Latest / Admonition Podcast / Mark 14 (Lesson 7) - Aaron Cozort - April 22, 2026

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Mark 14 (Lesson 7) - Aaron Cozort - April 22, 2026 · Admonition Podcast

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Open your Bibles,
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Appreciate your presence.
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We're down into the latter portions of this chapter.
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We're gonna pick up around verse 53 this evening as we continue through our study.
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But let's begin with a word of prayer.
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Our gracious Father in heaven, we bow before your throne, grateful for the day that you've blessed us with, for the life that we have, the opportunities that we have to serve you,
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and we pray that we might strive to do so diligently.
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We pray that you be with those who are dealing with illnesses, injuries, recovery from uh procedures or hardships in this physical world.
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We pray that you give them strength and comfort and peace.
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pray that you
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help us to also be an encouragement to them.
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Lord, we pray that you be with those who are dealing with issues of a spiritual nature.
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We pray that they will have a heart willing to open your word, to study your will, to know what you would have them to do and how you would have them to live and to walk and the
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peace that they should have in knowing what you have put in your word.
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Lord, we pray that you will forgive us when we sin and fall short of your glory.
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In all this, we pray and ask in Jesus name.
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Amen.
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Mark chapter 14, beginning verse 53, they led Jesus away to the high priest, and with him were assembled all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes.
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What time of day was this?
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Nighttime, not evening time, nighttime.
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uh The evening time is when the feast or the supper would have been held.
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And then they continued to talk after that supper was held.
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And then uh after they had talked for a while, Judas went out from among them after that supper was held.
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Then Jesus continued to talk and continued to teach and instruct the disciples.
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And then when that was finished, Jesus and the disciples went out to the Garden of Gethsemane.
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So you have the travel time from wherever they were in the city to the garden.
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And then Jesus spent three hours praying.
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So at the earliest, if you could imagine they probably began the feast supper, let's say if they began it at 6 p.m.
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What time does this make this?
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probably close to midnight or either close to midnight or even later than that.
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And interestingly, just by pure happenstance, every single one of the chief priests happened to be at the high priest's at midnight when they brought Jesus back.
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Pure coincidence.
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Everybody just happened to be there for this event.
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So the chief priests were there, but not just the chief priests.
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All the elders were there.
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So the 70 of the Sanhedrin were there.
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And not just the chief priests, not just the Sanhedrin, but all the scribes were there too.
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as if maybe they knew something was going on.
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and that they were in a hurry to make sure it started, happened, and finished because they had a narrow window of opportunity.
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So, notice they arrive.
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Peter followed him at a distance right into the courtyard of the high priest and sat with the servants and warmed himself at the fire.
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Now the chief priests and all the councils sought testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but found none.
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As they are searching for testimony, Mark makes it clear they didn't find anybody.
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They didn't find what met the legal parameters.
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They found volunteers to lie.
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They found volunteers to uh bear false witness.
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They just didn't find any legal reason to do what they were trying to do.
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Verse 56 says, For many bore false witness against him, but their testimonies did not agree.
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Then some rose up and bore false witness against him, saying, We have heard him say, I will destroy this temple made with hands.
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And within three days I will build another maid without hands." But not even then did their testimony agree.
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And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, saying, Do you answer nothing?
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What is it these men testify against you?
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The high priest, seeing that they're having a bit of an issue because they're not getting to the legal excuse to kill him,
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tries to get Jesus to testify against himself.
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The question is not an honest one.
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The question is not that which is seeking for knowledge concerning the testimony and the witness that these individuals were giving because who had gone to find the witnesses.
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the people at the instruction of the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes.
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So he says, do you answer nothing?
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Are you not going to rebut their testimony?
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What is it these men testify against you?
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But he kept silent and answered nothing.
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Again, the high priest asked him, saying, are you the Christ, the son of the blessed?
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Jesus said, I am.
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And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven.
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Jesus here utilizes the imagery of Daniel 7.
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Stick your finger over here in Mark 14 and take a brief jaunt, if you will, with me to Daniel chapter 7.
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Daniel chapter seven.
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We read beginning in verse 9, I watched till thrones were put in place and the ancient of days was seated.
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His garment was white as snow and the hair of his head was like pure wool.
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His throne was a fiery flame and its wheels a burning fire.
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A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him.
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A thousand thousands ministered to him.
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Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.
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The courts were seated and the books were opened.
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I watched then because of the sound of the pompous words which the horn was speaking.
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I watched till the beast was slain and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame.
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As for the rest of the beast, they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.
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I watched in the night visions and behold one like the son of man coming with the clouds of heaven.
