Commentary on Calvary, Part 6

So let's pray together. Lord, we are grateful for today. We are grateful, Lord, because we have one more day to ascend Mount Calvary to study the cross of Christ and to look once again at the beauty and the majesty of Calvary. And today we pray that you'd open our hearts and minds, our ears, that we might be able to see and hear and understand the greatness of all of your beauty, that we might respond in a way that truly magnifies the name of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Pray in Jesus' name.

Amen. If you have your Bible, Luke chapter 23 is where we are at. Luke chapter 23, and we're going to ascend Calvary's mount one more day. I told you that we would spend six Sundays covering six hours on Calvary's cross, and today is that sixth Sunday. And as you climb the mountain with us this morning, we will rapidly descend that mountain as the people that were there descend that mountain and look at their response to Calvary's cross.

We are looking at Luke's commentary on Calvary. We have been looking forward to this since Luke chapter 1, verse number 1, when he told Theophilus that he was going to write to him those things that were all the exact truths pertaining to the Messiah, the Christ, the King of Kings. And so for nine years we have been looking forward to Calvary's cross, because everything about the cross is an ascent until you get to the cross. Then it becomes a descent as we move down off of Calvary's cross and move toward the second coming of Jesus Christ our Lord.

And so we have spent a lot of time studying the life of Christ, a lot of time looking at the last week of our Lord's life, over a year looking at five days. And some would say that just seems to be a little too much, a little too extreme to spend all that time looking at just five simple days. And we're not even done with day five yet. We still have to bury Jesus, but we can't do that till next Sunday. And then finally the Sunday after that we'll study the resurrection of Christ.

It will finally be a new week and we can get off the last week of our Lord's life. But yet there is so much we have not even begun to uncover. I'm reminded of the words of Martin Lloyd-Jones. He wrote a book called The Cross. If you don't have this book, it's a good book to get for your library. And having studied the cross in depth, he came to this conclusion. He said, during these 26 years in my Westminster pulpit, there have been times when in my utter folly I have wondered, or the devil has suggested to me, that there is nothing more for me to say that I have preached at all.

I thank God that I can now say that I feel I am only at the beginning of it. There is no end to this glorious message of the cross, for there is always something new and fresh and entrancing and moving and uplifting that one has never seen before. Through a study of the cross, he came to realize the beauty of Calvary and began to realize that he is yet to begin the message of the cross. There's so much there. Paul would say these words in Galatians chapter 6, verse number 14. He said, but may it never be that I should boast or glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul made it very clear that there is only one thing to glory in, one thing to boast in, one thing to praise, one thing to rejoice, one thing to exalt, and that is the cross of Christ. The cross of Christ. And as we have been on top of Calvary's mountain for the last five weeks, I would like to say that we have covered everything you need to know, but I can't say that with a clear conscience because we haven't. There's so much yet to uncover, for instance, concerning the predetermination of the cross.

We know everything about how it was predetermined in eternity past. Acts 2.23 tells us that this man was delivered up by the predetermined counsel and foreknowledge of God the Father. That just blows our mind to understand that God had this plan, this predetermined plan from eternity past. And then you move from the predetermination of the cross to look at the predictions concerning the cross.

Yes, we looked at the predictions of Christ in Luke's gospel and in some of them even in the Old Testament, but go back and begin to explore the Old Testament and see all the predictions centered around the coming Messiah and the cross. And yet there's also the perfections that surround the cross. Christ said, if I be lifted up, I will draw all men to me. The absolute perfect plan, and that leads us to the precision surrounding the cross. Everything about the cross was precise. Everything about the trial, everything about the denial, everything about the betrayal, everything was absolutely precise.

Everything about the room that was prepared, everything about the time element involved, it was the precision of the cross to realize that everything in life is on a precise time scale and nothing is outside the time element of the living God of the universe. And the precision of the cross explains to us more and more about the majesty and the beauty of Calvary. So you can talk about the predetermination of the cross, the predictions about the cross, the perfection of the cross, the provision of the cross.

How about the propitiation of the cross? 1 John chapter 2, he is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world. How about 1 John chapter 4 verse number 10, in this we know the love of God that he sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins, the propitiation of the cross, that it was the cross that satisfied the wrath of God. And we've talked to you about how the judgment of God came to Calvary on that day when all of a sudden it was light, and then it was dark.

