Matthew Pt. 101 -Jesus Arrested

Matt thought he got to go play today.

Plato's call. My not, not, not a chance.

Turn in your Bible to the book of Matthew, chapter 26.

Matthew 26 · chapter mention

All right, time me, Matt.

I'll get my 62nd recap. We have had 3 1/2 years of

Jesus's life and ministry. Up until this point we've been

walking with him, talking with him, walking with him, talking

with him. We've been going through verse

by verse, seeing Jesus his whole life, seeing Jesus his whole

ministry. But now we have slowed down.

We said we're in the final week of his life and everything is

very detailed. So now we're covering all these

passages and it's all this stuff happening, stacking up.

And now we just had the Last Supper and we're still in that

same night. He goes to the garden to pray.

And now finally, the arrest has happened.

And now Jesus is being led to the first false trial that's

happening against him. And this evening at late, late,

late at night when they shouldn't be meeting at all

anyway. So we pick up here in chapter 26

of verse 57. Then those who had seized Jesus

led him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and

the elders had gathered. And Peter was following him at a

distance as far as the courtyard of the high priest.

And going inside, he sat with the guards to see the end.

Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false

testimony against Jesus, that they might put him to death.

But they found none. Though many false witnesses came

forward, At last two came forward and said, This man said,

I'm able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three

days. And the high priest stood up and

said, Have you no answer to make?

What is it that these men testify against you?

But Jesus remained silent, and the high priest said to him, I

adjure you, by the living God, tell us, if you are the Christ,

the Son of God. Jesus said to him, You have said

so, but I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man

seated at the right hand of power, and coming on the clouds

of heaven. Then the high priest tore his

robes and said, He is uttered blasphemy.

What further witnesses do we need?

You have now heard his blasphemy.

What is your judgment? They answered, He deserves

death. Then they spit in his face and

struck him, and some slapped him, saying prophecy to us.

You, Christ, who is it that struck you?

Lord, thank you for Jesus's strength.

Thank you for His power, for His glorious presence.

How He is never afraid, how He is never running, how He is

never, never, never in any moment losing his wisdom, but He

always, always strong. He's always the right thing at

the right time. He's always our perfect example.

The suffering servant, the suffering son, the obedient one

who entrusted himself into your care and was not moved by men or

afraid of men or would help us to see our King and to love him

more deeply and to learn from him.

In Jesus name we thank you, Amen.

Jesus is so powerful, He's so perfect.

Remember as we look at Jesus, yes we are looking at Jesus to

learn how to be like him. But remember, it's not just a

moral decision that we're making to say I need to try harder, I

need to do better. Thankfully, our Jesus also gives

us power and strength to be like him.

You cannot be like Jesus apart from Jesus making you a new

creation, giving you a new wanter.

Our wanters were messed up. They wanted the wrong things.

Jesus said you're there's nothing you can do.

Like I'm going to try and want differently.

You can do that for about a minute and then Jesus said then

it's going to fail again. You need a whole new wanter.

Your whole wanter is broken. That winter is not useful to me.

I'm going to RIP out your old wanter and put in a new wanter.

So your wants are different. You'll still have flesh.

So up here the wanter can be the same, which is why you have to

train this old wanter once this one's been replaced with the

Word of God, so that your mind is renewed.

That's the struggle that many of us feel.

But I want you to understand and remember, as we look at Christ

right now, we're just still looking at the perfection of

Jesus, the flawlessness of Jesus, and of course, the

miscarriage of justice. There's no justice to be found

here at all. Jesus has already resolved

himself. He prayed in the garden.

He knew what was coming. He was tempted by the enemy to

run away from it all, to flee from it all, or even to defend

himself. But in the garden he prayed.

Remember, when did when did he stop praying?

Not until he had fully resolved his obedience and his

commitment. He did not pray.

God, please help me. Tonight's going to be a really

rough night and I really have to go to the cross tomorrow

morning. It's going to be brutal.

And now I go to sleep. That is not how he prayed.

He prayed what we called, He prayed through.

He prayed all the way through not well, I prayed and I can say

before the courts of the Lord I prayed.

Technically that is true and also Christian.

Did you apprehend by faith the thing you were praying for it?

Did you apprehend by faith? I didn't say did it fully

deliver and manifest in front of your eyes?

That doesn't happen when we pray hardly ever, right?

I'm saying, did you apprehend fully by faith?

That's the difference. And Jesus is saying, I'm going

to fully apprehend by faith tonight.

Boys, stay awake, pray with me. And they kept falling asleep.

Pray with me. Boys don't fall into temptation

tonight. And they're like, oh Lord, help

us not fall in temptation. And they went to sleep, but they

did not pray through. They did not apprehend the

strength that they needed, which is why they fail and falter when

the moments of struggle and temptation come.

Jesus received the strength that he needed when Judas arrived.

Remember Peter pulls out a sword, he cuts off the servant

of the high priest's ear and Jesus says stop.

Not because I have a problem with swords.

He knew Peter had a sword. He told them to have swords

before and he said but this is not the time for swords.

PS Peter, I could call down the angels of heaven and destroy

everyone and everything on this mountain if I wanted to.

This is an act of self-control. This is an act of love on the on

the part of Jesus. His mission was to save his

enemies, and his mission is to fulfill the Scriptures.

So now the one through whom all things were made, for whom all

things were made, and by whom all things hold together, now

allows himself to be arrested by his own creation.

