearance of the jewish king so again brethren he's not fresh he didn't have a good night of sleep he didn't have bacon and eggs and a nice breakfast and he's ready to deal with this mockery but rather he'd been up all night he had been treated in a similar fashion by men from the san hedren that the roman soldiers do this is disgusting but that the jewish sanhedrin did that was absolutely disgusting it is a vicious vile way for persons to engage after the sentence has been handed down i think i've showed you before in deuteronomy 25 the instructions with reference to corporal punishment if there was a criminal violator in the commonwealth of israel there were certain ways to deal with him if he was a capital offender then he would be executed but if he was a criminal offender that was not a capital offense he could be corporally punished that means beaten with a rod but even in that there was that pres uh prohibition against exceeding 40 lashes such that the dignity of even the criminal would remain intact and yet with reference to the son of god all that's gone with reference to the son of god he's already pressed physically and now he is receiving this sort of mistreatment from these wretches now notice the violent abuse in the first place the soldiers spat on him kids that means they spit on the son of god it is a wretched and horrible thing to do to another human being verse 30 then they spat on him but even in this we have reminiscence of old testament prophecy i think i've told you before there are four servant songs in the prophet isaiah there are various facets of the ministry of the messiah the most well-known to all of us is isaiah 53 which underscores substitutionary atonement in vivid detail but there's another servant song in isaiah 50. and in isaiah 50 at verse 6 the servant makes this statement i gave my back to those who struck me and my cheeks to those who pluck out the beard i did not hide my face from shame and spitting and so even in this we see the fulfillment of scripture we see that what was referenced by the prophet in terms of the suffering servant comes to fruition even down to the jots and the tittles and the details relative to his coming for his people now with reference to the protocol you're supposed to kiss the king remember when samuel meets saul in 1st samuel 10 1 he gives him a kiss in psalm 2 david tells all the kings and the judges of the earth around israel to kiss the sun but these wretches instead of kissing the sun actually spat upon him calvin makes this observation and he's right on he says our filth deserves that god should hold it in abhorrence and that all the angels should spit upon us that's really what should happen as vile offenders against the majesty of god as transgressors of the holy law of god as those who lack conformity unto that law of god calvin's right the angel should spit upon us but christ in order to present us pure and unspotted in presence of the father resolve to be spit upon and to be dishonored by every kind of reproaches so you see the purpose of the son of god being fulfilled in fact go back to chapter 20 for just a moment well chapter 16 our lord jesus announces what he is going to do in terms of his journey to jerusalem matthew 16 verse 21 from that time jesus began to show to his disciples that he must go to jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised the third day this is the instance where peter says oh no that's not going to happen and of course jesus rebukes him and says get behind me satan earlier he had pronounced him blessed of the lord god almighty and then he says upon this rock i will build my church now he says get behind me satan why because he's trying to stop up the divine plant in terms of the salvation of god's people and then notice in chapter 17 at verse 22 now while they were staying in galilee jesus said to them the son of man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men and they will kill him and the third day he will be raised up and they were exceedingly sorrowful so again he announces this on his journey to jerusalem but then look at chapter 20 where he expands a bit and we see the fruition of that a realization of that in what we're seeing in matthew 27 so in 2017 now jesus going up to jerusalem took the 12 disciples aside on the road and said to them behold we are going up to jerusalem and the son of man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes and they will condemn him to death and deliver him to the gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify and the third day he will rise again now brothers and sisters if you knew that on your trip to jerusalem when you arrived there that was the kind of treatment you would receive most likely you would stop the trip most likely would say well i'm not going to carry on with this anymore but the one thing that is unique concerning the son of god well one of the things that is unique concerning the son of god is his resolute determination and this harkens back to what's called the covenant of redemption where the lord jesus the son of god willingly undertakes on behalf of sinners to be their surety to be their mediator to be all that is demanded by the father of him and that means even the mockery and the savagery in terms of treatment at the hands of the sanhedrin and now with reference to the roman soldiers the soldiers back to matthew 27 not only mock him but they physically abuse him notice verse 30 then they spat on him and took the reed and struck him on the head again the idea is not it was just one sort of whack and that was it the verb tense indicates it was continuous they were beating him they were mocking him they were laughing they were enjoying this they were having their sort of desires met by the the savage treatment of this one who had said that he was in fact the king of the jews matthew henry says that which they had made the mock ensign of his royalty they now make the real instrument of their cruelty and his pain so it's a horrible scene but then notice thirdly and finally under the uh under the elements of the crime the preparation for the cross verse 31 and when they had mocked him they took the robe off him so they put this scarlet robe on him and now they take it off him and then they put his own clothes back on him now typically at this particular scene the person that was going to be crucified would march to the place of crucifixion naked but they put his clothes