Man, I am so excited to preach in preparation this week. It was middle of last week in my car broke down. And it's toast, y'all. Like the engine, done.
OK? We got to like 223,000 miles. I feel pretty good. Thank you.
Thank you. I want to make it to 250, so I was a little bit of a bummer. But that's OK. And I have an incredible dad who the next day let me use his Ford Fiesta.
OK? I don't know what a Ford Fiesta is, but it's like a go-kart that you get to drive on highways. And only one night later of getting my Ford Fiesta, I'm leaving you if it's like midnight. And I just hit a massive pop-hole slash Grand Canyon and pop that thing.
And so I had to switch it. And so I just, I'm driving in a Ford Fiesta on a spare tire. That's how my life is going right now. I just saw you.
I should know. Like, OK? And I'm still here. No.
Wow. No. Yes, that was a great little moment for me, little therapy. But also, I say that because those things never happen at the right time.
Right? Partials is the worst. Never happened at the right time. But I'm also aware that there's a whole lot of other situations and stories in the room that are much worse than just Ford Fiesta with the spare tire.
It's more like doctor reports and health issues that you can't figure out and financial stress and marriages that are struggling. And I just wanted to let you know that we're not just playing a game. And I know you know that, but I just got to say it again. Like, I'm not just here to do a thing.
We're not just here to play games. I love the way that the disciples say it when Jesus asks, like, are you going to go as well and they go, where else will we go? You have the words of life. And that's who we're talking about tonight.
That's who we are. We're supposed to absurd. What the heck? We're going to do some more about the end, because why wouldn't we?
But God wants to speak to you. And I don't know what you came in with. And maybe it's a major issue. Maybe you've touched success that you never thought you would.
And yet you still feel empty. And you're like, what's going on? I don't know what it is. But I know this.
He has the words of life. And he wants to speak to you tonight. So I want to pray one more time. And then we're going to jump in.
Jesus, we thank you for who you are. We thank you that you alone have the words of life. God, I pray that you would use the rest of our time together, that you would speak, that you would highlight something you've already said, that you would speak something new, Holy Spirit, teach us about Jesus and show us that you are the one that does miracles. What we think has to take so much time, or we think we have it figured out, and then you show up.
You just do something completely new. And so I'm just asking that you would get the attention of any of us that need it tonight to go, I'm the one that shows up, like nobody else can. We thank you for who you are. In your name.
Amen. Amen. All right, I'm going to get to my message. Great.
I titled my message, there's another way. If you look to somebody next to you and say, there's another way. It's been awesome to be in this series. If you remember, because last week we did have our snowstorm, but we've been in a series before that, of looking at people around the cross.
And as we're headed up to Easter, I'm like, yeah, what better thing to do than actually focus on the thing that changed everything for us. And then watch what happened to people around Jesus as he did so. The criminal that got to go to Paradise because of Jesus that Josh preached about. And tonight, I want to preach about Nicodemus.
And if you didn't know, Nicodemus shows up at the cross. And it's awesome. But he also shows up earlier in John 3. And so what really I want to do tonight is kind of unpack just these moments that we see of Nicodemus and what happens because of his proximity to Jesus.
Cool. Great. So we're going to start off, like I said, in John 3. And I'm going to read a decent amount of scripture, John 3, 1 through 17.
And many of us are familiar with John 3. And right away, we think John 3 16. And it's like, I know, South Asian, that's great. And I just want you to lean in and listen in a new way, in the way of going, man, this was a conversation between a couple of people.
The disciples right there, but Nicodemus comes to Jesus and asks him about who he is. And this is what unfolds. Says this, there was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus.
For Rabbi, he said, we all know that God has sent you to teach us your miraculous signs or evidence that God is with you. Jesus replied, I tell you the truth. Unless you are born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God. What do you mean, explain Nicodemus?
How can an old man go back into his mother's womb and be born again? Fair question. Jesus replied, I assure you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and the spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.
So don't be surprised when I say you must be born again. The wind blows wherever it wants, just as you can hear the winds, but you can't tell where it comes from or where it is going. So you can't explain how people are born of the spirit. How are these things possible?
