Latest / truthunedited / The Complete Story of Jesus of Nazareth Like You_ve Never Seen Before

Transcript

The Complete Story of Jesus of Nazareth Like You_ve Never Seen Before · truthunedited

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: The story you're about to hear changed everything. It begins
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: not in a palace or grand temple, but in the
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: wild desert, where a man dressed in camel's hair was
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: preparing hearts for something extraordinary. This is where Jesus of
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Nazareth stepped out of thirty years of silence and into
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: a ministry that would shake the world. From the waters
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: of the Jordan River to the wedding feast at Cana,
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: from facing Satan himself to calling his first followers, these
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: early days reveal who Jesus truly was. Get ready to
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: see the Son of God begin his mission on Earth.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: In the fifteenth year of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilot
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: governed Judea, something stirring happened in the desert. A wild
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: looking man appeared near the Jordan River, and crowds flocked
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: to hear him speak. This was John, son of Zechariah,
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: the priest, but he looked nothing like the temple officials
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: people knew. John wore rough camel hair clothes held together
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: with a leather belt. His food was locusts and wild honey.
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: He lived in the wilderness, but his voice carried a
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: power that drew people from Jerusalem, all Judea, and the
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: entire region around the Jordan River. Matthew chapter three, verse
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: one tells us that John came preaching a simple but
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: urgent message, turn away from your sins. John's voice echoed
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: across the desert. The Kingdom of Heaven is near. People
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: had never heard anyone speak like this. Religious leaders talked
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: about complicated rules and traditions, but John's message cut straight
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: to the heart. As recorded in Matthew Chapter three, verses
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: three through four, John was the one Isaiah, the prophet
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: spoke about long ago. A voice cries out in the desert.
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: Prepare a road for the Lord, Make a straight path
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: for him to travel. John knew he was preparing the
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: way for someone much greater than himself. The crowds pressed closer.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: What should we do, they asked. John baptized them in
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: the Jordan River as they confessed their sins. The water
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: was cold, the current strong, but something about being dunked
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: under that muddy river felt like a fresh start. Then
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: the religious leaders showed up. Pharisees and Sadducees, dressed in
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: their fine robes, came to see what all the fuss
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: was about. John didn't bow or show special respect. Instead,
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: as Matthew chapter three, verse seven records, he called them
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: a brood of vipers and asked who warned them to
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: flee from God's coming anger. Don't think you can say
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: Abraham is our father, John warned them in verse nine,
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: God can make children for Abraham from these stones. The
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: religious leaders weren't used to being talked to like this,
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: but John wasn't finished. He told them that every tree
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: that doesn't produce good fruit gets cut down and thrown
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: into the fire. The crowds asked what they should do,
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: and John gave practical answers. Those with two coats should
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: share with those who had none. Tax collectors should collect
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: only what they owed. Soldiers should be content with their
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: pay and not abuse their power. But John's most important
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: message was about some one else. In Matthew chapter three,
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: verse eleven, he said, I baptize you with water because
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: you have turned from your sins. But someone more powerful
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: than I will come after me. I am not good
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: enough even to carry his sandals. He will baptize you
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: with the Holy Spirit and fire. The people wondered if
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: John might be the promised Messiah, but John made it
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: clear He was just preparing the way. Someone was coming
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: who would separate the wheat from the chaff, gathering the
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: good grain and burning the useless husks with fire that
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: never goes out. One day, like any other day, John
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: was baptizing people in the George when he looked up
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: and saw a familiar figure walking toward the water. It
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: was Jesus from Nazareth, his own relative, but something felt
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: different about this moment. Jesus waded into the muddy waters
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: of the Jordan and asked John to baptize him. John
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: was shocked. As Matthew chapter three, verse fourteen records, John said,
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: I should be baptized by you. Why do you come
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: to me? This didn't make sense to John. Jesus had
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: no sins to confess, no wrong to make right. John
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: knew Jesus was the greater one he'd been telling everyone about.
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: How could he baptize the sinless son of God? But
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: Jesus had a purpose. In Matthew chapter three, verse fifteen,
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: he told John, let it be this way for now
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: we should do everything that God requires. So John agreed.
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: As Jesus came up out of the water, something amazing happened.
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: The sky opened up like a curtain being pulled back,
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: and the Spirit of God came down like a dove
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: and landed on Jesus. This wasn't just any dove. This
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: was God's spirit invisible form. Then a voice spoke from Heaven,
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: clear and unmistakable. Matthew Chapter three, verse seventeen tells us
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: exactly what God the Father said. This is my son,
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: and I love him. I am very pleased with him.
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: Everyone there heard it. The Father spoke from heaven, the
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: Spirit descended like a dove, and the Son stood dripping
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: wet in the Jordan River. For one perfect moment, all
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: three persons of God were revealed together. John watched in amazement.
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: This was the confirmation he needed. The man he'd grown
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: up knowing as Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the Lamb
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: of God who would take away the sin of the world.
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: The baptism wasn't for Jesus to be cleansed from sin.
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: It was his official beginning as the Messiah, his public
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: introduction to ministry. The crowds who witnessed this never forgot
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: what they saw and heard that day. Jesus had been
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: anointed by God himself for the mission ahead right after
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: his baptism, something unexpected happened. The same spirit who had
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: descended on Jesus like a dove now led him into
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: the desert, not to a comfortable place to pray and
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: plan his ministry, but to a harsh, rocky wilderness where
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: wild animals roamed and the sun beat down mercilessly. Matthew
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: chapter four, verse two tells us Jesus fasted for forty
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: days and forty nights, no food for over a month,
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: just water and prayer and the burning desert heat By
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: the end, he was hungry, desperately, painfully hungry. That's exactly
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: when Satan showed up. The devil had watched jesus baptism,
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: He'd heard the Father's voice from heaven. He knew this
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: was God's son, but he also saw an opportunity. Jesus
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: was alone, weak from hunger and far from any help.
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: Satan's first attack was simple and cruel. In Matthew chapter four,
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: verse three, he said, if you are the son of God,
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: tell these stones to become bred. The rocks scattered around
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: Jesus did look a bit like the round loaves of
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: bread people ate, and Jesus certainly had the power to
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: turn stone into food. But Jesus knew what was really happening.
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: This wasn't about bread, it was about trust. Would he
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: use his divine power to meet his own needs or
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: would he trust his father to provide. Jesus answered with scripture,
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: quoting Deuteronomy chapter eight, verse three, a person cannot live
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: on bread alone, but on every word that comes from God.
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: Satan tried a different approach. Suddenly, Jesus found himself on
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: the highest point of the temple in Jerusalem, looking down
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: at the court yard far below. If you are the
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: son of God, Satan said in Matthew chapter four, verse six,
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: jump off. The scriptures say God will command his angels
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: to take care of you. Their hands will catch you
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: so that you will not hit your foot on a rock.
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: Clever Satan was using Scripture two, quoting from Psalm ninety one,
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: but Jesus saw through this trick as well. In verse
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: seven of Matthew chapter four, he replied, the scriptures also
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: say you must not test the Lord your God. For
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: his final attempt, Satan took Jesus to a very high
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world.
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: In an instant, the power the wealth, the glory. It
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: was all spread out before Jesus like a vast map.
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: I will give you all this, Satan promised in Matthew
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: chapter four, verse nine, if you will bow down and
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: worship me, here was the short cut. Satan offered, Why
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: go through suffering and death on a cross, Why endure
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: rejection and pain? Just bow once and all all the
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: kingdoms would be his without the struggle. But Jesus knew
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: the price was too high. In Matthew chapter four, verse ten,
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: he commanded, go away, Satan. The scriptures say you must
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: worship the Lord, your God, and serve only him. Satan
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: left defeated. He'd thrown his best shots at the Son
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: of God and failed completely. As Matthew chapter four, verse
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: eleven records, angels came and took care of Jesus, bringing
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: him the food and comfort he needed. Jesus had passed
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: the test. Where Adam failed in a garden paradise, Jesus
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: succeeded in a harsh desert. He was ready for what
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: came next. The day after jesus baptism, John the Baptist
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: was standing with some of his followers near the Jordan
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: River when he saw Jesus walking by. This was John's
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: moment to make the most important introduction in history, as
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: recorded in John chapter one, verse twenty nine. John pointed
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: to Jesus and declared, look, there is the lamb of
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: God who takes away the sin of the world. The
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: people around John had heard him talk about some one
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: greater coming, but now they could see him with their
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: own eyes. John continued his testimony, sharing what he had
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: witnessed at jesus baptism. In John chapter one, verses thirty
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: two through thirty four, he said, I saw the Holy
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: Spirit come down from heaven like a dove and rest
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: upon him. I did not know who he was, but God,
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: who sent me to baptize with water, told me, when
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: you see the Spirit come down and rest upon some one,
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: I have seen this happen, and I tell you that
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: he is the son of God. This was huge. John
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: was publicly identifying Jesus as the promised Messiah, the one
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: all Israel had been waiting for. The Crowds had respected
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: John as a prophet, and now he was telling them
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: that Jesus was infinitely greater. The next day, John was
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: standing with two of his disciples when Jesus walked by again.
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: John chapter one, verse thirty six records that John looked
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: at Jesus and said, there is the lamb of God.
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: This time, something different happened. His two disciples heard what
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: he said and decided to follow Jesus instead of staying
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: with John. One of these disciples was Andrew. The other
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: disciple isn't named in John's gospel, but many believe it
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: was John himself, the writer of this gospel. These two
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: men left their teacher to follow the one he pointed
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: them toward. John the Baptist wasn't jealous or upset about
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: losing followers to Jesus. This was exactly what he wanted
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: to happen. Later, when his remaining disciples worried that Jesus
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: was baptizing people and drawing larger crowds, John explained joy
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: in John chapter three, verse thirty he must become more important,
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: and I must become less important. John understood his role perfectly.
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: He was the voice crying in the wilderness, preparing the way.
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: He was the best man at a wedding, rejoicing when
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: the bridegroom arrived. He was the lamp lighting the way
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: until the true light appeared. His testimony about Jesus as
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: the Lamb of God would echo through history. Every time
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: Christians celebrate communion, they'd remember that Jesus is the Lamb
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: who was sacrificed for the sins of the world. When
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: Andrew and the other disciple heard John the Baptist called
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: Jesus the Lamb of God, they started following Jesus down
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: the road. Jesus noticed them and turned around. In John
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: chapter one, verse thirty eight. He asked them, what do
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: you want. They called him rabbi, which means teacher, and
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: asked where are you staying. Jesus gave them a simple
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: invitation in verse thirtyeen, come and see. So they went
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: with him and saw where he was staying, and they
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: spent the rest of that day with him. Andrew couldn't
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: keep this discovery to himself. The first thing he did
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: was find his brother Simon and tell him we have
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: found the Messiah. Andrew brought Simon to Jesus, and when
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: Jesus saw him, something remarkable happened, as recorded in John
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: chapter one, verse forty two. Jesus looked at Simon and said,
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: you are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephus,
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: which means Peter or rock. Jesus saw something in this
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: fisherman that Simon probably didn't even see in himself. Yet.
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: found Philip and simply said, follow me. That's all it took.
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: Philip immediately left everything and joined this growing group of followers.
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: But Philip did what Andrew had done. He found someone else.
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: He looked for his friend Nathaniel and told him the
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: incredible news. In John chapter one, verse forty five, we
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: have found the one that Moses wrote about in the Law,
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: and that the prophets also wrote about. He is Jesus,
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: the son of Joseph, from Nazareth. Nathaniel wasn't impressed. Can
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: anything good come from Nazareth? He asked in verse forty six.
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: Nazareth was a small, unimportant town. Nobody expected the Messiah
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: to come from there. Philip didn't argue with his friend,
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: He just repeated jesus invitation, come and see. When Jesus
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: saw Nathaniel approaching, he said something that stopped everyone in
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: their tracks. In John chapter one, verse forty seven, Jesus declared,
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: here is a true Israelite who is completely honest. Nathaniel
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: was puzzled. How do you know me, he asked. Jesus
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: answer in verse forty eight was even more surprising. Before
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: Philip called you when you were under the fig tree,
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: I saw you. This was impossible. Jesus hadn't been anywhere
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: near that fig tree, but somehow he had seen Nathaniel
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: there may be praying or studying scripture in private. Nathaniel
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: realized he was standing before someone who possessed supernatural knowledge.
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: Teacher Nathaniel exclaimed in John chapter one, verse forty nine,
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: you are the son of God. You are the King
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: of Israel. Jesus smiled at his quick understanding. In verses
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: fifty and fifty one, he told Nathaniel, you believe because
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: I told you I saw you under the fig tree.
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: You will see much greater things than this. I tell
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: you the truth. You will see Heaven open and God's
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: angels going up and coming down on the son of Man.
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: These first Disciples had no idea what adventures lay ahead
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: of them. They'd left their jobs, their familiar routines, their
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: comfortable lives to follow a carpenter from Nazareth, but they'd
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: also found the one their hearts had been searching for
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: without even knowing it. Three days later, Jesus and his
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: new disciples were invited to a wedding in the village
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: of Cana in Galilee. Jesus mother Mary was there too,
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: probably helping with the celebration. As weddings in those days
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: lasted for several days and involved the whole community. Everything
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: was going perfectly until disaster struck. As John chapter two,
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: verse three records, the wine ran out. This was more
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: than just embarrassing, it was a social catastrophe. Running out
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: of wine at a wedding feast would bring shame on
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: the families involved and be talked about for years. Mary
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: noticed the problem and came to Jesus. She simply said,
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: they have no wine. She didn't tell him what to do,
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: but somehow she knew he could help. Jesus response in
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: John chapter two, verse four, see a bit distant, dear woman,
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: Why are you telling me about this? It is not
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: yet time for me to begin proving who I am.
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: But Mary had confidence in her son. She told the
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: servants in verse five, do whatever he tells you. Near
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: the place where they were celebrating. There were six large
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: stone jars used for Jewish ceremonial washing. Each jar could
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: hold twenty to thirty gallons of water. Jesus told the
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: servants in John chapter two, verse seven, fill the jars
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: with water. The servants filled them to the brim. Then
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: Jesus gave them an odd instruction in verse eight, Now
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: take some out and give it to the man in
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: charge of the feast. The servants must have wondered what
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: they were doing, but they obeyed. When the man in
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: charge tasted what the servants brought him, his eyes widened
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: in surprise. This wasn't water anymore. It was wine, and
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: not just any wine. It was the best wine he'd
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: ever tasted. The man called the bridegroom over and said
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: something that shows just how good this wine was. In
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: John chapter two, verses nine and ten, he said, people
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: always serve the best wine first Later, when the guests
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: have drunk a lot, they served the ordinary wine. But
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: you have saved the best wine until now. The bridegroom
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: had no idea what had happened. He hadn't provided this wine,
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: but Jesus had turned approximately one hundred and twenty to
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: one hundred eighty gallons of plain water into the finest
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: wine any one had ever tasted. As John chapter two,
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: verse eleven explains, Jesus did this first miracle in Cana
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: in Galilee. There he showed his glory, and his disciples
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: believed in him. This wasn't just a kind gesture to
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: help a family avoid embarrassment. It was jesus first public
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: sign that he was exactly who John the Baptist said
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: he was. The disciples won amazement. They'd followed Jesus based
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: on John's testimony and their brief conversations with him, but
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: now they'd seen his power with their own eyes. This
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: ordinary looking man from Nazareth could do the impossible. After
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: the wedding at Cana, Jesus went down to Capernium with
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: his mother, brothers, and disciples for a few days. Then
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: it was time for the Jewish Passover, so Jesus traveled
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: to Jerusalem like thousands of other faithful Jews. When Jesus
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: entered the temple courts, he was shocked by what he saw.
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: The place that should have been devoted to prayer and
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: worship had been turned into a market place. As John
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: chapter two, verse fourteen describes, people were selling cattle, sheep,
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: and doves for sacrifices, and money changes were sitting at
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: tables exchanging foreign coins for temple currency. The noise was incredible,
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: animals bleating and mooing, merchants shouting their prices, coins clinking
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: on tables. The smell of animals filled the air. Worshipers
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: trying to pray could barely hear themselves. Think Jesus had
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: seen enough. He made a whip out of small cords
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: and did something no one expected. As recorded in John
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: chapter two, verse fifteen, He drove all the sheep and
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: cattle out of the temple area, scattered the coins of
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: the money changes, and overturned their tables to those selling doves.
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: Jesus said in verse sixteen, take these things out of here.
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: Don't make my father's house a place for buying and selling.
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: The doves were in cages and couldn't be driven out
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: like the larger animals, but Jesus made it clear they
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: had to go too. The disciples watched in amazement as
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: their gentle teacher became a force of righteous anger. They
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: remembered the words of Psalm sixty nine, verse nine, My
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: strong deals devotion to your house burns in me like
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: a fire. The Jewish leaders were furious. Who did this
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: man think he was disrupting their profitable business? They demanded
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: in John chapter two, verse eighteen, what miracle can you
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: show us to prove you have the right to do this.