And remember, this is the Passover festival happening.

Finally, the final Passover lamb is about to be sacrificed.

He has been apprehended most appropriately by the high

priest, Caiaphas. Caiaphas, the high priest, has

no idea that he is actually preparing the Passover lamb

priests. That's what they did all week

long. They're preparing lambs.

They're preparing lambs. And Caiaphas has the honor in

his foolish and wicked ignorance.

But in the sovereignty of God, the Bible is perfect.

Just remember how dope and awesome the Bible always is.

Caiaphas now has the final the real, the perfect Passover lamb.

Standing before the Caiaphas prepares the Passover lamb.

He does it foolishly. He does it incorrectly.

He doesn't do it well. But that's what's taking place

here. This is all the Lord's writing.

The Lord wrote this whole story, and He wrote it long before man

ever pinned these scriptures. The Lord had all of this

planned. The true Passover lamb, the

final Passover lamb, the real Passover lamb is about to lay

down his life for his people. The true high priest stands

before the false high priest and is on trial before him.

So they thought those who had seized Jesus led him to Caiaphas

the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had

gathered. Another thing worth noting here

is they're not even supposed to be meeting at night.

This is a break in tradition at minimum.

That's putting it graciously. It's not you.

Most theologians aren't comfortable saying it was

illegal for them to do so, but everyone's comfortable saying

this never happened and this wasn't supposed to happen.

They're meeting at night because they're cowards, because they're

afraid. They're afraid of the people.

That's why they got Jesus at night.

They brought him aside at night. They're going, hey, hey, let's

deal with this at night. Let's just kind of move this

thing along as best we can. So Jesus is dragged before

Caiaphas, where the scribes, the elders are together.

This is the first of several show trials that's going to

happen throughout the night. Jesus is dragged back and forth,

harassed and beaten throughout the night into the morning until

finally at 9:00 AM when he's crucified.

This is a pretend court run by men who already decided what

they want to do, and yet they do have a legitimate office and a

legitimate authority. Pastor, do you mean to tell me

that those in legitimate office can be manipulators and liars?

I know you've never heard of that or thought that before,

right? This is a new concept for you,

but yes, it's true. Just like then and just like

now. Just because you hold office

does not mean that you're a man of honor, dignity, or the truth.

This happens every day in our governments, in our courtrooms

all over the world, in our businesses, in our churches.

So the Lord still installed, the Lord still does install offices,

and offices are to be honored and revered.

What are we supposed to do when they're wicked and corrupt?

Well, depending on what the situation is, there may be

options and a path forward. But the thing we should always

do is what the Lord Jesus does here, that is, entrust ourselves

into the hands of God, even when the hands of men are clearly

wicked and clearly manipulative. Are you saying we're supposed to

overlook it? Jesus has a very particular

mission at a very particular moment.

This is not an exact script for us in every circumstance of

injustice we could ever experience.

But for him, this is literally the plan.

So there are those, your enemies, the enemies of Christ

and the enemies of the cross. They think that Christians are

too stupid. And sometimes Christians are

naive and ignorant because they don't read their Bible.

And they will, they will manipulate you and the enemies

of Christ and the cross will say you're supposed to let us do

whatever we want to you because that's what Jesus did.

First of all, that is incorrect. Jesus didn't always do that.

He did it once. He did it one night out of his

33 years. No one ever manipulated him.

One time, all of the snakes, he navigated all of them.

We want to throw you off a Cliff because you're so bad.

He didn't say, well, I've come to die for the people, so throw

me off the Cliff. Nobody's throwing me off a Cliff

today. And they said, well, we're going

to stone you to death. And he's like, oh, I die.

I'm came to die for the people. No, no, no, nobody's going to

stone Jesus today. It says he hid himself from them

when they were going to do that. And now why on this night is he

yielding? Has he given up?

Is Jesus just tired? No, they're following Jesus's

perfect plan. So this is a unique moment.

But the biblically ignorant will use the biblically naive and

immature Christians. And they'll say, you're supposed

to do this and you're supposed to do that.

You're like, well, I want to be like Jesus.

Dear Christian, read your Bible. We're going to be the right

thing at the right time. And you never, ever, ever, ever

let the enemies of Christ or your own enemies to tell you how

to obey Jesus. Ever.

Never let a backslider, never let any person who's not loving

and following Jesus and is not seeking your good tell you how

to obey Him. Someone else can.

A faithful Christian can. You better be open to

correction, but just don't be open to it from non believers

who actually aren't following Christ and they're saying your

Bible says, your Bible says, and then they take a verse that they

heard one time or maybe they're fancy, maybe they're a former

pastor. Those are the worst.

I've warned you about those. They're a former pastor.

They're very slippery. Those are wolves and they're

seeking to devour the flock. So something specific is

happening here with Jesus. So we are to learn from it, but

the main thing we're to learn from it is always in all

circumstances. And trust yourself into the

hands of the living God and remember that He is keeping the

books. They're so wicked though,

they're so evil. This is so unjust.

What if they do all of this? The good news is you live

forever. You will never really die.

Jesus told you don't fear man, what can man do to you?

Jesus said they can only kill your body and after that they

can't do anything else. He said fear God, who can kill

your body and then throw your soul into hell.

So God says, I want my people to live with a long term

perspective instead of loving their lives under the death like

the disciples were doing on this night.

They scattered, they ran. Peter's at a distance.

