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Analysis-of-a-Courtroom-Fiasco · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: We are learning about the Lord Jesus in his agonizing
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Speaker 1: suffering and finally death by crucifixion these days. And so
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Speaker 1: I want to read for you a couple of passages
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Speaker 1: of scripture from Matthew twenty six and then John eighteen,
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Speaker 1: as we behold the anguished dimension of the lamb together
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Speaker 1: Matthew twenty six, beginning at verse one. And it came
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Speaker 1: about that when Jesus had finished all these words, he
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Speaker 1: said to his disciples, you know that after two days
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Speaker 1: the passover is coming, and the Son of Man is
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Speaker 1: to be delivered up for crucifixion. Then the chief priest
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Speaker 1: and the olders of the people were gathered together in
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Speaker 1: the court of the high priest named Caiaphas, and they
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Speaker 1: plotted together to seize Jesus by stealth and kill him.
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Speaker 1: But they were saying, not during the festival, lest a
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Speaker 1: riot occur among the people verse fourteen. Then one of
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Speaker 1: the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests
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Speaker 1: and said, what are you willing to give me to
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Speaker 1: deliver him up to you? And they weighed out to
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Speaker 1: him thirty pieces of silver. And from then on he
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Speaker 1: began looking for a good opportunity to betray him, and
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Speaker 1: then over in John eighteen, verse nineteen. The High Priest
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Speaker 1: therefore questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching.
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Speaker 1: Jesus answered to him, I have spoken openly to the world.
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Speaker 1: I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where
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Speaker 1: all the Jews come together, and I spoke nothing in secret.
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Speaker 1: Why do you question me? Question those who have heard
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Speaker 1: what I spoke to them? Behold, they know what I said.
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Speaker 1: And when he had said this, one of the officers
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Speaker 1: standing by gave Jesus a blow, saying, is that the
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Speaker 1: way you answer the High priest? Jesus answered him, if
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Speaker 1: I have spoken wrongly, bear witness of the wrong. But
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Speaker 1: if rightly, why do you strike me? Anus therefore sent
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Speaker 1: him bound to Caiaphas the High priest. Tucked away in
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Speaker 1: the folds of your bulletin today is a chart that
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Speaker 1: I have put together on the trials of Jesus. Because
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Speaker 1: they tend to run together a little, and since they
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Speaker 1: are covered in various gospels in different ways, this chart,
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Speaker 1: I hope will kind of guide you, even though it's
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Speaker 1: on two pages, kind of set it side by side.
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Speaker 1: Have it ready over there, in Matthew twenty six and
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Speaker 1: then on into John eighteen. Believers come together for the
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Speaker 1: simplicity of worship, hopefully not interrupted by needless words and unimportant,
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Speaker 1: non essential hawk. But we gather free of political motives
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Speaker 1: and open before the Lord for his leading and instruction
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Speaker 1: that we might guide our lives aright. God doesn't adjust
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Speaker 1: his standard to our lifestyle. We adjust our lives to
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Speaker 1: his truth. It just may be that you come today
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Speaker 1: in need of course correction, and I do I need
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Speaker 1: this instruction today in how to live when going through
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Speaker 1: times that are unjust and unfair, And as our Lord did.
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Speaker 1: And in the midst of this study, which in looking
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Speaker 1: at a chart could seem very pedantic, it is not
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Speaker 1: that at all. It's a very appropriate and practical study,
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Speaker 1: as we will see by the time we get to
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Speaker 1: the end of it. We not only sing to the Lord,
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Speaker 1: we not only hear from his word and instruction. We
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Speaker 1: also give to him, and we do so with gratitude
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Speaker 1: for all he has given to us. And his plan
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Speaker 1: is that we do it appropriately, cheerfully, proportionate to his
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Speaker 1: giving to us. And because it is an act of worship,
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Speaker 1: it is what we do in response to his presence
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Speaker 1: in our lives. For His glory is the purpose, it's
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Speaker 1: the reason. It's about together for prayer. So many things
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Speaker 1: a crowd into our lives, Father, and because they are
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Speaker 1: loud and urgent, they often take the place of the
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Speaker 1: quiet things that are important and essential. And it's in
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Speaker 1: the silence of a room like this, a gymnasium improvised
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Speaker 1: into a place of worship, that we find what we
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Speaker 1: rarely find in the world that has lost its way,
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Speaker 1: and that is solitude and quietness, the moving of your
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Speaker 1: spirit among us to give us a redirection for our lives.
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Speaker 1: For we need that. Some find themselves in desperate need
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Speaker 1: of a fresh word from your truth. I pray that
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Speaker 1: will come today. Some come as the climax of a
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Speaker 1: week that has unfolded, bringing one wave after another of
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Speaker 1: testing and trial, and they come bruised by adversity and hardship,
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Speaker 1: perhaps harsh words and unfair feelings of judgment against him.
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Speaker 1: How hard it is to go on in times like that.
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Speaker 1: We come not to hear from a man, but we
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Speaker 1: come to focus on the man. Behold the man as
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Speaker 1: he was once announced in his day, Christ, Jesus. Behold
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Speaker 1: the lamb of God who has taken away the sins
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Speaker 1: of the world, and we come to focus on him.
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Speaker 1: May all the other things seem extraneous and unimportant as
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Speaker 1: we focus on him, Our Father, we pray now that
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Speaker 1: you will find favor behind the giving of your people,
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Speaker 1: in the heart where generosity is prompted. And may you
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Speaker 1: give us great wisdom and discernment and integrity in the
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Speaker 1: using of these gifts given to your work for your
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Speaker 1: greater glory. And the precious name of the Lamb who
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Speaker 1: was slain before the foundation of the world, we pray,
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Speaker 1: and all the people said, Amen, Jesus Christ has been
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Speaker 1: called a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and
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Speaker 1: since that is true, it seems appropriate that we spend
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Speaker 1: a little more than normal time on the anguish and
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Speaker 1: suffering preceding, as well as including his death by crucifixion.
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Speaker 1: In doing so, I realize we are moving into areas
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Speaker 1: that are of well a little more ignorance on our part,
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Speaker 1: because so much of it revolves around Roman law and
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Speaker 1: the Talmudic Jewish law as it relates to the courtroom,
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Speaker 1: and all of those things in the proceedings of law.
