Which Jesus Do I Choose?

All right.

Well, all year long we have been going through a study of the book of Matthew.

And we've called this study following Jesus.

We've just been following in Jesus' footsteps, trying to learn as much as we can about him so that we can be like him, so that we can know him.

Not just know about him, but but know him.

But sometimes those things go hand in hand.

The more you know about someone, the easier it is to really know who they are, to understand them.

And so we've been trying to just soak in every little detail that we can about Jesus and the world around him and what he's doing so that he becomes more clear in our eyes and we can become better followers of him.

And so that's been our year.

And it's okay if you're just joining us because every week is meant to stand on its own, but we've covered a lot of ground.

We are almost done with the book of Matthew.

We're in a series right now within that larger study called The Final Hours.

And we've just been studying the last moments of Jesus' life as he makes his way to the cross.

This doesn't catch Jesus by surprise.

He's known that it's coming.

Jesus has been telling his followers for a good while, hey, here's exactly what's going to happen.

I'm going to get arrested.

I'm going to be handed over to the authorities.

They're going to kill me.

And his followers, every time he says it, they're like, no, no way, can't be.

He's talking in some type of metaphor.

This is some type of lesson.

And to be honest and fair, Jesus did do that sort of thing a lot.

So it's understandable that they would think that, but he was being literal.

No, I'm going to be arrested and killed.

And he's made his way to Jerusalem and he's caused this huge stir.

And he's already got enemies, powerful enemies, that are in charge of the whole religious system.

And he decides when he gets to Jerusalem just to bring the heat and to raise the temperature.

And now he's been arrested.

And so a couple weeks ago we covered this where he was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, and he's taken to the house of the high priest, a man named Caiaphas, and the Jewish leaders put him through a real sham of a trial, a true injustice of a trial.

But they don't really have the authority to execute him, which is what they decide needs to happen.

They decide he needs to die.

And in order to do that, they've got to take him to a man named Pilate.

Pilate is the Roman governor assigned to sort of keep things, uh keep things running smoothly in Judea, in Jerusalem, which is a really hard job.

It's an area that has constantly been marked by rebellions and uprisings.

Pilate has a really hard job, and they're going to bring Jesus to Pilate because only Pilate has the authority to pronounce Jesus, uh, to give him the death sentence, so to speak.

Alright, so with that said, I'm going to read for you Matthew 27, most of it, and then we're going to kind of unpack this because we learn a lot of interesting things about the world that Jesus is in, but also, most importantly, we learn some really interesting things about Jesus and potentially ourselves.

So, Matthew 27, it says very early in the morning, the leading priests and the elders of the people met again to lay plans for putting Jesus to death.

Then they bound him, led him away, and took him to Pilate, the Roman governor.

Now, the next set of verses covers what happens to Judas.

And Judas is the disciple who betrayed Jesus, and then he feels really guilty, and he tries to assuage his guilt by giving the money that he was given to betray Jesus back, and the Pharisees are like, we don't want that money.

And then Judas actually commits suicide.

And rather than go through all that again, we recorded a whole separate podcast two weeks ago about Judas and the whole just ideas about his story and what it could possibly mean and whatnot.

So if you're interested in Judas, listen to that podcast.

You'll find that on either our podcast apps, whatever apps you have for that, um iTunes, Spotify, or on our YouTube channel.

But we're not going to go into Judas right now.

We're going to skip the Judas stuff because we already covered it and move on to the trial with Pilate.

So here we go.

Verses 11 through 26.

It says, Now Jesus was standing before Pilate, the Roman governor.

Are you the king of the Jews?

The governor asked him.

And Jesus replied, You have said it.

But when the leading priests and the elders made their accusations against him, Jesus remained silent.

Don't you hear all these charges they're bringing against you?

Pilate demanded.

But Jesus made no response to any of their charges, much to the governor's surprise.

Now, it was the governor's custom each year during the Passover celebration to release one prisoner to the crowd, anyone they wanted.

This year there was a notorious prisoner, a man named Barabbas.

As the crowds gathered before Pilate's house that morning, he asked them, Which one do you want me to release to you?

Barabbas, or Jesus who was called the Messiah.

He knew very well that the religious leaders had arrested Jesus out of envy.

Just then as Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him this message Leave that innocent man alone.

I suffered through a terrible nightmare about him last night.

Meanwhile, the leading priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas to be released and for Jesus to be put to death.

So the governor asked again, which of these two do you want me to release to you?

And the crowd shouted back, Barabbas.

And Pilate responded, Then, what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?

And they shouted back, Crucify him.

Why?

Pilate demanded, What crime has he committed?

But the mob roared even louder, Crucify him.

Pilate saw that he wasn't getting anywhere, and that a lot, that a riot was developing.

So he went for a bowl of water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, I'm innocent of this man's blood.

The responsibility is yours.