It was dark for three hours, and there was an earthquake, and the rocks split in two, and the dead were raised, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. It was apocalyptic in nature because it was the judgment of God, but the judgment of God did not come upon sinners. The judgment of God came upon his son in the place of sinners, but one day it will come upon all sinners who do not appropriate the death of Christ on Calvary for them. Oh, there's also the provision of the cross, right? The provision.

How do you think we're clothed with the robes of righteousness? How are we provided with the righteousness of Christ? He became sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. We haven't even scratched the surface of the beauty and the glory of the cross. You can talk about the passion of the cross. You can talk about the persuasion of the cross. You can talk about the proclamation of the cross. You can talk about the preparation of the cross. You can talk about the power of the cross, but you can't talk about any of that without talking about the person who hung on the cross, Jesus Christ our Lord, and he is infinite, and you'll never be able to exhaust your study of the person of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Oh, we've spent six weeks on Calvary's mountain. We've spent over a year looking at the last week of our Lord's life. We've spent some nine years studying the life of Christ in Luke's gospel, but yet we have not even begun to understand the ministry and the message of the master of the universe. All that to say is that God's word is so incredibly beautiful, and we had the privilege of studying it. We had the privilege of examining it to understand our Lord and our God, and so we come once again to Luke chapter 23, and we're going to finally descend the mountain.

We're finally going to walk off Calvary's mount, that which was predetermined in eternity, Revelation 13 8, that which was pictured in prophecy, Genesis chapter 22, has been presented in all of its glory, in all of its majesty in Luke chapter 23, and we've had the opportunity to look at it and to look at the Savior as He died in your place and mine for our sins, that we might experience the glory of the cross.

The question comes, how do you respond to all that? What do you do with all that? I mean, we spent time looking at the crucifixion on the cross, and then we studied the cursing of the crowd, and then we saw the compassion of the Christ, and then we saw a conversion of the criminal, and then we saw the consummation of Calvary, and then we looked last week at the conversations that were spoken from the cross, and today we look at the consequences of Calvary's mount.

How do you respond? What do you do with what you've seen? What do you do with what you've heard? You know, I don't ever think you ought to come to church without a proper response, or without any response. There needs to be marching orders. There needs to be a response in your heart. If you go to church and you're not challenged to respond, you probably went to the wrong church. If you go to the church and you're not convicted enough to respond in a righteous way, then you probably went to the wrong church, or the preacher didn't give you the message of the Christ.

You need to be able to come to a point where you say, okay, these are the things I need to do. This is what needs to happen to me based on what I heard and what I saw, because I've come to see Christ, and you cannot see Christ and leave remaining the same. You can't. Nobody who ever saw the risen, glorified Christ, or no one who ever looked into the eyes of the Christ ever left the same again. So when you come and we open the scriptures and look at it with an unveiled face, beholding as is the glory of the Lord, the beauty of the Lord, the majesty of the Lord, then we leave with a decision to make.

The people on that day, the warriors, the witnesses, the women, the soldiers, the spectators, the saints, all made a decision, all had a response to the crucifixion. So the question for you today is, what is your response? So Luke 23, Luke chapter 23, verse number 47. Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he began praising God, saying, certainly this man was righteous, innocent, and all the multitudes who came together for this spectacle, when they observed what had happened, began to return, beating their breasts, and all his acquaintances, and the women who accompanied him from Galilee, were standing at a distance, seeing these things.

All three groups had a response. The first group, we're going to entitle the warriors, because in Matthew's gospel, not just the centurion, but the four soldiers that were with the centurion, had the exact same response.

So what were the warriors' response? Because they were true warriors, they were soldiers. And then there were the witnesses, the scores of people on Calvary, what was their response? And then there were the women, along with John, because John was the only disciple that was there, that we know of, because that's the only one recorded being there, but there were these women, what was their response? Once we understand their response, then we can deduce what our response should be. So, number one, the warriors.

The warriors were converted. The witnesses were convicted. And the women, although deeply and truly committed, were confused. That's your outline for this morning. Very simple, three points, but no poem. That was my joke for today. I thought it was pretty good. Every preacher has three points in a poem, no poem for me today. Okay, so here it is. First of all, the warriors, the warriors, they were converted.