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Speaker 1: And I think we will find in this message, and
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Speaker 1: yet another, how unfair, how wrong in fact, how brutal
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Speaker 1: and merciless he was treated. And in the midst of
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Speaker 1: all of this, I hope we come away with a
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Speaker 1: renewed appreciation for the simple words He who knew no sin,
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Speaker 1: was made sin for us, that we might be made
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Speaker 1: the righteousness of God in him. It may surprise you
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Speaker 1: to know that the whole subject of the trials and
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Speaker 1: the suffering and the crucifixion of Jesus was really not
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Speaker 1: headline news among the Roman people. The Roman government simply
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Speaker 1: put up with the Jews. Palestine was a finger of
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Speaker 1: land they had walked over before and still tread upon,
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Speaker 1: And the Jews hated them for it, but hardly as
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Speaker 1: much as the Romans ignored them. And this constant battle
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Speaker 1: between the states, if you will, comes to bear upon
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Speaker 1: the trials of Jesus, because as we will learn, it
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Speaker 1: wasn't one trial. There were six. Three of them were
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Speaker 1: Jewish and religious in nature, three of them were Roman
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Speaker 1: or political in nature. In the first three trials, the
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Speaker 1: final accusation was blasphemy. But since the Jews were not
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Speaker 1: able to take someone all the way to capital punishment
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Speaker 1: because they were under Roman rule. They had to work
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Speaker 1: out a way to bring him before the Romans, because
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Speaker 1: they had to say that capital punishment was now deserved,
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Speaker 1: which explains why he was crucified when he died and
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Speaker 1: not stoned. For the Jewish method of capital punishment was stoning,
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Speaker 1: but the Roman method was crucifixion. There are many differences,
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Speaker 1: and we're going to find them out as we work
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Speaker 1: our way through these messages on our Lord's trials. Listen
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Speaker 1: to the words of one who writes a book entitled
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Speaker 1: The Execution of Jesus William Riley Wilson. On a spring
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Speaker 1: morning in about the year a d thirty in a
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Speaker 1: minor province on the fringes of the Roman Empire, the
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Speaker 1: resident Roman governor completed brief judicial proceedings. Then he turned
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Speaker 1: a young man over to the attendant soldiers with instructions
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Speaker 1: that he'd be taken out to a nearby site and executed.
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Speaker 1: The governor had no way of knowing that his instructions
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Speaker 1: would change the direction of history. He would have been
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Speaker 1: stunned by the suggestion that his decision on an annoying
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Speaker 1: and somewhat trivial problem, which had interrupted his daily work schedule,
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Speaker 1: would cause him to become better known than all the Caesars,
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Speaker 1: and would make him an integral part of a story
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Speaker 1: which would profoundly influence the lives of untold millions of people. Yet,
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Speaker 1: the death of Jesus of Nazareth was to become one
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Speaker 1: of those events which radically alter the course of human affairs.
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Speaker 1: This death, and the conviction that Jesus had overcome it
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Speaker 1: by rising from the grave, launched the faith around which
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Speaker 1: the spiritual life of Western civilization has revolved for nineteen
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Speaker 1: hundred years. To us, it is the ethical moment in
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Speaker 1: his way, but not to people in the first century,
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Speaker 1: he was just another of many who claimed to be
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Speaker 1: the Messiah, winding up as he should have on a cross.
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Speaker 1: Get rid of him and all the other lunatics walking
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Speaker 1: around claiming to have come from God. There were many then,
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Speaker 1: There are even some today who make that claim. One
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Speaker 1: of my assistants said to me recently, we just got
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Speaker 1: a call from Jesus Christ. Oh. I said, really. It
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Speaker 1: was with our radio program, Insight for Living. And I said, oh, really,
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Speaker 1: And she said yeah. Does it seem right that he
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Speaker 1: ought to have a Southern accent. He's living up in
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Speaker 1: Vermont now and he wanted to give you God's message.
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Speaker 1: You laughed, just as they laughed in the first century,
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Speaker 1: because Jesus was like another one of those nuts that
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Speaker 1: calls up saying I'm Jesus and I've come from God,
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Speaker 1: and I'm here to bring the answer to my people.
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Speaker 1: And some followed him and many did not. But in
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Speaker 1: the midst of it all, interestingly, as Jesus proved himself
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Speaker 1: truly Messiah, the crowds began to grow, and with the
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Speaker 1: growing of the crowds, there was an intensity of hostility
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Speaker 1: against him on the part of the Jewish officials, and
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Speaker 1: they wound up literally not knowing what to do with
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Speaker 1: this man, because his popularity was growing, which they couldn't
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Speaker 1: deny or stop, and yet his teaching was against them,
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Speaker 1: whose authority was to them impeccable important essential for the
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Speaker 1: people of the Jews to survive. The result was this
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Speaker 1: dilemma between what do we do with this man who
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Speaker 1: claims to be Messiah and the people following him? How
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Speaker 1: do we get rid of him? How do we get
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Speaker 1: him out of the way without causing a riot. Matthew
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Speaker 1: Chapter twenty six puts all this in perspective. Came about
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Speaker 1: when Jesus had finished all of these words, he said
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Speaker 1: to his disciples, you know that after two days the
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Speaker 1: passover is coming, and the Son of Man is to
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Speaker 1: be delivered up for crucifixion. Now we read those words
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Speaker 1: and they make all the sense in the world because
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Speaker 1: we see them now through the twenty twenty hind sight
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Speaker 1: of history. But in those days, they didn't understand it,
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Speaker 1: and they didn't see it as a part of reality.
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Speaker 1: You know, I'm on my way to be crucified. They
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Speaker 1: didn't want to believe that they had heard it with
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Speaker 1: their ears in the upper room. They realized he was
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Speaker 1: telling them those strange words, but they couldn't bring themselves
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Speaker 1: to believe it. In fact, I'm convinced when they finally
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Speaker 1: nailed him to a cross and the disciples forsook him
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Speaker 1: and fled, they really thought they had believed in a hoax.
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Speaker 1: And with that in mind, you can understand how Peter
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Speaker 1: could say to his friends, let's go fishing. Let's just
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Speaker 1: go back to what we did at one time before
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Speaker 1: we were brought into this that we thought would lead
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Speaker 1: to a kingdom. You see how it is all convoluted
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Speaker 1: by the perspective event. Various individuals. To the general public,
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Speaker 1: he's the one who healed their diseases. To the Sanhedrin
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Speaker 1: and the chief priests and the elders of those days,
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Speaker 1: he was the threat against their authority. To the Romans,
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Speaker 1: he was trivial, an unimportant, non essential lunatic who needed
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Speaker 1: to be gotten rid of. But to a few he
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Speaker 1: was seen as truly the Messiah worth following. These disciples
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Speaker 1: didn't get the picture, he told him. They didn't get it. Now,
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Speaker 1: look at how the scene changes in verse three. Then
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Speaker 1: the chief priests and the elders of the people were
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Speaker 1: gathered together in the court of the high priest named Caiaphas,
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Speaker 1: and they plotted together to seize Jesus by stealth and
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Speaker 1: kill him. Look at verse five. This was their concern.
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Speaker 1: But they were saying not during the festival meaning passover,
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Speaker 1: Not during this time when the streets are full of people,
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Speaker 1: lest a riot occur among the people. Tells Us in
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Speaker 1: chapter twenty two that they were afraid of the people.
