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[0:00] Well, we're studying in this class the precious things of God, and we're just wanting to ask you, did you keep your conscience wet with the blood of Jesus? The precious blood of Jesus.

[0:11] That was the challenge last week, that there is only one thing that will cleanse our conscience from sin, and it is the precious blood of Jesus.

[0:21] It's offered once on the cross, but to be applied over and over to our hearts as we come and confess our sins, and remember again that Jesus' blood is a fountain that's always open for sin and uncleanness.

[0:34] That we might come and wash and be cleansed, that we might serve the Lord with a clear conscience. Well, we're taking a break on this Resurrection Sunday from our study of precious things, at least from that book.

[0:48] I believe that what we studied this morning is a precious thing, but I'm wanting to turn our attention to a theme regarding these three days in our Lord's life, His death and His resurrection.

[1:03] I invite you to turn to John chapter 10. John chapter 10, and let me read verses 11 through 18.

[1:18] John 10 and verse 11, the Lord Jesus is speaking, and He said, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

[1:31] The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep, so when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it.

[1:42] The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and my sheep know me, just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father.

[1:57] And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.

[2:11] The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.

[2:24] I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father. Now, at least three times in this short passage, Jesus claims to be the good shepherd of his sheep.

[2:43] And to be that good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. And that's what distinguishes him from the hired hand, who's not the shepherd, who does not own the sheep.

[2:55] He has no vested interest in these sheep at all. He's just paid to take care of them. Therefore, he doesn't really care, and it shows what happens when the wolf comes. He's thinking only of himself, running for his own life, and leaving the defenseless sheep as prey for the wolf.

[3:12] But it's at this point that the Lord Jesus draws a contrast. How different is his feeling and his love and his care for these sheep.

[3:24] And it is different because they are his. They are his possession. They're my sheep, he says. I know them, and they know me. We have this precious relationship together.

[3:36] And since they are his, they themselves are precious to him. And that is seen by his laying down his life for them. Look again at verses 17 and 18.

[3:47] This is the study for the morning. The reason my father loves me is that I lay down my life only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.

[4:02] I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I receive from my father. Here's one of the reasons why the father loves the Lord Jesus.

[4:18] Because Jesus does what the father commands. Jesus loves the sheep with a selfless love that saves them by laying down his life for them.

[4:33] And because of this, the father loves his son. He looks and he says, that, that makes my son precious to me. That he so loves the sheep and obeys my command.

[4:46] What was the command? To lay down his life for as many as the father had given to him. He was to lay down his life for them and then to take back his life.

[4:58] And his perfect obedience to his father's command with a willing heart is one of the reasons why the father loves him. Now, what is there that's absolutely unique about this authority that the father has given to the son?

[5:14] He talks about this authority has been given to him. What is unique about that power, that authority? Well, to lay down his life and to take it up again.

[5:29] Nobody else has the power or authority to take his life away from him. And so if Jesus dies, it will be by laying down his life completely of his own volition.

[5:40] We don't have that kind of authority. It's unique to Christ. And this underscores the voluntary nature of Christ's death on the cross. Why would this be important for his disciples to know and his people to know?

[5:57] For us to know that his death, his life was not taken from him, but that he laid it down willingly. Well, it lays bare the heart of Christ, his love for the sheep, to know that he wasn't just taken and thrown upon the cross against his will.

[6:15] Where's the love in that? But if we know that he only did that because he wanted to, then it again reveals what love is this that would make him willing to suffer that for us.

[6:28] And it also makes plain what otherwise would not be so plain, which is that his death was not out of his hands. He's no helpless victim in his death.

[6:41] It's not that he was just a helpless victim against a Jewish plot to take his life. Rather, his death was the plan of God, the command of God given to his son.

[6:53] And his death, then, is the son's obedience to the father. It would also make plain that Jesus' resurrection was as much a part of that plan as was his death.

[7:05] And that both the laying down and the taking up of his life was his to do. It was within his authority and power to do so. So I want us to think about these two claims of Jesus this morning.

[7:19] That he laid down his life and that he took it up again. Let's think of the first. Jesus laid down his life.

[7:30] The other side of that coin is that nobody took it from him, which is what he says. So if he laid down his life voluntarily, the corollary of that is that nobody took that life from him.

