The Passion of the Christ, that's what we're here to talk about. I want to invite you to open the Bible and go to the Gospel of Mark, chapter 11. And the Passion of the Christ is usually the last week of Jesus' life. You might have heard it called Passion Week. It starts on Palm Sunday, and it goes to Good Friday when he dies, Easter Sunday, Resurrection Sunday, when he rises from the dead. Well, we're not doing Passion Week this year. We're doing Passion Year 2026, because we're starting with Palm Sunday in Mark 11. And we're going to keep studying all the way through the Gospel of Mark, until we get to our own Good Friday later on this year, our own Easter. That's right, we're having two Easters this year, everybody, and we're going to celebrate what Jesus did for us, that he came to die for us and rise again. We're going to talk about that all year long. And to kick it off this weekend, we want to pay careful attention to when Jesus finally arrives in Jerusalem. And he's been going up to Jerusalem for a while, and he knows they're going to kill him, and he's willing to go there anyways. And he rides in now on a donkey here, and this begins the last week of the life of Jesus, the week where he came to die for you. And so, I want to read for us Mark 11:1-11. And if you don't have a Bible, it's actually printed there on the handout maybe somebody gave you when you came in, so you could read along with us there. And so, again, out of respect for God's Word, I invite everyone to stand up for the public reading of Scripture, and let's read how the whole Passion Week began as Jesus came into Jerusalem. This is Mark 11. Please start with me in verse 1.
Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus[a] sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’” And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!” And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.
That's the reading of God's Word. Please go ahead and have your seat. I don't know what comes to your mind when we read those verses, but I'll tell you the two words that come to my mind, crowd participation. Are you guys ready to shout Hosanna here today? Because these people are hyped. To these people, they're ready for something to happen when Jesus gets to Jerusalem. Now, if you're paying attention to our passage, Jesus, he sends two disciples ahead, and he's going to do that again. When he sends them to find the room, they're going to have the Passover meal together in that's what's happening right now in Jerusalem, the feast of the Passover. So, there's an estimated 2 million people there ready to feast in Jerusalem. And so, when Jesus now is coming in and he sends these guys to find this colt, this baby donkey that nobody's ever ridden before, and they go find it, just like Jesus says, and they let them get away with the donkey, just like Jesus says. Well, then the disciples, they put their cloaks on the donkey. Other people are throwing cloaks before the donkey. Other people are bringing branches and laying them down. And everybody's shouting, let me hear you say it on 3. 123. Hey, that was pretty good for Orange County crowd, right there, I’ve got to admit, right? So, are you guys ready to participate? Let me get down here on the ground level, because we're looking for some people who are prepared for Jesus to come in. And I see you guys forgot your cloaks. So, I happen to have some cloaks right here. Now, I'm sorry I couldn't afford Caesar's. I just got Caesar's rack cloaks here for you guys. Would you like a cloak? Yes, okay, here. Why don't we get cloaks of many colors. Why don't you pick a cloak? This is what happens if you sit in the front row. Let's give Shelly a round of applause, everybody. Oh, wow, Shelly, take a bow. Okay, she gets a cloak. Would you like a cloak over here? Sir, no, you don't have to put it on. You're going to throw it before. Let's just say, Sir, can I ask you a question? Let's just say, hypothetically speaking, a donkey came in here. Do you feel like you would be ready to put your cloak before the donkey? Or is that too much to ask? Okay, if you can then go ahead and pick a cloak. There you go. And I just want to make sure you're ready if a hypothetical donkey were to emerge in said auditorium. How about I see Mike Murray over here. Mike, do you have a cloak for the donkey? Mike, I don't think your little get up is going to work. We need some real cloaks. Would you like a cloak for the donkey as well? How about you? Would you like a cloak? Yes, I've got all these cloaks. Why don't you guys take cloaks? That's great. That's great. Did you get one? Yeah, I want to make sure you actually get one, because I think you'll be ready to throw it before the donkey. Okay, so we got some cloaks going out, but we also need some palm branches, and we need to make sure everybody's ready to shout, 123, that's pretty good. Would you like a palm branch, sir, Okay, how about you? Would you like a palm branch? Can you get it down before the donkey? If there was a donkey, I mean, that would be crazy, right? How about you? You want a palm branch? Hey, Rafael, it's great to see you, man. Thank you. Thanks for sitting in the front row. Oh, look at this crew right here. Have these young men ever looked so nice? Would you guys like palm branches in case a donkey comes through. Okay, 123, are we ready? Are we hyped? Are we ready for crowd participation? Okay, I think we got it. Let's see what happens if a hypothetical donkey were to come into the auditorium. Just saying, maybe if we're doing welcome Apollo, everybody. Apollo's coming on in. Come on in. Hey, what are you guys doing? You have one job? Get them on the ground in front of Apollo. Yeah. I mean, I don't know what's going on. One job.