back to indexBerean Community Church Devotion Week Wednesday 4/16/25
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And today is what many would call Silent Wednesday. 00:06:33.680 |
And we'll be going through the text and we'll be singing some praise songs, hearing another testimony. 00:06:39.240 |
And our hope is that we draw near and near to the heart of God, understanding what it is that he's done. 00:06:48.080 |
Our Father, we really are very sinful people. 00:07:46.420 |
Help us to understand the depths of your love. 00:08:52.760 |
Praise to the Lord for all things so wondrously great. 00:09:42.760 |
Thanks to the Lord who loved prospered, I would have been deeply. 00:09:47.760 |
Truly is goodness and mercy, you daily attend me. 00:10:32.240 |
Praise to the Lord, O let all that is in me adore Him. 00:10:41.200 |
All that had life and breath, come now with praises before Him. 00:10:48.120 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:11:00.800 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:11:06.520 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:11:08.560 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:11:11.140 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:11:13.560 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:11:16.620 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:11:18.560 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:11:22.420 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:11:26.180 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:11:28.140 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:11:29.920 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:11:33.180 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:11:35.180 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:11:37.180 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:11:41.180 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:11:50.360 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:11:54.940 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:11:55.940 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:11:56.940 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:12:00.940 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:12:02.940 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:12:04.700 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:12:05.760 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:12:06.800 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:12:07.760 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:12:09.700 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:12:11.760 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:12:13.760 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:12:14.760 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:12:15.760 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:12:15.760 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:12:16.760 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:12:17.760 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:12:17.760 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:12:18.760 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:12:19.760 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:12:20.760 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:12:21.760 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:12:24.760 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:12:44.460 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:12:44.760 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:12:46.220 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:12:46.900 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:12:49.000 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:12:50.000 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:12:52.000 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:12:53.000 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:12:54.000 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:12:59.240 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:13:00.240 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:13:03.240 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:13:05.240 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:13:06.240 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:13:08.240 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:13:10.240 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:13:12.240 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:13:13.200 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:13:14.240 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:13:15.240 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:13:16.240 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:13:17.240 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:13:18.240 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:13:20.240 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:13:21.240 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:13:22.240 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:13:25.480 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:13:26.480 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:13:27.480 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:13:34.720 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:13:36.720 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:13:38.720 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:13:40.720 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:13:41.720 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:13:43.720 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:13:45.720 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:13:46.720 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:13:48.720 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:13:49.720 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:13:50.720 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:13:51.720 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:13:52.720 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:13:53.720 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:13:53.720 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:13:54.720 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:22.