And all the people yelled back, We will take responsibility for his death, we and our children.

So Pilate released Barabbas to them.

He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whipped whip, and then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified.

So, there's a lot going on here.

And we can do a whole character study on Pilate and his failure as a leader.

You know, he just tries to wash his hands of responsibility and say, hey, this isn't on me, which is not the way that leadership works, right?

If you're in a leadership position, you don't just say, I'm gonna let everybody else decide, and then I can say it wasn't me.

That's not the way leadership works.

You make decisions, tough decisions, and then you own those decisions.

That's the way it goes.

But Pilate doesn't do that.

You have to understand, though, why Pilate is in such a precarious situation.

He's in a, I don't feel for Pilate, like Pilate's not my guy, but if you understand the context of what's going on at this point in history, Pilate is on thin ice, and Pilate is trying really hard to keep things together.

There's probably been few people in history under as much pressure as Pilate was at this moment in time.

And I want us to kind of understand that context just so you have a fuller picture of what's going on.

Because at first glance, it's like Pilate, just let the guy go.

Who cares if the crowd is mad?

You know he's innocent, let him go.

You don't want to crucify him.

What are you doing?

But here's what you got to know Pilate, at this moment in time, is in a very dangerous situation.

And you gotta understand what's going on in the Roman Empire at this time to really understand that.

And so I want to start by introducing you to a person named Tiberius, and you've actually heard his name several times as we've done this study.

Tiberius is the emperor of Rome at the time that Jesus is crucified.

Now, he's not the first emperor of Rome, he's the second.

The first was Caesar Augustus, and that is who was the emperor when Jesus was born.

But Augustus had passed away, and Tiberius was actually his adopted son.

He adopted Tiberius late in his life and chose Tiberius to be his successor as the second emperor of Rome.

Okay?

But there's another guy you need to know, and this guy is very important as it relates to Pilate specifically.

His name is Sejanus.

Okay, Sejanus is he's Tiberius' right-hand man.

He's someone that Tiberius trusts greatly.

Uh Tiberius thinks that Sejanus is the best.

He's the best, and so he puts Sejanus in charge of a ton of stuff.

But it gets a little bit more complicated.

See, Tiberius has a couple of sons.

Uh one of his sons is named Drusus, and that's his biological son.

That's the one that he would probably want to take the throne after he's done.

But when he was adopted by Augustus, he was required by Augustus to also adopt a man named Germanicus.

Germanicus is related to the royal family that Augustus was part of.

And you just have to know this about Germanicus.

Everybody loves Germanicus.

He's great, he's a military hero, he's a great politician, and he's someone that just everyone adores, and everybody thinks that Germanicus, he should probably be the guy after Tiberius.

That's probably why Augustus made Tiberius adopt Germanicus.

Are we tracking?

Okay.

But guess who doesn't like Germanicus?

Drusus.

Drusus doesn't like Germanicus at all because Drusus would rather be the emperor, right, when Tiberius is done, and not Germanicus.

So, Tiberius hatches a plot, and under mysterious circumstances, Germanicus falls ill and dies.

And almost everyone in history would say that, like most scholars would agree, that Tiberius probably had a direct hand in this, and let's get rid of Germanicus, let's get him gone so that Drusus can be the guy.

Okay?

Are we tracking?

It's so interesting.

I'm so glad that they have these busts.

Makes it so much easier.

But there's a problem with that.

Sejanus, he's the right-hand guy, and you know who he doesn't like?

Drusus.

Because Sejanus thinks that he would be a better replacement for Tiberius.

And at this point in time, uh Sejanus is doing such an amazing job that he's put in charge of pretty much all of Rome.

So much so that Tiberius moves from Rome to this island called Capri, and he's just hanging out at Capri doing emperor stuff while Sejanus is running the show.

And so for several years, Sejanus is the guy running everything in Rome.

In fact, he's such a big deal that his birthday is celebrated as an official holiday at this time.

He's such a big deal that, like anyone who lives in the area that happens to be friends with him is given a really important position.

If you want anything done, you go through Sejanus.

So Sejanus is rising through the ranks.

He's the guy, he's the right hand, he's running the show, and uh and he kind of hatches a plot to get rid of Drusus.

Okay, here we go.

Drusus is married to a woman named Lavilla.

Okay?

And Lavilla, she has the hots for Sejanus, because Sejanus, he's the guy, and Sejanus is like, you know what?

I like Lavilla.

I like her too.

Hey, Lavilla, I have an idea.

Let's get rid of your husband, Drusus.

And so Lavilla, history would say, poisons Drusus, and Drusus is now dead, just like Germanicus.

And now you've got Sejanus, and he's been running the show anyway, and he goes to Tiberius, and he says, Hey Tiberius, would it be cool if I married Lavilla, you know, the widow of your dead son?

That I swear I had no like hand in killing, right?

