Matthew 27:27-56 (#101.2024.10.06)

Scott Keffer [: 00:00:02

Hi. If you're looking for greater hope, assurance, and confidence through the shifting sands of life, then join me on today's episode as we dig deep into the bible to discover rock solid truth for life and living from the God of the bible. I'm your host, Scott Keffer. Hi, and welcome to today's episode. As always, for a deeper experience, you can go to the show notes and download the blank insight sheet. Fill in the blanks along with the group. Depending on how you're listening to this, there'll be a link to the episode website at beholdingbibletruth.com, and a sheet with the answers is included as well. Enjoy today's episode.

Scott Keffer [: 00:00:45

Well, it's good evangelicals who like to have the answer to all things. But the reality is the most significant things, the greatest and most profound truths in all of history are a mystery, for sure. That we can see glimpse some of the truth, but in the end, they are a mystery. So we're gonna look at the greatest mystery today. So stand with me if you will. I'm gonna read. Don't bring your Bible. Just listen.

Scott Keffer [: 00:01:11

Gonna read familiar passage. We're reading from Matthew 2727 beyond. And the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the praetorian. They gathered the whole Roman cohort around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. After twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head, a reed in his right hand, and they knelt down before him and mocked him, saying, hail, king of the Jews. They spat on him and took the reed and began to beat him on the head. Then they mocked him.

Scott Keffer [: 00:01:39

They took the scarlet robe, and they put on his own garments back on him, and they led him to crucify him. And they were coming out, and they found a man of Cyrene named Simon, whom they pressed into service to bear the cross. When they came to the place called Golgotha, which means place of the skull, they gave him wine to drink mixed with gall, and after tasting it, he was unwilling to drink. And when they had crucified him, they divided up his garments among themselves by casting lots, and sitting down, they began to keep watch over him there. Above his head, they put up the charge against him, which read, this is Jesus, king of the Jews. At that time, 2 robbers were crucified with him, 1 on the right hand and 1 on the left, and those passing by were hurling abuse at him, wagging their heads, and those passing by were saying, you who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in 3 days, save yourself. If you are the son of god, come down from the cross. In the same way, the chief priests along with the scribes and the elders were mocking him.

Scott Keffer [: 00:02:43

They were saying, he saved others. He cannot save himself. He's the king of the Jews. He's the king of Israel. Let him come down from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he delights in him, for he said, I am the son of God. The robbers who have been crucified with him were also insulting him with the same words.

Scott Keffer [: 00:03:06

Now from the 6th hour, darkness fell upon all the land until the 9th hour. About the 9th hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? Which is, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And some of those who were standing there, when they heard it, they began saying, this man is calling for Elijah. Immediately, one of them ran, and taking a sponge, he filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed and gave him to drink. But the rest of them said, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him. Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and he yielded up his spirit. Behold, the veil of the temple was torn in 2 from top to bottom, and the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs were open, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. And coming out of the tombs of his resurrection, they entered the holy city that appeared to many.

Scott Keffer [: 00:04:02

Now the centurion and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, they became very frightened and said, truly, this is the son of God, the word of the lord. Thanks be to god. So you've been a Christian for a while. There's nothing new in those verses. And as I was preparing for today, I said, lord, so what what do you do?

Roger [: 00:04:29

What do you do with this?

Scott Keffer [: 00:04:31

And then the lord began to remind me this is indeed a mystery that there's the idea that we would we would mind the depths of what happened in the midst and what was accomplished in the midst of this. There's lots of thoughts about that. And so I titled this the most glorious mystery in all of history, the most glorious mystery in all of history, the crucifixion. Crucifixion. I was actually unaware until I'm sure what it was a while ago in the midst of it that there's even that there's even, varying opinions about what Jesus accomplished on the cross depending on where you come in terms of your theology. But what I thought is we would take a look at what happened at the cross, what happened at the crucifixion. So scripture says very clearly that god did something in the midst of this, that he demonstrated. In other words, he made known.

Scott Keffer [: 00:05:35

He brought out into the open. He gave you an example, of of physical practical example. He demonstrated his love and not just his love, but his love toward us. It says, but god demonstrated his own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died. He demonstrates his love toward us at the cross. And, of course, then he's called me to beat the drum on forever and ever and ever is the great reminder that in all of this, right, god is doing something. He is displaying his sovereignty. He is displaying his sovereignty, which only is clear post crucifixion.