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:22.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:25.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:26.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:27.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:28.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:29.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:30.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:30.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:31.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:32.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:32.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:33.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:34.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:35.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:36.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:37.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:38.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:39.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:40.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:40.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:41.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:42.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:43.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:44.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:45.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:46.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:47.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:48.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:49.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:50.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:51.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:52.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:53.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:54.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:55.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:56.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:57.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:58.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:14:59.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:15:00.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:15:01.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:15:02.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:15:15.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:15:17.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:15:18.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:15:19.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:15:20.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:15:21.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:15:22.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:15:23.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:15:24.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:15:25.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:15:26.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:15:27.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:15:28.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:15:29.960 |
Let the young man sound from His people again. 00:15:30.960 |
We've been coming to Berean since November of 2019. 00:15:34.960 |
I'm here tonight to share my testimony of how I've experienced God's faithfulness in the more recent years. 00:16:16.960 |
So my dad passed away April 20th, 2024 from pancreatic cancer. 00:16:23.960 |
And my mom recently passed away a couple months ago on January 12th, 2025. 00:16:37.960 |
And then it was, they were both, it happened within nine months. 00:16:42.960 |
So I think growing up, I always knew in the back of my head that my parents would one day pass. 00:16:50.960 |
But I don't think I've ever expected to lose them so soon or so close to each other. 00:17:09.960 |
And he was the only one out of his family who immigrated to the States after he got married. 00:17:15.960 |
Growing up, I rarely heard him raise his voice. 00:17:19.960 |
And even though he worked so hard all his life, as a child, I never felt like he was absent 00:17:26.960 |
because he was very emotionally present in every season of my life. 00:17:31.960 |
Even when we lived miles apart, every time he came to visit our family, he would make it a point to take me out on dates. 00:17:40.960 |
And we would just be able to talk about anything from politics, parenting, to just our faith, our future, and our shared love for entrepreneurship. 00:17:51.960 |
My mom, having grown up in a very broken home, she was abandoned by her mom, my grandmother, at a very young age. 00:18:00.960 |
And so she grew up to be fiercely independent. 00:18:05.960 |
She really possessed an incredible strength and resilience. 00:18:16.960 |