Nicodemus asked, Jesus replied, you are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don't understand these things? Shoss fired. I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won't believe our testimony. But if you don't believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things?
No one has ever gone to heaven and returned, but the Son of Man has come down from heaven. And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life. And when she is leaning to these next couple of verses, happening between Nicodemus and Jesus, for this is how God loved the world. He gave his one and only son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
God sent his son into the world, not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. It's wild to me, and I love the way that Jesus is foreshadowing what he's going to do. It's crazy, because we know the story, and we know what happens. So we're like, yeah, he's going to lay his life down, lift it up, like this.
But Nicodemus doesn't know that. And so he's unpacking who he is, and he's giving a heads up of what's to come, but he doesn't know yet. It's wild. I think it's helpful context to understand who Nicodemus is, a little bit about Nicodemus.
It says that he's a ruler, and he's with the Pharisees. And so a ruler would most likely be the Sanhedrin. And there's about 70 of these guys. And so he's one of 70 over Israel holding this place.
And so the reason I'm making note of that is because in modern day, it would look like a lot of success. Like what our culture celebrates, if you have influence, if you have respect, if you have power, that's what Nicodemus would have had. He's with the Pharisees. He's one of those rulers of the Sanhedrin.
And but he's curious. And he approaches Jesus. He calls him teacher, and he's like, you're sent from God. Or else you couldn't do all these signs.
But it also is interesting that it says he comes in the dark. And it makes sense because the crew that he's with aren't really fans of Jesus. Yeah? They say it lightly.
And so he's coming in the dark, and he has questions, but he's still kind of playing it safe. He's like, not sure. He's curious. And that's what the question that I want to ask us tonight.
Like Nicodemus, where are we playing it safe? And you just think about little ways that we do things like this. Have you ever written a text five different times? But haven't sent it?
Because you're like, I just don't know how it's going to land. Or I don't know. Maybe you're in a job that really you've outgrown, but it feels secure. So you're like, I'm just going to kind of hang here.
Or like all of us, maybe you just spend a little too much time on your phone. Just do them scrolling. Anybody? No.
Never. And you're like, what does that have to do? Because we'd rather just kind of relax and be comfortable than actually step into the things that are on the inside of us. And so it's just little ways that we play it safe.
But there's more for us. And those are little things. But we can have a way of building our lives around it. And that's what it looks like Nicodemus was dealing with.
He's coming in the dark. I mean, he must have been thinking about his reputation. Like what would my other guys, my other rulers, and teachers, what they think? Or what would happen to me?
I don't know what the conversations were in this group. But they're obviously talking about killing Jesus, outing him at some point. Like, will I be safe? And he comes to him in the dark because he's just not sure about it.
And I think that's the same thing for us. We play it safe at times because we want to avoid risk. We play it safe because we want to minimize failures. That defines you.
It doesn't. But we feel like it does. We avoid it like it does. And I think I just see some similarities to what Nicodemus was doing and how he was operating, to what can happen in our lives at times.
And I think it's helpful to understand because sometimes it's like, are we playing it? If I came up to you one-on-one in a conversation, I was like, I feel like you're playing it safe. You would be so offended. So would I.
I'd be like, what? No, I'm living 10 out of 10 full life. What are you talking about? I think it's helpful to know that playing it safe actually serves us.
That's why we do it. Because I think sometimes you're like, me? No way. Lay my whole life down for Jesus.
He has it all. But then throughout our week, in moments, we just choose comfort. Because I'm just tired. I need a break.
Or there's moments that come up, conversations that we think about happen. And then we don't. Because it's like, well, what will people think of me? Or we think about stepping out into something that God's prompting us to do.
But we just have so many questions about how's it going to happen. We love being in control, even though we're not really in control. But just like Jesus comes to Nicodemus, he is so good at meeting us where we're at. He's going to meet you every time in your safety, in your avoidance, in your, like in all of that, in you playing it safe, Jesus is always going to meet you there.
Because he loves you so much. And he's just going to continue to do it. But he's not going to leave you there. And that's what I'm seeing with Nicodemus.