Totally just a happenstance thing.

Tiberius says, No, that's weird.

I don't like that.

And things start to get sketchy between Tiberius and Sejanus.

Okay, so we're almost done.

Uh Tiberius sends an envoy from Capri to Rome, and this whole envoy reads this letter to the Senate, and they begin talking about Sejanus in really flowery language, and they're like, Sejanus is great, and honor to Sejanus, and Sejanus, yay, and everyone's cheering for Sejanus.

But then the letter takes a turn.

And it's like, by the way, Sejanus is the worst, and we should kill him.

And literally, within a few hours, Sejanus is arrested and killed.

And this is a huge deal because everybody in Rome has been following the lead of Sejanus for a long time.

Like he's the guy, and if you're one of his guys, you're in, and now Sejanus is public enemy number one, and he's been killed, and the empire is gonna have to pass to a guy named Caligula, who's nuts, a little bit later.

And we won't go into Caligula, just know that he's crazy.

They really all were.

So, are we tracking?

Alright, let's go back to Sejanus and we're done.

Here's why this is so important.

Pilate was very close with Sejanus.

Pilate was appointed to his position by Sejanus himself.

And Sejanus hated the Jewish people.

This is this is known.

And so, under Sejanus's rule and authority, Pilate had free reign to mess with the Jewish people, to frustrate them, and Pilate did a lot of things that really upset them.

And Sejanus is like, yeah, go get it.

We don't like them, we're gonna get rid of them anyway.

And now Sejanus is dead.

And in that, in that world, when an official like that would be killed, generally what would happen is whoever's in charge now, they clean house.

And if you're one of that person's guys, you get killed too.

And so Pilate finds himself in this weird waiting game where, you know, it takes time for correspondence to pass.

By the time that Pilate would have learned of Sejanus' death, it would have happened days, maybe even weeks earlier, and Pilate's just like, what's gonna happen to me?

What am I gonna do?

I mean, at any moment in time, someone's gonna show up here and remove me because no Tiberius doesn't want any of Sejanus' guys, and we don't have to keep doing that, um, any of Sejanus' guys in charge anymore.

So Pilate is like a man on edge.

He's a man on edge because he is likely in the crosshairs of Tiberius.

He used to be close with the right-hand guy, the guy that he thought, he thought he picked the right horse, so to speak, right?

He this guy, Sejanus, he's gonna be the next emperor.

I'm in with him.

Now he's dead, and I'm likely next.

And we actually know from history that uh Pilate is sort of forced to commit suicide.

He's like given a choice, either commit suicide or uh something worse, and he chooses suicide.

It doesn't end well for Pilate, but at this point in time when Jesus is on trial, that's the backstory.

Pilate is a man on edge.

All he can hope for at this point is just to keep things running smoothly in Jerusalem.

Because maybe if he can keep things going smoothly, maybe if he can patch things over and get the people happy, maybe he can make an appeal to the emperor and say, hey, I know, and that's the Janus guy was the worst, good job, hated him.

Just so you know, don't worry about Judea.

It's not that important anyway, and I'm keeping things running smoothly here.

You you've got bigger fish to fry, I'm good.

That's what he's hoping for.

Pilate is a man on edge.

And it makes sense why.

It's crazy stuff going on.

So when they bring Jesus to Pilate, even though Pilate knows he's innocent, it's clear to Pilate, even though Pilate's wife is like, don't mess with that guy.

Like, I had a nightmare about him.

God is showing me things about about him.

You need to, like, this doesn't this doesn't need to involve us.

Pilate, all he can do at this moment is go, okay, uh, people, what who do you want?

Barabbas?

You want Barabbas?

Barabbas was was known to be a violent revolutionary, uh, someone that had committed like tons of crimes, and in his mind, like the people would never pick Barabbas.

Surely between Barabbas and Jesus, they'll pick Jesus, but they don't.

And Pilate has no power because he is so worried about the people being upset that he is a slave to the mob, to the people that he's supposed to be running.

It's a crazy situation.

But amidst all the craziness and amidst all of the negative things it shows us about Rome and about Pilate, the most important thing here is what it shows us about Jesus.

In John's gospel, we get some more detail, a little bit more of the conversation between Jesus and Pilate.

And in chapter 18 of John, when Pilate's asking him about whether or not he's, you know, a king, Jesus responds in verse 36 by saying, My kingdom is not an earthly kingdom.

If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders.

But my kingdom is not of this world.

And this is where I want us to sort of park and put most of our focus for the rest of the morning.

Jesus is absolutely a king.

Pilate's wondering that are you the king of the Jews?

And Jesus is king of much more than that.

But Jesus says to Pilate, you know, my kingdom is not of this world.

And this tracks, by the way, with everything that Jesus has taught.

What's so amazing to me about Jesus in this season of his life is that Jesus is going to put into practice everything that he's said.

