The Blood Covenant, Part 14: From Victim to Victor — The Hidden Triumph of the Cross

The blood covenant is what turned the apparent defeat of the cross into the greatest victory in history. In this Resurrection Day message, the pastor shows how Mark’s account of the crucifixion follows the pattern of a Roman triumphal march, how the temple veil was torn from top to bottom when Jesus breathed His last, and how that tearing released the Holy Spirit into the world. The same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead now brings resurrection life to every believer.

This teaching continues the series from The Blood Covenant #13 — Redemption Through His Blood and Freedom From Spiritual Death (Palm Sunday). Below you will find the full video, a structured summary, the Scripture behind each point (linked to the New King James Version on Bible Gateway), a timestamped outline and practical steps for this week.

Sermon at a Glance

This message was preached on Resurrection Day and posted at NTC Ministries on April 5, 2021. It runs about 50 minutes and ends with a prayer to receive Jesus and be filled with the Holy Spirit. The pastor opens with the early church greeting, “He is risen,” and its answer, amen. He says he is still teaching on the blood covenant, around the fourteenth message, because without understanding it a believer is left powerless and without the comfort of God.

The covenant, he says, is what allows us to come boldly into God’s presence and find grace and mercy to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).

The Blood Covenant: Cut Until Blood Flows

The pastor reminds the church that the Hebrew word for covenant means to cut until blood flows. He ties this to Leviticus 17:11: the life of the flesh is in the blood. When Adam sinned, he covered himself with leaves, which the pastor says represent our own works and struggles. Leaves dry out and crumble, so Adam would have had to remake his clothes every day.

God would not leave him that way. He slew an animal and made garments of skin for Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:21), the first covenant sacrifice. The pastor explains that where “Lord” appears in capitals in the King James Version, it stands for Jehovah, which he teaches means covenant keeper, grace giver, who dwells with His people.

Covenant means everything I have is yours and everything you have is mine. Marriage is the clearest picture of it, which is why Paul tells husbands and wives that they are not their own. God never withholds anything. Adam fell for the lie that God was holding something back, when God had already made him in His image and given him dominion. Being a Christian, the pastor says, is above and beyond all we could ask or think (Ephesians 3:20).

We were redeemed not with corruptible things like silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ (1 Peter 1:18–19). The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, but Jesus came to give life more abundantly (John 10:10). As all God and all man, He made covenant with the Father as the representative of all mankind, the last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45).

The pastor recaps last week’s text, Galatians 3:13–14: Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law so that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles, and we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. If you are Christ’s, you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise (Galatians 3:29).

Mark’s Witness and the Irony of the Cross

There are not four gospels, the pastor says, but a fourfold gospel. He compares it to an accident at a crossroads with a witness on each corner. Police take every testimony and reach a conclusion from all of them. Each witness saw the same event from a different vantage point.

Mark, he says, saw something remarkable in the hour Jesus suffered and died, and he wrote it with irony. Irony is a literary technique in which one thing appears to be happening on the surface while something else is really going on, and the outcome is completely different from what you expect. Americans mostly use it for humor, but the Greeks used it in tragic drama.

On the surface, Mark 15 looks like a horrendous failure. Jesus was judged as a sinner, allowed no defense, accused by false witnesses and put to a cruel death. That is what the disciples saw, and what everyone there saw.

Then Mark 15:37–39 records the turn. Jesus cried out with a loud voice and breathed His last, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the centurion who stood opposite Him said, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!”

The pastor asks what could make that centurion say this. He had been there the whole time and was likely among those who spat on Jesus and mocked Him. Something happened in that moment, and it is what matters most to believers and to the world, because without it no one would find salvation.

The Roman Triumph Hidden in Mark 15

To explain what Mark saw, the pastor describes the Roman triumph. When a general won a great victory, he was marched through the streets in a carefully planned procession. Generals often used these triumphs as a platform to one day rule Rome, and every one followed the same pattern.

He then walks through Mark 15:16–25 step by step. The soldiers meant all of it as mockery, but God, he says, had everything in sequence, declaring Jesus to be a great general and victor, one you can follow and count on. The table follows his comparison.

The pastor explains that purple was a royal color that, in his teaching, no one below the rank of general could legally wear. The march ended at the Capitoline Hill, which he says means the place of the head, at the temple of Jupiter. The soldiers’ placards proclaiming the general’s greatness, he adds, are echoed in the sign Pilate placed above the cross: King of the Jews.

