Matthew 2024

Our reading is, Psalm 22 verses 1 to 18 for the director of music to the tune of the dough of the morning, a Psalm of David.

My god. My god. Why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me? So far from my cries of anguish.

My god, I cry out by day, but you do not answer by night, but I find no rest. Yet you are enthroned as the holy 1. You are the 1 Israel praises. In you, our ancestors put their trust, they trusted, and you delivered them to you, they cried out and were saved. In you, they trusted, and were not put to shame.

But I am a worm and not a man scorned by everyone, despised by the people. All who see me mock me, they hurl insults, shaking their heads. He trusts in the lord, they say. Let the lord rescue him. Let him deliver him since he delights in him.

Yet you brought me out of the womb. You made me trust in you, even at my mother's breast, from birth I was cast on you, from my mother's womb, you have been my god. Do not be far from me. For trouble is near and there is no 1 to help. Many balls surround me, strong balls of bashan encircle me, roaring lions that tear their prey, open their mouths wide against me.

I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax. It has melted within me. My mouth is dried up like a pot shard, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You lay me in the dust of death.

Dogs surround me. A pack of villains encircles me. They pierce my hands and my feet. All my bones are on display. People stare and gloat over me.

They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment. Over to Pete. Well, we are looking at, Matthew chapter 27. So if you wanted to open that up, it'd be really good if you open it up in a physical bible, not not your phone, because it's I'm gonna I'm gonna move around and I'd quite like you to have a a physical bible if you'd like to do that. That would be helpful.

So Matthew chapter 27, we are in fact looking at. Let me pray. Father, help us now as we look at this this remarkable scene, and we pray that we would deeply understand it and be moved by it by your spirit and changed. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. Now I I wanna ask a really simple question really is what what do you see?

What do you actually see? And particularly when we think about the crucifixion scene, Now we've read this over the weeks many times, but what what what do you see when you when you think about or you look at look at the the whole crucifixion scene of the lord Jesus Christ? I I guess you see violence. It's definitely there. You see horror.

You see how brutal people can be to people. It's it's brutal what's what goes on in, Matthew chapter 27. But what what do you see? What do you see Not just there of what's going on and people around, but what about the 1 being crucified? What do you see there?

Do you see the creator and the sustainer of the world? Is that what you see when you look at this crucifixion? Do you see the life giver and the 1 who rules the world and the king of the universe and the 1 the Jews give the the title Messiah, which means anointed 1, the the son of god. Is that what you see when you're looking at this Cross, this massacre, this brutality that's going on. You see Jesus being mocked and ridiculed and beaten and whipped and made to carry a large beam of wood on the on his back already shredded up.

You see him being nailed on that, on that cross. And you see people hurling insults as he's dying on the cross. They're still doing it. There's no sympathy from anyone 1. And then you see his garments, the few things that he was given as a mockery in a min we're seeing a minute being gambled for.

What do you see? What do you see when you see that 1 on the cross? Is it a tragedy? It's a horror, well, it's obvious. Do you see just a sort of religious leader that's totally misunderstood?

It's a terrible act of of, of injustice going on. Is that what you see? Or do you see perhaps something more positive from it that we can learn from it from this historical event? You see someone who's having and carrying all this injustice, but he goes through it with great patience. Is that our lesson that we can have great patience?

Is that it? What do you see? And when we've got rid of all of those ideas, What do you see for you today? Is he largely irrelevant? It's a very sad historical event.

We quite like those stories. It's been told over and over again, and it moves us to some degree. But in the end, it's largely irrelevant. A very simple summary of the Christian faith. Back in the first century and today, it's very simple.

It's Jesus is lord. Jesus is lord. Or you could, substitute the word lord for king. Jesus is king. But is that what you see in this scene of the crucifixion?

I mean, he might inspire a few charities, but to talk about him as a real king as the ruler of the universe. I mean, come on. It doesn't make sense. And to be quite honest, I think I can make a better king of my life than he can. If this is what he is.

So what do you see? What do you see when you looked at the crucifixion? I'm sure you've seen those those things. There was 1 that came out about 10 years ago, and it was a major thing because it went right around the world and all the internet and stuff. And it was a woman in a striped dress.