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: Jesus answer was mysterious and would only make sense much later.
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: In verse nineteen, he said, destroy this temple and I
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: will build it again in three days. The leaders thought
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: he was talking about the magnificent stone building around them.
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: They scoffed in verse twenty people worked forty six years
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: to build this temple. Do you really believe you can
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: build it again in three days? But Jesus wasn't talking
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: about the building made of stone. John chapter two, verse
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: twenty one explains that the temple Jesus meant was his
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: own body. After Jesus rose from the dead, his disciples
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: remembered this conversation and understood what he had meant. This
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: was jesus first public demonstration of his authority as messiah.
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: He claimed the temple as his father's house and cleaned
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: it out with the confidence of some one who owned it.
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: The religious leaders took notice, and from this day forward
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: they would be watching Jesus very carefully. While Jesus was
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: in Jerusalem for the Passover feast, many people saw the
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: signs he was doing and believed in him. But one
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: man was particularly curious about this teacher from Nazareth. His
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: name was Nicodemus, and he was no ordinary person. Nicodemus
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: was a Pharisee and a member of the Jewish ruling
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: council called the Sanhedrin. He was wealthy, educated, and respected.
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: People called him a teacher of Israel. But something about
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: Jesus troubled him in the best possible way. As John
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: chapter three, verse two records, Nicodemus came to Jesus at
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: night and said, Teacher, we know that God has sent
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: you to teach us. No one can do the miraculous
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: signs you do unless God is with him. Why did
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: Nicodemus come at night. Maybe he was afraid of what
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: other religious leaders would think. Maybe he wanted to have
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: a private conversation without crowds interrupting, or maybe he thought
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: the darkness would help hide his visit from those who
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: might disapprove. Jesus got straight to the heart of the matter.
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: In John chapter three, verse three. He told Nicodemus, I
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: tell you the truth. Unless someone is born again, he
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: cannot see God's kingdom. Nicodemus was confused. How can a
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: grown man be born again? He asked in verse four.
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: He cannot enter his mother's womb again, So how can
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: a person be born when he is old. Jesus explained
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: that he wasn't talking about physical birth. In John chapter three,
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: verse five, he said, I tell you the truth. Unless
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: some one is born from water and the spirit, he
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: cannot enter God's kingdom. He was talking about spiritual birth,
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: a complete transformation of the heart. Jesus continued his explanation
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: in verse six. Human life comes from human parents, but
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: spiritual life comes from the Holy Spirit. Just as the
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: wind blows wherever it wants, and you can hear it sound,
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: but don't know where it comes from or where it's going.
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: So it is with every one born of the spirit.
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: Nicodemus was still puzzled. How can this happen? He asked
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: in verse nine. Jesus was surprised by his confusion. In
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: verse ten, he said, you are an important teacher in Israel,
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: and you don't understand these things. If Nicodemus couldn't grasp
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: earthly illustrations about new birth, how would he understand heavenly things.
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: Then Jesus spoke the word that would become the most
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: famous verse in the Bible. In John chapter three, verse sixteen.
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: He said, God loved the world so much that he
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: gave his one and only son, so that whoever believes
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: in him may not be lost but have eternal life.
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: This wasn't about following rules or performing religious duties. This
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: was about God's love and the gift of eternal life
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: through his son. Jesus continued in verse seventeen. God did
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: not send his son into the world to judge the
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: world guilty, but to save the world through him. The
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus shows that entering God's kingdom
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: isn't about being good enough or religious enough. It's about
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: being born again through faith in Jesus. Even the most
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: educated religious teacher needed this new birth. Nicodemus left that
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: night with much to think about. The teacher had become
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: a student, and everything he thought he knew about God
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: was being turned upside down. Jesus left Judea and headed
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: back to Galilee, but he had to go through Samaria.
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: This wasn't the usual route most Jews took. They typically
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: went around Samaria because Jews and Samaritans hated each other.
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: But Jesus had a divine appointment waiting. Around noon, Jesus
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: arrived at a town in Samaria called Psycha, near the
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph Sentries earlier.
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: Jacob's well was there, and Jesus sat down beside it
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: because he was tired from the long walk. His disciples
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: had gone into town to buy food. As recorded in
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: John chapter four, verse seven, a Samaritan woman came to
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: draw water and Jesus said to oh, please give me
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: a drink. This simple request shocked the woman. In verse nine,
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: she asked, why do you ask me for a drink?
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: You are a jew Jewish man, and I am a
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: Samaritan woman. Jewish men didn't talk to women in public,
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: especially not Samaritan women. The hatred between Jews and Samaritans
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: went back hundreds of years to when the Samaritans had
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: mixed Jewish worship with pagan practices. Most Jews considered them
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: half breeds and heretics, but Jesus broke every social rule.
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: In John chapter four, verse ten, He told her, if
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: you only knew what God gives and who it is
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: that is asking you for water, you would have asked
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: him and he would have given you living water. The
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: woman was confused, Sir, she said in verse eleven, where
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: will you get this living water? The well is very
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: deep and you have nothing to get water with. She
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: pointed out that even their ancestor Jacob had used this
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: same well along with his sons and flocks. Jesus explained
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: in verse thirteen, everyone one who drinks this water will
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: be thirsty again. But whoever drinks the water I give
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: will never be thirsty. The water I give will become
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: a spring of water gushing up inside that person, giving
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: eternal life. The woman wanted this special water. Sir, give
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: me this water so I will never be thirsty again
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: and will not have to keep coming here to get water,
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: she said in verse fifteen. Then Jesus said something that
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: changed everything. In verse sixteen, he told her, go get
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: your husband and come back here. The woman replied in
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: verse seventeen, I have no husband. Jesus looked at her
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: with knowing eyes. You are right to say you have
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: no husband, he said. In verses eighteen and nineteen. Really,
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: you have had five husbands, but the man you live
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: with now is not your husband. You told the truth.
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: The woman realized she was talking to someone extraordinary. Sir,
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: I can see that you are a prophet, she exclaimed
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: in verse nineteen. She then brought up the biggest religious
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: debate between Jews and Samaritans, where people should worship God.
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: Samaritans worshiped on Mount Gerizim, while Jews insisted on Jerusalem.
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: Jesus explained in verses twenty three and twenty four that
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: the time was coming when true worshipers would worship the
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: Father in spirit and truth, not in any particular location.
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: God is spirit, he said, and those who worship him
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: must worship in spirit and truth. The woman mentioned the Messiah,
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: saying in verse twenty five, I know that the Messiah
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: Then Jesus revealed who he really was. In verse twenty six,
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: he declared, I the one talking to you, am he
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: Just then the disciples returned from town and were amazed
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: to find Jesus talking to a Samaritan woman, but none
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: of them dared ask why. The woman left her water
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: Joe and ran back to town, telling every one in
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: verse twenty nine, come and see a man who told
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: me everything I ever did. Do you think he might
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: be the Christ? Many Samaritans believed in Jesus because of
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: the woman's testimony. They invited him to stay, and he
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: remained there two days. Even more people believed because of
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: his own words, saying in verse forty two, now we
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: believe not just because of what you told us, but
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: because we have heard him ourselves. We know that this
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: man really is the savior of the world. After spending
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: two days with the Samaritans, Jesus continued on to Galilee.
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: As John chapter four, verse forty four records, Jesus himself
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: had said that a prophet is not honored in his
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: own country, but when he arrived in Galilee, the people
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: welcomed him because they had seen everything he did at
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: the Passover festival in Jerusalem. Jesus returned to Cana in Galilee,
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: where he had turned water into wine. While he was there,
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: a royal official from Capernaum heard that Jesus had come
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: from Judea to Galilee. This man was desperate his son
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: was dying. The official traveled the twenty five miles from
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: Capernium to Cana to find Jesus. When he found him,
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: he begged Jesus in John chapter four, verse forty seven,
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: come down to Capernium and heal my son because he
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: is almost dead. Jesus responded in verse forty eight, you
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: people must see miraculous signs and wonders before you will
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: believe in me. But the official wasn't interested in philosophy
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: or theology. His child was dying. In verse forty nine,
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: he pleaded, sir, come with me before my child dies.
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: Then Jesus said something that required tremendous faith. In John
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: chapter four, verse fifty He told the man, go, your
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: son will live. Jesus didn't come with him. He didn't
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: touch the boy or even see him. He simply spoke
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: the words, and the official had to decide whether to
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: believe them. The man believed what Jesus said and started
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: back home. While he was still on the road, his
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: servants met him with incredible news. As verse fifty one records,
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: they told him, your son is alive. The official asked
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: them what time the boy had gotten better. In verse
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: fifty two. They answered yesterday, at one o'clock in the afternoon.
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: The fever left him. The father realized this was the
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: exact time when Jesus had said, your son will live.
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: John chapter four, verse fifty three tells us that the
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: official and everyone in his household believed in Jesus. This
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: was the second miraculous sign Jesus performed after coming from
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: Judea to Galilee. Word of this healing spread throughout the
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: reason and more people began to follow Jesus. The royal
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: official's faith was tested in a unique way. Unlike other
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: healings where Jesus was physically present, this miracle happened from
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: a distance through the power of jesus word alone. The
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: man had to trust Jesus completely, and his faith was rewarded.
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: As jesus ministry grew, crowds of people followed him everywhere.
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: He needed help, and he needed men who would be
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: with him, constantly learning from him and eventually carrying on
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: his work. One day, Jesus went up on a mountainside
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: to pray, and as Luke chapter six, verse twelve records,
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: he spent the whole night praying to God. When morning came,
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: Jesus called his disciples to him and chose twelve of
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: them to be his apostles. The word apostle means one
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: who is sent, and these men would be sent out
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: with Jesus authority to preach and heal, as recorded in
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: Luke Chapter six, verses fourteen through sixteen. Here are the
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: twelve He chose. Simon, whom he named Peter, and his
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: brother Andrew, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew Matthew and
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: Thomas James son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: became the traitor. Each of these men was different. Peter
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: was impulsive and passionate. Andrew was thoughtful and always bringing
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: people to Jesus. James and John were brothers with fiery tempers.
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: Jesus nicknamed them sons of thunder. Philip was practical and logical. Nathaniel,
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: also called Bartholomew, was honest and sincere. Matthew had been
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: a tax collector hated by most Jews for working with
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: the Roman government. Thomas was a doubter who needed proof.
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: The other James was quiet and stayed in the background.
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: Simon the Zealot, had belonged to a group that wanted
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: to overthrow grown by force. Judas, son of James is
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: barely mentioned in the Gospels, and Judas Iscariot would eventually
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. What a mix
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: of personalities and backgrounds. A fisherman, a tax collector, a
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: political revolutionary, and others from various walks of life. They
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: didn't seem like the kind of men who would change
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: the world, but Jesus saw their potential. These twelve would
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: be with Jesus constantly for the next three years. They
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: would see his miracles, hear his teachings, watch how he
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: treated people, and learn what it meant to follow God.
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: They would make mistakes, ask foolish questions, and sometimes disappoint Jesus,
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: but he would patiently train them to carry his message
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: to the world. Jesus gave them authority to drive out
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: evil spirits and heal every disease, ease and sickness. In
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: Matthew chapter ten, verse eight, he told them heal the sick,
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: bring the dead back to life, heal those who have
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: skin diseases, and force demons out of people. I give
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: you these powers freely, so help other people freely. When
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: Jesus saw the crowds following him. He went up on
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: a mountain side and sat down. His disciples came to him,
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: and he began to teach them. What followed was the
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: most famous sermon ever preached, covering everything from how to
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: be truly happy to how to treat your enemies. Jesus
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: started with what we call the Beatitudes, eight statements about
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: who is truly blessed. In Matthew chapter five, verses three
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: through four, he said, Blessed are the poor in spirit,
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: because the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to them. Blessed are
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: those who grieve because God will comfort them. He continued
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: in verses five through seven. Blessed are those who are
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: humble because the earth will belong to them. Blessed are
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: those who want to do right more than anything else,
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: because God will fully satisfy them. Blessed are those who
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: show mercy to others, because God will show mercy to them.
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: Blessed are those whose hearts are pure, because they will
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: see God. Jesus finished the Beatitudes in verses eight and nine.
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: Blessed are those who work to bring peace, because they
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: will be called God's children. Blessed are those who are
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: treated badly for doing right because the Kingdom of Heaven
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: belongs to them. This was revolutionary teaching. The world said,
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: blessed are the rich, the powerful, the popular. Jesus said,
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: blessed are the poor in spirit, the mourning, the humble.
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: He was turning worldly values upside down. Jesus told his
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: followers they were the salt of the earth and the
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: light of the world. In Matthew chapter five, verses fourteen
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: through sixteen, he said, you are the light that gives
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: light to the world world. A city that is built
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: on a hill cannot be hidden, and people don't hide
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: a light under a bowl. They put it on a lampstand,
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: so the light shines for all the people in the house.
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: In the same way, you should be a light for
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: other people live, so that they will see the good
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: things you do and will praise your Father in heaven.
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: Then Jesus taught about anger, saying in Matthew chapter five,
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: verse twenty two that any one who is angry with
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: his brother will be judged. He taught about adultery, explaining
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: that the problem starts in the heart with lustful thoughts.
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: He taught about divorce, oaths, and revenge. Most shocking of all,
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: Jesus taught about loving your enemies. In Matthew chapter five,
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: verses forty three and forty four, he said, you have
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: heard that it was said love your neighbor and hate
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: your enemies. But I tell you love your enemies, pray
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: for those who hurt you. Jesus also taught about prayer,
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: giving his disciples what we now call the Lord's prayer.
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: In Matthew chapter six, verses nine through thirteen, he said,
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: so when you pray, you should pray like this, our
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: father in heaven. May your name always be kept holy.
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: May your kingdom come, and what you want be done
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: here on earth as it is in heaven. Give us
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: the food we need for each day. Forgive us for
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: our sins, just as we have forgiven those who sinned
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: against us. And do not cause us to be tempted,
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: but save us from the evil one. The people were
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: amazed at jesus teaching, as Matthew chapter seven, verses twenty
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: eight and twenty nine record. When Jesus finished speaking, the
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: people were amazed at his teaching because he did not
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: teach like their teachers of the law. He taught like
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: a person who had authority. Some time later, Jesus went
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Near
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: the sheep Gate in Jerusalem, there was a pool called Bethesda,
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: surrounded by five covered porches. As John chapter five, verse
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: three describes, many sick people were lying on the porches
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: beside the pool, people who were blind, lame, or paralyzed.
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: These people believed that occasionally an angel would come down
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: and stir up the water, and the first person to
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: get into the pool after that would be healed of
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: whatever disease they had. So they waited day after day,
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: hoping for their chance. One man had been an invalid
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: for thirty eight years. Jesus saw him lying there and
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: learned that he had been in this condition for a
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: very long time. In John chapter five, verse six, Jesus
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: asked him, do you want to get well? The sick
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: man answered in verse seven, Sir, I have no one
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: to help me get into the pool. When the water
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: starts moving while I am coming to the water, some
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: one else always gets in before me. This man's situation
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: seemed hopeless. For nearly four decades, he had been unable
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: to walk. He had no friends or family to help
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: him into the pool. Every time he tried to drag
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: himself to the water. Someone faster would beat him to it,
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: But Jesus didn't need a pool of stirred up water
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: to heal someone. In John chapter five, verse eight, he
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: told the man, get up, pick up your mat, and walk.
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: Immediately the man was healed. He picked up his mat
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: and began to walk around, probably for the first time
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: in thirty eight years. Can you imagine his joy? Can
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: you picture him testing his legs, taking tentative steps, then
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: walking faster and faster as he realized his nightmare was over.
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: But there was a problem. The day this happened was
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: a Sabbath, and the Jewish leaders had strict rules about
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: what people could and couldn't do on the Sabbath. When
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: they saw the man carrying his mat, they stopped him
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: in verse ten, They said, this is the Sabbath day.
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: It is against our law for you to carry your
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: mat on the Sabbath day. The man explained in verse eleven,
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: the man who made me well told me pick up
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: your mat and walk. When they asked who had told
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: him this, the man didn't know because Jesus had slipped
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: away into the crowd. Later, Jesus found the man at
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: the temple and said to him in verse fourteen, see
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: you are well. Now stop sinning so that something worse
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: may not happen to you. Then the man realized who
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: had healed him, and told the Jewish leaders that it
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: was Jesus. This made the Jewish leaders very angry. As
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: John chapter five, verse sixteen records, they began to persecute
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: Jesus because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: But Jesus answered them in verse seventeen, my father is
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: always working, and so I keep working too. This made
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: them even more furious. Not only was Jesus breaking the sabbath,
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: but he was calling God his own father, making himself
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: equal with God. From this point on, they began looking
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: for ways to kill him. The crowds following Jesus kept
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: growing larger. People came from everywhere, bringing their sick and
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: disabled friends and relatives, hoping Jesus would heal them. One day,
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: Jesus looked up and saw a huge crowd coming toward
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: him across the countryside. Jesus was tired and had been
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: hoping for some quiet time with his disciples, but when
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: he saw all these people, he felt sorry for them.
