back to index2017 Good Friday Service
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Well, I'm sure that throughout the week, we've been all reflecting upon the Passion Week 00:00:14.040 |
of Christ's journey to Jerusalem, and which is ultimately Christ's journey to the cross, 00:00:19.720 |
and being filled with a level of just gratitude, being filled with a level of wonder. 00:00:24.680 |
And in terms of today, on Friday, there's so much that has happened. 00:00:29.520 |
There's a wealth of things to be thinking about and reflecting upon. 00:00:33.200 |
But today, I'm going to focus in and hone in on one aspect of what Christ did on His 00:00:39.400 |
I want to introduce that topic by asking you to think about people in your lives who have 00:00:49.360 |
There are these people who rarely ever get riled up. 00:00:54.120 |
They never vocalize, you can't see it, you know, in terms of whether it's just even being 00:01:01.720 |
And I remember when I was single and living with roommates, there was a roommate of mine 00:01:06.360 |
who seriously no one ever have seen him get angry before. 00:01:11.640 |
And when you see people like that, you try to troll them a little bit, you know, try 00:01:16.400 |
We were all gathered together watching, I think it was a sport, probably a basketball 00:01:21.840 |
And, you know, he just, I could tell like as he was watching, people would get in his 00:01:25.440 |
way and stuff, but he would never say anything. 00:01:29.680 |
And I actually just stood right in front of his view. 00:01:32.260 |
So my behind was like right in his face and I was pretending like I was talking or like 00:01:36.880 |
And I could see at the corner of my mind, he's just kind of like leaning over to see 00:01:43.380 |
So of course, I just move over, you know, like and to block him some more. 00:01:48.160 |
And sure enough, he'll just kind of scooch over and move. 00:01:51.460 |
And so sure enough, I just kind of scooch over too. 00:01:58.400 |
I turned around, I was like, "Why don't you say anything, man?" 00:02:01.280 |
It's no fun when you don't like get riled up. 00:02:08.120 |
It's funny because I'm trying to get a rise out of him. 00:02:10.160 |
And in the end, I got a little bit frustrated. 00:02:13.320 |
See I use that as a means to talk about our God. 00:02:17.880 |
Our God, interestingly enough, He actually at times burns with anger, right? 00:02:26.780 |
At times, He gets so angry, He describes Himself as a raging bull with steam coming out of 00:02:33.840 |
His nostrils, ready to drive His horns into those who are doing abominable things. 00:02:43.900 |
You expected me to say, "Oh, God is so patient," right? 00:02:47.520 |
But actually, sometimes we think God is like that. 00:02:51.280 |
No matter what you do, never angry, never loses it. 00:02:57.280 |
But He alone is one who has both power, authority, and the right to be wrathful. 00:03:04.220 |
And Scripture says so many times in warning through every single generation that's existed, 00:03:09.720 |
you guys need to understand God is a God of wrath too. 00:03:14.800 |
And He actually in the book of Deuteronomy, Moses, when he is calling the nation to remember 00:03:21.220 |
and get ready so that they can enter into the promised land, he says, "You guys remember 00:03:24.560 |
that on Mount Horeb, God was so angry with you, His anger burned against you. 00:03:29.920 |
He burned against you so much so, He said He had to destroy you. 00:03:38.160 |
I want you to take your Bibles please and turn to Ezekiel chapter 22, verse 17 through 00:03:44.960 |
Book of Ezekiel, book that we don't normally, you know, in our devotion stuff go through. 00:03:52.040 |
And I just want to use this verse to scare you, okay? 00:03:56.240 |
To first get to this point where we're talking about anger, patience, and what I'm saying 00:04:01.760 |
as a case to you is God at times in Scripture has shown not just annoyance with His people, 00:04:08.640 |
not just impatience with His people, but He has burning anger towards His people. 00:04:17.000 |
So Ezekiel 22, verse 17 through 22, "And the word of the Lord came to me saying, 'Send 00:04:25.760 |
The house of Israel has become dross to me and all of them are bronze and tin and iron 00:04:33.760 |
Therefore, thus says the Lord of God, 'Because all of you have become dross, behold, I am 00:04:38.800 |
going to gather you in the midst of Jerusalem. 00:04:41.880 |
And as they gather silver, bronze, and iron, and lead, and tend into the furnace to blow 00:04:48.400 |
So I will gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I will lay you there and melt you. 00:04:54.640 |
I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and you will be melted in 00:05:01.080 |
As silver is melted in the furnace, so you will be melted in the midst of it, and you 00:05:05.320 |
will know that I, the Lord, have poured out my wrath on you.'" 00:05:12.760 |
Those are some of the most scariest words I have read in the Scriptures. 00:05:17.640 |
To think that God is so angry, He describes in vivid detail how He's going to pour out 00:05:27.880 |
And I use that as a setup to say, it is this God, it is this God who at the same time, 00:05:37.800 |
although He has every right to be, although He has in occasion expressed that anger, it 00:05:44.520 |
is this magnificent, holy, and powerful God who suffers long with His people. 00:05:52.720 |
The aspect that I want to focus our attention on is that just like Father, the Son, Jesus 00:05:58.240 |
Christ, exhibits an incredible amount of long-suffering, a steadfast patience, a kind-heartedness towards 00:06:07.160 |
His people, and during especially this time of His passion when He is suffering most. 00:06:14.520 |
This long-suffering, it can be described as an ability to be self-restrained, even in 00:06:22.240 |
the midst of dire circumstances, to have a control even when your anger is being stirred 00:06:28.080 |
so that you don't retaliate immediately, so that you don't just blow up in anger, but 00:06:32.920 |
rather you're willing to and able to withstand with endurance. 00:06:38.280 |