He's going to practice what he's preached.

And honestly, that's very rare.

A lot of times people will speak a certain way and they'll talk as if they have these high ideals, but then when they're in a high pressure situation, those things fall by the wayside fast, and they do the exact opposite of what they said they would always do.

We often experience that.

We've all been led by people like that, probably, who say one thing but do another.

We've all probably been that person, if we're honest.

But Jesus, he's going to put into practice and live out everything that he said.

Because from the get-go, he's talked about this kingdom, this different kingdom that operates in totally different ways.

It's a kingdom that is not of this world.

So, for example, in Luke chapter 16, he's teaching about that kingdom.

Luke 16 · chapter mention

And he says, beware, guard against every kind of greed.

Life is not measured by how much you own.

It isn't in this world.

I mean, we actually do that.

We categorize people by how much money they have.

Right?

If you have enough money, you're a millionaire.

If you have more than that, you're a billionaire.

There hasn't been a trillionaire yet.

There probably will be, because you know, inflation.

And uh, I mean, but a bunch of us are probably thousand heirs and hundred heirs.

So if you think about it, like, it's pretty sweet, you know.

That's the way this world works.

How much money do you have?

That's we'll address you and give you status based on how much is in your bank account.

And Jesus says, yeah, that's the way it works in this world, but not in God's kingdom.

He goes on in verse 16 to tell a story.

A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops.

He said to himself, What should I do?

I don't have room for all my crops.

I got so much stuff, I don't have enough room for it.

And then he said, I know.

I'll tear down my barns and build bigger ones.

Then I'll have room enough to store all my wheat and the other goods.

And I'll sit back and say to myself, my friend, you've stored enough, you've stored away enough for years to come.

Now take it easy, eat, drink, and be merry.

You've got it made, basically.

But God said to him, You fool, you'll die this very night, and then who will get everything you worked for?

Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.

Jesus is saying, Hey, listen, God's kingdom works differently.

You think that what gives you worth is how much you own, how much is in your barn, so to speak.

That doesn't matter because that can change fast.

There's more to life, there's a different way to live.

And it's being connected to God, it's having your focus on Him.

In Matthew chapter 10, verse 28, Jesus said, Don't be afraid of those who want to kill your body.

Matthew 10:28

They can't touch your soul.

Fear only God who can destroy both body and soul in hell.

And so Jesus here, he's giving people a choice.

He's saying, Hey, there's the way of this world where all of your fears and concerns are just about your physical life and your physical well-being, but there's something more important than that.

And that's where your focus should be.

There's a different life, there's a different kingdom.

In Matthew chapter 6, Jesus is talking about, you know, the worries and the anxieties that we have.

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

And these are people that are poor, that are living kind of day by day, and they're worried about what they're gonna eat and what they're gonna wear and whether or not life's gonna work out.

And Jesus says, don't worry about these things, saying, What will we eat?

What will we drink?

What will we wear?

These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers.

This is what dominates the thinking of people living on this earthly kingdom with that mindset.

Instead, he says, to seek the kingdom of God.

Seek the kingdom of God.

He says, but because your heavenly Father already knows all your needs, and he said, live righteously, and he'll give you everything you need.

Jesus says, there's a different kingdom.

There's a different way to live.

And if you live in this earthly kingdom, you're gonna be consumed by fear and worry and anxiety because how am I gonna pay that bill?

And what's gonna happen in this situation?

What do I do if this happens?

But Jesus says, Stop.

Live in the other kingdom where you know that you have a father, a heavenly father, and you can trust him, and he's gonna meet your needs and he's gonna take care of you, and it might happen in ways that you don't expect.

When Jesus gets arrested, one of his followers takes out a sword and attacks one of the men coming to arrest Jesus.

And in Matthew 26, we just looked at this last week, Jesus tells him to put away his sword.

Those who use the sword will die by the sword.

Don't you realize I could ask my father for thousands of angels to protect us and he'd send them instantly?

But if I did, how would the scripture be fulfilled that describes what must happen now?

So Jesus, time and time again, has talked about this different kind of life, this different way of thinking, this different perspective.

And it's not the things of this world, it's not wealth, it's not physical well-being, right?

It's not making sure that your earthly needs are met and just being consumed with that.

It's it's literally keeping your eyes on the Father, living based on the values that he gives, which by the way, Jesus has taught are completely different sets of values.

It's things like love, mercy, forgiveness, peace, self-sacrifice.

These are the things that Jesus has taught that we're supposed to live by.

These are the values of the heavenly kingdom.

And now Jesus gets arrested and he says to his followers, look, guys, you don't understand?

Let this happen.

I'm living out the kingdom that I've preached.

I'm I'm sacrificing myself, I'm giving myself up as a service to you, to all of mankind.

If I wanted to, if I wanted to take it by force, I could.