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Oh, wait, hold up. Hold up. Hold up. Apollo's actually very nice. He doesn't walk on cloaks. Can you guys pick these up real quick? Apollo, yeah, maybe. Rafael, can you just make that disappear real quick? Because Apollo is a kind of a gentleman- kind of a donkey. He doesn't walk on people's clothes. Let's keep it going. Let's keep it going. He's not exactly yeah. There we go. Thank you. Hey, can we give it up for Apollo, everybody? Yes, yes. Thank you, Apollo. Well done. Well done. Thank you. Thank you, Apollo, and thank you for not using the restroom here in our auditorium, we greatly appreciate you. Paulo, isn't that precious? Isn't that cute, everybody? And how about let's give it up for the Cloakers. They were ready. You guys did way better than the four o'clock. All right, we don't tell them that. Okay, so there was excitement when Jesus rode in on the donkey and flip your hand out over. Look at Psalm 118 on the backside. All right. Yes, we are just going to cruise right into the sermon. Now Psalm 118 because this is why they're shouting Hosanna. They're getting it from Psalm 118. Circle, “save us” right there in verse 25 that's what Hosanna means. And I hope you'll remember this for the rest of your life after this Good Friday. Hosanna means “save us now.” It's a combination of two Hebrew words put together, and they're shouting at Hosanna. It's a request, save us now. And then, notice that line, underline, verse 26, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord?” So, the things that they are shouting are quotes from Psalm 118, verses 25 and 26 because Psalm 118 is one of the halal psalms that they would talk about at feasts like the Feast of Passover, which is why they're in Jerusalem at this time. In fact, if you look down at verse 27, the last line that we have there for you on the handout from Psalm 118, it says, “Bind the festal sacrifice with cords,” so it shows that they're expecting something to happen with a sacrifice at the feast. So next to that line, festal sacrifice, write down Exodus 23:14, because that's where God commands that his people, three times out of the year, at least all the men they're going to go to the temple in Jerusalem for a feast to remember something about God.
What are they gathering to remember at the Passover? That there was a Passover lamb, and they sacrificed the lamb. They put the blood of the lamb on their door posts so that the angel of the Lord would pass over their houses when he came to kill the firstborn sons of Egypt. No, if you sacrifice the lamb, and put the blood on the door, the angel of the Lord would pass over your house. And so, the Jews have been doing this to remember how God delivered them out of Egypt now for hundreds of years. That's what they're gathering to celebrate. They're familiar with Psalm 118 at the time of the feast, and then here comes Jesus. And so, they're shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” They're quoting Psalm 118. Now, here's what takes it to another level that even that crowd couldn't have possibly known, is there's a prophecy in Psalm 118 that is about to be fulfilled, and we printed it there for you. In verse 22, it's this prophecy the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
Now, I don't know how much you've heard about the prophecies that are in the Bible, but prophecy is a very compelling reason that every person on planet Earth should believe the Bible is written by God, because only God could tell us what he's going to do hundreds of years before he does it, only he could communicate it, and only he could control the outcome to make it happen. And so now, tied into this festal Psalm, tied into this idea of Hosanna, someone's coming in the name of the Lord, is that this stone that we could build on. Well, that stone is going to be rejected. We don't want to build on that stone, but the stone that the builders reject actually becomes the cornerstone. It becomes the foundation of this whole new building. Now Jesus is going to quote himself from Psalm 118. Go over to Mark, chapter 12, and you'll see Jesus quoted in verses 10 and 11. And he's referring to the chief priests, elders, and scribes, the religious leaders of the Jews, who are the ones who are going to reject him. And look at what he says in verse 10. “Have you not read this scripture?” See, Jesus is expecting that everyone there would know Psalm 118, and he quotes verse 22 here. “Have you not read this scripture? The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.” Now these people are ready to reject Jesus. Look at Verse 12. “They were seeking to arrest him, but they feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them, so they left him and went away.”
So, Jesus, when he comes into Jerusalem, he starts getting into it with the religious leaders of the Jews. He clears out the temple because they're in it for the money. He calls them out in their hypocrisy, and now he's flat out saying, you're going to reject the stone, but it's going to become the cornerstone. And they know he's talking about them. But at that moment, the crowd is so hyped on Jesus. He's so popular with the people. At that moment, they can't touch him, because look at how all the people are admiring Jesus and listening to what he has to say, but these religious leaders, and there's got to be more than just them, even Satan and the demons, get involved in this. We know that Satan possesses Judas. Judas then betrays Jesus over to these religious leaders. The religious leaders are going to have an all-night trial where they falsely accuse him, find him to be guilty, then hand him over to the Romans, who mock him in the way that we already read, and then they end up killing him.
