Les Wheeldon emphasizes that Jesus is the Passover Lamb, whose sacrifice was foreshadowed by the Passover lambs slaughtered in Jerusalem. He draws parallels between the timing of the lamb's sacrifice and Jesus' crucifixion, highlighting the significance of Jesus' death as a victory rather than a defeat. Wheeldon explains that understanding the cross requires spiritual revelation, and he encourages believers to adopt a loving, caring attitude towards one another, reflecting the seamless unity of the church. He concludes by affirming that through Jesus' sacrifice, believers can experience healing and wholeness, and he invites them to receive this transformative power in their lives.

It's on the Gospel of chapter 19. And yesterday evening we were considering the Passover. And the Bible so clearly does tell us, the Passover Lamb is Jesus. And as they were beginning to kill the Passover Lambs, as I said yesterday, 256,000 lambs, said Josephus, were slaughtered for the families that were gathered together in Jerusalem the year that Jesus died. And at nine o'clock in the morning they were beginning to slaughter lambs. And yet, each family had but one lamb. It wasn't that there were many lambs to be sacrificed for sin, there was one lamb. Each lamb that they offered was a single of the one. And while they were doing that, the soldiers were nailing Jesus to that cross. And at three o'clock in the afternoon when the slaughtering was to finish, and it finished at three o'clock, at that hour Jesus breathed his spirit to the Father and died. And so He was our Passover Lamb. And He is our Passover Lamb. And in chapter 19 we have the description so simply of the cross. And you know, one of the starting things as you look at the accounts of the New Testament about the cross, is that God does not, at any point, seek to evoke pity from people who observe this. In fact, you know that, I don't know, the whole thing of understatement. You know that, when there is great understatement, I think one of the great, what's the word, artists, or what do you call it, one of the great experts in understatement was someone like John Major. He's not a particularly outstanding person, but he was the kind of person you could expect just sort of shrugging his shoulders and showing no emotion or anything like that. Now understatement in that way is of course not necessarily a virtue, but God is a God of understatement when He talks about the sufferings of His Son. Great understatement. And it reveals something about God, that He's a God of understatement. He doesn't parade His sufferings. If you want to know anything about them, you're going to have to look into them and find them and worship them. There are secrets that are made known to true lovers of the Lord Jesus Christ, those who love Him. And there are other things that are certainly not paraded. And therefore we approach this chapter with an understanding that God is the God of understatement in so many things, in so many ways. He tells you sufficient. Now in chapter 19, as I said, we have the description of the cross. But one of the strange things about the cross is this, that the people who observed the cross did not see it as a victory. Perhaps John, who wrote this gospel, had more idea of the victory of the cross than the others. But generally there was very little sense of victory about this. And when we consider the cross and I consider the cross, I am filled with a sense of wonder and of the victory of the cross. But I see the cross from a different perspective than they saw it. In one way, I see the cross more closely and deeply and perfectly than they who saw it outwardly. Because when Jesus was crucified, one of the simple facts of the cross is that when He was crucified there was very little that happened in the hearts of men. For example, we read of nothing that happened in Peter at that moment who was absolutely broken and devastated and as he went to his room to hide his face he would have felt the earthquake, all kinds of things, the darkness and all kinds of things he would have felt. And at the moment that Jesus died he didn't feel anything. And yet I have felt something. I have felt something. I have experienced something. And the truth is that the cross must be revealed to us by the Spirit. It's like if you go to a theatre you know, you ever go to a theatre and you see the performers and they're doing all their things and then they go off the stage and then once off the stage they stop doing that because there's all kinds of different things happening behind them. We don't see behind the scenes. We only see what we see. We only see what they want us to see. And the truth is when you want to understand the cross you have to approach it from within which is where the power of the cross is revealed. When you receive the power of the cross to change your life you become a witness of the cross. Paul, when he preached in Galatia he said with Paul whose eyes Jesus Christ has been set forth crucified and he was not speaking of the fact that Paul was a good actor. He didn't act out the cross. And he didn't have some great gift to describe the cross. But when he preached the people who heard him preach had a revelation of Christ and him crucified by the power of the Holy Spirit and they were witnesses of what happened on Calvary. God has to make us all witnesses of what happened on Calvary. Now we're not going to read the whole chapter I will read a few verses. Let's read from verse 17. And he, Jesus, bearing his cross went forth unto a place called the place of the skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha where they crucified him. Two