[7:45] Now, what's the evidence for this? Do we have any evidence that that's the case? That nobody took his life from him? Well, think of all the thwarted attempts on his life during his three and a half years of ministry.

[7:59] And we could even go back to his birth and think how King Herod tried to take his life and could not do it. But let's think especially of his, just the portion of his public ministry.

[8:12] Luke 4 records Jesus' first sermon in the synagogue of his hometown of Nazareth. He's just been baptized.

[8:22] He's just spent 40 days in the wilderness being tempted by Satan and yet without sin. And then he's begun to preach in the area. And the word is got back to Nazareth about the wonders that Jesus is performing.

[8:36] And Jesus comes back home, his hometown Nazareth. And on the Sabbath, he goes and he preaches his first sermon there. Verse 22 says, All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips.

[8:52] I mean, where did this guy get this? He's just one of us. We saw him grow up here. They were amazed. And then followed his sermon. The main idea was no prophet is accepted in his hometown.

[9:11] So he's telling them, I know that that's going to apply in this situation too. I'm coming as the great prophet of God back to my hometown. And I will not be accepted.

[9:22] But Lord, you're wonderful. And everybody's speaking well about him. But then he proceeds with his sermon. And he says, When the prophet Elijah lived, there were plenty of widows in Israel that needed assistance.

[9:42] But the prophet did not go to the Israelite widows, but rather went to a Gentile widow. And the prophet Elisha, there were plenty of Israelite lepers in his day, but he was not sent to heal any of them, but rather Naaman the Syrian.

[10:02] In other words, God showed his mercy to Gentiles. And when the Jews heard this, the text says, All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this.

[10:16] They got up, drove him out of the town, took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff. That's just one sermon in his hometown. He's barely got out of the gate of his public ministry.

[10:30] Why does Luke's gospel not end at chapter 4? Why does Jesus survive this attempt on his life in Nazareth? Well, because he says, No man takes my life from me.

[10:45] And that's what you're seeing. They will try, but they will not succeed. And so verse 30 of Luke 4 says, So he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.

[10:58] Don't know how, what that looked like, felt like, what happened. All I know is they were intent on shoving him off the cliff to his death. And no one takes his life from him.

[11:12] Then we come to John chapter 5. And Jesus is healing on the Sabbath. And therefore, we read in verse 16, Because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him.

[11:28] And Jesus said to them, Well, my father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working. Verse 18, For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him.

[11:43] Not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own father, making himself equal with God. And what this verse tells us is that the Jewish leadership, with all their clout and power to get their own way, that they had already been trying to kill Jesus.

[12:04] Again, Jesus is just beginning his ministry. And they're already laying attempts at killing him. And now we read they tried all the harder.

[12:17] Why does John's gospel not end at chapter 5? Why does Jesus live to see another day? Just to show us again that no one takes his life from him.

[12:29] He's not done with his work, and therefore no one will take it from him. My father gave me this authority over my own life. And then we're in chapter 7. And verse 1 tells us that after this, Jesus went around in Galilee, purposefully staying away from Judea, because the Jews there were waiting to take his life.

[12:51] But then he goes right up to Jerusalem, the very center and capital of Judea, to the Feast of Tabernacles. And chapter 7 finds him teaching in the temple courts.

[13:05] And the people are asking in verse 25, well, isn't this the man they're trying to kill? And here he is, publicly teaching. Again, the people know that their leaders are trying to kill Jesus.

[13:20] And Jesus just keeps on teaching. Verse 30 says, At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him. Again, because his time had not yet come, and no man takes his life from him.

[13:34] Well, the chief priests and Pharisees could take it no longer, so they sent the temple guard to arrest him. And they came back empty-handed. And they were asked, Why didn't you bring him in?

[13:48] And they said, No one ever spoke the way this man speaks. And they got a tongue lashing. What, have you believed also? Nobody believes but this know-nothing mob.

[13:59] Again, Jesus lives on. Because no man takes my life from me. Chapter 8. Jesus tells them, Verse 40, As it is, You are determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God.

[14:18] Abraham did not do such things. You see, they're claiming to be children of Abraham. And he says, If you were the children of Abraham, you would do the things Abraham does. And he didn't try to kill me.