At this point, he says, the story changes from seeming defeat to a brand new day and a brand new life. Nothing the centurion knew about Jesus had changed. Trying to argue someone into believing Jesus is Lord is futile unless what happened at the cross happens in them.

The Veil Torn in Two and the Spirit Released

To the Jewish people, the temple was the gateway between earth and heaven. In the wilderness, the pillar of fire by night and the cloud by day rested over the tabernacle. So when the veil was torn as Jesus breathed His last, the centurion’s eyes were opened.

The pastor stresses that this was no flimsy curtain. He describes it as woven without seams, about eight inches thick, at least 75 feet high and 30 feet wide, more than three times the height of the church’s ceiling. Tearing it from top to bottom would be humanly impossible.

The word Mark uses for torn, he teaches, is the Greek schizo, and Mark uses it only one other time: at Jesus’ baptism in Mark 1:9–11. Coming up from the water, Jesus saw the heavens parting, literally torn open, and the Spirit descending like a dove, and the Father said, “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

The pastor notes that Jesus submitted to John’s authority to fulfill all righteousness, just as He submitted to His parents after His bar mitzvah, which he explains means son of covenant. The same tearing that opened heaven at the baptism opened the Holy of Holies at the cross.

Until then, he says, the Holy Spirit came upon people like Gideon or Samson for specific tasks, but He was not available to influence people from the inside. God could not even come to earth to cut this covenant without a man giving Him permission, because He had given the works of His hands to mankind.

So God found Abram, called him to a land he did not know and promised descendants as many as the stars (Genesis 15:5–6). Abram’s yes gave God legal right into the earth. Later Gabriel told Mary she was highly favored, at a time when women were looked down on, and she answered, “Let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38).

Jesus came to set the captives free, and whom the Son sets free is free indeed (John 8:36). That is why the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of liberty (2 Corinthians 3:17). When the covenant was fulfilled and the veil torn, the Spirit was released into the world and moved on the centurion’s heart.

No one can call Jesus Lord except by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3). The Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment (John 16:8). The pastor calls Him the general and governor of the kingdom of heaven on earth, and says those who are led by the Spirit are the sons of God (Romans 8:14).

Resurrection Life for Death-Doomed Situations

When life looks like defeat, the pastor says, it is just irony; something else is really going on. God has a plan to turn it around and bring resurrection life into your family. The Holy Spirit says yes, God will heal you, provide for you and comfort you. It is not by the leaves we sew, because all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6), but by the sacrifice of Jesus.

He points to Job, whom he describes as the first book ever written, declaring, “I know that my Redeemer lives,” and that in his flesh he would see God (Job 19:25–26). “We need the Holy Spirit in our lives more than we need breath in our lungs,” the pastor says.

Then he reads Romans 8:9–11: if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. The Holy Spirit had been limited to the temple, and now He lives in believers.

Mortal, he explains, means death-doomed. He lists its synonyms: deadly, fatal, lethal, terminal. None of those things are God. We speak of mortal enemies and mortal pain, but once you receive Jesus, He gives you a new heart and puts His Spirit in you, and you are finally alive. The same Spirit will turn your death-doomed situations around, so that you run and not grow weary, walk and not faint, and mount up with wings like eagles (Isaiah 40:31).

God’s thoughts toward you, he says, are more than the sand (Psalm 139:17–18). He points to the ministry itself, a handful of people now reaching 37 nations with churches, schools, clinics, television and radio, as something no mortal could have done.

Joseph is another example. He dreamed that his family would bow to him, was sold into slavery and spent years in prison, then became second only to Pharaoh. When his brothers feared him, he told them that what the enemy meant for harm, God turned for good (Genesis 50:20). In the same way, the mocking and cruelty the centurion witnessed turned around that day.

As a boy, the pastor ordered a “miracle plant” from a comic book. It arrived brown and brittle, but after a couple of weeks in a bowl of water it budded and grew green leaves. He later learned it was called the resurrection plant. Nature itself speaks of God’s glory (Romans 1:20), and the Spirit renews our inward man day by day (2 Corinthians 4:16).

Always Led in Triumph

The pastor closes with one verse that ties the whole Roman triumph together. 2 Corinthians 2:14: “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.”

Because of the blood covenant, believers are in a triumphal procession no matter what is going on. People may say you are going down, laugh at you or point out your frailties, but they do not know God, because He is not done yet. The same Spirit unleashed when the veil tore is the One who raised Jesus from the dead.

