Mocking Jesus

[0:00] Well, if I could, with the Lord's help and the Lord's enabling this morning, if I could turn back to the portion of scripture that we read, the gospel according to Mark chapter 15.

[0:22] Mark chapter 15, we're going to look at the whole passage, but if we take as our text the words of verse 20, and when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him, and they led him out to crucify him.

[0:44] Amen. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.

[0:59] I'm sure we're all familiar with those words from our youth, words that were often said to the bullies on the playground or in the classroom, and words which insisted that physical abuse may cause us some discomfort and harm, but name-calling will not.

[1:16] Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never harm me. But the truth is, names do hurt us. Criticism does harm us. The harsh words of other people do cause us upset.

[1:30] Mockery is painful. And it's painful because more often than not, what is said about us isn't true. It's not accurate. It's gossip or it's lies.

[1:44] And it hurts because we're innocent. And as someone once said, through courage consists in doing what is right, despite the jeers and sneers of others.

[1:55] And in this section of Mark's gospel, we see one who failed to do what was right, despite the jeers and sneers of others. Because as we were considering last week, Pilate failed to do what was right.

[2:09] He failed to change the habit of a lifetime by choosing to satisfy the crowd instead of listening to his conscience and doing what he knew was right.

[2:19] And in doing so, as we read, he handed Jesus over to be crucified. But what we see in the verses we've just read here is that Jesus continued to do the Father's will.

[2:32] He continued, despite all the jeers and sneers of others, Jesus was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. And what's remarkable is that Jesus received far more than sticks and stones.

[2:46] And he encountered far more than name calling. And in spite of all that he went through, as Isaiah prophesied he would, he opened not his mouth.

[2:59] In fact, the courage and the faithfulness of Jesus in the face of all his enemies and all their mockery was an example to the church of how we ought to deal with opposition.

[3:10] The opposition that we face. Because when the apostle Peter wrote his letter encouraging Christians to remain steadfast and faithful in the midst of all the pressures to conform to the world, Peter pointed to the example of Jesus here and all the mocking that he received.

[3:29] And he said, for to this, to the Christians, he said, for to this you have been called because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps.

[3:41] He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

[3:59] He continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. Jesus remained faithful despite all the mockery he received.

[4:11] And as Mark brings us to the climax of his gospel, which is the crucifixion of Jesus, he reminds us that even though this is the best news in all the world, this is the gospel of Jesus Christ, the good news, despite all that, he reminds us that this came out of the darkest of circumstances.

[4:34] That came out of the darkness of the venom and hatred that was in the heart of mankind against Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Because in this section which we're looking at, Mark presents to us three groups that mocked and hated Jesus all the way to death.

[4:53] And I want us to consider these three groups this morning. And we can consider them under the following headings. Soldiers mocking, sinners mocking, and saints mocking.

[5:06] Soldiers, sinners, and saints mocking. So if we look first of all at soldiers mocking. Look at verse 15. So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas.

[5:20] And having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. And the soldiers led him away inside the palace, that is, the governor's headquarters. And they called together the whole battalion.

[5:34] When Pilate handed Jesus over to be crucified, there was no going back. But when the Roman governor, who was Pilate, when he listened to the crowd instead of his own conscience, he knew that it was a mistake.

[5:49] Because as soon as the Roman soldiers got a hold of Jesus, they knew exactly what to do with him. Not only because the Romans had been trained in the art of crucifixion, and it was an art, because it involved prolonging the most excruciating death without cutting a main artery.

[6:08] And we'll consider more of that next week when we look at Jesus on the cross. But here we see that the Romans knew what to do with Jesus. Because he claimed, or they were told that he claimed to be a king.

[6:23] But Pilate didn't know what to do with Jesus. Because his conscience told him that Jesus was a king. But when they were given the opportunity to crucify Jesus, these Roman soldiers, they knew exactly what to do.