Scott Keffer [: 00:06:29

It's only is clear after. It's only clear what God is doing in Brianna's life after he does it. In the midst of it, you're thinking, we're lost. This we're doomed. This is this is the worst thing ever. And so he reminds us because he says in acts, this man delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God. These are powerful words which speak to the reality of what was going on. There's no surprise here.

Scott Keffer [: 00:07:01

There's no there's no, oops. What happened? Oh my. He said it's predetermined plan, the foreknowledge of God. He said, as a result, you delivered over this man. No. You nailed

Scott Keffer [: 00:07:12

to the cross. Who nailed him to the cross?

Scott Keffer [: 00:07:15

Godless men, and they put him to death. Who was it? Well, they took your holy servant Jesus whom you anointed, Harry, Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles, and the Jews. So who was it? The Syrian, Pontius Pilate, and the tribe. It was everyone.

Jack [: 00:07:33

And, of course, as

Scott Keffer [: 00:07:34

this unfolds, you begin to realize it was you and it was me. But there were specific characters in God's story, in God's history. In the fullness of time, God sent forth a son born of a woman, and that son would die on the cross. To do, he said, clearly, whatever your hand what's he say? Your hand and your Purpose. Purpose, your predetermined plan. You sketched it out. This was not a surprise. The blueprint was there from eternity past, and they carried it out.

Scott Keffer [: 00:08:07

Godless men. How does that work? I have no idea. I have no idea. Other all you can do is say it's true. How would you say that these godless men, all with their own agendas, all with their own purposes, evil intent, put Jesus Christ to death, but it was god's predetermined plan. How does that work? His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. His dominion endures throughout all generations. Who can war off his hand? No one.

Scott Keffer [: 00:08:37

Who can say to him, what has thou done? That's what he says in the old testament. Who can say that? So in the midst, we see they are doing whatever he had predetermined to happen with willful intent. How's that work? I do not know. But in this glorious mystery, god was going to accomplish the impossible. He was going to usher in and establish a new covenant. A new covenant that was promised from eternity was promised in the garden, and it only becomes clear what the new covenant is because of the old covenant that we understand it, but he established the new covenant. Jesus said it clearly. This is the new covenant in my blood.

Scott Keffer [: 00:09:24

He says, this is the new covenant, and this is the covenant that's in my blood. And I love this in Hebrews. He says he is the mediator of the new covenant. Why is that? When you die, what happens? Your will becomes a reality. If you have a will in place, your will becomes a reality. Your last will and testament, it becomes a reality. It does not it's a document that doesn't become a reality until you die. The death is required for your last will and testament to become reality.

Scott Keffer [: 00:10:02

It is then established. That's why he says in Hebrews, for where a covenant is, there must have necessity, underline it, be a death. There has to be a death. And the death of the one who Made it. Made it, who made the covenant. God made the covenant. God had to die to make the covenant a reality. His covenant became a reality when he died.

Scott Keffer [: 00:10:25

The the the covenant is valid only when men are dead. Aren't you glad he had his last will and testament up to to speed? Get updated. It it was the new covenant, and it's the new covenant in his blood. He says he was pierced through. We looked at this last week for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well-being fell upon him, and by his scourging, we are healed. So if you look at that wait a minute.

Scott Keffer [: 00:10:59

It's my transgressions, my iniquities, right, my well-being, and my healing. But it's his piercing his piercing, he was crushed, he was chastened, and he was scorched. Wait a minute. That doesn't seem fair, does it? That's not fair. The kids say to you, that's not fair. Does that seem fair? But he says that's it. Right? Here's what he did. Here's what we got.

Scott Keffer [: 00:11:31

Here's what he did. Here's what we got. Jesus took our place. Jesus took our place, which baffles the idea. Well, how is that justice? That the just would die for the unjust, and he atone for our sins. He atone to me. Paid yeah. He paid.

Scott Keffer [: 00:11:53

He paid rice. He paid. Right? The scripture says he is the propitiation. He is the appeasement. He he paid the invoice in full. It is finished. It's paid in full. He paid it on my behalf.

Scott Keffer [: 00:12:11

He took my place and he paid it, and he atoned for my sins, my transgressions, my iniquities. And he says that as a result of that, we were redeemed knowing that you are not redeemed with perishable things. He didn't redeem you with gold or silver. In other words, he had to ransom us. He had to pay for us. He didn't pay for us with that which fades away. He paid for us, right, instead with precious blood precious blood. That's what I mean, worthy blood.