So, this rejection of Jesus is about to happen, and these religious leaders are the ones who are going to reject him as the stone that prophecy is about to be fulfilled as part of Psalm 118; it's happening now in real time. Now, here's what's amazing, when these rejecters have this plot through the betrayal of Judas to catch Jesus, to hand him over to the Romans, to get a crowd to shout, “Crucify him,” and then they kill him on the cross. They think they're going to win. They think that will silence Jesus. They think that will be the end of the story. Let me ask all of you, almost 2000 years later, was Jesus dying on the cross the end of the story? No, it was actually the beginning of our story of salvation. See, this is the amazing thing that we want to think about on Good Friday is the religious leaders of the Jews thought killing Jesus would be the end. Even Satan and the demons are working with Judas to betray him, thinking that if he dies, they will win, but it is actually through the death of Jesus that he wins.
When Jesus dies, he pays for sin. Sin was the thing that Satan got started. Remember when Satan slithered into the garden and deceived Eve, “You surely will not die.” He lied to her face, if you eat of this fruit, and then Adam and Eve sinned, and then the wages of sin is what? Death, and after death comes judgment. Because of sin, there is now death, and there is judgment. And what is Jesus doing? He's dying in our place. He's paying for our sin. He's bearing the wrath of God's judgment as an atoning sacrifice. Everything that Satan did, Jesus undoes when he dies on the cross. And that's why the very next verse, verse 23, the stone that the builders rejected. Oh, you didn't stop the stone. It became the cornerstone. And this was actually the Lord's doing, and it's marvelous in our eyes. Oh, this. They thought they were doing it, and by killing Jesus, they thought this will be the end of him. But that was actually the will of God. That was actually what God sent his Son to accomplish. In fact, that was always God's plan, that he would send his one and only Son, whom he loves, and that Jesus would die as a sacrifice to pay for the sin of all mankind. They fell right into God's plan.
Can you see what happened on Good Friday? The enemies had him surrounded. The enemies thought we've won. He's dead now. And that's exactly what God had planned. They did the will of God. Oh, wow. That's marvelous. The idea here is, it's wondrous. That's like almost too good to be true. It's almost hard to believe, like it's something that's impossible. Only God could make death victory. Only God could win right when the enemies think they win, is actually the victory of God through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. And then it says, verse 24 of Psalm 118, “This is the day that the Lord has made.” And when it says day there, it's not referring to a 24-hour day. It's referring to an age, like a day that some period of time, an era. And what is this day that the Lord has made? It's a day of salvation. It's the day of the Church of Jesus Christ. Now everyone who believes in Jesus, when they die, they will not perish. They will have everlasting life. And we should rejoice. We should be glad. We should acknowledge that Jesus had to die, and when he died, he won a great victory for our souls. Can I get an amen from anybody? This is the Lord's doing, and it's marvelous to us. That's why we're here on Good Friday. Let us rejoice and be glad, because Jesus is the cornerstone on the day of salvation, and Peter, he picked up on this prophecy. Peter actually in Acts 4, verses 11 and 12, he went on trial with the same Jewish religious leaders that killed Jesus, and he told them to their face that they were the ones who rejected the stone, but “Jesus has become the cornerstone, and that now given among men under heaven, there is no other name by which anybody can be saved except for the name of Jesus.” That's what Peter said to the enemies who killed Jesus. And Peter wrote in 1 Peter 2:7, he quoted this prophecy again, and he said that we are all now, everyone here who's believed in Jesus, you're like a living stone that's being placed on the cornerstone. And Jesus, now he's building this new household. It's not just for the Jews, now it's for everybody who believes. And he's building his church. In fact, he's making disciples of all nations. He's spreading his good news that there is repentance and forgiveness of sins to the ends of the earth that everyone now, if you put your trust in Jesus, you will be saved from your sins that would lead you to death, that would lead you to judgment. No, you don't have to experience that, because Jesus already paid for your sin, died in your place and took the judgment that you deserve.
Everyone who believes that is now built on this Good News of the Gospel of Jesus. And over the last few years at this church, we've seen some Hosanna happen. We have seen some people here say, Jesus, save me now. And the LORD, he's really turned some people's lives around. He's really made some people new. Can we take a moment to praise the Lord for all the people that he's been saving here in Huntington Beach? Hey, saving people. Sometimes it feels like almost every week, somebody's getting saved, but see, here's the thing, it's not happening just in Jerusalem, or it's not happening just here at our church. In fact, over the last year, our church has had a better view to see that Jesus is building his church in every nation, in every tribe, every tongue, every different language. There are people who are beginning to hear about Jesus and the Church. They're all being added as living stones on the cornerstone of Christ.
We got to know this church in India over the last year. Remember when we brought them from the third floor to this ground floor building? Remember that this is remember how God provided this for them through you giving here in Huntington Beach. This is what it looks like every Sunday. Now, at this church, more people are hearing the word of Jesus. At this church, more people are getting saved than ever before, and it's all because of what Jesus did when he became the cornerstone. It's the Lord's doing. It's marvelous. How about that church in Tokyo that needs help? Japan, one of the hardest languages to share the gospel in one of the toughest nations for the good news to ring out? Well, you are supporting a church that meets in this building every single Sunday. They're preaching Jesus in Japanese, and people are coming and believing in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Do you remember when we went to Uganda and we helped them build the biggest building for like thirty miles in Uganda, is this church. This is what it looks like every Sunday. People are hearing the word of the Lord Jesus. People are coming from miles around. Jesus is on the move across the world. He's building his church and nothing, not even Satan, not even the religious leaders of the Jews, not even all the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places can stop God's Will from happening in Jesus.