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: As Mark chapter six, verse thirty four records they were
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: many things and healing those who were sick. As the
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: day wore on, the disciples became worried. They came to
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: Jesus and said in Mark chapter six, verse thirty five,
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: no one lives around here, and it is already very late.
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: Send the people away so they can go to the
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: countryside and towns around here to buy themselves something to eat.
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: But Jesus had a different idea. In verse thirty seven,
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: he told his disciples, you give them something to eat.
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: The disciples were shocked. Philip did some quick math and said,
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: in John chapter six, verse seven, someone would have to
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: work almost a year to buy enough bread for each
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: person to have just a little bit. Andrew, Simon, Peter's brother,
• 44:35
  Speaker 1: found a young boy in the crowd who had brought
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: his lunch. In John chapter six, verses eight and nine.
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: Andrew said to Jesus, here is a boy with five
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: small loaves of barley bread and two little fish. But
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: that is not enough for so many people. Five small
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: barley loaves and two fish for more than five thousand people.
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: It was ridiculous. Barley bread was the cheapest kind of
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: bread food for poor people. The fish were probably small,
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: maybe dried or pickled. This boy's lunch wouldn't feed five people,
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: let alone five thousand, But Jesus took the boy's lunch seriously.
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: In John chapter six, verse ten, he said, tell the
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: people to sit down. There was plenty of grass there,
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: and about five thousand men sat down. Not counting the
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: women and children, the total crowd was probably closer to
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: fifteen or twenty thousand people. Jesus took the five loaves
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: and two fish, looked up to Heaven and gave thanks.
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: Then he began breaking the bread and fish and giving
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: pieces to his disciples to distribute to the people. As
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: recorded in verse eleven, he gave them as much as
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: they wanted. Something miraculous was happening. No matter how much
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: bread and fish the disciples handed out, there was always
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: more in their baskets. The food kept multiplying in their
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: hands until everyone in that huge had eaten their fill.
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: When everyone had finished eating, Jesus told his disciples in
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: verse twelve, gather the leftover pieces of food so that
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: nothing is wasted. The disciples collected twelve baskets full of
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: leftover pieces from the five barley loaves, more food left
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: over than they had started with. The people who saw
• 46:21
  Speaker 1: this miracle realized they were witnessing something extraordinary. In John
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: chapter six, verse fourteen, they said, this man really is
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: the prophet who is coming into the world. Some wanted
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: to make Jesus their king by force, but Jesus slipped
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: away to the hills by himself. After feeding the five thousand,
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: Jesus made his disciples get into their boat and go
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: ahead of him to Beth's sider, while he sent the
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: crowd away. When evening came, Jesus went up on a
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: mountain side by himself to pray. The disciples were out
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: on the lake, rowing hard against a strong wind. The
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: waves were rough, and they were making little progress. Jesus
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: could see them from the mountainside, struggling with their oars
• 47:08
  Speaker 1: in the darkness. During the fourth watch of the night,
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: sometime between three and six in the morning, the disciples
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: saw something impossible, as recorded in Mark chapter six, verse
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: forty eight. Jesus came toward them walking on the lake.
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: He was walking on the water as easily as if
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: he were strolling down a road. When the disciples saw
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: him walking on the water, they thought he was a
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: ghost and cried out in terror. They had never seen
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: anything like this. People don't walk on water. They sink Immediately,
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: Jesus called out to them. In Mark chapter six, verse fifty,
• 47:44
  Speaker 1: he said, have courage, it is I. Do not be afraid.
• 47:49
  Speaker 1: His familiar voice cut through their panic, but they still
• 47:52
  Speaker 1: couldn't believe what they were seeing. Peter, always the impulsive one,
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: called out, as recorded in Matthew chapter fourteen, verse twenty eight. Lord,
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: if that is really you, then let me walk on
• 48:04
  Speaker 1: the water to you. Come on, Jesus replied in verse
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: twenty nine. So Peter got out of the boat and
• 48:12
  Speaker 1: began walking on the water toward Jesus. For a few
• 48:16
  Speaker 1: amazing moments, Peter was actually doing it, walking on the
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: surface of the Sea of Galilee, just like his master.
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: But then Peter made a mistake. He looked around at
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: the strong wind and high waves instead of keeping his
• 48:30
  Speaker 1: eyes on Jesus. Fear gripped his heart and immediately he
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: began to sink. Lord save me, he cried in verse thirty.
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: Jesus immediately reached out and caught him. Why did you
• 48:46
  Speaker 1: doubt he asked in verse thirty one, you have so
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: little faith. When Jesus and Peter climbed into the boat,
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: something wonderful happened. The wind immediately stopped blowing, and the
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: lake became calm. The decided Piples were completely amazed. As
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: Mark chapter six, verse fifty one records, they were greatly
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: surprised because they still didn't understand about the miracle of
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: the five loaves. Their hearts were closed and they could
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: not understand. But they fell down and worshiped Jesus, saying
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: in Matthew chapter fourteen, verse thirty three, truly you are
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: the Son of God. They were beginning to understand that
• 49:26
  Speaker 1: their friend and teacher was far more than just a man.
• 49:30
  Speaker 1: The next day, the crowd that had been fed by
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: the miracle of the five loaves and two fish came
• 49:35
  Speaker 1: looking for Jesus. They crossed the lake and found him
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: in Capernium. In John chapter six, verse twenty five. They
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: asked him, teacher, when did you come here. Jesus knew
• 49:47
  Speaker 1: why they had come looking for him. In verse twenty six,
• 49:50
  Speaker 1: he told them, I tell you the truth. You aren't
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: looking for me because you understood the miraculous signs you
• 49:58
  Speaker 1: are looking for me because you ate the bread and
• 50:01
  Speaker 1: were satisfied. They wanted another free meal, not spiritual truth.
• 50:07
  Speaker 1: Jesus used this as a teaching opportunity. In John chapter six,
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: verse twenty seven, he said, don't work for the food
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: that spoils. Work for the food that stays good always
• 50:18
  Speaker 1: and gives eternal life. The son of Man will give
• 50:21
  Speaker 1: you this food because on him, God the Father, has
• 50:23
  Speaker 1: put his power. The people asked what they should do
• 50:27
  Speaker 1: to please God. Jesus answered in verse twenty nine, the
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: work God wants you to do is this, believe the
• 50:34
  Speaker 1: one he sent simple but profound. God wanted faith, not
• 50:40
  Speaker 1: religious works. The crowd wanted another miraculous sign, reminding Jesus
• 50:45
  Speaker 1: that their ancestors had eaten manna in the desert. Jesus
• 50:49
  Speaker 1: corrected them in verse thirty two. I tell you the truth.
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: It was not Moses who gave you bread from heaven.
• 50:56
  Speaker 1: It is my Father who is giving you the true
• 50:59
  Speaker 1: bread from heaven. Then Jesus made an astounding claim in
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: John chapter six, verse thirty five. He declared, I am
• 51:08
  Speaker 1: the bread of life. Anyone who comes to me will
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: never be hungry, and anyone who believes in me will
• 51:15
  Speaker 1: never be thirsty. This was hard for people to understand.
• 51:19
  Speaker 1: Jesus continued in verses fifty one through fifty three. I
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: am the living Bread that came down from heaven. Anyone
• 51:28
  Speaker 1: who eats this bread will live forever. This bread is
• 51:31
  Speaker 1: my flesh, which I will give up so that the
• 51:34
  Speaker 1: world may have life. I tell you the truth. You
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: must eat the flesh of the Son of Man and
• 51:40
  Speaker 1: drink his blood, otherwise you won't have life in you.
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: Many of his followers were upset by this teaching. They
• 51:49
  Speaker 1: said in verse sixty this teaching is hard. Who can
• 51:53
  Speaker 1: listen to it? They didn't understand that Jesus was speaking
• 51:57
  Speaker 1: symbolically about believing in him and his sacrificial death. Jesus
• 52:03
  Speaker 1: asked his twelve disciples in verse sixty seven, do you
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: also want to leave me? Peter answered for the group
• 52:09
  Speaker 1: in verses sixty eight and sixty nine, Lord, who would
• 52:14
  Speaker 1: we go to? You have the words that give eternal life.
• 52:18
  Speaker 1: We believe and know that you are the Holy One
• 52:21
  Speaker 1: of God. But even among the twelve there was one
• 52:25
  Speaker 1: who didn't truly believe. Jesus knew that Judas would betray him,
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: even at this early stage of his ministry, Jesus and
• 52:33
  Speaker 1: his disciples traveled to the region around Caesarea Philippi, a
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: beautiful area at the foot of Mount Hermon where the
• 52:41
  Speaker 1: Jordan River begins. This was far from the crowds and
• 52:46
  Speaker 1: religious leaders, a perfect place for a private conversation that
• 52:50
  Speaker 1: would change everything. As they walked along the road, Jesus
• 52:55
  Speaker 1: asked his disciples a question that seemed simple, but was
• 52:59
  Speaker 1: actually the most important question any one could answer. In
• 53:03
  Speaker 1: Matthew chapter sixteen, verse thirteen, he asked them, who do
• 53:07
  Speaker 1: people say the Son of Man is? The disciples had
• 53:10
  Speaker 1: heard all kinds of opinions about Jesus from the crowds
• 53:13
  Speaker 1: they'd encountered. In verse fourteen, they answered, some say you
• 53:18
  Speaker 1: are John the Baptist, others say you are Elijah, and
• 53:22
  Speaker 1: still others say you are Jeremiah or one of the prophets.
• 53:25
  Speaker 1: People were clearly impressed with Jesus, comparing him to the
• 53:29
  Speaker 1: greatest figures in Jewish history. John the Baptist had been
• 53:33
  Speaker 1: a powerful preacher. Elijah had performed amazing miracles and been
• 53:38
  Speaker 1: taken up to Heaven without dying. Jeremiah had been a
• 53:42
  Speaker 1: prophet who spoke boldly for God. These were high compliments,
• 53:46
  Speaker 1: but Jesus wanted to know what his closest followers thought.
• 53:50
  Speaker 1: The question he asked next would determine everything about their
• 53:54
  Speaker 1: future together. In Matthew chapter sixteen, verse fifteen, Jesus looked
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: directly at his twelve disciples and asked, but who do
• 54:04
  Speaker 1: you say I am? Simon. Peter didn't hesitate. The words
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: came out of his mouth like they'd been waiting inside
• 54:12
  Speaker 1: him for months. In verse sixteen, Peter declared, you are
• 54:16
  Speaker 1: the Christ, the son of the Living God. This wasn't
• 54:20
  Speaker 1: just calling Jesus a good teacher or even a great prophet.
• 54:24
  Speaker 1: Peter was saying Jesus was the Messiah, the promised Savior
• 54:28
  Speaker 1: that all of Israel had been waiting for. More than that,
• 54:32
  Speaker 1: he was calling Jesus the son of God, claiming he
• 54:35
  Speaker 1: had a unique relationship with the Father that no human
• 54:39
  Speaker 1: being had ever possessed. Jesus was thrilled with Peter's answer.
• 54:44
  Speaker 1: In Matthew chapter sixteen, verse seventeen, he said, you are blessed, Simon,
• 54:48
  Speaker 1: son of Jonah, because no person taught you that My
• 54:52
  Speaker 1: Father in Heaven showed you who I am. This was
• 54:55
  Speaker 1: a revelation straight from God. The Father. Peter hadn't figured
• 54:59
  Speaker 1: this out through human reasoning or learned it from other people.
• 55:02
  Speaker 1: God himself had opened Peter's eyes to see who Jesus
• 55:06
  Speaker 1: really was. Jesus continued in verse eighteen, so I tell
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: you you are Peter. On this rock, I will build
• 55:15
  Speaker 1: my church, and the power of death will not be
• 55:18
  Speaker 1: able to defeat it. Peter's name meant rock, and his
• 55:22
  Speaker 1: rock solid confession of faith would become the foundation upon
• 55:26
  Speaker 1: which the church would be built. Then Jesus gave Peter
• 55:30
  Speaker 1: incredible authority. In verse nineteen, he said, I will give
• 55:34
  Speaker 1: you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. The things
• 55:37
  Speaker 1: you don't allow on earth will be the things that
• 55:40
  Speaker 1: God does not allow, and the things you allow on
• 55:43
  Speaker 1: earth will be the things that God allows. Peter would
• 55:48
  Speaker 1: have a special role in opening the Kingdom of Heaven
• 55:52
  Speaker 1: to both Jews and Gentiles, but Jesus wasn't ready for
• 55:56
  Speaker 1: this news to spread. In Matthew chapter sixteen, verse twenty,
• 56:01
  Speaker 1: he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he
• 56:04
  Speaker 1: was the Christ. The time wasn't right yet for a
• 56:07
  Speaker 1: public announcement of his messiah ship. From that moment on,
• 56:11
  Speaker 1: Jesus began to prepare his disciples for what was coming.
• 56:15
  Speaker 1: In verse twenty one, he started explaining that he must
• 56:18
  Speaker 1: go to Jerusalem, suffer many things from the Jewish leaders,
• 56:23
  Speaker 1: be killed, and be raised from the dead on the
• 56:25
  Speaker 1: third day. Peter was horrified. He took Jesus aside and
• 56:30
  Speaker 1: began to rebuke him, saying in verse twenty two, God,
• 56:34
  Speaker 1: save you from those things. Lord, those things will never
• 56:37
  Speaker 1: happen to you. Peter had just declared Jesus to be
• 56:41
  Speaker 1: the son of God, but he couldn't accept that the
• 56:44
  Speaker 1: Messiah would have to suffer and die. Jesus turned to
• 56:49
  Speaker 1: Peter with some of the harshest words he ever spoke
• 56:51
  Speaker 1: to his disciples. In verse twenty three, he said, go
• 56:55
  Speaker 1: away from me, Satan. You are not helping me. You
• 56:58
  Speaker 1: don't care about the things of God God, but only
• 57:01
  Speaker 1: about the things people think are important. About a week
• 57:05
  Speaker 1: after Peter's great confession, Jesus took Peter, James, and John
• 57:10
  Speaker 1: up on a high mountain by themselves. These three disciples
• 57:14
  Speaker 1: had become his inner circle, and Jesus wanted them to
• 57:17
  Speaker 1: see something that would strengthen their faith for the difficult
• 57:21
  Speaker 1: days ahead. As the four of them climbed higher and higher.
• 57:27
  Speaker 1: Jesus led them to a secluded spot where they could
• 57:31
  Speaker 1: pray without being disturbed. Luke chapter nine, verse twenty nine
• 57:35
  Speaker 1: tells us that as Jesus was praying, the appearance of
• 57:38
  Speaker 1: his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as
• 57:42
  Speaker 1: a flash of lightning. What the disciples saw next took
• 57:46
  Speaker 1: their breath away. Jesus was transfigured before their eyes. Matthew
• 57:51
  Speaker 1: chapter seventeen, verse two describes how his face shone like
• 57:55
  Speaker 1: the sun, and his clothes became as white as light.
• 58:00
  Speaker 1: The ordinary carpenter from Nazareth was suddenly radiating divine glory.
• 58:05
  Speaker 1: But that wasn't all. Two figures appeared and began talking
• 58:10
  Speaker 1: with Jesus. As Luke chapter nine, verse thirty records, these
• 58:13
  Speaker 1: were Moses and Elijah, appearing in glorious splendor. Moses, who
• 58:19
  Speaker 1: had led Israel out of Egypt and received the Law
• 58:22
  Speaker 1: on Mount Sinai. Elijah, the great prophet, who had called
• 58:25
  Speaker 1: down fire from heaven and been taken up to Heaven
• 58:28
  Speaker 1: in a whirlwind. The three disciples watched in amazement as
• 58:31
  Speaker 1: Moses and Elijah talked with Jesus about his departure, which
• 58:36
  Speaker 1: he was about to accomplish. In Jerusalem. Even these great
• 58:39
  Speaker 1: heroes of the faith understood that jesus death was part
• 58:43
  Speaker 1: of God's plan. Peter, James, and John were very sleepy,
• 58:47
  Speaker 1: but they forced themselves to stay awake and soar Jesus
• 58:50
  Speaker 1: glory and the two men standing with him. As the
• 58:54
  Speaker 1: heavenly visitors were about to leave, Peter spoke up. In
• 58:58
  Speaker 1: Luke chapter nine, verse three thirty three, he said, to Jesus, Master,
• 59:03
  Speaker 1: it is good that we are here. Let us make
• 59:07
  Speaker 1: three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one
• 59:12
  Speaker 1: for Elijah. Luke adds that Peter didn't really know what
• 59:17
  Speaker 1: he was saying. He was overwhelmed by what he was
• 59:20
  Speaker 1: seeing and just wanted to somehow preserve this incredible moment.
• 59:25
  Speaker 1: But God had something even more amazing in store. While
• 59:29
  Speaker 1: Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud came down and
• 59:33
  Speaker 1: covered them. The disciples were terrified as they entered the cloud.
