Denied, Mocked, and Rejected

word. Second century Greek philosopher, Kelsus, was a staunch opponent of the church,

and he made a career criticizing Jesus and his followers. He denied Jesus' virgin birth,

disparaged his upbringing, and claimed that Jesus worked his miracles by sorcery.

It's interesting that he actually never denies that Jesus performed miracles. He just

disputes how he performed these miracles. He mocked that Jesus' disciples amounted to, quote,

10 boatmen and a couple of tax collectors who are not at all respectable. He disputed Jesus'

resurrection by saying that the first report of Jesus' resurrection came from an unreliable,

hysterical female. He was not the first critic of the church,

not the first critic of Christ, nor was he the last. To this day, our world is full of people who

deny, deride, and doubt Jesus Christ. But Luke teaches us in this passage that despite appearances

to the contrary, the crucified Christ is the Lord and judge over all whom we should follow. That's the

main point of this passage. And we're going to go through each scene looking at the deniers,

the deriders, and the doubters of Christ. It says in verse 54,

And it's interesting that they don't take Jesus here to the temple courts because that's where the

formal proceedings, court proceedings are supposed to take place. Instead, they take him to the high

priest's house. So this is a continuation of the shadowy operation that we've been witnessing of the

Jewish leaders when they came at night in the cover of darkness with swords and clubs to secretly

arrest Jesus because they didn't want the crowds to see and they didn't want to get in trouble. They

didn't want to create an outcry. They wanted to do it in secret because they knew Jesus hadn't done

anything warranting arrest and death. And as they seized Jesus and brought him to the high priest's

house, it says that Peter was following at a distance. Remember that he had just impulsively cut

off the ear of a servant of the high priest. He could have been charged for assault, but thankfully,

Jesus healed the servant. And so Peter is understandably apprehensive as he follows Jesus. He follows

behind at a safe distance so that he can observe what's happening to Jesus, satisfy his curiosity

without being detected, being identified. And from this, we can see that Peter's earlier bravado,

that he said earlier in verse 33, when Jesus warned him that Satan was trying to destroy him,

Peter said to Jesus, Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death. But now that earlier

bravado is gone, Peter is no longer with Jesus, he now follows at a distance.

And what Peter does in verse 55 is even more troubling. He says,

when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down

among them. Not only is Peter no longer with Jesus, he is now with them, the band that had come to arrest

Jesus. The phrase in the middle of in that verse, the phrase in the middle of in that verse,

and the word among in that verse are actually different translations of the exact same Greek word.

And so it's emphasized, repeated twice for emphasis. When they had kindled a fire in the midst of the

courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down in the midst of them. Peter is not trying to blend in,

fit in, trying to pass as one of them. And since Jesus' arrest took place at night, Peter seems to

think that no one will be able to recognize him. But unfortunately, there's a servant girl

who's very good with faces. It says in verse 56, then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light

and looking closely at him, said, this man also was with him. When Peter sits by the fire to warm

himself by the light of the fire, this girl notices a strangely familiar face and looking closely at him,

she concludes, this man also was with Jesus. Remember, that's exactly what Peter had insisted

before that he would do. I will go with you to prison and to death. And so you would expect him to now

say, yes, I am with him. But it says in verse 57, he denied it, saying, woman, I do not know him.

This is a heart-wrenching denial because it's the one that Peter most easily could have avoided.

His accuser is a lowly servant girl who by virtue of her gender and her class in this ancient world

had the lowest status in society. Her testimony was not even legally admissible in the courts.

Not only that, Peter is not under threat of being arrested. The Jewish leaders have conspired to

arrest Jesus only because they knew that by striking the shepherd, they will scatter all the sheep.

We know from John 18 that John, another disciple, is already in the courtyard and he was familiar

with the high priest and is able to go in and observe Jesus more closely. So we know that the

disciples of Jesus are not under immediate threat. And even though Peter did assault that servant,

no one has identified him as that man and they're not accusing him of assault. Their accusation merely is,

this man also was with him. But Peter nevertheless succumbs under the pressure and says,

I do not know him. Jewish synagogues, when they excommunicated members, kicked people out from

membership in their synagogues, they would say, they would use this formula, they would formally

pronounce over them, we no longer know you. They're saying, we no longer have anything to do with you.

And the phrasing of Peter's denial is very similar in content. I do not know him. I am not with him. I have

nothing to do with that man. It's a blatant backpedaling from his earlier resolute commitment.