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He came to the ancient of days and they brought him near before him.
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Then to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom.
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Then all peoples, nations and languages should serve him.
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His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away in his kingdom, the one which shall not be destroyed.
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As the vision.
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puts these items before Daniel.
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Daniel, of course, is seeing this imagery that corresponds to the imagery of chapter two and the kingdoms in chapter two.
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So this fourth beast is a picture of Rome.
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But the point is that as the fourth beast is in its power, Daniel is going to see the son of man seated on the throne.
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there with God and reigning.
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And the picture of Jesus and the picture Jesus identifies for the chief priest, for the high priest rather, is not one of his return from heaven.
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The coming with the clouds in this context is not the return of Christ.
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It is rather the ascension of Christ to
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the position of authority returning not to earth, but to where He came from.
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Where did Christ come from?
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Heaven.
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By the way, as He identifies that fact, as He points this out, He's identifying that His origin isn't earthly.
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His origin isn't from men.
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His origin isn't what everyone else's is and his authority isn't either.
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So he is arguing for as he makes this statement, I am the one who fulfills the prophecy made by Daniel.
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Therefore, I am king.
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I am ruler.
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I am over all of you, you included.
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and he tells the high priest, you're going to witness this.
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You're going to see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
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He says, I am and you will.
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It is important to realize that Jesus directly gives attribution to Daniel 7 being fulfilled in
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his day.
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Quite often, people come to Daniel 7 and they say, this is when Christ returns.
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No, no, no.
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You got to pay attention to the direction he's going.
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He is going to the Father, not from the Father, in Daniel 7.
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So Jesus says, you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven.
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Same way Daniel describes it.
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Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, what further need do we have of witnesses?
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It really probably wouldn't have mattered what had come out of Jesus's mouth.
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That would have been what the high priest would have said no matter what.
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But he essentially is saying, he's claiming to be God again.
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That's all we need.
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We're all witnesses now.
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They argue what they have argued before that he was blaspheming by claiming this position.
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He says, you have heard the blasphemy.
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What do you think?
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And they all condemned him to be deserving of death.
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What person was among the number of the elders or the Sanhedrin that we know of, that we know by name?
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Turn to John chapter 3.
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There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
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Now we learn elsewhere of Nicodemus later on, I believe it's John that records it, that he was not consenting to the death of Christ.
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But the uh perception here ah is that the
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crowd, totality of those assembled there were in favor of this.
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Now, don't have Nicodemus specifically stated as being present when this occurs, not by name, ah but he is among one of the rulers, so it certainly is a possibility.
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But he also points out, Mark does, he says, then some of them began to spit on him and to blindfold him.
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and to beat him and to say, prophesy.
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And the officer struck him with the palms of their hands.
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They go beyond just the actions of a judicial proceeding to now starting to assault Jesus, to mock him.
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So as to say, hey, if you're who you claim to be, if you are...
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who you say you are, if you have the knowledge you claim to have, then just tell us who hit you.
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This goes back to Isaiah chapter 53.
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In Isaiah 53...
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Isaiah will write beginning in verse one, who has believed our report?
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And to whom is the arm of the Lord been revealed?
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For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground.
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He has no form or comeliness when we shall see him.
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There is no beauty that we should desire him.
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He is despised and rejected by man, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
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And we hid as it were our faces from him.
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He was despised and we did not esteem Him.
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Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted.
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But He was wounded for our transgressions.
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He was bruised for our iniquities.
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The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.
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All we like sheep have gone astray.
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We have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
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He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth.
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He was led as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before its shearers is silent.
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So he opened not his mouth.
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He was taken from prison and from judgment.
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And who will declare his generation?
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For he was cut off from the land of the living for the transgression of my people.
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He was stricken.
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and they made his grave with the wicked, but with the rich at his death, because he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
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Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him.
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He has put him to grief.
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When you make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
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He shall see the labor of his soul and be satisfied."
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By his knowledge, my righteous servant shall justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities.
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Therefore I will divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul unto death.
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He was numbered with the transgressors, and he bore the sins of many and made intercession for the transgressors." As the prophet Isaiah
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speaks concerning the treatment of Christ.
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As he speaks concerning the things that he would suffer, he points out again and again and again and again, this happened because of us.
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This didn't happen because of him.
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The idea that we sometimes come to, you know what?
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If somebody had something bad to them, what bad thing did they do to deserve it?
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The answer with Jesus?
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Nothing.
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The answer is what bad thing did we do to cause him to deserve it?
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What did we do to cause him to have to go through it?
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As these men are hitting him, as they are assaulting him, they do not realize that it is for their very sins that he's allowing it to happen.