other with him on either side, one in Jesus in the midst in the place of the chief criminal. And Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews. This title then made many of the Jews for the place where Jesus was crucified was near to the city. And it was written in Hebrew Greek and Latin. We could say it was written in Russian English and Chinese. Three great big language groups. To be more accurate we have to make one local one wide and another one worldwide. Two worldwide languages and one local language. That's how it was translated. Hebrew, Greek and Latin. Everybody could understand it. Then the chief priest of the Jews said to Pilate No, don't write the King of the Jews but let's make a little difference that makes a world of difference. Write that he said I am King of the Jews. Don't write he is the King of the Jews. Write that he claimed to be the King of the Jews. Pilate answered what I have written. I have written that the soldiers when they had crucified Jesus took his garments and made four parts to every soldier a part but also his coat. Now the coat was without seam woven from the top throughout. They said therefore among themselves let us not tear it but cast lots for it whose it shall be that the scripture might be fulfilled which says they parted my raiment among them and for my vesture they cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did. Now they stood by the cross of Jesus his mother and his mother's sister Mary the wife of Cleopas and Mary Magdalene, three Mary's When Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciples standing by whom he loved he said unto his mother Woman behold your son adopt him, love him as your son from this day on. Then said he to the disciples Behold your mother, adopt her, love her as your own mother. From that hour that disciple took Mary to his own home. John took Mary to his own home. John lived later in Ephesus where he died and Mary also lived in Ephesus where she died and the tomb of Mary is in Ephesus where John lived and worked. After this Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished that the scripture might be fulfilled said I thirst. Now they once set there a vessel full of sour wine, vinegar and they filled a sponge with it and put it upon his head 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 it the ghost. The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation that the body should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day or that Sabbath war on the high day they begged Pilate that their legs might be broken and that the body might be taken away. Then came the soldiers 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 dead already they broke not his legs but one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side and poured with came around blood and water. He that saw it, their record under his record is true. And he knoweth that he standeth true if ye might believe for these things were done that the scripture should be fulfilled a bone of him shall not be broken. That is from Exodus chapter 12 concerning the Passover lamb. They were not to break a bone of the Passover lamb. And again another scripture says they shall look on him who may pierce. And then Joseph the brother of Matthew came. Returning then to earlier in the chapter we find first of all this conclusion of the trial of Jesus. In verse 1 it's titled. And the choice given to the people was Jesus or Barabbas. They didn't want that choice. They didn't want to choose between a horrible wicked terrorist and Jesus. They just didn't want Jesus. And if you ask most people would you rather have Satan or Jesus they would all say well I don't want either. Many people would say I'm not interested in Jesus but I certainly don't want Satan. Fair enough that's their opinion they want. They don't want to have Satan. Any more than they want they want to have Jesus. But the truth is this you haven't got a third option. You only have that option. Your choice is either Jesus or Satan. And there is no other. And in this whole tragedy that unfolded this man who is at the centre of the trial pilot, he was the one who we often think of as having very little guilt because after all wasn't it the Jews who brought him in. Jesus said in verse 11 he said the ones that delivered me to you have the greatest sin. And that was the Jews. They have the greatest sin. Those who use the legal system wrongly have the greatest sin. They brought me with a false accusation. They instigated. Pilot did not instigate it. Pilot did not start this process. Pilot was just a judge trying to be impartial trying to make his judgments and in fact trying to spare Jesus' life. Strange isn't it? That this ungodly sinner was trying to save Jesus' life. And so Jesus said they have the greatest sin. But the tragedy of Pilot is that he he sat on the fence and when in the end he knew that Jesus was sinless and there was no grounds on which to condemn him the tragedy of Pilot is that he did not stand up and do what was right that a judge should do. A judge should do what is right no matter what the consequences. But he was a coward and he washed his hands of it and he said alright then I'll let you have your way. But he was voting the final vote by letting them have their way. He was the guilty one. He had the power. And in your own circumstances you may say well I'm going to go with the force of the crowd maybe the friends at work, maybe the family you live in maybe the influence around you is not following Jesus maybe all around you there is such a force against Jesus that in the end you let it go and let things happen that should not happen but