back on him probably to sort of assuage the the sensitivities of the jews who had problems with public nakedness but notice dropping down that christ ultimately is hung upon the cross naked because in verse 35 then they crucified him and divided his garments casting lots that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet they divided my garments among them and for my clothing they cast lots now typically the artists when they have depicted this scene which i don't believe is authorized in terms of the second commandment but typically when they do envisage this scene and they take paintbrush to canvas they usually clothe the son of god there's nothing indicated in the scripture that he was clothed it was not the practice it was not the common situation where one would be closed a clothed he was exalted there as the son of god in all of the indignity associated with manhood and so christ went to these lengths for us so they take the royal rob robe off they then clothe him and then they lead him to crucifixion notice when they had mocked him they took the robe off him put his own clothes on on him and then led him away to be crucified so what we have in this particular scene is savagery but it's also glorious in the sense that christ fulfills scripture that christ goes to these lengths for us and that christ fulfills the obligations placed upon him by the father in terms of the covenant of redemption isaiah 53 7 tells us he was led as a lamp to the slaughter so in conclusion i want to draw out some practical lessons in the first place the gravity of the scene the gravity of the scene now as we move through this or perhaps as we read through this in our our daily bible reading it's easy just to to read through something and not really spend any time meditating upon it or contemplating it or thinking through it now again we're not supposed to be papists and revel in the actual physical gore we're not supposed to have the stations of the cross where we wave incense before them and ponder each step of the crucifixion in all of its gruesome detail you don't find that you don't see that in the gospel records but insofar as information is given it does well for us to ponder the implications involved in such things so in terms of the gravity of the scene in the first place i think it underscores the wretchedness of sinful men and again if the roman soldiers are wretched the sanhedrin is doubly wretched not because of any other reason than that they were the religious leadership in israel at that time they were the highest council the political and religious council of israel at that time they spat on him they mocked him they beat him they engaged in these sorts of things as does or as did the roman govern the roman soldiers d.a carson makes the observation here we have humanity at its worst a scene of vicious mockery the jews have mocked jesus as messiah here the roman soldiers ridicule him as king when you see the recent things that you have seen the injustices done in terms of antifa or blm when you see persons victimized on the streets for doing nothing other than being on the streets it should cause us to reflect on just how bad man is it should cause us to reflect on just how much man needs the gospel of our lord jesus christ persons shouldn't be taking bricks and throwing them at other persons persons should be bowing to jesus christ and confessing him as lord and savior so it underscores the wretchedness of sinful man but also in terms of the gravity of the scene it uh underscores the abundant mercy of god towards sinners now it's a matter of perspective in psalm 136 the psalmist rehearses the mercy of the lord and he mentions the the the casting of pharaoh's armies into the depths of the red sea and we wonder how is that the mercy of the lord well it's not if you're an egyptian but it is if you're an israelite it's a matter of perspective when we see the son of god going through these gross indignities we see the benefactors as ourselves calvin makes the observation here here too is brightly displayed the inconceivable mercy of god towards us in bringing his only begotten son so low on our account so low on our account see we confess that he lived for us he died for us he was raised again for us i'm simply suggesting from time to time not roman catholicism way but in terms of a good protestant approach to what is written in terms of scripture we ponder the implications involved in the sufferings of the messiah on behalf of his people secondly i want to underscore the glory of the scene not only the gravity in terms of the wretchedness of man and the mercy of god but the glory of the scene in the first place the fulfillment of scripture we have the fulfillment of isaiah the prophet chapter 50 verse 6 and then chapter 53 verse 7. both of those servant songs portraying various aspects or facets of the work of the lord jesus on our behalf so we see the fulfillment of scripture and the words of jesus we looked at that in 16 17 and 20. he announces that he must go he must be tried he must be delivered up he would be mocked he would be scourged he would ultimately be crucified and so his words were in fact true secondly the glory of the scene underscores the true humanity of our lord jesus christ i mentioned this morning he wasn't an apparition he didn't just appear to be a man he wasn't a phantom he wasn't some sort of an ethereal thing but rather he was flesh and blood just like we are everything that is true of man pain receptors nerve endings brain activity all of that was true of the son of god a real soul a real will everything that makes man man jesus had except without sin to be sure our confession tells us in second london confession chapter eight of christ the mediator after highlighting the the gloriousness of the the hypostatic union in chapter two of uh paragraph two it then tells us of his equipping as the the mediator for his people in paragraph three and then in paragraph four it tells us enduring most grievous sorrows in his soul and most painful sufferings in his body was crucified and died this is true of humanity yes he's divine yes he's god yes he's co-eternal distinct from and consubstantial with the father but he's also true humanity and what we have here is underscoring that and then thirdly in terms of the irony of the scene uh the glory of the scene the the irony we know better don't we we know that there was a true enthronement we know that he