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Speaker 1: These people, who were politicians at heart, though they wore
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Speaker 1: religious names, wanted to please the general public, as most
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Speaker 1: politicians do those that want to get reelected. And these
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Speaker 1: politician all our religious leaders said, we've got to find
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Speaker 1: a way to get him out of here without causing
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Speaker 1: a riot, which explains why the preliminary hearings were all
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Speaker 1: held at night. The people were asleep, they were out
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Speaker 1: of the way. He could be arrested, brought quickly through trials,
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Speaker 1: and finally to the Roman governor before the people would
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Speaker 1: even be up for that next morning. And so John
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Speaker 1: chapter eighteen picks up the story turned there John eighteen,
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Speaker 1: Jesus has finished his upper room discourse. He has ministered
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Speaker 1: to the eleven faithful Judas has gone out into the
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Speaker 1: night to carry out his awful deed deception. We looked
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Speaker 1: at that last time, and how wonderful he must have
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Speaker 1: seemed to the chief priests and elders when he came
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Speaker 1: knocking at their door, willing to sign a contract for
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Speaker 1: the price of a common sleeve for thirty pieces of silver.
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Speaker 1: He'd sell him down the river, perfect perfect. He knows
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Speaker 1: where he hides out. He will help lead us to him,
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Speaker 1: and in the middle of the night will catch him,
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Speaker 1: arrest him, bind him, bringing before the authorities, and get
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Speaker 1: him on a cross. Understand, the events we're looking at
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Speaker 1: these days took place in a period between midnight and
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Speaker 1: nine o'clock in the morning, when he was nailed to
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Speaker 1: a cross, and on the cross from nine o'clock until
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Speaker 1: three o'clock in the afternoon, when he died about thirty
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Speaker 1: about eighty thirty according to the Gregorian calendar, probably April
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Speaker 1: fifth or sixth. Here we are in the middle of
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Speaker 1: the scenes where Jesus has come through the upper room discourse.
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Speaker 1: He's been to gath Simony in prayer, come off his knees,
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Speaker 1: awaken Peter, James and John, who were sleeping through the
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Speaker 1: time of prayer, you recall. And he looks up and
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Speaker 1: in the distance there is a mob called In John's
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Speaker 1: gospel verse two, Judas, who was betraying him eighteen to two,
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Speaker 1: knew the place where Jesus had often met him there,
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Speaker 1: had met there with his disciples, and he having received
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Speaker 1: the Roman cohort. Here's a word we never used today.
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Speaker 1: It's a little ambiguous even in the original language. It
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Speaker 1: could mean a group as small as two hundred or
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Speaker 1: as large as twelve hundred. How large was the group,
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Speaker 1: we don't know exactly. This mob that came with the
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Speaker 1: swords and with torches and with clubs, thinking they had
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Speaker 1: a fight on their hands. A little hint is given
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Speaker 1: in the word commander in verse twelve, so the Roman
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Speaker 1: cohort and the commander and the officers. This word translated
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Speaker 1: commander killi ark means leader of one thousand. Perhaps the
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Speaker 1: group was as large as a thousand. I mean they
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Speaker 1: really came and sort of an overkill, knowing that they
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Speaker 1: would no doubt have a fight on their hands. Perhaps
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Speaker 1: meeting up with a few people still awake at midnight
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Speaker 1: or in the early early hours of the morning, they
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Speaker 1: didn't know what they would find, so they came ready
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Speaker 1: to take him by force. Two things stand out to
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Speaker 1: me in the arrest of Jesus, which is covered in
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Speaker 1: verses four through twelve. First of all, he had had
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Speaker 1: no sleep that night, but he never once loses control
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Speaker 1: of himself. Remarkable, even through the torturous proceedings in this
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Speaker 1: kangaroo court that he's taken through, he never wants loses it,
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Speaker 1: though he never had a minute of sleep that night.
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Speaker 1: The second thing that stands out to me is his
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Speaker 1: willing submissive spirit, his response which was not to those people,
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Speaker 1: though they were the ones he submitted too. He really
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Speaker 1: was responding in submission to the father's mission. That's why
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Speaker 1: he came to this earth. He came to die, and
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Speaker 1: he would need to submit to these unfair authorities for
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Speaker 1: that to transpire. Look at how he handles it. Verse four. Jesus, therefore,
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Speaker 1: knowing all the things that were coming upon him, went
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Speaker 1: forth and said to them, whom do you seek? Who's
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Speaker 1: he talking to? Look at verse three. The Roman cohort
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Speaker 1: officers from the chief priests and the pharisees came with
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Speaker 1: lanterns and torches and weapons. So he walks up to
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Speaker 1: these people who are ready for a fight, and he says,
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Speaker 1: who are you looking for? And they said, They said
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Speaker 1: to him, Jesus, the Nazarene. He said, that's me. I'm here.
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Speaker 1: And verse six says when he told them I am he,
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Speaker 1: they drew back and fell to the ground. They expected
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Speaker 1: a fight, and he doesn't fight. He holds out his
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Speaker 1: hands and says, you need to you need to cuff me,
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Speaker 1: you need to bind me. I'm here, available to you.
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Speaker 1: They couldn't believe it, And so again he said, as
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Speaker 1: they picked themselves up, verse seven, whom do you seek?
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Speaker 1: And they said Jesus and Nazarene said, I told you
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Speaker 1: I am he if therefore you seek me, let these
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Speaker 1: go their way, probably meaning the eleven. Don't hurt these
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Speaker 1: followers of mine, let them go their way. You take me.
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Speaker 1: I'm I'm willing to go with you. And you remember
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Speaker 1: the scene with Peter. We love Peter. There's some of
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Speaker 1: us and Peter, and there's and Peter in us. He
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Speaker 1: grabs his sword and woll comes down in this dear
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Speaker 1: soldier's helmet that glances off and cuts his ear off.
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Speaker 1: And you know Jesus, who spent half his time saying Peter,
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Speaker 1: looks over and says, Peter, you know, put the sword up,
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Speaker 1: and he gets the ear and he puts it back on,
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Speaker 1: which was no mean task. Soldiers see that happen. But
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Speaker 1: there they've got one assignment, that's to arrest him. And
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Speaker 1: it's so wonderful how Jesus maintains his uh if we
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Speaker 1: can say it is cool through the whole thing. And
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Speaker 1: he said, put up the sword of verse eleven, the
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Speaker 1: cup which the Father has given me, shall I not
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Speaker 1: drink it? That's where his focus was. You can submit
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Speaker 1: to unfair treatment if you know the Father's will is
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Speaker 1: being unfolding, is being unfolded. Keep that in mind. That
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Speaker 1: has to do with our application today. By the way,
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Speaker 1: when they bind him, isn't that interesting that though he
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Speaker 1: willingly gives himself to them, they arrest him Verse twelve,
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Speaker 1: And they they bound him. They tied him up, probably
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Speaker 1: tied his hands behind his back. From this moment on,
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Speaker 1: he's no longer a free man until he breathes his
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Speaker 1: last on the cross. He is a property of the state.