If I asked my Father to give me a legion of angels, boom, done.

I could do it that way, but I don't want to do it that way because that's the way of this world.

Take it by force, make it happen in your own strength.

But Jesus, he's gonna practice what he preaches, and here at this moment, he's arrested, he's on trial, he has the power and the authority to take it all by force.

He could do away with Pilate, he could do away with the trial and his enemies, he could do it the way of this world, and just make it happen with his strength and with his might.

But he practices what he preaches.

And he chooses mercy, he chooses sacrifice.

On the cross, we're gonna see him choose forgiveness where he even says, Father, forgive them.

They don't Know what they're doing.

Here he is in the most intense, you know, back against the wall kind of situation you could imagine.

And he doesn't break.

And his character proves true.

He doesn't contradict himself.

He doesn't prove to be a hypocrite.

He does exactly what he's been telling people to do all along.

Turn the other cheek.

Show mercy.

Give yourself up as a living sacrifice, like what scripture says, Jesus does this.

It's truly amazing.

It's one of the things that blows my mind because I'm, like I said, I'll be the first to admit that there are so many times in life where I've told my kids, hey, this is what, you know, I tell my boys all the time, this is what a good man does.

And then they see their father do the opposite.

And I'm like, yeah, well, it's different because I was playing basketball and it's different rules.

Right?

It's like we're good Christians, but if there's a ball in your hand, or you're anywhere near a ball, or you're watching a TV show or a program and there's a ball in it, right?

Totally different set of rules, different life.

Jesus wasn't talking about sports, right?

That's we all have that thing, right?

For me it's sports, but for a lot of us, it's other things where, you know, yeah, when my kids are involved, some of us, I mean, some of the moms in the room, like I know some of y'all, and you're sweet and wonderful, but oh, if your kids are messed with, you are like brutal.

You know?

Like, you know what I'm talking about?

When someone messes with your kids, how you're a great Christian, you're loving, you're forgiving, but you can hate a 12-year-old kid if they mess with your kid.

It's tough.

Like, I have a daughter, she's 10, and she's expressed to me some drama that's happened with other girls in her life.

And I'm like, I've never disliked 10-year-old girls as much in my life.

And you think horrible things as a dad of things you can say to these girls and be like, you know what, little girl?

This is the thinnest you'll ever be.

You know?

Like that pops in your mind.

And then you're like, am I a Christian?

I don't know if I'm am.

Because I thought it, I didn't say it.

You just give them a complex.

But hey, if we're all we're laughing, but we're laughing because we get it.

Because we all know that yes, we have these ideals as believers that we live and it's mercy and we're quick to forgive.

God forgives us of all of our sins, so of course we will forgive everyone of everything they say and do to us, even if it's petty and small and meaningless, right?

Right?

Right.

But then all of a sudden someone messes with us, we're stressed, someone messes with our kids, something happens, and in that moment, our Christian values, the other kingdom goes by the wayside, and we are like, it is on.

And we go low and we fight and we use our force and our might and we manipulate and we lie and we do whatever it takes, whatever it takes to make things the way that we want them to be.

And what Jesus is saying is I could do that if I wanted to.

I could snap my fingers, I could ask the Father.

A legion of angels comes down, it's done.

I could take it by force if I wanted to, but here in this moment, I'm living out what I've said, and it is mercy, it is forgiveness, it is sacrifice.

I'm not a hypocrite.

And I think Jesus is awesome for that.

Because that is not the way it usually goes, and it hasn't been the way it's gone, unfortunately, in my life many times.

But Jesus is greater than us.

That's why we look to him, that's why we follow him.

Because he shows us that there's a better way.

Now, this is where it gets, I think, really personal for all of us.

I want to go back to this moment in the trial, verse 20 of Matthew chapter 27.

Matthew 27 · chapter mention

It says, Meanwhile, the leading priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas to be released and for Jesus to be put to death.

So the governor asked again, which of these two do you want me to release to you?

The crowd shouted back, Barabbas, and Pilate responded, Then what should I do with Jesus, who is called the Messiah?

And they shouted back, Crucify him.

So interesting little historical note.

Um some of the earliest manuscripts, especially the the the some Greek manuscripts specifically of some of the gospels, actually list Barabbas' first name as Jesus.

Which makes sense.

Bar is is often the preface of kind of someone's last name in their culture, because Bar means son of.

So very often someone will be named, you know, so-and-so Bar Joseph or whatever, and that means son of Joseph.

And and his name is he's just called Barabbas, which wouldn't have been like a typical first name.

But some of the, not all, but some of the Greek manuscripts have his name listed as Jesus, Barabbas.

And it's kind of interesting, it makes sense because like Pilate says, hey, who should I release?

Barabbas or Jesus the Messiah, and he keeps saying Jesus, who's called the Messiah, almost like he's trying to distinguish between the two.