Scott Keffer [: 00:12:46

Blood that doesn't fade away. But with precious blood as of the lamb, unblemished and spotless, the blood, Christ, blood of Christ. So we were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. And as a result, we are redeemed from the the curse. We're redeemed from the curse of the law. We are we were cursed. And instead of me receiving the curse, he received it. Because scripture says, cursed is the man who hangs on the decree.

Scott Keffer [: 00:13:21

He took my curse. He took my curse. And it says so that in Galatians, he might redeem there it is. We're redeemed under the law. And there's a so that beyond that. So so that always is an important phrase to me. It's a point. It's an arrow pointing, and it's pointing up to a top priority.

Scott Keffer [: 00:13:43

And it says, so he redeemed us, but that wasn't the top priority. The top priority was that we might receive. What did we receive? Adoption as Sons. Sons. Remember, again, this isn't a gender thing. This is a privilege. This is a position. This is an inheritance thing.

Scott Keffer [: 00:14:04

This is as a son, as in the firstborn, as in the place of privilege, place of favor, the place of receiving the inheritance, all the privileges that go along with it, that you might So he redeemed you just not to redeem you from the curse of the law, but that you might be adopted. Your sons, stop for a minute and think. You're sons of god. Not male, female, but sons of god in that position, in a favored position. So the father says, this is my son in whom I'm well pleased. This is my son in whom I'm well pleased. The lord said to my lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool. He's at the right hand of the father.

Scott Keffer [: 00:14:49

He's in the place of position, the place of privilege, the place of authority. We are now sons in him. So he says he sends forth his spirit, the spirit of his sons, into our hearts so that we can say what? Abba father. Abba father. Right? And to know that we are son of the most high. Therefore, you are no longer a slave, but a son. And, oh, by the way, if you are a son, when the new covenant occurred, the new testament occurred, right, when the death occurred, just like your will will send forth an inheritance, there was an inheritance sent forth, and we're now heirs of that document in Christ. We get that? We're now heirs in Christ.

Scott Keffer [: 00:15:38

So in the reading of the will, they're gonna say this is what you got. Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Or is it not they're gonna say, well, wait a minute. Included me? No. Me? Every spiritual blessing? But is that right? Did you read that again? Yeah. Let me read forth the names because your name was written in the book of life before the foundation of the world. And you read your name and you wait to hear it, and he speaks your name. And you're in you're in.

Scott Keffer [: 00:16:11

You're in the inheritance because you're in Christ. He says you are an heir. You are an heir. And as a result of that, in order to make that happen, something significant happened to happen. In Romans 5, he says, while you were enemies so he says, wait a minute. Remember who you were. You were an enemy. No.

Scott Keffer [: 00:16:33

I wasn't really that bad. I mean, there were a lot there's bad people, but I'm not that bad. And you talk with people who don't know, and they say, well, I'm not that don't know Christ. I'm not that bad. Right? They're really bad. Those people are really bad, but I'm not so bad. And then as Christianity, you think, well, I wasn't too bad. No.

Scott Keffer [: 00:16:50

He says you were an enemy. It wasn't like you weren't friends. No. You were an enemy of God. So something had to happen. How do you go from enemy to son? You had to change your relationship. So he said, while you were an enemy with no right, no privileges, no thing to cry out for mercy, no basis upon which to ask for anything, you're an enemy. He said, while you're an enemy, something had to change.

Scott Keffer [: 00:17:18

That's what reconcile means. Reconcile means to change the fundamental nature of your relationship with God. You were reconciled to God. You were reconciled. Your nature of your relationship with him changed. You went from an enemy to one who is now at peace with God. At peace. He said now in Christ, you who were formerly and this was not only you're at peace, but if you were a Jew, you might say maybe.

Scott Keffer [: 00:17:51

But if you're a gentile, no way. But he said, what were you? Far off. Like, way far off. Not in not in in in the picture. You've been brought near. How'd you bring it near? Through the blood of Christ. Blood of Christ. For he is our it sees.

Scott Keffer [: 00:18:16

He is our peace. You're at peace with God. You're at peace. We want more peace in your life. You just wanna be at peace. No. You wanna be at peace with God. You don't need peace in your life.