you are guilty along with those who practice sin if you do not stand against it and go against the flow. No man can sit on the fence. There is no place for any man to sit on the fence. Not one human being can sit in a place of neutrality and say I'm not involved. Every one of us is drawn into this. And the trial of Jesus is actually the reverse trial of the human race. Your own trial. Because what you decide about Jesus will decide your eternal destiny. And if we choose Jesus we shall have eternity with Jesus if we reject Jesus we shall lose him for all eternity. And then we read this quite unnecessary act Pilate had judged Jesus to be utterly without fault and in verse 1 of chapter 19 Pilate therefore took Jesus and scourged him and he found he withered. Thoroughly withered. And almost with an inch of his life they said this whipping would be by these soldiers. He had him whipped and they mocked him and they planted the crown of thorns and they gave him the purple robe. And in the end Pilate sits down on the judgment seat and condemns him to die. Away he said you can take him. And they took Jesus and led him away. You'll notice in verse 16 it was Pilate therefore who delivered him to them to be crucified. It's interesting to note that Pilate in the history books is said to have committed suicide. He died by his own hands. Doubtless a broken and a guilty man. But let's move on because now we have this next event which is in verse 19 which is the cross has taken place they have crucified him. Again I repeat that there was no dwelling on this. It simply states they crucified him. And then verse 19 this question of the title. Pilate wrote a title. And in some strange way Pilate wrote Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews. People read it in all the languages. And the chief priests became upset by this because they realised the vast difference between the bold statement that Jesus is the only way to God for example or Jesus is the King of the Jews. Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is the one way to the Father. Jesus is not a way to the Father. He is the only way to God. There's a vast difference between saying that and then saying Jesus said he was. He is the only way. There's a vast difference. And you will find that in our present climate in this vast impetus now to make the Christians say don't say he is the only way say that he says he is the only way. Because there's a vast difference. It was only his opinion. But Pilate in this last act of defiance because he had something in him that didn't like all this he said no what I have written I have written because you see this force. He realized the force of the truth of it. That this absolute truth that lies in Christ that no man can change that the truth in Christ is unchangeable. He is the only way. He is the King of the Jews. He's more than that. He's the King of Kings. The Lord of Lords. In his hand lies all authority and all power. He has the power of the bread that every man is alive on earth this moment. He has the power of the destiny of every human being who has ever lived and whoever shall live. Jesus Christ is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and he stands or sits this moment on the throne of the most high God. He is God and there is no other. He is the most perfect shining forth of the revelation of God and there is nothing there is no other truth than that Jesus is the Son of God. And I declare what I've written. I've written it's done. He realized in some sense that he was asking beyond the dimensions of his own will and authority he was in touch with something that was connected with the destiny of the whole human race. It's the truth. He is the King of the Jews. And then we find as we go down in verse 23 that the soldiers around the cross they divided garments this is his inheritance. This is the inheritance he left. And we see in these verses of the cross the inheritance that Jesus left to those who around him. Here's the first one. Pile of clothes. That's all he had. Pile of clothes. And among this pile of clothes was a coat without seam and this seamless robe is the whole of the Bible that knows no division between old and new. There is not a God of the old and a God of the new. There isn't a God who made a statement in the old that he then contradicts in the new. It's strange. You can interpret and think of God as having this kind of face and that but the truth is this the whole of scripture hangs together in a unified revelation of the Son of God. And there's this I've never been there but I think I've seen a picture of it of the picture of, I think it's George Washington. The Constitution of America is written out on a stone in Washington. Somebody here may have seen it. It's written out on a stone. The Constitution. And as you look at the Constitution you read it and close up but as you stand back you suddenly realise that it's in the shape of a head and it's in the shape of George Washington's head. The Constitution showing forth the man. And as you read the Bible you realise the whole of the scripture is painting the picture of the Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God and of his Father and of the Holy Spirit. The whole of scripture in here is one seamless robe showing forth the wonder of the person Jesus. And the other seamless robe is the church. The church. Now the seamless robe of the church. No division in his church. No. Not one split in his church. Now you may go, wait a minute. We've experienced other things and we may have heard of other things. But you know that although there's no doubt that Jesus prophesied it in the Gospels. He said