How you guys doing this morning? Good. You guys ready to finish encounters with Jesus? Or some of you are like, no, I love it. I want to keep going. Well, too bad this is last week. Anyway, we are finishing up this series, and we've been in this series all summer, and it's been sweet to see the way Jesus has interacted with different people. We've been going through the gospel of Luke. Sorry, I might do that a lot. I spoke at a camp for middle schoolers this past week, which was a ton of fun, but middle schoolers got me sick, and so you can blame them. I might cough on you here and there, but in this series, we've seen Jesus encounter different kinds of people. And our hope for you guys through this series is that you've seen more of who Jesus is. You've grown to love him more and walk in obedience to him. And so that's what we're hoping for. And this morning we get to close it out. And typically you would think, all right, final encounter with Jesus. It should be something light hearted, uplifting. Instead, we're talking about Jesus encounter with a politician. And so nothing brings joy and unity quite like politics. Right? Yeah. So it's going to be a fun time. I'm excited for it. Don't worry, I'm not going to tell you who to vote for, not going to tell you which political party you should align with. I'm not super interested in hearing your conspiracy theories. I am a little interested, though, and so if you have some good ones, I am all ears. I think they're quite a enjoyable to listen to, but that will be for a different time. But through this morning, we're going to see Jesus encounter politicians. Actually, we're going to see him encounter two of them, but it's less of a sermon about politics and more about seeing how does Jesus interact with these politicians in a situation that's unjust, a trial that goes completely off the books from what we would consider good in a whole system that just kind of seems unfair and not right. Have you guys ever seen anything not fair and not right happen? Yeah. A few of you, it doesn't take much looking around. We have four kids. Our three oldest are in the that's not fair phase. Yeah. Yep, yep. That's where they're at. So it's a fun time in the Crosby household right now, which, to be fair, some of it is warranted. I understand throwing a fit when your pancake is slightly smaller than your brother's. Like, I get that. It's not fair. And life's not fair. But it doesn't take a lot of looking to see the unfairness that is in the world around us. You can look at the way you've been treated by others. Maybe you've been mistreated by family and friends. Maybe they've treated you in ways that are not right. Maybe you've seen things that aren't right in our political system and in our government. Maybe you've seen people treated inappropriately because of their race or ethnicity. And it's really easy to look at the world around us and say, man, that's not right. It shouldn't be that way. That's not fair. And so the question is, how do we endure in this world that's not fair. That's not right. And that's not just how do we endure in a world that's full of things that aren't fair, not right and unjust. And really, that's what we're going to see from Jesus this morning. We're going to see how does he deal with this situation, how does he deal with these politicians in this situation. That is not fair, not right and injustice. So we're going to be in Luke 23. You can start turning your bibles there if you want. This is right at the very end of Jesus life on earth. So to just kind of catch you up to speed, Jesus has been betrayed by one of his disciples, Judas. He's been taken captive by the chief scribes and Pharisees and chief religious teachers. He's been mocked and beaten by them. He's been questioned by them. And after all of that questioning, they've finally gotten to the point where they want Jesus dead. They've wanted him dead for a while now, but now they finally feel like they have the grounds needed to have him killed. Here's the issue, though. The religious leaders can't kill anyone. The religious leaders don't have the authority to put someone to death. And so what we see is that they take him to the people that do. They take him to the roman government. The roman government was the government that had authority to give a death sentence. And so they take him to Pilate, the governor, over Jerusalem, and they bring him to him. And that's where we're going to pick up. Starting in chapter 23, we'll read verses one through five. It says. Then the whole company of them arose and brought him, being Jesus, before Pilate. And they began to accuse him, saying, we found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar and saying that he himself is Christ, a king. And Pilate asked him, are you the king of the Jews? And he answered him, you have said so. Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, I find no guilt in this man. But they were urgent, saying, he stirs up the people teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee, even to this place. And so in these first few verses, we see the accusations that these religious leaders bring to pilate about Jesus, saying, this is what this man has done that deserves death. And we'll walk through what those accusations were. The first one is that they claim that he forbids to give them taxes. If they're going to get the roman government to sentence Jesus to death, they have to appeal to what the roman government would not like. And if you're trying to rob the roman government, they're not going to like that. And so they're like, hey, if we can convince them that Jesus is telling us not to give taxes to Caesar, then they'll do away with him. Not a bad plan. Problem is, it's just not true. Because, like, you look back a couple of chapters in Luke, chapter 20, we see Jesus telling them the exact opposite. Starting in verse 19 of chapter 20. This is what it says. It says the scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on Jesus at that very hour. For they perceived that he had told this parable against them. So they're mad. They're angry at Jesus for the parables he's telling you. And that he is kind of attacking them in them. But they feared the people. So they watched him and sent spies who pretended to be sincere, that they might catch him in something he said, so as deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor. So they asked him, teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly and show no partiality, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar or not? But he perceived their craftiness and said to them, show me a denarius whose likeness and inscription does it have. They said, caesar's. He said to them, then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's. And they were not able, in the presence of the people, to catch him in what he said. But marveling at his answer, they became silent. And so right away, their first accusation is completely off. They're wrong. They're saying, hey, he's telling us not to give taxes. When Jesus said, hey, no, pay your taxes like be a good citizen. Give to Caesar what is Caesar. Already we see the lack of justice being brought on by these religious leaders. We see that this is not going to be done fairly according to Jesus. And so they move on to the second accusation. They say he's Christ. He's saying that he is Christ, a king. And so Pilate asks him, are you the king of the Jews? And Jesus replies, you say that I am. So Jesus doesn't deny this one. Jesus doesn't deny this accusation of being a king. And if the roman empire sees a king rising up in their midst, they're going to do something about it. So the religious leaders are like, he says, he's a king, you should get rid of him. And Jesus is like, well, yeah, I am a king. He doesn't deny it, but he's not the kind of king that the roman government would care about. And we see this kind of painted in a little bit more in John's account of this narrative. In John 18, we see how this interaction with Pilate and Jesus goes. We can start in John 1833 says, so Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus to him, are you the king of the Jews? Jesus answered, do you say this of your own accord or did others say it to you about me? Pilate answered, am I a jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done? And Jesus answered, my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting that I might not be delivered over to the Jews, but my kingdom is not from the world. Then Pilate said to him, so you are a king? Jesus said, you say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born, and for this purpose I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice. Pilate said to him, what is truth? So we see Jesus not denying that he is a king, but he clarifies what kind of king he is. He's telling Pilate like, hey, you don't have to worry about your rule and reign here on earth. Like, I'm not that kind of king. I am a king. You're right in saying that, but my kingdom's not of this earth. My kingdom is not of here. It's a different kind of kingdom. And so after hearing these two responses, Pilate's like, hey, guys, thanks for bringing me to him, but can we not waste any more of my time? Like, I don't find any guilt with this man. He's seen right through their false accusations. He's seen that they're just trying to get after this jesus for no good reason, apparently. And so Pilate says, hey, I find no guilt in him. But, man, these religious leaders, the crowd, they're really urgent at wanting Jesus to die. And so they say, well, but he's stirring up the people. Essentially, these religious leaders want Jesus dead because they're making them angry. They're stirring up people against the things that they had taught, against the way that they had been thinking they should live when it comes to the things of goddess. And so they say he's stirring up the people. And even though Pilate finds no guilt in him, the trial continues on. Like, do you see that? Like, at this point, the trial should have been over. Pilate says, hey, I find no guilt, but the trial continues. Already we're seeing the lack of justice that's being served to Jesus here. Already we see that this trial isn't being, like, done in a right way. It's not fair. And so the trial continues. And so let's continue. Let's keep reading. Let's read verses six through 16. It says, when Pilate heard this, he had heard that they had said that he was teaching throughout all Judea and Galilea. And when Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was galilean. And when he learned that he belonged to Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herodore, who was himself in Jerusalem at the time. So Pilate's like, cool, he's a Galilean. Let's send him over to Herod. Like, let's pass the buck off. I don't want to have to deal with this now. I don't have to kill an innocent man or make a bunch of religious people upset at me. I'm just going to pass this problem on to Herod. Herod is over the area of Galilee so he can deal with this problem. And so Pilate carries that out. He sends Jesus over to Herod, and so Jesus goes there. And when Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him