And it stems from his fierce desire to be counted among them. He's saying, I'm with you. I'm not with him.

Associating with Jesus will bring embarrassment and persecution at times.

You actually believe that God created the world?

Do you not know that science has disproven the existence of God?

Do you really believe that Jesus was a real human being that was crucified and then raised from the dead?

Do you really believe that the Bible is the word of God?

What about all those regressive ethical standards and fantastical stories?

Notice that all of those questions are merely accusations and not arguments.

They're unargued assertions that are intended to create a feeling, a powerful feeling,

that preys on people's insecurities and fears.

They make you feel like what you believe is ridiculous without offering any proof that it is ridiculous.

More often than not, when you actually start to reason with people who say such things

and press them on why they think that your beliefs are so far-fetched,

you find that they actually don't have good reasons, many of them, behind their assumptions.

Nowadays, too many so-called Christians compromise their convictions and lose their faith.

Not after a careful examination of their beliefs, but out of fear, out of insecurity,

out of a survival instinct to flee that which others consider regressive and ridiculous.

Don't give in to that pressure.

Are you with Jesus?

Or do you want to belong to this world?

Do you want to fit in to this culture?

Philippians 3.20 reminds us our citizenship is in heaven,

and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Just as every subsequent drink goes down more smoothly for an alcoholic,

every subsequent sin comes more easily to a sinner.

Sin begets more sin.

It desensitizes our conscience.

And likewise, Peter's denial doesn't stop there.

It says in verse 58,

And a little later, someone else saw him and said,

You also are one of them.

But Peter said, Man, I am not.

The first accusation by the servant girl was,

This man also was with him.

She was telling the other people in the crowd,

seated around the fire, that Peter was with Jesus.

And Peter denied that personal association with Jesus.

And this time, the accusation is posed directly at Peter.

You also are one of them.

And the accusation is that Peter belongs to the band of Jesus' followers,

that he's one of his disciples, which he is.

He's one of the 12 apostles.

But Peter, having already denied his allegiance to Jesus,

now denies his fellowship with other disciples as well.

Man, I am not.

I am not one of them.

I'm one of you.

Sometimes we also can be tempted to distance ourselves

from the fellowship of believers, the church.

Oh, I'm not one of them.

I'm not that kind of a Christian.

I'm not one of those Bible-thumping Christians.

I'm a red-letter Christian.

I only follow those red letters in the New Testament that Jesus said.

I don't follow that other stuff in the Bible.

I'm a more rational kind of Christian.

I believe the Bible is a collection of myths and stories

written to capture our imagination,

not a literal history.

I'm a more enlightened kind of Christian,

more progressive kind of Christian.

People say these things as if it's an act of courage

to disagree with the church's historic teachings,

much like a teenager that wears his rebellion against his parents

as a badge of honor.

But distancing yourselves from the church

in order to align yourself with the culture

that is critical of the church

just like distancing yourself

from your well-meaning family members

in order to get some street cred with your friends.

It's not an act of courage.

It's self-serving cowardice.

If we really care about the church of God,

we should seek to reform it,

not reject it or ridicule it.

To distance oneself from the church of God,

which is the family of God and the bride of Christ,

is to distance oneself from Christ himself,

who is the head of the church.

Though our sinful flesh might crave the approval of the world,

it's the people of God that we will spend eternity with,

not the people of this world.

I once met a chaplain.

It was at Harvard.

There's a lot of chaplains.

You'll never figure it out,

so don't try to identify who this person is.

But I met a chaplain at Harvard.

He's supposed to be one of the Christian chaplains,

but he steadfastly refused to call himself a Christian

because he didn't want to be identified with the term in any way.

Quite the contrast from the Christian man

that was tortured for his faith in 2nd century,

Christian pastor Irenaeus from the 2nd century

testifies about this man,

With such determination did he stand up to their onslaughts,

he's being tortured for his faith,

that he would not tell them his own name, race, and birthplace,

or whether he was slave or free.

To every question he replied in Latin,

I am a Christian.

This he proclaimed over and over again.

Instead of name, birthplace, nationality, and everything else,

and not another word did the heathen hear from him.

Before I am a Christian.

Before I am Sean.

Before I am a pastor of Trinity Cambridge Church.

Before I am a husband to Hannah and father to Ine and Inji.

Before I am a graduate of Williams College

or Gordon-Conwell Seminary.

Before I'm a Korean American.

Before all of that, I'm a Christian.

I'm a follower of Christ.

That's who I am.

That's what is most fundamental to my identity.

