Physical thirst is a big deal. If we don't drink, we die. If we drink the wrong liquids, it's harmful or even toxic. Today, the Son of God who made the waters thirsts FOR water. Let's look at:

1. Universal Thirst
2. Cosmic Thirst
3. Satisfying YOUR Thirst

How IS it, for instance, that this One, whom Christians call "God incarnate" now complains TO God in this moment? Is God complaining against Himself? AND the Victim uses foreign language… WHY? AND There are apparently miraculous happenings… in nature… in the Temple and even in the tombs around Jerusalem. AND, at the end, the soldiers carrying out this execution regret what they'd done – "He was innocent…"

That's what I want to look at today – NOT a cold analysis of tragedy that should make us weep – but a way to move beyond being appalled and saddened and instead to get the true meaning of the scene as what it is: the watershed or dividing-line or breakthrough in God's plan, THĒ Crisis Moment in all of history. Let's look at:

1. The Method of Scripture
2. The Meaning of the Symbols
3. Metabolizing the Significance

Leading to this Word of Relationship we find this sort of behind the scenes bargaining between the religious leaders and the Roman Governor, the notorious Pontius Pilate. These frenzied negotiations (if we could call them that) stand in stark contrast with the apparent tenderness and composure of The Third Word. There's an unholy alliance between the Church and the State at the start and… at the finish, a sweet and caring HOLY alliance, that's familial and generous.

I want to look at this juxtaposition of blindness and kindness, of tenderness and treachery and some deeper things we might easily miss but that show the profound significance of this moment and this Third Word: 1)The Way of the World 2)The Way of the King 3)The New and Living Way of Relationship (Heb 10.19-22)

The two transgressors (Mark 15.28) are called simply "bad workers" in Luke's version while Mathew and Mark call them "thieves" (λῃστής) not likely petty thieves but likely repeat offenders, armed robbers or even revolutionaries against Rome who had stolen to support their cause. This morning, I want to look especially at ONE of these thieves and even though we only have very few words describing him we actually get quite a bit of information.

So, let's look at:

1. What the thief knew
2. What he wanted
3. How he got it and
4. What ever happened to those thieves?

Today I want to look at this oft-quoted prayer of Jesus Christ, "Father, forgive them, they don't know what they're doing" IN its wider context. I hope this look will get us into the series AND help us to think WITH God about the meaning, the reception and the practice of forgiveness.

Let's look at:

1. The Wider View
2. The Word of Forgiveness and
3. The Worry of Your Heart

What happens when YOU get it…and the people around you DON'T? What happens when the real core meaning of Jesus Christ's coming DAWNS on you and you see, feel, and embrace it…WHEN IT EMBRACES YOU…and the people around you don't? This scene is a gripping case-study in THAT. It's enthralling.

Let's look at:

1. The Combustible Moment
2. It Only Takes a Spark
3. Pouring Oil On the Fire

And now we meet a character, also included in Matthew's and Luke's accounts, a very interesting and also rather tragic figure. By harmonizing Matthew, Mark and Luke, we know him to be The Rich Young Ruler. He occasions this amazingly vivid contrast, a study on how the kingdom of God and the gospel, the basic message of Christianity, how the gospel provides a unique alternative to one of humanity's basic pursuits that is the quest for security.

That's our topic for today:

1. Sources of Security
2. The One Impossible Alternative Christianity Offers