Scott Keffer [: 00:18:25

You need to be at peace with God. If you're a peace of God, you can have peace in your life. Since you're a peace with God, because your fundamental nature of your relationship with God has been changed. In him, we have redemption through his blood. We are redeemed. We are ransomed. What's that mean to be ransomed? Bought back.

Roger [: 00:18:47

We were

Scott Keffer [: 00:18:48

bought back. It literally means to be bought. We're bought and paid for. And as a result to that, we're forgiven. We are forgiven. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. In the old testament, it was very clear. They gave a sense this is how it occurs.

Scott Keffer [: 00:19:05

Sins were put upon the animal that was sent out. Right? Sent out that that a sacrifice had to be made. The the sins were put on to the animal and sent away. Right? They were sent away. That's the remission of sin, the forgiveness of sin, the once and for all that occurred through Christ. On a daily basis, the quality of our relationship, how we get forgiven of sin. We confess it. That's the quality of our relationship, but the core forgiveness is done.

Scott Keffer [: 00:19:37

The remission of it's done by the blood of Christ. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness, no remission, the the sacrifice once and for all. And therefore, we have been justified by faith. Justified. Justified and declared righteous. What? How many times do you wake up and cry out and say that's not right. That's not right. That I would be justified and declared righteous.

Scott Keffer [: 00:20:13

That the righteousness of Christ is now mine. Is that fair? Is that just? Like, some cry out, how can that be? How can God, who is just, how can he do that? Take the unjust and give them the righteousness of the just one. It doesn't seem fair, does it? It doesn't seem right. All I can know it is true. It's indeed a mystery. He is our sanctification, our righteousness, our justification, our sanctification says in 1st Corinthians, he is our he is a he's everything. He's everything. He's all holy smokes.

Scott Keffer [: 00:20:51

He made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf. To be literally, it means to be the sin offering on our behalf. So he knew no sin. The there in him is light. There's no darkness at all in him, and he became our sin offering. Just blow your mind. I hope so. Afresh.

Scott Keffer [: 00:21:12

Let's say, what? There is a so that there. There's a priority. There's there's an arrow that points up so that we might become the righteousness of god in him. What? We're justified and declared righteous. And he says that we are perfected, brought to completion, and we are brought to completion or perfected for All what? All time. Not some time, for a short time, but for all time. Begun before the foundation of the earth. The switch, if you will, in human history was when you came to him, if you will, but it was set forward before the foundation of the earth, and it will be completed on the day he calls you home.

Scott Keffer [: 00:21:59

Either this day, Jack, or that day. It's either the day that he calls me home or he calls us home, depending on where you're in history. I don't know. Or by and this is the point. Or by one offering. So he's saying the the priest had to come continually because it was inefficient and ineffective. All those offerings we're doing were pointing to the one offering, which would be once for all. That's why it says, and then he sat down.

Scott Keffer [: 00:22:33

And the only way a priest can sit down is they can't. The high priest could never sit down because it was never done. So that if they they had a they had a rope on him and a bell. And if the bell stopped ringing, that mean he died. So they pull him out of it. They pull him out of the holy ghost. But Jesus sat down for by one offering, he has perfected for all time. Well, that doesn't seem right.

Scott Keffer [: 00:22:59

And as a result, we are being sanctified. So the perfected for all time is done once and for all, but being sanctified is the process we're in currently. One of the things that my dad growing up was climbing the corporate ladder. So he was, for a time, he worked in the steel industry. He was in sales for steel, so he was gone all week long. He'd leave on Sunday night. He'd come back Friday night, and then he'd be tied up all weekend playing golf. Then he'd leave on Sunday night, come back on Friday night, and on the weekend, he'd play golf or sleep.

Scott Keffer [: 00:23:33

So I never really connected with him. And then as he got higher up in the corporation, he was just gone all week. Right? And then he was just not there. And I remember when the kids were young, I Beth and I said, you know, as best we can, wherever I am, whatever I'm doing, the kids will have access to me. And then I had to I had to physically when I got him on the phone or something, I had to turn away from the desk or get up and move. Otherwise, I'd be distracted. And you know when you're talking to somebody and they're not there, don't you? And they're kinda distracted. Now we do this with text and, you know, you think, what did they say? Well, I don't know what they said.

Scott Keffer [: 00:24:12

They're type of things and they're type of thing. Right? So this this idea of really engaged access is something that everybody wants, but you rarely get. Isn't that true? Yep. The scripture says we have forever intimate, open access to the lord god. Anytime, any place, full attention of our god. We have forever access to god. And forever access to me means he knows my stuff. Right? He knows my stuff.