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So often we think about us, we think about our sins, we think about current moments in time, but there is a reminder that Jesus was dying even for the people who were putting
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Him to death.
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Jesus would teach over in Matthew chapter 5 as He speaks to His disciples and to the crowds that are gathered around that they ought to do good for those who mistreat them.
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They ought to love those who despitefully use them and persecute them.
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because in doing so they will share the characteristics of their Father in heaven.
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For he sends his reign upon the just and on the unjust.
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Jesus is going to point out that if you're going to be like God instead of like men, as a matter of fact, he points out the juxtaposition is not between like God or like men, but
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between like God and like those who are not worthy of the kingdom of heaven.
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That's the separation he makes.
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He says, your righteousness is going to exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, which shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.
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then you're going to have to do good to those who do evil to you.
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You're going to have to love your enemies.
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You're going to have to pray for those who do wrong to you.
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And the prayer isn't going to be, sure hope they get what's coming to them.
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for the prayer of Jesus on the cross was, Father forgive them for they know not what they do.
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They're going to beat him.
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They're going to mock him.
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And as they do so, they're only getting started.
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We read then in verse 66, now as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came.
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And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, You also were with Jesus of Nazareth.
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But he denied it, saying, I neither know nor understand what you are saying.
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And he went on the porch and a rooster crowed.
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And the servant girl saw him again and began to say to those who stood by, this is one of them.
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But he denied it again.
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And a little later, those who stood by said to Peter again, surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.
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and your speech shows it.
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If you've ever traveled somewhere you're not from, and I don't mean you went out of Shelby County and you went to DeSoto County.
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I mean you went to somewhere you're not from.
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And someone comes up to you at any random public place and says, where are you from?
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Because they know you're not from here.
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You don't talk like you're from Jerusalem.
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You don't talk like a Judean.
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You talk like a Galilean.
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There was an accent difference and they knew it.
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Said, you're not from here.
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You're one of those Galileans.
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Now, were there any Galileans there in Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover?
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Sure there were, but were they hanging out at the high priest's house at midnight?
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No.
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So Peter kind of stuck out like a sore thumb.
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So, they say, you are a Galilean and your speech shows it.
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Then he began to curse and swear, I do not know this man of whom you speak.
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Peter insists, no I don't know him.
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No, I don't know him.
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No, you got the wrong guy.
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And the second time, the rooster crows.
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Jesus would tell Peter before the cock crows second time.
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You're going to deny me three times.
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mark is going to give both rooster crows.
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It's interesting to note, not all of the writers list both occasions.
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Some just describe Jesus as saying, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.
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And they only reference the first sounding of the rooster.
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But if the rooster is crowing, by the way, what does that tell you about how long how much time has transpired since this whole thing got started?
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All night.
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Roosters don't crow at 1 a.m.
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Well, he's not the ones that stay alive.
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The ones that stay alive are the ones that crow when the dawn comes.
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They crow when they're supposed to, not all night long.
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So this has been transpiring, not for a moment, not for 15 minutes, but for hours.
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as they have gone through the night with Jesus on trial and with the persecution that would follow after it, we're into the morning.
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But the other thing I wanted to point out is, as Mark mentions, with the first denial that the rooster crowed.
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I think perhaps he's helping us realize, you know, sometimes...
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when we know we shouldn't do what we're doing?
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We have that reminder right there, right in front of us that sounds, that says, hey, pay attention, you're not supposed to be doing this.
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And we just keep on.
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The other thing perhaps we should consider.
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Why is Peter there?
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Peter there getting ready to pull his sword to defend Jesus and vanquish all the soldiers of the high priest that are...
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No indication.
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Why is Peter there?
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Okay?
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How so?
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But yet what's happening, he doesn't understand.
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Jesus even said they didn't understand.
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So here's this man that he has believed to be the son of God this entire time.
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And how is it that now he is finally caught by those who've been trying to kill him all along?
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So what is Peter supposed to do?
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Is he supposed to keep following?
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Because he said, I'll follow you anywhere.
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But yet at the same time, he knows this can't be good because Peter's not ignorant of the ways of the laws of the land and the fact that this is all illegal.
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So I think he's conflicted in what am I supposed to do?
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uh we have no indication that Peter ever behaved in such a manner before to swear and curse at somebody.
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And when people are torn up over something,
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That's usually when they start to make decisions that they might not otherwise make.
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And here he is wanting to do what he said he would do for the Lord.
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But also a little self-preservation.
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Maybe they'll take me next if I get too close.
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So I don't want them to think I'm with him, but I don't know what to do.
