On the Way to the Cross

Have you noticed in the world of social media the rise of pride, the rise of arrogance, the rise of hubris? Everyone apparently claims to be an expert on social media.

Have you noticed that? Views, however bizarre, are stated with supreme certainty. Anyone who takes a different view is regarded as an idiot.

Their view is absurd. Pride is rampant all around us. We see it in social media. We see it in politics. We see it wherever we go. Indeed, we see it in our own lives. You may have heard of the writer who talked nonstop about himself for about 30 minutes and then said, well, let's stop talking about me.

What do you think of my new book? Isn't it the case that pride is all too obvious in others, but often we fail to see it in ourselves? Repeatedly, the Bible warns us of pride. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil are perverted speech I hate, Proverbs 8 verse 13. Proverbs 16 verse 18, a very familiar verse, pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Satan was cast down by God because of his pride. He says, I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.

I will make myself like the Most High. Arrogance, hubris, pride in Satan himself. David had several sons. One of them was Adonijah, and Adonijah said on one occasion that he exalted himself and he says, I will be king.

King Nebuchadnezzar recorded in Daniel says, is not this great Babylon which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty. Look what I have achieved. You ever hear yourself saying that? Look at what I have done. Look at my business. Look at my education. Look at my resources. Look at what I have done. Look at me, how wonderful I am. Pride.

T.S. Eliot said, most of the trouble in the world is caused by people wanting to be important. Think about that. You want to be important? Lives, homes, businesses, friendships, relationships, governments, and churches are shattered over people wanting to be important, wanting to be consulted, wanting to think that their view is more important than anyone else's view.

Looking down on others. Pride. In 792 B.C. a young man of 16 was anointed king of Judah. His name was Uzziah, which means my strength is the Lord. What a name for a king, recognizing that his strength came from the Lord, and he was a great king.

He ruled in Judah, we are told, 52 years. Under his reign, the people of God flourished. The Bible says that King Uzziah was marvelously helped. That is, he was helped he was helped by God. But at the pinnacle of his power, he fell. In fact, he fell in love with himself, and he forgot that it was God who had marvelously helped him. He forgot it was God who had given him success. And the Bible says in 2 Chronicles 26 verse 16, but when he was strong, he grew proud to his destruction. And one day, mighty King Uzziah marched into the temple to burn incense at the altar of incense.

You say, well, that was a good thing to do. Well, it was a good thing that he wanted to worship, but he forgot and ignored that in Israel there was a separation of the powers, just as we have, at least we're meant to have in this country, in our government, separation of powers. In Israel, there was the king.

He was the king, King Uzziah. But there was also the prophet, and there was also the priest. And King Uzziah forgot or ignored or didn't care that the priests were to offer the incense. And as he goes into the temple of God, he's prevented by offering and burning the incense at the altar by wonderful priests. Azariah and 80 other priests tell him, no, you can't do that. But King Uzziah thinks the law of God doesn't apply to me. And when the priest asks him to leave the sanctuary of the Lord, in anger, he refuses to do so. He's the king. He's King Uzziah. And right there, you can read it, right there, right in the temple, the Lord struck him.

That's what the Bible says. And the Lord struck him, and leprosy broke out on his forehead. And for the rest of his life, King Uzziah, a great king, a man who had accomplished much, a man that God had helped marvelously, lived the rest of his life as a leper, isolated and alienated from his people, cut off from the house of God. Uzziah is a sobering example of pride leading to destruction.

What do you think? Today we're going to meet 12 men, very much like us, 12 disciples, who instead of focusing on the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus, are arguing among themselves about personal greatness. That would never happen at Calvary Church, would it?

That would never happen in your relationships, would it? One of the things we love about the Gospels isn't how real they are. And these 12 men were real men. And sometimes they stumble, and sometimes they fail, and they're arguing about personal greatness. Who is the most important?

Who is number one? Among the 12 disciples, who should get the best seats when Jesus comes in his messianic kingdom? Pride enters the rank of disciples. Now as we read the passage this morning, I want you to do something which is going to be very difficult for you.

But we prayed, and I prayed that this will happen to you. That as we think of pride, you don't think of someone else. You say, oh, I know a lot of proud people.