• 59:38
  Speaker 1: Then a voice spoke from the cloud, the same voice
• 59:41
  Speaker 1: that had spoken at jesus baptism in Matthew chapter seventeen,
• 59:46
  Speaker 1: verse five. The Father said, this is my son, whom
• 59:50
  Speaker 1: I love, and I am very pleased with him. Listen
• 59:53
  Speaker 1: to him. When the disciples heard the voice, They were
• 59:56
  Speaker 1: so frightened that they fell face down on the ground.
• 59:59
  Speaker 1: The voice of Almighty God speaking from heaven was more
• 1:00:03
  Speaker 1: than they could handle. While standing up, Jesus came and
• 1:00:06
  Speaker 1: touched them in verse seven, he said, stand up, don't
• 1:00:10
  Speaker 1: be afraid. When they looked up, they saw that Moses
• 1:00:14
  Speaker 1: and Elijah were gone. The bright cloud had lifted. Jesus
• 1:00:18
  Speaker 1: looked normal again. Only Jesus was with them. As they
• 1:00:22
  Speaker 1: came down the mountain, Jesus gave them strict instructions. In
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 1: Matthew chapter seventeen, verse nine, he said, don't tell anyone
• 1:00:31
  Speaker 1: about what you saw until the Son of Man has
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 1: risen from the dead. The disciples obeyed, but they talked
• 1:00:38
  Speaker 1: among themselves about what rising from the dead could mean.
• 1:00:42
  Speaker 1: This experience changed Peter, James, and John forever. Years later.
• 1:00:48
  Speaker 1: Peter would write about it in his Second Letter, saying,
• 1:00:51
  Speaker 1: in chapter one, verse sixteen, we told you about the
• 1:00:55
  Speaker 1: powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. What we told
• 1:00:59
  Speaker 1: you were not your smart stories that someone invented, But
• 1:01:03
  Speaker 1: we saw the greatness of Jesus with our own eyes.
• 1:01:07
  Speaker 1: Jesus had some close friends in the village of Bethany,
• 1:01:10
  Speaker 1: just outside Jerusalem. Mary Martha and their brother Lazarus often
• 1:01:15
  Speaker 1: welcomed Jesus into their home. Lazarus was very sick, and
• 1:01:20
  Speaker 1: his sisters were worried about him. Mary and Martha sent
• 1:01:23
  Speaker 1: a message to Jesus saying in John chapter eleven, verse three, Lord,
• 1:01:28
  Speaker 1: the one you love is sick. They didn't directly ask
• 1:01:32
  Speaker 1: Jesus to come, but they knew he would want to
• 1:01:35
  Speaker 1: know about Lazarus's condition. When Jesus received the message, he
• 1:01:39
  Speaker 1: said something that puzzled his disciples. In verse four, he
• 1:01:43
  Speaker 1: told them, this sickness will not end in death. It
• 1:01:47
  Speaker 1: is for the glory of God. To bring glory to
• 1:01:50
  Speaker 1: the Son of God. Jesus loved Martha, Mary and Lazarus
• 1:01:55
  Speaker 1: very much, but he stayed where he was for two
• 1:01:57
  Speaker 1: more days. Then Jesus told his disciples in verse eleven,
• 1:02:02
  Speaker 1: our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going
• 1:02:06
  Speaker 1: there to wake him up. The disciples were confused. If
• 1:02:10
  Speaker 1: Lazarus was just sleeping, wouldn't that mean he was getting better.
• 1:02:14
  Speaker 1: Jesus had to speak more plainly. In John chapter eleven,
• 1:02:18
  Speaker 1: verse fourteen, he told them Lazarus is dead. Then he
• 1:02:22
  Speaker 1: said something surprising in verse fifteen, and I am glad
• 1:02:26
  Speaker 1: for your sakes. I was not there so that you
• 1:02:29
  Speaker 1: may believe. But let us go to him now. Thomas,
• 1:02:33
  Speaker 1: who was called the Twin, said to the other disciples
• 1:02:36
  Speaker 1: in verse sixteen, let us also go, so that we
• 1:02:39
  Speaker 1: can die with him. Thomas thought they were all walking
• 1:02:43
  Speaker 1: into a trap. Jerusalem was dangerous for Jesus, and Bethany
• 1:02:48
  Speaker 1: was very close to thee un capital city. When Jesus
• 1:02:52
  Speaker 1: arrived in Bethany, he learned that Lazarus had already been
• 1:02:55
  Speaker 1: in the tomb for four days. Many Jews from Jerusalem
• 1:02:59
  Speaker 1: had come to comfort Martha and Mary about their brother's death.
• 1:03:03
  Speaker 1: When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out
• 1:03:07
  Speaker 1: to meet him, but Mary stayed in the house. Martha
• 1:03:11
  Speaker 1: said to Jesus in verse twenty one, Lord, if you
• 1:03:14
  Speaker 1: had been here, my brother would not have died. Even
• 1:03:17
  Speaker 1: in her grief, she still believed in jesus power to heal.
• 1:03:21
  Speaker 1: But then Martha said something that showed her faith went
• 1:03:24
  Speaker 1: even deeper. In verse twenty two, she added, but I
• 1:03:28
  Speaker 1: know that even now God will give you anything you ask.
• 1:03:32
  Speaker 1: Jesus told her in verse twenty three, your brother will
• 1:03:36
  Speaker 1: rise and live again. Martha thought he was talking about
• 1:03:40
  Speaker 1: the final resurrection at the end of time. She replied
• 1:03:44
  Speaker 1: in verse twenty four, I know that he will rise
• 1:03:47
  Speaker 1: and live again in the resurrection on the last day.
• 1:03:51
  Speaker 1: Then Jesus made one of his most powerful statements about
• 1:03:54
  Speaker 1: who he was in John chapter eleven, verses twenty five
• 1:03:58
  Speaker 1: and twenty six. He said, I am the Resurrection and
• 1:04:02
  Speaker 1: the Life. Those who believe in me will have life
• 1:04:05
  Speaker 1: even if they die, and everyone who lives and believes
• 1:04:10
  Speaker 1: in ME will never die. Martha, do you believe this?
• 1:04:14
  Speaker 1: Martha's answer was beautiful. In verse twenty seven, she said, yes, Lord,
• 1:04:18
  Speaker 1: I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God,
• 1:04:22
  Speaker 1: the one coming to the world. Martha went back and
• 1:04:25
  Speaker 1: secretly told Mary that Jesus was asking for her. Mary
• 1:04:30
  Speaker 1: got up quickly and went to him. When the Jews
• 1:04:33
  Speaker 1: who were comforting her saw her leave, they followed, thinking
• 1:04:36
  Speaker 1: she was going to the tomb to cry. Mary fell
• 1:04:40
  Speaker 1: at Jesus feet and said the same thing Martha had said, Lord,
• 1:04:44
  Speaker 1: if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
• 1:04:49
  Speaker 1: When Jesus saw her crying and the Jews who came
• 1:04:52
  Speaker 1: with her also crying, he was deeply moved and troubled.
• 1:04:56
  Speaker 1: Where did you bury him? Jesus asked in verse thirty four, replied,
• 1:05:00
  Speaker 1: come and see Lord then, John Chapter eleven, verse thirty
• 1:05:04
  Speaker 1: five gives us the shortest verse in the Bible. Jesus wept,
• 1:05:09
  Speaker 1: even though Jesus knew he was about to raise Lazarus
• 1:05:11
  Speaker 1: from the dead. He wept with those who were mourning.
• 1:05:15
  Speaker 1: He felt their pain and shared their sorrow. The people
• 1:05:18
  Speaker 1: watching said, see how much he loved him. When they
• 1:05:22
  Speaker 1: came to the tomb, Jesus said in verse thirty nine,
• 1:05:26
  Speaker 1: move the stone away. Martha objected, but Lord, it has
• 1:05:30
  Speaker 1: been four days since he died. There will be a
• 1:05:34
  Speaker 1: bad smell. Bodies decompose quickly in the hot climate of Palestine.
• 1:05:39
  Speaker 1: Jesus reminded her in verse forty didn't I tell you
• 1:05:43
  Speaker 1: that if you believed, you would see the glory of God.
• 1:05:46
  Speaker 1: So they moved the stone away from the entrance to
• 1:05:49
  Speaker 1: the tomb. Jesus looked up to heaven and prayed in
• 1:05:53
  Speaker 1: verses forty one and forty two, Father, I thank you
• 1:05:57
  Speaker 1: that you heard me. I know that you all always
• 1:06:00
  Speaker 1: hear me, But I said this for the people here
• 1:06:02
  Speaker 1: around me. I want them to believe that you sent me.
• 1:06:07
  Speaker 1: Then Jesus called in a loud voice in verse forty three,
• 1:06:10
  Speaker 1: Lazarus come out, and something incredible happened. The dead man
• 1:06:15
  Speaker 1: came out, his hands and feet wrapped with pieces of cloth,
• 1:06:19
  Speaker 1: and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them
• 1:06:22
  Speaker 1: in verse forty four, take the cloth off of him
• 1:06:25
  Speaker 1: and let him go. Lazarus was alive, not just breathing,
• 1:06:31
  Speaker 1: but completely healthy and restored. He had been dead for
• 1:06:34
  Speaker 1: four days, and now he was walking around, talking and
• 1:06:38
  Speaker 1: embracing his sisters. Many of the Jews who saw this
• 1:06:42
  Speaker 1: miracle believed in Jesus, but others went to the Pharisees
• 1:06:46
  Speaker 1: and told them what Jesus had done. This miracle was
• 1:06:49
  Speaker 1: so powerful and public that it forced people to make
• 1:06:52
  Speaker 1: a decision about who Jesus was. Jesus taught the crowds
• 1:06:58
  Speaker 1: using stories called parables. These weren't just entertaining tales. They
• 1:07:03
  Speaker 1: were carefully crafted illustrations that revealed deep truths about God's kingdom.
• 1:07:09
  Speaker 1: People loved stories, and Jesus was a master story teller.
• 1:07:14
  Speaker 1: One day, as Jesus sat by the Sea of Galilee,
• 1:07:17
  Speaker 1: such a large crowd gathered that he got into a
• 1:07:20
  Speaker 1: boat and sat down while all the people stood on
• 1:07:23
  Speaker 1: the ear shore. He began teaching them using many parables.
• 1:07:28
  Speaker 1: The first parable Jesus told was about a farmer who
• 1:07:31
  Speaker 1: went out to plant seeds, as recorded in Matthew Chapter thirteen,
• 1:07:36
  Speaker 1: verses three through eight. Jesus said, a farmer went out
• 1:07:40
  Speaker 1: to plant his seed. While he was planting, some seed
• 1:07:45
  Speaker 1: fell by the road, and the birds came and ate
• 1:07:47
  Speaker 1: it up. Some seed fell on rocky ground where there
• 1:07:51
  Speaker 1: wasn't much dirt. That seed grew very fast because the
• 1:07:54
  Speaker 1: ground was not deep. But when the sun rose, the
• 1:07:57
  Speaker 1: plants dried up because they did not have deep roots.
• 1:08:01
  Speaker 1: Some other seed fell among thorny weeds, which grew and
• 1:08:05
  Speaker 1: choked the good plants. Some other seed fell on good ground,
• 1:08:08
  Speaker 1: where it grew and produced a crop. Some plants made
• 1:08:12
  Speaker 1: a hundred times more, some made sixty times more, and
• 1:08:16
  Speaker 1: some made thirty times more. After telling this parable, Jesus
• 1:08:21
  Speaker 1: said in verse nine, let those with ears use them
• 1:08:24
  Speaker 1: and listen. But many people didn't understand what the story meant. Later,
• 1:08:31
  Speaker 1: when Jesus was alone with his disciples, they asked him
• 1:08:34
  Speaker 1: to explain the parable. Jesus told them that the seed
• 1:08:38
  Speaker 1: represented God's word and the different types of soil represented
• 1:08:42
  Speaker 1: different kinds of hearts. Some people hear God's word but
• 1:08:46
  Speaker 1: don't understand it, so Satan snatches it away. Others receive
• 1:08:51
  Speaker 1: it with joy, but fall away when trouble comes. Still
• 1:08:55
  Speaker 1: others let worries and wealth choke out God's word. But
• 1:08:58
  Speaker 1: some hear the word, understand it, and produce a great harvest.
• 1:09:04
  Speaker 1: Jesus told another parable about the Kingdom of Heaven in
• 1:09:07
  Speaker 1: Matthew Chapter thirteen, verses twenty four through thirty. He said
• 1:09:11
  Speaker 1: the kingdom was like a man who planted good seed
• 1:09:15
  Speaker 1: in his field, but while everyone was sleeping, his enemy
• 1:09:19
  Speaker 1: came and planted weeds among the wheat. When the plants
• 1:09:24
  Speaker 1: grew up, both wheat and weeds appeared together. The farmer's
• 1:09:28
  Speaker 1: servants wanted to pull up the weeds immediately, but the
• 1:09:31
  Speaker 1: wise farmer said to wait until harvest time. Then they
• 1:09:35
  Speaker 1: could gather the weeds first and burn them, and put
• 1:09:38
  Speaker 1: the wheat safely in his barn. Jesus explained that this
• 1:09:42
  Speaker 1: parable was about the final judgment, when God would separate
• 1:09:46
  Speaker 1: the righteous from the wicked. Jesus also told a parable
• 1:09:50
  Speaker 1: about a mustard seed in verses thirty one and thirty two.
• 1:09:54
  Speaker 1: He said the Kingdom of Heaven was like a mustard
• 1:09:57
  Speaker 1: seed that a man planted in his field. Though it
• 1:10:00
  Speaker 1: was the smallest of all seeds, when it grew up,
• 1:10:03
  Speaker 1: it became the largest of garden plants and became a tree,
• 1:10:07
  Speaker 1: so that birds came and made nests in its branches.
• 1:10:11
  Speaker 1: Another parable compared the Kingdom to yeast that a woman
• 1:10:15
  Speaker 1: mixed into a large a mount of flour until it
• 1:10:18
  Speaker 1: worked through all the dough. Small beginnings could have enormous
• 1:10:22
  Speaker 1: results when God was involved. Jesus told a parable about
• 1:10:26
  Speaker 1: a man who found treasure hidden in a field. In
• 1:10:29
  Speaker 1: verse forty four, Jesus said, the man was so happy
• 1:10:33
  Speaker 1: that he went and sold everything he had and bought
• 1:10:37
  Speaker 1: that field. The Kingdom of Heaven was worth giving up
• 1:10:40
  Speaker 1: everything else to obtain. Similarly, Jesus said the Kingdom was
• 1:10:44
  Speaker 1: like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found
• 1:10:49
  Speaker 1: one very valuable pearl, he went away and sold everything
• 1:10:53
  Speaker 1: he had and bought it. Jesus told a parable about
• 1:10:57
  Speaker 1: a fishing net that caught all kinds of fish. When
• 1:11:00
  Speaker 1: it was full, the fishermen pulled it to shore and
• 1:11:03
  Speaker 1: sat down to sort the fish. They collected the good
• 1:11:06
  Speaker 1: fish in baskets, but threw the bad ones away. This,
• 1:11:10
  Speaker 1: Jesus explained, was how it would be at the end
• 1:11:13
  Speaker 1: of the age, the angels would separate the wicked from
• 1:11:17
  Speaker 1: the righteous. After Jesus finished telling these parables, he asked
• 1:11:21
  Speaker 1: his disciples in verse fifty one, do you understand all
• 1:11:26
  Speaker 1: these things? They answered yes. Then Jesus told them that
• 1:11:30
  Speaker 1: every teacher of the law who had been taught about
• 1:11:32
  Speaker 1: the Kingdom of Heaven was like the owner of a
• 1:11:35
  Speaker 1: house who brought out of his store room new treasures
• 1:11:38
  Speaker 1: as well as old ones. The parables revealed that God's
• 1:11:42
  Speaker 1: kingdom often worked in unexpected ways. It started small but
• 1:11:47
  Speaker 1: grew large. It was incredibly valuable, but sometimes hidden. It
• 1:11:52
  Speaker 1: included both good and bad people until the final sorting.
• 1:11:56
  Speaker 1: Those who had ears to hear could understand these mysteries,
• 1:12:00
  Speaker 1: but others would miss the point entirely. As Jesus was
• 1:12:03
  Speaker 1: walking along, he saw a man who had been blind
• 1:12:07
  Speaker 1: from birth. This wasn't someone who had lost his sight
• 1:12:10
  Speaker 1: due to disease or accident. He had never seen anything
• 1:12:14
  Speaker 1: in his entire life. He spent his days begging, completely
• 1:12:18
  Speaker 1: dependent on others for survival. The disciples were curious about
• 1:12:22
  Speaker 1: something they'd often wondered. In John chapter nine, verse two,
• 1:12:26
  Speaker 1: they asked Jesus, teacher, whose sin caused this man to
• 1:12:30
  Speaker 1: be born blind, his own sin or his parent's sin.