And that's the name by which all my brothers and sisters in Christ

in church history have been known.

We should not be ashamed of it.

But Peter unfortunately denies his allegiance to Christ yet again.

Yes, I am not one of them.

And he's still not done.

It says in verse 59,

This third accuser is the most insistent.

He says,

But certainly this man also was with him.

For he too is a Galilean.

Peter's appearance or accent has somehow betrayed his identity.

But Peter doubles down on his denial in verse 60.

Man, I do not know what you are talking about.

And immediately while he was still speaking,

the rooster crowed.

That's in fulfillment of what Jesus said earlier in Luke 22, verse 34.

Luke 22:34

He says in verses 61 to 62,

And the Lord turned and looked at Peter.

And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord,

how he had said to him,

Before the rooster crows today,

you will deny me three times.

And he went out and wept bitterly.

The rooster crowed,

even as Peter was still speaking,

to leave no doubt in his mind

that this was in fulfillment of Jesus' prediction earlier.

And remember, Peter, his name means rock.

The name was given by Jesus himself.

But in this instance,

he crumbles under the pressure,

not like a rock,

but like a house of cards.

Wept bitterly.

That refers not to a quiet sniffling,

but to an audible sob.

And in Peter's failure,

we see Jesus is for knowledge.

We see that even though everything seems to be spiraling out of control,

that Jesus is still in full command of the situation.

And that point is emphasized by the repetition of the word Lord.

And the Lord turned and looked at Peter.

And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord.

The last time Peter called Jesus Lord was in verse 33,

where he said,

Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.

But that same Lord to whom Peter had made such a blustering promise,

now turns and looks at him

as he is denying him,

reminding him through his gaze that he knows that Peter is denying him right now.

And reminding him with his gaze that he had predicted that he would deny him,

reminding him through his gaze also of the comfort that he had given to Peter earlier.

Verse 31 and 32,

Jesus' gaze just melts Peter.

And deducing from what we know about Jesus,

his character, his teachings,

it was in all likelihood not a look of condemnation and disdain,

but a look of compassion,

love,

mercy.

And Peter can't handle it.

He goes out and weeps bitterly.

If you're a Christian who's serious about pleasing the Lord,

you have probably cried the bitter tears of Peter.

Literally or figuratively.

When you remember the saying of the Lord,

when you were convicted of your unfaithfulness and sinfulness by the Holy Spirit,

when you realize that you brought dishonor to your Lord and your Savior,

but that bitter tear,

like Peter's,

shows that you still belong to Christ.

Because Peter still believed in Jesus

and loved Jesus,

he was heartbroken that he had failed.

His denial was a temporary lapse in courage.

It was not a permanent loss of conviction.

Remember when Peter first met Jesus earlier in the gospel,

he fell before him saying,

depart from me,

for I am a sinful man,

O Lord.

And now,

even after three years of following Jesus and ministering with him,

Peter's bitter tears testify that his confession hasn't changed.

Please don't misunderstand what I'm about to say.

Every true Christian grows in holiness with each passing year.

Every true Christian does.

That growth might be imperceptible in the short term,

but it is undeniable in the long term.

But no matter how much progress we make in faith,

we always remain sinners saved by the grace of God.

No matter how mature we are,

we never stop needing God's mercy,

his forgiveness,

until the day we die.

Because apart from the righteousness of Jesus credited to our account,

we can only say,

depart from me,

for I am a sinful man,

O Lord.

And that's exactly why Jesus came.

To save sinners,

to atone for our sins,

by dying on the cross for our sins,

and being raised from the dead.

So,

if you're here this morning,

and you're heavy laden with guilt,

condemnation,

if you're crying bitter tears of failure and unfaithfulness,

remember that it's not your performance.

It's not even the intensity,

your emotional intensity of remorse that you feel.

These are not the things that make you acceptable before God.

What makes you right with God

does not reside in you.

It resides in Christ only,

and on what he has accomplished on the cross,

for you.

His sacrifice only.

His righteousness only.

And remembering that truth will keep us humble,

and dependent on him.

It will make us watchful,

and prayerful.

It will guard us from temptation.

But if we forget this truth,

we'll become,

like Peter was earlier,

prideful,

self-sufficient,

and will lead to our failure.

And remember this comforting truth.

The Lord knew that Satan would tempt Peter.

The Lord knew that Peter would deny him three times

before the rooster crows.

The Lord knew that ultimately Peter's faith would not fail

because he had prayed for him.

