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Mrs. Donatio preaches on this Good Friday, reminding us that when Jesus was crucified and raised upon the cross, he was glorified according to God the Father's plan, even while he suffered the most painful and humiliating death possible. As you consider all this, are the pressures of life greater than the presence of God in your life today? How will you respond to his truth?

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Scripture reading for Good Friday is taken from John chapter 19, verse 14 to 30. John chapter 19, verse 14. Now it was the day of preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, Behold your king. They cried up, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate said to them, Shall I crucify your king? The chief priest answered, We have no king but Caesar. So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus and he went out bearing his own cross to the place called the place of a skull, which is Aramic is called Gorgota. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. Verse 19. Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. And it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. So the chief priest of the Jews said to Pilate, Do not write the King of the Jews, but rather this man say, I am King of the Jews. Pilate answered, What I have written, I have written. Verse 23. When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garment and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier. So his tuning, also his tuning. But the tuning was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. So they say to one another, Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be. This was to fulfill the scripture which says, They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. So the soldiers did these things, but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary, the wife of Kropus, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple, whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, Woman, behold your son. Then he said to the disciple, Behold your mother. And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. Verse 28. After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said, To fulfill the scripture, I tess. A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of sour wine on his soft branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, It is finished. And he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks, be to God.

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How do we prepare our hearts to approach this account that we just read before us this morning? When I'm standing there worshiping the Lord, I know that I'm going to preach on Good Friday about the death of Jesus Christ. But I'm standing in awe because all of us have hope in the Lord. Amen. Let's pray and let's ask the Lord. Lord, help us grow in our understanding of the gift Jesus offered. Help us, Lord, to live in view of your sacrifice and help us understand your word today. Speak to the children, to the youth, to the young adult, to all of us here, to the senior citizen, because you are able to speak to every one of us in Jesus' name. Amen. I want to bring you into the whole course of this account that we just read, John 19, verse 14 to 30. But first, we need to recognize that God's sovereignty over the details of Jesus' death remain clear. Jesus died to fulfill scripture, like the song that we just sing. You live to die, you know. And he is the one, there's the only God that who lived and died. Even though this is so, the theme of rejection by the Jews, by the Jewish leader is clear. Ironically, God's plan for humanity was fulfilled through the religious leaders, religious leaders' agenda for Jesus and the Roman legal system. The questions that we want to keep this in mind until the end of the sharing letter is that do we recognize Jesus as the one who fulfilled scripture, or are we like the Jewish leader who rejected Jesus in their hearts? So John alone, as compared to the other gospel account, records full account of Jesus' private interrogation by Pilate, who informally inquired the religious leader outside the palace and then question Jesus inside the palace. From the preceding verses that we are not having time to read today, but you can go back to read John 17 that we just preached by Pastor Wei last night, John 18, and now we are in agent 19. Pilate was actually seeking to release Jesus upon hearing about Jesus' word. Why? Because he has a personal interrogation with Jesus on that palace that day. However, he was fearful of Caesar and the Jewish leader. He told the crowd he found no reason to charge Jesus, but he planned to appease the Jewish leaders and people. He valued his position and power and desire to maintain order as he was responsible to upholding justice. There it was, you know, and thinking that Jesus should be released because he is innocent. So, however, Pilate recognized that the religious leader's driving desire is to execute Jesus. And he gave in into their request. John's intentional choice of detail here exposes the true motive of Jesus' accusers rather than the formal judges against Jesus recorded in other gospels. Their true desire, they wanted Jesus to die. Nothing but Jesus' death would satisfy them. So when Pilate was sitting at the judge, just seat known as the stone pavement, it is on the previous verse, it was the day of the preparation of the Passover that known that day. This is why the Jewish leader was outside the palace while Jesus is inside, because they are preparation on the Passover. Because when they go into the Gentiles, meaning that they are defiling themselves. So let's go to the verse 14. Now it was the day of preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, Behold your king. They cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate said to them, Shall I crucify your king? The chief priest answered, We have no king but Caesar. So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. So Pilate tried to pass the responsibility to the Jews by saying, Here is your king. And the Jews, however, wanted nothing to do with their king, the Messiah. Instead of receiving Jesus as Lord and King, the crowd shouted, Take him away, crucify him. So with mocking concern and more taunting, Pilate asked, Shall I crucify your king? He thereby drives the chief priests to their own blasphemy. We have no king but Caesar. You see here the Hebrew scripture repeatedly insisted that the only true king for Israel is God himself. If you like to check on Judges 8.23 and 1 Samuel 8.27, the leader forced Pilate to choose between the two kings, you choose Caesar or you choose Lord Jesus Christ. And obviously you know already that he choose to serve and honor Caesar above all else. So even though Pilate was making the judgment on Jesus whether he should be crucified, let's pose that question to ourselves. Would you accept Jesus? If you were there, would you accept Jesus? Or an alternative such as Caesar. The truth about Jesus does not allow neutrality. Jesus' internal truth demands response. Thank you, Esther, for choosing the song. You know, love so amazing, so divine. Demand my soul, my life, my all. Actually, the song today has been speaking to you. I don't have to preach. But the tea, we need to be reminded, and only on Good Friday, Monday, Thursday, and Easter we learn about the cross. So we want to thank the Lord for this opportunity that we can be in his presence and remembering again how Jesus has been crucified. Let's go with me on the verse 17, shall we? And he went out bearing his own cross to the place called the place of Skull, which in Adamaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on the other side, and Jesus between them. So crucifixion was a method of execution designed to cause intense humiliation, prolonged suffering, and excruciating death. The cruel and humiliating practice was designed to publicly shame a person as a convicted criminal. Jesus was led to Golgotha, known as the place of the skull, to be crucified. To comply with the public sentiments and Jewish law, Rome executed criminals outside the city walls. However, Roman executions were conducted near the city along major road to serve as a deterrent to defying Roman authority. Here in a public view, where all could see him, the soldiers crucified him. In the ancient world, the most terrible punishment is always associated with shame and horror. It was so brutal that the no-Roman citizen, no Roman citizen themselves, could be crucified without the approval of the emperor. Stripped naked and beaten to pulpy weakness, the victim could hang in the hot sun for hours, even days. To breathe, it's necessary to push the leg and pull the arms to keep the chest cavity open and functioning. Terrible muscle spasm, I'm sure Pastor, it have happened. So painful, isn't it? But this even more painful. Wrecked the entire body. But since the body collapsed, right, man's suffocation. You can't breathe. And strain went on and on. This is also why, you know, there's a word called sedicula, is to prolong life and agony. So sedicula is a plank that fastened to provide, you know, sufficient support at the backside there, the buttocks there, and is to just make the suffering longer. It's partially supported the body weight and therefore encouraged the victim to fight on and on. So Jesus struggled to breathe with his outstretched arm and tortured body raised high on a cross to the world to see. This was the expression of his infinite love for humanity, for his suffering represents the costly price of sin. And you and me supposed to be there. Jesus suffered for us. So verse 19, let's go on. Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. Many of the Jews read this inscription for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, Latin, and in Greek. So Pilate posted this pronouncement of an inscription in three languages so that it could be understood by many different levels of people: Aramaic, Latin, and Greek. However, God has greater purpose for all the people to rightly recognize the glory of his son Jesus Christ. The three languages represent the universal scope of the gospel. Jesus is not only the King of the Jews, but all, but reigns all over the earth and every part of our life. So verse 21, so the chief priest of the Jews said to Pilate, Do not write the King of the Jews, but rather this man, I am, this man said, I am the King of the Jews. Then Pilate replied and answered, What I have written, I have written. So the chief priest expresses their disagreement with Pilate's wording as their final rejection of Jesus. They do not recognize him as their king and would rather say that it was Jesus who claimed, he himself claimed, you know, to be the king of the Jews. But he insisted on keeping it written as such. So Pilate's action served God's end. You see, the Lord Jesus is indeed the King of the Jews. The cross is the means of his exaltation and the very manner of his glorification. But sadly, Israel leaders and God's chosen people led the people to reject their true and internal God. So on the verse 23 now, when the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier, also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven on one piece from top to bottom. So they said to one another, let us tear it, but cast lot, let us not tear it, but cast lot for it to see whose it shall be. This was also to fulfill the scripture which says, They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cost