They thought they won on that Friday, and That was the Friday that they lost everything. Jesus won through his death. He paid for your sin, he died in your place, and he took your judgment. That's what this psalm is all about. So if you flip your handout back over, I want you to see what they were thinking. Then when they shouted Hosanna, what we should be thinking now when we shout Hosanna, and what anyone anywhere could always know when they shout Hosanna. So, let's start with the then, okay, let's go back to Mark 11, if you're looking at there with me, because this crowd, and I want to make sure we understand that Jesus already has a crowd with him before he gets to Jerusalem. Jesus, he brings the crowd, and the word is spreading into Jerusalem that Jesus is coming in the Gospel of John. It tells us that before Jesus got to Jerusalem, he raised his friend Lazarus from the dead in John 11. Have you ever heard that before? And the word spread right into the city of Jerusalem. So this crowd that's shouting Hosanna, these are people who are coming into town with Jesus, or these are people who are coming like out of the town for the arrival of Jesus, excited to see him, interested in the fact that Jesus is actually coming to the feast in Jerusalem, and what's going to happen with Jesus here. So, this is a pro-Jesus crowd that is assembling. And notice what they're shouting. Let's pay attention to the language, they're shouting, Hosanna, which means, save us. “Now blessed are you who comes in the name of the Lord.” That's the quote from Psalm 118 that would go along with the feast. But then look at what they're adding in verse 10. This doesn't come from Psalm 118. Blessed is the coming, what kingdom of our father, who David, Hosanna in the highest.
So, they're thinking that Jesus is coming as a king like David. That's what they're shouting about. And the picture of him riding in on a donkey and people throwing their cloaks before him on the donkey, that might bring up some kingly thoughts in their mind. Let me give you some examples from the history of Israel. How about 1 Samuel, chapter 8, verse 16. This is when Samuel is saying, you guys shouldn't want a king. Don't be like all the other nations and get a king. You should just have Yahweh as your King. And the people are like, we want a king, and Samuel warns them in 1 Samuel 8:16 that the king will, he'll take your male servants, your female servants, the best of your young men, your donkeys, and put them to his work. The king, he can just say, hey, your donkey is now my donkey, and use your donkey for his purpose. That was Samuel's warning. Isn't that what Jesus does in Mark 11? He says. I'm going to need to use your donkey, you know, the colt, the one that's no one's ever sat on. That's what he rides in on, exactly like Samuel said a king might do. Now let's go to 1 Kings, chapter one. When David's the king here, he wants Solomon to be king after him, but one of his other sons is trying to be the king instead of Solomon. So, what does David say? “The king said to them, take with you the servants of your Lord, have Solomon, my son, ride on my own mule and bring him down to Gahanna.” And when Solomon rides in on David the king's mule, well, then people shout that Solomon's the new king, and they anoint Solomon to be king, and Solomon ends up becoming king after David. And one of the images of that is him riding in on the mule. Or how about 2 Kings, chapter 9, when this man, Jehu, is anointed to be the king, “then in haste, every man of them took his garment and put it under him on the bare steps, and they blew the trumpet and proclaimed Jehu is king.” What do they do when they're proclaiming Jehu is king, they're taking their cloaks or their garments off, and they're throwing them on the steps where Jehu is walking. It's like they're rolling out the red carpet. It's like the king, he's so noble, he can't even touch the common ground. Put your cloak down. The King is coming through.
So, you can see, these are the kind of pictures from the past that people might have been thinking about when they're seeing Jesus come in on this donkey no one's ever ridden on before, and they're shouting, save us now, well, let's get this down for the then, “They're expecting a king to save them physically.” That's what they're hoping for. They think the Messiah is going to be a king who will establish his reign in Jerusalem and will extend the kingdom of Israel, not just back to its glory days, but maybe more than it's ever been before. That's what they're hoping for. Right now, the Jews are under the rule of the Romans. Maybe they're hoping Jesus is going to overthrow the Romans. So maybe they're hoping for a political victory to get out of other people ruling them. Maybe they're hoping for a military victory to really become their own nation again. Maybe they're hoping for an economic victory, because, you know, the Romans are taxing them and oppressing them. And wouldn't it be great to get the Roman taxes and the traders who take those taxes out of here so we could use our money for our own well-being here in Israel. So, they're thinking of all the benefits that could come from a king.
Now, here's what you need to understand about their idea that Jesus is a king in the line of David who will reign in Jerusalem. They're not wrong. That's what you need to understand. There are a lot of prophecies that talk about a king coming in the line of David and reigning in Jerusalem. And they know some of these prophecies. This actually is an act of faith for them to be thinking that Jesus is the King and that he would establish the kingdom of David all over again. So, they're not wrong. It's just the wrong time. See, we can look at it from our perspective, and we know that's not why Jesus came on that Good Friday long ago. That's not why he came the first time. We understand that, but they were expecting him to be king right then and there. And so, we're going to talk more about their expectation, not wrong, just the wrong time. And if you come back on Saturday night or on Easter Sunday morning, the king is coming. And we're going to dive into what that means, but I want to now look at it from our perspective.