that there would come times when there would be two kingdoms growing up together in one place. He said this. Churches will be places of conflict and division. He said don't be surprised with these things and don't try and correct them. He talked about this. And he said that there will be wheat and there will be tares growing up together. He said that. Yes, that's true. But the church of Jesus Christ is a seamless robe that cannot be torn asunder. They can never be two churches. Now you will say to me wait a minute, we've got to worry about four or five. Alright, but listen very carefully. There is still only one church of Jesus Christ. It may meet in different places. That may be in a slight imperfection to the life. It may be something that's grown up through various historical things and so on. But there is still only one seamless robe of his church that cannot be divided. Individual and one. The coat without seam. This is what he's going to leave to the world. The seamless robe. And you know the way you consider what the church is one of the things you must never forget is the church is not one group. It's not our church in this place. What you must have in your life is a greater body of people than simply your congregation. Your congregation is part of the church of Jesus Christ. Not the church. You are part of the church of Jesus Christ. And they said therefore among themselves let us not rend it. I love these words. Let us not rend this inheritance. Let us not tear this beautiful robe. Let us not tear the church. Let us not tear the truth of God in the scripture. We do not tear the Bible. We do not treat it violently. And we do not treat his people with roughness. Let us not rend it. And then we move on in verse 25. There stood by the cross of Jesus his mother and his mother's sister Mary the wife of Cleopatra. And these three Mary's there by the cross. And when Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciple standing by whom he loved, he spoke to them. And this is that wonderful moment of adoption. That Jesus looked at people there in his church. He liked the church that was to be because these two were there on the day of Pentecost. But something greater in his heart that he's so concerned with every person in this room. You know that Jesus Christ is personally concerned with each one in this room. Not just that you have a blessing or you have this but that you be looked after and cared for in every detail of your life. He cares for you. The love of God does not only work its way up out on a spiritual level that God says I'm going to look after your spirit and well you have a rough life elsewhere that's just too bad. The work of God is that he will look after your whole being. Here he looks on his on the disciple standing by whom he loved and he said to his mother I want you to take that disciple and I want you to love that disciple as if he were your son. And this means that in the church the bonds of love in the church must mean that somehow in our heart is going to be begotten a love of adoption. So that you would look on somebody else somewhere and be given by God as your son. Behold your son. People you'll meet. Behold your son. And when you realise this you meet people and you understand the different places you'll meet people recently met someone I went to a wedding in Spain and this couple were there and this girl was utterly broken. There was hardly anybody from the family. There was no one from the family of the groom there and they invited me to go. They gave me the place of honour of this wedding feast and I sat there in this place. I was so amazed at this. And I realised what they were craving for was that they would be a father there. They wanted a father. Someone to sit with them. Just be a father. Someone just to smile at them and be a blessing because there was no one else. They wanted someone to be like a father to them. And you know when you meet people. We have brothers and sisters in the church. We have all this we can put it in a very general way but in the end it means nothing. Jesus Christ hanging on that cross looked down on his followers and he said adopt each other. Adopt that one. They haven't got a father. They haven't got a mother. But anybody who cares, warn victim adopt them. It's the price of the cross. Adopt them. Go on adopt them. Take them. Care for them. Find out about them. Find out about their needs. Find out about them. Pray for them. Watch over them. And then he said to the disciple take her as your mother. Lonely people who need visiting. Not just a conventional little visit but somewhere you're going to watch over that they be cared for and looked after and visited and understood in their needs all they grew. Just think about your own mother your own father. How you must care for them. Think of your children. How you would care for them. And the love of Jesus as he throws his seamless robe over and almost seems to take it up into this one seamless robe. Here he is now. What are the bonds of the seamless robe? The inheritance of the cross in our heart is the love of God poured out in us to make us one body. Behold your mother. Behold your son. And Jesus Christ can knit hearts together if there be a willingness. Oh Father move in my life we may pray. Move in my life. But the thing is this. When we say Lord move in my life. Why do we want God to move in our life? Rid me of all my problems and I continue my selfish old life. Rid me of my sins I don't like. I've gone too far in this sin and I don't want that one anymore. Rid me of that problem that problem. Rid me of that. They're troubling me. Make me free so I can do what I