Look what it says. Now, when the centurion saw what had happened, if you go to Matthew's account in Matthew chapter 27, it says these words, now the centurion and those who were with him, keeping guard over Jesus when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said in unison, truly this was the Son of God. These warriors, these men of action, these men that were involved in the whole ordeal, were all not only convinced, but they were converted. The question comes, what convinced them about the identity and the ministry of the one who hung on Calvary's tree?

Well, you have to go back to John 18 and realize that they were all a part of that Roman cohort that came to get Jesus early in the morning, okay? They came to get him early on Friday morning, very early in the morning, way before the sun ever came up, and they came with torches, and they came with lanterns, and they came with swords because they thought they would have to search for the king, search for the light of the world, and then fight the light of the world, but he came to them. He met them at the garden entrance and said, whom do you seek?

And they said, Jesus, the Nazarene, and these four men plus the centurion were all a part of the crowd that would fall over backwards. This would be their first encounter with Jesus of Nazareth.

They, of course, like everybody else, would get back up again, and they would arrest Jesus, and they would take him to the house of Annas, and then take him to the house of Caiaphas, and there would be two trials, and then they would take him to Pilate, and then they would take him to Herod, and then they would take him back to Pilate again, and this Roman centurion would be in charge of Jesus, and those four soldiers that were with him, the ones that would divide the garments of the Messiah among themselves, they were all part and parcel to being with Jesus every step of the way.

Never was he out of their sight. Never would they leave him alone. They would always be there with him. That would mean they would see and observe everything. That means they would hear everything. That means they would hear on six different occasions that Jesus was an innocent man, that Jesus was a righteous man, and on this occasion, this centurion along with these soldiers would give the seventh affirmation that Jesus was a righteous man, not just an innocent man. That means that he was a man who could not be proven guilty, but that he was a righteous man, that everything he did was pure and holy and never tainted with sin.

How did they know that? Well, they observed everything he went through. They scourged him with no response. They beat him with no response. They played the king's game with him. No response. And they saw a prisoner respond like no other prisoner they had ever encountered. They observed the Messiah of Israel. There would be a placard that would be put on the top of the cross, Jesus of Nazareth, king of the Jews, and they would be a part of nailing that placard to the cross so they would know what it said, and they would know about the abuse and the mockings that would come from the crowd because they would join in with the mocking, with the cursing from the crowd, and they would mock Jesus as Messiah.

They would mock Jesus as God. They would mock him along with everybody else. So they were involved in the whole sinful, blasphemous process, and they were in Pilate's judgment hall, and they would hear those words of Jesus when Pilate said to him, Are you the king of the Jews? Jesus answered, Are you saying this on your own initiative or did others tell you about me? Pilate answered, I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priest delivered you up to me. What have you done? Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world.

If my kingdom were of this world, then my servants would be fighting that I might not be delivered up to the Jews, but as it is, my kingdom is not of this realm. They would be listening to all this. Pilate therefore said to him, So you are a king. Jesus answered, You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world. Speaking of his pre-existence, speaking of his eternality. So not only would they hear about his royalty, and not only would they hear about his eternality, but they would also hear about his deity.

Because later on in John chapter 19, the Pharisees would say to Pilate, he makes this claim that he is the Son of God. Where would they hear that from? How would the centurion ever say truly this was the Son of God? How would he know that unless he had observed and heard over the last few hours everything that had taken place? The Spirit of God had been working on this man. The Spirit of God had been working on these soldiers that they would somehow come to grips with the reality of his royalty, the reality of his majesty, the reality of his deity, the reality of his purity.

Everything essential for coming to saving faith, they would hear, they would see, and they would begin to comprehend. And all of a sudden the Spirit of God would work on their hearts in a magnificent way. Not to put aside the fact that they were there when everything became dark, pitch black. It was sunny, it was bright, it was glorious. All of a sudden, bang, everything became black, pitch black. Nobody could see anything for three hours. And then, bang, it was light again. They became frightened like everybody else became frightened.

There was an earthquake. The rocks split in two. They were certainly frightened, certainly frightened. They had seen it all, and they had heard it all. He says, truly, truly. Wow, that's a word of affirmation. This is truth. He affirms the deity of Christ. Truly, this was the Son of God. And remember we told you the word weos is a word that speaks of of equality. It speaks of position. It never, ever, ever, ever. Let me say it one more time.