Do you remember this 1? And it literally sort of, divided the world. Because when half the people looked at it, they saw this striped dress. They saw gold, white and gold. But the other half, when they looked at it, they saw blue and black.

I mean, I can't understand how it worked, I can't remember which 1 I saw, but I remember thinking the people that saw the other 1, they must be stupid. I mean, what's up with you? It's it's it's blue and black. It's not white and gold. Wouldn't you talking about.

And it's very frustrating, isn't it? When you try to say, no. No. You've got it wrong. You're miss seeing this.

I'm seeing this right. It's very frustrating when people see things differently. Have a look at these 2 pictures. Gonna come up, please? So the first 1, over is that sort of, little cartoon 1 is, is a is a is a cartoon from the third century.

That was actually chiseled in, but they've they've drawn it out, so what it looks like. And it's called it says, Alex Zaminos, worships his god, and they were mocking the cross. Because you've got a donkey headed person on the cross. So they saw this crucifixion as absolutely bizarre. You'd rather have a donkey on a cross than a god?

Alex Zaminos worships his god, and it was part of mocking Christianity in the early third century. This one's much more modern. It was on a on a magazine Christianity. And it's it's showing that those who believe in the old the old gods of of the north. You know, my god has a hammer.

Your god was nailed to a cross. Any question? It's just mocking the cross, isn't it? It see it sees it as a a waste of time. My god has a hammer.

He's strong. You turn those off now. Thanks. But they view Jesus as being mocked and it's ridiculous, isn't it? You might might remember right at the beginning of Matthew's Goss support.

It's a long time ago that I think we might have looked at these. Right at the beginning of Matthew's gospel, Jesus is in the wilderness. He's starting his ministry. So here, at the end of Matthew's gospel, he's ending his ministry, but right at the beginning of Matthew's gospel, He's starting his ministry in chapter 4, and he battles with the devil in the wilderness. This is how it goes.

After fasting for 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry. The tempter, that's Sater, that's Eve, who won the devil, the tempter came to him, and and said, if you are the son of god, tell these stones to become bread. If you're the son of god, if you're the anointed 1, if you're the king of god, It's absolutely ridiculous that a king with powers like that would be hungry. That he goes on. If you are the son of god, he said, throw yourself down for it is written, He will command the angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

If you are the son of god, if you're the anointed 1, if you're this great king from god, then he's absolutely ridiculous that you would hurt yourself or be hurt in any way. Then the evil 1 goes on. Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world. And their splendor, all this is, I will give you, he says. You bow down to me and worship me.

If you are the son of god, if you are the king, the anointed 1 of god, it's absolutely crazy. It's mad to think that such a powerful king of god would not have all the world's splendor. Now here we are in Matthew chapter 27, and verse 40, the second half. Come down from the cross. If you are the son of god, If you are this king, if you are the anointed, if you are the Messiah, the king of god, what the heck are you doing up there?

It makes no sense whatsoever. For god to be on a cross. You'd rather have a a donkey maybe yes, but god? So it looks like when you read Matthew Trach to 27 that these final hours, these final hours of the lord Jesus Christ, it's it's just impossible to even think of him being a king. It's just crazy.

It doesn't work. It doesn't fit. But here's the thing. In every detail, in this not looking like a king, we're shown exactly what a king he is. We need eyes to see.

We need eyes to see. Monte Python, the the the comedian group from years and years ago, very funny stuff, was brought up on that stuff. But, they did, a film called Life of Brian. You've probably heard of it. It's an extremely funny film in parts.

But the point of the film was that that Brian was an ordinary bloke who lived in Jerusalem, and, there was a sort of wrong case of identity they they thought he was the Messiah. And he was saying, I'm not the Messiah. And they they just oh, the Messiah would say he's not the Messiah. And it it goes on like this, and it's extremely funny. And there's a very, sort of amazing scene when all of the crowd are are seeking out Brian as the Messiah, and they come to his place, where he's living.

And they're saying, we want the Messiah, and his mother opens opens the window and says, what do you want? It's a bloke dressed up as a woman. It's quite funny. And someone's from the crowd says, are you a virgin? She says, how dare you?