[14:30] And they say, Are you greater than our father Abraham? Verse 53. And he answers in verse 58, I tell you the truth before Abraham was, I am. Those are killing words.

[14:43] Verse 59, At this they picked up the stones to stone him. But Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds. Again, They're trying to take his life, but Jesus has claimed that no one takes it from him.

[14:59] And that's what we're seeing. The truth of it. John chapter 10, Verse 30, Jesus says, I and the Father are one. Verse 31, Again the Jews picked up stones.

[15:11] They had stones in their hands more often than not, it seems. What for? To stone him. Why? Because he claimed to be God. And Jesus just keeps speaking truth to them.

[15:22] Verse 39, Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp. No man takes my life from me. Chapter 11 has Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.

[15:35] He's just a couple miles from Jerusalem in Bethany. Many heard about the miracle and put their faith in Jesus. And some went and told and tattled on Jesus to the Pharisees and told him that he's raised Lazarus from the dead and everybody's following him.

[15:49] And they say, Well, we can't let him go on like this. And the high priest says, Oh, it's better that one die for the people rather than that the whole nation perish.

[16:02] And so from that day on, Verse 53, they plotted to take his life. There's this renewed effort to lay strategic plans to take Jesus' life. And then the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Chapter 12.

[16:16] He's into his last week. So we've just gone through some three years of Jesus' public ministry, and we keep seeing these attempts on his life. Now he's into the last week. Let's jump out of John for a moment and go over to Matthew's account.

[16:31] We pick it up right at this point in Chapter 26. Matthew 26, and the first five verses.

[16:42] When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, As you know, the Passover is two days away, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.

[17:01] Okay? Now we're coming to that time when Jesus will lay down his life. And he says it will be during Passover. Passover is a week festival in Jerusalem.

[17:14] And he has distinctly said, It's two days away, and I'm going to be handed over to be crucified. Now, the scene switches. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, as the movies shift back to another scene, now here we see a meeting of the chief priests and the elders, verses 3 and following.

[17:34] Then the chief priests and elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas. And they plotted to arrest Jesus in some sly way and kill him.

[17:47] But not during the feast, they said, or there may be a riot among the people. Jesus is enjoying great popularity at this moment, having raised Lazarus from the dead and having ridden into Jerusalem amidst the praises of the throng.

[18:06] And they're afraid that if they take him and kill him, it would stir up a riot among the people. But do you see what Matthew 26 is doing? It's setting up a challenge, a gauntlet that's thrown down.

[18:21] Both sides have spoken. Jesus says, I am going to be crucified during Passover. And his enemies are determined that it not be during Passover. So, who really is in charge of Jesus' life?

[18:37] Is it the Jews? Or is it Jesus? Well, remember, he says, no man takes my life from me. So, it's the night for eating the Passover meal and Jesus is with his disciples in the upper room and he dismisses Judas and says, what you are about to do, do quickly.

[19:00] It almost sounds like he's in charge, doesn't it? Well, he is. That's the point. It's constantly being made throughout. No man takes my life. I lay it down on my terms.

[19:12] so Judas, what you're about to do, do it quickly. And Judas goes to get the Jewish leaders and the arresting mob. Oh, but this isn't the time. We're not going to do this during Passover unless there be a riot.

[19:25] Oh, but Judas is sure. He knows exactly the spot where Jesus will be with his disciples. He often goes to this orchard there, Gethsemane.

[19:36] And nobody will be around. It's in the middle of the night. It's just he and his disciples. So, there'll be no situation with a crowd. And so, the arresting mob comes to Gethsemane where Jesus is alone with his disciples.

[19:52] And John 18 tells us that Judas came to the grove guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns, and weapons.

[20:05] Jesus, knowing all that was about to happen to him, went out and asked them, who is it that you want? Jesus of Nazareth, they said. And Judas was at the head of the group.

[20:17] And Jesus said, I am he. You know what happened. When he said, I am he, they drew back and fell to the ground. Again, no man takes my life from me.

[20:31] It will only be taken when I lay it down and not a moment before. Jesus is showing that he's in absolute control of his own life. And he repeats this exhibition over and over in different ways.