It's basically an individual with an incredibly long fuse, so to speak, right? 00:06:42.640 |
If you would, turn your Bibles to 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 21 through 25. 00:06:48.960 |
This is a passage that has become so dear to me because in our weekday Bible studies, 00:06:53.080 |
we've been studying this book, and it's talked so much about suffering, and every time it 00:06:58.720 |
has talked about suffering, it pointed our attention to Christ. 00:07:04.280 |
And it specifically pointed our attention not simply to the fact that, yes, Christ suffered, 00:07:09.160 |
but it pointed our attention to how He suffered, the manner and attitude by which He suffered. 00:07:22.520 |
And it says, "For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for 00:07:28.040 |
you, leaving you an example that you should follow in His steps." 00:07:32.800 |
He quotes Old Testament and describes how He suffered. 00:07:35.720 |
"Who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth, and while being reviled, 00:07:42.560 |
While suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges 00:07:47.560 |
righteously, and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might 00:07:56.160 |
For by His wounds you were healed, for you were continually straying like sheep, but 00:08:00.880 |
now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls." 00:08:06.440 |
So there in that passage in 1 Peter, the aspect of Christ's suffering that Peter uses to encourage 00:08:13.200 |
the hearts of saints who have been suffering, who have been persecuted, who have been pushed 00:08:20.960 |
Look at the way Christ exhibited such self-restraint and long-suffering, even in the midst of that 00:08:33.160 |
He did not break in the midst of His circumstances." 00:08:39.600 |
So as we come to this Passion Week, I want us to both rehearse the events that happened, 00:08:48.080 |
but as we rehearse the events that happened, I want to make sure that we're focusing our 00:08:52.000 |
attention at the pattern by which Christ exhibited in His glory the kind of long-suffering that 00:09:01.160 |
Please turn your Bibles now to Matthew chapter 26. 00:09:04.360 |
And just as a forewarning, we are going to flip to many different passages and read a 00:09:08.440 |
lot of lengthy texts, but I hope in doing so we just see from this biblical narrative 00:09:15.840 |
the flow of what's been happening in this week. 00:09:19.680 |
So reading Matthew chapter 26, verse 36 through 46, and from this passage I'm going to springboard 00:09:28.440 |
into continually talking about Christ's long-suffering. 00:09:32.200 |
Verse 36, "Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane and said to His disciples, 00:09:40.960 |
And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be grieved and distressed. 00:09:46.560 |
Then He said to them, 'My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death. 00:09:53.560 |
And He went a little beyond them and fell on His face and prayed, saying, 'My Father, 00:09:58.420 |
if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me, yet not as I will, but as You will.' 00:10:03.760 |
And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping and said to Peter, 'So you men could 00:10:13.680 |
Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation. 00:10:16.800 |
The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.' 00:10:20.520 |
He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, 'My Father, if this cannot pass away 00:10:28.680 |
Again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy, and He left them again 00:10:32.720 |
and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more. 00:10:37.400 |
Then He came to the disciples and said to them, 'You are still sleeping and resting? 00:10:42.520 |
Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 00:10:54.520 |
So here's an interesting aspect that I want to highlight for you. 00:10:57.080 |
Again, there's so many things from this passage, but I'm highlighting one thing. 00:11:01.280 |
Before, when I read the passage of Gethsemane, yes, the main point of it is Jesus is praying 00:11:07.480 |
to the Father and having this interaction where in truth and reality and in candidness, 00:11:17.680 |
And Jesus essentially wrestles and comes to a point of complete obedience to the will 00:11:24.920 |
But I want to focus our attention on the longsuffering of Christ. 00:11:30.680 |
Because longsuffering is essentially, earlier I mentioned, yes, you're willing and able 00:11:36.040 |
to bear underneath a long time of difficulty, hardship, and oppression. 00:11:44.680 |
But what's more, He's willing and able to bear under intense hardship, a mountain of 00:11:53.440 |
So there's both the duration and the intensity is what I'm talking about. 00:11:57.260 |
And here and now, something that was surprising to me is Jesus is describing His prayer. 00:12:02.240 |
He's talking about a time where essentially it's peace in the eyes of the disciples so 00:12:07.440 |
that they're just resting, they're sleeping, they're tired. 00:12:11.840 |
But there is an invisible aspect to which Christ is suffering in this time. 00:12:16.320 |
Christ is being distressed in this time, and He is in complete agony. 00:12:22.200 |
So much so, the way that He describes it to His brothers, His disciples is, "I feel like 00:12:32.520 |
I'm talking about the intensity under which Christ is able to longsuffer. 00:12:39.520 |
And even in the moment of His prayer, He says, "I feel like I'm going to die." 00:12:47.080 |
There was a book that I read by a beloved professor of mine. 00:12:53.400 |
And in that cup, my professor makes this case. 00:12:56.760 |
In various moments of Jesus' ministry on earth, we don't see it, but Jesus is under so much 00:13:03.420 |
distress, so much pain, so much oppression, He talks as if He is going to die, and He 00:13:11.420 |
The reason why is because Satan has made it a point to make Jesus the focal point of His 00:13:21.920 |
And I want you to think about that for a moment. 00:13:24.480 |
My case being that throughout Jesus' ministry, not just here, but throughout the entirety 00:13:30.440 |