The Lord knew that Peter would turn back again.

And so he had charged him ahead of time,

when you have turned again,

strengthen your brothers.

This blows my mind.

If any failure is worth demoting somebody,

a disciple,

I mean, that's,

I think that warrants it.

It wasn't once,

three times.

I mean, at least demote him a little bit,

you know,

maybe make him like just one of the disciples,

but not the twelve apostles.

But Jesus,

does not dismiss

the disgraced leader of the twelve apostles.

He restores him,

he reinstates him,

and entrusts to him

the weighty task

of strengthening his fellow brothers.

That's the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God knows all of your sins,

all of your sordid pasts,

our present failures,

our future sins.

That he doesn't look at you

and say,

oh, not worth saving,

not worth my time.

He so loves you

that he sends his only son

to die as your substitute.

He eats the loss of your sin

and your debt himself.

He patiently endures your shortcomings

and gently restores you.

and in spite of all of our demonstrated unreliability,

he gives us a sacred trust

and sends us out as his ambassadors

to share this precious good news of Jesus Christ

with others.

What an amazing grace!

From the outside looking in,

Jesus looks totally pathetic

and pitiful in this scene.

betrayed by one of his 12 apostles,

denied by the leader of the 12 apostles,

deserted, defied, derided,

and doubted by the very people

he came to save.

But this narrative shows us

that despite appearances to the contrary,

the crucified Christ is the Lord

and judge over all

whom we should follow.

It's all according to God's sovereign plan.

In addition to a denier,

we meet those who deride Jesus

in verses 63 to 65.

It says,

Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody

were mocking him as they beat him.

They also blindfolded him

and kept asking him,

Prophesy!

Who is it that struck you?

And they said many other things against him,

blaspheming him.

The men who were holding Jesus in custody

are likely the soldiers.

After an initial inquiry

at the high priest's house,

Jesus is now being detained

until the formal proceedings

of the Sanhedrin in the morning.

And during that time,

the guards who are holding Jesus

are bored

and they make sport of Jesus.

That kind of public abuse

was never legal.

It was never permitted.

It wasn't permitted

even for people

who had already been condemned.

But in this case,

Jesus has not been proven guilty yet

and yet they abuse him

in such a way.

Knowing that Jesus

had a reputation as a prophet,

the soldiers strike him

and then challenge him

to identify

who his abuser is.

Mocking him.

Blindfolding him.

Who struck you?

If you're a prophet,

you should know.

What's his name?

Where is he standing?

The irony of it all

is that

while the soldiers

are deriding him

and challenging him

to prophesy,

they are themselves

fulfilling Jesus' prophecy

about himself.

He said earlier

in Luke 18

Luke 18:32–33

verses 32 to 33,

for he will be delivered

over to the Gentiles

and will be mocked

and shamefully treated

and spit upon.

And after flogging him,

they will kill him

and on the third day

he will rise.

Jesus prophesied

that he would be mocked

and shamefully treated.

And the soldiers

are doing exactly that.

And in mocking Jesus'

prophetic ability,

they are proving

his prophetic powers.

Moreover,

the Jewish leaders

later accused Jesus

of blasphemy.

But Luke tells us here

in verse 65,

it's not Jesus

who blasphemed.

It's the men

who held Jesus in custody

who were blaspheming Jesus.

The Jewish leaders

acted like

they were defending

God's honor

by persecuting Jesus.

But in reality,

they were dishonoring God

because they were

blaspheming the Son of God.

The word blaspheme

can be used

in a generic sense

to slander someone

if the object

of the verb blaspheme

is a human being.

But the word blaspheme

is used most often

with God

as the object.

And it means

specifically

to misuse

God's name

or to belittle

God's unique glory

by speaking ill of Him

or by falsely

making oneself

or another human being

to be God.

So in light of

Jesus' declaration

in verse 70

that He is the Son of God,

it's hard not to see

Jesus' divinity

implied here

in Luke's use

of the word blaspheme.

They're blaspheming God.

though humiliated

and mocked,

Jesus is the Lord

of all.

And even though

Jesus might be

blasphemed

by our friends,

our family,

our neighbors,

He's the Son of God

whom we must follow.

And when day came,

it says in verse 66,

the assembly of the elders

of the people

gathered together,

both chief priests

and scribes,

and they led Him

away to their council.

This council is,

like I mentioned earlier,

probably the formal

gathering of the Sanhedrin,

which is the highest

religious ruling body

of the Jews.

