If you will, open your Bibles
back to Matthew 26. Matthew chapter 26. Throughout my life, I have had a Difficult or I could say awkward
relationship with religious holidays. I remember as a young boy feeling
really sorry for this poor girl who was walking around with a
big spot on her forehead and trying to get a wet paper towel
and save her the embarrassment of walking around all day with
this thing on her forehead, only to be met with her looking at
me when I reached to try to help her. And what in the world are
you doing? And I said, you've got something
on your forehead. She goes, I know. and turned
and went and sat down, and I spent the rest of class thinking to
myself, what in the world is she thinking? And then I remember
as a child, when my dad was preaching for this little congregation
in a big building, and we were going every single Sunday, and
we kept going every Sunday, and there was just a few people that
would be there every Sunday in this really big church. And then
after we'd been going for a long time, I don't remember if it
was months or how long, but we'd been going a lot. We were pulling
up one Sunday morning and I remember peeking over the front of the
car and saying, what is going on today? To which my mother
answered, well, it's Easter. And my response, so what? And
there were probably three or four times as many people as
there normally were. And I remember thinking, why
are all these people making such a big deal out of this day? Well, I realize now that the
question wasn't why are these people making such a big deal
out of this day, but why are these people not making such
a big deal out of the other 51 Sundays, or the other 51 weeks? The problem with religious holidays
is not that there's a day that we should honor the birth of
our Lord or His death or His resurrection. The problem is
both that one, we have to be reminded of it, but two, that
we care so little that that's the one time of year we're gonna
give lip service to it. It's important that when we see
these things, we have the right perspective. I did something
very dangerous leading up to this message in that I went to
the internet to see something about Easter. And when we see
things such as Palm Sunday, or Ash Wednesday, or Maudy Thursday,
or Good Friday, or Easter Sunday, and all these different days,
And I realized quickly that it wasn't these days that were the
problem. It's everything else in this
world that were the problem. We're the ones who ruin all these
things. That we should be happy to have another reason to celebrate
our Lord. I read that it was, this is the
Sunday in this country that more people attend church than any
other. And then it also said by some high religious figure,
this was the next quote that they said, that the pillar or
the most important principle of the Christian's life is church
attendance. The problem is not that we have
so many people that see this one holiday as this time to go
to church. The problem is that most of those
people are gonna stand up and hear that church attendance or
something else that involves us is what's important. The key
thing is that when we gather together at church, is what we
do is we look to the most important or the pillar of the Christian
life, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. And I guess I'll say
this, when they say the most important thing in a Christian's
life, we can take that word Christian out. The Lord Jesus Christ is
the most important thing in everyone's life. Now whether we know it,
we realize it, we admit it, our life is in His hands. every single
thing about our existence and our life. He's our Creator. He's
our Savior if we will be saved. He's everything to us. And so
this morning what I want to do is I want to look at the subject
of all of those different holidays, but I'm not going to talk about
them anymore. But what I want to see is really quickly, I want
to look at two things that are in all these events leading up
to our Lord's death on the cross, His burial, and His resurrection.
There's two things that go hand in hand, and the title of our
message is this, The Lord Took and the Lord Gave. And in everything
we see and go through here, there'll be one common thing. He took
something and He gave something in everything that He did. So
if you will look at Matthew 26, verse 47. Matthew 26, verse 47. And while
he yet spake, this is our Lord, lo, Judas, one of the twelve,
came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves from the
chief priests and elders of the people. Now he that betrayed
him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss that
same as he, hold him fast. And forthwith he came to Jesus
and said, Hail, Master, and kissed him. And Jesus said unto him,
Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they and laid hands
on Jesus and took him. The Lord Jesus Christ took our
place. We're the ones who must be arrested
for what we've done wrong, but he took our place. And look at
verse 52. Then said Jesus unto them, to
his followers, Put up again thy sword into his place, for all
they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. Thinkest
thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and He shall presently
give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall
the scriptures be fulfilled that thus it must be? The Lord told
his followers, it's not your fight. Put down your weapons.