really is king of king and lord of lords in matthew 28 18 we have the real author enthronement when he says all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me france again says matthew expects his readers to catch the ironical truth of the honors heaped upon jesus in justin mockery even in a setting of public humiliation and torture this really is the king of the jews this really is the messiah this really is the one who came for us men and for our salvation he says this really is the king of the jews the temple builder the savior the son of god turn back to the book of revelation where everything we see predicated of these men are predicated by these men of the son of god in mockery is actually predicated of jesus in truth in terms of the book of revelation notice in chapter 1 verse 13 he is clothed with royal robes according to revelation 19 13 those royal robes are dipped in blood secondly turn over to revelation 14 he wears a crown of glory revelation 14 14 then i looked and behold a white cloud and on the clouds sat one like the son of man having on his head a golden crown and in his hand a sharp sickle same thing is repeated in chapter 19 at verse 12. his eyes were like a flame of fire and on his head were many crowns thirdly here in revelation 19 he wields the scepter of unbounded sovereignty so they put this reed in his hand that they ultimately take back from him and then commence to bash him in the head with but look at chapter 19 in revelation at verse 15. now out of his mouth goes a sharp sword that with it he should strike strike the nations and he himself will rule them with a rod of iron he himself treads the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of almighty god notice fourthly according to chapter 19 and verse 16 he is the king of kings and the lord of lords as well fifthly go back to revelation chapter five he will be admired by revered by and worshiped by not only jews but gentiles all those washed in the precious blood all those redeemed by his life death and resurrection they will stand and worship that one forever and ever notice in revelation 5 at verse 8. now when he had taken the scroll the four living elders and four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the lamb each having a harp and golden bulls full of incense which are the prayers of the saints and they sang a new song saying you are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals for you were slain and have redeemed us to god by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation and have made us kings and priests to our god and we shall reign on the earth so everything that these soldiers and the sanhedrin engaged in by way of mockery we know the irony we know that what they are doing foreshadows or typifies or declares to us those with the eyes of faith that he was in fact the king and this was the mission in terms of his kingship in order to save his people from their sin and then the final note at this point is the judgment of christ over all mankind turn to revelation chapter 20. revelation chapter 20. this is a prerogative of a king the king not only engages engages in administration the king not only engages in defense but the king also engages in judgment and you see that in revelation 20 at verse 11 then i saw a great white throne in him who sat on it from whose face the earth and heaven fled away and there was found no place for them and i saw the dead small and great standing before god and books were open and another book was open which is the book of life and the dead were judged according to their works by the things which were written in the books the sea gave up the dead who were in it and death and hades delivered up the dead who were in them and they were judged each one according to his works then death and hades were cast into the lake of fire this is the second death and anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire so everything that they do in terms of mockery is what we see fleshed out in the life and ministry of our lord and savior jesus christ and then finally the gratitude that we ought to have for the scene we're not thankful because they mocked him we're thankful that he was mocked for us we're not thankful that the sanhedrin and the soldiers acted in this wretched fashion but we are thankful that the son of god went to these lengths for us and for our salvation royal makes this observation christ's sufferings on the cross were vicarious now vicarious simply means substitutionary that's why when the pope of rome refers to himself as the vicar of christ on earth that is blasphemous he is portraying himself as the substitute for christ on earth that's not what we're supposed to see but vicarious is what christ's sufferings were he says we are intended to see this truth in every part of his passion we may follow him all through from the bar of pilate to the minute of his death and see him at every step as our mighty substitute our representative our head our surety our proxy the divine friend who undertook to stand in our stead and by the priceless merit of his sufferings to purchase our redemption was he scourged it was that through his stripes we might be healed was he condemned though innocent it was that we might be acquitted though guilty did he wear a crown of thorns it was that we might wear the crown of glory was he stripped of his clothing it was that we might be clothed in everlasting righteousness was he mocked and reviled it was that we might be honored and blessed this is what i mean by gratitude for the scene everything that christ does here answers for us answers to us and causes great benefit for us spurgeon says oh that we were half as inventive in devising honor for our king as these soldiers were in planning his dishonor let us render to christ the real homage that these men pretended to offer him let us crown him lord of all and in true truest loyalty bow the knee and hail him king i think that is a great admonition i think that is a great emphasis and brothers and sisters as we eat this bread as we drink this cup we proclaim the lord's death until he comes it is our great privilege it is our great blessing and it is our great joy to do so as we acknowledge the one who went to these lengths to save us from our sins well let us pray our father in heaven we thank you so very much that christ went to these lengths for us and god i pray that you would cause us to respond in kind cause us to