because he had heard about him and he was hoping to see some sign done by him. So he questioned him at some length. But he, being Jesus, made no answer. The chief priests and the scribes stood by vehemently accusing him. And Herod, with his soldiers, treated him with contempt and mocked him. Then, arraying him in splendid clothing, he sent him back to Pilate. And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day. For before this they had been at enmity with one another, which I think it's funny that even as Jesus is being treated unfairly, he's bringing enemies together like this. That's crazy. It continues. But they all cried. Or it continues. In verse 13, Pilate then called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people and said to them, you brought me this man as one who is misleading the people. And after examining him before, you behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him, and neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him. I will therefore punish him and release him. And so what we see is we see Pilate send him off to Herod saying, hey, I don't want to deal with this problem anymore. Your turn. And Herod is excited to see Jesus, but he's excited for the wrong reasons. He's excited to see Jesus because he wants to see what jesus can do. He's heard about this man. He's heard about the miracles he can do. He's heard about the signs he's done. He's like, I want to see some of this. I want to see what this Jesus can do. And so he's excited. He's excited to see Jesus, but for the wrong reason. He's excited to see what Jesus could do for him. Guys. And I think we see a lot of this today, too, that people come to church with an interest in Jesus, but not an interest in who he is. More so, just an interest in what they can get from him. More so, just an interest in what they could see jesus do for them. And just like Herod, people are coming, and they're wanting to see jesus because they think that Jesus can just do some miraculous things for them. Here's what happens. Jesus is silent before Herod. And when jesus is silent before Herod, Herod mocks him, dresses him up, and sends him out. I think so often we have people that are interested in jesus for the wrong reasons, just seeing what can I get out of him, what signs can he do for me? How can he make my life better and different? And then when jesus doesn't do what they want him to do, they just toss him off to the side and say, ah, forget it. But Jesus. Jesus isn't to be treated that way. Herod is treating Jesus like an exhibit, like some sort of circus act. But Jesus isn't a circus act. Like he's God, the lord of lords, king of Kingsley. And I'm probably reading into this a little bit. But, pardon me, wonders if he doesn't respond to Herod because he doesn't want to give Herod the satisfaction of treating him like an exhibit to behold. Are you seeking after Jesus for the right reasons? Are you excited for Jesus because he's God, because of who he is, or because you just want to get stuff out of him? Because Herod was excited to see Jesus just because he wanted to get stuff out of him. And so he questions Jesus. He asks Jesus questions. Jesus doesn't respond to a single one of them. He stands there silently. And then the religious leaders continue to accuse him, putting all these accusations out before him, saying, this is who jesus is. This is what he's done. These are the things that he's been saying. He deserves death. And Jesus is silent. He's being accused of wrong things, being accused of things that just aren't true. And he stands there in silence, saying nothing, giving no defense. And I think there's something to say about this, that we live in a culture that if you're silent on an issue, it's assumed the worst about you. That if you're silent on an issue, that it's assumed that you're an enemy and you should use your voice. You should use the platform God has given you. Like, there's times for that. Like, we see jesus do that, right? Like, even with Pilate, he tells him no. Like, I. Like, I am a king, but it's not a kingdom of this world. Like, you don't have to worry about that. Jesus defends himself to Pilate. We see Jesus defend the powerless and the weakness all the time in his ministry. And so there's a time to use your voice. But apparently there's also a time to be quiet. There's also a time to humbly stand there in quietness. And sometimes maybe the loudest and boldest thing you can do is not add to the noise, but to wait in quiet humility. And that's what Jesus does. He waits to. He stands there as he's being wrongly accused in humility. And he just takes on these threats. He takes on these accusations. He takes on these beatings over and over and over again. And finally, the trial is done. Herod doesn't find anything wrong with him. He kind of sniffs out the same thing Pilate did, saying, no, I don't see anything wrong with this Mandev. So he beats him a little bit, mocks him, dresses him up, sends him back to Pilate. And then we see Pilate saying, hey, guys, you brought me this man, I find nothing wrong with him. Herod finds nothing wrong with him. Can we be done with this? In fact, actually, we'll even beat him for you. Just if we can drop this whole thing. Like, he tries to appease the crowd a little bit, saying, hey, just let us beat him and release him. There's no need to kill him. He's done nothing wrong, especially nothing that deserves death. So that's what Pilate's plan is. He's saying, jesus is innocent. He's done nothing wrong. Let me just beat him for you, send him back, and all