• 1:12:34
  Speaker 1: This was a common belief in those days that suffering
• 1:12:38
  Speaker 1: was always punishment for sin. If some one was born
• 1:12:41
  Speaker 1: with a disability, people assumed either the person or their
• 1:12:45
  Speaker 1: parents must have done something terrible to deserve it. But
• 1:12:49
  Speaker 1: Jesus corrected this thinking. In verse three, he answered, it
• 1:12:54
  Speaker 1: is not this man's sin or his parents sin that
• 1:12:58
  Speaker 1: made him blind. This man was born blind so that
• 1:13:01
  Speaker 1: God's power could be shown in him. Then Jesus said
• 1:13:05
  Speaker 1: something urgent in verse four. While it is daytime, we
• 1:13:09
  Speaker 1: must continue doing the work of the one who sent me.
• 1:13:12
  Speaker 1: Night is coming when no one can work. Jesus knew
• 1:13:16
  Speaker 1: his time on earth was limited. Jesus did something unusual. Next,
• 1:13:21
  Speaker 1: he spit on the ground and made mud with his saliva.
• 1:13:25
  Speaker 1: Then he put the mud on the man's eyes. In
• 1:13:28
  Speaker 1: John chapter nine, verse seven, Jesus told him go and
• 1:13:32
  Speaker 1: wash in the pool of siloam. Siloam means scent, And
• 1:13:36
  Speaker 1: the man went and washed and came back seeing Can
• 1:13:40
  Speaker 1: you imagine what this was like for someone who had
• 1:13:43
  Speaker 1: never seen anything. Suddenly he could see colors, faces, the sky, trees.
• 1:13:49
  Speaker 1: Everything was brand new and amazing. He walked home, probably
• 1:13:53
  Speaker 1: looking at everything with wonder. His neighbors and people who
• 1:13:56
  Speaker 1: had seen him begging were confused. Some said, in verse
• 1:14:00
  Speaker 1: verse nine, isn't this the same man who used to
• 1:14:03
  Speaker 1: sit and beg? Others said, no, he just looks like him.
• 1:14:07
  Speaker 1: But the man himself said, I am the man. They
• 1:14:11
  Speaker 1: asked him how his eyes had been opened in verses
• 1:14:14
  Speaker 1: ten and eleven. The man explained, the man named Jesus
• 1:14:18
  Speaker 1: made mud and put it on my eyes. Then he
• 1:14:21
  Speaker 1: told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I
• 1:14:24
  Speaker 1: went and washed, and then I could see. The people
• 1:14:27
  Speaker 1: brought the formerly blind man to the Pharisees. There was
• 1:14:30
  Speaker 1: a problem. Jesus had made the mud and healed the
• 1:14:34
  Speaker 1: man on the Sabbath, which the religious leaders considered work.
• 1:14:39
  Speaker 1: Some pharisees said, in verse sixteen, this man does not
• 1:14:42
  Speaker 1: keep the Sabbath day, so he is not from God.
• 1:14:45
  Speaker 1: But others asked, but how can someone who is a
• 1:14:48
  Speaker 1: sinner do miraculous signs like these? They were divided in
• 1:14:52
  Speaker 1: their opinion, so they asked the blind man what he
• 1:14:56
  Speaker 1: thought about Jesus. The man answered in verse seventeen, he
• 1:15:00
  Speaker 1: is a prophet. The Jewish leaders didn't believe the man
• 1:15:04
  Speaker 1: had really been blind from birth, so they called his parents.
• 1:15:08
  Speaker 1: The parents confirmed that this was their son and that
• 1:15:11
  Speaker 1: he had been born blind, but they were afraid to
• 1:15:14
  Speaker 1: say more. In verses twenty two and twenty three, John
• 1:15:19
  Speaker 1: explains that the parents were afraid because the Jewish leaders
• 1:15:23
  Speaker 1: had already decided that anyone who said Jesus was the
• 1:15:26
  Speaker 1: Christ would be put out of the synagogue. So they
• 1:15:29
  Speaker 1: told the religious leaders in verse twenty three, he is
• 1:15:33
  Speaker 1: old enough ask him. The Pharisees called the man back
• 1:15:37
  Speaker 1: and tried to get him to say that Jesus was
• 1:15:39
  Speaker 1: a sinner, but the man had a simple answer in
• 1:15:42
  Speaker 1: verse twenty five, I don't know if he is a sinner.
• 1:15:45
  Speaker 1: One thing I do know, I was blind, and now
• 1:15:49
  Speaker 1: I see. When they kept questioning him, the man became bold.
• 1:15:54
  Speaker 1: In verse thirty he said, this is a very strange thing.
• 1:15:58
  Speaker 1: You don't know where he comes from. But he opened
• 1:16:01
  Speaker 1: my eyes. He pointed out in verse thirty one that
• 1:16:04
  Speaker 1: God doesn't listen to sinners, but he listens to anyone
• 1:16:08
  Speaker 1: who worships him, and does what he wants. The man's
• 1:16:12
  Speaker 1: logic was unshakable. In verse thirty two, he said, nobody
• 1:16:16
  Speaker 1: has ever heard of any one opening the eyes of
• 1:16:19
  Speaker 1: a man born blind. If Jesus could do something that
• 1:16:22
  Speaker 1: had never been done before, he must be from God.
• 1:16:26
  Speaker 1: The religious leaders were furious. They insulted the man and
• 1:16:30
  Speaker 1: threw him out of the synagogue. When Jesus heard what
• 1:16:34
  Speaker 1: had happened, he found the man and asked him in
• 1:16:37
  Speaker 1: verse thirty five, do you believe in the Son of Man?
• 1:16:41
  Speaker 1: The man asked who that was so he could believe
• 1:16:43
  Speaker 1: in him. Jesus revealed himself in verse thirty seven. You
• 1:16:47
  Speaker 1: have seen him. The Son of Man is the one
• 1:16:50
  Speaker 1: talking with you. The man said in verse thirty eight, yes, Lord,
• 1:16:55
  Speaker 1: I believe, and he worshiped Jesus. This man, who had
• 1:16:59
  Speaker 1: been born in physical darkness, had found the true light
• 1:17:03
  Speaker 1: of the world. As jesus ministry continued, his conflicts with
• 1:17:07
  Speaker 1: the religious leaders became more intense. They were threatened by
• 1:17:11
  Speaker 1: his popularity and angered by his claims. Every conversation seemed
• 1:17:16
  Speaker 1: to turn into a debate, and the tension was building
• 1:17:19
  Speaker 1: toward a breaking point. One day, the pharisees and teachers
• 1:17:24
  Speaker 1: of the law brought a woman to Jesus who had
• 1:17:26
  Speaker 1: been caught in adultery. They made her stand in front
• 1:17:29
  Speaker 1: of everyone and said to Jesus in John chapter eight,
• 1:17:32
  Speaker 1: verse four, Teacher, this woman was caught having sexual relations
• 1:17:38
  Speaker 1: with a man who is not her husband. They continued
• 1:17:41
  Speaker 1: in verse five, the law of Moses commands that we
• 1:17:46
  Speaker 1: stone to death every woman who does this. What do
• 1:17:49
  Speaker 1: you say? This was a trap. If Jesus said to
• 1:17:52
  Speaker 1: stone her, he would seem harsh and unloving. If he
• 1:17:56
  Speaker 1: said not to stone her, they could accuse him of
• 1:17:58
  Speaker 1: going against moses law. Instead of answering immediately, Jesus bent
• 1:18:04
  Speaker 1: down and started writing on the ground with his finger.
• 1:18:08
  Speaker 1: When they kept asking him, he stood up and said
• 1:18:11
  Speaker 1: in verse seven, any one here who has never sinned
• 1:18:14
  Speaker 1: can throw the first stone at her. Then Jesus bent
• 1:18:17
  Speaker 1: down again and continued writing on the ground. One by one,
• 1:18:22
  Speaker 1: beginning with the older men, they all walked away until
• 1:18:25
  Speaker 1: only Jesus and the woman were left. Jesus asked her
• 1:18:31
  Speaker 1: in verse ten, woman, where are they? Has no one
• 1:18:33
  Speaker 1: judged you guilty? She answered, no one, Sir. Jesus said
• 1:18:37
  Speaker 1: in verse eleven, I also don't judge you guilty. You
• 1:18:40
  Speaker 1: may go now, but don't sin any more. On another occasion,
• 1:18:45
  Speaker 1: Jesus was teaching in the temple courts when the chief
• 1:18:48
  Speaker 1: priests and elders came to him in Matthew, chapter twenty one,
• 1:18:51
  Speaker 1: verse twenty three. They demanded, what authority do you have
• 1:18:56
  Speaker 1: to do these things? Who gave you this authority? Jesus
• 1:19:00
  Speaker 1: answered with his own question in verse twenty four. I
• 1:19:03
  Speaker 1: will also ask you a question. If you answer me,
• 1:19:07
  Speaker 1: then I will tell you what authority I have to
• 1:19:09
  Speaker 1: do these things. He asked them whether John's baptism came
• 1:19:13
  Speaker 1: from heaven or from human authority. The religious leaders were trapped.
• 1:19:18
  Speaker 1: If they said John's baptism was from heaven, Jesus would
• 1:19:23
  Speaker 1: ask why they didn't believe him. If they said it
• 1:19:26
  Speaker 1: was from humans, they feared the people who considered John
• 1:19:29
  Speaker 1: a prophet, so they said in verse twenty seven, we
• 1:19:33
  Speaker 1: don't know. Jesus replied, then I won't tell you what
• 1:19:36
  Speaker 1: authority I have to do these things. The conflicts grew
• 1:19:40
  Speaker 1: more heated. In Matthew chapter twenty three, Jesus publicly condemned
• 1:19:46
  Speaker 1: the religious leader's hypocrisy. He called them in verse twenty
• 1:19:49
  Speaker 1: seven whitewashed, or tombs which look beautiful on the outside,
• 1:19:54
  Speaker 1: but on the inside are full of the bones of
• 1:19:57
  Speaker 1: the dead and everything unclean. Jesus accused them of loading
• 1:20:01
  Speaker 1: people down with heavy burdens while not lifting a finger
• 1:20:04
  Speaker 1: to help. He said they traveled over land and sea
• 1:20:07
  Speaker 1: to win a single convert, then made that person twice
• 1:20:11
  Speaker 1: as much a child of Hell as they were. The
• 1:20:14
  Speaker 1: religious leaders were furious, but they were also afraid of
• 1:20:18
  Speaker 1: jesus popularity with the people. They began looking for ways
• 1:20:22
  Speaker 1: to arrest him secretly and put him to death. The
• 1:20:25
  Speaker 1: final confrontation was coming as Jesus and his disciples approached
• 1:20:30
  Speaker 1: Jerusalem for what would be his final passover. They came
• 1:20:34
  Speaker 1: to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two
• 1:20:39
  Speaker 1: disciples ahead with specific instructions. In Matthew chapter twenty one,
• 1:20:45
  Speaker 1: verses two and three, he told them, go to the
• 1:20:48
  Speaker 1: town you can see there. When you enter it, you
• 1:20:51
  Speaker 1: will quickly find a donkey tied there with its colt.
• 1:20:54
  Speaker 1: Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone asks
• 1:20:57
  Speaker 1: you why you are taking the donkeys, say that the
• 1:21:00
  Speaker 1: Master needs them, and he will send them at once.
• 1:21:04
  Speaker 1: This fulfilled a prophecy from Zechariah chapter nine, verse nine.
• 1:21:09
  Speaker 1: Tell the city of Jerusalem, your king is coming to you.
• 1:21:13
  Speaker 1: He is gentle and riding on a donkey, on the
• 1:21:16
  Speaker 1: colt of a donkey. The disciples went and found everything
• 1:21:20
  Speaker 1: exactly as Jesus had said. They brought the donkey and
• 1:21:23
  Speaker 1: its colt to Jesus, put their coats on them, and
• 1:21:27
  Speaker 1: Jesus sat on the colt. This was significant. Nor kings
• 1:21:32
  Speaker 1: rode horses when going to war, but they rode donkeys
• 1:21:35
  Speaker 1: when coming in peace. As Jesus began his descent from
• 1:21:39
  Speaker 1: the Mount of Olives toward Jerusalem, something amazing happened. A
• 1:21:44
  Speaker 1: very large crowd gathered, and people began spreading their coats
• 1:21:48
  Speaker 1: on the road in front of Jesus. Others cut branches
• 1:21:52
  Speaker 1: from palm trees and spread them on the path. The
• 1:21:55
  Speaker 1: crowds walking ahead of Jesus and those following began shouting.
• 1:22:00
  Speaker 1: In Matthew chapter twenty one, verse nine, they cried out,
• 1:22:04
  Speaker 1: praise to the Son of David. God bless the one
• 1:22:07
  Speaker 1: who comes in the name of the Lord. Praise to
• 1:22:10
  Speaker 1: God in heaven. Son of David was a Messianic title.
• 1:22:15
  Speaker 1: The people were declaring Jesus to be the promised king
• 1:22:18
  Speaker 1: from David's line. They were quoting Psalm one hundred eighteen,
• 1:22:22
  Speaker 1: verse twenty six, recognizing Jesus as the one sent by God.
• 1:22:29
  Speaker 1: Luke chapter nineteen, verse thirty seven tells us that the
• 1:22:32
  Speaker 1: whole crowd of disciples began joyfully praising God in loud
• 1:22:37
  Speaker 1: voices for all the miracles they had seen. They shouted,
• 1:22:42
  Speaker 1: blessed is the King who comes in the name of
• 1:22:44
  Speaker 1: the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory to God. Some
• 1:22:48
  Speaker 1: Pharisees in the crowd were upset by all this praise
• 1:22:50
  Speaker 1: being given to Jesus. In verse thirty nine, they said
• 1:22:54
  Speaker 1: to him, Teacher, tell your followers not to say these things.
• 1:22:59
  Speaker 1: But Jesus answered in verse forty I tell you, if
• 1:23:03
  Speaker 1: my followers didn't say these things, then the stones would
• 1:23:07
  Speaker 1: cry out. As Jesus came closer to Jerusalem and saw
• 1:23:10
  Speaker 1: the city, he wept over it. In Luke chapter nineteen,
• 1:23:14
  Speaker 1: verses forty one through forty four, Jesus said, I wish
• 1:23:18
  Speaker 1: you knew to day what would bring you peace, But
• 1:23:22
  Speaker 1: now it is hidden from you. The time is coming
• 1:23:25
  Speaker 1: when your enemies will build a wall around you and
• 1:23:28
  Speaker 1: will hold you in on all sides. They will destroy
• 1:23:31
  Speaker 1: you and all your people, and not one stone will
• 1:23:34
  Speaker 1: be left on another. All this will happen because you
• 1:23:38
  Speaker 1: did not recognize the time when God came to save you.
• 1:23:42
  Speaker 1: When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up.
• 1:23:46
  Speaker 1: People were asking who is this lay The crowds answered
• 1:23:50
  Speaker 1: in Matthew chapter twenty one, verse eleven, this is Jesus,
• 1:23:54
  Speaker 1: the prophet from Nazareth. In Galilee, Jesus went straight to
• 1:23:58
  Speaker 1: the temple courts, and what he saw or there made
• 1:24:01
  Speaker 1: him angry, just as he had done at the beginning
• 1:24:03
  Speaker 1: of his ministry. He found the temple filled with merchants
• 1:24:07
  Speaker 1: and money changers who had turned God's house into a
• 1:24:11
  Speaker 1: market place. But this time jesus actions were even more dramatic,
• 1:24:17
  Speaker 1: As recorded in Matthew chapter twenty one, verse twelve, Jesus
• 1:24:21
  Speaker 1: threw out all the people who were buying and selling
• 1:24:24
  Speaker 1: in the temple. He turned over the tables of the
• 1:24:26
  Speaker 1: money changes and the benches of those selling doves. Jesus
• 1:24:31
  Speaker 1: quoted scripture as he cleaned out the temple. In verse thirteen,
• 1:24:35
  Speaker 1: he said to them, it is written in the scriptures.