Scott Keffer [: 00:24:49

When I come and confess my sins, it's not like I'm I'm informing him. Right? It's not when I'm at when I confess, it's not like I have to tell him how long it's been since I confessed. It's not like I have to say what I'm right? I'm not confessing for him. He already knows. I'm not telling him what I'm worried about. I'm not telling him about how I disobey. I I mean, I'm just being open and honest. It says scripture said before him whom all things are laid bare.

Scott Keffer [: 00:25:14

He just knows. But he says, in in order for you to come before me like that, you need to have full confidence in your relationship with me. Right? You need to be fully confident that when you come before me, there's no condemnation. I'm not confessing to avoid condemnation. I'm confessing to unburden myself and to get, right, to get mercy and grace from god, to come near to the throne, to come near to the spring of life, to come near to the only one who can wash away my guilt, the only one who can disempower the power of sin in my life, the only one who can free me, and give me peace in my soul. Right? That's what I'm doing. So he's saying, we have confidence to enter. So he says, you have to have full confidence.

Scott Keffer [: 00:26:06

You that you can come in anytime, any place, anywhere when I'm angry, when I'm sin, when I don't wanna obey him, when I disobey him, when I'm when I've been broken. Right? When I've fallen, you can come with confidence. He said you have confidence. Where are you entering? The holy place. The holy of holies. The place that only the high priest could go. And you'd come in there because of the blood of Jesus. You need to understand when you come, when you call to god, it's based on the blood of Jesus that you can have confidence.

Scott Keffer [: 00:26:40

He's not it's not because I've been good. It's because he shed his blood so I can cry out to him. That's the confidence we have. The blood of Jesus, because it's a new and living way. It was inaugurated for us through the veil. And you read what it said? The veil was torn physically to show you there's no more veil. There's no more veil. You don't have to go to somebody who then goes to god.

Scott Keffer [: 00:27:09

Your mediator sits at his right hand, which means you get access. Well, I don't want access. Frankly, I'd rather have somebody else. You talk to him. Like they said to Moses, hey, Moses. You talk to him. Why don't I talk to him? You talk to him. You tell him what he said, which is fine.

Scott Keffer [: 00:27:25

Right? That and that's when when when people are you know, when you're hearing preaching or teaching, that's good. When you read a scripture, that's better. Right? Because you get access. You get direct access. That is his flesh. So we have forever access. Unfettered. Right? Unfettered access to god, and we have confidence.

Scott Keffer [: 00:27:49

Ain't that cool? It says he himself retook of the same that through death, he might render powerless him who had the power of her death that is the devil. So Jesus Christ conquered and defeated Satan. He conquered and defeated Satan. He also conquered and defeated the fallen angels. It says, having disarmed, would he be disarmed? It's the powers and authorities. What are those? The generals, the majors, the sergeants, and the corporals of the fallen army. Right? The ruler's authority, powers, and dominion. Right? It's saying he gave a name.

Scott Keffer [: 00:28:33

He see to him at his right hand far above all rule, authority, power, dominion. Every level of demonic, fallen angel. Right? He is above. And as a result of the fact he conquered, defeated, Satan, the fallen angels, he also conquered and defeated death. Where, oh, where is thy Stink. Stink. So we see that Jesus Christ in the crucifixion, in his earthly ministry really show the 3 roles that he played. Prophet, king, and priest.

Scott Keffer [: 00:29:07

Prophet, king, and priest. So it says Moses said, the lord god will raise up for you a prophet like me from our brethren. To him, you shall give heed in everything he says. And Luke quotes really from Isaiah, spirit of the lord or Jesus quotes from Isaiah, he has anointed me. What's he anointed me to do? Preach the gospel. That's what a prophet does. Preach the gospel. Speak out.

Scott Keffer [: 00:29:33

Report the truth of God, the word of God. He sent me to proclaim release, to recover sight of the blind, set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable leader or that's what a prophet does. But prophet proclaims God's word, speaks forth the will of God, the truth of God. In Luke, it says he will be great and he will be called the son of the most high and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father, David, and he will Right. Reign over the house of Jacob and his kingdom. Jesus said, my kingdom is not in this world. So he said, now he's just a prophet. He's also the king.