He's inviting him into something more. And right now, Nicodemus is curious. But I don't know. We don't see that he's ready to follow yet.
And that's what I think Jesus is always up to with us. He's just always inviting. Because he knows what we're actually made for. Because when we play it safe, it serves us for a little bit.
But it's not really fulfilling. So then we run to every other thing that we could find that could fulfill us. And nothing works. And Jesus goes, you don't want that.
I have life to the full. And he's inviting us. And so that's the first thing that I have for us, is that Jesus invites us from safety to wholehearted surrender so that we can experience life to the full. I got to make fun of us for a minute, just our Midwest culture.
Because it's interesting when I talk about Jesus inviting, when I think about our Midwest culture and when we invite, it's funny. Because sometimes we invite people, but then we uninvite them in the same sentence. You ever notice that? It's like, yo, if you want to hang out, we're grabbing pizza Friday night, bring the kids.
But if you can't make it, it's all good. If you're too busy, it's all good. We can find another time. That was the invite.
I'm like, you literally invited me and then uninvited me. You gave me every out possible. In fact, I want to come. And now I'm kind of feeling like I'm infringing on your life.
Like, no, we're good. Are you still good to host? But that's just a little bit of how we are. So I just have to make a point of that.
Because when Jesus gives an invitation, it's a lot more like a disruption. He doesn't really invite people like us. He just kind of cuts right to it. Nicodemus shows up and he's curious.
And Jesus just kind of jumps to level 10. I want to read what I just read, but a couple of verses in John 3 to hone in. Because he's always doing this. There's moments, right?
Where Jesus has got a whole crowd around him. And he's like, you got to drink my flesh, and eat my blood. And it's like, Jesus. Right?
That's what I would be like if I was his disciples. Like, we're on a roll here. Not so crazy. It's not what Jesus is like.
You are born again. You cannot see the kingdom of God. What do you mean? Explain Nicodemus.
How can an old man go back into his mother's womb and be born again? Jesus replied, I assure you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and the spirit. Demons can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So don't be surprised when I say, you must be born again.
And it's wild, OK? We hear it often, born again. But this is the first time Jesus talks about it. So I'm not really blaming Nicodemus for having some questions.
He's like, OK, born again, right? And it's like, he starts to how? You know, if I was the disciples, I'd just be like, man, he's interested. He's a Pharisee.
Those guys hate us. Maybe we should just give him a, you know, maybe he should just come with us for a little bit. It's like, I wonder what could happen if we just invite Nicodemus with us and he'll probably experience transformation over time? He's just like, no, you have to be born again.
OK? And he just goes to like level 10, because Jesus is committed to disrupting our lives. Not because he just wants it to be hard, because he actually knows what you want. Deep down, he knows what you desire.
He's going, yeah, you could hold on to that. But if you hold on to that, you can't have what I have. So it would be a shame if I didn't just cover it in this first conversation. Let's talk about it all.
Because if you want to follow, you're in, like that. But it's not. It's OK, because it's an all-in kind of thing. It's just interesting, because I feel like Jesus, he just knows us so well.
Like, you can't have both. But we want both. We want the promise without the cost. Like, we want the life of following Jesus, but then hanging on to our comfort, you know?
And we're just kind of doing this thing. Like, you're just like me. Don't even. Like, you think about this, the first human beings.
Adam and Eve walking in the garden, cool of the day. What's that? And yet, they still are like, man, we wonder about that fruit. It's like, we just have a way of just being like, I want to see if I can.
And Jesus is like disruption. You can't. You can't have it all. But I came to bring life and life to the full.
And you can have that. You've read this verse before, but I want to throw it up on the screen, because it's just, it's the language of Jesus that so mirrors this, shows this. It's Matthew 16, 24 through 26. We got it back there?
Let's go. Says this, then Jesus said to his disciples, if any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way. Take up your cross and follow me. Now lean in, listen to this.
If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you'll save it. And what you benefit if you gain the whole world, but lose your own soul, is anything more worth, worth more than your soul. Jesus came to disrupt.