will be good. And we continue to see the unfair treatment of Jesus, the unfair beatings, the unfair trial continues on. And let's finish the passage, start and pick back up in verse 18. Before we do that, you might notice that it skips from verse 16 to 18. That's not a mistake. Like, that's not a typo in your bible. You might have a footnote down there that say, after verse 19 or here after verse 16 or after verse 19, some manuscripts add a verse 17, and verse 17 would say, now, he was obliged to release one man to them at the festival. So it would have been obligation or ceremony to release one prisoner back to the people at the festival. And that's all that verse would say. And the reason why it's omitted from your bible, probably today, is that there's a lot of important greek manuscripts that don't have that verse in it. And so there's some that do. And so when the Bible was initially published, it may have had it in there, but a lot of modern translations have found that the, like, the most important greek manuscripts don't include that verse, and so they omit it. They make a footnote. So you know that what it would have said. So you're not confused by the fact that it just skips over a verse. And honestly, it doesn't change the meaning at all if it's in there or not. The meaning of the text doesn't change. The meaning of what's happening doesn't change. And honestly, without it being in there, it really just helps put forward what Luke's argument is. It's really pushing forward the mistreatment of Jesus and the crowd's desire to get rid of him. And so that's why verse 17 isn't there. You can see it in the footnote. But let's pick up verse 18. It says, they being the crowd, all cried out together, away with this man and released to us Barabbas, a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city and for murder. Now, we'll pause there for a second, because that seems a little extreme, right? Not only do they want Jesus dead, this crowd wants Jesus dead so bad, they are letting and willing and wanting a murderer to be set free. Like, how unfair is that? And before you start getting mad at the crowd for doing what they're doing, and we'll see what they continue to do, before you start getting just mad at the crowd of, I want you to remember that you're part of that crowd, that it's your sin that is violently screaming out, give us Barabbas. It's your sin that is screaming out, crucify Jesus. And so before you start getting all high and mighty and being mad at the crowd for the way they're treating Jesus, remember that your sin is part of that crowd. Your sin is part of what condemned Jesus to death, what released the murderer for an innocent man. So they say, give us Barabbas. And Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus. He's like, are you sure? Like, this seems like a bad decision, guys. It seems like a bad decision to release this innocent man who's done nothing, been proven innocent twice already. Seems like a bad call to kill him and release a murderer. But they kept shouting, crucify him. Crucify him. A third time. He said to them, why? What evil has he done? I have found in him no guilt deserving death. I will therefore punish and release him. Guys, just don't make me kill him. Like, you can see Pilate just wanting to not put this man, Jesus, to death. But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. And their voices prevailed. So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted, and he released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, and whom they asked for. Whom they asked. But he delivered Jesus over to their will. I think sometimes we get so familiar with this passage that we forget the injustice that's being done to Jesus here, that we forget the injustice that is being put upon him. That Jesus, God in flesh, lived holy and perfect, never did anything wrong. Completely innocent. Being turned over for murderous so that being turned over to die so that a murderer could go free. This is the most unjust, unfair trial known to mankind, most unfair trial that has ever been, and we can so quickly forget that. But Pilate, instead of ruling fairly, he goes along with what the people want. Instead of taking the evidence into account and making a right ruling, he says, oh, whatever. I'll just give him to the people. Like, that's actions that would have you disbarred in today's judicial system, right? Like, that's how unfair this trial is. Pilate hands them over, hands him over to the crowd to be put to death and releases a murderer that should be dying instead. And if you're Jesus, not like if you're God, but, like, if you're you in Jesus shoes right now, like, if you're on trial for something you didn't do, being accused for things you never did, sentenced to death for no reason at all. How are you feeling? You guys happy about it? No, I'd be upset. I've seen the way that you guys react when the refs miss a call it an Iowa game. And I bet you'd be upset, too. This isn't right. This isn't fair that an innocent man is being put to death. And our natural instinct is to be angry, to get upset, maybe to get aggressive, to get our friends to stand next to us and say, that's not right. This shouldn't be. But what does jesus do? He stands there in silence and says nothing. He says nothing and he does nothing. He humbly submits to the injustice that is being done to him. Now, why would he do that? Why would Jesus, God himself, perfect holy son of God, let this sort of injustice happen to him when he had the authority to do something about it? Why would he endure this kind of injustice? It's