So we're kind of reading between the lines here, but it's interesting to think about.

You have Jesus Barabbas or Jesus the Messiah.

And which one are you going to choose?

And the crowd unfortunately chooses Barabbas.

But what's so interesting about that, and it's related to what I've just got done talking about with Jesus and the way that he lives versus the way that we live, is really the choice that the crowd makes here is the same choice that we have on a daily basis.

Because it's not just about who they are, it's about what they represent, right?

Jesus represents the kingdom.

Peace and love and mercy and grace and forgiveness and sacrifice and service and making yourself low and humble and lifting other people up.

And Barabbas, like he's a he's a revolutionary.

He's violent.

He represents the way of this world.

Take it by force and by might and by strength and make it happen.

We don't know all the details, but there is evidence and some history that was written about Barabbas after the fact, and that Barabbas was a revolutionary.

He was someone that wanted an uprising against Rome, like in the kind of typical sense, and that Barabbas was killed not that long after that in an uprising of sorts.

And so Barabbas represents in many ways what the people want.

Right?

When Jesus came into the city and they were shouting, Hosanna, save us, they weren't talking about their souls, their spirits.

They didn't realize that was the problem.

They weren't thinking about Satan and sin and death and those things.

No, they were like, get rid of Rome.

They wanted someone who was going to do it the way of this world.

That's what they wanted Jesus to be.

They wanted Jesus to have a sword.

They wanted Jesus to be riding in on a war horse, and Jesus chose a donkey, which represented peace.

I come in peace.

And so when they have Barabbas and they have Jesus in front of them, they have a choice.

And it's a choice, honestly, guys, we have the same choice all the time.

Do I want things God's way?

The way of the kingdom?

Or do I choose the way of the world?

And the people in that moment are like the way of the world.

Give me that one.

And man, as I thought about that, reflected on that this week, I again I thought, how often have I chosen the wrong Jesus?

How often in my life have I had a decision?

There's a fork in the road, and I could go this way, I could choose Jesus the Messiah and do what's right and good and merciful, even if it's kind of at my own expense, even if it means I don't get what I want.

Or I could choose Barabbas.

I could choose that Jesus.

Jesus Barabbas, and I could just force my way and make it happen.

And who cares how many people it hurts or if people get offended, they can just deal with that.

We all have those choices all the time.

We have them at home.

And I'm not saying that because I'm in trouble.

We had a great week.

Everything's great.

Okay, I just want you to know that sometimes, like, what do you do?

I'm fine.

But, you know, it's funny, um, and I may need I may be in trouble because I did not ask permission for this story.

So, all right.

Uh a few weeks ago, one of my kids kind of got got injured, and we have kids that are very active, and they our daughters in dance all the time, and you know, I don't know if you know this or not, I have a couple sons that play basketball, and so injuries are are a thing.

And I'll be honest, I tend to react to injuries like shut it down, ice it, elevate it, wrap it in something.

I'm going, I'm on my way to Dick Sporting Goods, I'm buying a brace as we speak, right?

And we're gonna, what what is the timeline for a grade one sprain?

Is it a grade one sprain or a grade two sprain?

If it's grade one sprain, it says that it's it's three to six weeks of rest.

So we're gonna err on the side of caution because, you know, we're thinking long term, and Megan is just much more like they're fine, walk it off.

That's Megan.

And you think it'd be the opposite, but in our family it's different.

So a few weeks ago, Megan and I had a disagreement on how we should proceed with an injury, and I'm like, well, what's the downside of shutting it down and playing it safe and letting it just in case?

And and you know, Megan had some answers, and I didn't wasn't prepared for answers.

That made me mad because I thought that my argument was sound.

And so I ended up just saying, you know what?

I'm gonna be in charge of how we handle their injuries.

From this point on, when they get injured, up to me.

And Megan did something very unexpected.

She said, Okay.

And uh, she's a genius.

Um she said, okay.

And I and just to be fair, I was actually like really, like it was a hot moment.

Like I was, this was not a calm conversation.

We were having a fight.

And I just decided, you know what, I'm pulling rank, and this is how it's gonna be.

And and look, Megan is is awesome, and we can have a whole different conversation about the roles of men and women and marriage and submission and all that kind of stuff.

But um, but Megan said, okay, yeah, I mean, if you want to exercise your authority and dominate, okay.

And then after she left the room, I was like, I made a bad mistake.

Uh not because, not because I'm a I'm a I'm totally comfortable being an authority figure.

But because I realized in that moment I just overpowered her.

And I didn't need to.

Like it was just convenient for me.

I just chose Barabbas.

Right?

Here I am, I have a disagreement with my spouse, and it's over something that doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things.

And there's the way of Jesus, which would be me humbling myself and listening, considering her perspective, praying about it, being patient, being kind.

Or there's Jesus Barabbas that way, which is like, I'm gonna do what I want to do, and you're gonna have to deal with it.