of His ministry, Satan has made it a point to attack Jesus as much as he can in order 00:13:44.720 |
I mean, just think about it for a moment, okay? 00:13:49.120 |
There was a time when Satan made this same strategy on a saint, namely Job. 00:14:09.120 |
And then Satan says, "Well, you think He's so good, but just watch. 00:14:26.240 |
What's really interesting is by corollary, Jesus comes on scene. 00:14:29.680 |
John the Baptist is baptizing people in the Jordan River. 00:14:33.160 |
Jesus comes on scene, and as soon as John the Baptist baptizes Him, He comes out of 00:14:41.480 |
And God says with a loud, booming voice as the Spirit is coming down in the form of a 00:14:46.160 |
dove, God says, "Look, this is My beloved Son, whom I'm so well pleased." 00:15:06.200 |
And then in His weakness, Satan comes, and what does he do? 00:15:13.440 |
But then there's something even more profound to that, is as the time goes on, the intensity 00:15:18.400 |
increases because even with Job, Satan increased the intensity of his attack. 00:15:24.500 |
And Job essentially asked permission from God. 00:15:27.920 |
Here I'm just going to read the passage to you. 00:15:31.120 |
It says Job chapter 2, verse 4, "Satan answered the Lord and said, 'Well, skin for skin, yes, 00:15:36.200 |
all that a man has, he will give for his life. 00:15:38.680 |
Here, put forth your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you 00:15:45.640 |
So the Lord said to Satan, 'Behold, he is in your power.'" 00:16:00.260 |
He will accuse, he will attack, he will tempt with any way possible for you to disobey the 00:16:06.760 |
And my belief is that Satan has made it his ambition to attack our Savior, to cause pain 00:16:16.200 |
I know because Scripture has said, Satan clearly, just like he attacked the family of Job, Satan 00:16:21.640 |
clearly asked for permission to strike the disciples. 00:16:25.320 |
Jesus says it himself to Peter, "Peter, Satan has asked permission to shift you like wheat, 00:16:37.200 |
And so what I'm saying is, Jesus, there is an incredible, amazing aspect of our Lord 00:16:42.880 |
where we don't necessarily recognize it, but not just here in this week, but what I'm saying 00:16:52.240 |
His entire life coming to the ground, being incarnate, he suffered. 00:17:01.120 |
He was stricken and that whole journey was his path to his suffering. 00:17:09.200 |
And so what I see in that is amazing capacity, a willingness and ability of Christ to long 00:17:15.600 |
suffer for the sake of what God has set before him. 00:17:19.440 |
Now to magnify the suffering that Christ exhibited, I want you guys to take a moment. 00:17:27.360 |
Think about an alternative universe, so to speak. 00:17:31.640 |
Think about what if scenario, hypothetically. 00:17:45.480 |
And like many of us, we had a breaking point. 00:17:53.240 |
We had a breaking point of the control and restraint that we had and we started to unleash 00:17:59.000 |
Well, as we take the narrative of the stories that happened, turn your Bibles to John chapter 00:18:06.760 |
First we were at Gethsemane where Jesus was praying. 00:18:09.320 |
We know essentially Jesus after that point says, "Arise, we must go. 00:18:12.720 |
The one who's going to betray me is at hand." 00:18:17.720 |
Jesus comes, betrays him with a heinous kiss and all this stuff happens where there's this 00:18:24.720 |
army, there's people with clubs and even Peter who is trying to defend and fight for his 00:18:32.000 |
Savior comes with the sword and he takes a swing and cuts the ear of his servant and 00:18:36.400 |
there's this nasty scene and Jesus says, "Put your sword away," right? 00:18:43.400 |
But after that what ends up happening, oh sorry, the Roman cohort takes, sorry, I'm 00:18:56.760 |
trying to piece together a couple things here. 00:18:59.440 |
Okay, so right at that scene when Peter does that Jesus puts the ear back on, right? 00:19:05.160 |
And what's really interesting is as I'm asking you guys to think of an alternative universe, 00:19:09.880 |
Jesus actually indicates, "Peter, you just swung with the sword but you don't realize 00:19:23.760 |
You guys are over at John 18 but what I meant to say was Matthew 26. 00:19:35.000 |
And we're looking at verse 52 to 54, Matthew 26, 52 to 54. 00:19:41.560 |
Essentially Jesus says to them, Jesus says to Peter, "Put your sword back into its place. 00:19:48.160 |
For all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword or," look at this, "or," 00:19:53.520 |
alternative universe, "do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father and He will at 00:19:58.180 |
once put at my disposal more than 12 legions of angels? 00:20:04.040 |
How then will the Scriptures be fulfilled which say that it must happen this way?" 00:20:12.360 |
In order for us to be appreciative of Christ's long suffering, we think of this alternative 00:20:18.480 |
What Christ could have done is just simply called upon His angels who are at His disposal. 00:20:24.800 |
He could throw at them everything He's got and He says He has legions of them. 00:20:30.360 |
And what's really interesting about them for us is in terms of the long suffering, it makes 00:20:35.520 |
it even more special so to speak, even more difficult. 00:20:41.160 |
It's one thing for you to endure through something that you have no control over. 00:20:45.760 |
You're just being dragged through the mud and you can't help it. 00:20:53.020 |
And so you allow yourself to be pulled through that. 00:20:58.320 |
What if you had not only the power but the right to do so? 00:21:01.560 |
What if you had authority and the availability just to say, "Stop! 00:21:12.280 |
So much harder for you to long suffer underneath that. 00:21:14.840 |
And that's what I'm saying is Christ, although He had every inclination and power to do so, 00:21:21.400 |
it amazes us all the more that He was steadfast. 00:21:26.280 |
So as we continue to go through the various trials, the various sufferings that Christ 00:21:31.480 |
endured, we're going to keep focusing on this idea. 00:21:38.960 |
And one of the things I want to talk about is, as I have you thought about a situation 00:21:47.600 |