And all Jews

with some religious

standing have,

it seems to have gathered,

the elders,

the chief priests,

the scribes,

they've all gathered.

And they asked Jesus

in verses 67 to 68,

if you are the Christ,

tell us.

But He said to them,

if I tell you,

you will not believe.

And if I ask you,

you will not answer.

So here in this last scene,

we encounter the doubters.

The title Christ

means anointed one,

the Messiah,

the promised king

from the line of David

who is supposed

to save God's people

and usher in

the kingdom of God.

But the Sanhedrin

is not asking

a sincere question here.

They're trying to frame Jesus

as we've seen

over and over again

throughout chapters 20 and 21.

They're not interested

in the truth.

They have a settled judgment

about Jesus.

They're simply looking

for an excuse

to kill Him.

And what Jesus says

to them is insightful

because some people

make a virtue

of skepticism.

While there is

a fair-minded skepticism

that asks genuine questions

seeking truth,

there's also a biased,

settled skepticism

that will admit

no evidence

that forces it

to change its position.

It's really the sin

of unbelief

masquerading

as virtue

of thoughtfulness

and reasonableness.

And throughout

His ministry,

Jesus consistently

refuses to indulge

such settled skeptics.

He said early

in Luke 11,

29 to 30,

this generation

is an evil generation.

He seeks for a sign,

but no sign

will be given to it

except the sign

of Jonah.

For as Jonah

became a sign

to the people of Nineveh,

so will the Son of Man

be to this generation.

The sign of Jonah

that Jesus is referring to

in the context

of the Gospel of Luke

is not His death

and resurrection,

which is the case

in the Gospel of Matthew,

but it's actually

the preaching,

the preaching of Jonah

to the people of Nineveh.

So likewise,

Jesus is saying here

to the people,

my preaching,

my proclamation

of the Gospel

of the kingdom

is a sufficient sign.

No other sign

will be given.

And Jesus responded

this way

because He knew

that the people

seeking signs

were already settled

in their judgments.

That if they don't

believe His words,

they will not believe

His miraculous works.

If I tell you,

you will not believe.

And if I ask you,

you will not answer.

If you consider yourself

a skeptic about Jesus,

do you think the burden

of proof

is still on Christ

and His church?

Because God's Word

tells us that

the ball is in your court.

Even this morning,

you have heard about Jesus.

You have heard the good news

of the kingdom of God,

but will you believe Him?

But Jesus does remind

the Jewish council

of this fact.

Though it appears

as though they have

authority over Him,

it appears as though

they have the upper hand,

true authority

and power

lie with Him.

And so Jesus says

in verse 69,

Jesus' reply here

combines two passages.

First, Daniel 7,

13 to 14.

It's a messianic prophecy

that describes

one like a son of man

who will appear before God

and receive dominion

and glory

and a kingdom

and all peoples,

nations,

and languages

should serve Him.

And the second passage

is Psalm 110,

which Jesus quoted

earlier in Luke 20.

It captures a dialogue

between the Lord God

and the messianic king.

The Lord says to my Lord,

sit at my right hand

until I make your enemies

your footstool.

And it continues,

the Lord is at your right hand.

He will shatter kings

on the day of His wrath.

He will execute judgment

among the nations.

According to Jewish

rabbinic tradition,

only God sits in heaven.

everyone else must stand

to worship,

to wait on Him,

or prostrate themselves

before God.

Only the king

gets to sit in court.

And so for Jesus

to claim that He will

from now on,

referring to His impending death,

resurrection,

and ascension,

from now on,

He'll be seated

at the right hand

of the power of God.

It's tantamount

to blasphemy.

That's of course

if Jesus is not,

in fact,

the messianic king

and the son of God.

The Jewish council

is incensed.

They say in verse 70,

are you the son of God then?

Do you really dare

to claim to be God?

Do you dare to claim

the right hand

of the throne of God?

to be seated

by the ancient

of days Himself?

And Jesus responds,

you say that I am.

Now some revisionist historians

like to use

Jesus' response here

to argue that

Jesus never claimed

to be the son of God.

Hey, look,

look at what Jesus says here.

He was just

a religious reformer

and a political revolutionary.

Look at what He says.

He says,

you said that I am.

I didn't say that.

But that interpretation

simply can't overcome

the very plain obstacle

posed by the immediately

following verse.

Then they said,

what further testimony

do we need?

We have heard it

from His own lips.

The Jewish leaders

are indignant

because they think

that Jesus has very

obviously condemned

Himself

with His own lips

by committing blasphemy.

