Amen. All right, we're there in Psalm 22, and I'd like you to keep your place there in Psalm 22, if you would, and go with me to the New Testament book of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter number 12.
If you start towards the end of the New Testament and head backwards, you'll have the book of Revelation, Jude, 3rd, 2nd and 1st John, 2nd and 1st Peter, James, and then the book of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter number 12.
And of course tonight is a special night. It's the night in which we partake of the Lord's Supper.
This is something we do here at Verity Baptist Church once a year, and we choose to do it the Wednesday night before Easter for a couple of reasons.
First of all, because we believe that Jesus died on Wednesday night, and that's not something that we have to spend a lot of time on, but that's one of the reasons we have a midweek service, and we also will be celebrating this Sunday, the resurrection of Christ.
So, before we celebrate the resurrection of Christ, it's good for us to be reminded of the suffering of the cross in Hebrews chapter 13 and verse number 12, excuse me, Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 2.
We'll go to verse 13 in a minute. Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 2 says this,
Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, I'd like you to notice these three words, endured the cross.
The Bible says that he endured the cross, and I'd like to speak to you for just a few minutes tonight. I don't plan to be very long, but I'd like to speak to you for a little bit on the subject of how Jesus endured the cross.
And of course, we are looking and preparing our hearts for the Lord's Supper, and the purpose of the Lord's Supper is to remember it is symbolic, the breaking of the bread, the pouring of the cup, is symbolic of the broken body of Christ and the shed blood of Christ, and the Bible tells us that this was something that Jesus endured.
He did not want something he wanted, necessarily, in his flesh. In fact, in the Garden of Gethsemane, he asked the Father if it were possible to let this cup pass from him.
He did not want to drink of the cup the death of the cross, and of course, he submitted himself to the will of the Father and said, Not my will but thine be done, and we praise the Lord for that.
I'd like to give you three thoughts this evening on the subject of how Jesus endured the cross, the enduring of the cross, and if you're writing some notes down, maybe you can jot these down.
Number one, I'd like you to notice that Jesus endured the suffering of the cross, and when we think about the cross throughout the Bible, this is what is highlighted about the cross, that Jesus suffered on the cross.
Hebrews 13 and verse 12 says this, Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, notice these words, suffered without the gate, and we know that he was crucified on Mount Calvary, right outside the gate of Jerusalem.
The Bible tells us that he suffered without the gate, and the Bible is clear about the fact that Jesus suffered on the cross.
Now, keep your place there in Hebrews. We're going to come back to it here real quickly, but go back to Psalm 22, and I'd like you to notice several things here from Psalm 22.
Psalm 22 is a psalm that was written roughly 700 years before Christ, and it is a prophetic psalm in which we get a prophecy of the cross and the crucifixion.
In Psalm 22 and verse 14, notice what the psalmist says. David says this under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. He's prophesying about Jesus. Notice what it says.
He says, I am poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint. And again, this is a reference to the crucifixion. Jesus is the one speaking here, the one being described here, and he describes the suffering that he went through on the cross.
He says that he's poured out, and of course, we know that this is a reference to his blood, that he was scourged, he was nailed, he was beaten. He says he's poured out like water.
He will eventually be pierced, and the Bible says that blood and water will pour out of him as well. It says, I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart is like wax. It is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a pot shirt, and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws.
And we can see these things as you read about the resurrection when he says, my strength is dried up like a pot shirt. We know that Simon had to be compelled to help Jesus carry the cross up to Mount Calvary because he could no longer carry it.
His tongue cleaveth to his jaw. We know that he said that he was thirsty and that he was given vinegar and gall to drink. And it says there at the end of verse 15, and thou has brought me into the dust of death.
He says, for dogs have compassed me. The assembly of the wicked have enclosed me. Notice these words. They have pierced my hands and my feet.
And we know the story of the crucifixion that Jesus was not hung on the cross, but literally was nailed upon the cross, that they took nails and pierced his hands and his feet upon the cross.
In verse 17 he says, I may tell all my bones. That word tell there is an older word. It comes from the same root word, from the modern word teller. Like you go to a bank and you have a teller. What does a teller do? They count out money for you.
And he says, I may tell all my bones. What he means there is that he can count his bones. He can look down on his body. And because he's been beaten, because his flesh has been ripped off of him, his bones are exposed.