He's going, you can't save your life. You've got to let it go. There's no in-between. He's giving this invitation, but he's just making it clear up front.
This is actually going to cost a lot. I'm just going to be honest. In fact, it's going to cost everything. Let's just get it out the way.
But guess what? It's what you were made for. And the deal you get in it is so much better than you would ever imagine. I'll do all the work.
I'll make a way to the Father. I'll restore it. I'll walk with you. I'll never leave you or forsake you.
You just can't have both. In John 10, 10, when he's saying, that's what I'm referencing, life to the full. I came to bring life and life abundantly. So he's inviting us because he knows what we truly want.
He's so good at making sure that we don't stay where we are, in that safety, in that place that just the curiosity, Nicodemus is just coming in the dark. I'm just wondering. He's like, that won't be enough for you. I'll never fulfill your life.
The question that you could ask yourself is what is God inviting you into? Overall, he's inviting us from fear into transformation. That's a given. He's always going to be doing that.
But even practically, like right now in your life, what is he inviting you into? Is it a conversation to have that you've been avoiding? Because you're unsure of what's going to happen or how it's going to make you look. Maybe a job to step out of or into a relationship to leave if you're dating.
And you're like, I already know. Maybe faith to share with someone or divine moments of just listening and obeying like we do. But what is he inviting you into? Because I'll tell you this.
He's not like ever like, oh, that's all we got. I don't really have anything left for you. I mean, it's true. So he's inviting you into something.
I'm just curious what it is. The second thing I have for us is Jesus compels us with his love. Jesus compels us with his love. I want to read John 748 through 51.
It's interesting. We see. This is a little bit later. A moment with Nicodemus.
And it's like something's going on. Says this, is there a single one of us rulers? Jesus just made a statement that he is living water. And the Pharisees are mad.
That's the context. They're saying to each other, is there a single one of us rulers or Pharisees who believes in him? This foolish crowd follows him, but they are ignorant of the law. God's curses on them.
Then Nicodemus, the leader who had met with Jesus earlier, spoke up. Is it legal to convict a man before he's given a hearing? He asked. And I just point that out because he compels us with his love.
And the man that showed up in the dark with questions, he's curious, but he's in the dark. He's plain and safe. All of a sudden, he's asking some questions to his other guys just being like, hey, trying to protect Jesus a little bit. You see that?
And the truth is that something in life is compelling you. We think often, I'm either doing something for God or I'm doing the right thing or I'm just kind of like taking a break. But to be honest, you're being compelled. You're being compelled.
It's that drift into safety and self-protection and fear. And just being like, I'm not sure. I don't know if I want to risk it. I don't know if I want to step out.
Or you're being compelled by love. There's a scripture that I want to read in 2 Corinthians. And I love this because Paul just says it so well. This is Paul, he's explaining why they're doing what they do.
Why are they laying their lives down for Jesus? Why are they doing this? It says this, Christ's love compels us because we are convinced that one died for all and therefore all died. And he died for all that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
Compeled by his love, I just love what he says here, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him. The definition of compelis to strongly drive, like an urge or force someone to take action, this is often from an internal powerful influence rather than an external force. Have you ever watched young kids play sports? One thing that you notice right away is, who's there because they wanted to be there and who's there because mom and dad signed them up.
Right away, you're like, I think maybe, I don't know, maybe dad was like a baseball star because little buddies in the outfield and the ball's flying over his head and he's just Picasso in the sand. It's like, I don't know if he wanted to be there. Then there's the other, especially if you keep growing up, there's the other kids, sometimes you see it early, but it's like, you can just tell they're feeling the pressure. It's like, man, I don't know if it's what mom and dad will think, I don't know if it's what the coach thinks, I don't know what they expect of themselves but it's like they're crumbling under the pressure and they're compelled by what fear.
But then you see the athletes that we often watch on the TV screen today. And anytime they get a moment to talk about why they do what they do or anything about what their game practice, whatever it is, they talk about the love of the game. You know what I phrase? For the love of the game.
And it's like, whatever the question is, they're like, I mean, honestly, I love it all. I love the highs, I love the lows. Honestly, my comeback from my injury, like the way I had to rehab and come back, you see people get injured and I'm second later, they're like, online, being like, watch how I come back. It's like that's the love of the game.