And together, they were an immigrant that really came together to chase their American dream, worked really hard to, for over 30 years, running a small business out of our home. 00:18:28.960 |
So for me, I was born and raised in New York. 00:18:33.960 |
And having spent most of my years on the East Coast, after being married for seven years and having two kids, we decided to uproot everything that we knew and move out here to California in 2015. 00:18:47.960 |
So two years later, on 2017, I got a call from my sister, and she's an oncologist. 00:18:54.960 |
And she broke the news that my mom was diagnosed with uterine cancer. 00:18:58.960 |
And so hearing the word cancer was, of course, like really scary and very unknown. 00:19:05.960 |
But I was quickly reassured by my sister that this type of cancer is very treatable. 00:19:10.960 |
And the best case scenario is they caught it early. 00:19:14.960 |
And she may not live to 80, but that she wouldn't be passing anytime soon. 00:19:27.960 |
But for some reason, over the years, her cancer cells kept coming back. 00:19:32.960 |
So in 2020, my sister and her family moved out to California, and my sister started working for City of Hope, which is one of the top hospitals for cancer care. 00:19:44.960 |
And then two years later, around October of 2022, after five years of my parents trying different treatments and even flying out to Korea and trying alternative methods, 00:19:58.960 |
my mom's condition got really bad to the point where my parents decided to move out to California to be closer to me and my sister. 00:20:07.960 |
So they found a home near my boys' school, and I was just really looking forward to spending more time with them. 00:20:13.960 |
So four months later, February of 2023, I got another call from my sister saying that they found cancer in my dad's pancreas and that he needed to go to surgery right away. 00:20:28.960 |
He's been complaining of like digestive issues, but he didn't think anything serious of it. 00:20:33.960 |
But unlike my mom's diagnosis, the situation with my dad seemed very bleak. 00:20:39.960 |
And it came like as a really sudden shock to all of us, because at this time, we were just focusing on my mom. 00:20:47.960 |
And we didn't expect my dad, who we thought was very healthy, to go down like this. 00:20:52.960 |
But it was the day before Valentine's Day, and they had scheduled a surgery called Whipple surgery. 00:20:59.960 |
So if you guys are in the medical field, you might know if you heard of Whipple surgery, it's anything but easy. 00:21:08.960 |
From my small research, not many surgeons even perform this kind of surgery because there's just a lot of risk. 00:21:16.960 |
And the percentage of people who survive is very low. 00:21:24.960 |
And I still remember actually on Valentine's Day, me and my mom were sitting in the car and just really crying and just pleading to God to save my dad, 00:21:39.960 |
And then we got a call saying that he was bleeding uncontrollably and that we might lose him that day. 00:21:46.960 |
But yeah, thankfully, God really was gracious. 00:21:49.960 |
And then as I look back on that season, I see how like all the puzzle pieces of my sister moving here, working at a cancer hospital, 00:21:57.960 |
allowing my dad to detect a pancreatic cancer early and then having the surgery the next day allowed him to extend his life for about one more year. 00:22:07.960 |
So that year we had with my dad was really special because we were able to be intentional with our time together as a family. 00:22:16.960 |
So 11 months later, on January 2024, my dad was again in pain. 00:22:23.960 |
And it turned out that there was like a blockage in his intestines and they detected more cancer cells in his stomach lining. 00:22:30.960 |
So knowing that there is not a lot of treatment for his condition, he decided and told us that he wanted to go into hospice care. 00:22:38.960 |
And for those of you who don't know, hospice care means end of life care at my sister's house. 00:22:45.960 |
And so I didn't really know much about hospice, but I knew like, you know, this was all very sudden and I knew I wasn't ready to let my dad go. 00:22:54.960 |
So even when he was in hospice, I was like, you know, as I always was with my dad, just really pleading with him, asking him to try other options and to have more of that fight to live. 00:23:10.960 |
But I remember my dad would calmly reassure me saying that he is OK. 00:23:16.960 |
He was strangely at perfect peace with dying. 00:23:20.960 |
He expressed gratitude for the life he's had and only regrets not being able to take care of my mom as well as feeling sorry for his daughters and leaving us behind. 00:23:31.960 |
So I look back on his four months of hospice with a lot of fond memories because I was able to see my dad say his goodbyes to his friends. 00:23:46.960 |
And he even had an opportunity to sit with me and my kids and Tim and just share his last words and spend some time praying together. 00:23:55.960 |
And then the following months up until he passed every week as I would visit him, we just spent a lot of unhurried time together, 00:24:05.960 |
whether it be listening to pray songs together or just holding each other's hands. 00:24:10.960 |
like reading scripture and looking at photos and and sharing memories of our family. 00:24:27.960 |
So even today, I'm really grateful to God for that time. 00:24:31.960 |
So three days before he passed, as I was watching his physical body changing, God led me to this passage. 00:24:50.960 |
We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable and we will be changed. 00:25:00.960 |