Scott Keffer [: 00:30:11

He's the he's the prophet. He's also the king. And, again, for for anyone who studied the Old Testament, if you came out and you were Jewish in your mindset, those 3 do not mix. They're not the same. Right? They're very, very different lines. The line of David for the king. Right? The Levites for the priest. These are very different.

Scott Keffer [: 00:30:32

They don't mix. And, of course, now we have a great high priest. Where did he go? Not into the tabernacle. This tabernacle, he went into that tabernacle. In scripture, it says, see, this was just a picture. It's a shadow. It was pointing up. There what does that tabernacle look like in heaven? I don't know.

Scott Keffer [: 00:30:53

I don't know. Does it look like that? Probably not. I mean, what he did is he give us he gave us some some earthly images, if you will, to kinda give us some sense of it, but there's a tabernacle in heaven. And it says he cleansed it with the blood. He's now seated at the right hand. He's the high priest. He's passed. Where is he? Into the heavens.

Scott Keffer [: 00:31:15

Jesus Christ appeared as high priest. Not to the blood of goats and calves, but his own blood. He entered the holy place once for all, which means he's not moving. The anchor of our hope is seated at the right hand. And as a result, he has obtained eternal redemption. What does eternal mean? Forever. All time, eternal redemption. And so it's not based upon you.

Scott Keffer [: 00:31:45

It's based upon him. It's based upon him. That's why it's eternal. It's eternal redemption. So we see in this glorious mystery, the most glorious mystery in all of history, a lot of mystery, but we unfold before some of the things that God has done and what we benefit, how we benefit through the blood of Christ, and how we accomplished prophet, priest, and king brought them all together into 1. And we see in this last picture that Jesus was mocked as a prophet. What they say, prophesy to us. Right? Prophesy.

Scott Keffer [: 00:32:21

Messiah? You know, the Messiah prophesy to us. Who's the one who struck you? Think about that. Let's slap the son of God and say, prophesy. Jesus Christ was mocked as king. We're at hail, king of the Jews. That's what they call it, king of the Jews. Jews. They mocked him.

Scott Keffer [: 00:32:42

They put a charge against him. He's the Jesus, the king of the Jews. And he was mocked as priest. Passing by was what the priest do. Priest goes and mediates before God. The priest offers sacrifices on the behalf of the people in order to reconcile the people. Jesus is not only the priest, he's the sacrifice. He's the high priest who sacrificed the only sacrifice possible himself.

Scott Keffer [: 00:33:09

What did they say? Those passing by hurling abuse at him, wagging their heads and saying, hey. You're the son of god. Come down. Imagine that. Come down off of the cross and undo the greatest benefit, the only benefit, the only saving act that could have saved humankind. And what do we say? Hey. Come down on the cross. You in the same way, the chief priest, they also said to him, you saved others.

Scott Keffer [: 00:33:38

He cannot save himself. He wasn't here to save himself. He did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. He cannot save himself. He didn't come to save himself. He came to save them. Came to save them. He came to save you, and he came to save me, and he came to save them.

Scott Keffer [: 00:34:05

All the mockers. All the mockers. Because of for 28 years, I was a mocker. I was a mocker. And all of a sudden, right, I was not. And I how did I go from being a mocker to having my eyes open? I once was blind, but now I see. So Jesus was mocked in all these roles of prophet, king, and his priest. And so I put up there the world mocks Jesus Christ, dot dot dot.

Scott Keffer [: 00:34:36

World mocks Jesus Christ, and the blank is still. They mock Jesus Christ still. So just you and I went from being mockers to being sons, to being enemies to being sons, to being far off these sons

Roger [: 00:34:53

of the most high.

Scott Keffer [: 00:34:55

So he says, what do we preach? Christ. We preach Christ crucified. We preach Christ crucified. For in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not come to know God. And God through the foolishness of the message preached saved those who would believe. The cross, your king, your prophet of wisdom, the king, and your priest will hang on a tree, will be crucified by Roman soldiers? No. No way. So if I'm Jewish, no.

Scott Keffer [: 00:35:32

There's no way that the Messiah hangs on a tree. Stumbling block. To Jews, a stumbling block. No way. Messiah hangs on trees. For me, a gentile, I knew Christians. They just seemed stupid. Like, you're yeah.

Scott Keffer [: 00:35:51

I'd be stupid to believe that. What? You're talking about what? God came. Oh, okay. God came on me on a tree. I mean, I I'm gonna follow somebody who hangs on a tree. No. For Jews, a stumbling block. For Gentiles, foolishness, stupidness, mockery, stupidness.