[20:46] He's showing that he lays down his life as he wills. And so they hold him away bound to be falsely accused and sentenced. Matthew 27, one says, early in the morning all the chief priests and elders of the people came to the decision to put Jesus to death.

[21:04] But again, it's interesting. It's not on their own time table, is it now? It is smack dab into the Passover festival. They are marching according to Jesus' timetable.

[21:17] So the Lord Jesus is proven again that no man takes his life from him. Now, he could have evaded his death at this point, even at Golgotha as they led him to the hill and there crucified.

[21:34] He could have escaped. He had been led to the point of death so many times before and it demonstrated that no man takes his life. But now, he is laying down his life.

[21:46] And so that's why we get this change of events. And why is it now that we see him dying? It's because he is now laying down his life of his own accord.

[21:57] So, we've been looking at all the ways that he proved no man takes it from me. Now, we're going to see the truth claim, I lay it down of myself, fulfilled. So, during Passover, Pilate hands Jesus over to his execution experts to be crucified.

[22:14] There's a centurion and a group of soldiers. And they crucified him and he hangs on the cross from nine in the morning till twelve noon. At twelve noon, a strange darkness comes over the whole land until about three o'clock in the afternoon for the sun stopped shining.

[22:32] And then Jesus cried out, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And then listen to the way each gospel writer describes the end of his life.

[22:44] Matthew. And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. Mark.

[22:56] Mark. With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. Luke. Jesus called out with a loud voice, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.

[23:12] And when he had said this, he breathed his last. John. Jesus said, It is finished. finished. And with that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

[23:29] Now, I believe these carefully inspired words of the four gospel writers all tell an important fact that here on the cross at the very end, Jesus is demonstrating that no one takes his life from him, but that he is in fact laying it down of his own accord.

[23:46] word. He takes a brief drink. He had refused drink before, but now with his tongue sticking to the roof of his mouth, he takes a little drink that he might give his last words with a voice and a shout that all could hear.

[24:06] And he lifts up his voice and with a loud voice, he said what he needed to say. It is finished. Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. And then he bows his head, gave up his spirit, breathed his last, and he was gone.

[24:25] He was dead. All so deliberate, so voluntary, so in control. No one takes it from me, I lay it down of my own accord.

[24:35] So he said it and then he did it. He said, Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit. And then he did it. He bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

[24:49] He is active in death in a way no one else is. No one else has power over his own spirit. Just to dismiss it, it will. It's utterly unique authority that Jesus has over his life.

[25:02] It was given to him by his father. And it emphasizes the voluntary nature of his death. Now, I don't think that's reading more into the text than is there.

[25:13] I think that it's what Jesus claimed ahead of time that he would do. Lay it down of his own accord. And that he had received this authority from his father.

[25:25] And even to the end, Jesus shows that he dies on his own terms. When, where, how, and voluntarily. And then the events afterwards, I think, simply reinforce the same thing.

[25:39] Think of the centurion's response. Mark has the centurion responding. And when the centurion who stood there in front of Jesus heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, surely this man was the son of God.

[25:58] Now, crucifixion's his specialty. He's seen many a man die on a cross, but no one ever died like this man died. There was something striking and unusual about the way he died.

[26:12] What was it? Again, it's something he heard and it's something he saw. Mark 15, 39. He heard Jesus' loud cry of committal, into your hands I commit my spirit.

[26:27] And then he saw Jesus at once bow his head, breathe his last, and that was it. I mean, it was as if he had control over his own spirit and he released his life.

[26:41] Exactly. And that's further supported by the quickness of his death. Crucifixion was a gruesome torture. Sometimes victims would suffer for days on the cross.

[26:56] Jesus died in six hours. So when Joseph of Arimathea went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body, we're told Pilate was surprised.

[27:08] He was shocked to hear that he was already dead. So he calls the centurion, the one who's in charge, and he asked him, is he already dead? And when he learned from the centurion that it was so, he then released the body to Joseph for burial.

[27:24] Now, Pilate was no stranger to execution by crucifixion either, and he is surprised to learn of the quickness of Jesus' death and demands verification before releasing the body.

[27:38] Yes, he's dead. Okay, wow. His quick death had been noted earlier as John records, something that neither of the three synoptic gospels record, that before Joseph had asked for the body, something else had taken place.