Okay, if you and I were to shout Hosanna here and now, what should we expect? Jesus, what does that mean? Save us now. Should we be hoping for some kind of political or economic, or even some kind of health. Victory in Jesus, some prosperity. Victory in Jesus is Jesus saving us now, going to make our physical life right now better? Is that what we should be calling out for when we say, Hosanna? How should you and I think about it. Go with me to mark 15. Turn back to what we read earlier, what we're here to remember today, the crucifixion of Jesus. And look at verse 29 the passerbys, the people who are observing Jesus nailed there to the cross. So when it says they crucified him, let's remind ourselves of what that means. They nailed his hands and his feet to the cross, and you can imagine how painful that would be to be held up there just by nails, nails that are just pounded into your nerves, sending pain going through your body. Remember, Jesus has already been beaten up before he got nailed to the cross, they've already pounded that crown of thorns into his skull, so Jesus has already been through it physically. Now he's up here on the cross. And if you've ever heard how people die on the cross, it's because they can't get enough air to breathe. It's because when you're on the cross, your body, your lungs, kind of sink in on themselves. And so, you have to actually push yourself up to get air. You have to push yourself up with your legs on the wood to keep breathing. And eventually you get so weary and worn down that you can't push yourself up to get a breath. And so, you actually die by not being able to breathe. It's a way to torture people before they die, and as Jesus is going through this intense amount of physical pain, this is what people are saying when they pass by. Those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, aha, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself and come down from the cross.” So maybe you've heard that line before, “Destroy this temple, and in three days, I will raise it up.” That's from John, chapter 2. And Jesus wasn't talking about the temple there in Jerusalem. What Temple was Jesus talking about, everybody? His body. He was saying, go ahead and kill me, and on the third day I will rise, which is exactly what ends up happening, and what we'll be celebrating all weekend long, that on the third day he is risen. That's what we're here to celebrate this weekend, but now they're mocking him for saying that, because they don't understand what's really happening and notice what they say. “Save yourself. Come down.” See they're thinking the way that people naturally think, self-preservation. Oh, Jesus, if you really want to be saved, you should save yourself. In fact, look what the mockers say in verse 31 and these are the religious leaders of the Jews, the chief priests with the scribes. You can hear them, almost in their snooty voices, mocking him to one another, saying, “He saved others, but he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe, which is not true. They're not really thinking if he came down, they would see and believe.
They're just mocking him. And notice what they say. “Let's think it through. He saved others.” Now, what do they mean by Jesus saved others. Are they referring to his miraculous healings? Are they referring to how he cast demons out of many people and rescued them from that darkness? Are they referring to even maybe recently, the word spreading throughout the city that he raised his friend, Lazarus from the dead. See what they mean by “saved” is he kept people alive. He should keep himself alive, just like he helped other people stay alive. Is that really what we should ask Jesus to do is just keep us alive? Because that's kind of the motto of the human race, survival of the fittest. For many people, their goal is to live and to live as long as they can and to live as well as they can. And it's really if you break it down, how long can I be saved? And what they mean by that is, how long can I stay alive? That's what these people are thinking, saved means is that what you and I should be thinking saved means is the goal of life, to stay alive and to live as long as you possibly can. Is that really the point? Because I bet a lot of people when they thought they were going to die, and maybe this has happened to many of us here at this service, when we think we're going to die, we might call on God to what, to save us, to keep us alive. In fact, I bet some of you could tell amazing stories of how you thought you were going to die, and God did preserve your life. He did keep you alive. People have cried that out when they were in accidents. People have cried that out when they were in the hospital. And God has blessed many people by preserving their physical life. In fact, it's almost natural for people to cry out, even people who don't believe in God, when they're nearing death, it's like they call out on God to save them. When people are overwhelmed with this dangerous or disturbing experience, it's very natural to hear people say, oh, my, who? And they don't even believe in God, but yet they're calling on him now because they're afraid of dying because they're not sure what's going to happen if they die. That's not the goal is they want to preserve their life, not lose their life. And so, they would say, God, save me. Even if they've never prayed to God before, they might pray it then, just because they want to stay alive and see Jesus.
He's not thinking this way. Jesus is not interested in self-preservation. Jesus is interested in soul-preservation. Jesus is dying to save others, not himself. He has a radically different way of thinking than what everybody else is saying around him as he's dying. The exact reason that Jesus stayed up on that cross is you. He wanted to die for your soul, to pay for your sin, to take your place, to suffer the wrath of your judgment. Jesus, unlike us, his first priority wasn't to save himself. His first priority was to save us. Can I get an amen from anybody on that?