He says, I can count all my bones is what that means when he says, I may tell all my bones. He says, they look and stare upon me, referring to his bones. He says, I can look down at my bones and my bones look back up at me.
Keep your place there in Psalm 22 and keep your place in Hebrews. But go with me to the book of Matthew if you would. Matthew chapter 26. I think it's good for us every once in a while to be reminded of the suffering of Christ.
The Bible highlights this when we talk about the cross that Jesus suffered on the cross.
Now we know that the physical death of Christ was not all that was needed for salvation. He also, his soul, the Bible tells us, had to go down to hell.
And he suffered an eternity of hell in three days and three nights and was resurrected. But the Bible does emphasize the fact that he physically suffered on the cross for our sins and up to the cross.
Matthew 26, if you would, look at verse 67. Matthew 26 and verse 67, this is after they initially arrested him, before they have taken him to the Romans to be prosecuted.
Matthew 26 verse 67, the Bible says this, then did they spit in his face. I think one of the most offensive things you could do to somebody is to spit in their face.
And here we have Jesus who, remember he is the son of God, remember he is the creator of the universe, remember he is the one. The Bible says that in him is life.
The Bible says that he made all things and he created all things and he is the sustainer of life.
Every person there that was there during his crucifixion was not only somebody that he created, somebody that he gave life to, someone that with a snap of his finger he could have taken life from, but they were all also somebody who he would have died for.
The Bible says there in verse 67, then did they spit in his face and buffeted him. In Luke 22, you don't have to turn there, we're told that he was blindfolded as they begin to buffet, as they begin to punch him in the face.
Another smote him with the palm of their hands and they begin to mock him, verse 68, saying, because we know from other passages that he's been blindfolded, they hit him with the palms of their hands, they punch him with their closed fist, and then they say, prophesy unto us, thou Christ, who is he that smote thee.
Look at verse 26 of the next chapter, Matthew 27 and verse 26. Matthew 27 and verse 26 says this, then released he Barabbas unto them.
And of course, Pilate knows that they've delivered Jesus up for envy and he's not wanting to crucify Christ, he gives them two options, he gives them a man that was guilty, Barabbas, and the Jews would not take it.
And he has to release Barabbas, and even in this we see a symbolic and allegory of salvation, that the guilty goes free at the expense of the innocent.
Then the Bible says, released he Barabbas unto them, and when he had scourged him, and the word scourge means that he's been whipped, and as a result of that whipping, flesh has been torn off of the body of Christ.
He delivered him to be crucified. Verse 27 says, then the soldiers and the governors took Jesus into the common hall and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers.
And they stripped him, they took his clothes off, and put on him a scarlet robe in an attempt to mock him, because they are mocking him as the Christ and as the king of the Jews.
They put on him the scarlet robe, and I want you to realize that he's been scourged, his back and his side has had a whip tear at his flesh, and as it's pulled back it removes that flesh.
We know from Psalm 22 that his bones are exposed, they have his clothes on him, and like you would know with any wound, if you put a piece of cloth on it, that cloth will stick to it, and they remove that cloth, and they remove his garments, and reopen up those wounds, and put a robe on him.
Simply to mock him, a scarlet robe. Verse 29, and when they had plaited a crown of thorns, and again, mocking him, as if you're a king, let's give you a crown, a crown of thorns that gets sunk into his skull.
They put it upon 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. And he really is a king. He's not just a king, he's the king of kings.
But they mock him. Notice verse 30, and they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head, and after they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and again, as they rip that robe off his body, they reopen those wounds, and put his own raiment on him, and let him away to be crucified.
And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear his cross, because Jesus was not just condemned to a crucifixion, he was beaten, he was scourged, he was abused before that, and now, like we read in Psalm 22, his strength has given out, he can no longer carry the cross.
And they compelled this man, Simon, to bear his cross. Verse 33, and when they were come unto the palace called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull, they gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall, how we read in Psalm 22, that his tongue cleaveth to his jaws, and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.
Go real quickly with me to the book of John. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, John 19.
See, when we partake of the Lord's Supper, we make it a special time, and I think it should be a special time.
We make it a reverent time, and I think it should be a reverent time. We make it a beautiful ceremony, and I think it should be a beautiful ceremony.
Oftentimes, when people come to our church and they partake of the Lord's Supper, and I don't mean this to brag, and I hope it doesn't sound this way, but oftentimes we've had people say to us, I've never gone to a more beautiful Lord's Supper service than the ones held at Verity Baptist Church.