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That's why I think he's conflicted.
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I think part of what Eddie, encapsulating what Eddie said is part of what's going on.
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Now, bear in mind, we're somewhat reasoning about what we're not told, but we're looking at the events.
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And as humans, we need to think what is going on?
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Bear in mind that all the rest of the disciples,
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fled.
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Peter also fled, but it seems as though Peter fled with the soldiers and all those who were arresting Jesus and then followed at a distance.
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And then as they're going in the gate of the high priest's house, Peter sneaks in as behind him.
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By the way, if you read John's record, you're going to find out John's there too.
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because John knew someone in the house of the high priest.
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So John is there, Peter is there, no indication the rest of the apostles are there.
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So the two of them are there, they're present, they're on the periphery of these events going on.
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But Peter...
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had been told by Jesus, if you kind of track back over the last little bit, Jesus had told him that Satan desired to sift him his wheat.
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That before the cock crow twice, you will deny me three times.
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He had been told, let me wash your feet, and Peter had refused.
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And then Peter had reversed back to, don't wash all of me.
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Throughout this night, there have been these exchanges between Jesus and Peter over and over demonstrating to Peter that Jesus knew what was going on and Peter didn't.
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When Jesus goes and prays in the garden and comes back and the three of them are asleep, who does he address?
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Peter.
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Could you not watch with me one hour?
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as he gets to the second time he comes back?
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He points out that the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.
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Pray that you enter not into temptation.
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As the soldiers come, who pulls the sword and cuts off the ear of the servant of the high priest?
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Peter does.
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You're watching a series of events where Jesus is saying, Peter, you're...
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under attack and you don't even see the opponent.
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We're reminded.
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from scripture.
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Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
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Paul will remind the Galatian brethren to be humble and watchful as they seek to restore someone else that they don't find themselves caught up in sin as well.
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Peter is being told again and again and again, Peter, you're not as strong as you think you are.
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You're not ready for what's coming.
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You're not listening.
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You're not paying attention.
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And the enemy you face is bigger than you.
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But Peter was also told that not only would he get through it, that he would repent and return.
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There are times...
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Where the people around us will look at the direction we're headed and they will tell us, you do realize there's a cliff over there, right?
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Right over there, right the direction you're going.
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Straight ahead of you.
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There's a cliff.
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No, no cliff.
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Straight ahead.
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Straight on till morning.
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Isn't that the phrase from Peter Pan?
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No problem at all.
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Smooth sailing.
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No, there's a cliff in front of you.
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We don't listen.
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And we should, as we look at this, realize
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one of the problems Peter had
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was humility.
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Peter struggled with the humbleness to examine, to listen, to understand what Jesus was telling him
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and the lack of humility became a blind spot.
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It became the opening for the attack.
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So now Peter's not there saying, I'm going to be a witness on behalf of Jesus.
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I'm going to stand up for Jesus.
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He's back in the background pretending he's not who he is.
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We need to be careful when we find ourselves in a position that we are tempted to pretend we're not who we are.
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Where we think, you know what, people will not accept me as the Christian that I am, so I'm just going to keep my mouth shut.
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I'm just going to act like I'm just one of the people.
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I'm not going to do anything wrong.
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I'm just going to pretend I'm not who I am.
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Careful.
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That's an opening for Z.
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That's you saying, you know what?
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I'm not going to do anything wrong, but I'm not going to stand up for what's right.
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I'm not going to be seen to be an ally of God.
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I'm just not going to be an ally of Satan.
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Careful.
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Eddie, do you have another thought?
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being humble and then it made me think of 1 Peter 5, 8 where Peter draws on Satan being a roaring lion, but it's just two verses before that where he says, humble yourself before
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the Lord.
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I wonder if he thinks, as he wrote that, if he was thinking back to those events that transpired.
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And we can often see things looking back better than when we were in that situation.
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And at the same time,
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Give Peter some credit.
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ah The likelihood is that maybe at this point in time he's 25 years old.
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The likelihood is he was at least a good number of years younger than Jesus.
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Quite often the disciples of a rabbi would be ten or more years younger than the rabbi himself.
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So if Jesus begins his ministry at age 30, it's quite likely that those who were his disciples were in their either late teens, early 20s.
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If Jesus has been ministering for three and a half years and if Peter was 22, 23 when Jesus began ministering, he's only 25, 26.
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Raise your hand if you were making a bunch of wise decisions at age 25 or 26.
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You're not there yet.
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patient.
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doing before he thinks and everything.
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But everybody, you we all need to remember, he's the only one that stepped out of the boat.