And I chose that.

And I could tell in that moment, like, whoa, I just, like, I shifted the dynamic of our marriage.

And did I shift it in the right way?

And it was clear that no, I did not.

Because I don't, we're partners and we work really well together, and I didn't need to do that.

And so I had to come back afterwards and say, hey, listen, I'm really sorry.

And we had to kind of patch things up, and I had to make different kinds of commitments.

It was really hard in that moment because man, it is easy sometimes just to be like, my way, the way I want it.

But the way of Jesus is different.

The way of the kingdom, it's it's it's better, it's it's harder.

But we are put in situations on a daily basis where we are asked to choose.

And it might not be things at home, it might be, it could be, things in your marriage, things with your kids, might be things at work, you know, opportunities that you have when there's conflict and tension.

You're gonna have a conversation with someone, are you gonna go the way of Jesus and be kind and considerate and maybe, maybe be like Jesus was with the crowd when they were doing annoying things and go, I have compassion on them because I can see that they're lost.

Or am I just gonna come in hot and be forceful and tell someone what they did and how they did it wrong and how horrible they are, and you know, and look, sometimes in business-related things you have to make tough decisions, and sometimes you have to let people go, even like there's I I get it, but there's there's always always a way to do it like Jesus.

The right Jesus, Jesus the Messiah, not Jesus Sparabbas.

But the question we have is which Jesus do we choose?

Sometimes it could be as simple as this: just walking away, knowing that you're right, but not needing anyone else to know it.

I've thought about that with Jesus a lot.

Like, how strange would it have been to be Jesus and just know that you're right all the time and everyone else is wrong?

And live with that and not go to every single person and be like, by the way, you're wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong, you're all wrong.

And you need to know that you're wrong.

There are so many times that Jesus walks away from the Pharisees and He just walks away.

And they're so off.

And he can just, he can do that.

Because in the way of the kingdom, it's not about you being right and other people being wrong and you making sure that they know that.

When I was early in my uh, before I worked here actually, I worked at this uh marketing company, and I was a young account manager, and I had this client, it was these two guys, these two partners, business partners, they had been friends.

I knew their story, friends from high school, they had both worked in separate fields, and they decided to kind of take a big risk and leave their companies and do this joint venture, and we were handling some of their marketing.

And uh one of them was great, and the other one was a jerk.

Like he was a jerk.

I'm just gonna be honest.

He was horrible to work with, he was condescending, he was rude.

Every time he talked to me, it was just like the most intense, unnecessary.

He bragged about dumb stuff.

I don't know if you ever know someone that bragged about dumb stuff.

Like they had their logo for their business printed onto MMs, and he was like really proud of that.

And they were gonna have this big event, and he was just couldn't stop talking about how and check out the MMs.

It's our logo on those MMs.

And I'm just like, cool.

He was just he was annoying.

I'm just gonna be honest.

He was annoying.

At least he annoyed me.

And his business partner, who the nice one, caught on and would often come to me and say, hey man, I'm really sorry.

That's just how he is.

I'm sorry.

I know he talks like that.

Just you're fine.

This happened a lot.

Six, seven months of this, finally, uh the the business relationship ends between us and and them.

They fired us basically.

Uh the jerk of a guy, the you know, Eminem logo guy, he uh he sends me this email and it's just like, you're this and you're that.

It's super direct, mean.

It's just kind of par for the course at this point.

And I have a choice at that moment, right?

I can go Jesus the Messiah and just actually go, all right.

You've made your choice.

I'll go over here.

Jesus did that a lot.

People rejected Jesus all the time, and he said, okay.

And he would leave.

Or I could go Jesus Barabbas and be like, oh, your MMs are stupid, no one cares.

So I chose the wrong Jesus and I emailed him back.

And actually, I don't even remember the guy's name.

I don't think I have access to that email address anymore, but uh but I actually thought about this week.

It came out of my mind from nowhere.

I'm really sorry this happened.

So I emailed him back and I said, hey man, understand?

Do me a favor, tell your business partner friend, thank you for being kind to me, unlike you.

And by the way, all those times that you were such a jerk to me, and he came to me and said, Hey man, don't worry about it, he's just like that.

Tell him I said thanks.

So what I did in that moment was uh create a crisis in their relationship because that guy then went to his business partner and be like, Did you tell him that I'm and they have all and then the other guy emailed me like, hey man, I know he's like that, but like we worked together and and they ended up their whole thing dissolved, whole thing fell apart.

I mean, guys, they were spending money on MMs.

It wasn't going well.

However, just because I needed to let that guy know that I was right, that he was a jerk, and other people agreed with me, including his business.

Because I needed that, I needed that for my own petty whatever, I created a ton of conflict in their relationship that led to it dissolving.

And I have to own that.

That wasn't right.