[6:37] Because we're told, as we read in verse 16, that as soon as the soldiers were given the order, they led Jesus away to the governor's headquarters, which was the judgment hall.

[6:49] This was the place where Jesus and Pilate had been speaking and discussing back and forth. John, in his gospel, he calls this place the pavement, or Gabbatha.

[7:02] And the judgment hall, it was an area inside Herod's palace, where criminals would be beaten prior to their crucifixion.

[7:12] It was like a large area. And in that large area, there was a stone slab like a pavement, like we would have a step up off the road. And it was said to be engraved with all the markings of previous beatings.

[7:27] But what's remarkable is that Jesus was given a special audience in the judgment hall. Because Mark tells us that the Roman soldiers who were ordered by Pilate to carry out this crucifixion, the Roman soldiers would have only been about four, they called together the whole battalion into the judgment hall in order to beat and mock Jesus.

[7:52] They all gathered before Jesus to mock him. And Mark tells us in verse 17, And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him.

[8:06] And they began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews! The Roman soldiers, they draped Jesus with a purple robe. They're in Herod's palace, so it's presumably one of the Herods, which would have been a very expensive piece of cloth in the ancient world, because purple dye was hard to come by, and so it was expensive, and it was only worn by kings.

[8:30] And so the Roman soldiers, they clothed Jesus with Herod's robe, which was a mockery not only of Jesus, but also of the Jews. They're clothing Jesus in the Jews' garb, the Jewish king.

[8:46] But then they put a crown upon his head. And as you know, it wasn't any old crown. It was a crown of thorns. It was a crown which had been woven together using thorns.

[8:59] And it's said that the crown of thorns was made from a plant that was found in the Mediterranean, commonly found in Israel, and it was called an acanthus plant.

[9:10] And the stems of an acanthus plant, I've never seen it, but they were said to be spiny, full of spikes, and little thorns. And they were thick thorns.

[9:22] And the fact that they were twisted together shows the dedication of the Roman soldiers to mock Jesus, in which they took the time to twist together all these thorns into the shape of a crown.

[9:37] And then they press it into the skull and head of Jesus, which would have inevitably inflicted a great deal of pain as the thorns ripped through the skin of Jesus' head and into a skull.

[9:52] But the greatest pain wouldn't have come with the purple robe or the crown of thorns, but in the mocking. The mocking. Because, as it says, a battalion.

[10:07] A battalion was 600 soldiers. 600 armed men who were trained to kill.

[10:19] And they all gathered before Jesus. And all these 600 soldiers who stood before Jesus, they all stood as the army would, presented perfectly, and they would, as they would before their Caesar, they shouted, Hail, King of the Jews.

[10:36] They saluted Jesus. It was the highest form of mockery. Because every Roman soldier, they were dedicated to Caesar. They were ready to die for Caesar.

[10:48] And they claimed that there was no king but Caesar. And this was the reason the Roman soldiers, they were so cruel towards Jesus. Jesus was trying to take, they thought that Jesus was trying to take the place of Caesar.

[11:01] This is why they mocked Jesus so much, because at that time, the Romans, they had taken over the whole land of Israel. They had conquered much of Europe, and they were always progressing north.

[11:13] But even though they had taken over the land of Israel, they allowed the Israelites this element of freedom, in which they had the freedom to live their lives, and the freedom to worship, so long as they paid their taxes to Caesar and didn't cause a revolt.

[11:27] And so, with thousands of Jews in the city of Jerusalem, to celebrate the feast of Passover, the Roman soldiers were always on edge. There was always this tension between the Jews and the Romans.

[11:41] And the Romans were always on tender hooks, because if there was going to be an uprising in the city, it was going to happen at the Passover, with these thousands of people there.

[11:53] But to have caught Jesus before an uprising, to have caught Jesus, who said, who was said to be the king of the Jews, this instigator of a movement that was seeking to take control of Israel, it's no wonder that the Romans mocked Jesus so much, because they think they've caught a terrorist.