where you have every right to say your peace, you have every right to defend yourself, and 00:21:53.440 |
yet you exhibit, or you're called to exhibit, a kind of long suffering where you exhibit 00:21:59.840 |
I feel like as I was reading through the story and narrative of what happened on Friday, 00:22:04.800 |
the scenario of the trials that Christ endured spoke loudly of that very thing. 00:22:12.220 |
Having a long suffering, even when, alternatively, you can speak up. 00:22:16.840 |
So as I take a look at this, I want to read to you this section, starting from verse 12. 00:22:24.160 |
He says, "So the Roman cohort and the commander and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus 00:22:28.920 |
and bound Him and led Him to Annas first, for he was father-in-law of Caiaphas, who 00:22:36.840 |
Now Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was expedient for one man to 00:22:43.920 |
Now that wasn't like, "I believe in the Savior, He's going to substitutionarily die for us 00:22:48.720 |
He says, "We are losing our power and people are going astray. 00:22:54.200 |
It's better if this man, this troublemaker, dies." 00:22:58.160 |
Verse 15, "Simon Peter was following Jesus and so was another disciple. 00:23:02.080 |
Now the disciple was known to the high priest and entered with Jesus into the court of the 00:23:07.960 |
But Peter was standing on the door outside, so the other disciple, who was known to the 00:23:11.920 |
high priest, went out and spoke to the doorkeeper about Peter. 00:23:15.960 |
Then, the slave girl who kept the door said to Peter, 'You're not also one of this man's 00:23:26.920 |
What's very interesting about this narrative is it's going to jump back and forth from 00:23:36.600 |
Because I believe there is a contrast happening here. 00:23:38.960 |
There is one who is being tried and he's going to exhibit a characteristic which we're focusing 00:23:42.900 |
on today and then there's going to be one who is exhibiting succumbing to the circumstances 00:23:51.120 |
Let me keep reading in verse 18, "Now the slaves and the officers were standing there. 00:23:55.360 |
Having made a charcoal fire, for it was cold and they were warming themselves, and Peter 00:23:59.080 |
also with them, standing and warming himself. 00:24:02.040 |
The high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching. 00:24:07.200 |
And Jesus answered him, 'I have spoken openly to the world. 00:24:10.440 |
I always taught in the synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews came together, 00:24:19.200 |
Question those who have heard what I spoke to them. 00:24:22.880 |
When he had said this, one of the officers standing nearby struck Jesus, saying, 'Is 00:24:30.640 |
Jesus answered him, 'If I have spoken wrongly, testify of the wrong. 00:24:38.720 |
Now as we look at that, what I'm talking about is there is a series of trials that Jesus 00:24:47.560 |
And it struck me really just like deeply, wow, there is an ability of Christ to bear 00:25:01.280 |
So much so, people are wrongly accusing him, people are questioning him, and the entire 00:25:13.080 |
Christ, the Son of God, He who created the world, He who has immense authority and power, 00:25:21.800 |
He should be questioning this man who was wicked. 00:25:25.080 |
Did you know that this man, he's called the high priest here, not because he's the current 00:25:29.800 |
high priest, because he was a former high priest. 00:25:33.160 |
He's an individual just like currently in our day, when we have an individual who's 00:25:37.240 |
president, for example, President Obama or President Bush, their session has passed. 00:25:46.040 |
But this individual held on to his title and essentially was like a puppet master, reigning 00:25:53.560 |
So much so that even Jewish documents like the Talmud would talk about this man, because 00:25:59.760 |
he is the one who started to really work with the Roman government to corrupt the temple. 00:26:05.200 |
And that's why they would call it, Annas' Bazaar. 00:26:08.120 |
The temple was a bazaar, a marketplace where there was a corruptness, there was selling 00:26:13.200 |
and trade and swindling people and ripping people off and causing people to come into 00:26:18.680 |
the temple for sacrifice, but then taxing them, leeching them, taking their money. 00:26:27.040 |
And what's profound to me is here's a scene, Jesus comes in, holy and pure, and now he's 00:26:36.040 |
And as soon as he says, "Why are you even questioning me? 00:26:40.160 |
And boom, someone punches him in the face and says, "Respect this man." 00:26:48.000 |
Everything is so backwards, but did you know, and this is something I learned as I was walking 00:26:53.720 |
When you read different parts of the gospel, you think, okay, and Jesus was tried and he 00:26:58.200 |
was given over to Pilate, but Jesus was tried a total of six times. 00:27:04.840 |
Jesus will be tried and examined by the Jews and the leaders and the Pharisees, not once, 00:27:11.240 |
Then they would turn him over to the Gentiles and then he would be examined again and again. 00:27:16.640 |
So if you turn your Bibles over to Matthew chapter 26, I'm not going to read the whole 00:27:23.000 |
It says here in this passage that first the father-in-law of the current high priest examined 00:27:34.680 |
And then he sent him over to the current high priest Caiaphas, and that's why you have these 00:27:39.480 |
So Matthew chapter 26, verse starting from 57, "Those who had seized Jesus led him away 00:27:44.720 |
to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were gathered together. 00:27:49.120 |
But Peter was following him at a distance as far as the courtyard of the high priest 00:27:53.320 |
and entered it and sat down with the officers to see the outcome. 00:27:57.960 |
Now the chief priest and the whole council kept trying to obtain false testimony against 00:28:04.560 |
They didn't find any, even though many false witnesses came forward. 00:28:08.920 |
But later on, two came forward and said, 'This man stated, "I am able to destroy the temple 00:28:16.760 |