I'm sure you do. I don't want you to do that. I don't want you to think of anyone else but yourself. This message is for you. This message is for me. Matthew chapter 20, if you've got your Bible there, turn with me. If you're visiting, we're going consecutively through the book of Matthew. And we're in chapter 20 this morning, and we're going to read from verse 17. Let me read the previous verse because it is important and something we thought of last week. Matthew 20 verse 16.

So the last will be first and the first last. We saw that last week. And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, He took the 12 disciples aside. And on the way He said to them, see, we're going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death.

And deliver Him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and He will be raised on the third day. Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to Him with her sons, and kneeling before Him, she asked Him for something. And He said to her, what do you want? She said to Him, say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one on your right hand and one at your left in your kingdom. Jesus answered, you don't know what you're asking.

Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink? They said to Him, we are able. He said to them, you will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.

And when the 10 heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. But Jesus called them and said, you know that the rulers of the Gentiles lorded over them, and their great ones exercised authority over them. It shall not be so among you, but whoever would be great among you must be your servant. And whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many. What a great rider Matthew is. We're going to see, first of all, that true greatness is not having power and prestige, but it is selflessly and sacrificially serving others.

Notice that. You want to be great, you want to be important, you want to be great in the eyes of heaven, here it is. It's not found in having power and prestige, but it is found in serving others selflessly and sacrificially. True greatness is the opposite of power and prestige and prominence and position.

And the Lord teaches us that, look at verse 25, He contrasts what He wants with the secular world, the Gentiles, the Romans and the Greeks. They consider it great if you can lord it over people, if you can exercise authority. In the secular world, you're considered great, you're considered important, you're considered a success if you have power, if you have influence with the movers and the shakers. If others listen to your brilliant ideas and carry out your brilliant ideas, greatness is found in having a position of power and influence. And that very common attitude, that attitude had gripped the disciples, and that attitude grips us.

They are thinking that greatness is found in power and prestige. But I had read the context, verse 16. The Lord had just taught them and they'd forgotten it already. Verse 16, the last will be first and the first last. And here once again, as we've seen repeatedly in the teaching of Jesus in Matthew's Gospel, that Jesus inverts the standards of the world. Verse 26, it shall not be so among you. Self-seeking and prideful attitudes have to have no place among followers of Jesus. Now, notice the context as well. Notice what Jesus had been doing in verses 17 through 19.

He had once again been predicting His own death. The disciples and Jesus are approaching Jerusalem. The events of what we call Palm Sunday, described in chapter 21 that we'll think of next week, Lord willing.

The events of Palm Sunday are about to unfold. They're going up to Jerusalem. Why are they going up to Jerusalem? Jesus is from Galilee and the disciples are from Galilee, but now they have traveled and they're on their way to Jerusalem.

And what's going to happen there? The crucifixion. They're approaching Golgotha. It's just days away, the place of the skull where Jesus is to be crucified. And so the disciples are at a very crucial point in their training, but they still do not understand what it means to be great in the Kingdom of God. And so Jesus had been telling them on the way as He takes them aside, verse 17, we're going up to Jerusalem. That is, we're going up and I'm going to be crucified there.

The Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes and they'll condemn Him to death and deliver Him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified and He will be raised on the third day. He's just been telling them that and along comes the mother of James and John. You say, what on earth is she doing there? Well, she's got a very high opinion of her boys. She wants the best for her boys and she knows they're following Jesus and so she comes and she requests prominent positions for her boys when Jesus comes in His Messianic Kingdom. When you come I understand you're going to be at the seat of honor, Jesus, but I want my boys, James and John, to be there right with you, one on the right and one on the left.

And clearly her boys agree. After all, we're part of the inner circle. We were the ones that Jesus told to go up the mountain of transfiguration. We're very close to Jesus and we realize there's 12 disciples, but we're number one and we're number two. We realize that Peter can be a bit of a handful, but not Peter, not Philip, not Andrew.

We want to be right there. But Jesus had talked about self-denial. He said if anyone wants to follow me, he must deny self, take up his cross and follow me. Instead of self-denial, there is self-promotion. There is selfish ambition. They think they're more important. They think they're more spiritual. They think they're closer to Jesus than the other apostles.