[12:14] They think they've caught someone who's trying to take the place of Caesar. But before they crucify Jesus, they want to mock him every step of the way.

[12:27] They want to ridicule him. And they all stand before him and salute him. Hail, king of the Jews. And then Mark tells us in verse 19, they were striking his head with a reed, spitting on him, and nailing down to him in homage.

[12:44] 600 men strike him on the head with a reed. A reed, like a hard bit of wood that was used to beat them in the back.

[12:55] 600 men, not on the back, on the head. 600 men spat in the face of Jesus. 600 men, one by one, bowed their knee before Jesus in mockery.

[13:10] And Mark is saying, this is all to fulfill what the prophet Isaiah said in Isaiah 50. I gave my back to those who beat me and my cheeks to those who pull out my beard.

[13:21] I hid not my face from mocking and spitting. But not only that, Mark is pointing us to the fulfillment of what was said in Psalm 22 that we were singing earlier.

[13:35] And it describes the way that, in which they made Jesus feel. And Jesus was being made to feel this way by his own creation. Those whom he brought into the world and he says, I am a worm and not a man.

[13:51] Scorned by mankind and despised by the people. But you know what's sad about all this, all the mocking of the Roman soldiers is that they mocked Jesus in their ignorance.

[14:06] They didn't realize what they were doing. They didn't know who it was that they were mocking. And later on in the New Testament in the book of Acts, Peter says that had they known who it was they were putting to death, they would have never have crucified the Lord of glory.

[14:25] But they did it in their ignorance. And that's why Jesus prays for them when he's on the cross. Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. And today there are many people in our island and in our communities and in our nation who mock Jesus.

[14:45] They take his name in vain. They make him the punchline of many jokes. They mock his word. They mock his salvation. They mock his people. They mock his church.

[14:56] They dare mock Allah or Mohammed. But they mock Jesus Christ. And they do it in ignorance. Because if they knew who they were dealing with they would never mock him.

[15:11] If they only knew the love and the compassion and the faithfulness of Jesus they would never take his name in vain. If they only knew that this Jesus was the king of glory they would never reject the offer of salvation.

[15:26] But they do it in ignorance. But for you unconverted you're not ignorant of this Jesus.

[15:40] Because you know who this Jesus is. You know what he's like. You know he's the saviour of sinners. You know that he can save you. You've heard him speak to you many times throughout your life.

[15:53] You've heard him in the gospel. You've heard him address you personally directly. You've seen him work in the lives of other people. People in your home. People in your family. People in your community.

[16:05] You've seen what Jesus can do for them and you've seen what Jesus can do for you. And for that reason you would never mock Jesus. You'd never spit in the face of Jesus.

[16:17] You'd never want to offend Jesus. Because you know who Jesus is. You're not ignorant of him. But you know amongst this crowd of Roman soldiers the battalion 600 men amongst that crowd who were mocking Jesus there was also one man who wasn't ignorant of Jesus.

[16:41] And that man was Pilate. Pilate was the Roman governor which meant he had to be there. He had to watch it all as they mocked and beat Jesus.

[16:51] But Pilate knew who Jesus was. He knew that Jesus was the Lord of Glory. He knew that Jesus was the King of Kings. He knew that Jesus was innocent.

[17:03] But what made Pilate stay silent and hide within the crowd was fear. The fear of man. The fear of ridicule.

[17:14] The fear of people actually knowing what was going on in his heart. The fear of standing out from the crowd. the fear of what they would say. What they would think.

[17:25] Because in Pilate's mind he has a position to maintain. He has a role to consider. He has a job he wants to keep. He has a face he has to continue to present to people.

[17:40] But for Pilate and maybe for you the fear of man is a snare. It's what holds you back. It's what keeps you from standing out from the crowd.

[17:52] Because it's far easier. It's far more comfortable to hide within the crowd than to stand on the side of Christ. But even you know that's not right.