What are you talking about? I think it goes on like that. But in the end, they say, Brian is the Messiah, and she says, no, he's not. But that's what the mother of the Messiah would say. So he's the Messiah, and then she said, this is what she says.

He's not the Messiah. He's just a naughty little boy. And that's what it looks like here. It's a very clever film in many ways. Look at this.

Let's have a look at these then. First of all, he's not the Messiah. He's wearing a crown of thorns. That's mockery. How could he be the king?

He's not the Messiah. He's wearing a crown of thorns. First 27 of chapter 27 of Matthew. Then the governors, then the governor's soldiers took Jesus into the pretirium and gathered the whole company of the soldiers around him. They stripped him, and they put a scarlet robe on him, and they twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head.

They put a staff in his right hand, and they knelt in front of him and mocked him. Hale king of the Jews, they said. They spat on him and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

It's a pantomime. He's not the Messiah. This is a mockery of a king. They're mocking him. It's a cruel mockery of army barracks that's going on here.

Oh, he's a king. Is he? Come on everybody. Gather around him. Look at verse 27.

Then, the governor's guards took, the, took Jesus into the potaria criterium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. Where's his royal robe? Verse 28. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. Where's his crown?

First 29, and then they twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. Where's his scepter? Kings have scepters first 29. They put a staff in his right hand, kneel before the king, Hail the king. It's a pantomime mockery.

He's not the king? It's so funny, isn't it? Look. I spit on him and he does nothing. Look.

I hit it him and he does nothing. Make sure that crown of thorns is really attached to his head, first 30. They spat on him and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. This is a pathetic man, the king of the Jews, who would want a king like this? The king of the Jews, that's a good 1, isn't it?

That's 1 way of looking at it. But look again. Take a breath. Go a bit slower. Looker closer and deeper.

Why is Matthew really writing this? Matthew knows and god knows, and Jesus knows, and he wants us to know that the words that they are using to mock Jesus, in fact, are telling the truth about him. He is the king of the Jews. The joke, if you can call it that, is on them. They think they're in complete control.

They think they can dismiss this bloke as a mock mock up king, a pantomime king. What they don't know is that although they are completely responsible for every 1 of their actions, There are actually only characters in a play that's already been written. God has said that this would happen. Psalm 22 verse 7, we read it. Listen.

All who see me mock me. They hear insults shaking their head. Psalm 22 verses 16 to 18. Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircle me. They pierce my hands and my feet All my bones are on display.

People stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes among them and cast locks for my garment. God had already written the scene. God is in control behind the scenes. They just don't see it.

They just don't see it. There's another bit of seeing here as well that we need to have. Jesus, right back in chapter 5, early on in his ministry in the sermon on the Mount, he explains what the kingdom of god is like and what members of the kingdom are like. Now listen to this. He says this.

You have heard that it was said eye for eye tooth for tooth, but I tell you, do not resist an evil person. He's talking about pit people of the kingdom. Do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well.

If anyone forces you to go 1 mile, go with them 2 miles. Give to the 1 who asks and do not turn away from the 1 who wants to borrow from you. That's how he describes people of the kingdom. Now what would the king of that kingdom look like? When he is mocked, and he is treated badly, and he is hit, and he is made to walk 2 miles with a cross on his back.

What would the king look like? The crown of thorns, you see, is a joke, but it proves that he is the king of this kingdom. And he's very different to any other king He is so different, the kind of kingdom he brings in. All of this proves that he's the king of the kingdom. He's not the Messiah, he's wearing a crown of thorns that absolutely shows he is the Messiah.

Secondly, he's not the Messiah. He's so weak. He's not the king. He's so weak. First 32.

As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. They came to a place called Golgotha, which means the place of the skull. There, they offered Jesus wine to drink mixed with gall, but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. When they had crucified him, they divided his clothes up by car lasting lots. And sitting down, they kept watch over him there.

Above his head, they placed the written charge against him. This is Jesus, the king of the Kings. They're powerful. They're not weak, but he's so weak. If you are the son of god, nothing will hurt you, will it?