See, what do we mean by save? Look at this verse, Colossians 2:14-15. This is what it means. He canceled the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands, this he set aside nailing it to the cross. What did Jesus die for? He died for our sins, and our sins before God, where we fell short of God's glory, where we missed the mark. God has a standard of righteousness. We didn't obey God's standard. In fact, we transgressed. We crossed the line to do things that we knew were wrong. We committed iniquity before a holy God, and because of that, the wages of our sin is death, and we deserve to be judged, and we had this payment that we couldn't repay, and Jesus canceled that payment. He saved us from our sins. In fact, not only did he pay for our sins, look at what he did. He disarmed the rulers and authorities, Satan and the demons. He disarmed them. He put them to open shame by triumphing over them. His death actually defeated the power of death. It actually paid for the sin that Satan was so happy he had deceived Eve into. Well, now that sin has been paid for. Now death has been defeated. Now all of God's righteous judgment, it's been satisfied when Jesus died on the cross.
Now let's get this down for now, the reason we should shout Hosanna here today is Jesus came to save us from sin. This is what we need salvation from. We need to know that the record of our debt of sin has been canceled. It's been nailed to the cross. It's been paid in full, and we don't have to be afraid of death, because when we die, we won't be judged for our sin. Jesus was already judged for our sin. When we die, we will be with him in glory, and we will get to see the one who came and sacrificed himself for us, not believing in self-preservation, but believing in the saving of our soul. Go with me to John, chapter 12. Look at what Jesus himself said. I need everybody, if you've got a Bible, turn to John, chapter 12, because we've heard what the haters said. We've heard what the mockers were saying. Let's see what Jesus said about this idea of why didn't he save himself on the cross? Let's hear what he says here in John 12:27. John 1227, Jesus says, “Now is my soul troubled,” and I just want to linger there on Good Friday. I just want to take a moment to think about how hard it was for Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. It's a good news for us that he did die for us. But can everybody here just take a moment to realize Jesus is saying, this is troubling to me. This is heavy for Jesus. This is weighty for Jesus. Okay, knowing you're going to die, it's not like because Jesus was the Son of God. This was easy. Jesus is definitely the Son of God. But he put on flesh. He became human. And the idea of death, and not just death, not just all the physical pain that he went through, which is kind of beyond anything I could imagine. It's the actual bearing of God's wrath. It's the taking of our punishment. It's actual judgment that was placed on Jesus in our place. And he says, “My soul is troubled.”
Just because Jesus was willing does not mean it was easy for Jesus. I think a lot of times we go over this too quickly, and Good Friday is the day for you to feel the weight of what Jesus went through for you. He said, “My soul is troubled.” And then he said this, “What shall I say, Father, save me from this hour? But for this purpose I have come to this hour, Father, glorify your name. Jesus was not motivated by his own self-interest. Jesus was motivated by the glory of God, and he wanted everyone to know how awesome our God is, how marvelous our God is, how wondrous our God is, that God loves to save sinners. He has a steadfast love even for his enemies. He enters into covenant with his enemies, and Jesus wanted everyone to know the God of love, the God also of justice, who cares so much about judging the guilty and doing what is right that he's going to sacrifice his one and only Son, whom he loves. Mercy and justice, grace and truth, love and faithfulness, they all meet at the cross of Jesus. Look at how much God loves you that he would send his Son. Look how serious God is about sin, that he would judge his Son. When you look at the cross of Jesus, you see the glory of God, and Jesus cared more about God's glory than himself. And the Father, he answers. Look, a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” And the crowd here, they're just like, whoa. What was that? Some heard it, and they said it was thunder. Others said an angel has spoken to him, and in verse 30, Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine.” Jesus says, Yeah, God spoke. So, you get to get your attention, and look what Jesus says in verse 31, now, this is why he came. “This is why he came to this hour to this time. Now is the judgment of this world. Now will the ruler of this world be cast out, and I, when I am lifted up from the earth will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die. That's a key phrase in the Gospel of John. When Jesus says, I am lifted up,” that's in the Gospel of John, how we're saying not that he's going to be highly exalted, how we might want the name of Jesus to be lifted up and be exalted in our hearts here in Huntington Beach. Lifted up here means lifted up on the cross, that everyone would be able to see him up there on the cross, dying for their sin, taking death in their place, bearing the wrath of God's judgment. Can you see that Jesus came to save us? Now, he says, is the judgment of this world. Now will Satan be defeated. When you shout, Hosanna, you want Jesus to save you from your sin, and this is the always principle that we can get from this. Jesus is lifted up as the savior of all. Notice how he puts that here. When I'm lifted up, I'll draw all people to myself, not just the Jews that were hoping for the kingdom of Israel. No, this is making disciples of all nations. This is the building of the church all over the world, to the ends of the earth. It doesn't matter what country you came from, what language you speak, it doesn't matter who you are. You can see Jesus lifted up, dying for your sin. You can believe in him, and you can be saved. Because Jesus did not save himself. He is able to save to the uttermost those who believe in him. He was lifted up so that all peoples would see and come even here, almost 2000 years later, Jesus is saving people here. People are starting to live radically different than how they lived before. Some of you have been transformed just because of Jesus, just because of what he did here. It's made a radical impact of transformation. The power of the gospel has been your salvation, and you are unrecognizable from who you used to be. You have been made new because Jesus saved you. And I don't know if you ever said Hosanna before, when you asked Jesus to save you, when you confessed your sins and you put your faith in Jesus. But some of you have already had a has Hosanna day before today, where Jesus saved you