And then look in verse 56. But all this was done that the
scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples
forsook him and fled. The Lord took our place. In return,
we were free to go and he gave us our freedom. The Lord took
our captivity and he gave us freedom. Look at verse one of
chapter 27. When the morning was come, all
the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against
Jesus to put him to death. And when they had bound him,
they led him away and delivered him to Pontius Pilate, the governor. The Lord took our bondage and
our chains And instead, he gave us a substitute. He gave us someone
to take our place. We deserve to be the ones in
chains, in bondage, but he gave us a substitute instead. Look
down at verse 11 of this same chapter. And Jesus stood before
the governor, and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the
king of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou
sayest, The Lord took our place before judgment, and in turn,
he gave us a place to hide. The Lord Jesus Christ stood before
the judgment, and they said, are you the king of the Jews?
Are you this person? And then look in verse 12 here,
the first part, and when he was accused, Our Lord took our accusations. Do you realize that everything
that is said coming forward here in these verses are all things
that are true about us? Everything that is claimed of
our Lord here throughout this, all the times they mock Him,
they deride Him, all these things they say, they beat Him, all
these things that we'll see here in a few minutes, all of that
is the stuff that we are accused of and guilty of. That's why
He had to be accused of these things, because that's what we
have done. He took our accusations, and
look what he did in verse 12. And when he was accused of the
chief priests and elders, he said nothing. Then said Pilate
unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witnessed against
thee? And he answered him to never
a word, insomuch that the governor marveled greatly. All the accusations
were called against our Lord. He took our accusations and He
gave no reply. In normal circumstances, not
answering an accusation is an admission of guilt. That's the
way we look at that. If someone comes up to you and
says, you stole this from me. If I didn't steal it, I'm telling
you I didn't steal it. If I did, I can either lie or
not say a word. But I'm never not saying a word
if I'm not guilty. Our Lord took our accusations
and he gave no reply because he had to pay for what we did. He was made sin, he took our
sin and so he didn't reply because he was paying for our sins. Look
in verse 15. Now at that feast, the governor
was wont to release unto the people a prisoner, whom they
would, or whoever they wanted. And they had then a notable prisoner
called Barabbas. Therefore, when they were gathered
together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto
you, Barabbas, or Jesus, which is called Christ? Look at verse
20. But the chief priests and elders
persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas and
destroy Jesus. The governor answered and said
unto them, Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you?
They said, Barabbas. Pilate saith unto them, What
shall I do then with this Jesus which is called Christ? They
all say unto him, Let him be crucified. The Lord Jesus Christ
took our punishment. He took what we deserved. In
this, we can be Barabbas here. We deserved it. It calls him
a notable prisoner. In other accounts, he's a murderer.
He's an insurrector. He would have been as bad as
they had in the prison, and they wanted him instead. The Lord
took our punishment, and in return, look at verse 26, Then released he Barabbas unto
them. He took our punishment and he
gave us our release. He gave us our pardon. Or this word released here can
be translated set at liberty. He gave us our liberty, our pardon. Now this is not one of those
scenarios where Barabbas was released and then picked back
up the next week because he was so bad they couldn't afford to
have him out there anymore. or that he was going to be re-judged
for these same crimes. No, this was a pardon. This was
a signed pardon that said all that he has done in his past
is forgotten. It is forgiven. It is paid for.
The Lord Jesus Christ gave us our pardon, our liberty. Look
at verse 18. For Pilate knew that for envy
they had delivered him. Look down at verse 23. And the
governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried
out the more, saying, Let him be crucified. When Pilate saw
that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was
made, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude
saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person, see
ye to it. Then answered all the people
and said, his blood be on us and on our children. The Lord
Jesus Christ took all the envy and anger that was owed to us. It is hard to admit, but I am
100% sure that the feeling toward me from everyone, if they knew
anything about me, would be anger and envy and hatred. And I don't
mean envy in the saying that we often think of envy. I mean
envy in the sense that why does this person deserve anything
other than the worst? Our Lord took that, and in return,
look at verse 19, what did He give us? And verse 19 says, When
he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him,
saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man? For I
have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him. And then look back at verse 24. When Pilate saw that he could
prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water,
and washed his hands before the multitude, and sang, I am innocent
of the blood of this just person. See ye to it. He took all the
envy, anger, and hatred towards us, and he gave us his holiness. He gave his just nature. It says
both his wife and them, they both said, she said, have nothing
to do with this just man. He is so just and holy. You better
not do anything with this. Pilate realized it to the point
that he went through the motions instead of saying you can have
him he went and got water and Washed his hands as a display
in front of all those people and said you aren't gonna put
this on me You're doing something to someone who is just and holy
Our Lord took that anger and he gave us in return his holiness. He gave us his righteousness
Look at verse 27 here Then the soldiers of the governor
took Jesus into the common hall and gathered unto him the whole
band of soldiers. Now the next couple of verses
is gonna have a list of some of these things that I said earlier
that we deserved, the things that we have come unto us. And
notice there it says, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers.