It never, ever, ever, ever speaks of origin. It speaks of equality in nature and essence. He is affirming that Jesus is the Son of God. He is equal in nature to God. He heard what Jesus said from the cross. Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit. He truly came to understand that what the Pharisees accused him of was absolutely true. For truly, I say to you, this man was the Son of God. Certainly, another word of affirmation. I know for certain, certainly this man was righteous.

He was pure. He was holy. I witnessed everything. I saw everything. I heard everything. This man is righteous. And it says they were praising God. They were glorifying God. They honored God. The warriors, they were converted. They were the first Gentile converts after the death of Jesus.

Now, we know there were Gentile converts during the ministry of Jesus. And we know that there was a thief that came to Christ, while he was hanging on the cross with Jesus. But these Roman soldiers, these guys are pagan Gentiles. And they came to saving faith. Upon the death of Jesus Christ, our Lord, they realized something about him that most never understand. He is the Son of God. He is righteous, spotless, blameless. He is the King of the Jews, just like he said. His kingdom is not of this world.

And he told the thief that he would be with him in his kingdom in paradise upon his death. He knew that. So did the soldiers. And they praised and glorified God. They put him on display. This is the beauty of Calvary. They gave their life to Christ. Remember what Simeon said. Way back in Luke chapter 2, in his arms, he held the Son of God. He said, For my eyes have seen the salvation which thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light of revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people is real.

Yeah. And even on Calvary's mount, these pagan warriors realized his royalty, realized his deity, realized his purity. They realized the glory and beauty of the Son of God. And they were converted. You have been studying the life of Christ for many years. What's your response? All the evidence has been given. Luke tells us he writes because he wants you to know the exact truth about Jesus Christ. And that exact truth has been given to you. What is your response? Have you given your life to Christ?

Have you been converted? Have you been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb? The next group are the witnesses. While the warriors were converted, the witnesses were convicted. Convicted. Look at what it says.

And all the multitude who came together for this spectacle, when they observed what had happened, began to return, beating their breasts. And all this acquaintance, I'm sorry, beating their breasts, they left. And beating the is symbolic of grief. It's symbolic of mourning. It's symbolic of a conviction that has happened. There was no conversion on their part, but there was a conviction on their part. Remember, they were stunned into silence for three hours. For three hours, the first three hours, they were mocking the Messiah.

They were blaspheming the Messiah. They were speaking against the Messiah. They said every vile, evil thing they could say about Him. But when the sun became dark and the presence of God and His judgment came to Calvary that day, every Jew who knew the Old Testament knew that God had showed up in Calvary, and there was no word spoken for three hours. It was complete and utter silence. They couldn't move off the mountain because it was too dark. They could not see. So they stayed put. They never said a word.

They never said a word. And they leave. The sun comes out. The earthquake happens. The dead are raised. The veil and temple is torn in two. And they return home. They return. Some of them are going to go and involve themselves in the sacrifice in the temple for the atonement of sins. And they have yet to realize what they're going to see is going to be utter chaos because the veil and the temple has been torn in two. They don't know that yet until they get there. And yet they leave beating on their breasts, beating and crying and mourning because they simply were convicted over all that had taken place.

They were not converted, but they would be. Not all of them, but they would be because through the convicting work of the Spirit of God, he was setting everything up for the day of Pentecost. And what would happen when those 3,000 souls were saved? Remember, that's 3,000 men and men only. It's not counting the women because they only counted the men in those days. It says in Acts chapter 2, these words, after Peter preached his sermon on the day of Pentecost, therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.

Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, brother, what shall we do? And Peter said to them, repent and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the Holy Spirit of God. Repent. See, on the mount they were remorseful. On the mount there was some regret, but there was no repentance. There was a challenge, but there was no change. There was a conviction, but no conversion. It would happen later on the day of Pentecost.

Not too long, but just a few weeks later, it would happen, and God would do a mighty work, and they would realize what had happened. What do we do? Peter says you got to repent of your sins. You got to repent of what you said, what you did. You got to repent of all that you are and give your life to Christ. You got to turn your life around, but the Spirit of God was working in them, working in them. Go back with me, if you would, to the warriors, right? Go back to the warriors. Remember when the centurion said, truly this is the Son of God?