want. And Jesus said there is neither salvation in that. Neither is there a blessing in that. Neither is there the Spirit of God in that. Neither is there the power of the cross in that. The salvation of God has come to turn each person inside out and make us part of his loving seamless robe. One with each other and most of all one with him. That a man should stand and say I am one with Jesus Christ. I have the same mind as Jesus Christ. I have the same will as Jesus Christ. I have the same aim as Jesus Christ. I am one with Jesus Christ. That is the aim of the cross. The aim of the cross is to unite me in my mind, in my spirit, in my will, in all that I am to make me one with God. And when Jesus stood there and said I and my Father are one and then he prayed that they should be one as we are one the power of the cross is to take out of a human heart all the thorniness, all the divisiveness, all the power to separate a man to make him alone, to make him so unloving, unkind, selfish, cut off, an idol. The power of the cross sets a man free to be made one with Jesus Christ. Verse 28 After this Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, knowing that he is now being made the offering to sin. It's in other Gospels we read of other things he said from this cross, but one of the things he said was my God, my God why hast thou forsaken me? And at that moment Jesus was made the offering to sin. He was made the perfect offering to sin. And it was accomplished. And it was done. And it was so wonderfully and deeply and powerfully accomplished that there on the cross Jesus Christ died to sin and rose again. You know that the power of the cross to die to sin and rise from the power of sin was there on that cross. He said it's finished, it's done. Sin is finished. He didn't say sin will be finished. He didn't say they will be powerful, they will be conquered. He said it is finished. And there on the cross this word of tremendous victory that from the lips of Jesus Christ must have echoed throughout every place in spiritual places. It must have echoed throughout all of heaven and all of hell. And all power and all principality, every spirit would have heard the word of Jesus. It is finished. And the wonder of it. The power is done. And on that face he turns now and says, I thirst. This is verse 20. I thirst. And Jesus Christ is thirsty. He's thirsty for one simple thing. One thing from you. That he should drink of fellowship with your life. That he should be able to come and have a place in your life where he enjoys being with you. Now I don't know if you've got somebody that you're such a lover that you don't enjoy being with anybody. But think of that person you would love to spend an hour with. Or you'd love to spend a day with. Or some person you'd just love to be with if you could have that chance. Just love it. I'd love to have that privilege. And you can think of people you've gone to visit and you've spent time and it's been the sweetest food and drink you could ever imagine. That person loved you. That person received you. And you enjoyed it. And Jesus said, I thirst for time with you. I thirst for you to come and sit, giving all your heart, all your attention, all your mind, not distracted, not looking over your shoulder. You know a lot of people seem to burst into the presence of Jesus and say, by the way, don't forget to save all my other things and to bless me and help me pass all my exams and do everything for me. Thanks. Bye bye. And he's got a chance to spend the night with you. And you can almost hear the angels saying, who's that? They're coming. You know, it's as if you should burst into a bank on a Monday morning and say, I need a loan of $10,000. Please put it in my bank account. Thank you. Bye. I suggest you make an interview with the bank manager. Make an appointment. Alright, when can I see you? Well, in a few weeks. Maybe in a few weeks you can see me. What? I need that now. But this is Jesus saying, I'm thirsty for you. You bring your requests, you bring everything you want, but I am thirsty for you. I long for you. I want you. I have not just died so that I might do some technicality that you might want to go ahead and have. It's not the technicality. You could describe it in theological terms if you like, but the truth is this, that Jesus Christ died for you because he loves you and wants you and wants time with you. And when he said, I'm thirsty, he was simply saying this great truth of his being, that I am longing, longing. He was longing for the day when you'd be able to sit down with him at ease without the disruption, the sin, without the torment of fear, without the distraction of demons, without all the things that, and all the depression and all the fruits of the sinful life. They're all gone for you. Sit in with him now. You can just talk to him. I'm thirsty for you. And when we think of the cup of blessing that he gives us, he says, you drink of this cup of blessing. And then in verse 29 he drinks of the cup of cursing, the vessel of vinegar. He received the vinegar. Verse 30. He received it. Bowed his head and gave up the ghost. Died. Spirit went to father. What a triumph! Released from the power of sin and darkness, released utterly, he went there to be with his father in the hands of father, reigning and ruling from that moment. His body laid later in the grave. Let's look on now because we've not yet finished this. Verse 32. Then came the soldiers and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus they saw he was dead already but they didn't break his legs. But it might be fulfilled. This is verse 36. A bone of him shall not be broken. Not one