[18:06] Because you know that everything Jesus endured at the hands of the Roman soldiers was so that you could be delivered from sin and the torments of hell.

[18:21] And if Jesus did all that for you publicly then surely it's about time you did something for him publicly.

[18:37] And so we see the soldiers mocking. But secondly we see the sinners mocking. Sinners mocking. Look at verse 20. When they had mocked him they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him and they led him out to crucify him.

[18:58] And they compelled a passerby Simon of Cyrene who was coming in from the country the father of Alexander and Rufus to carry his cross. And they brought him to the place called Golgotha which means place of a skull.

[19:12] after the brutality of the soldiers and the blows to Jesus' head and spitting on him and mocking him by saluting him. These things they were only a precursor a prelude to the horror of the crucifixion that was to follow.

[19:31] And as Mark tells us Jesus was led out to be crucified. But out of the battalion of the 600 men who mocked Jesus as I said there was only four who carried out the execution.

[19:44] There would have been this squad of four soldiers and all of their actions would have been overseen by a centurion who was as you know a commander of a hundred soldiers.

[19:56] And it's interesting that and we'll see this next week but we'll see it at the death of Jesus. The death of Jesus was to be the means of the Roman centurion's conversion.

[20:09] But as Jesus was being marched towards the site of the crucifixion he's now dripping with blood probably totally dazed having been beaten 600 times in the head badly lacerated from all his wounds and Mark says that a certain man called Simon of Cyrene he's from North Africa he just happens to be there at the right time and he's compelled to carry the cross for Jesus it was usually the condemned criminal who would carry their own cross to the site of the crucifixion and the part they would carry would be the cross beam this heavy wooden cross beam which would be suspended in the air by a pole hence the reason we call it the cross because it was a cross beam that Jesus was nailed to but it was in Roman law that every criminal who was condemned to death they are to carry their own cross on their back but because of the extensive beating and loss of blood that

[21:17] Jesus received from the Roman soldiers he would have been too weak to carry this cross beam and the soldiers they certainly didn't want Jesus to die on the way to the cross they wanted Jesus to experience the agony of the cross so they drafted in this man called Simon from Cyrene and Mark gives to us this little detail about Simon that he was the father of two children or at least two children Alexander and Rufus which means that the original readers of Mark's gospel must have known who Alexander and Rufus were but not Simon and what Mark is doing here he's doing what we always do when we try and explain someone you meet someone and they don't know who you're with someone else and they don't really know who they are and you always explain to them well their parents are or their nickname is or their family name is and you explain them through all those links and that's what Mark is doing here he's explaining to his readers who this man

[22:23] Simon was who was called out to the crowds to carry the cross for Jesus and it's interesting that Mark names Simon's sons because Mark originally wrote his gospel to Christians living in Rome to Romans he wrote his gospel to the Romans who had been converted to Christianity and they were living under the oppression of the Roman Caesar and this is interesting because when Paul wrote his letter to the church in Rome he asked the members of the church there he said greet Rufus who was chosen in the Lord and also his mother which would have been Simon's wife and so this man called Simon from Cyrene he was a Christian or he became a Christian and what Mark wants us to see in his gospel is that the defining moment for Simon to become a Christian was when he took up the cross of

[23:26] Jesus and followed him because for Mark bearing your cross and following Jesus that's the distinguishing feature of being a disciple and by pointing us to this man called Simon Mark is saying that he literally followed Jesus' command of discipleship because you remember that Jesus in chapter 8 he was teaching what it means to be a disciple of Jesus and he said if anyone if anyone will come after him let him deny himself take up his cross and follow me and he says for whosoever will save his life will lose it but whosoever will lose his life for my sake and the gospels will save it and then he asks what does it profit a man if he's going to gain the whole world but lose his soul and what can a man give in exchange for his soul and so for Mark Simon is the perfect example of what it means to be a disciple of