I didn't need the only reason I did that was because I needed in that moment to feel right and superior because I got rejected by someone that I didn't like.

I chose the wrong Jesus.

So, worship team, you guys can make your way up.

Because I have so many of these stories I could tell, but we don't all need to hear my stories of choosing the wrong Jesus.

My point is that we do it all the time.

At least I do.

And I just know there's going to be so many moments in the next few weeks and months.

You know, it's the holidays, it's busy, the world's crazy, there's all kinds of deadlines, and we're stressed, and stuff going on with our kids, or whatever it might be.

Stuff going on with our parents, those of us who are younger.

And there's so many moments that we have the same choice that the crowd has in this story.

And we can't be like Pilate and just say, hey, there's a lot of drama in my life, so I just wash my hands of all this, I'm not involved.

That doesn't work.

We have to make a choice.

When the choice is simple, am I gonna choose Jesus the Messiah or Jesus Barabbas?

Am I gonna choose the way of the kingdom, love and mercy and peace and sacrifice?

I'm gonna humble myself, and even if that means that I don't say my peace, even if that means that I don't give that person a piece of my mind or tell that person what I really think or force my way or whatever, so be it.

I'll do what honors the Lord.

Or I can choose the Jesus Barabbas way and just make it happen in my own strength and live with the consequences.

And I'm just telling you, as someone who's made the wrong choice many times, I wish I could go back to all of those moments and choose the Jesus way first.

And so the cool thing is, here we are today, and whatever situation you're in right now, whatever the most stressful thing going on in your life is right now, I don't know what it is, I know what mine is.

Which way are you going to choose?

We're gonna take Lord's Supper now.

And uh it's it's amazing how often this connects deeply what we're doing.

By the way, if you're new, we have these cups with bread and juice at tables in the back, and you're welcome to go up and grab one right now so that you're part of this.

Um, we'll take this in just a minute or two, so feel free to grab that if you don't have one.

You know, this represents just about everything we're talking about.

Not very long before this, in Mark chapter 10, says that James and John, the sons of Zebedee, these are two of Jesus' closest friends and disciples, they came over and they spoke to him.

Mark 10 · chapter mention

Teacher, they said, We want you to do us a favor.

What's your request?

He asked.

They replied, When you sit on your glorious throne, and at this point they're thinking an earthly throne, not a heavenly one.

We want to sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right side, the other on your left.

But Jesus said to them, You don't know what you're asking.

Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering that I'm about to drink?

Are you able to be baptized with the baptism of suffering that I must be baptized with?

Oh, oh yeah, they replied, We're able.

And then Jesus told them, You will indeed drink from my bitter cup and be baptized with the baptism of suffering.

But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or left.

God the Father has prepared those places for the ones he's chosen.

When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant because they wanted those seats.

So Jesus called them together and he said, You know that the rulers in this world lorded over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them, but among you it will be different.

Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant.

Whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else.

For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve others and give his life as a ransom for many.

This cup represents the choice that Jesus made, that we all get to make.

Do I want to choose Jesus and his way, or do I want to choose my own way and the way of this world?

Thank God that Jesus made this choice.

And in front of Pilate, just like he had been in front of the religious leaders, like we looked at last week, just like he had been in front of the soldiers who arrested them, he knows I could choose the other way any minute.

I have that power, I have that authority, but I won't.

I will die as a sacrifice, I will give my life as a ransom, I will lay it all down to serve everyone, even those who hate me.

And so as we take this this morning, what I would just ask is that we would be mindful in this moment of what we're dealing with in life right now, what situation we're in, what challenges, what conflicts, and what choices we have.

And as we take this, let this be a commitment today that not only do you choose Jesus overall as your Savior, but you choose Jesus on a daily basis.

And this week, when you're confronted with the Jesus Messiah choice or the Jesus Barabbas choice, choose this one.

Because this represents self-sacrifice, mercy, forgiveness, and love, and giving up your own way to bless those around you.

So let's take the bread.

Jesus, we thank you for this piece of bread.

We thank you for what it represents.

This is your body broken for us.

You could have used your power and your might to avoid the cross, to come off the cross, but you didn't.

You gave up your life, you gave up your body as a sacrifice for us.

Help us do the same in our own way as we go about life, Lord.

Help us honor you by the way that we live and the choices that we make, doing the same.

Let's take the bread.

Let's pray for the juice.

Lord, we thank you for this juice and what this represents.

Your blood spilled.

An offering, a covering, a payment, cleansing us by paying the price for our sin.

You allowed yourself to suffer so that other people could be free.

Lord, give us the same spirit, the same character, the same integrity to do the same in our own lives when we're faced with choices where we either have to suffer a little bit to do what's right by you, or we have to avoid that to do what's right by us.

Help us choose you every day this week and as we go about our lives.

We love you, Lord.

Let's take the choice.