They're thinking of greatness in terms of power and position. Jesus is predicting his death. What are they talking about?

They're talking about what's in it for them. And they do not understand that suffering is prior to glory. This cup that Jesus refers to in verse 22, are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink? This is the cup of suffering. This is the cup of death which Jesus is going to drink. And James and John very quickly say in verse 22, we're able to do that. You're going to be the very ones that are going to desert the Lord. I'm talking to you about the cross. You're the ones that are going to fall asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane.

You're the ones that are going to desert me. And did you notice the reaction of the other 10 when they hear it? The other 10 when they hear that James and John are asking for these prominent positions in the Messianic kingdom, they say, yeah, that sounds right. James and John are very spiritual. You go ahead, James and John. Notice what the text says, when the 10 heard that they were indignant at the two brothers.

You can imagine it, can't you? Who are they to think that they can get these prominent positions in the Messianic kingdom? Who are they to think that they are more important, more spiritual, more deserving than we are? Pride has entered the ranks of the disciples.

I know that's how the master teacher now deals with this in verses 25 through 28. What is true greatness? It's selfless, sacrificial service. Do you want to be great? Do you want to be an important person? Do you want to be great in the kingdom of God? Do you want to be successful, if we can use that word, in the eyes of heaven? Here it is, here's the answer. And it's open to every single one of us.

Here it is. Be a servant. Do you want to be number one? Be a slave of all. Verse 26, it shall not be so among you. Don't go the way of the secular world with the Gentiles. Whoever would be great among you, here it is, must be your servant.

The Greek word diakonos, from which we get the word deacon. You want to be great at Calvary Church? You want to be important at Calvary Church? You want to be number one at Calvary Church? Here is the way, be a servant.

Whoever would be first among you, oh, I want to be first, don't you? Must be your slave. Dulos, a slave, a slave. What does a servant do?

A servant takes care of the needs of others. You go into a restaurant, the waitress comes, how can I serve you? What do you want? What do you want to drink? What do you want to eat?

Can I help you in any way? They are serving us. The servant puts the needs of others before his or her self. That's what a servant does. That is being great in the eyes of heaven.

When you are serving others. What about a slave? A slave is even worse than a servant.

A slave, in a sense, is even lower than the servant because the slave has absolutely no rights at all. We sang in the song about the cross. We surrender all at the cross.

Are you still holding on to your pride, to your rights, to your demands, to your entitlements, to what you think you should deserve? Do you understand that a follower of Jesus is a slave of Jesus? Here is Paul, the great apostle, brilliant intellect, wonderful education, zealous, seems to be brilliant at whatever he does. And he begins to write the majestic exposition of the gospel of Jesus Christ in Rome. Sixteen chapters in Romans.

How does he begin? How does he describe himself in Romans 1 verse 1? Paul, a servant. He doesn't even say servant. He says a slave, doulos, a slave of Christ Jesus.

It's translated in ESV, bondservant, but the word is slave. I'm a slave of Jesus Christ. Didn't we hear Jesus call us and say, now if you're going to come after me, you've got to deny self.

Deny self. Take up my cross and follow me. Jesus is going to say in this wonderful version 28 that he gives his life as a ransom for many. Jesus Christ has ransomed me. He's bought me out of the market of sin. I'm in bondage to sin and my Lord Jesus Christ comes, as we were singing, to the cross. He sheds his blood to pay the price of my sin and so I am delivered. I am ransomed. That's wonderful. I'm free from my sin. I'm a forgiven man. I've received eternal life. Wonderful, yes, but John Monroe must remember that I have been bought by Jesus Christ. I'm not my own. Paul says that in 1 Corinthians 6. You're not your own.

You've been bought with a price. You think you're going to live your life any way you want? Have you forgotten that you are a slave of Jesus Christ and that you are to follow Christ wherever he leads? You are to humbly obey him because that is the way of the cross. Following Jesus on the way to the cross. Whatever the suffering, whatever the difficulty, whatever the disappointment, whatever the surprises, you are a slave. I'm a slave of Jesus Christ. We sometimes say, now we belong to Jesus. We sang about surrendering to Jesus. Do we mean that or is that just a sentimental song?