I love him, but not that much. I'm courageous, but I'm

compromising. This is what we see happening

here. Caif is a Caiaphas is a powerful

man, but he's a deeply wicked man.

I want to read to you from John Chapter 11, something that

John 11 · chapter mention

Caiaphas had prophesied again in his ignorance, but in the

sovereignty of God. In John Chapter 11, verse 47,

John 11:47

the Jewish rulers are arguing and debating this guy.

This guy Jesus is getting all the credit.

This guy Jesus taking all of our people away.

This guy Jesus is undermining our laws, not the laws of God,

our made-up laws, the extra laws that we added on top of the laws

of God. That's when you become a

Pharisee. Remember, you're allowed to have

particular convictions on things, right?

But you're not allowed to put all your particular convictions

on top of everyone else. The Scripture applies to all of

us. Why interpret that differently?

Well, you better interpret it some way and it better look like

something. I just ignore that entirely.

That's unacceptable. But we cannot put all of our

convictions. You've got to drink 64 ounces of

water every day, right? The build your life boost,

right? We're not bringing condemnation

with these, but we're saying, hey, this is a wise and helpful

thing that we've seen. These are wise and helpful

practices. These are wise Kingdom

principles that should be employed.

Do you have a verse for that? Not necessarily, but here the

the Jews are arguing they're mad because Jesus is just is leading

people to himself and away from them and people are actually

being restored to God. So in Chapter 11 of John and

verse 47, so the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the

counsel and said what are we to do for this man performs many

signs. He's doing great miracles.

If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him,

and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our

nation. But one of them, Caiaphas, who

was the high priest that year, said to them, You know nothing

at all, nor do you understand that it is better for you that

one man should die for the people, not that the whole

nation should perish. He did not say this of his own

accord, but being high priest that year, so he didn't say this

out of the flesh. Being a high priest that year,

he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for

the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of

God who are scattered abroad. So from that day on they made

plans to put him to death. This is wild.

A wicked and godless ruler prophesied by the inspiration of

the Holy Spirit. Who's got the airtight

theological explanation on that one?

Not me, but it's what happened because the Scripture tells us

so. So God still uses wicked, wicked

men, the very wicked man who's going to crucify Christ, and

still the Holy Spirit helps him to prophecy.

But here's what's wild, and here's what's very interesting

about prophecy. This is why we have a rule in

our church. Whenever you have a word for

somebody, you share the word from the Lord that you have for

them, and not one word more. You do not offer the

interpretation unless the Lord gives it to you.

You're like, hey man, can I share something with you?

Yeah, please. I was praying the other day and

I just felt like the Lord wanted me to say this to you, and then

you don't say. And therefore I think no, no,

no, no, no, you get exactly what the Lord gave and nothing more.

Caiaphas has no idea what he's prophesying here.

And that seems wild to you and I How could he not?

He literally said Jesus is going to die for the nation.

He didn't mean for their sins. That's what the Lord meant.

But Caiaphas saw this specifically as a political

thing, so he thought God told him Jesus will die for the

nation. And Caiaphas is like, yes, I'm

getting this straight from God. This is not me.

God is telling me to prophecy this right now.

Jesus is going to die for the nation.

Caiaphas is super happy. Jesus is going to die for the

nation. And Caiaphas is thinking Jesus

is going to die as a sacrifice, not as a sacrifice for us, but

he's the one who we need to throw out and, and let the

Romans kill so that the Romans don't come and mess up our our

system that we have and that we get to enjoy.

This is purely political in Caiaphas's mind as he

prophesizes and the Father is going say this Caiaphas and it's

all just going to be Caiaphas condemnation.

It's all going to be to the devastation of Caiaphas when he

stands before the Lord on judgment day and he's got to see

with horror everything he said and everything he did and he

goes. You thought that you were

crucifying the Son of God and you were the cog in my wheel,

not the other way around. You were used.

You weren't forced to sin. Remember that God didn't force

him to sin, but God opposes the proud and he gives grace to the

humble, and this is extreme pride.

So as he's saying, and not only for us, but he will gather all

the children of God from all over the world.

Hallelujah, said all the Gentiles like you and me.

Jesus gathered us all, but Caiaphas thought it's just going

to be a way to protect the Jewish nation.

But this one man dies and all the people go free.

Caiaphas, how right you are. Caiaphas, how wrong you are.

God sovereignly used his wicked reasoning as a prophecy because

Jesus truly would die for the nation and for the children of

God scattered all over the world.

Verse 58 Y'all are moving slow. We got to hurry up.

We're only in 2 verses in now. And Peter was following him at a

distance as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and going

inside, he sat with the guards to see the end.

Peter follows at a distance. Again.

We can relate to Peter. Peter's doing better than the

rest. The rest who scatter entirely,

we don't know exactly where they are.

Here we see a degree of courage, but what's worse is we see the

degree of compromise. Remember, this is the man who

earlier in the night, Jesus, I will never leave you.

I will die with you if I have to Come on in, Peter, now's a good

time. I'm about to die.

If you wanted to die with me, this is the moment to do it.

Peter's holding back. He knows Jesus is right.

He loves Jesus to a degree, but he's not willing to follow Jesus

so closely that it would cost him something.

This is the exact description of many, many, many, many people

who would say I love Jesus to a degree.

I know that Jesus is right, but I'm not going to follow him so

closely that it cost me something.