• 1:24:38
  Speaker 1: My temple will be called a house for prayer, but
• 1:24:42
  Speaker 1: you are changing it into a hideout for robbers. The
• 1:24:45
  Speaker 1: blind and crippled came to Jesus in the temple and
• 1:24:48
  Speaker 1: he healed them. Children were running around shouting praise to
• 1:24:52
  Speaker 1: the son of David. This made the chief priests and
• 1:24:55
  Speaker 1: teachers of the law very angry. In verse fifteen, they
• 1:24:59
  Speaker 1: asked Jesus, Esus, do you hear the things these children
• 1:25:02
  Speaker 1: are saying. Jesus answered them by quoting Psalm eight, verse two, Yes,
• 1:25:08
  Speaker 1: haven't you read in the scriptures you have taught children
• 1:25:10
  Speaker 1: and babies to sing praises. The religious leaders were furious,
• 1:25:15
  Speaker 1: but couldn't do anything because Jesus was so popular with
• 1:25:18
  Speaker 1: the people. Every day Jesus taught in the temple courts,
• 1:25:22
  Speaker 1: and every evening he went out to spend the night
• 1:25:25
  Speaker 1: on the hill called the Mount of Olives. All the
• 1:25:28
  Speaker 1: people came early in the morning to hear him at
• 1:25:30
  Speaker 1: the temple. The stage was set for the final week
• 1:25:33
  Speaker 1: of Jesus's earthly ministry. The crowds had welcomed him as
• 1:25:37
  Speaker 1: their king, but the religious leaders were more determined than
• 1:25:40
  Speaker 1: ever to destroy him. The confrontation that had been building
• 1:25:44
  Speaker 1: for three years was about to reach its climax. It
• 1:25:49
  Speaker 1: was Thursday evening of Passover week, and Jesus knew this
• 1:25:55
  Speaker 1: would be his final meal with his disciples before his death.
• 1:25:59
  Speaker 1: He had been looking forward to this moment with both
• 1:26:02
  Speaker 1: anticipation and sorrow. Everything he had come to Earth to
• 1:26:06
  Speaker 1: accomplish was about to reach its climax. Jesus sent Peter
• 1:26:12
  Speaker 1: and John ahead to prepare the Passover meal. In Luke
• 1:26:14
  Speaker 1: chapter twenty two, verse ten, he told them, after you
• 1:26:18
  Speaker 1: go into the city, a man carrying a jar of
• 1:26:20
  Speaker 1: water will meet you. Follow him into the house that
• 1:26:24
  Speaker 1: he enters. This was unusual because men didn't normally carry
• 1:26:28
  Speaker 1: water jars. That was women's work. But everything happened exactly
• 1:26:32
  Speaker 1: as Jesus predicted. When evening came, Jesus sat down at
• 1:26:37
  Speaker 1: the table with his twelve apostles. The room was filled
• 1:26:40
  Speaker 1: with the rich aroama of roasted lamb, unleavened bread and wine.
• 1:26:45
  Speaker 1: This should have been a joyful celebration of God's deliverance
• 1:26:48
  Speaker 1: of Israel from Egypt, but Jesus's heart was heavy. In
• 1:26:53
  Speaker 1: Luke chapter twenty two, verse fifteen, Jesus said to them,
• 1:26:57
  Speaker 1: I wanted very much to eat this part over meal
• 1:27:00
  Speaker 1: with you. Before I suffer. He knew this was good bye,
• 1:27:04
  Speaker 1: and he wanted to spend these precious hours teaching them
• 1:27:08
  Speaker 1: things they would need to remember. Before they began eating,
• 1:27:13
  Speaker 1: Jesus did something that shocked everyone. He got up from
• 1:27:17
  Speaker 1: the table, took off his outer clothes, and wrapped a
• 1:27:20
  Speaker 1: towel around his waist like a servant. Then he poured
• 1:27:23
  Speaker 1: water into a bowl and began washing his disciple's feet.
• 1:27:28
  Speaker 1: This was the job of the lowest servant in the household.
• 1:27:31
  Speaker 1: The disciples were embarrassed and confused. When Jesus came to Peter,
• 1:27:36
  Speaker 1: Peter objected strongly. In John chapter thirteen, verse eight, he said, no,
• 1:27:42
  Speaker 1: you will never wash my feet. Jesus answered, if I
• 1:27:45
  Speaker 1: don't wash your feet, you are not one of my people.
• 1:27:48
  Speaker 1: Peter immediately changed his mind and said in verse nine, Lord,
• 1:27:52
  Speaker 1: then wash not only my feet, but wash my hands
• 1:27:56
  Speaker 1: and my head too. But Jesus explained that wasn't no necessary.
• 1:28:01
  Speaker 1: Some one who had already bathed only needed his feet
• 1:28:04
  Speaker 1: wash to be completely clean. Then Jesus said something mysterious
• 1:28:09
  Speaker 1: in verse ten, and you are clean, but not all
• 1:28:13
  Speaker 1: of you. He knew that Judas was about to betray him.
• 1:28:18
  Speaker 1: After washing all their feet. Jesus put his clothes back
• 1:28:21
  Speaker 1: on and returned to the table. In John chapter thirteen,
• 1:28:26
  Speaker 1: verses twelve through fifteen, he asked them, do you understand
• 1:28:31
  Speaker 1: what I have just done for you? You call me
• 1:28:33
  Speaker 1: teacher and lord, and you are right, because that is
• 1:28:36
  Speaker 1: what I am. If I, your lord and teacher, have
• 1:28:39
  Speaker 1: washed your feet, you also should wash each other's feet.
• 1:28:43
  Speaker 1: I did this as an example so that you should
• 1:28:46
  Speaker 1: do as I have done for you. As they were
• 1:28:49
  Speaker 1: eating the passover meal, Jesus became deeply troubled. In verse
• 1:28:53
  Speaker 1: twenty one, he announced, I tell you the truth. One
• 1:28:57
  Speaker 1: of you will turn against me. The deciiples were shocked
• 1:29:01
  Speaker 1: and began asking, surely you don't mean me. Lord John,
• 1:29:05
  Speaker 1: who was sitting next to Jesus, leaned back against him
• 1:29:08
  Speaker 1: and quietly asked, Lord, who is it. Jesus answered in
• 1:29:12
  Speaker 1: verse twenty six, I will dip this bread into the dish.
• 1:29:15
  Speaker 1: The man I give it to is the man who
• 1:29:17
  Speaker 1: will turn against me. Then Jesus dipped the bread and
• 1:29:20
  Speaker 1: gave it to Judas Iscariot. As soon as Judas took
• 1:29:23
  Speaker 1: the bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him
• 1:29:27
  Speaker 1: in verse twenty seven, the thing that you will do,
• 1:29:30
  Speaker 1: do it quickly. None of the other disciples understood what
• 1:29:34
  Speaker 1: Jesus meant. Some thought Jesus was telling Judas to buy
• 1:29:38
  Speaker 1: something for the feast or to give something to the poor.
• 1:29:42
  Speaker 1: Judas took the bread and immediately went out into the night.
• 1:29:46
  Speaker 1: Both literally and spiritually. The betrayer was gone, leaving Jesus
• 1:29:52
  Speaker 1: with his eleven faithful disciples for their final hours together.
• 1:29:57
  Speaker 1: Then Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke it. In Luke
• 1:30:01
  Speaker 1: chapter twenty two, verse nineteen, he said, this is my
• 1:30:05
  Speaker 1: body which I am giving, and for you do this
• 1:30:09
  Speaker 1: to remember me. This wasn't just ordinary bread anymore. It
• 1:30:13
  Speaker 1: represented his body that would be broken on the cross.
• 1:30:17
  Speaker 1: After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine and said
• 1:30:20
  Speaker 1: in verse twenty, this cup is the new agreement that
• 1:30:25
  Speaker 1: God makes with his people. This new agreement begins with
• 1:30:29
  Speaker 1: my blood, which is poured out for you. Every time
• 1:30:33
  Speaker 1: they drank this cup in the future, they would remember
• 1:30:35
  Speaker 1: his sacrifice. Jesus gave his disciples a new commandment in
• 1:30:40
  Speaker 1: John chapter thirteen, Verses thirty four and thirty five. He said,
• 1:30:45
  Speaker 1: love each other. You must love each other as I
• 1:30:48
  Speaker 1: have loved you all. People will know that you are
• 1:30:51
  Speaker 1: my followers if you love each other. Jesus spent the
• 1:30:54
  Speaker 1: rest of the evening preparing his disciples for what was coming.
• 1:30:58
  Speaker 1: He told them he was going away to prepare a
• 1:31:01
  Speaker 1: place for them in his father's house. He promised to
• 1:31:04
  Speaker 1: send the Holy Spirit to comfort and guide them. He
• 1:31:07
  Speaker 1: taught them that they were branches connected to him, the
• 1:31:11
  Speaker 1: True Vine, and that apart from him, they could do nothing.
• 1:31:16
  Speaker 1: But he also warned them about the persecution they would face.
• 1:31:20
  Speaker 1: In John chapter sixteen, verse two, he said, people will
• 1:31:23
  Speaker 1: put you out of their synagogues. Yes, the time is
• 1:31:26
  Speaker 1: coming when those who kill you will think they are
• 1:31:29
  Speaker 1: serving God. The world would hate them because it had
• 1:31:33
  Speaker 1: first hated Jesus. After the la Supper, Jesus and his
• 1:31:37
  Speaker 1: disciples sang a hymn and went out to the Mount
• 1:31:40
  Speaker 1: of Olives. They walked through the dark streets of Jerusalem
• 1:31:43
  Speaker 1: and crossed the Kidron Valley to a garden called gethsemone
• 1:31:47
  Speaker 1: where Jesus often went to pray. Jesus was deeply troubled
• 1:31:52
  Speaker 1: as they entered the garden. In Matthew chapter twenty six,
• 1:31:56
  Speaker 1: verse thirty eight, he said to Peter James and John.
• 1:31:59
  Speaker 1: My heart is full of sorrow to the point of death.
• 1:32:02
  Speaker 1: Stay here and watch with me. Ye. He took these
• 1:32:06
  Speaker 1: three disciples a little farther into the garden, then went
• 1:32:09
  Speaker 1: about a stone's throw beyond them to pray alone. What
• 1:32:13
  Speaker 1: happened next was one of the most mysterious and difficult
• 1:32:17
  Speaker 1: moments in jesus life. Luke chapter twenty two, verse forty
• 1:32:23
  Speaker 1: four describes how Jesus prayed so intensely that his sweat
• 1:32:26
  Speaker 1: became like drops of blood falling to the ground. This
• 1:32:30
  Speaker 1: rare medical condition, called hematidrosis, happens when someone is under
• 1:32:35
  Speaker 1: extreme stress. Jesus fell face down on the ground and
• 1:32:40
  Speaker 1: prayed with anguish. In Matthew chapter twenty six, verse thirty nine,
• 1:32:44
  Speaker 1: he cried out, my father, if it is possible, let
• 1:32:49
  Speaker 1: this cup of suffering be taken away from me, But
• 1:32:52
  Speaker 1: do what you want, not what I want. The cup
• 1:32:55
  Speaker 1: Jesus spoke of represented all the sin and punishment he
• 1:32:59
  Speaker 1: was about to take a upon himself. The sinless son
• 1:33:02
  Speaker 1: of God was about to become sin for the world,
• 1:33:05
  Speaker 1: experiencing separation from his father for the first time in eternity.
• 1:33:10
  Speaker 1: The weight of that approaching moment was crushing him. Jesus
• 1:33:14
  Speaker 1: went back to check on his three disciples and found
• 1:33:17
  Speaker 1: them sleeping. He woke Peter and asked, in verse forty
• 1:33:21
  Speaker 1: couldn't you men stay awake with me for one hour?
• 1:33:25
  Speaker 1: He told them to watch and pray so they wouldn't
• 1:33:28
  Speaker 1: fall into temptation, adding that the spirit was willing, but
• 1:33:32
  Speaker 1: the flesh was weak. Jesus went away a second time
• 1:33:36
  Speaker 1: and prayed the same prayer. When he returned, he found
• 1:33:39
  Speaker 1: the disciples sleeping again. Because their eyes were heavy, they
• 1:33:43
  Speaker 1: didn't know what to say to him. A third time,
• 1:33:46
  Speaker 1: Jesus went away and prayed, saying the same words. The
• 1:33:50
  Speaker 1: struggle was intense, but gradually Jesus found peace in submitting
• 1:33:55
  Speaker 1: to his father's will. An angel from heaven appeared and
• 1:33:59
  Speaker 1: strength him for what lay ahead. When Jesus came back
• 1:34:03
  Speaker 1: to the disciples the third time, he said, in verse
• 1:34:05
  Speaker 1: forty five, are you still sleeping and resting? Look? The
• 1:34:09
  Speaker 1: time has come for the son of Man to be
• 1:34:11
  Speaker 1: handed over to sinful people. He could hear voices and
• 1:34:15
  Speaker 1: see torches approaching through the trees. In verse forty six,
• 1:34:19
  Speaker 1: Jesus said, get up, let's go. Look, here comes the
• 1:34:23
  Speaker 1: man who has turned against me. Judas was leading a
• 1:34:27
  Speaker 1: large crowd of soldiers and officials from the chief priests
• 1:34:31
  Speaker 1: and Pharisees, armed with swords and clubs. Judas had arranged
• 1:34:35
  Speaker 1: a signal with the soldiers the one he kissed would
• 1:34:39
  Speaker 1: be Jesus, since it was dark and many of them
• 1:34:41
  Speaker 1: wouldn't recognize Jesus by sight. Judas walked up to Jesus
• 1:34:47
  Speaker 1: and said, in Matthew, chapter twenty six, verse forty nine,
• 1:34:50
  Speaker 1: greetings teacher. Then he kissed Jesus on the cheek. Jesus
• 1:34:57
  Speaker 1: responded sadly in verse fifty friend, do what you came
• 1:35:01
  Speaker 1: to do. Even in this moment of betrayal, Jesus showed
• 1:35:05
  Speaker 1: kindness to the man who was handing him over to
• 1:35:08
  Speaker 1: his enemies. When the soldiers moved to arrest Jesus, Peter
• 1:35:13
  Speaker 1: drew his sword and struck the high priest's servant, cutting
• 1:35:17
  Speaker 1: off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus, and
• 1:35:21
  Speaker 1: he was probably bleeding heavily and in great pain. But
• 1:35:24
  Speaker 1: Jesus immediately stopped the violence. In verse fifty two, he
• 1:35:28
  Speaker 1: told Peter, put your sword back in its place. All
• 1:35:32
  Speaker 1: who use swords will be killed with swords. Then Jesus
• 1:35:36
  Speaker 1: touched the man's ear and healed him completely. Even while
• 1:35:40
  Speaker 1: being arrested, Jesus showed mercy and compassion. Jesus asked the
• 1:35:45
  Speaker 1: crowd in verse fifty five, did you come to arrest
• 1:35:49
  Speaker 1: me with swords and clubs as if I were a criminal?
• 1:35:52
  Speaker 1: Every day I sat in the temple teaching, and you
• 1:35:55
  Speaker 1: did not arrest me there. But he knew this was
• 1:35:59
  Speaker 1: all happening according to God's plan, as the prophets had written.
• 1:36:04
  Speaker 1: When Jesus was arrested, all his disciples ran away, just
• 1:36:08
  Speaker 1: as he had predicted. They were terrified and scattered into
• 1:36:11
  Speaker 1: the night, leaving Jesus alone with his captors. The soldiers
• 1:36:15
  Speaker 1: took Jesus first to Annas, the former high priest who
• 1:36:19
  Speaker 1: still had great influence. Annas questioned Jesus about his disciples
• 1:36:24
  Speaker 1: and his teaching, but Jesus answered in John chapter eighteen,
• 1:36:28
  Speaker 1: verse twenty, I have spoken openly to everyone. I have
• 1:36:32
  Speaker 1: always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all
• 1:36:35
  Speaker 1: the Jews come together. I never said anything in secret.
• 1:36:39
  Speaker 1: From Annas, they took Jesus to Caiaphas, the current high priest,
• 1:36:44
  Speaker 1: where the Sanhedrin had gathered for an illegal trial. In
• 1:36:48
  Speaker 1: the middle of the night, they were looking for false
• 1:36:50
  Speaker 1: evidence against Jesus so they could sentence him to death,
• 1:36:54
  Speaker 1: but they couldn't find any consistent testimony. Finally put Jesus
• 1:37:00
  Speaker 1: under oath and demanded in Matthew chapter twenty six, verse
• 1:37:04
  Speaker 1: sixty three, tell Us, if you are the Christ, the
• 1:37:08
  Speaker 1: son of God. Jesus answered in verse sixty four, those
• 1:37:12
  Speaker 1: are your words. But I tell you, in the future
• 1:37:15
  Speaker 1: you will see the son of Man sitting at the
• 1:37:17
  Speaker 1: right hand of God, the powerful One, and coming on
• 1:37:21
  Speaker 1: clouds in the sky. The high priest tore his clothes
• 1:37:24
  Speaker 1: and shouted, this man has said things that are against God.