Jesus is saying, please hear it. This cuts right across our selfish human nature, doesn't it? This cuts right across success as commonly defined. The true greatness is characterized by selfless, sacrificial service. Functioning as a slave, functioning as a servant rather, voluntarily adopting the status of a slave. I'm a servant of Jesus Christ. I'm a slave of Jesus Christ. You say, John, if I start doing that, I mean if I take that seriously and start serving people, you don't know the people at Calvary Church, they're going to take me for granted.

Exactly, exactly. You'll begin to know that you are serving when people do take you for granted. When people don't always say thank you. When people don't say how wonderful you are that you're serving me. No, they take you for granted.

That's good. Because the focus of the servant is not in receiving accolades from others, it is in obeying the Lord. It is in serving Him.

It is abandoning all of your rights and saying I am going to follow Jesus. That significance and greatness in the Kingdom of Heaven are demonstrated by serving others unselfishly, sacrificially meeting the needs of others. I praise God that we have many such servants at Calvary Church.

I thought of giving examples and I thought, well, I'd leave some out. But I know many of you, week after week, month after month, in fact, years after years are serving the Lord in ways that most of us don't even know. And you're doing it not to receive the praise of others that may or may not come.

There may be a thank you or there may not be, but you're doing it as a slave of Jesus Christ. All of us like to be served. I love being served. You like being served.

Are you serving others? Now notice what Jesus says here in verse 28. Well, verse 27, whoever will be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. He describes himself here as the Son of Man, as he does in verse 18.

And he's saying that the Son of Man's selfless and sacrificial service, these are the supreme example of humility. Now this term, Son of Man, sounds strange to us. We know that Jesus is Son of God, that's true, but he's also Son of Man. And that comes way back in the Old Testament in Daniel chapter 7 verse 13, where the coming Messiah is described as the Son of Man. Daniel uses all this term to describe the all-powerful messianic ruler who is coming. And now it has come, of course, in Jesus, he is the Son of Man. And in Daniel 7 verse 14, we read, to him, that's to the Son of Man, was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that shall not be destroyed.

Now think of this. Here is the powerful messianic ruler prophesied in the Old Testament. Now he comes, and he himself is saying he came to give his life a ransom for others. When the Lord of glory comes from heaven to earth, when God becomes flesh and dwells among us, when the Savior comes from the infinite light of the glory of God into a dark sinful world, he comes, we can use his own words, he comes not to be served, but to serve. He comes not to be served, he says, but to serve. And so here is the argument, and logic is called an a for sure argument, that is you argue from the stronger to the lesser. And the force of the argument is this, and the logic really is irrefutable. Jesus is saying to these disciples who are so concerned about who's going to be first, and who's going to get the prominent seats in the messianic kingdom, and who's number one, he's saying to them, listen, I am the son of man.

They knew what that meant. I'm the Messiah. And when I came, I come not to be served, but to serve, and to give my life a ransom for many. So if I the son of man comes to serve, how much more should you who are my followers serve?

He's arguing from the greater, the stronger position to the lesser. If Jesus served, if Jesus was the one who put the towel around himself and washed the sweaty feet of the disciples, if he the Lord of glory did that, who do you think you are that you will not serve others? Or you're only going to choose who you serve?

Get the argument. It's a powerful one, isn't it? It's a humbling one, isn't it? That is, when we think of being a servant, here is the supreme example in our Lord Jesus Christ. And that motivates us, doesn't it, to serve others. Paul writes in Philippians 2 verses 7 and 8 about our Savior, He made Himself nothing. Taking the form of a servant, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. And the teaching to the disciples about humility and what it means to be great takes place in the context of the cross. They are learning from Jesus about pride. They're learning from Jesus about personal greatness on the way to the cross.

And that is so important. An understanding of true greatness and an understanding of the cross of Christ are inseparable. So Paul writes, God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's the only thing that Paul's going to boast about.