We will be changed for this perishable must put on the imperishable and this mortal must put on immortality. 00:25:06.960 |
But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable and this mortal put on immortality, then will come about the thing that is written death is swallowed up in victory. 00:25:18.960 |
The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law. 00:25:22.960 |
But thanks be to God who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:25:29.960 |
So as I was reading this over my dad, I realized that as an unbeliever, death can bring a lot of fear and anxiety. 00:25:39.960 |
But these verses reminded me that for a believer through Christ, we do have victory in knowing that our mortal bodies will be raised as immortal and imperishable bodies, being able to be an everlasting presence with God. 00:25:56.960 |
So I realized that the reason why my dad was able to have perfect peace when facing death was because of his faith and assurances in these promises. 00:26:09.960 |
During the time when my dad entered hospice, that was like January, my mom also went through a major surgery due to her increased pain and cancer development. 00:26:18.960 |
There were five surgeons that were operating on her over the span of two full days. 00:26:23.960 |
It was such a blur of emotions during that season because on one hand, we were grieving and burying my dad. 00:26:29.960 |
And then on the other hand, we were all trying to remain strong for my mom and her recovery, which wasn't easy. 00:26:39.960 |
And I remember one night clearly when she was in extreme pain, vomiting and in uncontrollable agony. 00:26:47.960 |
None of the medication that they were giving her was working. 00:26:50.960 |
And I was standing there feeling so helpless because there was nothing I could do to remove her pain. 00:26:55.960 |
And it happened to be that there was a new patient assigned to the room right across from my mom, which was a pastor's wife. 00:27:03.960 |
And there was also another friend in her hallway that she befriended who was a widow that also lost her husband years ago. 00:27:09.960 |
And as my mom is in this place of suffering, she told me to grab the pastor's wife and the friend to just come and pray over her. 00:27:19.960 |
So the pastor's wife came to the room and she started to read scripture over my mom and repeated the phrase, "Jesus is blood." 00:27:31.960 |
And that phrase, it was such a powerful phrase in Korean. 00:27:39.960 |
And she just kept saying, "Jesus is blood. May the Jesus's blood wash over your pain." 00:27:44.960 |
And then, all of a sudden, her whole room broke out into singing. 00:27:49.960 |
And they started singing this hymn, "What can wash away my sin?" 00:27:53.960 |
It has four verses, but I guess I'll just share verse one and four. 00:27:58.960 |
So verse one says, "What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus." 00:28:03.960 |
"What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus." 00:28:07.960 |
"O precious is the flow that makes me white as snow. No other fount I know. Nothing but the blood of Jesus." 00:28:15.960 |
Verse four says, "This is my hope and peace. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my righteousness. Nothing but the blood of Jesus." 00:28:24.960 |
"Oh precious is the flow that makes me white as snow. No other fount I know. Nothing but the blood of Jesus." 00:28:34.960 |
So as they were repeating these phrases, it was just ingrained in my mind. 00:28:41.960 |
"Nothing but the blood of Jesus can make my mom whole again." 00:28:47.960 |
"There's nothing that can bring hope and peace in this situation but the blood of Christ." 00:28:59.960 |
And so that night, those words brought so much comfort to me and my mom. 00:29:05.960 |
So my mom finally moved back home in May of 2024, and she was able to be in her home for about eight months before she passed. 00:29:14.960 |
And those months were honestly the most satisfying and life changing for me. 00:29:19.960 |
I had to navigate and juggle various roles as a caregiver, mom, wife, while trying to manage my work and felt like I was failing in all of them. 00:29:29.960 |
Being someone who likes to have control and plan things out, I felt like God was stripping all of that away and teaching me what it means to trust in him daily for the help that I needed. 00:29:41.960 |
Even when I was extremely stressed and rising in my anxiety, my mom would be the one to come for me saying, 00:29:48.960 |
"Don't worry. What good is there if you worry? Even if you can't help me, I'll be fine. I know God will help me." 00:29:56.960 |
And so I can truly say that God really provided exactly what we needed. 00:30:02.960 |
He provided from the most unexpected places and even especially through this church body. 00:30:07.960 |
I don't know if you guys remember, but this is when we were reading the master's plan for the church. 00:30:12.960 |
I was so thankful for the ways that the church community came alongside our family during this dark season to help caretake or drop off meals for my family and for my mom and continually keeping us in prayer. 00:30:25.960 |
But compared to my dad's journey, as I watched my mom's journey to heaven, it wasn't peaceful at all. 00:30:34.960 |
My mom's journey was full of pain, distress, and suffering, but I was able to witness what it means to have steadfast faith and joy in the midst of suffering. 00:30:44.960 |
Even though she was in constant pain, she always greeted me with a smile and never showed contempt towards God. 00:30:55.960 |