crown him with many crowns to praise him and to honor him and to glorify him to hail him king not only of jews but of gentiles to see him as israel's messiah to see him as the one who is altogether lovely and chief among ten thousand to see in his sufferings and in his death and in his resurrection and in his life our life our blessing our eternal happiness and god as we eat now and as we drink now help us to do so in remembrance of him and we pray through jesus christ our lord amen we can turn back to matthew 26 and in just a moment i'll ask the brothers to come and pass out the bread but i want to remind us about a few things concerning the supper in the first place the ordinance or sacrament of the lord's supper is for believers only it is not a converting ordinance it's not something we give to unbelievers in the hope that they will get saved no it's for the saved it is for the people of god secondly the ordinance of the supper is for believers who are dealing with their sin according to god's word that's the emphasis in first corinthians 11. the apostle paul calls upon them and highlights the importance of self-examination so that we will not be condemned with the world in other words we need to examine ourselves not to see if there's sin less perfection because we'd be examining for the rest of our lives and still come up short but we're examining ourselves to see if we're dealing with our sin with reference to god and with reference to others as well the elements of the supper are not transubstantiated they're not changed the bread remains bread and the wine remains wine they are simple simply emblems or symbols that are brought from a normal ordinary use into a sacred use but not consecrated in the sense that they become something other the context or rather the the issue of transubstantiation is the roman catholic mass they believe that the elements actually become the body and blood of our lord jesus and that what they are engaged in is an unbloody sacrifice of atonement they're duplicating what the apostle underscores in several instances in the book of hebrews as a once for all sacrifice we're not called to duplicate it we're not called to replicate it we're called to do this in remembrance of him so we have bread and we have wine symbols tangible elements to remind us of the broken body and the shed blood of our lord now in terms of the actual logistics the juice is in the outer ring if you're not inclined to take actual wine the wine is in the inner ring and the juice is in the outer ring the final observation relative to the supper is that it's about jesus certainly you should have looked at yourself there should have been examination there can be that even now remember god is omniscient god is omnipotent god is omnipresent you don't need to go journey to a mountain and sit up there for a week and sort of ponder your place before god if you have sin in your heart now you can confess it to the lord god most high he is gracious he is good and he does forgive sin that's a blessed privilege the people of god do possess so focus on christ preoccupation with self undercuts the supper it is to be preoccupation with jesus and not with ourselves well if the brothers would come and pass out the bread we will sing number 338 while they do so please remain seated and will sing 338. so [Music] is us [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] matthew 26 and verse 26 and as they read jesus took bread blessed hand broke it and gave it to the disciples and said take heed this is my body let us pray our great god and father we thank you for the son of god and thank you for his mission and our redeeming work on our behalf and as we consider his broken body may again encourage our hearts to see the great love of god for us and cause us reflecting upon this to seek and to pursue those things that are pleasing in your sight not unto salvation but because we have been saved by such a great and glorious god and that it cost our blessed redeemer everything in terms of his humanity his sufferings and his death on our behalf so clearly communicated in the gospel record through this ordinance that god calls us in reflection to worship and glorify you and greatest in jesus name amen please remain seated [Music] with you [Music] is [Music] my soul always [Music] is in verse 27 we read then he took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them saying drink from it all of you for this is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins but i say to you i will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when i drink it new with you in my father's kingdom and when they had sung a hymn they went out to the mount of olives let us pray father we know that without the shedding of blood there is no remission we know the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin but they typified and pointed forward and foreshadowed the coming of the lamb of god who takes away the sin of the world we thank you that he ratified the new covenant in his blood and we thank you that we have redemption through that blood and that now god as we ponder that again encourage our hearts lead us out in terms of worship and praise and adoration to our god and with great love for the savior who gave himself for us and we pray in his blessed name amen we'll take together we can turn to 352 and stand as we sing together 352. [Music] is [Music] is [Music] was [Music] foreign [Music] is [Music] [Music] is oh [Music] o israel hope in the lord for with the lord there is mercy and with him is abundant redemption and he shall redeem israel from all his iniquities god we thank you for this psalm we thank you for the gospel of our salvation we thank you for the savior himself it has been a blessed and a full day and we give thanks to you lord god for baptism and for the lord's supper we give thanks to you for the fellowship of the saints we give thanks to you that there are no restrictions that we can have as many people as want to come into the house of god here we give all praise to you most high and we ask now that you would protect us that you would watch over us that your spirit would indwell us so that we would do those things that are pleasing in your sight bring us together again that we may gather and worship and praise and adoration of our great god even father son and holy spirit go with us now we pray in jesus name amen well please be seated for a brief time of meditation you