[27:57] John 19, 31, now it was the day of preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath, the Sabbath of Passover week. And because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down.

[28:16] And so, the bodies, or the legs being broken would hasten the death of the victim, and it could cut not only hours, but days off of their lingering on their crosses.

[28:30] because as they hung on their cross, the victim would be letting his weight sink down from his hands, and that would constrict his whole chest cavity, which would squeeze the air out of his lungs.

[28:46] And then he would begin to asphyxiate and to lose breath, and he'd need to take a breath, so he'd have to push up on his feet. Well, he would do so as long as he could stand the pain of the nail through his feet, and then he would have to hang down again, and that would again constrict his chest, and so up and breathe and down and up and down, sometimes for days.

[29:14] But if they came and broke the legs, you see what would happen. They would no longer be able to push up and breathe, and it would hasten the death without the oxygen, their death would be hurried.

[29:34] Well, that was the request of the religious leaders who didn't want their landscape dirtied with the bodies of three men on crosses on their special Sabbath of Passover.

[29:49] And we read in John 1932 that the soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus and then those of the other.

[30:04] But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Do you see the picture? Again, the other two crucified at the same time with Jesus are still very much alive, but Jesus isn't.

[30:21] he has dismissed his spirit and so they do not even see the need to break his legs. He's already dead. And as they walk by him, one of the soldiers just jabs him with his spear in the side and outrushed water and blood.

[30:39] Yes, he is dead. And all according to what the Old Testament spoke of, that they would pierce him. But you see, again, there was an early death in Jesus part.

[30:52] And it all, I think, just verifies the fact that Jesus did not have his life taken from him. Rather, he laid it down of his own volition. Now, so what?

[31:03] What's the significance of this? Well, first of all, I think there's significance in the fact that Jesus determines that he is going to die, along with his father.

[31:15] It was a command he received from his father that it would be during Passover. And that he, therefore, would be seen as Paul, that Jew, came to see him as the Passover lamb.

[31:28] Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. So here's the precious blood that really does atone for sin. It really satisfies God's justice.

[31:41] It is a fitting payment of the infinite offense of my sins against God. God, and in this one, God is punishing him instead of me. And all who trust in him have that blood covering them, and God says in the Passover that when I see the blood, I will pass over you.

[32:04] So I believe that Jesus is showing that he's in control of his death, and one of the ramifications of that is that he sees to it that he dies as the Passover lamb during Passover.

[32:19] Spurgeon comments on this, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. This is what God says. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. What a comfort it is when by faith you see the blood of Jesus that was shed for you.

[32:34] But the comfort here is that God sees the blood that his son shed for you. Precious blood because it delivers us from destruction, from coming wrath. And when our faith is weak, he sees with 20-20 vision, ever presented before him, the blood of his son.

[32:56] He sees how it perfectly satisfies his own justice. Spurgeon says it's enough if he sees the blood. It's my comfort if I too can see that blood and draw the comforts of the gospel from it.

[33:10] So that's one thing. We see Jesus controls his death so that it happens during Passover. But then secondly, again, it emphasizes the voluntary nature of his death. That no man takes it, he lays it down.

[33:23] That shows his love for his sheep, his care for his sheep, and how important that would be as these men see Jesus hanging as an apparent victim, an apparent weakness, to know that this is not defeat.

[33:37] This is the obedience of Jesus to his father's eternal plan, and this is victory. It looks like defeat, but it's truly victory. Jesus is no helpless victim. He could have warded off the cross just as he had so many times before warded off death.

[33:54] Then he's not doing it. It's because it's his decision. It's his own will to die for his people. So it shows us the love of God for his people, but it also shows us the love of Jesus for his father.

[34:12] Not only Jesus' love for his people, but it shows Jesus' love for his father. He says, I have this power and the father loves me because I obey his command.

[34:24] And Jesus obeys his command because of his love for his father. In fact, it was on this very night that in John 14, Jesus says, the world must learn that I love the father and that I do exactly what my father has commanded me.

[34:42] Come now, let us leave. He's just minutes away from the arrest, the trial, the crucifixion. Come now, let's go. The world's got to learn something. What do they got to learn? They've got to learn how much I love the father and I show it by doing exactly what he's commanded me.