Now, and there are some here today for whom this needs to be your Hosanna moment. You're still in your sins. Let's think that through. If you're still in your sins, well, the wages of sin is what? Death. And it's appointed for a man to die once, and after death comes what? So, if all that Jesus won, all that victory, where he took judgment, died and defeated sin, if you haven't believed in Jesus, then you still have to go through this sin that you're in will lead to death. And it's not just death, and then nothing happens. No, there's a second death. There's a spiritual death. There's this place of judgment where you don't get the common grace of God like everybody gets mercy every morning around here, everybody gets God's faithfulness. The sun comes up; the sun goes down. Everybody gets to experience life with some of the blessings of God. If you die in your sin, you go to a place where there are no blessings of God. That's still happening for those who don't cry out Hosanna, and they don't say, save me now, Jesus, get me out of this sin. If you're still in your sin, then death is coming. See, this was the great lie that Satan said. And a lot of people in Orange County believe this lie to this very day. This was the ultimate lie when Satan looked Eve in the eye and he said to her, in Genesis 3:4, “You surely will not die.” God had said, you eat the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, you're going to die. And Satan lies to your face, and he says, you can stay in denial. You don't have to think about death. Let's put those thoughts away. Let's not deal with the reality that every generation before us has all died. Give anybody long enough we're all going to die. No. Death is now the story of the human race, survival of the fittest. Clearly, no one has been fit enough to survive beyond the normal life span. No, there's one thing that happens to people, unless Jesus is coming back, it's going to happen to you. Death is only a matter of time. And a lot of people, they don't ever want to think about that. They're just in self-preservation mode. Just keep myself alive. Just enjoy the day. Just keep going. Never really dealing with the ultimate problem that faces every person, which is only a matter of time. There's already a number of days, and maybe it's many years from now, maybe it's just a few days more, but if you live to that certain day, you are going to die. This is the way that it's been; ever since there is the curse of sin, there has been death, and Satan would rather have you not thinking about that on a Good Friday like this one?
And I'm here to say, have you dealt with the reality that you're going to die and you're going to stand before God and face judgment for your sin? Because there's only one way out of not being judged for your sin, and it's Jesus being lifted up to draw you to himself, you have to see Jesus died for your sin, or you will die in your sin. And look what Jesus says. They're confused by this. Look at verse 34, they're like, Wait a minute. This doesn't sound like it goes with their expectation. The crowd answered him. We have heard from the law that the Christ, this Messiah, this Anointed One, this king, he remains forever. What do you mean you're going to die. We thought the Christ remained forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man? You see, people are this is not what they expected. They expected someone to come in the line of father Abraham, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed. Someone's going to come on the throne of King David, and on his throne, there will be a king who will reign forever, this Messiah, this Christ, who's going to be their glorious king. He's not going to die. He's going to win a different kind of victory. What are you talking about, Jesus? Death can't be the answer. And Jesus doesn't even address their expectations. He doesn't even explain it all to them. This is what Jesus says. He takes it out of the physical realm and into spiritual reality. Look at what Jesus says here in verse 35, “So Jesus said to them, ‘the light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going while you have the light, believe in the light that you may become sons of light or daughters of light, children of light, that you may be saved into a kingdom of light and the glory of God that will shine forever.” Because if you're in the dark, see Jesus, he doesn't explain it all to them. He actually takes it into well, you're either in the darkness or you're in the light, and the light is just here for a limited time, and while you can see Jesus lifted up in the light of his Father's glory, you should walk in the light.” You should follow Jesus. You should believe in him, put your faith in him today, walk in the light while you still have it, so that you could be one of the people of light, because those who are in the dark, if they really knew where they were going, if they really knew the judgment that awaited them? See those in the dark. They can't see how it really is. They can't see their sin. They can't see their need for Jesus. They don't know what they're walking into in the darkness. If you can see the light, you should believe in it while you still have time. Time is what we're all going to run out of eventually.