Everyone wanted a part of this. This wasn't a couple guys who
were doing something. Everyone around who thought they
could get in on this wanted in on this. Verse 28, And they stripped
him, and put on a scarlet robe. And when they had plaited a crown
of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right
hand, and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying,
Hail, King of the Jews! And they spit upon him, and they
took the reed, and smote him on the head. And after that they
had mocked him, they took the robe off of him, and put his
own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him." The Lord
took away our shame. As a just and holy man, He took
all the shame. These men mocked him with what
he actually was as the king of the Jews. He's the king and they
mocked him and spit on him and hit him and all these horrendous
things. And he took all of it. He bore
it. and He gave us His honor and
His dignity. He gave us what He had earned. We did not have to, and we do
not have to go through the humiliation of being called all these things
that we truly are. We talk about this moment of
judgment where we must stand before a holy and just God. Our
Lord has taken away the shame of that moment for us, of the
moment of us being called who we are in our sin and our flesh
and how horrendous we are. And instead, he's given us his
honor and his dignity. In Psalm, David wrote, thou hast
known my reproach and my shame and my dishonor. And look at
verse 39. And they that pass by reviled
him, wagging their heads, and saying, Thou that destroyest
the temple and buildest in three days, save thyself. If thou be
the Son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise also the
chief priests mocking him with the scribes and elders said,
He saved others, himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel,
let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.
He trusted in God, let him deliver him now, if he will have him,
for he said, I am the Son of God. The thieves also, which
were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth." The Lord
Jesus Christ took our mocking and our ridicule, and look at
the first part of 42 for what he did for us. He saved others,
himself he cannot save. In the mocking that they said,
they said such a true statement, and one of my favorite lines
in all of Scripture, they're mocking him saying, he saved
others, but he can't save himself. But what they were saying is,
he saved others, and he cannot save himself. The reason the
Lord couldn't save himself in the moment is because what he
was doing was saving his people. I don't think I've ever been
in a situation where I've actually been innocent of something that
I've been claimed to be doing. But if that were the case, or
let's say I was guilty of doing it. I have been in that situation
where I am being mocked, ridiculed, yelled at for doing something
wrong. If I have the power to stop that, I'm going to stop
it. Not only that, I'm probably going
to turn it around and mock the other person if I had the ability. This is just another example
of both how holy and just our God is, as well as how loving
he is, that in this moment, mocking him of all the things that he
could do, but he couldn't do it because of his love for his
children. He loves his sheep more, more
than he wanted to show these people who he was. It was more
important that he loved his sheep and saved them than he did anything
else. Look at verse 45 here. Now from
the sixth hour, there was darkness over all the land into the ninth
hour. And about the ninth hour, Jesus
cried with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli, l'ma sabachthani. That is to say, my God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me? The Lord Jesus Christ took our
darkness, our sin. He was forsaken for us. In this
moment, he says, why has thou forsaken me? He took all of that
for us and look over in Luke 23. Turn to Luke 23 to see what
he gave us. So we just saw how the world
went dark. The sun refused to shine. He
took our darkness. He was forsaken for it. And look
in Luke 23, verse 33. And when they were come to the
place which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and
the malefactors, one on the right and one on the left. Then said Jesus, in verse 34,
Father, forgive them. The Lord Jesus Christ was forsaken
for us, and because He took that, He gave us forgiveness. It says
there in verse 34, then said Jesus, Father, forgive them for
they know not what they do. In the moment where our hatred
was at its height for the Lord, where we could do nothing but
scream, yell, spit, hit, anything we could possibly do to mock
Him, shame Him, hurt Him, anything we could do, the Lord's love
of His children is so strong that His response is, Father,
forgive them. They don't know what they're
doing. Look in verse 39 of Luke 23. And one of the malefactors, which
were hanged, railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself
and us. But the other answering rebuked
him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same
condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we
receive the due reward of our deeds. But this man hath done
nothing amiss. We saw a few moments ago in the
Matthews account where it says the two thieves also joined in
in yelling and saying things. In this circumstance, the Lord
took our condemnation and our judgment. This man says, don't
you fear seeing that we're in the same condemnation? This is
what we deserve, and we deserve it justly. All of us deserve
what the Lord went through right here. But what do we get instead? Look in verse 42. And he said
unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto you, today shalt thou
be with me in paradise. The Lord Jesus Christ took our
judgment and gave us paradise. What an uneven trade. The only