Humanly speaking, he's got his resume would fill a hundred pages and more. Very impressive, no says Paul. The only thing that I'm going to boast about is the cross of Christ. John the Baptist, the greatest of the prophets, the very forerunner of Christ, the one who's prophesied in the Old Testament. As he looks at Jesus, he says, He must increase and I must decrease. He must become more important and I must become less important. You ever grasp that? You want to compete with the glory and the majesty of the Lord Jesus? That is this. Christ's cross ends our striving for selfish greatness and provides the model and motivation for true humility and service.

Let me repeat that. The cross of Christ ends our striving for personal greatness and provides the model and the motivation for humbly serving others. Got some pride? Of course you do.

Of course I have. What's the answer to it? To look at the cross. That's why the cross is so central to us.

That's why we sing about it. That's why we have a cross. That's why we have communion that our focus would be on the cross. So Isaac Watts writes in that beautiful hymn, When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died, my riches gain I count but loss and pour contempt on all my pride. How can you be proud as you stand at the foot of the cross? How can you be proud?

How can you think that you're superior to other people? How can you refuse to serve others as you stand at the foot of the cross and look at the marvelous Christ, the Lord of glory who pours out his blood so that you and I, sinful men and women and boys and girls, may be redeemed? I know this as we conclude something very important. I've called this message on the way to the cross and I'm saying we are to follow Jesus on the way to the cross. That the cross is always to be before us. That we never get away from the cross. And I'm asking you to humbly, yes, humbly follow Jesus. That this teaching of greatness occurs immediately after Jesus predicts his own death. So in order to be an authentic follower of Jesus Christ, you have to learn about that on the way to the cross.

Jesus is teaching his disciples about his death. What are they doing? Arguing over who is the greatest. Pride dividing the disciples. That's what pride does, doesn't it?

Pride in a marriage, husband and wife, battling, refusing to compromise, insisting on their ways. It's pride. Pride comes into a business here, business partners. They're doing very well, pride comes.

I need more than you have. I'm really working harder than you have, pride. Pride comes into the church, doesn't it? When pride comes into the church, there is always division. Self-serving, self-promoting attitudes have no place in those following Jesus. Be willing to be last.

Remember? Be willing to be last, that's true humility. Be willing to serve all, that's true love. Humility and love, two essential virtues for followers of Jesus.

How are you doing? You're loving others? Serving others?

Humbly? Following Jesus? I'm saying follow Jesus in sacrificial service. And we have, as we conclude, we have an unusual example of authentic followers of Jesus. Verse 29, and they went out. And as they went out of Jericho, and I remember they're going to Jerusalem, a great crowd followed him. And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out.

They couldn't see him, they were blind. They hear about it, they cry out. Notice what they say, Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David. The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David.

And here's something incredible. Talk about humility. Here is the Lord of glory stopping at the cry of two blind beggars. He stops. God stops.

Called them and said, what do you want me to do for you? It's really a form of the same question that Jesus asks the mother in verse 21. What do you want?

What do you want? They said to him, Lord, let our eyes be opened. And Jesus, can you see it? Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight.

Notice this. And followed him. I'm glad Matthew puts that in.

And followed him. This is the final healing miracle, by the way, by Jesus, as recorded by Matthew. The events of Palm Sunday are about to begin. His disciples and Jesus come to Jericho, which is one of the oldest continually occupied cities in the world. Jericho lies to the north of the Dead Sea, 825 feet below sea level.

I've had the privilege of being at Jericho. It's the last city in the Jordan Valley before going up to Jerusalem, and there these two blind men receive sight. When Jesus leaves Jericho, he's going to make his way up to Jerusalem, a journey of about 20 miles. He walks, of course. He's going to come into Jerusalem on the donkey, but he's walking with his disciples on the way to the cross, journey of about 20 miles, Jerusalem being 3,500 feet higher than Jericho.

So here it is. Think of the context. Only days before his death on the cross, Jesus has this wonderful encounter with two blind men. They cry out urgently, say out urgently, Lord, and they repeat it, have mercy on us, Son of David.

The crowd says, stop, don't do that, but they are passionate. And they refer to him, very interestingly, as the Son of David. Have we heard that before in Matthew? Matthew begins, Matthew 1, verse 1, the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham. The Son of David is a messianic term. He is the Son of David. He's David's greater son.