If you are the son of god, you will be thirsty or hungry, will you? If you are this great king. If you are the son of god, no one's gonna take your property. If you are the son of god, why would you allow people to insult you? If you are the king, you do something about it, don't you?

Those condemned to be crucified had to had to carry the cross, but it's very clear that, Jesus is having difficulty. Do you see how weak he is? He's so weak. And where are his disciples? You're a king of a kingdom, and your followers are already cleared off.

They're not even helping you carry this beam of wood. We have to get a stranger to do that. What sort of king do you? This is a joke, isn't it? And then the soldiers knew that he would be thirsty through so much blood loss.

And so they give him a drink, and I think this whole thing is a mockery. Now there's a lot of questions about what the word goal means. It can mean all kinds of things. But I think what however way you take it, whether it is a is a thing to take away pain. I don't think it is that.

I think it's a mockery. It's it's comes from the word bile. It's like, it's all the spit that you put in. And I I I whichever way you take it, It's it's a joke, isn't it? This drink that they give him?

Because kings have expensive wine. They have it chilled to the right degree, and then in front of him. How can you have his goods divided up when he's the king? So it looks like he's a joke, but look a little have a deeper look. See if the colors change a little.

God said this would happen. Isaiah 53, you don't need to turn to it. Just listen. In the old testament years before Jesus. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him.

Nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering and familiar with pain, like 1 from whom people hide their faces. He was despised, and we held him in lower steen. And carry on in Isaiah 53, you see what happens. Therefore, I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils of the strong because he poured out his life unto death.

And was numbered with the transgressions for he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors. He's a king that dies for others to bring them into the splendor of his kingdom. In the end here, divide up the spoils. Most kings go for comfort, go for safety, for castles. He goes for pain and death.

Here's Paul in the new testament writing to Christians, 1 Corinthians, he says, for the foolishness of god is wiser than the wisdom, for than human wisdom, and the weakness of god is stronger than human strength. How do you see what's going on here? It looks weak, but actually. Paul writes again in 1 Corinthians, but god chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

Here he is again in the second book of Corinthians. That is why for Christ's sake, I delight in weakness, in insult, in hardship, in persecution, in difficulties for when I am weak, I am, then I am strong. God turns the whole thing upside down. His kingdom is so different to this world, and the way the world thinks and the way the world thinks a king should be. My third point.

He's not the Messiah. He's on a cross. Look at verse 38. 2 rebels were crucified with him. 1 on his right and 1 on his left.

Those who pass by hurled insults at him shaking their heads and saying, you who are going destroy the temple and build it in 3 days. Save yourself, come down from the cross if you are the son of god. In the same way, the chief priests and the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. He saved others, they said, but he can't save himself. He's the king of Israel.

Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in god. Let god rescue him now if he wants him. For he said I am the son of god in the same way. The rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

There's mockery, there's insults from everything. The passers by, the religious leaders, the blokes on the cross. Everybody's laughing and ridiculing I mean, it's ridiculous because the son of god, which means the anointed 1 of god, the Messiah, the king, king on the cross is mad. That's the place of curse. That's the place of torture.

Come down from the cross. If you are the son of god. Prove you're a son of god. You can't be staying up there if you are the son of sex. He saved others.

Come. Can't you save yourself? He's the king of Israel. Let him come down from the cross, and then we're believing him. We're believing him then because the son of god can't be someone on a cursed place like this, then we might believe in him.

He trusts in god. Let god rescue him. Where's god? Where's his god? He's the son of god?

Where's his father then? But take a closer look. Little deeper 1. Get your eyes changed. See the different colors.

Look at verse 39. Those who passed by insulted him, shaking their heads and saying You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in 3 days, save yourself. Come down from the cross if you're the son of god. Now just notice, these people are passing by. They're passing by.

It's very significant. They're passing by. They've obviously picked up some half truth about Jesus. They heard him talking about destroying the temple. Now the temple is the great building that they loved in the middle of Jerusalem, and it was the place where it was supposed to be that you came to know god.

That's where god was. It's a picture of where god was, and people went to the temple and you met with god. There. Looking at the cross, as they pass by, probably to the temple that's standing there. And you said you'd knock it down.