[24:28] Jesus it's to deny self to stop in your tracks Simon was obviously on his way somewhere but he was stopped in his tracks stopped from what he wanted to do first and he put Jesus first he puts Jesus first he takes up the cross and he follows after him all the way to Calvary all the way to Calvary and you know by mentioning who Simon's children were this Alexander and Rufus by mentioning them to those who were in the church in Rome and knowing that they're now Christians Mark is emphasizing to us that Simon's actions of taking up his cross and becoming a committed Christian it had an impact upon his family for good because as Paul explained Simon's wife and family they later became Christians they were members of the church in Rome and you know the same is true for you too the same is true for every

[25:39] Christian because your actions of coming out from the crowd and taking up your cross and committing your life to Jesus Christ it'll have an impact upon your family for good you might think that you're a poor witness in your home and amongst your family you might think that what you've done the step you've taken the fact you're a Christian it's having no influence or impact upon those whom you love but it is they might not say it you might not see it but the change and transformation in your life speaks louder than anything you can say to them and sometimes there's nothing we can say to our families because our families are the hardest people to speak to they're the those who are closest to us and sometimes they're the hardest people to talk to but more often than not it's not what we say that has the greatest impact upon them but the fact that we love the

[26:50] Lord and we put him first but for those of you who are still not committed and you live with a Christian just many of you whether it's a Christian wife Christian husband children brother sister you ought to realize every day God is speaking to you and he's speaking to you through them and he's reminding you not only of what he has done in their life but what he is able to do in your life too if you will only turn and seek him with all your heart but as Jesus arrives at the crucifixion site Mark explains to us if we look at verse 22 he says they brought him to the place called Golgotha which means place of a skull and they offered him wine mixed with myrrh but he did not take it and they crucified him and divided his garments among them casting lots for them to decide what each should take and in these verses Mark affirms that all that was going to take place at the cross was to fulfill what had been prophesied in the old testament it says in psalm 69 we'll sing it at the end of the service they also gave me gall for my food and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink and what Jesus was given was wine mixed with myrrh it was like this sedative to deaden the pain of the crucifixion but

[28:30] Jesus refused but more than that whilst Jesus was suspended upon the cross the words of psalm 22 are also fulfilled again which speak about the roman soldiers gambling for his clothing they divide my garments among them and for my clothing they cast lots but Mark doesn't want to end his description there because he says in verse 25 and it was the third hour that they crucified him and the inscription of the charge read against him the king of the Jews and with him they crucified two robbers one on the right and one on his left and then it reads if you're reading from the authorized version so the scripture was fulfilled which says and he was numbered with the transgressor and with this Mark again he's highlighting that what is taking place at the cross is all being fulfilled from what was promised in the in the old testament all the prophecy of the old testament is now coming to fruition because it was Isaiah who said in Isaiah 53 that the suffering servant would be numbered with the transgressor but the last prophecy which Mark draws our attention to there's so much prophecy in this it's just all coming out the last prophecy was again from

[29:49] Psalm 22 when those at the crucifixion site they mocked Jesus and it says and those who passed by derided him wagging their heads and saying ah you who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days save yourself come down from the cross and this is what we were singing earlier in Psalm 22 all who see me mock me they make mouths at me they wag their heads he trusts in the Lord let him deliver him let him rescue him for he delights in him and so by highlighting all these prophetic statements whether from Psalm 22 Psalm 69 Isaiah 53 Isaiah 50 Mark is emphasizing that all the mocking which Jesus received from the cross was from the type of people he came to save we know he came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance but you know

[30:50] I believe the real reason behind these all these prophetic presentations of Jesus at the cross is to highlight Jesus' position as a king and I believe that Mark wants us to view the cross he wants us to look at the cross and see it as the royal enthronement of Jesus the Messiah this is what was prophesied about the Messiah this is what was said about the Messiah that he would go to the cross and he's told us already Mark has told us already that Jesus was crucified because he claimed to be the king of the Jews a king he was told that Jesus was dressed up with a purple robe like a king he had a crown of thorns pressed into his head like a king he was told that Jesus had a superscription above his head which read the king of the Jews Mark told us that all these prophetic statements about Jesus were fulfilled when Jesus was enthroned on the cross the Messiah was put onto his throne but the last bit of evidence for this royal inauguration was the fact that two men were crucified one on his right and one on his left and this is why I believe that