In that through the suffering it produced in my mom perseverance, proven character, and hope. 00:31:01.960 |
My mom was not the same person that I knew by the end of her journey. 00:31:06.960 |
I saw how the Holy Spirit was refining her like gold and preparing her to face her bridegroom. 00:31:13.960 |
I would often ask God, why did you allow my mom to suffer for so long? 00:31:18.960 |
Why was her death so difficult and painful to watch? 00:31:22.960 |
But as I continued to process and reflect back, I see that even in the eight months where I got to spend time with her, God gave me and my mom that time to redeem our relationship because we didn't have like the closest relationship growing up, and also to strengthen my faith through my mom. 00:31:42.960 |
I can truly say that my mom loved God and loved the word. 00:31:48.960 |
So she called the word her daily lifeline, that without being in the word daily, she would have died. 00:32:00.960 |
She wrote up verses for two years every day until she was no longer able to sit and write. 00:32:06.960 |
When I shared about how I was struggling and wanting to find a counselor, she grabbed my hand and asked me to give her two weeks to read Ephesians with her because she really believed in the sufficiency of God's word to be my counselor. 00:32:21.960 |
So I took a picture in the middle one, that was when we sat down for the first time doing devotionals together. 00:32:31.960 |
One of the things that the pastor shared in her memorial service was how in her last days she would continue to say, thank you God. 00:32:42.960 |
I'm personally so thankful to God for both my parents for exemplifying what it means to have peace, joy, and faith in the midst of suffering. 00:32:51.960 |
As I look ahead to Good Friday as well as Easter Sunday, which will be exactly one year since my dad passed, the power of Jesus' blood and his resurrection holds a deeper meaning. 00:33:06.960 |
Rather than being fearful or anxious about one day facing my own death, I am now filled with anticipation and hope, remembering the words that my mom said. 00:33:18.960 |
Only death on earth will bring me to eternity in heaven. 00:33:39.960 |
And as we continue to listen to these testimonies, as we hear Young Hae share of her father and her mother. 00:33:45.960 |
Oh Lord, what a unique privilege and joy to be believers who understand that death no longer has its sting. 00:33:53.960 |
Father, because Christ died, we don't have to fear death. 00:33:58.960 |
And because Christ rose again, we know that we are victorious over it. 00:34:06.960 |
Thank you, Lord, that all the pain and suffering of this world will one day be a distant memory. 00:34:14.960 |
Help us to be reminded of what it took to purchase it. 00:34:20.960 |
As a reminder, on Sunday, we had Palm Sunday, the triumphal entry when Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey. 00:34:30.960 |
The people are singing praises to Jesus, superficially believing him to be the Messiah. 00:34:35.960 |
On Monday, Jesus curses the fig tree, cleanses the temple. 00:34:39.960 |
Pastor Mark took us through that account of what he did, what he was thinking and feeling during that time. 00:34:45.960 |
And on Tuesday, yesterday, Jesus teaches in the temple. 00:34:48.960 |
He challenges and is challenged by the religious leaders and he goes into the Olivet Discourse. 00:34:55.960 |
Some call it Silent Wednesday because there aren't any explicit passages in Scripture that kind of describe what Jesus is doing on this day. 00:35:04.960 |
But it's also called Spy Wednesday by some because it's the day that Judas Iscariot betrays Jesus to the chief priests. 00:35:15.960 |
In Matthew 26:1, this is something that happens between Tuesday and Wednesday. 00:35:21.960 |
When Jesus had finished all these words, he said to his disciples, 00:35:24.960 |
"You know that after two days the Passover is coming and the Son of Man is to be handed over for crucifixion." 00:35:30.960 |
If you look carefully at this verse, what you're going to see is an explicit paralleling of Jesus with the Passover lamb. 00:35:42.960 |
The Son is going to be given over for crucifixion. 00:35:47.960 |
The Passover lamb was a yearly remembrance of what God did to rescue the people of Israel. 00:35:53.960 |
And so the Israelites had, the Jews had a lot of thoughts in their minds. 00:35:57.960 |
They understood because they practiced this year after year after year. 00:36:03.960 |
"For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. 00:36:09.960 |
And against all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgments. 00:36:14.960 |
The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live. 00:36:17.960 |
And when I see the blood, I will pass over you. 00:36:19.960 |
And no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt." 00:36:26.960 |
That during the time of the original Passover in Egypt, there was a lamb that was slaughtered and its blood was painted over the mantle. 00:36:35.960 |
And when it was painted over there, the angel of death would pass over this house so that everyone inside would be protected by this blood. 00:36:54.960 |
And the lamb, the only son of God, would be crucified on behalf of the people. 00:37:02.960 |
He dies so that the people, they don't have to die. 00:37:09.960 |
And so this is why early in Christ's ministry, when John the Baptist sees him, 00:37:13.960 |
if you remember what he says, he exclaims in John 1:29, 00:37:17.960 |
"Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." 00:37:21.960 |
And so as we look at this, we're going to see a few things. 00:37:29.960 |