way anyone does something like this is because of the amount
of love they have for the other person. Our Lord loves His sheep
so much, He took our condemnation, our judgment, our punishment,
and in return gave us paradise. Gave us everything we could ever
need. When we use the word paradise, we use that in a sense that you're
in a place where there's nothing else you would change. You go
to this place because it is the perfect place. And that's what
the Lord's given his children. One day we'll be with him in
paradise. And the key to that is with him in paradise. Paradise is not a place we're
going. It's a person we're going to
be with. The fact that we are going to be with the Lord Jesus
Christ, it will mean we will never have a single thought.
I don't mean we won't ever have a single want. We will never
have a thought come in our mind of, I wish. or I want, we will
be in such a state of perfection and happiness and enjoyment looking
and being with our Lord that we just, a want or a desire won't
even be a word we could ever do. We couldn't even think of
anything to make this better at all. Look in verse 46 here
in Luke 23. And when Jesus had cried with
a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And having said thus, he gave
up the ghost. The Lord Jesus Christ took our
death. He literally took our death and
he gave us everlasting life. Let me read here. Well, turn
with me, turn to Romans five. You can hold your place. Romans chapter 5. And we'll just read a couple
verses quickly that shows us this. The Lord Jesus Christ took
our death and gave us life. Romans 5 verse 10 says, for if,
when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death
of His Son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. Look at verse 17. For if by one
man's offense death reigned by one, much more they which received
abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign
in life by one Jesus Christ. Look at verse 21. that as sin
hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through
righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Look
at chapter 6, verse 4. Therefore we are buried with
him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up
from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should
walk in newness of life. And then finally, verse 23 of
that chapter. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of
God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Because he took
our sin, the wages of sin is death. He took our death and
in return gave us eternal life. Turn with me to John 19. John
chapter 19. in verse 28. After this, Jesus, knowing that
all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled,
saith, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full
of vinegar, and they filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it upon
Hyssop, and put it to his mouth. When Jesus therefore had received
the vinegar, he said, it is finished. And he bowed his head and gave
up the ghost. The Lord took all our iniquity. This vinegar is an example of
what he took for us. He took our sin and he drank
it. He took it and he took it in himself. The wages of sin
is death. And look what we get here in
verse 31. The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation
that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath
day, for the Sabbath day was in high day, besought Pilate
that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken
away. Then came the soldiers and break the legs of the first
and of the other which was crucified with him. But when they came
to Jesus and saw that he was dead already, they break not
his legs. But one of the soldiers with
a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came thereout blood
and water." He took our iniquity and he gave us justification
and sanctification. Let me read you something from
an article of Matthew Henry to explain this. There was something
miraculous in it that the blood and water should come out distinct
and separate from the same wound. The blood and water that flowed
out of it were significant. They signified the two great
benefits which all believers partake of through Christ, justification
and sanctification. Blood for remission, water for
regeneration. Blood for atonement, water for
purification. Blood and water were used very
much under the law. Guilt contracted must be expiated
by blood. Stains contracted must be done
away by the water of purification. These two must always go together. You are sanctified and you are
justified. Christ has joined them together,
and we must not think to put them asunder. They both flowed
from the pure side of our Redeemer. To Christ crucified, we owe both
merit for our justification and spirit and grace for our sanctification. We have everything in our Lord
Jesus Christ. Turn back with me to Luke chapter
24. Luke 24 and verse 13. And behold, two of them went
that same day to the village called Emmaus, which was from
Jerusalem, about three score furlongs. And they talked together
of all these things which had happened. And it came to pass
that while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew
near and went with them. But their eyes were holden that
they should not know him." Look at verse 19. And when he said
unto them, what things? And they said unto him concerning
Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet, mighty in deed and
word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and
our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death and have crucified
him. But we trusted that it had been
he which should have redeemed Israel. And beside all this,
today is the third day since these things were done." Look
at verse 25. Then he said unto them, O fools and slow of heart,
to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ
to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory?