Remember on Matthew chapter 16, when Christ said, who do men say that I am? Okay, who do you say that I am? And Peter said, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. You are the Son of God, and what did Jesus say to Peter? Flesh and blood did not reveal that to you. No human revealed that to you, but my Father in heaven has revealed that to you. How could the centurion, along with the soldiers, claim that Jesus was the Son of God? Only one way, and that is because the Father had revealed it to them.

That's the only way. No man can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Spirit of God, 1 Corinthians chapter 12. And the only way they would know that Jesus was the Son of God is because through that whole trial, through the whole process of the arrest, and the beatings, and the scourgings, and everything that Jesus said during those trials, and everything that Jesus did, all of that was used by the Spirit of God to work on these four warriors, these five warriors, that they would come to a place of repentance.

Because Jesus said in John 8, unless you believe that I am, I am what? I am the Lord God of Israel, the same God that spoke to Moses from the burning bush. Unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins. And to claim that Jesus is the Son of God is to say that Jesus is in essence the same as the living God, that He is God in the flesh, and they were converted. The Jews, the witnesses on that day, had not come to that conclusion yet. But they would, some of them would, for 3,000 of them would be saved on the day of Pentecost.

And they would repent, and they would give their life to the living God. The beauty and the majesty of Calvary's cross is so incredible. You see, you can come to church, and you can be convicted, but not do anything about it. Again, because a lot of people are, but yet never do anything about it. The grace and mercy of God allowed these witnesses to understand the truth of the gospel some weeks later at the day of Pentecost, and they had an opportunity to repent. You're here today, and you're convicted, and you leave without repenting.

You might not get another chance. This might be your only day. This might be your only opportunity. And today is a day of salvation, not tomorrow. Today is. And if you're here today, and you're convicted over who Jesus is and what He's done, and the Spirit of God is working on your heart, you need to act on that convicting work, and you need to repent of your sins. A godly sorrow that leads to repentance, not a worldly sorrow like they had. They had a worldly sorrow this day. Oh, they would beat upon the breast.

St. Fraser's use of the public in Luke chapter 18, when he beat upon his chest, he said, Oh, Lord, be merciful unto me, a sinner. Oh yeah, they knew that they were convicted. They knew that they were remorseful. There was much regret in what took place in their lives that day, but none of them would be redeemed in spite of that regret because there was no repentance on that day. But the grace of God, the mercy of God would come to them again and allow them to experience the convicting work of the Spirit of God, and they would act upon that conviction.

They would repent. And later in Acts chapter 5, 5,000 were added to the church because more of them were convicted, and they were converted because the Spirit of God worked in their hearts. What a precious testimony to the grace and mercy of God. So you have the warriors. They were converted. You have the witnesses. They were convicted. There was remorse. There was regret, but no repentance. But yet for some of them on the day of Pentecost, they would repent. What must we do to be saved? Peter says, Repent and believe the gospel.

Believe the truth about Jesus, the Messiah. You crucified your Messiah. They repented and were saved. And then you come to the women, the women. And although they were committed and there was nobody more committed to Jesus than these women. And God would reward them for their commitment on Resurrection Sunday by allowing them to be the first to see the resurrected Christ.

But they were deeply committed. And yet in spite of all that commitment, there was deep confusion over what had taken place. When those soldiers took that spear and thrust it into the side of Jesus. We didn't read about that in Luke. Read about that in John's gospel. But when they would take that spear and thrust it into the side of Jesus. Remember, they broke the legs of each thief, but not Jesus because he was already dead. And out came blood and water signifying that he was already dead. Okay.

Could you imagine what must have been going through Mary's mind when she saw that? Going back to what Simeon had said to her over 30 years ago, when he said these words, Blessed are you, Mary. Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and the rise of many in Israel and for a sign to be opposed and a sword will pierce even your own soul. Her soul was pierced deeply. This was her son, deeply grieve of the way he had been treated. But Simeon warned her in advance. He told her he will be a sign to be opposed and a spear will pierce even your own soul.