because his mind wasn't on what he wanted, but what his father wanted. If you backtrack just one chapter into Luke 22, we see jesus in a garden before he's betrayed. And we see him praying. And this is what he prays. We'll start in verse 39 of Luke 22. It says, he came out and went, as was his custom, to the mount of olives. And the disciples followed him. And when he came to the place, he said to them, pray that you may not enter into temptation. And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw and knelt down and prayed, saying, father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done. And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him and being in agony, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling to the ground. How did Jesus endure this? Why did jesus endure this injustice? Because he was more concerned about his father's will and his father's plan than about what was done to him. He had prayerfully submitted his will to the will of the father he said, not my will, not what I want, Father, but your will be done. Do what you want to do. I'm telling you, this is my request. This is what I want. If there's any way for this not to happen, please let it not happen, but whatever you want, I'm going to do. He had predetermined that he was going to submit to the will and perfect plan of the Father. And that predetermined submission of will is what allows him to endure the greatest injustice this world has ever seen. So, church, what about you? Are you willing to sacrifice your will for the good plan of the father? Are you willing to submit your will and what you want to see happen, what you want done to you, what you want done for you, what you want for your life? Are you willing to submit your will down at the feet of the father, saying, God, whatever you want? Here's my plan. Like, here's what I want, God, but whatever you want, do it. Is that what characterizes your life? Because I feel like oftentimes it's not. At least it's not what characterizes mine, where it's like, I am so set on the things that I want, so set on the way that I think things should go, so set on what I think is right and wrong. And I feel like I'm so. I'm deserving of things to go the way that I want them to go. Maybe you think that too, that there's times where you think, man, I don't deserve this. I don't deserve this kind of treatment. I don't deserve this to be done to me. I don't deserve to be experiencing this loss, this pain, this broken relationship. I don't deserve to be experiencing this suffering. But, guys, here's the thing. We are deserving of that, because apart from Jesus, apart from the grace of God, we're deserving of the wrath of God. We deserve nothing good that we have. We deserve nothing good. And so are you able to humbly lay your will down at the will of the father? Lay down what you think is right, lay down the way you think things should go. Lay down your will. Because in this encounter with Jesus, we see that he humbly submits his will to the father's will, even when that means injustice being done towards him, even when that means he is going to be mistreated. And he humbly submits to his father's will because he knows that his father's will is good and perfect, even if it includes his suffering. Do you see God's will as good and perfect. Even when it includes your suffering? Even when it includes your pain. Look at Isaiah 53. This is a prophecy regarding the messiah, regarding this event that we're reading about this morning. Isaiah 53, four starts. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we esteem him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace. And with his wounds we are healed. All we, like. Sheep have gone astray. We have turned every one to his own way. And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted. Yet he opened not his mouth. Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep before its shears is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And as for his generation, who considered that, he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the aggression of my people, and they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death. Although he had done no violence and there is no deceit in his mouth, yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him. He has put him to grief. When his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring. He shall prolong his days. The will of the Lord shall prosper in his hands. Out of anguish of his soul. He shall see and be satisfied by his knowledge. Shall the righteous one, my servante, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall devile the spoils with the strong. Because he has poured out his soul to death, and was numbered with the transgressors. Yet he bore the sin of many and makes intercession for their transgressions. Jesus had the greatest injustice known to mankind unto him. Yet he humbly submitted, because he knew it was the plan of the father. He knew it was God's plan. It was God's perfect will, and he was okay with it, even if it meant his suffering, even if it meant wrongdoing being done unto him. It was the father's will to crush his son. Your translation may even say it pleased the Lord to crush him. What we see as injustice done towards Jesus was God's pleasure to crush him because he had a better plan in mind. He had a better plan in mind. And here's the thing. Jesus is able to endure this because he trusted his father. He trusted his father. He knew that his father was good. He knew that his father was in control of all things. That he knew his father had a good