I'll follow him in a distance where I'm like, I'm here to

support you, kind of. I'm with you, but not really.

I'm fighting, but not enough. This is the same.

Peter cut the man's ear off. He's bold, he's brave,

supposedly, and now he blends into the massive crowd of the

soldiers and the people, probably covering himself on a

cold night, sitting among the guards who arrested Jesus in

order to see how the Scripture says how things would end.

This is what happens when people follow Jesus at a distance.

They end up sitting at the wrong place and they sit with the

wrong people. Instead of going and standing

and identifying fully with Christ.

There are testimonies of the Saints as they were persecuted.

In the coming centuries in Rome, Christians were killed by the

many, many, many thousands. It was a game, it was sport.

They would put Christian Christians in the Coliseum.

Much Christian blood was spilled in the Coliseum.

Much of every blood was spilled in the Coliseum.

But they would, they would release wild animals and the

crowds loved it. Just a delight, wickedness like

that. It's just a, it's just a game to

the to the wicked and, and they had a blast with it.

But there was a testimony where there were times where

Christians would be suffering and being tormented and other

Christians would come out of the stands to go join them and to go

die with their brothers and sisters.

Jump off the wall from the from the audience in the Coliseum to

go join them in their suffering and say, you won't be alone

today. And today we will be with him in

paradise. So that's Christian love.

That's Christian devotion. Why?

Why would you throw away your life?

Throw away your life? Jim Elliott famously said.

He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he

cannot lose. And that is what Jesus shows us.

And trust yourself into the hands of God.

If you lose your life for Christ, you will find it.

But if you hold on to your life, then you're going to lose it.

So this is the paradox that people just don't believe anyone

who's holding on to their life. You don't believe Jesus.

That's it. I'm not mad at you.

I'm mad for you. And I want you to know the good

news. If you're holding on to your

life tightly, it's because you don't believe Jesus.

You believe that it'll be better for you to hold on to your life

and your version and your way and your will, and you actually

believe that you would lose by losing your life.

He's like, actually, that's the game.

That's the that's the thing. I just wish I had.

I know, I know you wish it didn't require faith, but it

does. And and God is still looking for

people who believe him and he's still looking for people who

will trust him. Praise God.

We know how it ends for Peter. This wasn't this wasn't the end

for Peter, a mighty St. who ends up being one of like one who

jumps out into the end of the Coliseum when they go to crucify

Peter. They say we're going to kill you

just like your Lord. And he said, I'm not worthy to

die like Jesus. Could you please crucify me

upside down instead? And they said your wish is

granted. He said perfect, I'll take it so

he doesn't stay here. You don't have to say wherever

you are, if you're following at a distance, I'm struggling.

There's hope, there's good news, there's mercy, there's grace,

there's discipleship, there's repentance, there's confession,

there's freedom, there's maturity.

It's not the end. Don't take this as a condemning

sentence of it's all over for you.

It is though, if you will, that it is your will is the casting

is the final vote. Satan has cast his vote against

you, but Lord Hallelujah has cast his vote for you.

There's one vote left. This is a warning for the

hesitant. This is a warning for the half

hearted. Because Jesus calls for people

to genuinely follow Him even when suffering is involved.

Our Lord promised suffering. It shouldn't be a shocker for us

as Christians when we suffer and we're a people who can suffer

well by the grace of God. Verse 59.

Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false

testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, but

they found none, though many false witnesses came forward.

The chief priests, the entire council, they're seeking false

testimony against Jesus, but their verdict is already

decided. They already know what they're

doing tonight. They're not like, oh, let's,

let's work through this. They brought a bunch of liars

together. This is all political theater.

Something else you're very familiar with political theater.

Remember the outrage that we saw from different politicians just

over the past five years? Just how much just through Rona

and through the summer of mostly peaceful protesting and through

everything else that we've seen in our nation, the falseness of

our political leaders, the hypocrisy.

They're, they're them faking outrage over certain things.

Then they can't believe this and they can't believe that.

And we know how phony they are. We know what liars there are in

these situations. This is the same thing going on

here on this night. We're so upset that this Jesus

is a blasphemer. No, they're not.

They're so jealous that he has power, that he has authority and

that people actually follow him and that he has good fruit and

that he's nothing like them. That's it.

It's jealousy. It's wickedness.

That's what is experiencing here.

They've likely even paid false witnesses to come forward.

We know they paid Judas. They've likely paid others.

Hey, you come and say this, You come and say that.

So people are saying all these things, but it's chaotic, it's

disorganized. They don't have unity in what

people are saying and not enough that they could bring a death

sentence. So the witness, their witnesses

can't agree with one another, even though they're but their

law requires two or three witnesses.

The law of God requires two or three witnesses to establish a

matter. The very system that God

established to protect justice exposes the corruption of their

trial. So eventually they have two

witnesses come forward and they come forward with something that

they claim. We heard Jesus say this about

the temple and their claim supposedly is that this is

worthy of death as well. Now remember, Jesus had said he

did not say what they said. They, their claim is this.

This man said I'm able to destroy the temple of God and

rebuild it in three days. That is a lie.

Jesus did not say that. Jesus instead said destroy this

temple and I'll raise it up in three days.

That's what he said. He didn't say I'll destroy the

temple on the mount and I'll rebuild it in three days.

But again, Jesus oftentimes talks in a way that only the

humble will lean in and go. I'm not sure what you meant by

that, but I'm not going anywhere.