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He's the only one that had the faith to do that, you know?
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And in doing that, yes, we all have done things in our lives what Peter's doing now, you know?
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But Peter's the one who was, who did come back.
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He's one of the characters that I love so much in the Bible.
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That is, they're all real, we can relate to.
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And then they've done that kind of thing, you know, and it gives us hope that if Peter can deny Christ and turn around and come back and be the preacher on the first day of
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Pentecost and then everything after that, we can too.
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Absolutely.
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And, you know, in that same vein, you also have to appreciate the fact that there's a reason
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Satan wanted Peter and it wasn't just about Peter.
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because Peter was the one willing to walk in front.
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Peter was the one who was in front of, ahead of, and willing to go in front of and before the other apostles.
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Peter was the one willing to walk out on the seat of the Lord while all the other apostles are staying in the boat.
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So,
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the person willing to step forward, the person willing to lead, suddenly also gets a much bigger target on their back.
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Certainly, uh but I think it's more, again, my opinion.
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Jesus is identifying Peter as the one who needs to be strong, but who will fall, who will then need to be strong again for the rest of them.
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And he knows that he's susceptible, but he also knows he's resilient.
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There's a principle of uh design and engineering.
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In some engineering scenarios, you want as much strength as you can get.
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You want...
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Something will not bend ever.
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It will only hold its position.
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But what is true about an object of great strength like steel, when you have an object like steel, that it is incredibly strong, it is incredibly resistant to bending and to
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breaking, but it does have a breaking point.
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that when it breaks.
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It doesn't get back together again.
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It is.
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It's not like the limb that gets blown down and it lays on the ground for a little bit, but then gets a little bit of soil, gets set back up, starts growing again.
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It's.
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Bro.
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So there's a principle of strength and then there's a principle of anti-fragility.
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Something that is anti-fragile is both strong, but it's resilient and it pushes back and it reforms over time.
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So when you have something that is anti-fragile, it's actually more resilient than something that is just strong.
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Jesus is going to tell Peter, you're not going to be able to out-strength the person who you're going up against.
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But when you repent, when you become anti-fragile, when you return back to your former position,
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you help the others.
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So Peter.
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rubber on a tire at the east of the road.
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So Peter is going to deny Jesus three times.
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The second time, verse 72, the rooster crowed, Peter called to mind the word that Jesus had said to him, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.
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And when he thought about it, he wept.
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Mark tells us that the words came to mind.
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Another of the records, I think it's either Luke or John, tells us that at that moment that the rooster crowed the second time, Jesus looked across the courtyard at Peter.
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Peter saw Jesus and knew exactly what he had done.
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Now, here's a interesting thought question for you.
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Is it disappointing to people when we do exactly what they told us we were going to do?
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Yeah, generally, it's a little disheartening.
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I don't know how many times my wife has said to her children, how many times have I told you?
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She never has to say it to me.
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I'm perfect.
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But anyway.
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when somebody says, told you you were going to do that.
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We had a friend growing up that had a habit of saying to people.
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Never a good time to say I told you so.
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What she really meant was I told you so.
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But here's the thing, Jesus told Peter two things.
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Jesus told Peter He was going to deny Him.
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Jesus also told Peter that he was going to repent and be restored.
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And so often we focus on the first one because of the drama of it, because of the account of it and the story of it.
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But Jesus said with as equal assurance to Peter that he was both going to deny him, that he was also going to repent and be restored.
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And I surmise that the second part
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was of far greater comfort to Peter afterward.
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It is with that in mind that I think the Hebrew writer utilizes the same type of statement when he over and over and over again uses the term, let us in the book of Hebrews.
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He talks about how they're turning back and then he says, let us and he calls them to faithfulness.
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He doesn't separate them and say, you know what, you all are sinning, you all are doing wrong, you all need to repent and you all need to get it right.
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He identifies that they're making a wrong decision, that they're determining a wrong path.
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And then he says, and he puts himself right there in there with them and says, let us do the right thing.
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Let us hold fast.
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We need to remember that when someone struggles and when someone falls and when someone sins and when someone does it, even when we told them they were going to do it, if they
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didn't change and they said, I'll never do that.
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And then they go and do it.
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Hopefully we have also said and when you realize what you've done
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I'll be right here for you.
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so you have someone to come back to who loves you.
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Peter knew.
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that the person who he had denied.
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was also the one who was his Redeemer.
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And we can't forget that.
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When we look at ourselves, our failures, our sins, our faults, we are to remember that the one who we deny when we live a life that is not Christ-like is also the one who has said,
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I'm right here waiting for you when you come back.
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Thank you for your attention.