• 1:37:29
  Speaker 1: We don't need any more witnesses. You all heard him
• 1:37:32
  Speaker 1: say these things against God. What do you think? They
• 1:37:35
  Speaker 1: all said Jesus should die, but the Jewish leaders didn't
• 1:37:39
  Speaker 1: have the authority to execute anyone. Only the Roman governor
• 1:37:43
  Speaker 1: could do that, So early in the morning they took
• 1:37:47
  Speaker 1: Jesus to Pontius Pilot. Pilot questioned Jesus but found no
• 1:37:51
  Speaker 1: basis for the charges against him. When he learned Jesus
• 1:37:55
  Speaker 1: was from Galilee, he sent him to herod Antipus, who
• 1:37:58
  Speaker 1: was in Jerusalem for them passover. Herod was excited to
• 1:38:02
  Speaker 1: see Jesus and hoped to see him perform a miracle,
• 1:38:06
  Speaker 1: but Jesus remained silent. Herod and his soldiers mocked Jesus
• 1:38:11
  Speaker 1: and sent him back to Pilot. Pilot tried several times
• 1:38:15
  Speaker 1: to release Jesus. He offered to free either Jesus or Barabbas,
• 1:38:20
  Speaker 1: a notorious criminal, thinking surely the people would choose to
• 1:38:24
  Speaker 1: free the innocent teacher, but the crowd, stirred up by
• 1:38:28
  Speaker 1: the religious leaders, shouted for Barabas to be released and
• 1:38:31
  Speaker 1: for Jesus to be crucified. When Pilot saw that he
• 1:38:36
  Speaker 1: was getting nowhere and that a riot might start, he
• 1:38:39
  Speaker 1: took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd.
• 1:38:43
  Speaker 1: In Matthew chapter twenty seven, verse twenty four, he said,
• 1:38:47
  Speaker 1: I am not guilty of this man's death. You are
• 1:38:50
  Speaker 1: the ones who are causing it. But then he gave
• 1:38:54
  Speaker 1: the order for Jesus to be crucified. The Roman soldiers
• 1:38:58
  Speaker 1: took Jesus into the governor's palace and gathered the whole
• 1:39:02
  Speaker 1: company around him. They stripped off his clothes and put
• 1:39:05
  Speaker 1: a scarlet robe on him to mock his claim to
• 1:39:08
  Speaker 1: be a king. They twisted together a crown of thorns
• 1:39:12
  Speaker 1: and placed it on his head, putting a staff in
• 1:39:14
  Speaker 1: his right hand as a fake scepter. The soldiers knelt
• 1:39:19
  Speaker 1: in front of Jesus and mocked him, saying Hail, King
• 1:39:23
  Speaker 1: of the Jews. They spit on him and hit him
• 1:39:26
  Speaker 1: on the head with the staff. After they had finished
• 1:39:29
  Speaker 1: mocking him, they took off the robe and put his
• 1:39:32
  Speaker 1: own clothes back on him. Then came the horrible ordeal
• 1:39:36
  Speaker 1: of crucifixion. Jesus had already been severely beaten and was
• 1:39:40
  Speaker 1: weak from blood loss. The soldiers forced him to carry
• 1:39:44
  Speaker 1: his own cross through the streets of Jerusalem to the
• 1:39:47
  Speaker 1: place of execution called Golgatha, which means the place of
• 1:39:52
  Speaker 1: the Skull. Along the way, Jesus collapsed under the weight
• 1:39:56
  Speaker 1: of the cross. The soldiers grabbed a man from Sirene
• 1:40:00
  Speaker 1: named Simon, who was coming in from the country, and
• 1:40:04
  Speaker 1: forced him to carry the cross the rest of the way.
• 1:40:07
  Speaker 1: A large crowd followed Jesus, including many women who were
• 1:40:11
  Speaker 1: mourning and wailing for him. Jesus turned to them and
• 1:40:15
  Speaker 1: said in Luke chapter twenty three, verses twenty eight through
• 1:40:18
  Speaker 1: thirty one, women of Jerusalem don't cry for me, Cry
• 1:40:23
  Speaker 1: for yourselves and for your children. The time is coming
• 1:40:27
  Speaker 1: when people will say, happy are the women him who
• 1:40:31
  Speaker 1: cannot have children and who have no babies to nurse.
• 1:40:34
  Speaker 1: Then people will say to the mountains fall on us um,
• 1:40:39
  Speaker 1: and they will say to the hills cover us. If
• 1:40:42
  Speaker 1: they act like this now when life is good, what
• 1:40:45
  Speaker 1: will happen when times are bad. At Golgatha, the soldiers
• 1:40:49
  Speaker 1: offer Jesus wine mixed with bitter spices to help numb
• 1:40:53
  Speaker 1: the pain, but he refused to drink it. They laid
• 1:40:57
  Speaker 1: him down on the cross and drove nails through his
• 1:40:59
  Speaker 1: hands and feet. The pain was excruciating, but Jesus endured
• 1:41:04
  Speaker 1: it all. As the soldiers lifted the cross upright, Jesus
• 1:41:09
  Speaker 1: prayed in Luke, chapter twenty three, verse thirty four, Father,
• 1:41:13
  Speaker 1: forgive them because they don't know what they are doing.
• 1:41:16
  Speaker 1: Even while suffering unimaginable agony, Jesus asked God to forgive
• 1:41:21
  Speaker 1: his executioners. The soldiers divided jesus clothes among themselves by
• 1:41:26
  Speaker 1: throwing lots to decide who got what. Above jesus head,
• 1:41:31
  Speaker 1: they placed a sign that read, this is Jesus, the
• 1:41:35
  Speaker 1: King of the Jews. In Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. Two
• 1:41:39
  Speaker 1: criminals were crucified with Jesus, one on his right and
• 1:41:42
  Speaker 1: one on his left. One of them joined the crowd
• 1:41:45
  Speaker 1: in mocking Jesus, but the other criminal defended him. In
• 1:41:49
  Speaker 1: verses forty two and forty three, this criminal said, Jesus,
• 1:41:53
  Speaker 1: remember me when you come into your kingdom. Jesus answered him,
• 1:41:59
  Speaker 1: I tell you the truth. To day you will be
• 1:42:03
  Speaker 1: with me in Paradise. Near the cross stood jesus mother Mary,
• 1:42:07
  Speaker 1: along with Mary Magdalene and John the Disciple. Jesus loved
• 1:42:12
  Speaker 1: seeing his mother's grief. Jesus said to her in John
• 1:42:14
  Speaker 1: chapter nineteen, verse twenty six, dear woman, here is your son.
• 1:42:19
  Speaker 1: Then he said to John, here is your mother. From
• 1:42:22
  Speaker 1: that time on, John took Mary into his home from
• 1:42:25
  Speaker 1: noon until three in the afternoon, darkness came over the
• 1:42:27
  Speaker 1: whole land. At about three o'clock, Jesus cried out in
• 1:42:32
  Speaker 1: a loud voice in Matthew chapter twenty seven, verse forty six,
• 1:42:36
  Speaker 1: My God, my God, why have you rejected me. This
• 1:42:41
  Speaker 1: was the moment when Jesus, bearing the sin of the world,
• 1:42:45
  Speaker 1: experienced separation from his father. Jesus knew that everything was
• 1:42:50
  Speaker 1: now finished to fulfill the scripture, he said, I am thirsty.
• 1:42:55
  Speaker 1: Someone ran and soaked a sponge in wine vinegar, put
• 1:42:58
  Speaker 1: it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink.
• 1:43:01
  Speaker 1: After receiving the drink, Jesus said in John chapter nineteen,
• 1:43:05
  Speaker 1: verse thirty, it is finished. Then he called out in
• 1:43:08
  Speaker 1: a loud voice in Luke chapter twenty three, verse forty six, Father,
• 1:43:13
  Speaker 1: I give you my life. With that, he bowed his
• 1:43:16
  Speaker 1: head and died. The moment Jesus died, extraordinary things began
• 1:43:23
  Speaker 1: happening that left everyone stunned and afraid. These weren't just
• 1:43:27
  Speaker 1: natural coincidences. They were supernatural signs that something of cosmic
• 1:43:33
  Speaker 1: significance had just taken place. First, the curtain in the
• 1:43:38
  Speaker 1: temple was torn in two from top to bottom. This
• 1:43:42
  Speaker 1: wasn't the outer curtain that everyone could see, but the
• 1:43:45
  Speaker 1: inner curtain that separated the holy Place from the most
• 1:43:49
  Speaker 1: holy place. This thick, heavy curtain had kept people separated
• 1:43:54
  Speaker 1: from God's presence for centuries. Only the high priest could
• 1:43:58
  Speaker 1: go behind it, and only once a year. But now
• 1:44:02
  Speaker 1: it was ripped apart completely, showing that the way to
• 1:44:06
  Speaker 1: God was now open to everyone through Jesus sacrifice. The
• 1:44:10
  Speaker 1: tearing happened from top to bottom, indicating that God himself
• 1:44:14
  Speaker 1: had done it, not human hands. At the same moment,
• 1:44:19
  Speaker 1: the earth shook violently. This wasn't a minor tremor. It
• 1:44:24
  Speaker 1: was a powerful earthquake that split rocks throughout the area.
• 1:44:28
  Speaker 1: In Matthew chapter twenty seven, verse fifty one, we're told
• 1:44:31
  Speaker 1: that the rocks were split and tombs were opened. Something
• 1:44:35
  Speaker 1: even more amazing happened next. In verse fifty two, Matthew
• 1:44:40
  Speaker 1: records that many holy people who had died were raised
• 1:44:43
  Speaker 1: to life after Jesus Resurrection. They came out of their
• 1:44:47
  Speaker 1: tombs and went into Jerusalem, where many people saw them.
• 1:44:51
  Speaker 1: Imagine the shock of seeing people you knew had died
• 1:44:54
  Speaker 1: walking around the city alive again. The Roman centurion, who
• 1:44:58
  Speaker 1: had been in charge of the crew fiction, had seen
• 1:45:01
  Speaker 1: many men die, but he'd never witnessed anything like this.
• 1:45:05
  Speaker 1: When he saw the earthquake and everything that happened, he
• 1:45:09
  Speaker 1: was terrified. In verse fifty four, he declared, this man
• 1:45:15
  Speaker 1: really was the son of God. The crowds who had
• 1:45:18
  Speaker 1: come to watch the crucifixion were also deeply affected by
• 1:45:22
  Speaker 1: these supernatural signs. Luke chapter twenty three, verse forty eight
• 1:45:27
  Speaker 1: tells Us that when they saw what had happened, they
• 1:45:30
  Speaker 1: beat their breasts and went away. They realized they had
• 1:45:34
  Speaker 1: witnessed the death of an innocent man, possibly even the
• 1:45:38
  Speaker 1: son of God. Many women who had followed Jesus from
• 1:45:41
  Speaker 1: Galilee were watching from a distance. They had supported his
• 1:45:45
  Speaker 1: ministry and cared for his needs. Now they watched in
• 1:45:48
  Speaker 1: grief as their beloved teacher died on the cross. As
• 1:45:53
  Speaker 1: evening approached, a rich man named Joseph from Arimathea came
• 1:45:57
  Speaker 1: to ask Pilot for jesus body. Joseph was a member
• 1:46:02
  Speaker 1: of the Jewish Council, but had been a secret disciple
• 1:46:05
  Speaker 1: of Jesus. He hadn't agreed with the council's decision to
• 1:46:09
  Speaker 1: crucify Jesus. Pilot was surprised that Jesus had died so quickly,
• 1:46:14
  Speaker 1: crucifixion usually took much longer. He called the centurion to
• 1:46:18
  Speaker 1: confirm that Jesus was really dead, then gave permission for
• 1:46:22
  Speaker 1: Joseph to take the body. Joseph brought fine linen, cloth,
• 1:46:26
  Speaker 1: and spices to prepare jesus body for burial. Nicodemus, the
• 1:46:32
  Speaker 1: man who had visited Jesus at night early in his
• 1:46:35
  Speaker 1: ministry came to help. He brought about seventy five pounds
• 1:46:39
  Speaker 1: of myrh and aloes, an expensive mixture. Showing great love
• 1:46:43
  Speaker 1: and respect, they wrapped jesus body in the linen cloths
• 1:46:47
  Speaker 1: with the spices according to Jewish burial customs. Near the
• 1:46:52
  Speaker 1: place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden with
• 1:46:55
  Speaker 1: a new tomb that had never been used. Because it
• 1:46:59
  Speaker 1: was almost sunset and the Sabbath was beginning, they laid
• 1:47:03
  Speaker 1: Jesus there. Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Joseph,
• 1:47:06
  Speaker 1: saw where Jesus was buried. The stone was rolled across
• 1:47:11
  Speaker 1: the entrance, sealing the tomb. The next day, the chief
• 1:47:15
  Speaker 1: priests and pharisees went to Pilate and asked him to
• 1:47:18
  Speaker 1: place guards at the tomb and seal it officially, afraid
• 1:47:22
  Speaker 1: that jesus disciples might steal the body and claim he
• 1:47:26
  Speaker 1: had risen from the dead. The Son of God lay
• 1:47:29
  Speaker 1: dead in a borrowed tomb, sealed with Roman authority and
• 1:47:33
  Speaker 1: guarded by soldiers. It seemed like the end of everything
• 1:47:37
  Speaker 1: his followers had hoped for, But Sunday was coming very early.
• 1:47:44
  Speaker 1: On Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene
• 1:47:48
  Speaker 1: and the other women who had followed Jesus came to
• 1:47:50
  Speaker 1: the tomb. They were bringing spices to properly anoint jesus body,
• 1:47:55
  Speaker 1: since there hadn't been time before the Sabbath began. As
• 1:47:58
  Speaker 1: they walked through the guard, they were worried about one
• 1:48:01
  Speaker 1: practical problem. In Mark chapter sixteen, verse three, they asked
• 1:48:06
  Speaker 1: each other, who will roll away for us the stone
• 1:48:10
  Speaker 1: that covers the entrance of the tomb. The stone was
• 1:48:13
  Speaker 1: very large and heavy, too big for them to move
• 1:48:16
  Speaker 1: by themselves. But when they arrived at the tomb they
• 1:48:20
  Speaker 1: got the shock of their lives. The stone had already
• 1:48:23
  Speaker 1: been rolled away, not just moved aside, but rolled completely
• 1:48:28
  Speaker 1: away from the entrance. The tomb was open. What they
• 1:48:32
  Speaker 1: didn't know was that there had been a great earthquake
• 1:48:34
  Speaker 1: just before dawn. An angel of the Lord had come
• 1:48:38
  Speaker 1: down from heaven, rolled back the stone, and sat on it.
• 1:48:43
  Speaker 1: Matthew chapter twenty eight, verse three describes the angel's appearance.
• 1:48:48
  Speaker 1: He was shining as bright as lightning, and his clothes
• 1:48:51
  Speaker 1: were white as snow. The Roman guards had been so
• 1:48:55
  Speaker 1: afraid when they saw the angel that they shook with
• 1:48:58
  Speaker 1: terror and became like dead men. Then they ran away
• 1:49:02
  Speaker 1: to tell the chief priests what had happened. Mary Magdalen
• 1:49:05
  Speaker 1: looked into the tomb first and saw that it was empty.
• 1:49:10
  Speaker 1: Jesus body was gone. She immediately ran to find Peter
• 1:49:14
  Speaker 1: and John. In John chapter twenty, verse two, she told
• 1:49:18
  Speaker 1: them they have taken the Lord out of the tomb,
• 1:49:21
  Speaker 1: and we don't know where they have put him. Peter
• 1:49:24
  Speaker 1: and John ran to the tomb as fast as they could. John,
• 1:49:27
  Speaker 1: being younger, outran Peter and got there first. He bent
• 1:49:31
  Speaker 1: down and looked in, seeing the linen cloths lying there,
• 1:49:34
  Speaker 1: but he didn't go inside. When Peter arrived, he went
• 1:49:38
  Speaker 1: straight into the tomb. What he saw was very strange.
• 1:49:42
  Speaker 1: The cloth that had been around Jesus's head was folded
• 1:49:45
  Speaker 1: up by itself, separate from the other cloths. If some
• 1:49:49
  Speaker 1: one had stolen the body, why would they have taken
• 1:49:52
  Speaker 1: time to carefully unwrap it and fold the burial cloths.
• 1:49:56
  Speaker 1: Then John went into the tomb and saw the same thing.
• 1:50:00
  Speaker 1: In verse eight, John writes he saw and believed the
• 1:50:04
  Speaker 1: evidence was clear. This wasn't a theft. Something miraculous had happened.
• 1:50:10
  Speaker 1: The disciples went back home amazed, but not yet understanding
• 1:50:14
  Speaker 1: what had taken place. But Mary Magdalen stayed at the
• 1:50:17
  Speaker 1: tomb crying. She looked into the tomb again and saw
• 1:50:21
  Speaker 1: two angels dressed in white, sitting where jesus body had been.
• 1:50:26
  Speaker 1: The angels asked her in verse thirteen, woman, why are
• 1:50:31
  Speaker 1: you crying? Mary answered, they have taken away my lord,
• 1:50:35
  Speaker 1: and I don't know where they have put him. She
• 1:50:39
  Speaker 1: still thought some one had moved the body. Mary turned
• 1:50:42
  Speaker 1: round and saw a man standing there, but she didn't
• 1:50:45
  Speaker 1: recognize him through her tears. The man asked her the
• 1:50:48
  Speaker 1: same question the angels had, woman, why are you crying?
• 1:50:52
  Speaker 1: Who were you looking for? Thinking he was the gardener,
• 1:50:55
  Speaker 1: Mary said in verse fifteen, did you take him away? Sir?