The high priest stood up and said to him, 'Do you not answer? 00:28:21.160 |
What is it that these men are testifying against you?'" 00:28:24.480 |
And then look at this, "But Jesus kept silent."" 00:28:28.000 |
I mean, talk about the most botched trial ever. 00:28:36.040 |
According to Jewish custom, you're not allowed to have a trial like this in the middle of 00:28:42.760 |
And it's so obvious, these Pharisees are like, "Do you have something to say? 00:28:52.080 |
And all of it is just coming out and everything is just like, "Oh no." 00:28:56.320 |
It's just the most ridiculous trial ever and even the stuff that people are saying, people 00:29:04.760 |
And so Jesus, in the midst of that, you would think, you would think he would say, "Woe 00:29:20.600 |
But it's so profound that Jesus would sit there and have what seems to me, what seems 00:29:33.760 |
But spiritually what we see is incredible strength, incredible strength and ability 00:29:42.480 |
And then later on, just for the reference, Luke chapter 22 talks about the next trial 00:29:47.360 |
where the full Sanhedrin, so what gives the inclination that this is a separate trial 00:29:52.640 |
is because here you have Caiaphas and then you have these high priests gathered together, 00:29:57.080 |
but later there's a trial where the full Sanhedrin, the full council of the elders and the chief 00:30:02.600 |
priests and the scribes, everybody comes together and then they start to question him and examine 00:30:08.940 |
Now as I look at this, can I just speak to you frankly? 00:30:15.720 |
Remember how earlier I was telling you that like there are people who don't get angry, 00:30:21.440 |
there are people who don't fend for themselves? 00:30:23.960 |
And I found that as a pastor, you know, as I counsel people who are younger than me and 00:30:31.600 |
I get frustrated like, "Why are you going through all that? 00:30:35.400 |
You know, why don't you just say this and say that?" 00:30:37.760 |
Whether it's they feel like they're getting impressed by their boss or whether they're 00:30:40.660 |
feeling like they're getting impressed by their parents, you know, we have situations 00:30:44.040 |
in life where people come over you in that manner, you know? 00:30:49.640 |
There was a feeling in my heart as I was reading this, I started to get indignant. 00:30:55.220 |
Like I almost started to be like, "Jesus, you should say something! 00:31:00.140 |
And every time they're mocking him and ridiculing him and later on they'll say, "Even the chief 00:31:05.140 |
priest, these dignified noble chief priests start to spit on him, start to slap him, start 00:31:12.500 |
And I started to feel this like anger, this indignance like, "This is the most ridiculous 00:31:22.340 |
And there was a moment when even the chief priest in other passages like the Gospel of 00:31:26.260 |
Mark when they're attacking Jesus, they'll say, "By God Almighty, you need to speak answer 00:31:35.380 |
And I remember reading that thinking like, "Oh my goodness, how dare you! 00:31:54.060 |
And then I started getting humbled because it just amazes me. 00:32:00.420 |
I'm not, I mean, I've never experienced anything even close to this, not even remotely close 00:32:06.900 |
And I'm willing to guess the vast majority of us in this entire room has ever experienced 00:32:12.940 |
But Jesus is exhibiting a kind of strength beyond compare. 00:32:21.700 |
He's being tried over and over and over again. 00:32:25.020 |
I mean, some of you guys are in the legal field, you know there's a law, and even in 00:32:30.780 |
There's a law called double jeopardy where you're not allowed to be tried for the same 00:32:34.740 |
thing and accused and then be convicted multiple times for the same infraction and then you 00:32:39.860 |
get sentenced and et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. 00:32:43.340 |
But here and now Jesus is going to be tried even more. 00:32:47.380 |
And so, and I'm not supposed to, but it keeps going. 00:32:51.780 |
Please turn in your Bibles to Luke chapter 23, Luke chapter 23. 00:32:58.300 |
Here and now as the collective gathering of all the Jewish leaders, even those who are 00:33:06.420 |
political enemies, come together to convict Jesus and say He's worthy of death. 00:33:12.500 |
They ultimately then hand Him over to the Roman government and now He stands before 00:33:18.540 |
And I made the case that this was profound because He's being tried over and over again 00:33:23.340 |
and now He's going to experience a series of examinations under the Roman governors. 00:33:30.580 |
Underneath Pilate in verse 1 through 2, He says that when the whole body of them got 00:33:33.820 |
up and brought Him before Pilate and they began to excuse Him saying, "We found this 00:33:48.780 |
And then they start to lie and then He was forbidding to pay taxes. 00:33:56.020 |
He actually said, "Render to Caesar what is Caesar's." 00:33:59.820 |
He's saying that He Himself is Christ the King. 00:34:04.420 |
And then Pilate starts to ask Him, "Is that right? 00:34:09.260 |
And He goes underneath that kind of examination. 00:34:12.260 |
And then next, Pilate after seeing like, "I don't know." 00:34:14.740 |
And he turns to the Pharisees and the rulers and says, "I don't see anything deserving 00:34:19.780 |
As a matter of fact, I don't think this is even a matter of this court. 00:34:23.340 |
He's talking about kingship over you guys, your religious kingship. 00:34:28.700 |
And so he goes under King Herod and starting from verse, I'm going to read from verse 8. 00:34:31.980 |
It says, "Now King Herod was very glad when he saw Jesus, for he had wanted to see Him 00:34:36.740 |
for a long time because he had been hearing about Him and was hoping to see some sign 00:34:42.740 |
And then he started to question Him at some length, but He answered him nothing. 00:34:48.760 |
And the chief priests and the scribes were standing there accusing Him vehemently. 00:34:52.980 |
And Herod with his soldiers were threatening, treating Him with contempt and mocking Him, 00:34:57.420 |
dressed Him in a gorgeous robe and sent Him back to Pilate." 00:35:04.820 |