plan no matter what. And so he trusts his father. He submits his will to the father because he trusts him and his plan. He endured because he trusted God. But he also endured because he knew what was coming. He knew what was coming. His hope wasn't in this earth. His hope wasn't in justice being done in this earthly kingdom. His hope was in a future kingdom. His hope was that he was going to be resurrected back to life and sit at the right hand of the father and rule and reign over all things. His hope wasn't in what was happening here. His hope wasn't in what was happening to him. His hope was in his eternity. His hope was in his future glory. His hope was in his kingship. Jesus was able to endure the, the most violent suffering and the biggest acts of injustice because he trusted his father and hoped in his kingdom. Church. Do you trust the father like that? Do you trust God like that? Where you're willing to endure whatever this world throws at you, that you're willing to endure any mistreatment and injustice? Are you able to endure? Do you have trust in God? Like this is Jesus encounter with a politician. So let's talk politics for a minute in November. If the person you voted for isn't elected, where's your trust going to be? Where's your hope at will you still trust that God is good, that God has a plan, that God is in control even when it doesn't line up with your political identity, even when it doesn't line up with your politics, even when it doesn't line up with what you want to see happen in this country and in this world, will you still trust God? Maybe a better question. If the person you do vote for gets elected, do they become your point of trust and hope? Or is your trust in a holy and perfect goddess who is outside of all things, in control of all things and intimately involved in all things, who holds all things in his hand and sustains all things? Do you put your trust in God? Or do you put your trust in man, in what the world provides and what the world offers, or in yourself? Where is your trust? Because church people of God trust in goddess. People of God trust in God and they trust in God in all things, even when things don't go the way you think they should go. We still trust God because we know that he is sovereign we know he is in control and we submit in all things to him and we do it out of hope, not in hope that things will work out for our good here on earth. Not in a hope that our country is going to figure its stuff out. Not in hope that everything is going to settle down, everything is going to be made right and everything is going to go good for us. But we do it out of hope that one day, because of the blood of Jesus, we will be with him in eternity forever. We do it out of hope in the future kingdom, in the heavenly kingdom, the kingdom where Jesus is king over all things and Jesus rules rightly and justly and fairly. That is where our hope is. Church, where is your trust? Where is your hope? Because how do you endure when things aren't good, aren't right and aren't just? You fully trust in goddesse and you hope in his kingdom. You fully trust in God and you hope in his kingdom. Church. I hope and pray that that's us, that no matter what happens to us, no matter what happens in this country, no matter what happens in our world, that in all things good and bad, we can surrender our will to the fathers, that we can trust him knowing that he is in control of all things and that our hope isn't here on this earth but in his heavenly kingdom. Trust fully in God and hope in his kingdom. And so how can you do that this weekend? How do you do that? First I encourage you, surrender your will to his. Surrender your will to his. Even every day this week, maybe just praying the same prayer Jesus prayed in the garden. God, not my will, but yours, be done. Here's what I want. Here's what I'm asking. Here's what I would like to see. But God, at the end of the day, whatever you want, make happen. I know that you're greater than I am. I know that you have all things in control. And so I submit my will to yours. So submit your will. Surrender your will and then set your eyes on heaven. Set your eyes on heaven. Because this world isn't going to last forever. The corruption you see here today, the injustice, the wrongdoing that fades away when this earth fades away. And we look forward to the day where we get to be with Jesus in eternity and Jesus is king over all things, ruling rightly. And we look forward to that day and we set our eyes on heaven where all this wrong will be made, right, guys? And if we did this, we would be an enduring people. We'd be able to endure through anything that this life throws at us. Not because we're strong, not because we're able, not because we're great. Because we trust the God who is in control of all things. And we hope in our future with him. Because when you have an unwavering trust in God and an unbreakable hope in heaven, you can endure anything in this world. Amen. Let's pray. God, you are a good God. God. And it's easy to look around this world, look around us and see the injustice done and to grow weary, to be burdened by it. God tends to just think that it's not fair, that it's not right. But God, thank you for Jesus, who bore the pain that he bore and bore our sin, bore the injustice done to him so that we could be made right with you. God, thank you for the example he said of what it looks like to trust in you and to hope in your kingdom, despite what we have to endure here on earth. God. And may that empower us to live that way ourselves. It's in Jesus name we pray. Amen.