lot. So the soldiers did these things. So the soldiers attending to Jesus' crucifixion took his clothes. So this detail actually you can refer to Psalm 22, verse 18. They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing, they cast lots. Only God could predict and accomplish such precise detail. That's what's going to happen. So it's it's good to note that Jesus, Jesus' nakedness, also bears significance, spiritual significance. Jesus bore the full force of sin curse, including the marphysical appearance and public disgrace. Jesus suffered the weight of every sin committed against God by all people across generations. So by standing by the cross of Jesus, were his mother and his mother's sister Mary, the wife of Clopus and Mary Magdalene, and continue on on the first 27 and 1 26 and 27. So even as Jesus was being nailed on the cross and enduring the unspeakable torture, Jesus saw his mother and attended to her care. It showed that Jesus, even though he is suffering, he still showed compassion to others. Verse 28, after this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said to fulfill the scripture, I thirst. A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a he shot branch and hail it to his mouth. A man hanging in a cross under the near eastern sun experienced dehydration as part of the ordeal. As fully man, Jesus experienced like any of us would experience in the extreme circumstances he was facing. It's to show that he is fully man. The fact that Jesus was aware that everything was completed indicates he recognized that all steps leading to his pain and impending death were part of the Father's design. This is best read. Jesus, knowing that all things had been accomplished in order to fulfill the scripture, said it. So John wants us to make the readers to make us understand that every part of Jesus' passion was not only in the Father's plan of redemption, but a consequence of the Son's direct obedience. And he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. So after receiving the drink, Jesus fulfilled the prophecy and cried out loud, even though in the John account it just says Jesus said, but I believe that it's in that agony and according to the other account of the gospel that Jesus cried out. So the word in Greek, tetelaste, means it is finished. So what does it mean? It's signifying a completion of his work. This is not a cry of defeat to the man, to the human, it is defeat. But it is also a cry of victory, it is also an announcement of imminent death. So the verb tale from the tetela stage just now implies fulfilling religious obligation. On the earlier verse, yeah, first uh on John 17, verse 4, that we have already heard the sermon yesterday, Jesus said, I glorify you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. So having loved his own who were in the world, he loved us, not only to the end, but to the full extent mandated by his mission. And so on the brink of death, Jesus cries out, It is accomplished. With that, Jesus bowed his head and handed over his spirit to the Lord. So why we have to go through all this to understand that Jesus is ever been like us, like you, like me. So, but the thing is that the Jewish leaders made a grave error judgment. They failed to recognize the truth about Jesus. They refuse to see and to hear. They refuse. Not that they don't know. They refuse. They make a decision not to be associated with the Messiah. And because of that, they led them to send God's own son, the Messiah. They've been waiting for to cruel death. They hardened their hearts and they closed their mind, clouded the trust and prevailed over what was right. So brothers and sisters, let's confess today. Sometimes we reject Jesus in our lives by wanting our last circumstances. We glorify circumstances so much that we want our circumstances to work for us the way that we desire. We expect God to work through the circumstances, asking him to fit into our agenda or to what we desire to happen in our life rather than trusting him as God rather than believing that he is true and living God. So we need first to trust Jesus instead of our circumstances instead of our plan and instead of our agenda. So many times in my journey with the Lord maybe I've already been sharing this with so many people but I think once I was thinking that if bad things happen to me, you know, if like that if I follow Jesus means that I will not face difficulty. If I follow Jesus he will bathe my way and I can just walk on that road without any challenges. I will not suffer sickness I will have no death I will have no suffering no anxiety so on and so forth all the negatively go on and on right and when I think if bad things happen to me I will start to think I must be doing something wrong. You know maybe I'm not reading the Bible enough. Maybe I forgot to go to church today for prayer meetings. Maybe I haven't spent my time in my devotion. You know and we start to associate all this that happened in our life. But there is one thing that I would like to share here today in 2023 I have this I don't know they call it mild depression or I I'm not sure of perimenopause I don't know but in the whole month of April I was feeling very down. You woke up in the morning you see the sun you see everything but you just feel very blah you know very bleak. Every little things that happened in my life that in on that month if I would I I would like to recall back it was very depressing. It can can cause a lot of fear in my heart. So every time after I send the kids to school I go back home on that day okay I'm going to pray today I just grab my guitar I pray in my living room I just pray and pray and sing the Lord sing songs to the Lord and and I tell the Lord like this Lord if