bone of Jesus shall be broken. You know that this is one of the greatest promises that comes to the cross. Not one bone of him shall be broken. Jesus stands before you with all the integrity of his person, all of the power of his person without one smell of smoke, if I can use that picture from the Old Testament. Not even the whiff of smoke even on the flames of the cross. There's no not even a remembrance in anything he does or says of any agony or pain. What do I mean? Well if you've seen people who've gone through an accident or a trauma you'll know that they will need anti-trauma advice. They'll need trauma therapy. It may be necessary. People have been through some terrible things. I don't know if you get some of the tragedies that I've seen or I've been involved with or accidents where I've had to be involved and help and I can remember one accident when I had to try and resuscitate this man who had drowned. It had been a terrible drowning accident. I was involved and for me I found that it was my reaction. I had no reactions at that moment. Just to help. Just to try and get this thing sorted out. And it was maybe days later when I began to realise some of the effects. And some people they go through something and they come out jittery and they come out shaken and they come out unable to sleep. They come out with nightmares. They come out. What happens is their bones are broken by things. Not their physical bones only. Their inner person is broken. You know that sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me. But the truth is that life actually breaks your bones. People break your bones. Things that happen to you break the structure of your personality. And you end up being crippled in your reactions. Unable to be normal. In fact most people when they come through life at some point they are already crippled. They are unable to react normally. They are unable to be normal. The structure of their personality is broken. And here it tells me that when Jesus came through the cross and you find this on resurrection day, it was 72 hours later, whatever it was, he comes out of the tomb whole, raised, pure. Even as he died in those moments. Father into thy hands I commend my spirit. There was not a hint of bitterness or anguish but wholeness. He triumphed in wholeness. And when you think about it all the death that had been given to the cross, all that was being made all that was involved he came to utterly whole. And the wonder of the cross is this, that Jesus Christ ministers to you and makes you part of his wholeness. He makes you one with himself. You know that sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me. But the truth is that life actually breaks your bones. People break the bones. Things that happen to you break the structure of your personality and you end up being crippled in your reactions unable to be normal. In fact most people when they come through life at some point they are already crippled, they are unable to act normal, they are unable to be normal the structure of their personality is broken. And here it tells me that when Jesus came through the cross and you find this on resurrection day just 72 hours later whatever it was he comes out of the tomb whole raised, pure even as he died in those moments. Far into my hands I commend my spirit. There was not a hint of bitterness or anguish but wholeness. He triumphed in wholeness. And when you think about it all the depths of agony of the cross, all that was there being made it all was involved he came to utterly whole. And the wonder of the cross is this, that Jesus Christ ministers to you and makes you part of his wholeness. He makes you one with himself and he heals all your broken bones in a moment. He has the power to take any broken area of your life and heal the brokenness of your heart, your mind your past, whatever it is he heals every part of your being so that you may be made utterly whole before him. Much of the brokenness we suffer is self-inflicted. We've broken ourselves, striving to something. We've broken ourselves, it's our ambition. We've overreached ourselves, overstretched ourselves and gone for something. You know in the in the traumas of the 1980's when there was this great big economic boom and everything was going so fantastically well I know people who got more and more money, they they overstretched themselves down there in the south they overstretched themselves invested, took out mortgages and big houses and all this and suddenly the bubble burst. Bankrupt. I know people who lost their house, lost their business lost everything and ended up with huge debts and nothing. Overreached themselves. Wanted to be rich. Wanted more than they could actually see that they could have. They wanted to have it because it was some kind of castle in the air. They got it and it disappeared. And when it had gone, not only was the house gone that they dreamt about, and the business and the future and the holidays, but their heart was broken. Their structure was damaged and they were left disappointed and broken and unable to live in a normal way and the truth is that men come through life sometimes at a young age already they're already limping because they can't get that zest because they're broken inwardly. And here is this word. A bone of him shall not be broken. And Jesus Christ can heal the structure of the heart and mind and soul of a person to make us whole and stand upright and be normal. It's the power of the cross. And then this final word here in verse 34. One of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side and forthwith there came out blood and water. You know that blood