[32:11] Mark wants us to view the cross as this royal enthronement of Jesus because by telling us that there were two criminals one on his right one on his left Mark wants us to remember what James and John requested from Jesus because if you remember back in chapter 10 James and John were arguing amongst the disciples who is the greatest and they requested to Jesus that when he is enthroned in his glory they said grant us to sit one on your right and one on your left but Jesus said to them you don't know what you're asking you don't know what you're saying and then Jesus asks them are you able to drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized and James and John they foolishly said we are able but as

[33:17] Mark as he points us to the cross and to the crosses at the right and the left of Jesus they're occupied by two criminals Marcus is saying to us this is what they were asking for this is what they were asking for this is what James and John requested because this is the glory of Jesus being revealed but what Mark wants us to see is that Jesus didn't grant their request because he went in their place he didn't grant the request because he became their substitute my friend this is the glory of Jesus revealed to mankind Christ and him crucified this is the glory of Jesus he who knew no sin became sin for us so that we could be made the righteousness of God in him this is the glory of

[34:20] Jesus whosoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life this is the glory of Jesus as the hymn writer said bearing shame and scoffing would in my place condemned he stood sealed my pardon with his blood hallelujah what a savior hallelujah what a savior this is the wonder of who Jesus is a wonderful savior and so we've been considering these three groups who mocked and hated Jesus all the way to death we've looked at the soldiers mocking the sinners mocking but lastly and very briefly we see the saints mocking the saints mocking look at verse 31 so also the chief priests and the scribes mocked him to one another saying he saved others he cannot save himself let the

[35:23] Christ the king of Israel come down now from the cross that we may see and believe those who were crucified with him also reviled him the last group to mock Jesus at the cross was the group who should have recognized by now who Jesus was the chief priests and the scribes they were the religious leaders in Israel they were the church goers they were the God fearers they were the holy people of God who thought that by putting Jesus upon the cross they were pleasing the God they professed but as we've seen all the way through this there is nothing that reveals the absurdity of sin quite like the cross of Jesus and yet what's so sad is that this group they still refused to believe in Jesus they refused to believe what God's word was saying to them all the prophecies they refused to believe all the things that were said in the Psalms and through

[36:23] Isaiah all these things that spoke about the Messiah they refused to believe that Jesus was God's son they refused to believe that by trusting in Jesus they could be saved and they refused to believe that even though they met Jesus in the flesh many of them ate with him they saw him they heard him preach they all heard Jesus preach in the temple but it had no effect upon them they had Christ preached to them but they still refused to believe and right up until the end they refused to believe by mocking Jesus saying to him he saved others we've seen it saved others cannot save himself what kind of saviour is that let the Christ the king of Israel descend from the cross that we may see and believe we want a sign the truth was they had seen

[37:24] Jesus do everything they saw Jesus making the lame walk the blind see the deaf hear the dead raised to life the cleansing of lepers the healing of the demoniacs the religious leaders saw all the signs of Jesus and all the wonders of Jesus and yet they refused to believe and even if Jesus had come down from the cross and said enough they still wouldn't have believed why they didn't want to believe they had no desire to believe and you know there are many of you in here who are just like these religious leaders because like them regular church goers you've heard the preaching of Jesus many times and it seems to have no effect upon you you read about the miracles of Jesus the lame walking the blind seeing the deaf hearing the dead being raised the lepers cleansed you've read and heard so much you've read the prophecies the fulfillment but you still refuse to believe and maybe you say that you would believe if God were to give you a sign but what kind of sign are you looking for because if