And the price will say, I've heard enough.

What more needs to be said? It's just like the Internet,

right? Put something online.

Hey, I'm saying this thing. I deal with this a lot.

I say what I said and then people say, here's what I heard.

I'm like, but I didn't say that. I said this.

I'll stand by this. Maybe I need a pin of this.

Maybe I can double down on this, but this is what I actually

said. So this is where we have to hold

me accountable with this. And they're like, but I think

that implies, well, then you should ask a wise question and

see if I believe that outcome instead of jumping at it.

This is manipulation. This is flesh.

This is outrage. This is, I can't believe it.

This is clutching your pearls. It's the worst.

It's bad faith. It's manipulative flesh.

So this is what's happening here.

They've manipulated Jesus. They're putting words in his

mouth. Jesus instead said, destroy this

temple. I will raise it in three days,

speaking about his body, saying you kill me on the cross and I

will be raised up. But they manipulate it into a

threat against the temple itself.

And this is how many people twist and manipulate words.

Even believers, even Christians can do this.

Some of you have the bad habit of doing this in your

relationships. Some of you do this in your

marriages, some of you do this in your family relationships,

some of you do this with your friends, some of you do this on

the job site. You need to be very wise and

cautious with your words. He who can keep his tongue in

check can keep his whole life in check.

The tongue is the rudder that steers everything else.

But you must be gracious with people when you're communicating

with them. I'm very good with words.

I don't mind telling you. It's probably not a shock to

most of you. I can, I can work circles around

somebody. I could tie somebody up in a

knot verbally and I could get them back on their heels and

overwhelmed. And I don't do any of that when

I'm in conflict or frustration or anything with anybody.

I'm very slow and I let them talk, even if they don't have

the verbal judo black belt skills that I do.

I let them talk and I said, hey, you said this, do you mean that?

And they're like, no, I didn't mean that.

And I let them walk it back and I let them fix it.

I want the truth. I'm not after a trap.

I'm not after a trick. I'm after the truth.

But many people in their communication, they're after a

trap and they're after a trick. They just want to be right.

And if you're not actually after the truth of the situation, then

you're always going to live in chaos.

Your marriage, your friendships, things are always going to be in

chaos because you're not actually after.

I want the truth established, and then I will align myself

according to the truth. You also have to align yourself

according to the truth. So I'm known for saying in my

friendships, in my relationship, in my marriage, in any place

where there's conflict or confusion, everybody knows.

I'm used to saying this. I'm confused.

Alan laughs because he hears it all the time.

He says things to me. He's like, blah, blah, blah,

blah. And I'm like, I'm confused,

like, is this guy an idiot? I don't know.

Maybe I'm OK with that. If that's the truth, I can live

with that. But I want clarity and that

doesn't mean I'm going to nitpick you and do a full audit

on every single thing that happened.

I want motives and I just want clarity.

It's just simple. This is fruit of the Spirit,

Lovejoy, Peace, patience, kindness, gentleness,

faithfulness, goodness. I mixed up my order and now I

can't remember them all. self-control.

I don't know if I hit online, but I threw something off in

there. Apparently I only have them

memorized in order. I can't give them to you, Adam

can't give you the fruit of the spirit in any other way.

But that's what it looks like. You've got to communicate this

way. Well, I'm not good at that.

That's OK. Good news.

It's a muscle that you'll develop.

But in your relationships, if you have bad habits, if you have

bad patterns, you just need to know.

It's like going to the gym. Oh, this is heavyweight.

Yep. But it'll get easier and you

have to practice it and you have to continue to experience.

Hey, I'm sorry, I interrupted. Continue.

And then the person doesn't come up for air for 20 minutes.

You know, like you've been talking a long time and I need

to speak now. Like we got to bring clarity to

this thing. Like we have to learn how to be

gracious and patient with one another.

It's just simple kindness. This is how we get the truth

out. But if you're just trying to

muddy the water, stir everything up so that nobody can see your

sin and you're like, the spotlight stays on you, the

spotlight stays on you, the spotlight stays on you, the

spotlight stays on you. You're destroying your life and

whatever relationship that is, you're just destroying it all

because of your pride. Is Pastor getting too practical

today? I'm not sorry.

You need this. This is medicine that will save

your life. See.

Are you? I feel like he's just saying

this for me. I promise you, I'm saying it for

all of you because it's so subtle the way this happens in

flesh. It's so subtle the way it comes

out, the way I'm like, oh, so you said and we jump in on the

thing they said instead of hang on.

You just said that. That really hurt.

Did you mean this? Because that's how I took it.

No, I didn't mean that. I'm sorry.

I shouldn't have said that. What I meant was this.

OK? Thank you for clarifying.

Wow. That was some fair and kind and

reasonable communication. We're both still angry.

We're both still frustrated, but we're we're emphasizing the

truth here. I need a time out.

I need to take a time out for a few minutes because I'm I'm,

I'm, I don't have enough self-control yet.

We'll get there, but I don't have enough yet.

So I need a breather and I want to revisit this with you.

I'm not running from it. We need to come back to it

clearly, but right now I can't lift any more weight.

I've maxed out and I have to continue to grow here.

Be fair. That's all we're really looking

for. It's like the opposite of what

lawyers do in a courtroom, manipulation, putting words in

your mouth. I was once sitting in a

courtroom. It's a very nerve wracking

thing. You ever sat in court?