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Speaker 1: He's a pawn in their hands, condemned before he ever
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Speaker 1: stood trial, railroade it through the most fallacious, unfair set
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Speaker 1: of trials in the history of jurisprudence. There is brutality,
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Speaker 1: as we will see, there is prejudice. It's a kangaroo,
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Speaker 1: and not once does he lash out against them. He
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Speaker 1: more often than not remained silent and handles their treatment
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Speaker 1: in a model fashion. I want to point out some
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Speaker 1: of the specifics of the trials that were completely ignored,
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Speaker 1: and he goes back to both Roman law as well
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Speaker 1: as the Jewish law. Let me just spell them out.
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Speaker 1: According to law, no arrest could be made for a
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Speaker 1: capital crime in the hours of darkness. They arrested him
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Speaker 1: in darkness. The law was ignored. No arrest could be
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Speaker 1: made for a capital crime based on information given by
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Speaker 1: a follower or colleague of the accused. It was judas
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Speaker 1: who kissed him. They ignored that piece of law, as
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Speaker 1: was true of the arrest. So the trial was to
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Speaker 1: be held in the hours of darkness. According to Roman
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Speaker 1: law and Jewish law, was to be held during daylight,
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Speaker 1: and never before only one judge, and never without a
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Speaker 1: defense attorney. All points were ignored, all three. Furthermore, the
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Speaker 1: members of the Jewish court, after hearing the testimony of
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Speaker 1: the accused and the words set against him by true witnesses,
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Speaker 1: none of which were ever used. By the way, the Sanhedron,
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Speaker 1: which was the supreme court of the Jews, was to
25:30
Speaker 1: make its judgment, leave the place of judgment without a sentence,
25:35
Speaker 1: and for two days. They were to remain alone and
25:39
Speaker 1: separate from one another, then come back, having slept on it,
25:43
Speaker 1: and make their verdict and declare the sentence against the
25:47
Speaker 1: crime that also was ignored in the language of the
25:51
Speaker 1: code of criminal procedure. This was their instruction as a
25:54
Speaker 1: member of the Sanhedron. They were to eat light food
25:57
Speaker 1: during these two days and nights they were light wines.
26:01
Speaker 1: They were to sleep well, and once again they were
26:05
Speaker 1: to return and hear the testimony against the accused. Then
26:08
Speaker 1: and only then shall you render a vote. By the way,
26:13
Speaker 1: the vote was to be taken from the youngest to
26:15
Speaker 1: the oldest, so the oldest would not intimidate the younger
26:19
Speaker 1: ones voting. Among these who sat on the court, they
26:22
Speaker 1: sat in a semicircle in their place of responsibility, so
26:26
Speaker 1: that they could watch one another and hear one another
26:28
Speaker 1: more easily. And the younger ones placed their votes first,
26:32
Speaker 1: and the older ones followed. None of that was followed.
26:35
Speaker 1: The entire process was a fallacious experience in the study
26:41
Speaker 1: of law. Jesus allowed all of it to unfold, though
26:44
Speaker 1: he at times did remind them of the law, and
26:48
Speaker 1: he suffered dearly for it. For example, to begin with,
26:51
Speaker 1: they brought him before Annas. Look at the verse before
26:56
Speaker 1: us in John eighteen, verse thirteen. They led him to
27:01
Speaker 1: Annas first. This is a good time to pull out
27:05
Speaker 1: your chart. Sounds like a course at Dallas seminary, doesn't it.
27:09
Speaker 1: We now have a chart on all the trials of
27:11
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. I find that if you can put things
27:14
Speaker 1: in a chart form, you can follow them along a
27:17
Speaker 1: lot more easily. So fit them together so that they
27:21
Speaker 1: were across the page from one another. You'll observe all
27:23
Speaker 1: six of the trials. The first was before Annas, the
27:27
Speaker 1: ex High Priest of the Jews, which is where we
27:33
Speaker 1: are in John eighteen. Caiaphas was his son in law.
27:37
Speaker 1: He was the ruling high Priest of the Jews at
27:40
Speaker 1: the time. Then the whole body, the supreme court of
27:46
Speaker 1: the Jews was called the Sanhedrin. They were the ruling
27:49
Speaker 1: men of Israel, and their word, their verdict, would have
27:53
Speaker 1: to be declared and their sentence in order to bring
27:57
Speaker 1: him before the Roman officials, who alone could validate the
28:03
Speaker 1: accusation and take him and send him to a cross. Then,
28:07
Speaker 1: as we'll see next time, was Pilot, the governor of Judea,
28:10
Speaker 1: followed by Herod Antipas, who really played around with him.
28:14
Speaker 1: It wasn't really that serious a trial, sort of a
28:17
Speaker 1: mock trial. And then they came back to Pilot. As
28:19
Speaker 1: we'll see in our next message, the scriptures are there,
28:22
Speaker 1: the acquisitions are their accusations are there. Notice the legality
28:26
Speaker 1: in every case, the trials were illegal. We explain why
28:30
Speaker 1: he's never proven guilty. He's found or declared guilty. Never
28:36
Speaker 1: once is there a true witness who finds something against
28:39
Speaker 1: him that he could be held in the words of
28:42
Speaker 1: the law. He did not come to do away with
28:45
Speaker 1: the law, but to fulfill it. They had no one
28:47
Speaker 1: who could stand against him, and that frustrated them only more,
28:51
Speaker 1: only the more as time passed. Who was Annas Chapter
28:55
Speaker 1: eighteen of John, verse thirteen. They led him to Annas first.
29:00
Speaker 1: You'll find this interesting, and it may bring a smile
29:02
Speaker 1: to your face. That Anis was sort of the high
29:05
Speaker 1: priest emeritus by now seventy years old. He is the
29:09
Speaker 1: one who was in charge of turning the temple into
29:12
Speaker 1: a mercenary gathering. Remember Jesus who took the whip and
29:16
Speaker 1: drove them out of the temple, not wanting the money
29:19
Speaker 1: changers to be in the place where there was where
29:20
Speaker 1: they should have been only prayer and worship. Annas was
29:24
Speaker 1: the one who had set up the whole mercenary scene.