And it's a little bit different when love is compelling you. It changes the whole thing. You're like, man, the failures, the mistakes, the good times, the hard times, I love it all. And that's what I think is so helpful about what Paul is saying.
He's going, it's his love that compels us. It's not some religious duty. It's not that we just feel guilty that we should be doing this. It's not some shame that we're just trying to work this out and just be good enough.
It's his love. Cause those things are all what live under fear. Shame, guilt, plain and safe. But love is what leads to joy.
It's what leads to curiosity. It's what leads to giving. It's what leads to what Paul is saying, laying our lives down. Paul, we jumped ahead.
Paul is referring to Jesus dying on the cross and raising again. So he's going, he laid down his life. We're compelled with love. There's a place in the scriptures where Paul says, I work real hard, but it's not about me, which is interesting.
Cause he's going, I'm not, but probably because he was compelled by love. It's God working in me. And when Jesus invites us, it's always going to come like a disruption. But the thing that you don't need to do is just step in with all your might and just try to wheel yourself.
And like Nicodemus seems to be being compelled by something. That's what Jesus is always doing to us. He's compelling us. Going, hey, you got more.
Like I got more for you. But I'm going to be with you every step of the way. He's showing us love. Something that I think can be helpful is sometimes we talk about fear and love.
And don't live with fear in your life. It's like we all have fear every day. Knock it at our door. Thoughts about fear.
And I think something that can be really helpful is instead of just trying to blast a new worship song, I'm like, I'm done with that. Which is great. I mean, I do that every day. But if you didn't know, no, I'm kidding.
But that's awesome. But I want to encourage you to bring your fear, like the lies that you're believing to God. And to tell him the truth. That's what confession is.
It's confession isn't just saying sorry over and over and over. I'll never do it again. No, that's not confession. Confession is telling God the truth.
Like I did that because I feel like I'm all alone. And God's like, what does it say? He draws near to a broken and contrite heart. He's like, well, I have something for that.
Tell the truth to God about your fears and let him actually replace it with the truth. He says, you'll know the truth and the truth will set you free. I just had to take a little 30 second window to just talk about that exchange because I think it's so helpful. The question you can ask yourself this week is anywhere where you feel fear, what would you change if you actually believed you were fully loved?
Isn't it interesting? You can do that. You can take a step back and go, man, I was going to act this way. But if Jesus actually fully loves me, then what would I do?
And then you can step into that. Is that helpful? Like some people are like, what would change this week if you actually did it? What would change this week if you actually believed you're fully loved?
The third thing that I have for us is that Jesus models the way. It'd be one thing if he invited us and compelled us. But it's a whole different thing that he actually did it. It's interesting.
Nicodemus came to Jesus and said, you're a great teacher that's sent from God. He's not just a teacher. He's the Son of God. And he's going to lay his life down for you.
So it's just interesting to me. He didn't just talk about it. He doesn't just invite us. In fact, he wasn't asking anyone to do something that he wasn't going to do first.
Doesn't that blow your mind? Even in our day and age, there's a lot of people that can talk and they have good words and they have great things to say. But if they don't actually show up or if they don't actually do the thing, there's not really a lot of weight to it. And Jesus is showing something different.
He's modeling for us a different way, a different way to face our fears, a different way to actually follow him. I want to read John 1513. It says this. I just love this because, again, the way that Jesus is foreshadowing what he's going to do is so incredible that he's leaving no doubt that when he dies, the people around him will know why he did that.
He goes, there's no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends. And then I want to read one other scripture from Hebrews 12, 1 and 2. It says this. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up and let us run with endurance.
The race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith because of the joy awaiting him. Sorry, perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and now he is seated in the place of honor beside God's throne.
He didn't just model it. He didn't just do it. He did it full of joy. That's wild when you think about what he did.
He risked it all. He left the comfort of heaven to become a human in the form of a baby, lived a perfect life. We could stop there. Sometimes we just say all of them so quick, live perfect life.