And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto
them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself." The
Lord Jesus Christ took the time to teach us He took the time
to tell us again what He had done. And in that, He gave us
belief in Him. He gave us an understanding because
we couldn't believe without Him. He is the one who teaches us,
and He is the one who makes us to believe. Look at verse 28
of this same, I'm sorry, look at verse, yeah, look at verse
28. And they drew nigh unto the village,
and whither they went, and he made as though he would have
gone further. But they constrained him, saying,
Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.
And he went in to tarry with them. The Lord takes our prayers
to heart. The Lord listens to us. And what
do we get from that? Look in verse 30. And it came
to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed
it, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and
they knew him, and he vanished out of their sight. And then
these men in verse 34 said, the Lord is risen indeed and hath
appeared to Simon. The Lord takes our prayers to
heart and he gives us the blessing. These men begged, please stay
with us. And don't we often say that to
our Lord? And in return, he gave us the blessing. He showed them
who he was. Okay, last place. Go with me
to John chapter 20 and we're almost done. There are just two more things
that I want to bring out here. In John 20, verse 24, But Thomas, one of the 12 called
Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples
therefore said unto Thomas, we have seen the Lord. But Thomas
said unto them, except I shall see in his hands the print of
the nails, and put my fingers into the print of the nails,
and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. The Lord
Jesus Christ took our unbelief. And what do we get in return
in verse 26? And after eight days again his disciples were
within, and Thomas with them. Then came Jesus, the doors being
shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then he said to Thomas, Reach
hither thy finger, and behold my hands, and reach hither thy
hand, and thrust it into my side, and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said
unto him, My Lord and my God. The Lord takes our unbelief,
and he gives us faith. Even in our moments that we all
have, just like Thomas, where we just, all the evidence is
in front of us, but we say, it's not enough. I need more. Instead
of the Lord doing what he could rightly do to us and say, I've
had enough. I can't show you any more than
I've already shown you. He constantly and continually
reminds us, revives us, rekindles our spirit, and shows us one
more time, this is where I died. This is where I saved you. Put
your hand there, feel it. He gives us faith. He makes us
to believe. And finally, look in verse 11
of John chapter 20. John chapter 20, verse 11. This is after the Lord has risen
and Mary is there and the tomb's empty. But Mary stood without
at the sepulcher weeping. And as she wept, she stooped
down and looked into the sepulcher and see of two angels in white
sitting, the one at the head and the other at the feet, where
the body of Jesus had lain. And they say unto her, Woman,
why weepest thou? She said unto them, Because they
have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid
him. And when she had thus said, she
turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not
that it was Jesus. And Jesus said unto her, Woman,
why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? She supposing
him to be the gardener, said unto him, Sir, if thou have borne
him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take
him away. Jesus said unto her, Mary. She turned herself and saith
unto him, Rabboni, which is to say, Master. Jesus saith unto
her, Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my father. But
go to my brethren and say unto them, I ascend unto my father
and your father, and to my God and your God. The Lord Jesus
Christ took His place on the throne in glory. And because
He's there, He has given us an eternal home. And this book tells
us over and over again, the Lord Jesus Christ is the only place
for salvation. What the Lord did in His life,
in His death, in His burial, and His resurrection was to procure
salvation for all of His chosen people. Everyone that He died
for, everyone that He chose before the foundation of the earth,
He became a man, lived perfectly because we couldn't do anything
right. He died to pay for our sins so that we didn't have to.
He was buried and ascended on high and sits on the throne in
glory right now, victorious over all the things that we couldn't
do. And because He's there, He has given us an eternal home. A place that we gather together
and we want to give Him all the glory for this. When we say these
things, we have to fight the joy that we have of it. Now it's
okay to be happy of those things, but we must realize we just have
to give Him all the glory for it. Our Lord Jesus Christ has
done everything for His sheep. We have all things in Him. All right.