That's why I keep talking about these words of long suffering, intense suffering, because 00:35:09.580 |
you see it even in the examinations by the Gentiles. 00:35:14.140 |
And then in verse 13, he goes back underneath Pilate and underneath at verse 13, that's 00:35:18.620 |
what he says, "Pilate says to the chief priests and the masses, 'I don't find fault in Him.'" 00:35:25.620 |
So, I'm just going to kind of summarize this section just so that for the sake of time. 00:35:32.700 |
What's really interesting is underneath Pilate, Pilate says, "I don't find fault in Him. 00:35:39.620 |
As a matter of fact, what's really interesting about this is Pilate sees through all the 00:35:46.460 |
You come here and you essentially try to like get me riled up by saying, "He doesn't want 00:35:58.020 |
But Pilate actually sees through all their lies. 00:36:02.580 |
And he tells them, "I don't see what you guys are doing. 00:36:10.100 |
And you know what's really interesting about this is as he's saying that, the people continue 00:36:20.500 |
And so, if you go over to verse 22, we're in Luke chapter 23, and we're looking at, 00:36:35.340 |
I have found in him no guilt demanding death. 00:36:39.220 |
Therefore, I will punish him and release him. 00:36:43.420 |
"Insistent with loud voices asking that he be crucified. 00:36:47.500 |
And their voices began to prevail, and Pilate pronounced the sentence that their demand 00:37:03.460 |
Before the incursory reading of this text, I didn't realize how vehemently determined 00:37:13.180 |
I mean, Pilate, yes, he goes down in history as the man who sentenced the death, right? 00:37:19.500 |
In the creeds that we have, he goes down in history as the guy. 00:37:24.820 |
But actually, when you see it, three times he tried to convince the masses, "I don't 00:37:35.620 |
But it's the crowd who continues to cry out vehemently, so much so he essentially has 00:37:44.620 |
So this is quite crazy in terms of the things that happen. 00:38:03.620 |
So far, I hope you guys are getting what I'm doing. 00:38:07.300 |
I wanted to show you that so much in terms of the length, the duration of his suffering 00:38:17.460 |
And that causes me to feel a sense of like, "Wow." 00:38:21.900 |
Before I didn't appreciate that every step then, when it's long and hard, and every step 00:38:26.660 |
then, Christ had to be that much more determined. 00:38:31.660 |
But now I want to move into a section going to this repetitive idea of the intensity of 00:38:43.180 |
And Christ is going to be executed by crucifixion. 00:38:46.740 |
As I was preparing this sermon, it's already going a little bit long. 00:38:53.460 |
Because I assumed that perhaps if you have been Christian for some time, then you already 00:38:58.420 |
probably have heard sermons where a pastor has described in great detail, maybe in gruesome 00:39:06.260 |
The details about his whipping, the flogging, and then the cross. 00:39:28.300 |
We're actually prone to not appreciate the cross as much. 00:39:32.980 |
Because we don't appreciate the details and the depth, and I'm going to use my key word 00:39:37.260 |
again, the intensity of what Christ has suffered. 00:39:45.200 |
And what's more, if any of us, if any of us in this room are struggling, and I want 00:39:53.400 |
to speak to you guys, if any of you are struggling to find in your heart the sense of like affection 00:40:01.440 |
If this week, you know, pastors and friends and everybody's like, "Oh my goodness," and 00:40:05.280 |
they're posting online, all that kind of stuff, and you don't find that same kind of drive, 00:40:12.320 |
If perhaps it's hard for you to muster up when you come into service a sense of any 00:40:17.560 |
emotion, then let this be a time for you to be reminded that although perhaps sometimes 00:40:25.600 |
our affections are fading, let us remember together the length and intensity of the suffering 00:40:30.800 |
of Christ so that we would appreciate, yes, the grace of God is free to us, but it costs 00:40:41.040 |
I want to start by saying and remind us that how involved Satan was in all the midst of 00:40:49.800 |
How involved the adversary, how involved the accuser was involved in all of this. 00:40:55.080 |
Although it was invisible, I believe again that Satan in so many different ways is inflicting 00:40:59.040 |
pain that we cannot see, but then that pain becomes absolutely visible. 00:41:05.640 |
I began by reminding us that Scripture says that as soon as Pilate said, gave the sentence, 00:41:13.200 |
the soldiers took him away and they flogged him. 00:41:19.400 |
And what I want to remind us of this is this, that the flogging in of itself, there's a 00:41:26.920 |
Because flogging itself was a form of execution. 00:41:29.920 |
For Jesus to have been flogged and then crucified, it was like a double, a double execution of 00:41:39.440 |
As you guys might have heard before, flogging was done by what's called the cat of nine 00:41:44.440 |
tails, a leather whip that has strands laced with what could be glass or in pieces of metal. 00:41:52.760 |
So that when an individual is whipped by that, the pieces would dig into the skin and tear 00:42:01.600 |
If you guys remember a long time ago, it's already been so many years, like it was produced 00:42:05.800 |
in 2004, the movie, The Passion of Christ, right? 00:42:10.640 |
And perhaps you saw a visual representation of what that flogging would have looked. 00:42:16.560 |
What's really interesting is if you look into the story behind that, the actor, I believe 00:42:20.480 |
his name is, I couldn't pronounce it so I wrote it, Jim Cavazzo. 00:42:28.920 |
This actor, he talks about in kind of a testimony of his experience of playing that role. 00:42:35.640 |
He says that when they were filming that scene, they were very cautious, obviously because 00:42:45.840 |
So he actually used real whips and he actually used this cat of nine tails and then they 00:42:51.240 |
had it set out and they used Italian actors in Rome to do it, right? 00:42:56.760 |
And what happened was they made a fake piece of flesh on the back and it was a metal sheet 00:43:05.400 |