29:28
Speaker 1: It was called Annas Bazaar. So when Jesus came against it,
29:33
Speaker 1: he really really came against Annas, who had put it
29:36
Speaker 1: all together. Let me just cut to the chase. He
29:39
Speaker 1: was like a leader of a mafia. He had the
29:42
Speaker 1: religious overtones of responsibilities, but in heart he was a
29:46
Speaker 1: man wholly corrupt. Annis wanted to see him first, and
29:53
Speaker 1: they come to Annis with him about one o'clock in
29:56
Speaker 1: the morning. Isn't it interesting in all of these cases,
29:59
Speaker 1: every is awake. Does that seem a little bit suspicious
30:04
Speaker 1: to somebody sitting here today at one and two and
30:08
Speaker 1: three and four in the morning during the trials, those
30:11
Speaker 1: who are responsible for the trial are wide awake and
30:14
Speaker 1: ready to meet. They have all been tipped off. There
30:17
Speaker 1: is a conspiracy that has gotten underway against Jesus, and
30:20
Speaker 1: they knew tonight the night. Be ready, don't sleep when
30:24
Speaker 1: you get a word from the messenger to come, come,
30:28
Speaker 1: because we have Jesus caught and he's brought on trial.
30:31
Speaker 1: Annis is awake. He stands in front of Annas, the
30:35
Speaker 1: father in law of Caiaphas Verse nineteen. The High Priest.
30:41
Speaker 1: He's called here as we would call President Reagan president,
30:45
Speaker 1: or as we would call the late president Johnson President Johnson.
30:48
Speaker 1: They called him still the high priest, though he was
30:50
Speaker 1: the ex high Priest. Questioned Jesus about his disciples and
30:54
Speaker 1: about his teachings. Notice the two things he questioned his
30:58
Speaker 1: disciples and his teachings. What about this heresy you're teaching,
31:05
Speaker 1: and what about these followers of yours Verse twenty Jesus
31:10
Speaker 1: answered him, by the way, there's no defense attorney. It's illegal.
31:15
Speaker 1: It's at night, it's illegal. He should never have appeared
31:19
Speaker 1: before one judge, but a group. It's illegal. Nevertheless, he answers,
31:24
Speaker 1: I have spoken openly to the world. I've taught in
31:27
Speaker 1: synagogues and in the temple for all the Jews came together.
31:31
Speaker 1: I spoke nothing in secret. There's no clandestine plan in
31:34
Speaker 1: my procedure. I have done what I have done out
31:37
Speaker 1: in public. And then he reminds them of the law.
31:39
Speaker 1: Why do you question me knowing the law? He asks
31:43
Speaker 1: the good question, question those who have heard what I
31:47
Speaker 1: spoke to them? Behold, these know what I said. He
31:52
Speaker 1: reminds Annas, this thirty three year old upstart reminds the
31:57
Speaker 1: seventy year old mafia chief of the rules of law.
32:04
Speaker 1: Bring in the people who heard what I said. See
32:07
Speaker 1: what they say about me. All of a sudden, Annis
32:10
Speaker 1: is standing there with egg on his face, and an
32:13
Speaker 1: officer standing by verse twenty two decides it's time to
32:16
Speaker 1: give Jesus a blow, So he punches him in a
32:19
Speaker 1: court before people who have not brought an accusation against him,
32:25
Speaker 1: are proven anything wrong? Jim Bishop's wonderful writer On the
32:31
Speaker 1: Day Christ Was Born? And another book On the Day
32:34
Speaker 1: Christ Died. My copy looks like I've been dragging it
32:37
Speaker 1: behind my car. I love this book. It kind of
32:41
Speaker 1: puts it in today's language. Listen to Bishop. Under the
32:44
Speaker 1: rules of trial procedure, Jesus knew, and so did Annas,
32:48
Speaker 1: that it was against the law to solicit the testimony
32:50
Speaker 1: of any except witnesses and corroborators. Besides, under the law,
32:54
Speaker 1: no prisoner had to undergo preliminary examination. Those who heard
33:00
Speaker 1: what I said, you see, he said, patiently, they know
33:06
Speaker 1: what I said. One of the guards walked around in
33:09
Speaker 1: front of Jesus and smashed his face. Is this the
33:14
Speaker 1: way you answer the High Priest? The guard said. Jesus
33:18
Speaker 1: shook his head to clear the effects of the blow
33:20
Speaker 1: and said to the guard, if I was wrong in
33:24
Speaker 1: speaking this way, then proved me wrong. But if I
33:28
Speaker 1: was right, then why do you strike me? Old Annas
33:34
Speaker 1: smiled and shook his head. He got up and ordered
33:37
Speaker 1: Jesus sent to Caiaphas. Isn't it interesting that doesn't have
33:46
Speaker 1: an answer? He knew the law. He deliberately ignored it,
33:50
Speaker 1: and Jesus reminds him of it, and they resort to
33:54
Speaker 1: brutality to silence Jesus. How unfair, how illegal? Wrong? ANNs
34:07
Speaker 1: verse twenty four sent him bound to Caiaphas. The high priest.
34:18
Speaker 1: Caiaphas an interesting man. Did you know he was the
34:22
Speaker 1: one who first thought of killing Jesus. Did you know
34:25
Speaker 1: he was the one of the group that said, let's
34:27
Speaker 1: do it that way. Go back to John eleven, verse
34:29
Speaker 1: forty seven. You're in John eighteen. Back John eleven forty
34:33
Speaker 1: seven becomes fascinating as you work your way through the
34:38
Speaker 1: story and bring in all the evidence from the gospel writers,
34:42
Speaker 1: some adding this, others adding that look at eleven forty seven. Therefore,
34:46
Speaker 1: the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council and
34:49
Speaker 1: were saying, what are we doing? The first on his question,
34:54
Speaker 1: they've asked himself, what in the world are we doing?
34:56
Speaker 1: For this man is performing many signs. Let him go
35:00
Speaker 1: on like this, all men will believe in him and
35:04
Speaker 1: look at their concern, and the Romans will come and
35:06
Speaker 1: take away both our place and our nation, I mean,
35:10
Speaker 1: will be overthrown. Rome is already a little testy regarding
35:15
Speaker 1: all of us Jews. What if he leaves this insurrection,
35:18
Speaker 1: What if people really believe him and he and he
35:21
Speaker 1: builds this following? What's going to happen to us? And
35:24
Speaker 1: what would happen to our state, our nation? Verse forty nine.