Scott Keffer [: 00:36:09

So he says, it's stumbling block. For god shames the wisdom of the world in his son. So the apostle Paul says, may it never be that I should boast except here's where I should hang my hat. Here's the flag

Scott Keffer [: 00:36:27

that I should raise up.

Scott Keffer [: 00:36:28

Here's the place that I should align myself. Here's where I should have confidence and hope and strength even though I look out there and the battle seems like it's being, yeah, lost. He said, I will boast where? The cross. In the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is Christ Messiah, come in the flesh Jesus who now reigns as Lord. The lord Jesus Christ. He says that's my boast. And by the way, through which the world, which continues to mock him, for me, I've been crucified. The lord has severed the world's relationship, their power over me, their control over me.

Scott Keffer [: 00:37:15

Right? And I to the world. I've been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live. Christ lives in me. The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loves me and delivered himself up for me. Right? I've been crucified with Christ. I've been crucified from the world. So we preach Christ crucified.

Scott Keffer [: 00:37:37

And so what what's the world gonna do? Mock us. Except when we've reached Christ crucified, there are some mockers who turn into followers. Just like me, who is a mocker, one day, I said, this makes all the sense in the world. Well, that's weird. Where did that come from? The grace of almighty god who wrote my name in the book of life before the foundation of the world and knew and then in the fullness of time just like his son came, in the fullness of time he has it's like Paul says, there are more in this city for me. More in this city. Right? So we boast in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ crucified in the world, and we continue to preach Christ crucified.

Roger [: 00:38:27

And it

Scott Keffer [: 00:38:27

doesn't mean they're gonna be happy. They're still gonna mock him, and they're still gonna mock you. Right? But he's overcome the world. And the one he said, soul, crucifixion, most glorious mystery in all of history, and the impact it has rust.

Scott Keffer [: 00:38:46

We'll write down the inside that you got from today.

Scott Keffer [: 00:38:49

Scott.

Roger [: 00:38:50

Yes, Roger.

Speaker E [: 00:38:51

It's useful to always go back to the beginning. Remember, Genesis 2, the stipulations were made. Genesis 3, those stipulations were, broken, and then the curse was imposed. And god being a just god demands the penalty. And what's happening at the cross really is a satisfaction of god's justice. As you've talked about many times, it is, excuse me, his wrath that is being poured out on the cross, and it is only because he is a just god. So we need to go back really, you know, what are the character what what is the character of god, and why does this all happen?

Roger [: 00:39:39

Yeah. For sure. Wrath and love. What? Right? Love, mercy. Right? And you can do all those things that happened here. Right? Just, right, go here, all occurred at the cross. It's a mystery. It's a mystery.

Roger [: 00:39:59

So the pretty glorious ones. It's very humbling. Start your day. Think about meditate on the crucifixion. Right? Give thanks for the blood of Christ and everything that flows, but this blood flow all these these blessings to us. Right? That this blood flow all these blessings to each of us. Right? So, Jack, would you close this for you?

Jack [: 00:40:22

Lord, we thank you again for this day. We thank you for the encouragement we get. We're gathering together in your name and, propping each other up, encouraging each other with your word. Thank you for Scott's diligence. And, thank you for this precious gift. Help us to recognize it, to accept it humbly, and to tell others about it. We thank you for the opportunity to gather like this and, help us to remember what Jesus has accomplished for us in the cross and to be appropriately thankful. Ask this all in Jesus' precious name.

Scott Keffer [: 00:40:59

Amen. And may the god who sent his son and the son who came, may he bless you. May he keep you. May he cause his face to shine upon you. May he lift up his countenance and grant you his shalom deep in your soul that you can walk in the power of his spirit, right, and the power of his grace and the power of his mercy and that you could boast in the cross this day and this week. In the name of our God, we bless you. Amen. Amen.

Scott Keffer [: 00:41:28

Thanks for listening. I hope you have greater hope, assurance, and confidence in your life and a deeper trust in the God of the trust in the god of the bible and his son, Jesus Christ.

Scott Keffer [: 00:41:35

Until next time,

Scott Keffer [: 00:41:36

may the lord bless you and keep you. May the lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. And may the lord lift up his countenance on you and give you his peace, his shalom in your soul and in your life. Until next time, may god bless you and keep you.