It's not fun. I wasn't guilty.

I hadn't done anything wrong. I was just there for another

reason. But I'm still sitting there and

they're saying I'm like, this is not pleasant.

You're stressed out. You know, these people have

authority and power. And the lawyers saying so you're

saying blah, blah, blah. He kept saying, so you're

saying, so you're saying he's like, so would you say blah,

blah, blah. And I was like, no, I wouldn't

say it like that. I would say it the way I said

it. And he didn't like that.

He got really mad. He goes, I'm asking you blah,

blah, blah, blah, blah. And I said, what you're doing is

trying to limit my ability to do what I just swore to do, which

was to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

And your questions are deliberately limiting my ability

to do that. And he wanted me off the stand

real quick after that. So he messed with the bull.

He got the horns, but that's what that's what manipulation

looks like. He was trying to trap me.

Don't trap people. Just keep seeking the truth

while they're lying to me and they won't expose it.

Well, then that tells you plenty as well, and you can go.

I know that you're being deceptive and this can't

continue any farther because I've tried to bring clarity to

it and you're deliberately stirring the pot and keeping

things distracted and keeping me off balance and keeping me on my

heels. All I really wanted in the

truth, it was the truth here, and you're continually

sabotaging it. So now I'm out.

That's OK too. There's a time and a place to

just bow out of it. You don't have to stay in it

forever. If they're unwilling to go there

with you, keep going. Verse 62 the high priest stood

up and said, have you no answer to make?

What is it that these men testify against you, but Jesus

remains silent. Why?

Because all that has happened is lies.

Jesus does not answer for lies. You shouldn't answer for lies

either. Answer for this.

No, you have nothing to say about these allegations.

That's correct. Why not?

I don't answer to lies. Like I said, I don't answer for

the truth of what I've said. I'll answer for the truth of

what I've done, but I won't answer for lies.

And Jesus has nothing to say to lies.

Jesus did not come to testify to lies.

Jesus came to testify to the truth.

Jesus is the truth, so that's why he's silent.

That's why he won't say anything.

His silence fulfills Isaiah 53, seven.

He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his

mouth. Like a lamb that has led to the

slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,

so he opened not his mouth. The lamb is silent before the

slaughter because it is clueless that it's about to be

slaughtered. A lamb just like just another

day. Today's going to be like

tomorrow. There's no tomorrow for you,

little lamb. Jesus knows what's coming and

he's silent because he's the perfect man and he will not play

the games of his manipulative enemies.

Things change though, when the high priest demands something

else of Jesus. He remains silent.

Verse 63 And the high priest said to him, I adore you by the

living God. Adore means I place you

underoath now. So, so far Jesus hasn't had to

say anything. All these other people have to

come testify. He's like Jesus is getting the

upper hand again, like he always does.

The high priestess Watchers, I put you underoath and in the

name of the living God, like let me use everything I can to get

Jesus to talk here, which still I don't think would have gotten

Jesus to budget. Tell us.

And now he goes for the truth. Tell us if this is the truth.

Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.

Well, why didn't you ask the truth?

I'm here to testify to the truth.

You said that it's so. By the way, it's very

interesting language that the high priest uses here.

He uses the same language that Peter uses.

When Jesus says, who do you say that I am?

And they said, well, some say you're that you're Elijah, and

some say you're this, and some say you're that.

Boys, who do you say that I am? And Peter said you are the

Christ, the Son of the living God.

And Jesus said flesh and blood has not revealed this to you.

But my Father in heaven, don't tell anybody.

It's not time yet. So he is here to testify to the

truth. But it was at the right time.

Don't tell anybody that. How did the high priest know

about that exact phrase? Judas.

Judas told him. Judas gave him that evidence.

So now have you said this? And Jesus said, no, I'll answer.

I'll answer for the truth, but I won't answer for the lies.

Jesus then goes on. He doesn't just stop there.

Verse 64 Jesus said to him, you have said so, but I tell you,

from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand

of power and coming on the clouds of heaven.

We got to explain why what he just said was a was the bomb of

all bombs now. So I've showed you how he nukes

these guys all week long. And now the language he just

used is judgment language. They think they have him on

trial and they think Jesus is in their court.

And he just said I'm the judge over everything and everybody

When he said you'll see me seated at the right hand of

power, that word power is capital, capital P In your

Bible, it's referring to a person.

It's referring to the Father. He's not just saying you'll,

you'll see me seated in a particular chair.

He's saying I will be seated at the right hand of power.

And he's just going all in. He knows what's coming.

He knows the fake outrage that's going to happen after.

I can't believe you just tweeted that.

Believe it and read it again because I'm not sorry.

He said it. He said it with joy.

He said it with strength. And at this point, he seals his

mission and fulfills everything because now he knows exactly

what's coming. But he's saying I'm judging you.

You think you stand in judgement over me.

You're not the high priest. I'm the high priest and I'm

coming back in judgement and you'll see me coming on the

clouds. This is just a smack to all the

hundreds of people who are standing there going, did he

just say that? The high priest and all of his

falseness and all of his theatrical behaviors, he loves

what Jesus just said because now he knows he's going to kill

Jesus. So he pretends to be outraged

when really inside the high priest is dancing.

He is rejoicable. Oh my goodness, this guy just

gave us a softball because he still thinks Jesus is caught in

his web. But Jesus has given him the

truth. I'm coming on the clouds.

