Consider Him Who Endured — Nikolay Pletnev

Dear brothers and sisters, I greet you all with the love of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us all say: glory to the Lord! Today is Good Friday, the Friday of the Passion. For the first time in the history of our church we are holding this service not together but online, and yet we have agreed to gather today in our homes and pray to the Lord together. Although today we will not be able to celebrate the breaking of bread, we have moved it to next month, if the Lord allows, still we can gather together, and of course we have the Word of God. And before our prayer I want to turn to the Word of God: the Epistle to the Hebrews of the apostle Paul, chapter 12, the first four verses.

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin” (Hebrews 12:1-4).

This is how the Holy Spirit addresses the church through the apostle Paul: we have many wonderful witnesses of the faith, faithful to the Lord; you know their names. But it is written here especially that a race is set before us, which each of us is running, and we as a church are going together; as it is written, together we work out the salvation given by the Lord (Philippians 2:12), strengthening one another. And the Scripture calls us to lay aside every weight that we may be carrying, to be freed from it and follow the Lord with endurance, that is, bearing the cross after the example of our Lord Jesus Christ. And in the second verse the Scripture says that on this way we must look to the Lord, look unto Him as the author of our faith and its finisher.

But today I want to point out the third verse in particular: consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary in your souls. This word: “consider.” Today I want to speak about the importance of where our thoughts dwell. Because when it says “look unto the Lord,” today physically we cannot see Him, but inwardly we can look unto Him with the eyes of our faith; in our thoughts we can reach out to the Lord. And this is what I want to speak about today, because in this there is great power, great blessing. Consider Him! As we go along our life’s path, fighting against sin, against temptations, we simply must, brothers and sisters, constantly look to our Lord as the author and finisher of our faith.

The Word of God calls us to consider, that is, to think constantly in our hearts about His sufferings for us, and also about His glorious resurrection, by which we are justified. To think constantly about the sufferings of Jesus Christ, and through this God will strengthen us and help us every day. Yes, precisely through this: when you and I think about Jesus Christ, God will strengthen us, as we have just read. If every day we think about things above, as it is written in the Epistle to the Colossians, chapter 3, verse two: set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God (Colossians 3:1-2), that is, look unto Him. In other words, look to Him all along life’s way: at the fact that He is alive, that He is risen, that He is now in heaven. This is what we should think about and reflect on, and if we think about it every day, we will receive God’s blessings. Not only at Easter, many think about the risen Christ only at Easter, but the Scripture says that we should think about it constantly.

To be spiritually minded, the apostle Paul often speaks of this, is life and peace (Romans 8:6). This is where life comes from, this is where peace comes from: from how we think, from what we reflect on. Life comes if we think about the Word of God, that is, about the word of life, about Christ, who is the Prince of life, who conquered death. And if we think about Him, about our Savior, God’s peace will come into our hearts. Glory to the Lord, brothers and sisters! Therefore our thoughts must constantly be on the Lord, and through this inner spiritual process the Lord will always give us strength and strengthen our souls.

Let me give one example. The Scripture says that we have a whole cloud of these wonderful examples. Take Abraham: he did not consider, it is written, his own weak body. But what did he consider? He considered the word of God, the promise the Lord had given him (Romans 4:19-21). And in the hardships we are going through, it is better to think about His sufferings for us than about our own aches and weaknesses. Of course we will have pain, we will have troubles, but precisely at that moment it is better to think about Christ’s sufferings for us. Why? Because they were for us, it is written. We will be strengthened, we will not grow weary in faith, because behind this stands the Holy Spirit, behind this stands the Lord, who will strengthen our souls and even our bodies; as David says in Psalm 16, they will rest in hope (Psalm 16:9). Such is the power of what we think about!

Even during the breaking of bread we simply must think and reflect on His body that was broken and on His Church. We cannot just go through the motions: well, we came to the breaking of bread, we did it; we need to enter into it. The Scripture says: reflect on the sufferings and death of the Lord for you, on His broken body and on the body which is the Church (1 Corinthians 11:26-29), and not only on yourself. Remember, in chapter 11 it is written, we always read this at the breaking of bread, that when you come together for the supper, wait for one another (1 Corinthians 11:33). Do not think only of yourself: here, I am going to partake; but wait and think of others, because we partake of one bread, we are the body of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 10:17). This is very important; otherwise it would be not for our good but even for our condemnation.