It's like he lived a perfect life. That's insane. It's the same temptations that you and I did. Died a sinner's death.
Like risk it all. Laid it all on the line with joy in his heart because he so loved the world. There's no greater love than this if he would lay down his life. It's interesting because this is when we see Nicodemus again.
I want to read John 19. Nicodemus was obviously curious and it seemed like something was going on and then we see him show up. John 19 says this. He said that the word Joseph of Eremathea, let's go.
Shout out to you who had been a secret disciple of Jesus because he feared the Jewish leaders asked Pilate for permission to take down Jesus' body. When Pilate gave permission, Joseph came and took the body away. With him came Nicodemus. The man who had come to Jesus at night now shows up at the cross.
He brought about 75 pounds of perfume, made from mer and aloes. Following the Jesus burial custom, they wrapped Jesus' body with spices and long sheets of linen cloth. The place of crucifixion was near a garden where there was a new tomb. He used before it.
It was the day of preparation for the Jews passed over and since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there. The curious one, Nicodemus, now shows up at the cross. You have to know there was a whole lot on the line. He's with the guys that just crucified this man.
Is he next? He found someone that was worse than risking it all and he no longer cared. He didn't care how he looked. He didn't care what it was going to cost.
Is this going to cost my life? I'd pay it all for the one that does something like this, compelled by the love of Jesus to lay his life down and he shows up to bury him. Something that's so interesting is that the 75 pounds of perfume to ointment made from mer and aloes, it's an extravagant amount and it's actually the amount that you would use to bury royalty. He wasn't just saying, I'll risk it all for no reason.
He's saying he's king. When the rest of my guys crucified this man and mocked him and said, King of the Jews, save yourself. He came to bury him with the amount that royalty would be buried with, saying that he was the king and he laid down his life and so I'll risk mine. It just makes me think about what Paul is talking about.
He's going, it's not religious duty. Like this isn't just because we feel like we have to do this or should be doing this. It's because of his love. We've never met a love like this.
Why would someone sacrifice like that for people that hadn't even accepted him yet? Isn't it crazy that John 3, he's having a moment with Nicodemus and knowing that that's the group that's going to crucify him and he's going, I'm going to die for you. That's what Jesus was doing all throughout. He's letting people know that he came across.
I'm going to lay down my life for you foreshadowing the cross. And Paul goes, his love compels us. And to be honest, the ones that live, they don't live for themselves anymore. They live for him because a love like that.
An act of sacrifice and love like that leads to costly acts of devotion. He can have our lives. For me, and for you, and for Nicodemus, and for the world. Can you imagine what it would be like Nicodemus taking him off the cross, replaying a conversation that happened like a couple years earlier?
So loved the world. And it's hitting him. He was telling me all along, I'll lay down my life for you. That whosoever believes in him can have life.
Life to the full. Did it for the whole world. And then modeled the way I'll lay my whole life down so that whosoever so that anyone and everyone can have right relationship with my father. Will you stand?
I just want to pray and I do want to take a little bit of time to just respond. We're looking at the cross. And I want to just take a minute to just ask Jesus, what are you inviting me into? To think about a love like that that would go to whatever cost to save my life.
To save our lives and connect us back to God. And even to go because of that, Jesus, if you're so compelled, you can have my life. I lay it down again, even in the moments of safety where I wanted to hold on to it, I lay it down just like you so that the world may know. What would it look like for a whole room of people to realize my life really isn't about me, is it?
I mean, my safety is all nice until I realize that it's not just me. It compels us, you know, this love? So we lay our lives down for the one that saved us. When you put your hands out in front of you, I just want to pray for us and then I just want to worship them.
We want to see you for who you are. A love like this, we've never come across. That you would lay down your life like that. Jesus, I want every invitation you have for me.
God, I want to keep stepping forward in whatever you're prompting me into. Don't let me play it safe. Give me a greater revelation of your love. That you would lay down your life and pay that price so that I could live.
I'll lay my whole life down. Jesus, our lives are yours. We're following you wherever you go, whatever you say. Let's just worship Him.
Let's just respond. Jesus, we thank Him.