this only you want me to sit down here and pray and praise let it be but you know it means that when I every time I wake up I'm gonna feel very bad I'm gonna feel very sad. You know do you ever this have this kind of feeling where where where future is not there everything can cause you to be very sad you know and then you feel very down every day every day brothers and sisters you're like swimming in the in the sea like what I was shared on my mother on the Mother's Day that day like you are swimming in the sea you see the light but you cannot find the service that kind of feeling so I I have a hard time to recognize that God is working through the situation or circumstances to reveal more of himself to me and to lead me more into his will and plan for my life thank goodness I really thanks the Lord because I don't know there's a change in my hormones or I really don't know. I just happen that I come out from that period of darkness in my life and then maybe you have different story with me but the one thing that we have to be sure is that Jesus died that we may live this is a greater plan and purpose beyond our circumstances that God wants to fulfill like how Jesus death fulfilled God's plan for humanity so that we can live I'm not sure why I'm feeling that way but somehow when I come up from that I've been hearing people also having that that kind of situation or I feel I'm more dependent on God. Yeah if you see some of my posts on my Instagram I was telling about when I saw my children walking to school so now that time was 2023 so Caleb will still be six days I tell you about sending the kids to school but this year his secondary one his secondary one he goes to school by himself that did he forget something I'm not I can't remember but I just went down okay wait for mommy at the bus stop I will come down so I come down and I see both of them happen to be Daniel not around and they're there I think they just walk across and you know if you know Kim Sungling my house there I just saw them walking and my heart so sad they don't need me anymore. Very funny right but then I see there's a revelation that comes into my heart that's what we expect of our children isn't it when they grow up they should be independent go to school by themselves do everything on their own but it's so different contradiction with our maturity in Christ the more we mature in Christ the more we cling on to the cross the more we lean on to God every little thing we just pray and seek the Lord and like a cry baby but that's what God desires He wants Him He wants you to be totally for you He wants Himself He wants you for Himself so here is that when we see the cross Jesus lives to die He fulfilled the humanity purpose So are you in doubt of God today because your circumstances are not what you desire it to be or are you hoping that God will take the cup of suffering away from you Jesus did that right and I think when we face such circumstances it is called it is a call from God for you to wrestle with Him to find the answer to place ourselves in the center of God's will as Jesus prayed not my will but yours be done when you fully submit to His plan and purpose in your life it's not only just that God's plan is fulfilled but also Jesus take part in it by being obedience to Christ. So I heard a sermon that was delivered by the late Presbyterian pastor called Timothy Keller you remember him he mentioned that Jesus Christ came to the Father with the greatest request of his life the biggest thing that he asks the Father Lord I'm about to be tortured and to be killed I don't think I can bear it would you come and save me and what the father replied he replied him down flat no plan continue right so what makes Jesus great is it his circumstances that went well finally God the Father save me from the crucifixion so what makes Jesus great is what he said not my will but yours be done if it is your will for me to every day feeling so down feeling so lousy so that I can pray and praise you be it. So Jesus also let it be your will if I have to face the cross and die for the sin of the world he faced life not going well with courage and obedience he didn't just master life he mastered death because he died he changed the universe he changed the universe not because circumstances treat him hell treat him him well right he was rejected he was he was doubted and he was like everyone can't accept him and what he does is that he answered to that challenge he responded to it he was obedient to the father and what is his response and how he answered he cling on to the cross he comes to the father and have that kind of communion with the Lord with his father on his very challenging and trial time so it's not your circumstances of your life that matter it is what you bring to it how you respond to them so today I would like you to return to the first questions that was posed earlier would you accept Jesus will or will you reject Jesus and choose an alternative because you have fear of man because I will lose my power because I will lose my position the world system has exerted us you know and and and pressured us in many ways even now there is a US tariffs what's not right and we also have relationship problems with husband and wife with mom and daughter son and father so on and so on so forth and we have many future uncertainties where will this world going to be this so distraught us that alarm and distress us are you feeling pressure of life more than the presence of God the truth about Jesus does not allow naturality Jesus's internal truth demand a response and would you respond to him by letting him be the one and only God in our life we pray that you've administered to by the word of God today.

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