The story goes that Mel Gibson told the Italian actors, the soldiers, right? 00:43:10.040 |
I want you to really wind up and give it like real gusto as you whip him. 00:43:18.360 |
And I guess the story goes like they didn't have, they didn't know like American baseball, 00:43:21.680 |
they didn't understand like, "What are you talking about?" 00:43:23.600 |
And say, "Oh, kind of like cricket," you know? 00:43:25.280 |
And essentially what they did is, "Okay," and they start going back and they started 00:43:31.640 |
Now this force was so strong that the whip wrapped around the metal and it actually caught 00:43:36.440 |
It caught Jim on his side and ripped out a piece of skin and now he has a 15-inch scar 00:43:43.800 |
And he said, immediately hit the floor and he felt like he was about to die. 00:43:51.620 |
But the judgment that Jesus Christ received was not one whipping. 00:44:02.960 |
Scripture says that what was ordered was that he would be whipped 39 times because by the 00:44:10.400 |
time people got to the 40th, they would normally die. 00:44:16.920 |
One stroke of that whip would literally rip an individual's back, cause flesh to be 00:44:37.220 |
And then he had to carry his beam on which he was to be crucified up the hill. 00:44:44.120 |
They say some 1500 to 2000 yards up the hill. 00:44:49.400 |
And so much pain, so much agony was there that he could not carry it and he eventually 00:44:56.340 |
And later on, as he came to the hill, you know the story of the crucifixion, but I want 00:45:06.000 |
As we think about what the soldiers were doing, this was the most gruesome, I want to say 00:45:17.900 |
The crucifixion was so heinous that in Norman culture, Roman citizens were not allowed to 00:45:27.100 |
It was so, I guess, unspeakable that Roman philosophers, it was even recorded by Cicero, 00:45:35.700 |
that if you were in regular talk and you're in polite company, if you're just regularly 00:45:39.700 |
talking with anybody, you don't even name that thing. 00:45:48.140 |
I want to describe the aspects of the crucifixion a bit here. 00:45:52.380 |
For us, when we think about the crucifixion, perhaps we have images where Jesus is wrapped 00:45:57.260 |
and at least there's a garment or some kind of cloth around him, around his midsection. 00:46:02.660 |
But stereotypically, when an individual was crucified, he was completely stripped naked 00:46:08.520 |
so that he would be shamed, so that he would be bare, so that he would be exposed. 00:46:15.380 |
The crucifixion had as its intent that the individual who was being crucified would be 00:46:21.500 |
a specimen, that he would be an example, almost like an insect pinned to the board. 00:46:28.580 |
Jesus was nailed to the cross as a way to say, "Look, everybody look. 00:46:34.860 |
Look what happens when you go against the Roman government. 00:46:42.180 |
It was intent on prolonged exposure, that many of the people who were crucified in their 00:46:47.820 |
day, they would hang there and then they were left to die for days. 00:46:53.620 |
And even if they died, and even if their soul had left, their bodies would there, so that 00:46:57.100 |
the animals would ravage their bodies, and so people would see and say, "We dare not 00:47:04.100 |
We dare not sin against the law of the land." 00:47:07.940 |
But if you remember the physical pain, aside from the embarrassment, aside from the prolonged 00:47:16.020 |
shame that Jesus experienced, there on that cross, the physical pain of our Savior. 00:47:21.580 |
I mean, I just only imagine that as He was walking, everybody was still mocking. 00:47:31.020 |
The soldiers kept punching Him and asking, "You think you're the Messiah? 00:47:43.020 |
And once He gets to the cross, they nail His arms, they nail His feet to the cross. 00:47:49.140 |
I don't know exactly 100% how, and as I read the story, there's so many different descriptions 00:47:55.580 |
of how actually the nailing happens, whether His feet are bound together and then a big 00:48:01.620 |
nail is just driven, whether it's a platform like the pictures show. 00:48:05.020 |
And then I realized, essentially, why there is such a discrepancy on how people are nailed 00:48:12.620 |
People were crucified in all sorts of sinful fashion. 00:48:16.220 |
We know that Peter was crucified upside down. 00:48:18.460 |
We know people have been crucified with their hands completely up. 00:48:21.820 |
They were crucified and nailed on that cross, not by way of practicality, but to inflict 00:48:31.000 |
We know that His body, as He's nailed on there, because it's so impossible to carry a weight 00:48:42.620 |
You've heard how there's such a difficulty breathing when your body is stretched out. 00:48:49.100 |
And when your arms are up and your body is stretched, that your lungs have an incredibly 00:48:55.860 |
And especially when your legs are too weak and you cannot hold up your body and your 00:49:01.740 |
body starts to droop, then you would die of suffocation. 00:49:07.740 |
Again talking about that story of the testimony of the actor, he would describe how when he 00:49:12.660 |
was lifted up, again, under controlled environment, under controlled circumstances, when they 00:49:19.140 |
And when they're on that hill and the wind was blowing and his body was exposed, he said 00:49:25.460 |
And as he was hung on the cross by ropes and by things that weren't seen, still nonetheless 00:49:32.860 |
the weight of his body actually dislocated his left arm and so much pain was raining 00:49:39.220 |
And once they dropped him, he was breathing too hard and the doctors came and they wanted 00:49:43.460 |
The doctor said even the short amount of exposure that he experienced on there, he had pneumonia. 00:49:53.020 |
But as I think about this, I want to now speak to all of you more just specifically at your 00:50:03.700 |
When I was reading through the narrative, when I was reading through the story of how 00:50:10.420 |
people kept ridiculing him, I felt that same sentiment rise in me again. 00:50:18.020 |
And I don't know when you read the story of Christ, does it rise in you? 00:50:29.060 |