Not always in the church, as with Israel, was there the opportunity to celebrate Passover. At times there were wars, persecutions, dispersion, epidemics, even famine; we know this from history. And many of our brothers and sisters were in chains for the Word of God, for the name of the Lord, wandered for years, went through these hardships, but they always remembered the slain Passover Lamb. And when they remembered, they received strength from the Lord. Many of them did not celebrate the breaking of bread for years, there was no opportunity, but the Lord comforted them. He knew that they were going through this time, and the main thing is that they remembered the Lord, remembered the slain Passover Lamb, and through this they received, I will say it again, strength from the Lord to run a race that was not easy. It is written: Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us (1 Corinthians 5:7), on the cross of Golgotha. So let us always remember this and reflect on it, not only in the days of Easter. I urge you: constantly consider it, think about it, reflect on it.

Let us read the third verse of Hebrews chapter 12 once more: “For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.” We, brothers and sisters, will be able to come through whatever hardships there may be if we look to our Savior, the Author and Finisher of our faith, to His sufferings. And the fourth verse: “You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.” We, brothers and sisters, have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. But our Lord Jesus Christ fought for us to the last drop of His blood, and He won the victory, glory to Him! To the last drop of His blood He fought for us, and we at times are somehow like this: “Well, what can I do? Here, a temptation came…” Well then, now we need to look unto Jesus, who is ahead of us, who carried His cross, who, as we read in the first verse, endured the cross. That means it was not easy for Him, which is what we are reflecting on today, this Good Friday. And we will pray that we too may imitate Him and endure all that is needed, because through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God, said the apostle Paul (Acts 14:22). Jesus said to His disciples: in the world you will have tribulation (John 16:33). In this world there is much tribulation. When you read the book of Revelation, you see what is still ahead: what hardships there will be, what cataclysms both in heaven and on earth. Therefore the only way to come through it all is with the Lord: considering Him, considering Golgotha, considering the resurrection, we will come through it all, glory to God.

And I want us to remember this great feat of our Lord, which began in the Garden of Gethsemane; to remember how Christ walked this path. Let us open the Gospel of Luke, chapter 22. It is written here that it began precisely there, in the Garden of Gethsemane, when Jesus Christ came with His disciples. I am reading from verse 39 to verse 46: “Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him. When He came to the place, He said to them, ‘Pray that you may not enter into temptation’” (Luke 22:39-40).

Brothers and sisters, I will pause here a little. I always make this remark: pray that you may not enter into temptation. There are very many temptations, not only for the disciples; you and I, the disciples of Jesus Christ, also have many temptations. But Christ tells us: pray, ask God for help, and we will not enter into temptation, we will come through them. Glory to the Lord for His promise that He will not allow anyone to be tempted beyond what they are able (1 Corinthians 10:13). But we cannot shift our responsibility onto the Holy Spirit: “Pray for us, Christ, You pray there in heaven, and we, well, however it turns out.” No! Christ told the disciples: pray. The Holy Spirit will help us in prayer, in hardships, in troubles He will comfort us, but we cannot lay our responsibility on Him. On the church and on every member of the church lies the responsibility to be in prayer, and constantly at that.

“And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, ‘Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done’” (Luke 22:41-42). This is how Jesus prayed while in the flesh: Your will be done, Lord. And we pray this way constantly, the “Our Father,” and we say this to the Lord. It was not easy for Him. Verse forty-three: “Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.” Brothers and sisters, if things become very hard for us and we receive no support even from people, remember: God will send even an angel, he will strengthen us, and God will give us the strength to come through it.

And further we read, verse 44: “And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly.” This is a struggle. Prayer is not always praise, because it is written: pray with all prayer (Ephesians 6:18). There are prayers of joy, there are prayers of praise, but there are also prayers of struggle, when we wrestle, like our Lord Jesus Christ, like Paul, when we go through this agony. Christ was there, and He prayed earnestly. What does it mean to pray earnestly? In the Russian Bible the word is “diligently”: with diligence, with care. One hour, He knew it, and He used that hour. So you and I too will pray earnestly and intensely for all the circumstances we are going through; thank the Lord for the salvation He has given us, by His stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5); praise the Lord and intercede for the unsaved, for the president, for this whole situation with the coronavirus. Our God is an almighty God; just consider Him! God often says, “I am God.” To Abraham He said: go out, look at the sky, at these stars; can you even count them? That is how many descendants you will have (Genesis 15:5). “But I am so weak…” Yet he did not think that way: he looked at the stars, he believed the Lord, and it was accounted to him for righteousness (Genesis 15:6). Our prayer must be with faith, even in agony, even in these trials. Let us be earnest and careful, as Christ prayed.