[38:48] God were to give you a sign you still wouldn't believe the religious leaders they had seen so many signs they saw it all in the flesh they still refused to believe and Jesus said that those who ask for a sign no sign shall be given except the cross that's the sign of the son of man that's the that's the point that's what saves us therefore my friend you need to believe in the cross you need to believe in what the cross does you need to believe that the cross can save you and all that Jesus has done for you and maybe you're saying to yourself I do believe I believe all this I believe all the prophecies I believe all the miracles I believe everything that's said in this Bible but my friend that belief would be evidenced by your commitment that belief in Jesus Christ and the power of his cross it would be evidenced by you taking up your cross and following

[39:51] Jesus but the truth is maybe the truth is like these religious leaders despite all that you're told all that you hear all that you read you don't want to commit not now you think salvation will just happen to you one day just one day it'll wake I'll wake up and I'll be a Christian but you know it won't just happen if you don't want it to happen it's like everything you stand before a door it doesn't open unless you want it to open as you put out your hand turn the handle and open the door won't happen if you don't want it to happen you won't be saved if you don't want to be saved you'll never commit your life to Jesus Christ if you refuse to believe and do nothing about it it won't happen if you don't want it to happen but what

[41:00] Mark wants us to see in the mocking of Jesus with the soldiers mocking the sinners mocking the saints mocking all this mocking what Mark wants us to see is that Jesus endured all the scorn and all this hatred all the beating he did it all out of love so that we could enter into a loving relationship with him and as one commentator says Mark longs for his readers including me and you not to have a faith activated by sight not by signs but a faith which is aroused by the person of Jesus Christ and his sacrifice on the cross Mark longs for us to look at the cross and commit our life to the Jesus on the cross because that's the good news that's the good news he wants us to know and love and enjoy he wants us to know and love and enjoy Jesus and as you know by now that's my desire too you know me by now you know my desire is that for every single one of you you will know love and enjoy

[42:21] Jesus Christ as your saviour and you know what's the desire of your family the desire of your Christian friends the desire of the people in your village who pray for you who see you who want you to be saved the desire of people sitting behind you in the pew it's your desire that you will know love and enjoy Jesus Christ we long for you to commit your life to Jesus because as we know and as you know he is the only saviour of sinners so why put it off today is the day of salvation you close in with Christ and I promise you you will never look back may the

[43:28] Lord bless these thoughts to us let us pray O Lord our gracious God we give thanks to thee that we can say with that hymn writer that in my place condemned he stood and Lord we thank thee and we praise thee that we are all not accounted for all our sins but we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous help us to trust him help us to give everything to him help us to see that without him we can do nothing but with him all things are possible Lord do us good we pray apply thy word to our heart that O Lord that thou wouldst keep the evil one from us keep Satan at bay and the seed O Lord that has been sown may it fall into the good ground that thou has prepared go before us we pray throughout the rest of today the Lord's day and do us good for Jesus sake

[44:34] Amen we're going to conclude by singing in Psalm 69 Psalm 69 in the Scottish Psalter Psalm 69 page 307 we're singing from verse 19 down to the verse mark 22 to thee is my reproach well known my shame and my disgrace those that mine adversaries be are all before thy face reproach hath broke my heart I'm full of grief I looked for one to pity me but none I found comforters found I none they also bitter gall did give unto me for my meat they gave me vinegar to drink and as my thirst was great before them let their table prove a snare and do thou make their welfare and their prosperity attract themselves to take these verses of

[45:48] Psalm 69 to God's praise one hearing to appreciate him hearing this phil hear note of ZANG EN MUZIEK For if I look for all to pity me,

[46:52] I'll now I have a fortress by the land.

[47:06] The also better God did care, Until me all I meet.

[47:25] They gave me penneker to drink, When the house my thirst was great.

[47:43] Before them let their table crew, As snails unto the wind, Their welfare and prosperity, And from themselves to the day.

[48:20] The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, The love of God the Father, And the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, Be with you all, now and forevermore. Amen.