35:30
Speaker 1: A certain one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest
35:32
Speaker 1: that year, said, you know nothing at all, Nor do
35:36
Speaker 1: you take into account that it is expedient for you
35:38
Speaker 1: that one should die for the people, and that the
35:41
Speaker 1: whole nation should not perish. Caiaphas is wade, Wade way,
35:47
Speaker 1: You men need to understand. There's a simple answer. Put
35:51
Speaker 1: him to death, save the nation. I love it that John,
35:58
Speaker 1: sixty years after the fact, looking back on it, adds
36:01
Speaker 1: this comment verse fifty one. Now this he did not
36:06
Speaker 1: say on his own initiative, but being high appreciate that year,
36:10
Speaker 1: he prophesied Jesus was going to die for the nation,
36:13
Speaker 1: and not for the nation only, but that he might
36:15
Speaker 1: also gather together into one the children of God who
36:18
Speaker 1: were scattered abroad. Interesting perception that John adds when he
36:23
Speaker 1: writes this letter sixty years later. From that day on,
36:27
Speaker 1: they plan together to kill him Caiaphas is and a
36:32
Speaker 1: son in law equally corrupt and sinister of heart, who
36:37
Speaker 1: first thought of killing Jesus. Now you've got to see
36:39
Speaker 1: the scene as it unfolds in Mark chapter fourteen. Let's
36:43
Speaker 1: go back there, okay, Mark fourteen, verse fifty three. Come on, now,
36:50
Speaker 1: some of you are saying, oh, honey, go turn you
36:53
Speaker 1: watch you follow along. These swindle's going on and on.
36:56
Speaker 1: Come on, let's let's go together, Mark fourteen. Fire, let's help.
37:01
Speaker 1: This whole thing makes sense. He first went to Anas,
37:04
Speaker 1: didn't know what to say, so we bound him after
37:07
Speaker 1: having him struck by this officer, and now he goes
37:10
Speaker 1: with blood across his face in front of Caiaphas. Again,
37:13
Speaker 1: they're all awake as we're going to see. Caiaphas is
37:17
Speaker 1: surrounded by members of the Sanhedrin. None of them are
37:19
Speaker 1: in bed verse fifty three, Mark fourteen. They led Jesus
37:25
Speaker 1: away to the High Priest, and all the chief priests
37:27
Speaker 1: and the elders and the scribes gathered together. Dropped down
37:31
Speaker 1: to fifty five. Now the chief Priest and the whole
37:34
Speaker 1: council that's the Sanhedron, that's the Supreme Court, kept trying
37:37
Speaker 1: to attain testimony against Jesus to put him to death.
37:40
Speaker 1: See it was a prejudice court, in the middle of
37:42
Speaker 1: the night, without a defense attorney, with no witnesses. They
37:46
Speaker 1: were finding none. Well, they found some who witnessed verse
37:50
Speaker 1: fifty six. Many were giving false testimony against him. They
37:53
Speaker 1: had that set up, saying, we heard him say I
37:58
Speaker 1: will destroy this temple made with hand, and in three
38:00
Speaker 1: days I will build another maid without hands. Not even
38:05
Speaker 1: in this respect was their testimony consistent. The High Priest
38:08
Speaker 1: arose and came forward and questioned Jesus. He should have
38:11
Speaker 1: been questioning an attorney. But he questions Jesus also illegal,
38:15
Speaker 1: saying do you make no answer to what these men
38:18
Speaker 1: are testifying against you? But he kept silent and made
38:21
Speaker 1: no answer. Is that a remarkable thing? He doesn't defend himself.
38:26
Speaker 1: He stands silent before his accusers. Isaiah said he would
38:29
Speaker 1: do that eight centuries earlier as a lamb before his shearers.
38:35
Speaker 1: Is dumb. So he opened not his mouth, he says
38:38
Speaker 1: exact fulfillment of that statement of prophecy. He kept silent
38:43
Speaker 1: and made no answer. Again, the High Priest was questioning him,
38:46
Speaker 1: saying to him, are you the Messiah? The word Christ
38:49
Speaker 1: means Messiah anointed one. Are you the Messiah, the son
38:53
Speaker 1: of the blessed One? Now, he answers, I am, and
38:57
Speaker 1: you shall see the son of Man sitting at the
38:59
Speaker 1: right hand of power and coming with the clouds of
39:02
Speaker 1: heaven and Kyphas fell on his knees and worshiped him.
39:05
Speaker 1: Are you kidding? He tore his clothes. He couldn't stand
39:10
Speaker 1: it that this man would speak such blasphemous words. He
39:16
Speaker 1: tore his clothes and said, what further need do we
39:20
Speaker 1: have of witnesses? That's kind of a quick way to
39:23
Speaker 1: bypass the law. We don't need any witnesses. He's already guilty.
39:28
Speaker 1: It's still night, so they have to wait until dawn.
39:33
Speaker 1: Because the Romans certainly would ask, have you gone through
39:35
Speaker 1: the proper procedure as a group of law abiding Jews?
39:39
Speaker 1: As you bring the case before us? Jesus answers his
39:43
Speaker 1: accusers correctly. They still turn against him. Now watch it
39:48
Speaker 1: is very interesting when they come together verse sixty five,
39:54
Speaker 1: verse sixty four. You've heard the blasphemy, how does it
39:58
Speaker 1: seem to you? And they all condemned him to be
40:01
Speaker 1: deserving of death. Nobody went home, ate light food, drank
40:04
Speaker 1: light wine, spent two nights thinking it over. They said guilty.
40:10
Speaker 1: Take him to the court, and some verse sixty five,
40:15
Speaker 1: this is interesting began to spit at him, and to
40:19
Speaker 1: blindfold him, and to beat him with their fists, and
40:23
Speaker 1: to say to him, prophesy, who just struck you? What's
40:27
Speaker 1: my name? The officers received him with slaps in the face.
40:32
Speaker 1: One man writes, the judges came down from their seats,
40:35
Speaker 1: walked up to Jesus and spat in his face. Others
40:39
Speaker 1: clenched their fists and hit him. He said nothing, though
40:42
Speaker 1: some of the blows, no doubt, caused him to double over.
40:45
Speaker 1: For such highly placed, respected religious leaders of Judaism, the
40:49
Speaker 1: acts of these dignitaries were most degrading. Having done the deed,
40:57
Speaker 1: having come to terms with what they wanted to see happen,
41:01
Speaker 1: namely that he would be pronounced guilty, they led him
41:06
Speaker 1: to the chamber as dawn occurred. Luke twenty two, verse
41:11
Speaker 1: sixty six. Luke is a stickler for details like this
41:16
Speaker 1: twenty two sixty six. When it was day it's now daytime.
41:22
Speaker 1: We can now say it was a legal trial. The
41:25
Speaker 1: Council of elders of the people assembled. This is the
41:28
Speaker 1: third trial, there was Anas, there was Caiaphas, with a
41:32
Speaker 1: portion of the Sanhedri. Now we have the full body
41:34
Speaker 1: of men gathered together, cheap priests, scribes. And they led
41:38
Speaker 1: him away to their council chamber, and they said, if
41:41
Speaker 1: you are the Christ, tell us. He said to them,
41:44
Speaker 1: if I tell you, you will not believe, and if
41:47
Speaker 1: I ask a question, you will not answer. But from
41:49
Speaker 1: now on, the son of Man will be seated at
41:52
Speaker 1: the right hand of the power of God. And they
41:55
Speaker 1: all said, are you the son of God? Then he said, yes,
41:59
Speaker 1: I am. And they said, what further need do we
42:02
Speaker 1: have of testimony? For we have heard it ourselves from
42:05
Speaker 1: this from his own mouth. And the whole body is
42:08
Speaker 1: an unfortunate chapter. Break here should flow right into verse one.