He's the root and the offspring of David. And these blind men must have heard about Jesus and understood it. Perhaps someone had read the Old Testament scriptures to them. And here is the Messiah passing by. And they know in accordance with the Old Testament provinces that one of the things that the Messiah can do when He comes in His kingdom is that the blind will be healed.

Have mercy on us, Lord, Son of David. Notice they ask for mercy. There's nothing they can do to achieve their blindness. There's nothing they can give. They're poor. They have nothing other than their blindness. And so what do they need? They need grace. They need mercy. They need love. And they need salvation.

James and John, when they're asked the question, well, we want to be these prominent seats in your kingdom, these men are asking for sight, to receive their sight. And notice the wonder. Talk about humility, that Jesus stops.

I think that's beautiful, isn't it? That we have a Savior who stops. You may think, well, I'm nothing.

I've really messed up. Do you know that Jesus, as it were, stops for you? And He hears your cry for mercy, for compassion, for forgiveness.

Why don't you ask Him? Why don't you ask Him to come and to save you and to dispel the darkness of your sin as you come to the cross? Here not only is forgiveness, here is transformation of life. I think it's wonderful that not only are they healed, they follow Jesus. See, whether you're a rich young ruler or whether you're a poor, blind beggar, the command is the same, follow me. Where are they following Jesus to?

To the cross. Many people have a very distorted view of the Christian faith. They may talk about God's love and Jesus' love. They talk about the golden rule. They talk about tolerance. They talk about acceptance.

They talk about helping others. But if you notice, often they fail to refer to the cross. There is no authentic Christianity without the cross.

The central mission of Jesus as He comes is to give His life a ransom for many on the cross. And an authentic follower of Jesus is one who has come to the cross. There's no other way.

It's not by changing your behavior. It's coming to the cross. It's being like these blind men, recognizing that you're in the dark, spiritually, and you need the light of God.

You need a transformation. You need a total makeover as God the Holy Spirit comes, and you are cleansed, and your sins are forgiven, and you repent of your sin, and you cry out to God to save you. And the Savior stops. And you'll stop as it were today and save you and cleanse you. And you'll have the wonderful joy with us of following Jesus.

And to understand that the way up is the way down. And these proud, argumentative disciples are learning the importance of humility and how wonderful to know just in a matter of days, just a month or two, they're going to be the men that God is going to use to turn the world upside down. As they go after the ascension of Jesus Christ and the descent of the Spirit, these men are changed. Yes, these self-centered men, people like you and me who can be naturally argumentative and self-seeking now, filled with the Spirit of God. They go to make disciples of all of the nations and turn the world upside down. Yes, they learned the lesson.

Have you? Think of the impact in our homes. Think of the impact at work. Think of the impact in our community. Think of the impact in the political world. Think of the impact in the church, in the community, if we who are followers of Jesus Christ learn this lesson, that we receive spiritual sight saved by the grace of God and now humbly and obediently follow Jesus on the way to the cross.

You ready to do that? What am I saying today? I'm saying this from this passage. Followers of Jesus must be characterized by self-sacrificial service as exemplified by the Son of Man who came not to be served but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many.

That's what I'm saying. If you're a follower of Jesus, that you in your life, not just here at Calvary but in the totality of your life as you follow Jesus Christ, you must be characterized by self-sacrificial service, serving others. And as you serve others, you're serving Christ.

And the example and the motivation comes from the Son of Man, who when He came, came not to be served but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many. We're going to sing a beautiful hymn written by Isaac Watts, When I survey the wondrous cross. And as we sing it, will you ask the Spirit once again to reveal your sin? If you've never come to Christ, come. Come to the cross and receive forgiveness.

And I know many of you are followers of Jesus. Use this time to surrender that pride and to say, Lord, I am your slave. I'm available for you to use in any way you want. I seek to love. I seek to deny self. Take up my cross and follow you. Father, we thank you for the clarity of the passage. More than that, we thank you for the magnificent example of our Savior, for His wonderful work on the cross as He gives His life a ransom for many. Help us to meditate on the cross, to be followers of Jesus on the way to the cross. Help us now to survey that wondrous cross and to survey our wonderful Savior who loved us and gave Himself for us. Bless us in Christ's name. Amen.