I'm going to kind of focus in on the Matthew account. 00:37:32.960 |
And so the point here is that the chief priests, they want Jesus dead. 00:37:43.960 |
Now, when the people brought a Passover lamb, what would happen to that lamb? 00:37:50.960 |
No, what would happen, it was presented, it was handed over to the priests. 00:37:55.960 |
And the priest would catch the blood and then pass the lamb along. 00:38:00.960 |
And this is what we continue seeing on this Wednesday concerning Jesus. 00:38:08.960 |
Then the chief priests and the elders of the people were gathered together in the court of the high priest named Caiaphas. 00:38:15.960 |
And they plotted together to seize Jesus by stealth and kill him. 00:38:20.960 |
These chief priests, again, were the ones who were tasked with being a mediator between God and man. 00:38:25.960 |
And that's why the sacrifice was given to them. 00:38:35.960 |
If Israel were the chosen people of God, the chief priests were of the chosen tribe of Levi. 00:38:41.960 |
And within the chosen tribe of Levi, they were the chosen explicit ones who can do the sacrifices like this. 00:38:51.960 |
They were supposed to be the most aware of the holiness of God. 00:38:55.960 |
They were the ones sent into their tabernacle, the temple. 00:38:59.960 |
The chief priests would be the one who, the great high priest, the chiefest of these chief priests, 00:39:05.960 |
would be the one to enter into the Holy of Holies once a year. 00:39:08.960 |
These were the ones who were intimately aware of all the rituals. 00:39:15.960 |
The meticulous nature in which they'd have to handle themselves. 00:39:18.960 |
How they'd have to handle the temple, the sacrifices. 00:39:21.960 |
We went through Leviticus 16 and we saw a lot of that in that book. 00:39:25.960 |
The chief priests were the most intimate with these things. 00:39:31.960 |
The chief priests walked it year after year after year. 00:39:36.960 |
They were the ones who should have been knowing God the best. 00:39:41.960 |
They should have been the most intimate with who God was. 00:39:45.960 |
But the fact that these priests, it says here that they wanted him dead. 00:39:56.960 |
Because when they see Jesus, the son of God in front of their very own eyes, 00:40:01.960 |
what we see with them is that they don't recognize him. 00:40:04.960 |
The ones who are supposed to know God the most intimately, how is it that they cannot recognize Christ? 00:40:11.960 |
It reveals that what they've been doing in their religion was a form of godliness. 00:40:19.960 |
That's why in the prophecies it says, seeing they do not see, hearing they do not hear. 00:40:27.960 |
What the chief priests were doing, there was no intimacy. 00:40:33.960 |
There was no desire for his name or for his glory. 00:40:37.960 |
No sincerity, no knowing, no walking with God. 00:40:46.960 |
And knowing everything there was concerning the things that had to do with God. 00:40:58.960 |
For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion, 00:41:05.960 |
even though they do not understand either what they are saying 00:41:08.960 |
or the matters about which they make confident assertions. 00:41:15.960 |
Because even though on this Wednesday there is no account of what Jesus did, what he was thinking, 00:41:21.960 |
we see the great warning that there is a very big difference between knowing about God and knowing God. 00:41:28.960 |
There is danger in us playing a part, being so confident in our station, in our position. 00:41:36.960 |
Saying that we have the correct doctrines, saying that we have the correct theologies, saying that we know Jesus Christ. 00:41:42.960 |
And we can remember the words that Jesus pronounced just the day before. 00:41:47.960 |
Matthew 23:27 to bring to our, to remembrance. 00:41:53.960 |
You scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside appear beautiful, 00:41:59.960 |
but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. 00:42:02.960 |
So you too outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. 00:42:10.960 |
And so the chief priests were set in this position. 00:42:14.960 |
It's very alarming on this Wednesday to read of this account. 00:42:19.960 |
I don't like doing Wednesday of the divos for Passion Week. 00:42:27.960 |
And chief priests staring at what they were doing. 00:42:31.960 |
It's just not something that's fun to look at over and over again. 00:42:39.960 |
If that was not alarming enough, that we know this account of Judas is even worse. 00:42:50.960 |
It says, "Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said..." 00:42:59.960 |
"What are you willing to give me to betray him to you?" 00:43:02.960 |
And they weighed out 30 pieces of silver to him. 00:43:06.960 |
From then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus. 00:43:14.960 |
The chief priests were looking to see how they could have Jesus killed. 00:43:17.960 |
After taking Passovers of the people year after year, these lambs, 00:43:22.960 |
thousands of them, the final Passover lamb, Jesus, 00:43:32.960 |
It wasn't just them, but Judas wanted Jesus dead. 00:43:39.960 |
Judas asks them how much they'd give him if he gave Jesus over. 00:43:46.960 |
It's disturbing how Matthew goes into detail. 00:43:52.960 |
He's telling you exactly so that you are not left with any questions. 00:44:00.960 |
And everyone's like, "Well, it can't be that Judas." 00:44:03.960 |
When Matthew says Judas, they go like, "Surely it can't be one of the twelve." 00:44:18.960 |
These were the ones who were closest to Jesus. 00:44:23.960 |
These were the ones who saw the most of what Jesus could do. 00:44:31.960 |