That morning, he says, was the first day of a brand new life and a brand new family, the first day sin would no longer stand between people and God. He believes the heart of God was satisfied, because He could finally hear His creation call Him Father. Jesus said, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you,” and appointed us to bear fruit that remains (John 15:16).

He speaks to married couples directly: if you fell out of love, you can fall back in; if you grew out of love, you can grow back in. But it takes the Holy Spirit, who deals with wounds and hard hearts. Without Him, our efforts are leaves that fall away. With Him, miracles have not passed away.

Living the Blood Covenant This Week

The pastor ends by leading a prayer asking God to forgive, the Holy Spirit to fill, and resurrection life to move in each life, family and home. Here are practical steps from this blood covenant message:

• Stop sewing leaves. Name one area where you are relying on your own effort, and receive what Christ’s blood already provided.
• Read defeat as irony. When something looks like loss, remember Mark 15: something else may really be going on.
• Welcome the Holy Spirit daily. Ask Him to lead and guide you, since those led by the Spirit are the sons of God.
• Speak to death-doomed situations. Declare Romans 8:11 over your body, marriage and family.
• Walk in the procession. Thank God each morning, using 2 Corinthians 2:14, that He always leads you in triumph.
• Come boldly. Because of the covenant, bring your needs straight to God’s throne of grace.

Timestamped Outline

• 0:00 He is risen, and why the blood covenant matters
• 1:13 Adam’s leaves and the first sacrifice
• 2:17 Jehovah, the covenant keeper
• 3:20 Everything I have is yours
• 4:28 Redeemed by the precious blood
• 6:53 Galatians 3: the blessing of Abraham
• 8:03 A fourfold gospel
• 9:16 The irony Mark saw
• 10:32 The centurion: truly the Son of God
• 11:48 The Roman triumph
• 13:03 Praetorium and the whole garrison
• 14:15 Purple robe and crown of thorns
• 16:47 Golgotha and the refused wine
• 19:53 The veil torn from top to bottom
• 21:08 Schizo: the heavens torn at His baptism
• 24:44 Abram gives God permission
• 25:46 Mary: let it be to me
• 28:11 The Spirit of liberty released
• 32:03 Romans 8: the Spirit who raised Jesus
• 33:08 Mortal means death-doomed
• 37:18 Joseph: meant for harm, turned for good
• 39:41 The resurrection plant
• 42:01 2 Corinthians 2:14: always led in triumph
• 47:54 Prayer for new life

Blood Covenant Series

This message is part of a long teaching series at NTC Ministries. Start from the beginning or continue where this one leaves off:

• First message: The Blood Covenant
• Previous: The Blood Covenant #13 — Redemption Through His Blood and Freedom From Spiritual Death (Palm Sunday)
• You are here: The Blood Covenant, Part 14: From Victim to Victor — The Hidden Triumph of the Cross
• Next: The Blood Covenant #15: The Spirit and the Blood Agree

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does this Easter message focus on the Holy Spirit?

The pastor teaches that the resurrection and the release of the Holy Spirit are bound together. When the veil tore, the Spirit, who had been limited to the Holy of Holies, was released into the world because the covenant had been fulfilled. That same Spirit opened the centurion’s eyes and raised Jesus from the dead. Resurrection Day, in his view, is the day resurrection life became available to live inside believers.

Did the soldiers know they were acting out a triumph?

No. The pastor is clear that they did everything mockingly. That is the irony he sees in Mark’s account. On the surface it was humiliation and defeat, and that is what the disciples and onlookers saw. Underneath, God had arranged every step of the procession to declare Jesus the true victor. The pastor admits he does not know whether Mark fully understood what he was recording.

What if I still feel like I am losing?

He speaks directly to that. People may say you are going down, mock you or point out your weaknesses, but they do not know God, because He is not done yet. He compares it to Joseph, whose years in slavery and prison ended in rule and reconciliation. The promise of 2 Corinthians 2:14 is that God always leads us in triumph, so the outcome is not decided by how things look today.

Scripture References

All passages open in the New King James Version on Bible Gateway:

• Mark 15:16–25 — the mock triumph
• Mark 15:37–39 — the veil torn and the centurion’s confession
• Mark 1:9–11 — the heavens torn open
• Leviticus 17:11 — the life is in the blood
• 1 Peter 1:18–19 — redeemed by precious blood
• Galatians 3:13–14 — the promise of the Spirit
• Romans 8:9–11 — life to mortal bodies
• 2 Corinthians 2:14 — always led in triumph

How this summary was made: written with AI assistance from the sermon’s own transcript and checked against the Scriptures listed above.

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