And, you know, we take that as a compliment, because we take this very seriously, and we put a lot of work into it, we think through it, and we want it to be done properly.
But I also want you to understand that though this is a very beautiful, symbolic, tradition and ritual, religious action, observance and ordinance that we partake of, it is meant to picture a very gruesome death.
The breaking of the bread, the ripping apart of the bread may seem like a beautiful tradition to us, but it pictures the broken and the ripped up and the mauled up body of our Savior.
The pouring of the juice may be very beautiful and symbolic to us, but it pictures a very bloody sacrifice, blood that was shed on our behalf.
John 19 and verse 5, I want you to notice we have another account here of the crucifixion of Christ, and I won't go through all the details, I just want you to notice that in verse 5 it says this,
Then came Jesus forth weighing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and Pilate saith unto them,
After they had beaten him, and abused him, and spat upon him, and blindfolded him, and scourged him, and mocked him, and put a crown of thorns, and taken a reed, and beaten him over the head with it,
Pilate brings him out to the Jews because Pilate doesn't want to crucify him. He is hoping that this will be enough, and I just want you to notice these three words when Pilate sees them.
He says behold the man. The word behold means look at him. He says look at what we've done to him. Is this not enough?
And it tells us of the suffering of Christ, and how he suffered upon the cross. And of course it was not enough. It was not enough for the Jews, and it was not enough for God the Father.
As we partake of the Lord's Supper tonight, I'd like us to consider that Jesus endured the suffering of the cross.
And here's what's interesting, is that then the Bible says to us, you don't have to turn there, I'll just read it for you, Matthew 16 24,
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
Jesus endured the suffering of the cross, but you know that we are also called to take up our cross.
The cross of discipleship. The cross of following Christ means we must deny self. The cross of following Christ means we must put ourselves to death.
And something we should consider is how Jesus was willing to die for us, would we be willing to give our lives for him?
Go back to Psalm 22, I'd like you to notice a second thing tonight.
We're considering the cross, we're considering the fact that he endured the cross.
I said tonight, number one, Jesus endured the suffering of the cross, but I'd like you to notice secondly tonight, not only did Jesus endure the suffering of the cross, but Jesus also endured the shame of the cross.
Notice Psalm 22 and verse 6, he says, But I am a worm and no man.
He says, the way I'm being treated, the way that they are abusing me, he said, they're not even treating me like a man.
He said, I am a worm and no man. He says, a reproach of men and despised of the people.
All they that see me laugh me to scorn. They shoot out the lip and shake the head, saying he trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him.
Let him deliver him, seeing he delighteth in him. Notice verse 12, same chapter, he says, many bulls have compassed me.
Strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round, referring to the Jews and the Roman soldiers, how they've surrounded him.
In verse 13, he says, they gaped upon me with their mouths as a ravening and a roaring lion.
Go back to Hebrews, if you would, Hebrews chapter number 12. Hebrews chapter number 12 speaks of the shame of Christ.
Hebrews 12 and verse 2, we saw it, but I'd like you to notice it again, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross.
But notice these words, despising the shame. The Bible says that Jesus despised the shame.
He didn't like it, he didn't enjoy it, just like you wouldn't like it, just like you would not enjoy it.
Notice verse 3, for considering him that endured such contradictions of sinners against him.
The Bible tells us that the events that took place at the cross were a huge contradiction.
It was the holy Son of God that should have been putting those people to death.
It was the holy Son of God that should have been putting the wrath of God upon their sins.
But Hebrews says so beautifully, for consider him that endured such contradictions of sinners against himself.
That he would pay for my sins on the cross so that I would not have to is a contradiction.
The Bible tells us that he endured shame. Keep your finger there in Hebrews 13, go back to Matthew 27 if you would.
We saw the shame of the cross that they put on him a scarlet robe, they bowed the knee before him and mocked him.
They spit upon him and they smote him on the head after they had mocked him.
If you look at verse 39, Matthew 27 verse 39, the Bible says this,
And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their hands, and saying,
Thou that destroys the temple and buildeth it in three days, save thyself.
If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.
Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, what the scribes and elders said,
He saved others, himself he cannot save. If he be the king of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.
He trusted in God, let him deliver him now if he will have him, for he said, I am the Son of God.
The thieves also which were crucified with him cast the same in his teeth.