He's like, you just made my day so much easier now, now I can do

it. So he tears his root.

Oh my goodness, the blasphemy. He takes to Twitter.

I can't believe it. I'm so upset.

I'm so disappointed in whatever this administration or this

thing or this law, blah, blah, blah.

And he was like, oh, look how upset this official is.

This must be sad. This must be bad.

I guess I'll feel what they tell me to feel.

So he takes to all of his outrage and he says, what do you

all think we should do? Remember what we said we were

going to do, right? He deserves death.

False. Just a false trial just to show

that's all it is. The Son of Man will be seated at

the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven.

He's combining the language of Daniel 7 and Psalm 110.

They think they're judging Jesus, but Jesus reveals to them

that they are on trial and he ultimately returns as the judge.

First time didn't come as the judge.

The second time most definitely coming as the judge, verse 65.

The high priest tore his robes and said he has uttered

blasphemy. What further witnesses do we

need? You've heard his blasphemy.

What is your judgement? They answered.

He deserves death just like you told us to say.

Caiaphas, everything's going according to plan.

Fake outrage, fake grief. But they are absolutely thrilled

because now they got the statement that they needed

perfect holiness stands in the room and sinful men condemn him

as worthy of death. I want to remind you, this is

how persecution always works. When the wicked are persecuting

you, you need to remember this. They will never say I'm

persecuting you because you're doing good and I'm doing bad.

They will always say I'm persecuting you because you're

evil and I'm good. They'll say it's because I'm

persecuting you because you're a bigot, or because you're a

sexist, or because you're a misogynist, or because you're

homophobic, or because you're Islamophobic, or because you're

it will always be something other than they won't say it's

because you love Jesus so much. Hey, I just want you to know,

dear Christian, it's because you love Jesus and because you have

all the fruit of the Spirit. They will say no.

It's because of it's because of this thing.

It's because you're close minded.

It's because you're a close minded bigot and you're saying

no, I'm just saying what 2000 years of Christians have said.

I love God and I love his word and I think it's going to be

best for everybody. I think it's best for you.

I think it's best for me. You think I'm a Sinner?

Well, I think we're all sinners who need saving.

You think I'm going to hell? I think we're all going to hell

and we all need to be saved by the blood of Jesus.

Well, I'm just not that close minded and you're just a you.

You can't jump through those hoops.

You just have to stand on the truth and remember to entrust

yourself into the hands of God and don't think that if you will

just be more reasonable with your oppressors that they will

suddenly shift. If Jesus had sat there all night

and walk Caiaphas from Genesis through the entire Old Testament

and showed everyone himself, they would have crucified him.

They didn't need more knowledge. They didn't care because their

hearts were hard. So Christian, you need the

wisdom of a serpent, but no venom, no bite, and the

harmlessness and the innocence of a dove.

Jesus had that. Believers should not be

surprised when the world attacks them with labels and

accusations. Because the same pattern was

used against Christ. It will be used against us.

The righteous are always accused of being evil.

Rome did the same thing. Hero burned Rome.

He blamed the Christians for it. They called us, what do they

call it? They call us the atheists

because we only believed in one God instead of the many gods.

So that was one of the accusations.

They said like we're going to kill the the godless atheist.

So that's how they justified killing hundreds of thousands of

Christians because so they didn't have anything good to go

against Christians were caring for the poor.

Christians invented hospitals. I'll remind you everything good

that's come on planet earth has come from the people of God.

Scripture reminds believers that suffering with Christ is normal

for discipleship. Hebrews 12/4 says in your

struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of

shedding your own blood. John 1520 says, Remember the

word I said to you, A servant is not greater than his master.

If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.

If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.

Romans 817 And if we're his children, then we're we are his

heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided that

we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with

Him. Philippians 3:10 and 11:00 That

Philippians 3:10

I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share

in his sufferings, becoming like Him in his death, that by any

means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

The righteous should expect hostility from the world because

the servant is certainly not greater than his Master.

We should not be shocked and surprised.

I can't believe this. I'm a good person.

Jesus promised this. Jesus promised suffering.

If we're not experiencing suffering and persecution,

that's weird. That's weird.

Wow. This is a temporary relief, but

not a permanent promise. We're promised suffering and we

need to be a people who can suffer well and suffer like

Christ and suffer with wisdom and suffer with grace, who also

love our enemies while they cause us to suffer.

Verse 67, the wickedness reaches its full height and we're

closing now. Then they spit in his face and

struck him and some slapped him, saying prophecy to us.

You, Christ, who is it that struck you?

The soldiers now get to have a good time.

Just another, just another person to abuse.

Has anyone ever spit in your face?

Literally, I've never had anyone spit in my face.

You had it. I won't ask what happened next.

I I can't imagine right. Like that's the thing.

Like I can, I can take verbal abuse, I can just absorb it.

But the spit in the face, I feel like, oh, that would be a gear

shift for me. I feel like that would be a new

level of, of difficulty and self-control.

That's a tough one. All, all the, all the bad words

I can live with all the name calling is all right.

They spit in his face, they strike him, they slap him, all

while mocking, mocking him. They probably covered his head

and said prophecy. Who's that hit you?

This is the perfect man. This is the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Creator is being mocked by his own creation.

Charles Spurgeon once called this moment the masterpiece of

all iniquity because all human rebellion was reaching its peak

when creation was spitting in the face of its Creator.