There will be a pain so deep in you, you can't even begin to fathom it. As that sword would go into the side of Jesus. I'm sure she was reminded of the words of Simeon. And the Bible tells us in Luke's gospel, Luke chapter 23, these words, all his acquaintances and the women who accompanied him from Galilee were standing at a distance, seeing these things. Matthew's account tells us this. It says, and many women were there looking on from a distance who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him, among whom was Mary Magdalene, along with Mary, the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

Mark's account tells us these words in Mark chapter 15. It tells us, and there were also some women looking on from a distance among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James, the less and Joses and Salome. And when he was in Galilee, they used to follow him and minister to him. And there were many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem. There they were. Now we know John was there because the second statement that Christ makes from the cross, he entrusts his mother to John and John to oversee his mother.

It was the word of provision. Remember we talked about that? He provided for his mother during her time of pain. That word of provision came out at that time. So we know that John was there, but no other disciple was there. But Mary, the mother of Jesus was there. Mary Magdalene was there. Mary, the mother of James and John were there. Salome was there. These women, according to Luke chapter eight, followed Jesus wherever he went and served him. They served him. What does that mean? They served Jesus and the apostles.

That means they would do things like laundry, fix meals, fetch whatever needed to be fetched to make their ministry easier. All they did was serve. Now I know it says that they stood at a distance. When Jesus made his word of provision for his mother, John and Mary were at the foot of the cross. But throughout all the mocking and all the blasphemy and all the crowds and their cursing, they slowly but surely began to make their way back. As the crowds would push their way forward to mock the Messiah, they would slowly make their way further and further away from the cross, always looking upon Jesus, always watching and observing what was taking place.

And they would move themselves further and further back. And then they too would be able to experience the darkness that enveloped the land and the earthquake that would take place. And they were all a part of that. And why they might have been at a distance physically, they were near spiritually. Because those that were near physically were at a far distance spiritually. And there they were, the committed ones, having to be confused over all that had taken place. This was their beloved Lord. They had witnessed so many miracles.

They had witnessed most all of his messages. They had seen and heard everything. And this is how he is treated. They stood at a distance, these women did, but deeply committed. Why? They were there because they were there to serve. They were there to serve in any way they could serve. Listen, it was just last night, Thursday night, that there arose an argument about who was going to be the greatest in the kingdom. Remember that? And Christ would take a slave's apron and he would begin to wash disciples' feet.

And he would help them understand these words in Luke chapter 22. He said, The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who have authority over them are called benefactors, but not so with you. But let him who is the greatest among you become as the youngest and the leader as the servant. For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves, as the one who serves. Listen, the best and most prominent servers in the ministry of Christ were these women.

They were the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. They weren't out for self-promotion. They weren't out for accolades. They weren't out for glory. They were there to serve, and they would not leave the Messiah because service was their frame of reference. Service was who they were, is what they were about. They understood themselves as slaves of God, and they would not leave their Messiah. They would not leave his side. In fact, it tells us that when Joseph of Arimathea would remove the body from the cross that Mary of Magdala, she was still there, and they observed.

We'll see this next week. They were still there, and they observed all that happened, and as soon as Jesus was taken down and he was buried, they knew that there were not enough perfumes. There were not enough to take care of him, so they would go home, and they would do some more because they were still in service mode, and they were going to come back on resurrection Sunday morning. They were going to come back on Sunday morning, and they were going to go and wonder who would remove the stone that they could get to their Messiah, and they could finish the anointing process only to realize that, lo and behold, he's not here.

He is risen just as he said, and because of their commitment, in spite of their confusion over what had taken place, God rewarded them with being the first to see and know of the resurrection of the Messiah.

Those who serve are the greatest in my kingdom, God says. They never ever forgot that. They lived that. Our response to Calvary's cross is only one thing. How can I serve my master, no matter what the circumstance, no matter what the situation? How can I be of service to him? Because in their eyes, it was all about Jesus. It was all about Jesus. It wasn't about them. It wasn't about their recognition. It wasn't about their approval ratings. It wasn't about how many people liked their Facebook posts.

It was all about Jesus. That's it. Folks, we got to be there. We need to be there in that same kind of commitment. Let me pray with you.

Father, we thank you for today. We thank you, Lord, for the opportunity you give us to study the Word of God. It truly goes beyond anything we can do. To study the truth about the God who is truth, about the God who speaks nothing but truth, is to help us to live in the light of that truth. My prayer today is that those here who are convicted would truly want to be converted, to be changed by the Spirit of God. And those here who have already made that commitment, that they would be totally consecrated to the service of their King.

That's our prayer. Make it happen, Jesus. In your name we pray. Amen.