and water flowed out. This great flood of healing power in the blood of Jesus and the Spirit of God. And seven weeks later the Spirit of God was poured out and when the Spirit of God was poured out it did not come with the power of the Spirit alone the Spirit came with the blood of Jesus on the day of Pentecost. It was blood and water. Do you know on the day of Pentecost while the Spirit was being poured out, this is not actually a Biblical fact, this is simply a historical fact when the Jews celebrated the Feast of Pentecost one of the things they did was to pour out wine mingled with water. It's a fascinating fact. You can read it. They did it for years. Simply a historical fact. They built up this tradition of pouring out water and wine. And when Jesus stood up on the day of Feast of Tabernacles and said this truth about the he that believeth on the hour of the beginning of most beings shall flow into the rivers of living water they are pouring the water and wine to heal the human heart to heal the person we are and Christ our Passover is sacrificed for the wonder that we can be healed you know that when you look at the power of Jesus to heal all that I am the thing that most amazes me is how quickly it happens now I've heard of a man rushing into a bank manager's office in the morning and saying I want nothing to do with you alright but if that man went in pleaded entrance said I want to see I'm in desperate need I want to talk about it thoroughly I want to know all the details of what's implied I'm willing to go through with it I need help then he's beginning to come in the right way he's beginning to understand and as he comes in this way that he realises that he can't try to get away he's realised this is going to be something that's going to take all he is the cross demands of each one of us, all that we are and as we come in that way we do find instant powerful response from God he doesn't say make an appointment in three weeks he says you come in we'll talk it over we'll have this sorted out here and now it'll be done now I don't know if you've ever read the testimony of fear in the castle but like many of these testimonies the thing that hits me is the power of the moment when God intervened and if you read that account if you've heard anything about it you find that Roy Castle and Fear in the Castle had a successful marriage it went perfectly, everything they were somehow people looked up to as being a wonderful perfect couple and whenever they were in public they smiled and they were always happy they were church goers and they used to go to church on a Sunday morning and on the Sunday morning she used to find that she used to get so mad at getting their children ready she scowled at the kids so much and she used to bash at Roy to help at every night of the night get them all together in that car and Roy said to her one day, look don't you think maybe we'd be better off staying at home seems to be more blessing than all this and then they'd get to church and they'd all be forced to smile just a perfect couple and they had all their success done and all their position all their wealth and inside it had all gone wrong and they were broken she was broken he was broken and the marriage was broken and it was obviously ending for ruin and she was just about finished, she couldn't continue she was getting depressed she was getting ill she couldn't stand it all and then one day in desperation she knelt by her bed and said oh god she said oh god help me I can't go on like this help me she got up on the phone that one she answered the phone and it was of somebody she hardly knew but it was a Christian she remembered it was a Christian so she heard this phone on the other end the person said I don't know why but I just feel I wanted to phone you and I felt that I wanted to get together with you for a cup of coffee and to chat and during the castle she said to herself it's one of those Christians terrible and she said to this person well maybe in a week or so we'll get together thanks for calling, bye bye and then after a moment she thought oh wait a minute I pray and then within minutes a phone call from a Christian and she looked at all the papers desperately trying to find out eventually she found the number of this person rang them back up and said excuse me you know I said we could get together in maybe a week or so I just wondered if it could be a little bit sooner she said yeah so would you like can I come round now during the castle went down the stairs there was Roy, he said here's a baby you look after the baby she pushed the baby to his arm and went out and he thought it was the last he'd ever see she went up to this Christian and she poured everything out and he said hold up everything how broken how everything was at an end she couldn't go on any longer and she said have you ever asked Jesus to take control of your life that's what you need to do find your life to Jesus and let him take control of all that you are let him have you Fiona Castle said yes she agreed and they prayed together and Fiona Castle said it was like oil being poured over she felt like oil being poured over you know you feel Jesus I'm not saying that that's the basis of your walk with Jesus you feel some kind of some people don't feel like a kind of oil going over them but I tell you this you do not only believe in Jesus with your head you feel in your life the difference he makes a huge difference it's indescribable to every person he'll be different but the one basic thing is this as he comes and changes and transforms you know he's there you know he's worked you know you're healed you know it and