There is an indignation in my heart towards the people. 00:50:35.540 |
There's an indignation in my heart towards the soldiers. 00:50:39.580 |
Yes, I get it, this man claimed to be the king and you find that ridiculous, but look 00:50:48.060 |
He's bleeding from every part of his body and he's collapsing. 00:50:55.420 |
There are literally thousands and thousands of people in that environment and everybody 00:50:59.340 |
sees him bleeding, but everybody is that hardened? 00:51:06.580 |
And then there was an indignation in my heart even. 00:51:18.980 |
There was an individual commentating about this Friday saying, "We see, yes, the suffering 00:51:23.920 |
of our Savior and the intensity of the pain that he endured." 00:51:28.180 |
And that article said, "We shouldn't feel sorry for our Savior. 00:51:37.740 |
I don't know how to describe how I felt when I started to rehearse the story and reread 00:51:49.980 |
You endure so long and so intensely and so hard and nobody gets you. 00:51:55.620 |
And nobody is willing to stop and nobody is willing to help. 00:51:59.140 |
And you truly in this moment are the most alone person ever. 00:52:08.780 |
And just like you pray to God, I wish there was another way for you to save in another 00:52:28.940 |
He for the joy set before him did all of this, this lengthy track that we just went on, on 00:52:40.940 |
And if by any means I say to him, if I was there, I say to him, "Jesus, there's got to 00:52:55.500 |
You know, sometimes we, because of our arrogance and because we think we do no better, we sometimes 00:53:02.380 |
hear of how our parents, our previous generation went to such lengths. 00:53:06.980 |
My parents tell me sometimes, my parents lived in the war generation. 00:53:10.340 |
They tell me about times when they ate bark, when they ate tofu and told each other it 00:53:16.480 |
When many of their friends were malnourished or they were small, many of them lost their 00:53:22.660 |
And they were in survival mode and so they tell me stories of how they went through such 00:53:27.260 |
lengths and how they, you know, suffered and how they never took breaks and they worked 00:53:31.060 |
so hard and they became, you know, workaholics and all of that kind of stuff. 00:53:35.020 |
And then there was a part of me in my arrogance said, "Well, you could have done it another 00:53:40.260 |
And maybe even say, "Biblically speaking, you should never neglect your family." 00:53:43.180 |
And all of a sudden I had all these opinions of how my parents should have done it. 00:53:50.900 |
But these are the moments when as Scripture say, when we see the kindness of our God, 00:54:01.340 |
We should say, "My God, my God, truly how amazing it is. 00:54:07.300 |
And the way I interpret this, then this is, is I'm not looking at you saying, "Oh, what 00:54:12.580 |
I'm looking at all of this as, "Oh my goodness, what an offer my Christ has given me." 00:54:18.180 |
"Oh my goodness, what our parents have given us." 00:54:24.420 |
And feel this level of gratitude in our hearts that goes deep, so deep. 00:54:34.380 |
I'm broken in my soul because you love me to this end." 00:54:37.260 |
When I talk about longsuffering, I am talking about the fact that you did not stop. 00:54:43.340 |
You didn't say, "Forget this," but rather to no end, to the very limit, you love those 00:54:55.480 |
And I want to speak to every single one of you. 00:54:57.380 |
In any given room, I believe there are categorically different people. 00:55:02.940 |
There are people who believe this and they're broken. 00:55:09.300 |
And then there are people who are on the fence. 00:55:14.820 |
If you are on the fence, realize that you being on the fence is a decision for you to 00:55:25.580 |
This is not somebody, this is not a Savior who has given you a hand, a fellowship and 00:55:32.500 |
This is not somebody who has just simply opened up their door and said, "Come into my house." 00:55:36.820 |
This is not somebody who is just benevolent to you and said, "I will provide for you a 00:55:41.420 |
I will provide for you your necessities and your finances." 00:55:51.260 |
And here is everything that I have for you with no limit." 00:55:58.000 |
This is the long-suffering Savior who has gone to great intensity and great lengths 00:56:07.740 |
It would be rude to reject an invitation to someone's home. 00:56:12.420 |
And I am going to tell you, it would be absolutely a cosmic offense for you to hear of the sacrifice 00:56:28.620 |
And we have to believe the amazing Savior, the Lord God, has given us in this day such 00:56:37.940 |
Let's take a moment to bow our heads and pray. 00:56:48.740 |
Heavenly Father, we want to thank you so much because we realize that to a degree, to a 00:56:58.020 |
degree, Lord, that we can never fathom, your patience and love goes so deep. 00:57:07.220 |
To a degree, Father God, that we can never fathom, you have paid the cost to redeem us. 00:57:14.540 |
And so, Father, we want to take this time to agree with you that we are not able, to 00:57:23.540 |
Father God, our arms, our feet, our intellect, our hearts are so weak and altogether stained 00:57:37.140 |
And if it would have been that you would have asked and you would have demanded for us to 00:57:40.140 |
pay for our sins, God, we would be completely undone. 00:57:44.340 |
Father, thank you so much that our Savior Jesus Christ has gone to such lengths to do 00:57:50.500 |
what we could not do and to do especially and accomplish that which we so desperately 00:57:57.220 |
Father, we want to pray that you would grant us faith to understand the depths of your 00:58:02.380 |
suffering, the depths of which your Scripture says you have become our curse and you have 00:58:09.820 |
Father, I ask that you would help us not to just simply ascend to that or to simply acknowledge 00:58:18.180 |
that but God, that they would drive deep into our hearts and it would be in the conviction 00:58:23.580 |
That, Father, it would truly just burn inside of us and cause us to respond to you with 00:58:28.700 |
great love and great affection, causing us ultimately, Father God, to dedicate our entire