They don't think

that Jesus denied

that claim.

If Jesus was answering

that question

in the negative,

then that would have been

the end of the Jesus movement

because people were

claiming Him

to be the Messianic King.

Jesus is not saying that.

You can find the same thing

in Matthew 26, 26.

After Jesus predicts

His betrayal,

Judas,

who would betray Him,

answers Jesus

asking Him,

is it I, Rabbi?

And Jesus responds to him

with the same phrase.

He says,

you have said so.

That doesn't mean

I didn't say that

you said that.

That means,

yes,

you are.

What Jesus is saying here

is,

yes,

I am.

at His birth,

the angel declared

that Jesus was born

would be called Holy,

the Son of God.

At His baptism,

God,

the Father declared

over Jesus,

you are my beloved Son.

And when He was transfigured

to His glorious heavenly self

in Luke 9,

the Father said again,

this is my Son.

And as a boy

in the temple of God,

Jesus said,

I must be

in my Father's house.

And in Luke 10,

Jesus said,

all things have been handed

to me by my Father,

and no one knows

who the Son is

except the Father,

or who the Father is

except the Son,

and anyone to whom

the Son chooses

to reveal Him.

Jesus has been saying

over and over again,

I am the Son of God.

And Jesus is reminding

the Jewish leaders,

you think that you are

standing over judgment

over me right now,

but it is I

who will be seated

on judgment day.

It is I

whom your Lord

and God,

it is I

whom you should bow down to

and submit to,

because despite appearances

to the contrary,

the crucified Christ

is the Lord

and judge over all.

Some people

in our world

are willing to concede

that Jesus was

a good person,

a moral exemplar,

a spiritual guru,

but they stop at that.

And that's a woefully

inadequate acknowledgement.

If you're going

to come to terms

with who Jesus is,

at the very least,

take into account

what He said

about Himself.

He did not

merely claim

to be a good

moral teacher.

He claimed to be

the Son of God.

And if He is not God,

but claimed to be God,

He lied.

He misled people.

He was severely,

or He was severely deluded.

He could not possibly

be a good moral teacher.

But Jesus claimed

to be the Son of God

because that is

who He is.

He could have

gotten Himself

off the hook

with the simple denial.

Oh no,

I am not the Son of God.

I'm not the Messiah.

Oh, that's all

just my crazy followers'

wild claims.

I had never said

such things myself.

But Jesus

doesn't say that.

Jesus could have

remained silent

when police officers

interrogate

criminals

or accused criminals

in our country.

They read the Miranda rights.

You have the right

to remain silent.

Anything you say

can and will

be used against you

in a court of law.

And sometimes

people invoke

that right

to avoid

incriminating themselves.

Jesus didn't have

Miranda rights.

It's not

the United States.

But He could have

remained silent.

But He doesn't.

He admits

His lordship.

He admits

His divine sonship.

And in so doing

He condemns Himself

before the Jewish council.

Why?

Because it's true.

Because even now

it's not the wicked

Jewish rulers

who are in charge

of Jesus' situation.

But it's Jesus

who is in charge.

And so He says

in John 10

John 10:17–18

verses 17 to 18,

For this reason

the Father loves me.

Because I lay down

my life

that I may

take it up again.

No one

takes it from me

but I lay it down

of my own accord.

I have authority

to lay it down

and I have authority

to take it up again.

This charge

I have received

from my Father.

Jesus is not

a hapless individual

that happened to be

at the wrong place

at the wrong time

and was killed

for the wrong reasons

and then His followers

made up this crazy story

about how He died

for their sins.

That's not what happened.

Jesus knew exactly

what He was doing.

He died for you.

He incriminated Himself

in the court of law

because He knew

He was laying down

His own life

to save His people.

so that He could die

on the cross

with our criminal records

on His back

so that He could wipe

our slate clean

with His own blood.

Many people have claimed

to be God

in human history.

They all died

and faded into oblivion.

Only one person

has claimed to be God

has died

and has been raised

from the dead.

Have you put your faith

in Jesus?

The world is full

of deniers,

deriders,

and doubters

but God's calling you

this morning.

Don't be a denier.

Be a confessor.

Don't be a derider.

Be a worshiper.

Don't be a doubter.

Be a believer.

Because despite

appearances to the contrary,

the crucified Christ

is the Lord God

whom we should follow,

whom we should love,

whom we should obey.

Chelsea

don't be a repres prolilar

who fica or who

??