I just want you to understand that the cross was not only a place of suffering, but it was a place of shame.
A place of embarrassment.
And the Bible tells us that Jesus despised the shame.
He despised the mockery that he would go through.
If you would go back to Hebrews 13, I'd like you to notice verse number 13.
Just like we are told to take up the cross and partake in the sufferings of Christ, we're also told to partake in his shame.
Hebrews 13 and verse 13 says this, Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp.
Remember Jesus was crucified without the camp, outside of the gate.
And the Bible then tells us, Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.
See, Jesus suffered on the cross and then he says, If you want to be my follower, if you want to be my disciple, take up your cross.
Deny yourself.
He says, Let him take up the cross and follow me.
The Bible says that we must suffer to be a follower of Christ, but then we must also endure shame.
And I don't need to tell you, but to be a real Bible-believing Christian, an actual follower of the Lord Jesus Christ,
to actually identify yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ and with the Word of God is a shameful thing today.
We're mocked.
And we're ridiculed.
But the Bible says that when we partake in his shame, we are with Christ.
We go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.
I'd like you to notice one last thing tonight. Go back to Psalm 22, if you would.
Psalm 22.
We're considering the fact that Jesus endured the cross.
He endured the suffering of the cross. He endured the shame of the cross.
I'd like you to notice lastly in our psalm here that Jesus endured the separation of the cross.
In Psalm 22 and verse 1, we have some of the most well-known words spoken in Scripture.
These are actually words that Jesus spoke on the cross.
Psalm 22 and verse 1 says this, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not.
Notice verse 11, he says, Be not far from me, for trouble is near, for there is none to help.
Notice verse 19, he says, But be not thou far from me, O Lord, O my strength, hast thee to help me.
Jesus suffered on the cross. He endured shame on the cross.
But one other thing that the Bible highlights for us, and something that I don't know that you and I can really understand,
is that he endured a separation on the cross.
Because Jesus, and I don't want to get too far into this and into the theological aspects of it,
but Jesus, the Bible teaches, is the second member of the Godhead.
He's the second member of a triune God, a thrice holy God.
It is one God that exists in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost,
and these three are one, and these three have always been one, and these three will always be one.
But we must understand that there is a separation and a distinction in the members of the Godhead,
and we must understand theologically that the one who died on the cross was that second member of the Godhead, the Son of God.
God the Father did not die on the cross for our sins. God the Holy Spirit did not die on the cross for our sins.
And at the cross we find, we get a glimpse into this idea that at the cross, for the first time and for the only time,
there was a separation between God the Father and God the Son.
As Jesus yells out from the cross,
my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? This is not a dramatic statement.
This is the reality of salvation, that for the first time in all of eternity, the Son was separated from the Father.
His soul went down to hell alone, and he suffered for our sins.
The interesting thing is this. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5 that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself.
The Bible says in verse 20, now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's stead be ye reconciled to God.
See, the Bible says that our sins have separated us from God, and Jesus came to this earth to reconcile us unto the Father.
And the way that Jesus had to do this was by separating himself.
See, Jesus separated himself from the Father on the cross, cried out, my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?
You say, why did he do it? He separated himself from the Father that you and I might be reconciled to the Father.
He separated himself from the Father that we might not have to be separated from the Father.
And he endured this.
This is why we go out. This is why we're ambassadors. This is why we beseech the unbelievers in Christ's stead be ye reconciled unto God.
So as we partake of the Lord's Supper tonight, as we participate in this beautiful ritual, and I think it's great that it's beautiful, and it's sacred, and it's reverent,
let us remember, let us consider that he endured the cross, he endured the suffering, he endured the shame, he endured the separation.
And in those same ways, he says to us, will you take up the cross and deny yourself?
Will you go out and identify yourself with Christ and suffer the shame?
Will you do what needs to be done to reconcile the world unto God?
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Heavenly Father, Lord, thank you for your word.
Lord, I realize that words, a sermon, an oration cannot do justice to what was physically done upon the cross.
It cannot do justice to what was spiritually done upon the cross.
But Lord, I pray that you'd help us just a little bit to consider tonight that Jesus endured the cross,
endured the suffering, he endured the shame, he endured the separation for us.
Help us to remember that, help us to be thankful for it, help us to celebrate it, and help us to celebrate his victory in the resurrection.
In the matchless name of Christ, we pray. Amen.