No. It's there. They're classic, passing by people, aren't they? This is a passing by comment. They don't really engage with the words of Jesus.

They just hear something, and they immediately draw conclusions. They don't look prop They don't listen properly. They don't gaze to see the color change. Because the temple Jesus is talking about is not so much that building over there. He said it was his body.

And his body is being torn down. And it's being torn down. This is the first part of of what he said would happen. It's being torn down so that it would rise again. And after the crucifixion, he'd rise again, and he is the temple.

He's the 1 that can bring you to god and god to you. He is the temple. And so he passes by a typical people that don't really listen or engage with what Jesus said. They're passing by, and they don't realize that they're witnessing the very event they're writing off. And people do this all the time, isn't it?

It's precisely by staying on the cross, by his body being broken and the temple being destroyed. It's precisely at that moment, that he'll open up the curtain for people to come to know god. The man who is utterly powerless is so powerful. He's so powerful. He's dealing with the very separation of man and god.

He's so powerful. In his love, he's taking the curse and bringing the bless to his enemies. This is the power of salvation. If he saved himself no 1 would be saved, but he so powerfully gives himself. Isaiah 53 again.

Listen, but he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds, we are healed. We live in a day where kings and authority people are powerful. They're powerful people, aren't they?

But Jesus is a different type of king. That's why it's so hard to see it. He has a completely different type of kingdom to this world, and he's a different type type of king. You want the true mark of of the king of god then it's the cross that you're looking at. And you won't understand that if you've got a worldly view of what a king is.

Again, Paul, in 1 Corinthians for the message of the cross is foolish this to those who are perishing. It's just stupid. It doesn't make sense. But to those who are being saved, it's the power of god. There on the cross is the power of salvation as he gives himself for others, fourth point.

He's not the Messiah. He's abandoned by god. Look at verse 45. From noon, until 3 in the afternoon, darkness came over all the land. About 3 in the afternoon, he cried out in a loud voice, Eloy, Eloy, Lamak Thani, which means my god, my god, why have you forsaken me?

When some of those standing there heard They said he's calling Elijah. Immediately, 1 of them rang and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and he offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to save him.

And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice he gave up his spirit, he's not the king, he's abandoned by god. He's crying out my god. My god. Of he's forsaken by god. He's not the king.

How can he be the son of god? How can this be? Doesn't make sense. They totally misquoted as well or misunderstood what Jesus was saying. Jesus was quoting Psalm 22.

We've just read it. My god, my god. He was quoting. They think he's calling for Elijah. They've got their they've they've got their scriptures so wrong.

And because they've got it wrong, they start saying, okay. Well, let's see if Elijah turns up, and they've got this whole sort of straw argument, that makes them happy in their unbelief because Elijah isn't gonna turn up. They've got they've got everything so wrong. When if they had read Psalm 22, they would have understood that the Psalm starts off with abandonment. My god, my god, I'm forsaken.

And if you carry through the Psalm and on beyond chapter verse 18 that we read, you'll see that that abandoned 1, is in the end the accepted 1 that in the end brings many people into the party of god, the kingdom of god. They just didn't understand. They couldn't get it. This is an abandoned 1 so that we could come to the party. Peter, 1 of the followers of Jesus wrote in his book, 1 Peter chapter 3, he says for it is better.

If it is god's will to suffer for doing good than for doing evil, for Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous to bring you to god. That's why he's suffering to bring you to god. Shory then. With all this evidence, He is the son of god. The king of god, the anointed of god, verse 51.

At that moment, the curtain of the temple was torn in 2 from top to bottom. The earth shook. The rocks split. The tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.

They came out of the tombs after Jesus resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people. When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, They were terrified and exclaimed. Surely, he was the son of god. It's not just 1 centurion that believed. The whole lot did.

And remember, they were the ones who stuck the thorn a crown of thorns on his head and beat the hell out of him. And remember they're the ones that rammed the nails in his hands. Now they've turned round. Their eyes have opened. They've seen the different colors.