42:12
Speaker 1: Then the whole body of them arose and brought him
42:14
Speaker 1: before Pilot, and the civil court begins. No actual witnesses,
42:21
Speaker 1: no attorney allowed, no evidence, no proof, closed minds, prejudice, hearts,
42:29
Speaker 1: no appropriate proceedings, no break, no proper voting from the
42:33
Speaker 1: youngest to the oldest, none of the above. And he's
42:38
Speaker 1: marched in front of Pilot with a whole new accusation.
42:43
Speaker 1: Treason isn't that interesting, you know why, because blasphemy wouldn't
42:47
Speaker 1: hold water in a Roman court, blasphemy of which god.
42:52
Speaker 1: Romans had multiple gods. So if you go before the
42:55
Speaker 1: Roman court, you must say, he really claims to be
42:59
Speaker 1: the king of the use and he's going to overthrow
43:02
Speaker 1: the rule of Caesar. And that got their attention as
43:04
Speaker 1: they changed the accusation to treason. But that's next time.
43:10
Speaker 1: I made a few comments in my notes here as
43:13
Speaker 1: we turn our attention to the one under arrest unfairly,
43:17
Speaker 1: who was bound and put on trial unjustly, who endured
43:22
Speaker 1: insults and false accusations and brutality silently, who was humiliated
43:27
Speaker 1: and abused brutally publicly, who was pushed through trials illegally
43:32
Speaker 1: and finally nailed to across and left to die painfully.
43:36
Speaker 1: That's the one we're focusing on. And the reason I
43:40
Speaker 1: spit that out so quickly is because I have a
43:42
Speaker 1: feeling that in a gathering the size a number of
43:46
Speaker 1: you have known what it is to be abused, treated unfairly,
43:54
Speaker 1: taken advantage of hurt. Perhaps you have heard words that
44:05
Speaker 1: have stuck in your brain like shrapnel and you can't
44:08
Speaker 1: get them out. Perhaps what was done against you, was
44:12
Speaker 1: done in secret and at night. It's very possible that
44:19
Speaker 1: the mistreatment you have gone through and the humiliation that
44:23
Speaker 1: has followed it, has left you feeling dehumanized. As I
44:27
Speaker 1: heard someone say recently. Remember I said to remember Peter
44:33
Speaker 1: was in the scene, but sort of following at a distance.
44:37
Speaker 1: That's another study. Peter, who after the Crucifixion and after
44:42
Speaker 1: the Resurrection saw it all in a whole new light
44:46
Speaker 1: and was forgiven and came back to Christ, and beautifully forgiven,
44:51
Speaker 1: he was led to be the one who would lead
44:53
Speaker 1: the early Church in its first steps of existence. Someone said,
45:00
Speaker 1: when the cradle of the church first rocked, Peter was
45:03
Speaker 1: pushing it, rocking the cradle of the early Church. Peter.
45:09
Speaker 1: And as time passed by the time he was an
45:11
Speaker 1: old man. Shortly before his death, he wrote a letter
45:15
Speaker 1: where he reflected on what he had seen in these
45:17
Speaker 1: unfair trials. And you look at a scene. Look you
45:21
Speaker 1: got to turn first Peter, Chapter two. First Peter two.
45:25
Speaker 1: It's worth the look verse twenty, because I want to
45:29
Speaker 1: tie all of this in with what may have been
45:32
Speaker 1: for you a dehumanizing experience. One Peter two twenty. What
45:41
Speaker 1: credit is there if when you sin and are harshly treated,
45:44
Speaker 1: you endure it patiently. But if when you do what
45:47
Speaker 1: is right and suffer for it, you endure it. This
45:53
Speaker 1: finds favor with God. Now hear me out. This finds
45:59
Speaker 1: favor with God. For you have been called for this purpose,
46:03
Speaker 1: since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example
46:07
Speaker 1: for you to follow in his steps. Who committed no sin,
46:14
Speaker 1: nor was any deceit found in his mouth. And while
46:18
Speaker 1: being reviled, we've already seen some scenes where he was reviled.
46:22
Speaker 1: While being reviled, he did not revile in return. While suffering,
46:27
Speaker 1: he uttered no threats. Who kept entrusting himself to him
46:32
Speaker 1: who judges righteously. That's the secret. That's how he could
46:36
Speaker 1: do it. He kept entrusting himself to him who will
46:40
Speaker 1: ultimately judge righteously, and in his heart, in his mind,
46:45
Speaker 1: as he took the blows and heard the unfair words,
46:49
Speaker 1: and ultimately had his hands and feet nailed to a cross,
46:52
Speaker 1: he entrusted himself to him who judges righteously. He himself
46:59
Speaker 1: bore our sin and his body on the cross, that
47:01
Speaker 1: we might die to sin and live to righteousness. For
47:04
Speaker 1: by his wounds you were healed. That's marvelous truth. Heals
47:11
Speaker 1: spiritually from the sins that have plagued you all your life.
47:16
Speaker 1: And I want to suggest by application, healed emotionally from
47:20
Speaker 1: the wounds and bruises of your own unfair past. For
47:27
Speaker 1: you were continually straying like sheep. But now you've returned
47:29
Speaker 1: to the shepherd and guardian of your souls. Take heart,
47:36
Speaker 1: men and women, Take heart. Someone has said, was where
47:46
Speaker 1: was God when that Holocaust unfolded and all of those unrighteous, unfair,
47:52
Speaker 1: prejudicial acts were carried out against God's people? And someone
47:56
Speaker 1: else has answered the same place he was when his
47:59
Speaker 1: son was nailed to across carrying out his profound, inscrutable
48:05
Speaker 1: plan that someday we will understand in perfect panoramic understanding.
48:16
Speaker 1: That's why it says in the song Jesus paid it
48:18
Speaker 1: all all to him. I owe sin, left a crimson stain.
48:23
Speaker 1: He washed it all white as snow, leaves nothing for
48:28
Speaker 1: you to earn or to deserve. You come to Him
48:32
Speaker 1: and your unrighteousness, and he who bore those sins for
48:35
Speaker 1: you will turn your unrighteousness and credit to your account
48:40
Speaker 1: perfect righteousness. But there's more. It's very probable that in
48:47
Speaker 1: your dehumanization of the past. You went through things that
48:52
Speaker 1: were not only unfair, but scandalous and absolutely wrong, and
48:58
Speaker 1: they have bruised you, have wounded you. The easiest thing
49:03
Speaker 1: in the world for you to think is how can
49:05
Speaker 1: I someday get even or get back? It's the most
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Speaker 1: natural thought. But Jesus does neither and can help you
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Speaker 1: from doing neither. As a matter of fact, I have
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Speaker 1: come to the place where I believe that even such
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Speaker 1: experiences are part of breaking us to a place of
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Speaker 1: submission to Him and his plan, where he can use
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Speaker 1: us as he would never never have otherwise used us.