You see, the chief priests, they were supposed to be the ones closest to God. 00:44:42.960 |
But Judas, he was supposed to be the one who was closest to the incarnate God. 00:44:59.960 |
Judas saw Jesus heal blind people so that they can see. 00:45:04.960 |
He cast out demons who are frothing at the mouth. 00:45:09.960 |
Jesus was the one who gave drink and food to many. 00:45:44.960 |
Knowing Jesus ought to have created in him a love for Jesus. 00:45:57.960 |
But what we see here is not a love for Jesus. 00:46:07.960 |
And it's almost a silly account that we read. 00:46:19.960 |
Now this is fulfilled prophecy in the book of Zechariah. 00:46:25.960 |
This is the prophet Zechariah who is a shepherd of Israel. 00:46:38.960 |
This is the prophet Zechariah who is a shepherd of Israel. 00:46:51.960 |
And he's being sarcastic here in this prophecy. 00:47:08.960 |
A people that are filled with false doomed flock. 00:47:18.960 |
He's being sarcastic in receiving these 30 shekels. 00:47:22.960 |
If it's good in your sight, give me my wages. 00:47:40.960 |
Isn't that what we do when we trade in God for nothing? 00:47:49.960 |
For even though they knew God, they did not honor him as God. 00:47:52.960 |
But they became futile in their speculations. 00:47:58.960 |
And exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God. 00:48:05.960 |
And of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. 00:48:13.960 |
It trades in the beauty and the magnificence of the incorruptible. 00:48:17.960 |
The sovereign, the perfect, the perfect God that we have. 00:48:36.960 |
And when we look at our lives, it's easy to see the resemblance. 00:48:42.960 |
It's easy to see how a man might trade in God for a home. 00:48:55.960 |
Just like Judas saying, I will follow this man to a point. 00:48:59.960 |
So that I might resemble what it looks like to be a follower of Christ. 00:49:04.960 |
But past that point, then I will trade him in for nothing. 00:49:18.960 |
The temptation of this world to follow after the things that it offers. 00:49:24.960 |
On a daily basis, how easy it would be to trade in God for a TV show. 00:49:47.960 |
Trading in God for the things of this world is as foolish. 00:49:52.960 |
As it was for Judas to trade Christ in for 30 pieces of silver. 00:50:03.960 |
And so we see at the end of this Judas account after Jesus' death. 00:50:10.960 |
Judas just snaps to some kind of recognition. 00:50:19.960 |
Then when Judas who had betrayed him saw that he had been condemned. 00:50:26.960 |
And he returned the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests. 00:50:31.960 |
And elders saying, I have sinned by betraying innocent blood. 00:50:39.960 |
And he threw the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary and departed. 00:50:49.960 |
That all of the way they had gone, it's just the same thing in reverse. 00:50:56.960 |
Judas goes back to these chief priests who are supposed to be the mediator between God and man. 00:51:17.960 |
The chief priests took the pieces of silver and said, 00:51:19.960 |
It is not lawful to put them into the temple treasury since it is the price of blood. 00:51:23.960 |
And they conferred it together and with the money bought the potter's field as a burial place for strangers. 00:51:30.960 |
For this reason that field has been called the field of blood to this day. 00:51:36.960 |
I don't understand the sarcastic nature of Zechariah 11. 00:51:39.960 |
I said to them, if it is good in your sight, give me my wages. 00:51:44.960 |
So they weighed out 30 shekels of silver as my wages. 00:51:47.960 |
Then the Lord said to me, throw it to the potter, that magnificent price at which I was valued by them. 00:51:53.960 |
So I took the 30 shekels of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the Lord. 00:52:02.960 |
Zechariah is describing what was going on on this Wednesday. 00:52:06.960 |
And what would happen continually as the week would progress. 00:52:13.960 |
The Lord said to me, take again for yourself the equipment of a foolish shepherd. 00:52:17.960 |
Now look at how the foolish shepherd is described here. 00:52:20.960 |
For behold, I am going to raise up a shepherd in the land. 00:52:33.960 |
But will devour the flesh of the fat sheep and tear off their hooves. 00:52:37.960 |
Woe to the worthless shepherd who leaves the flock. 00:52:40.960 |
A sword will be on his arm and on his right eye. 00:52:46.960 |
Judas coming to these chief shepherds who are worthless. 00:52:52.960 |
Saying, take it back and the chief shepherds, these chief priests say no. 00:53:01.960 |
And this is what we see on this Wednesday of Passion Week. 00:53:07.960 |
This word we find in Luke's account is that, in the Luke account of this. 00:53:12.960 |
Is that he was, they were seeking to kill him. 00:53:22.960 |
It's a word that has to do with someone that is set on doing something. 00:53:25.960 |
This is someone who is resolute in getting a job done. 00:53:28.960 |
It's not something that they're just going to hope to see that it ends up in a certain place. 00:53:40.960 |
And what we know as believers is that sinners, we are active participants. 00:53:47.960 |
Because this is what the book of Zechariah says. 00:53:51.960 |
That this is what the sinful world looks like. 00:54:04.960 |
And it's only those who truly repent of their sin. 00:54:09.960 |
Who truly understand the holy God and what we have done before him. 00:54:18.960 |
He wept and he thought it would be enough to give the money back. 00:54:46.960 |
Our third and final point is that Jesus chose to die. 00:54:54.960 |