And the strain at that moment was so great that for the first time we see a description of the blood of Jesus Christ. This is how He fought for you and me, brothers and sisters, having left the joy of heaven, the glory; there in Gethsemane, when sweat flowed mixed with blood. It is described: “And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44). There Jesus Christ began to shed His blood for you and me, for our sins, to give us freedom. Because His blood cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7), and His blood has redeemed us from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13). Glory to God for this! This is how this struggle, this battle began.

And we read: “When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow. Then He said to them, ‘Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation’” (Luke 22:45-46). I would not want Jesus to come to me, to you, to each of us: “Why do you sleep? Why, now, in these circumstances, are you not watching? Rise, pray, lest you enter into temptation.” This is how our Savior’s battle for us began. As I said, He fought to the point of blood; more than that, He shed all His blood for us through these sufferings.

The next passage that I especially want to offer on this day of remembrance, and which describes the sufferings of Jesus Christ, is the Gospel of John. I will skip some things: I will not read how Christ was before Caiaphas, when they tortured Him there, humiliated Him, beat Him and struck Him on the cheek. The only thing He said to the one who struck Him: why do you strike Me? If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if I have done nothing wrong, why do you strike Me? (John 18:23). Thus He was silent, as Isaiah foretold: “as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth” (Isaiah 53:7). This is how Jesus Christ suffered, and already there the blood was flowing, from under the crown of thorns and from the blows with which they beat Him and mocked Him.

I will begin reading from the moment when He was brought to Pilate, chapter 19: “So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him” (John 19:1). Just imagine: the Son of God, who committed no sin, is under an order from the governor to be beaten. For what? He had done nothing wrong, but there was a command to beat Jesus Christ. “And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe.” What festive garments! “Then they said, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ And they struck Him with their hands” (John 19:2-3), that is, across the face; they struck Him with full force. And the blood of Jesus Christ began to flow more and more onto this sinful earth, for our sins, for the remission of our sins.

“Pilate then went out again, and said to them, ‘Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him.’ Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, ‘Behold the Man!’” (John 19:4-5). Have some compassion: already beaten, bloodied, blood running from under the crown of thorns, beaten all over. Well, behold the Man; He has been punished, let us release Him. “Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, ‘Crucify Him, crucify Him!’ Pilate said to them, ‘You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him.’ The Jews answered him, ‘We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God’” (John 19:6-7). This is how they accused Him. But He did not make Himself the Son of God; He was and is the Son of God, sent from heaven. “Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid” (John 19:8). I will skip what follows; you can read this passage of Scripture at home yourselves, much is described here. Let us continue from verse 16: “Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. Then they took Jesus and led Him away. And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center” (John 19:16-18).

Many films have been made, many sermons we have heard, many books we have read about how Jesus Christ walked through the streets of Jerusalem. Last year my wife Lilya and I, together with other relatives of ours, were in Jerusalem, were on that street, the Via Dolorosa, and saw that place. A small city, about a square kilometer in size. And there Jesus Christ walked: from the Praetorium to the Place of a Skull, bearing the cross. He did not have the strength to carry it all the way: He was already bleeding, losing His physical strength, but He put forth every effort to go to the cross, according to the Word of God, to fulfill the will of God, to redeem us there. And there they crucified Him, as was foretold through David: they pierced My hands and My feet (Psalm 22:16). Do you understand: blood gushed from His hands and feet. And it is written: they look and stare at Me (Psalm 22:17); they made a spectacle of Me. Imagine: Jesus hanging naked with His hands and feet pierced through, and the blood, as it is written, the precious blood, flowed onto this sinful earth. This is how He fought, this is how He endured for you and me. And they, the people, made a spectacle of it, stared, reviled Him, and He prayed for them: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do (Luke 23:34).

Today God calls you and me to follow in the steps of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:21). I once preached a sermon on what the steps of Jesus Christ are. It is not that many people walk along this Via Dolorosa; that is not what it is about. It is good to walk it and remember, but not simply as a ritual. Even if you will never be there, or have never been there, it does not matter: consider this, brothers and sisters. Walk this path with Jesus Christ; walk it when things are hard. And today we will remember this and go along these streets together with Him. And His steps were right here, in His mouth. It is written: “who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously” (1 Peter 2:23). These are His steps. How did He commit it to Him? He asked: God, forgive them. That is how we must commit things to Him.