There was a man who came to our church, and he was introduced to me as before I even got his name, I think they told me he's terminal, as in, a doctor had told him he only had this long until he died, and I immediately felt like this was a very serious conversation, meeting Mr. Terminal and his friend came and introduced him to me, clearly hoping that I would share with him the good news that Jesus has already died for his sin and that he could be saved before he died. Now, let me just make it very clear to everybody at this service, we are all terminal. Can we all agree on that it is only a matter of time until we all die, and maybe you will be blessed with some kind of warning from a doctor, maybe you will be able to see that it's coming shortly before it actually comes. Maybe you'll have time to collect your thoughts or be with your loved ones, but we're not even all promised some kind of warning towards the end, most people living right now in Orange County are in denial that they are terminal, but it's only a matter of time for all of us. And so, I went over to this man's house, and I did my best to share the gospel with him, and he was very welcoming to me, very polite to me, and I shared with him how Jesus died for his sin, and Jesus rose again. And Jesus is the Christ, and I'm giving him the whole you should repent of your sin. Who knows how much time you have? You should believe. And I'm being friendly. I'm going through it with him, and he's like, you know what? This has been very nice, but I'm not going to believe any of this. Have a very good day. He says to me, and I leave, and I felt heavy like, oh no. Now, as the story went on, the man came to church a few times. In fact, one time I even saw the guy when we were out with our ice cream truck at the Seal Beach Pier. And I remember he ran up to me and he said, hey, I've got a question for you, sir, what is the gospel? And I realized he was using my lines on me, and he knew what the gospel was, and he knew he needed to repent of his sin, and he knew he needed to believe in Jesus, and he could explain it all to me. And I was like, wow, you got it? And he's like, yeah, but I'm not going to believe it. And so, as time went on, his health began to deteriorate, and his friend came up to me on one Sunday morning, and you could feel the weight on his French soldiers, and he said he doesn't have much time. And here's what I'm going to do, I'm going to go over to his house, and I'm going to tell him, you don't have much time left. What are you doing with your life? Man, you're wasting it. You're going to die. You're going to go to hell. I was like, that's not really the way we're supposed to go about this. You know, you don't just barge over into somebody. He didn't listen to me. He barged over into his friend's house, and he said, what are you doing? You don't even know how much time you've got. You're going to die in your sin. And he called me that night and he said, you won't believe this. He believed in Jesus. When I said those things to him, he changed his mind. I'm like, aAre you serious? He believed in Jesus today, when we were praying for him, I asked the whole church to pray this morning, and now he's believing in Jesus by the night. Are you serious? I was like, I don't know if I believe this. So, I went and found him in the hospital, and I said, I said, hey, what's going on? And he explained it to me how he had transferred his trust to Jesus and how he had believed and I was there in the hospital at Hope Newport when he breathed his last, and I prayed for him, along with his family, just what Jesus prayed when he died on the cross, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” I prayed that for this man, and when that man who was terminal came to our church, he knew he was going to die, and when he died, he knew he was going to live. And if you haven't dealt with the biggest problem you've got, which is your impending death, then you need to shout Hosanna, because you need Jesus to save you now, because you don't have this offer for forever, the light is shining. He's lifted up. He's on the cross, bleeding out for your sins, dying in your place, taking your judgment.
You should ask him to save you now, and hopefully you already have done that. Some of you, I know we're here to remember that Jesus saved us if you've had a Hosanna day in the past, but if you've never been saved from your sins, I wish I could be your friend, and I could come over to your house and I could say, What are you doing? You only have so much time. Can you see the light? You should walk in the light while you can, because you don't want to go the way of darkness. People who go that way, they don't know where they're going. You want to know where you're going to be with Jesus, the one who is our Hosanna, the one who can save us now. So, if you've never cried out Hosanna before, please come talk to me after the service, go talk to somebody at the easy up out there in the courtyard. Let It Be a Good Friday for you when you asked Jesus to save you from what he came to save you for, your sin. And we want to give everybody a chance to thank Jesus as we pray and sing one more song. So please pray with me.
Father in heaven, I just think of the people shouting at Jesus, save yourself. And I'm so glad Jesus didn't come to save himself. Father, we want to thank you all together that Jesus came to save sinners like us. He came to die in our place. He came to take the wrath for our sins. And so, we thank you. We remember what Jesus has done for us. And God, we see this picture of him coming in, lowly and humble on a donkey, and he knows that they're going to reject him. He knows by the end of the week, they're going to kill him. And here he is writing in, and even the people who are shouting Hosanna, they're thinking he's going to be king, and he's going to set up his reign in Jerusalem right then and there. It seems like very few people really understood what Jesus was doing in Jerusalem on that passion week. What he really came to save us from was our fundamental problem, going all the way back to the beginning in the Garden of Eden, when that snake slithered in and he told that lie that we won't die. And Adam and Eve ate the fruit you told them not to eat. And now we all sin, and now we all die, and after death comes judgment. Father, thank you that Jesus came in to solve that problem of sin and death and judgment, that He came to save us. And so, God, we want to remember Hosanna. We want to remember what Jesus came to save us from, and how he did it now, before it's too late. And I pray that this Easter, we will love Jesus afresh, that we will remember him anew, and we will think, I don't have to be afraid of dying because Jesus already died for me. I don't have to be afraid of getting judged for my sin because Jesus already took the wrath from me. God, I pray for those who don't know that Jesus has saved them, that they would sing along with us here today, Hosanna in the highest.