Even though the chief priests wanted Jesus dead. 00:55:03.960 |
Where they were false shepherds, Jesus was the true shepherd. 00:55:13.960 |
Because while Judas went to these shepherds that could not do anything, 00:55:36.960 |
And while it was the intention of our sinful hearts to seek the death of God in our lives. 00:55:43.960 |
It was the intention of Jesus to seek and to save us. 00:55:49.960 |
And we know that Jesus, this is Wednesday, as we look at Good Friday coming, he chose to die. 00:55:59.960 |
It wasn't the chief priests and it wasn't Judas. 00:56:12.960 |
For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life. 00:56:35.960 |
So while it was the prince of the power of the air, there was another account in Luke that says Satan enters into Judas. 00:56:45.960 |
And while it was the crowds who were mocking and scorning and it was soldiers that were marching into this cross. 00:56:50.960 |
This entire account that we see, even on Silent Wednesday, is marked full of how Christ was doing this of his own accord. 00:57:15.960 |
Give you just a number of minutes again, just like yesterday. 00:57:23.960 |
Is to pray asking for renewed clarity in where you stand before the Lord. 00:57:27.960 |
And I want to ask you, I know that when we are saved, that we are saved indeed. 00:57:37.960 |
Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith. 00:57:41.960 |
Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? 00:57:49.960 |
But I trust that you will realize that we ourselves do not fail the test. 00:57:51.960 |
Pray for renewed clarity again and examination before the Lord. 00:57:58.960 |
Make sure that your repentance wasn't fake where you threw 30 pieces of silver back into the temple. 00:58:03.960 |
Pray to God to unveil, indeed am I walking with Christ? 00:58:10.960 |
And if you are, I trust that he will confirm that in us. 00:58:16.960 |
But pray in genuine repentance, asking God to show us if we are living in any way, betraying Christ. 00:58:24.960 |
Secondly, pray that we will be faithful to Jesus in moments of temptation, pressure, trials and confusion. 00:58:31.960 |
Pray for protection from Satan's lies and scheming. 00:58:35.960 |
Pray in those areas where you feel like you are being deceived currently. 00:58:38.960 |
In your career, your relationship status, perceived needs, places of discontentment, the justification of our sins. 00:58:49.960 |
And thirdly, and lastly, pray that we would not know about God in a superficial way. 00:58:53.960 |
That if we are Christians, that we would really yearn for something more than a superficial faith. 00:59:02.960 |
Pray for a depth of love, not only in yourself, but in those around you. 00:59:06.960 |
In this church, for surrender, for intimacy, where walking with the Lord would not be burdensome or a begrudging duty, but a life-giving privilege. 00:59:16.960 |
Pray that Berean would have the heart of Mary and not Martha. 00:59:21.960 |
Pray that God would truly grow our love for him. 00:59:26.960 |
All right, so we'll give you just a few minutes here, and the praise team will come up, close us in song, and we'll conclude in prayer. 01:08:21.660 |
Sin had left the crimson stain, He washed it white as snow. 01:08:31.920 |
And when before the throne, I stand in Him complete. 01:08:54.620 |
Jesus died my soul to save, my lips shall still remain. 01:09:16.320 |
Sin had left the crimson stain, He washed it white as snow. 01:09:28.360 |
Praise the one who paid my debt and raised this earth up from the dead. 01:09:39.020 |
Oh, praise the one who paid my debt and raised this earth up from the dead. 01:09:49.580 |
Oh, praise the one who paid my debt and raised this life up from the dead. 01:09:59.860 |
Oh, praise the one who paid my debt and raised this life up from the dead. 01:10:23.880 |
Sin had left the crimson stain, He washed it white as snow. 01:10:40.280 |
Father, thank you for your great love for us. 01:10:42.360 |
Thank you, God, for accomplishing what we could not accomplish. 01:10:46.060 |
Thank you, Lord, that you did not expect us to come with any kind of answers 01:10:52.260 |
other than a sheer need and desperation for Christ. 01:10:55.760 |
And for all of us who have received Jesus as Lord and Savior of our lives, 01:11:00.700 |
I pray, God, that you would help us, help us to remember, help us to see 01:11:05.580 |
that our love for Christ would grow and grow and grow and grow, 01:11:10.220 |
that we would not be people telling the world of how great Christ is, 01:11:17.080 |
But, Lord, that we would lay down our lives gladly because Christ is worth it. 01:11:28.020 |
Help us, Lord, to choose to stare at Christ and not the things of this world. 01:11:34.020 |
Help us, God, to be aware of what we look at, what we listen to, what we consume. 01:11:41.640 |
And, Father, that we would grow in our faith and that we would be a light unto this world 01:11:46.880 |
and we would do what you have set us and placed us into this world to do. 01:11:50.960 |
God, we pray that as we continue to march forward to Friday and Sunday, 01:12:09.540 |
If you are helping clean up, you'll be meeting over there by the water fountain. 01:12:13.180 |
For those of you who have volunteered to help set up for the Passover meal, 01:12:20.320 |
right around where the lost and found is going to be directly after we're done here. 01:12:25.480 |
So as soon as I walk off, you'll be walking over there. 01:12:28.340 |
So you'll be kind of setting up for the Passover meal tomorrow. 01:12:33.140 |
Well, we hope to see you, if not tomorrow, at the Passover meal on Friday for our Good Friday service.