Further, from verse 28, the culmination of Golgotha: “After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, ‘I thirst!’” (John 19:28). It is written: and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink (Psalm 69:21). Jesus died according to the Scriptures, and rose according to the Scriptures, and will come the second time according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). He knew the Scripture, because He was the Word of God in the flesh. One moment remained, when already, as it is written, My tongue clings to My jaws (Psalm 22:15); He could not say the last word. But He spoke, knowing that the Scripture had to be fulfilled: He had to taste the sour wine. “Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’” (John 19:29-30). It is finished: it was all brought to completion. He endured to the end, hallelujah, glory to God! To the end He drank the cup of suffering, to the last drop, and to the last drop of His blood He gave Himself, fighting for us. Oh, how grateful we must be to our Jesus Christ for dying for us on this cross which He carried!

And further we read: “Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away” (John 19:31). That was a high day, as we say, Good Friday. “Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs” (John 19:32-33). Jesus said: It is finished! And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit (John 19:30). No man could give up his spirit the way Jesus did. Even the righteous, when they died, like Stephen, for example, seeing Jesus standing at the right hand of God the Father, said: Lord, receive my spirit (Acts 7:55-59). But Jesus gave up His spirit. The centurion, who had perhaps seen hundreds of deaths, of executions, sitting on his horse, watched how He died and said: certainly this was a righteous Man (Luke 23:47). We have executed a righteous man! And the people went away beating their breasts (Luke 23:48). After this, you know the story, there was an earthquake when Jesus died, and the veil in the temple was torn in two (Matthew 27:51). All this happened because the Righteous One died, the only one on earth, the Son of God, for the human race, for my sins, for your sins, brother and sister.

Oh, how we will praise Him on this special day, Good Friday! I always think: why did they call it that, Good Friday? After all, it is such a day of suffering! But the thing is that on this day our salvation was accomplished. That is why it was called Good Friday: on this day God’s good for us came to pass, and we were redeemed by Him there, on Golgotha. Hallelujah, glory to God!

“But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear,” in the Russian Bible, pierced His ribs, “and immediately blood and water came out” (John 19:34). These are the last drops of blood which, when Jesus had already died, still flowed out onto this earth. Hallelujah! Blood and water. “And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe” (John 19:35), so that you and I may believe, all who read the Gospel. “For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, ‘Not one of His bones shall be broken.’ And again another Scripture says, ‘They shall look on Him whom they pierced’” (John 19:36-37).

Let us now pray and look on Him whom they pierced: they pierced His hands and His feet, and with a spear they pierced His side. Let us pray, brothers and sisters, and thank Him that because of Golgotha, because of the Lamb of God, today we have eternal life. Let us think about this, hard as it may be, today and tomorrow, and when the feast of the Resurrection comes, if God grants life and health, you and I will meet again online, from the church, and we will praise God. But I would like to say, brothers and sisters: not only on these days, not only on Good Friday, not only on this Friday of the Passion, not only at Easter; constantly think about the Lord. This will give you strength, and we will see a great anointing in our lives.

I invite you to pray. Let us kneel before Jesus and say: Jesus, we praise You, Lamb of God! We have not yet resisted to bloodshed; You fought this battle on Golgotha for us, to the last drop of blood. Let us pray, church, let us call on the name of our Lord. Kneel down, in your living room or in your bedroom, wherever you are; maybe you are driving in your car; pray there in the spirit. Let us together praise the Lord on this day and thank Him that in His great wisdom He has given us salvation and eternal life. To Him be glory, amen.

Let us pray. O Lord, praise and thanks to You, thanks to You for this great salvation! Do not let us, O God, neglect it, but grant that it may be worked out in our lives. We ask You: bless America, grant that she may bow before You; bless Asia, may it bow before You; Europe, that it may bow before You; Russia, Ukraine, Belarus. Lord, bless North and South America, Australia, Africa; bless India, bless the islands, Lord, Japan, Korea, all the other nations, Lord, for You said that Your salvation will be preached to all nations, and then the end will come (Matthew 24:14), and You are coming to this earth. We ask You: send revival and blessing. Amen.

Let us pray, church, let us keep praying, as Christ said: watch with Me one hour (Matthew 26:40). And we will see one another on Sunday. Amen.