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Speaker 1: As Alexander soulshanieds and said, while laying on rotting straw
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Speaker 1: in the gulag, he said, I came to the realization
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Speaker 1: that there was a God, And so looking back, he said,
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Speaker 1: I praise you prison for having been in my life.
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Speaker 1: What a statement. He didn't deserve the prison, but the
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Speaker 1: prison made him into the man he became. Raymond Edmund
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Speaker 1: has written a fine little book called The Disciplines of Life,
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Speaker 1: and in it he covers a number of different kinds
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Speaker 1: of disciplines, and the chapter called the Discipline of Despair
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Speaker 1: is a masterpiece. In it, he quotes from the late
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Speaker 1: great George Matheson of Scotland in what he wrote in
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Speaker 1: Thoughts of Life's Journey. Listen to Matheson, my soul reject
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Speaker 1: not the place of thy prostration. It has ever been
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Speaker 1: the robing room for royalty. Ask the great ones of
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Speaker 1: the past, what has been the spot of their prosperity?
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Speaker 1: They will say it was the cold ground on which
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Speaker 1: I once was laying. Ask Abraham, he will point you
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Speaker 1: to the sacrifice of Isaac on Mariah. Ask Joseph, he
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Speaker 1: will direct you to his dungeon. Ask Moses, he will
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Speaker 1: date his fortune from his danger in the nile. Ask Ruth.
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Speaker 1: She will build you. She will bid you build her
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Speaker 1: monument on the field of her toil. Ask David, he
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Speaker 1: will tell you of his songs that came in the night.
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Speaker 1: Ask Job he will remind you that God answered him
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Speaker 1: out of the whirlwind. Ask Peter, he will extol his
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Speaker 1: submission in the sea. Ask John he will give the
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Speaker 1: palm to pat Mus. Ask Paul he will attribute his
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Speaker 1: inspiration to the light that struck him blind on the
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Speaker 1: Damascus road. Ask one more, the son of Man. Ask
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Speaker 1: him whence has come his rule over the world. He
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Speaker 1: will answer from the cold ground on which I was lying,
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Speaker 1: the gath semony ground I received my scepter. There, thou, too,
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Speaker 1: my soul shalt be garlanded by gath semony. The cup
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Speaker 1: thou fain, whilst pass from thee, will be thy coronet
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Speaker 1: in the suite. By and by the hour of thy
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Speaker 1: loneliness will crown thee. The day of thy depression will
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Speaker 1: regale thee. It is the desert that will break forth
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Speaker 1: into singing. It is the trees of thy silent forest
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Speaker 1: that will clap their hands. When God wants to do
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Speaker 1: an impossible task, he takes an impossible person and crushes him.
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Speaker 1: And it is in the crushing the character emerges to
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Speaker 1: be used for his greater glory. I like us to
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Speaker 1: bow together. Please just close your eyes where you're sitting.
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Speaker 1: Without a proper perspective, God could come out in this
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Speaker 1: whole thing looking terribly sadistic. That's not it at all.
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Speaker 1: It is the Father's will to prepare us to be
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Speaker 1: useful in time, these days in which we live, and
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Speaker 1: then ultimately to meet him in glory, understanding his son
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Speaker 1: and all that he endured for us. Perhaps the only
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Speaker 1: thing in your life that would get you anywhere near
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Speaker 1: understanding the life of Jesus is your suffering. You're not
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Speaker 1: righteous as he was righteous. You didn't come from heaven
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Speaker 1: as He came from heaven. You haven't the power of
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Speaker 1: the Living God as he does. You don't in yourself,
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Speaker 1: but you have sufferings. That's why Paul calls it the
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Speaker 1: fellowship of His sufferings. If you've never in your life
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Speaker 1: come to the Lord Jesus Christ by faith, you've never
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Speaker 1: come to the level ground at the cross, this is
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Speaker 1: the time to come. This is the time, and you
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Speaker 1: understand in coming that you come to receive the gift
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Speaker 1: that the death of Christ provides for you, fully completely
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Speaker 1: paid on your behalf, and you come by faith, exchanging
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Speaker 1: your unrighteousness and wickedness for His righteousness and holiness. That
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Speaker 1: begins what is called the Christian life. You don't begin
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Speaker 1: it before you come to the cross. And then, having come,
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Speaker 1: we begin to live out the life God plan for us,
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Speaker 1: which includes those harsh, rugged, unexplainable experiences that work together
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Speaker 1: for good to those who love God and for the
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Speaker 1: glory of His purposes. Right where you're sitting. Turn your
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Speaker 1: life over to Him, right where you're sitting, release the
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Speaker 1: revenge and the rage, ask him to take it all
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Speaker 1: and to use it for his good and glory. How
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Speaker 1: grateful we are, our Father, that in coming the burden
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Speaker 1: is rolled away and the rage is replaced with a
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Speaker 1: purposeful existence and the release of all of those horrible,
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Speaker 1: torturing thoughts and memories. As the gallery of our mind
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Speaker 1: is clear of blame and shame, you're able to make
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Speaker 1: us into men and women as you would have us
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Speaker 1: to be. Forgive us for the wasted years of fighting
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Speaker 1: for our own rights, determined to have our own way,
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Speaker 1: intimidating and overpowering in all of that phony expression of
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Speaker 1: self will, and give us the same secure silence of
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Speaker 1: the Lord Jesus, who endured such contradiction of sinners against himself.
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Speaker 1: Cause only good to come from this message, our Father,
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Speaker 1: as we have seen again our model, the Lord Jesus,
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Speaker 1: in this setting of brutality and illegality and unjust treatment,
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Speaker 1: give us a fresh and a new a perspective on
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Speaker 1: life that is above and beyond the world around us.
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Speaker 1: I ask this believingly in Jesus' dear name, and everybody
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Speaker 1: said amen.
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Speaker 2: The preceding message analysis of a Courtroom Fiasco was copyrighted
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Speaker 2: in nineteen ninety nine, two thousand, two thousand and eight,
58:11
Speaker 2: and twenty twenty three, and the sound recording was copyrighted
58:15
Speaker 2: in twenty twenty three by Charles Arswindahl, Inc. All rights
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Speaker 2: are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use
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Speaker 2: is strictly prohibited. In the preceding message, Charles Arswindahl, Inc.
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Speaker 2: Is grateful for permission to quote excerpts from the book
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Speaker 2: The Day Christ Died, copyrighted in nineteen fifty seven by
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Speaker 2: Jim Bishop.