[34:58] Jesus was given this command of the father and he goes and lays down his life. Out of love to his sheep and out of love to his father. So the love of Jesus flowed in two directions at the cross.

[35:12] It flowed down to us, his sheep. He's doing this for us voluntarily and he's doing it out of love to his father who gave him the command. It was hard to kill Jesus but his enemies found it harder still to keep him killed, didn't they?

[35:32] And that takes us to the last part and we don't have but a few minutes to sum up. Jesus not only says I lay down my life of my own accord, he also said I take it up again.

[35:47] I take it up again. And it raises the question, well, who raised Jesus from the dead? And many places, indeed more often than not, the New Testament speaks of God, the father, as raising his son from the dead.

[36:03] We won't take the time to turn up several passages. Acts 2, 24, God raised him from the dead and many others. But not all passages speak of the resurrection as God, the father, raising his son from the dead.

[36:20] Other places say that Jesus raised himself. John 2, verse 19, Jesus is in the temple and they're wondering what authority do you have to clear the temple and clear out these sellers of animals and money changers?

[36:37] And Jesus says, destroy this temple. And in three days what? I will raise it again.

[36:50] And John, writing with the fuller understanding of later, says by this he was speaking of his body. which they took and nailed to a cross.

[37:01] And Jesus said, but I will rebuild it. I will rise. John chapter 10, 17, and 18, what we just have been studying. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it up again.

[37:18] Again, I think the father's raising his son. there's no opposition between the father and the son. Their will is one.

[37:29] Their works are one. What the father does, the son does. What the son sees the father do, the son does. And I believe that when the scriptures speak of the father raising his son from the dead, it is meant to teach us that Jesus' sacrifice has been accepted by God the father.

[37:46] He's suffered enough. He has paid the full penalty. Death has no more claims on him and so the father raises his son to prove to one and all that he has accomplished the salvation of his people.

[38:01] But when the scriptures speak of Jesus having the power to raise himself, it is rather teaching us something of his own nature. That he is more than just a man.

[38:13] No other man has this power to lay down his life or to take it up again. But Jesus, the God man, the messianic, the mediator man, he has been given this power, its unique power, unique authority, and it shows us that he is indeed who he claimed to be.

[38:32] Romans 1.30, Romans 1.3, that he is thereby declaring his power to be the son of God by his resurrection from the dead.

[38:44] And that's why Jesus is not called to be a priest in the order of Aaron, the Levitical priest, but rather in the order of Melchizedek, Hebrews 7. Jesus has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry that he can trace back to Aaron or to Levi, but rather he's received a priesthood on the basis of a power of an indestructible life.

[39:07] Jesus is high priest because he has an indestructible life. You can't destroy it because he's God. It was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. He is himself the resurrection and the life.

[39:21] And so Jesus is said to have power to take up his own life again and showing us that he is indeed God in the flesh, that he did indeed lay down his life of his own volition and he's able to take it up again of his own will according to the authority and power that the Father had given him.

[39:43] Well, the conclusions then, Jesus is more than a man. He's man, but he's very God with the power of life within himself. And that's what it took to save us, to have this God-man die under God's wrath to pay the penalty that we deserve.

[40:01] And then, having laid down his life for us willingly, he then took it up again for us. and now ever lives for us and ever prays for us.

[40:13] And because he ever lives, he's able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God through him. So as we think about that last week of our Lord and as we think about his death and his resurrection, let's appreciate the fact that Jesus laid down his life and took it up again.

[40:34] all according to the love he had for us and his Father and according to the plan, the eternal plan of Jesus, of God, to save his people. Let's pray, shall we?

[40:51] We thank you for the testimony, our Father, that you've given us in the Scriptures to know that this Jesus is utterly unique, that there is none like him, fully man as much as we are man and yet not just man, but as much God as you, Father, our God.

[41:09] And therefore we see him doing things that no other man could do and we see him laying down his life willingly and taking it up again. And we've come today in this place to offer up our worship and our praise for having not spared your own son but given him up for us all.

[41:29] And Lord Jesus, we come to worship you for such great love for us and for your Father. Would you teach us to love God with all of our heart, to love you with all of our heart, and to love our neighbor as ourselves, we ask in Jesus' name.

[41:45]  Amen.