They've understood the events. Darkness, curtains torn, dead people walking around. It's like a sort of zombie apocalypse movie going on here. It's an amazing thing. But the truth is that these events are only unbelievable if you don't understand who Jesus is.

And when you understand who he is and what he's done in his kingly way, they make complete sense. Here is the creator of the world. Become man dying on a cross. Well, you would expect it to go dark, wouldn't you? If it the creator of his world breathes his loss.

It goes dark. Here is the mocking of the world against the creator god who's come to save them. Whether you would expect some earthquakes going on, wouldn't you? If he's breathing his last. And it's not surprising that the temple that was a picture of people coming to god would just bust up.

The curtain would rip open. He's opened the way to god. If he is the son of god, and he's making the way for people like us to come into god's presence, then the curtain would rip. It's not surprising. Is it?

It's not surprising. If he's dealt with sin and death, and he rises again that people come out of the graves. Isn't it? It's not surprising. It's all evidence of who he is.

And so the soldiers say Surely. He's the son of god. They get it. He's the king of heaven. He's the Messiah.

The curtains opened up. People are alive. He's beaten hell and death. The cross is like his throne where he's ruled. Wow.

He can turn that around, to be the powerhouse of salvation. So I asked you at the beginning, I wanna ask you, how do you see Jesus? How do you sin? Is he the king of love? Dying in your place able to turn around the horrors of this world and your sin?

There's another question. Who are you in this passage? Who are you? You're you're a passerby. A vague interest.

I heard Jesus say something like this. I guess it must be something to do with that. Are you a misreader of the scriptures? We must be calling Elijah. You got it totally wrong.

You don't know your Bible enough. Are you a religious leader that's rejecting him? Are you someone smacking a crown of thorns on his head? Are you just hurling insults at him. Are you just a passerby walking past?

Oh, it's a sad event. I'm sure he said something about resurrection or something. It was rather rather sad, isn't it? This Jesus bloke, but I'm passing by. Next event's coming up.

How are you? And if you're a Christian, isn't it worth thinking these things through? The god is able to take something like the cross and use it as the place to prove that he's in control. Think what's happening in the world. Think what's happening in the world.

And we don't we don't understand everything, but there's violent stuff going on in the world. Is god able to move and use that? Yes. He used the cross. He used the cross.

It's amazing, isn't it? Christians in Iran have been praying lord. Please save us. Perhaps this is an answer to their prayer that a wicked man was killed. Whether you think it was a right thing to do or not, it's not the point.

God is in control. He moves people. He uses horrors to bring salvation. He's done it in the cross. So if we're Christians, we can have confidence that if he did this with the cross, and his king and his ruling, then he can do that in our lives.

But if you're not a Christian yet, if you're just looking on and wondering what all this is about, then ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes that you may see the truth about Jesus. That you wouldn't be a passerby, but you'd be someone who bows the knee to the king of salvation. Let's have a moment of quiet and Dean will take over. Heavenly father, we we give you praise, and we marvel at your wisdom and your power. Lord, we We praise you for, your plan that you, brought into effect through these events, through the most wicked event in history, lord, you have brought the greatest glory and the greatest good for us.

Well, you've shown your love for us in the most awesome way. In in the most awesome way, the awesome in the true sense of that word further help us to be like those centurions. Well, we don't wanna miss this. We don't want to be those who are hurling insults. We don't wanna be those who are misreading what's going on.

We wanna be those who say surely he was the son of god. So help us lord to respond in the right way. Help us to give our lives away for this. Help us to give our lives to praying for 3300000000.0 people in the world who have never heard this message. And some of us lord, you might even call to go out to tell them.

And if that seems like a big, a big thing, lord, we we pray that you would simply use us this week tomorrow morning. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. This week, lord, to to live out, what we say we believe and to speak out. Please give us a opportunities, lord, with the people in our classes, the people in our offices, the people on on our building sites, the pit the the mums that we mix with at the school gate and the dads, that our neighbors lord, our friends. We pray you would help us to be thinking about who we can invite to the passion for life event on Thursday.

Lord and as that as the same message of hope is held out to people We pray that there would be many that say surely he is the son of god. So please lord help us help us to be those people. We give you praise in Jesus name, amen.