• 1:50:59
  Speaker 1: Tell me where you put him, and I will get him.
• 1:51:02
  Speaker 1: She was desperate to find jesus body and give it
• 1:51:05
  Speaker 1: a proper burial. Then the man said just one word. Mary.
• 1:51:11
  Speaker 1: Immediately she recognized his voice. It was Jesus. He was alive.
• 1:51:16
  Speaker 1: In verse sixteen, she cried out raboni, which means teacher
• 1:51:21
  Speaker 1: in Hebrew. Don Mary was so happy she tried to
• 1:51:24
  Speaker 1: hold on to Jesus, but he gently stopped her. In
• 1:51:28
  Speaker 1: verse seventeen, he said, don't hold on to me because
• 1:51:32
  Speaker 1: I have not yet gone up to the Father. But
• 1:51:34
  Speaker 1: go to my brothers and tell them I am going
• 1:51:37
  Speaker 1: back to my father and your father, to my God
• 1:51:40
  Speaker 1: and your God. Mary Magdalen became the first person to
• 1:51:44
  Speaker 1: see the risen Jesus and the first to announce his resurrection.
• 1:51:48
  Speaker 1: She ran to the disciples with the incredible news I
• 1:51:53
  Speaker 1: have seen the Lord. That same Sunday evening, the disciples
• 1:51:57
  Speaker 1: were gathered in a locked room, afraid that the Jewish
• 1:52:00
  Speaker 1: leaders might arrest them too. Suddenly Jesus appeared among them,
• 1:52:04
  Speaker 1: even though the doors were locked. His first words were comforting,
• 1:52:08
  Speaker 1: peace be with you. The disciples were startled and frightened,
• 1:52:13
  Speaker 1: thinking they were seeing a ghost, but Jesus showed them
• 1:52:16
  Speaker 1: his hands and sighed where the nail marks and spear
• 1:52:20
  Speaker 1: wound were still visible. In Luke chapter twenty four, verse
• 1:52:23
  Speaker 1: thirty nine, he said, look at my hands and my feet.
• 1:52:27
  Speaker 1: It is I myself. Touch me and see. Because a
• 1:52:31
  Speaker 1: ghost does not have a living body, as you see,
• 1:52:33
  Speaker 1: I have to further prove he was real and not
• 1:52:36
  Speaker 1: a spirit. Jesus asked for something to eat. They gave
• 1:52:40
  Speaker 1: him a piece of cooked fish, and he ate it
• 1:52:42
  Speaker 1: in front of them. The disciples were filled with joy
• 1:52:46
  Speaker 1: when they realized their Lord was truly alive. Jesus breathed
• 1:52:52
  Speaker 1: on them and said, in John chapter twenty, verse twenty two,
• 1:52:55
  Speaker 1: receive the Holy Spirit. Then he gave them their mission.
• 1:52:59
  Speaker 1: Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, I
• 1:53:03
  Speaker 1: now send you. But Thomas, one of the twelve disciples,
• 1:53:07
  Speaker 1: wasn't there when Jesus appeared. When the other disciples told
• 1:53:12
  Speaker 1: him they had seen Jesus, Thomas refused to believe. In
• 1:53:16
  Speaker 1: verse twenty five, he said, unless I see the nail
• 1:53:19
  Speaker 1: marks in his hands and put my finger where the
• 1:53:22
  Speaker 1: nails were and put my hand into his side, I
• 1:53:25
  Speaker 1: will not believe. A week later, the disciples were together again,
• 1:53:30
  Speaker 1: and this time Thomas was with is them. Once again,
• 1:53:35
  Speaker 1: Jesus appeared in the locked room and said, peace be
• 1:53:38
  Speaker 1: with you. Then he looked directly at Thomas and said,
• 1:53:41
  Speaker 1: in verse twenty seven, put your finger here, see my hands.
• 1:53:45
  Speaker 1: Reach out your hand and put it into my side.
• 1:53:48
  Speaker 1: Stop doubting and believe. Thomas was overwhelmed. He fell down
• 1:53:53
  Speaker 1: and declared in verse twenty eight, my Lord and my God.
• 1:53:57
  Speaker 1: He didn't need to touch jesus wounds seeing him alive
• 1:54:02
  Speaker 1: was enough, Jesus said to Thomas in verse twenty nine.
• 1:54:06
  Speaker 1: Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are
• 1:54:10
  Speaker 1: those who have not seen and yet have believed. This
• 1:54:13
  Speaker 1: blessing was for all future believers who would trust in
• 1:54:17
  Speaker 1: Jesus without seeing him physically. On another occasion, seven of
• 1:54:22
  Speaker 1: the disciples went fishing on the Sea of Galilee. They
• 1:54:25
  Speaker 1: fished all night but caught nothing. As morning came, they
• 1:54:30
  Speaker 1: saw someone standing on the shore, but they didn't recognize
• 1:54:34
  Speaker 1: him in the dim light. The man called out, friends,
• 1:54:37
  Speaker 1: haven't you any fish? When they answered no, he told
• 1:54:41
  Speaker 1: them in John chapter twenty one, verse six, throw your
• 1:54:44
  Speaker 1: net on the right side of the boat and you
• 1:54:46
  Speaker 1: will find some. They did, and suddenly their net was
• 1:54:50
  Speaker 1: so full a fish they couldn't haul it in. John
• 1:54:54
  Speaker 1: realized who the man was and told Peter, it is
• 1:54:57
  Speaker 1: the Lord. Peter was so excited that he jumped into
• 1:55:00
  Speaker 1: the water and swam to shore, while the others followed
• 1:55:03
  Speaker 1: in the boat. When they got to shore, they found
• 1:55:06
  Speaker 1: Jesus cooking fish over a fire of burning coals. He
• 1:55:10
  Speaker 1: had bread there too. Jesus said, bring some of the
• 1:55:14
  Speaker 1: fish you have just caught. Peter climbed back into the
• 1:55:17
  Speaker 1: boat and dragged the net to shore. It was full
• 1:55:20
  Speaker 1: of large fish, one hundred and fifty three of them,
• 1:55:23
  Speaker 1: but even with so many, the net wasn't torn. Jesus
• 1:55:27
  Speaker 1: said to them, come and have breakfast. This was the
• 1:55:30
  Speaker 1: third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after his resurrection,
• 1:55:35
  Speaker 1: and it showed them that he still cared about their
• 1:55:38
  Speaker 1: daily needs, just as he always had. After breakfast, Jesus
• 1:55:43
  Speaker 1: had a special conversation with Peter, who had denied him
• 1:55:47
  Speaker 1: three times during the trial. Three times Jesus asked Peter
• 1:55:51
  Speaker 1: if he loved him, and three times Peter said yes.
• 1:55:54
  Speaker 1: Each time, Jesus told him to take care of his sheep,
• 1:55:58
  Speaker 1: restoring Peter to leadership among the disciples. Over a period
• 1:56:02
  Speaker 1: of forty days, Jesus appeared to many people. Paul later
• 1:56:07
  Speaker 1: wrote that he appeared to more than five hundred believers
• 1:56:10
  Speaker 1: at one time. Jesus opened their minds to understand the
• 1:56:13
  Speaker 1: scriptures and showed them how everything written about him in
• 1:56:17
  Speaker 1: the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms had
• 1:56:20
  Speaker 1: been fulfilled. After forty days of appearing to his disciples
• 1:56:25
  Speaker 1: and teaching them about the Kingdom of God. Jesus led
• 1:56:28
  Speaker 1: them out to the vicinity of Bethany on the Mount
• 1:56:31
  Speaker 1: of Olives. This was near the garden where he had
• 1:56:35
  Speaker 1: prayed in Agony just weeks before, but now everything was different.
• 1:56:41
  Speaker 1: Jesus had one final conversation with his disciples before leaving them.
• 1:56:46
  Speaker 1: They asked him in Acts chapter one, verse six, Lord,
• 1:56:49
  Speaker 1: are you at this time going to restore the kingdom
• 1:56:52
  Speaker 1: to Israel. They were still thinking about an earthly kingdom
• 1:56:57
  Speaker 1: where Israel would be politically free, but Jesus redirected their
• 1:57:02
  Speaker 1: attention to their mission. In verse seven, he said, it
• 1:57:05
  Speaker 1: is not for you to know the times or dates
• 1:57:07
  Speaker 1: the Father has set by his own authority. God's timing
• 1:57:12
  Speaker 1: was not their concern. Their job was to be his witnesses.
• 1:57:16
  Speaker 1: Then Jesus gave them the promise they desperately needed. In
• 1:57:20
  Speaker 1: verse eight, he said, but you will receive power when
• 1:57:23
  Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be
• 1:57:26
  Speaker 1: my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judaea and Samaria,
• 1:57:30
  Speaker 1: and to the ends of the earth. This was their
• 1:57:33
  Speaker 1: commission to tell the whole world about Jesus. They would
• 1:57:37
  Speaker 1: start in Jerusalem, where they were now, then they would
• 1:57:41
  Speaker 1: spread the message throughout Judea and Samaria. Finally, they would
• 1:57:45
  Speaker 1: take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. It
• 1:57:48
  Speaker 1: seemed impossible for this small group of ordinary men, but
• 1:57:52
  Speaker 1: Jesus promised they would have supernatural power to accomplish it.
• 1:57:57
  Speaker 1: After saying this, something wonderful and mysterious happened. As recorded
• 1:58:02
  Speaker 1: in Acts, Chapter one, verse nine, Jesus was taken up
• 1:58:06
  Speaker 1: before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from
• 1:58:09
  Speaker 1: their sight. He didn't just disappear, he was lifted up
• 1:58:13
  Speaker 1: into heaven while they watched. The disciples stood there staring
• 1:58:17
  Speaker 1: up into the sky, probably wondering if they would see
• 1:58:21
  Speaker 1: Jesus come back down. But suddenly two men dressed in
• 1:58:25
  Speaker 1: white appeared beside them. In verses ten and eleven, these
• 1:58:29
  Speaker 1: angels said, men of Galilee, why do you stand here
• 1:58:32
  Speaker 1: looking into the sky? This same Jesus who has been
• 1:58:36
  Speaker 1: taken from you into heaven will come back in the
• 1:58:39
  Speaker 1: same way you have seen him go into heaven. This
• 1:58:43
  Speaker 1: was the promise of jesus second coming. Just as he
• 1:58:47
  Speaker 1: had ascended visibly into the clouds, he would return the
• 1:58:50
  Speaker 1: same way when the time was right. The disciples worshiped
• 1:58:54
  Speaker 1: Jesus and then returned to Jerusalem with great joy. Luke
• 1:58:59
  Speaker 1: chapter twenty four, verse fifty two tells us they were
• 1:59:03
  Speaker 1: continually praising God in the temple. Instead of being sad
• 1:59:08
  Speaker 1: that Jesus had left them, they were filled with hope
• 1:59:11
  Speaker 1: and excitement about what was coming next. They gathered in
• 1:59:15
  Speaker 1: an upper room and devoted themselves to prayer. Along with
• 1:59:19
  Speaker 1: the women who had followed Jesus and his mother Mary,
• 1:59:23
  Speaker 1: there were about one hundred and twenty believers total waiting
• 1:59:26
  Speaker 1: for the Holy Spirit that Jesus had promised. Jesus had
• 1:59:30
  Speaker 1: told them in Acts chapter one, verse four, not to
• 1:59:33
  Speaker 1: leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the gift his father
• 1:59:36
  Speaker 1: had promised. In a few days, he had said, you
• 1:59:40
  Speaker 1: will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. They didn't know
• 1:59:43
  Speaker 1: exactly when it would happen, but they knew it would
• 1:59:46
  Speaker 1: be soon. The story of Jesus's earthly ministry was complete.
• 1:59:51
  Speaker 1: He had been born as promised, lived a perfect life,
• 1:59:55
  Speaker 1: died for the sins of the world, risen from the dead,
• 1:59:59
  Speaker 1: and ascended to heaven. Now he sat at the right
• 2:00:02
  Speaker 1: hand of God, the Father, interceding for his people and
• 2:00:06
  Speaker 1: preparing to send the Holy Spirit to empower his church.
• 2:00:11
  Speaker 1: The disciples who had once been afraid and confused, were
• 2:00:15
  Speaker 1: now bold and confident. They had seen their crucified Lord
• 2:00:19
  Speaker 1: alive again. They had watched him ascend into heaven. They
• 2:00:23
  Speaker 1: had his promise of power and his commission to reach
• 2:00:26
  Speaker 1: the world. The greatest story ever told had reached its climax.
• 2:00:31
  Speaker 1: But it wasn't really the end. It was just the beginning.
• 2:00:35
  Speaker 1: The Church Age was about to begin, and the message
• 2:00:38
  Speaker 1: of Jesus would spread from Jerusalem to the ends of
• 2:00:42
  Speaker 1: the earth, just as he had promised. The disciples were
• 2:00:46
  Speaker 1: ready to turn the world upside down with the good
• 2:00:49
  Speaker 1: news that Jesus Christ had conquered sin and death forever.
• 2:00:54
  Speaker 1: And so we reached the end of the most incredible
• 2:00:56
  Speaker 1: story ever told. From a humble carpenter's son in Nazareth
• 2:01:01
  Speaker 1: to the risen Savior ascending into heaven. Jesus of Nazareth
• 2:01:05
  Speaker 1: lived a life that split history itself into before and after.
• 2:01:11
  Speaker 1: You've just witnessed the complete journey from his divine calling
• 2:01:14
  Speaker 1: at the Jordan River, through his powerful miracles and revolutionary teachings,
• 2:01:20
  Speaker 1: to his ultimate confrontation with religious leaders, and finally to
• 2:01:24
  Speaker 1: his sacrificial death and triumphant resurrection. This isn't just ancient history.
• 2:01:30
  Speaker 1: This is the story that changed everything and continues to
• 2:01:34
  Speaker 1: transform lives to day. The same Jesus who walked on water,
• 2:01:39
  Speaker 1: healed the sick, and rose from the dead, is alive
• 2:01:42
  Speaker 1: to day, sitting at the right hand of God, thee Father,
• 2:01:47
  Speaker 1: interceding for all who believe in him. The disciples who
• 2:01:50
  Speaker 1: watched him ascend into heaven went on to turn the
• 2:01:53
  Speaker 1: world upside down with this message, and that same power
• 2:01:57
  Speaker 1: is available to anyone who calls on his name. If
• 2:02:00
  Speaker 1: this story has touched your heart, if you've seen Jesus
• 2:02:04
  Speaker 1: in a new way, or if you're encountering him for
• 2:02:06
  Speaker 1: the first time, I want to encourage you to take
• 2:02:09
  Speaker 1: the next step. The Bible says in Romans chapter ten,
• 2:02:12
  Speaker 1: verse nine. If you declare with your mouth Jesus is Lord,
• 2:02:17
  Speaker 1: and believe in your heart that God raised him from
• 2:02:20
  Speaker 1: the dead, you will be saved. But right now I
• 2:02:23
  Speaker 1: need your help to share this incredible story with others.
• 2:02:28
  Speaker 1: If this video has blessed you, please hit that subscribe
• 2:02:31
  Speaker 1: button and ring the notification bell so you won't miss
• 2:02:34
  Speaker 1: any of our biblical stories. Your subscription helps us continue
• 2:02:39
  Speaker 1: creating content that brings the Bible to life and here's
• 2:02:42
  Speaker 1: something really important. Share this video with someone who needs
• 2:02:47
  Speaker 1: to hear about Jesus. Maybe it's a family member, a friend,
• 2:02:51
  Speaker 1: a co worker, or someone on social media. You never
• 2:02:55
  Speaker 1: know whose life might be changed by watching the complete
• 2:02:58
  Speaker 1: story of Jesus of Nazareth. Leave a comment below telling
• 2:03:03
  Speaker 1: us which part of Jesus' story impacted you the most.
• 2:03:08
  Speaker 1: Was it his compassion for the outcasts, his power over death,
• 2:03:13
  Speaker 1: his forgiveness even on the cross. We love hearing from
• 2:03:16
  Speaker 1: you and how these biblical stories are touching your lives.
• 2:03:19
  Speaker 1: Don't forget to give this video a thumbs up if
• 2:03:22
  Speaker 1: it helped you understand Jesus better, and check out our
• 2:03:25
  Speaker 1: other biblical stories in the playlist. We're committed to bringing
• 2:03:29
  Speaker 1: you the greatest stories ever told in a way that's clear, engaging,
• 2:03:34
  Speaker 1: and faithful to scripture. Thank you for joining us on
• 2:03:37
  Speaker 1: this incredible journey through the life of Jesus Christ. Until
• 2:03:41
  Speaker 1: next time, May God bless you and keep you, and
• 2:03:44
  Speaker 1: may you never forget that the same Jesus who conquered
• 2:03:47
  Speaker 1: death is with you always, even to the end of
• 2:03:51
  Speaker 1: the age. Subscribe, share, and we'll see you in the
• 2:03:55
  Speaker 1: next biblical adventure.