Fiona Castle she was changed the moment her life was healed her heart was healed and she got in the car to go back and she was live hard and she was singing she was joyful and then she thought wait a moment if I go back like this I wonder if it will last and she said to herself I'm not going to say a word to Roy so she got back home said nothing months later still lasting still alive Roy Castle said to her where did you go that day where did you go that day where did you go that day and he said I knew you were different the moment you came home he said he said I didn't want to ask anything because I wanted to see if it would last he said but when you left the house to go he said the house felt gloomy and dirty and felt so dark and he said when you came home the house felt as if it had been sprinkled and that's Jesus it's Jesus you know when you were healed Jesus went through all this that he may heal the broken bones of your life look at it destroyed hurt by this one hurt by that one hurt by yourself you hurt people you can't forgive people they haven't forgiven you but all the rest of it broken crippled hardened human being life makes us hard and breaks us but Jesus heals and he makes us so new so different he makes it so that we can forgive others in the light of his love we can forgive and we can receive forgiveness and we're not defensive one of the great marks when we come to Jesus is we lose our defensiveness our justification the reason I did this was that the reason I did this was that when you really come to Jesus all the defenses drop and you begin to say it was me it was me I wanted this you begin to see things about yourself you never saw before and you begin to confess sins that you would never have confessed before and you can begin to confess needs you never realized were there before and then the revelation that Jesus bore your sin and bore your shame and bore your sorrow so that he might take it all away from you and clothe you with righteousness and make you new and make you whole the power of the cross is that I may come and receive a washing of water and of blood and healed in my my heart, my life that Christ may come and heal me that I may know him and might have the power to be like a poured out water myself soft, loving kind forgiving and through the power of the indwelling Jesus Christ life no longer makes me hard it makes me soft for things that once would have broken me now bring greater love out of me and I find that rather than becoming embittered I'm becoming bettered and I'm beginning to flow and my unity with Jesus Christ is a delight it's growing, it's enriching it's developing because I am growing up into the stature of the son of God in likeness with him in union with him Jesus Christ makes me whole and Jesus Christ makes me grow up as a whole human being and Jesus Christ gives me healing, Jesus Christ gives me motivation Jesus Christ gives me love Jesus Christ gives me inheritance he gives me brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, children Jesus Christ makes me richer than I could ever imagine a man could be he makes me rich in love and there is no greater riches than to have love in your heart it's the greatest riches of all and there is the inheritance some of them grabs at a few clothes but I want the clothing that he gives me by his spirit I want to stand whole in his presence and find the power to love and to be loved by him and to love others the cross is a glory you know the thing about the Passover is this this is the Passover you know the thing about the Passover is this the Passover was one of the feasts of Israel and the word feast that you will be used was a word that implied great joy unto dancing and you think that the cross is a feast it doesn't mean that I dance like a fool but it does mean my heart dances with the sheer wonder and delight of the power of deliverance from Egypt that he has given me I am free by the blood of Jesus now tonight the greatest thing of all from all that I've been saying the last thing I want to say is that the person standing in this room who can fulfil all that I've said in Jesus Christ he is standing here delighting in every word I've said backing every word up that I've said and applying it to every heart that will receive it Jesus Christ himself will back up his own word he will back up everything I've said because it's his blood, it's his sacrifice it's his word it's his promise and it's his inheritance for you so he will do it for you so we're going to pray and I'm going to ask him to do it for you, right here and now in this room, let us pray and if you want him to minister right into your life I want you to stand up in this room right now and say Jesus I ask you Lord soberly carefully, thoughtfully with all my heart work this healing in my life my life is broken and I need your power pour out this life on me, if you want this stand up and say Lord give it to me, thank you no one else is looking around, we're just going to pray together respond quickly respond with all your being let him come to you heal your broken bones heal anything that has been broken by life let him pour on you these fresh, fresh rivers to change you now then, go on receive every one of you receive this from the Lord, he loves you this is what it's about it's Jesus who's here and he's stepping forward right to you now to hold you lay his hands on you and pour his spirit through you and heal you amen, it's wonderful it's miraculous it's more than we can do to ourselves, it's not something we do to ourselves it's the power of Jesus Christ to heal now in the name of Jesus be whole be made whole thank you Jesus Jesus