We've talked before about how there are, you know, all sin is

bad. All of my sin is bad.

All of your sin is bad. And it's so bad Jesus had to die

for it. And thank the Lord he did.

But we said, but all sin is not equal.

Some stuff is worse. Yeah, someone abusing another

person is awful and unacceptable.

A parent abusing a child? That's worse.

A husband abusing a wife, that's a worse.

There's some things like this role as a protector and that

role became a Harmer. That's a particular kind of

evil. This moment stands above them

all because God himself has come to love.

God himself has come to bless and to save his enemies.

And they respond by mocking him, just like he saw ahead of time

that they would. Behold the love of God, behold

the love of Jesus, the perfection of Jesus, the

self-control of Jesus. If Jesus had responded with any

degree of sin, like some of y'all would be tempted to, and

like I would be tempted to, if he would responded with any

degree of sin, after all of his life, all the perfection, he's

facing his greatest trials and temptations right now.

This is the moment of greatest temptation.

Then he would have instantly become disqualified as your

Savior because the Savior had to be perfect.

So even if 33 1/2 years he's nailing it perfectly and then on

this night he's got his head covered, he's getting punched

and slapped. Somebody raises the shroud again

and spits in his face. They're walking him and maybe

they trip him and throw him to the ground as they're marching

and back and forth from pilot throughout the night.

All the mockery, all the abuse, all the things that take place

if at any moment he sinned even in his heart and the Father saw

it, Jesus becomes an unacceptable sacrifice.

He is no longer the spotless lamb.

He's no longer qualified to be the Passover lamb for you and I.

But he was perfect. What do you want me to do with

that pastor? I want you to worship him.

I want you to love him. I want you to just be thankful

again and adore him and say, Jesus, you're so good and I love

you so much. Jesus is not only the Passover

lamb, He's also the scapegoat. On the Day of Atonement, they

brought 2 goats. One of these goats was

sacrificed, the sins of the people who was on this goat.

And then we kill this one and then the sins of the people is

put on this goat and we send that one off into the wilderness

to show the people this is how far away your sins are.

They're never going to return because that goat is not going

to do well in the wilderness by himself.

So you'll never see him again. So they would kill the one goat

to show that this your sin is there's a sacrifice for your sin

and the other's the scapegoat. Jesus is both.

He's the one who suffers. He's the one who is dismissed

and sent away. And the high priest did all of

that. The high priest did it on the

Day of Atonement, and now the high priest prepares the goat

for sacrifice, prepares the Passover lamb for sacrifice, and

Jesus does it all perfectly. Remember Saints, there's a

mechanism for your salvation. There is not vague

sentimentality. There is precise theology and

logical explanations. There's a reason you can be

saved. There's a reason that you can be

saved by the blood of Jesus. Because the one perfect man was

crushed and suffered so that all the guilty could go free.

God says justice is now satisfied.

Justice is satisfied if if just a random man of John Michael

died for you, like I'll die for him more.

He's like, yeah, but you're not perfect and sinless.

John Michael. I'm like, oh, sorry guys, I

tried. That's all I could do.

But Jesus said I'll do it, Father.

Perfection, my son. And the wickedness of the

people. Yeah, His righteousness can go

on them and their wickedness. He will become sin.

Who knew no sin so that we could become the righteousness of God.

There's a way that people can be saved.

This should fill your heart with joy for your salvation and fill

your heart with motive for the whole world to say there is a

way you can be saved. I ain't fighting with you about

dinosaur fossils. I'm not talking to you about all

kinds of peripheral things that people get distracted by.

I want to tell you about the bloody cross and the way that

Jesus was raised from the dead and how he's alive and reigning

in heaven and he's coming back on the clouds.

That is enough. That is plenty to save a

person's life, and they can respond by faith to the living

God. The simple gospel is always

enough. And then your testimony about

what the Lord has done in your life.

Here's how he saved me. Here's how he blessed me.

Jesus carries away the sin of people.

And in Christ, every sacrifice of the Old Testament finds its

completion. Heavenly Father, we love, we

love you, and we're so thankful for your perfection and your

goodness. We're so thankful for Jesus.

He's so flawless. He's so awesome.

Awesome is the truly fitting word for you.

Lord. I pray that our hearts will just

be swelling with affection again for you, not pitying you as

though you're some weakling or though you're some hostage.

For you were well able to defend yourself and instead you chose

to sacrifice yourself. No one took your life from you,

but you laid it down as the perfect and strong man, as the

God man. Lord, we love you.

I pray that your love would shine bigger in our hearts.

I pray that you would bring breakthrough in our

relationships, even the things that were shared for those

practical applications about how we treat one another in

conversations and in debates and in disagreements.

That we would be patient, that we would be not seeking to trap,

not seeking to trick, but seeking the truth so that truth

would be revealed and Jesus would get glory.

And then we would all be helped. Help us to continue to align

ourselves to the cornerstone, the chief cornerstone, and the

high priest of our salvation, the one who intercedes on our

behalf and who prays for us even now.

Lord, I lift up these precious people.

You love them. You love these men.

You love these women. You love these young men.

You love these young women. You love these little boys, You

love these little girls. Thank you Jesus for sacrificing

for all of them. Draw near to them Lord, in Jesus

name. And now the Lord bless you and

keep you. The Lord make his face Shinedown

upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance

upon you and give you great peace in Jesus name, Amen.