SPEAKER_04: Chapter 18.
SPEAKER_04: Jesus is betrayed and arrested.
SPEAKER_04: After saying these things, Jesus crossed the Kendron Valley with his disciples and entered a grove of olive trees.
SPEAKER_04: Judas, the betrayer, knew this place because Jesus had often gone there with his disciples.
SPEAKER_04: The leading priests and Pharisees had given Judas a contingent of Roman soldiers and temple guards to accompany him.
SPEAKER_04: Now with blazing torches, lanterns, and weapons, they arrived at the olive grove.
SPEAKER_04: Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to him, so he stepped forward to meet them.
SPEAKER_02: Who are you looking for?
SPEAKER_04: He asked.
SPEAKER_04: Jesus the Nazarene, they replied.
SPEAKER_04: I am P, Jesus said.
SPEAKER_04: Judas who betrayed him was standing with them.
SPEAKER_04: As Jesus said, I am he, they all drew back and fell to the ground.
SPEAKER_04: Once more, he asked, Who are you looking for?
SPEAKER_03: And again they replied, Jesus the Nazarene.
SPEAKER_03: I told you that I am he.
SPEAKER_03: Jesus said, And since I am the one you want, let these others go.
SPEAKER_03: He did this to fulfill his own statement.
SPEAKER_03: I did not lose a single one of those you have given me.
SPEAKER_04: Then Simon Peter drew a sword and slashed off the right ear of Malchus, the high priest's slave.
SPEAKER_03: But Jesus said to Peter, Put your sword back into its sheet.
SPEAKER_03: Shall I not drink from the cup of suffering the Father has given me?
SPEAKER_04: Jesus at the high priest's house.
SPEAKER_04: So the soldiers, their commanding officer, and the temple guards arrested Jesus and tied him up.
SPEAKER_04: First they took him to Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest at that time.
SPEAKER_04: Caiaphas was the one who had told the other Jewish leaders It's better that one man should die for the people.
SPEAKER_04: Peter's first denial.
SPEAKER_04: Simon Peter followed Jesus, as did another of the disciples.
SPEAKER_04: That other disciple was acquainted with the high priest.
SPEAKER_04: So he was allowed to enter the high priest's courtyard with Jesus.
SPEAKER_04: Peter had to stay outside the gate.
SPEAKER_04: Then the disciple who knew the high priest spoke to the woman watching at the gate and she let Peter in.
SPEAKER_01: The woman asked Peter, You're not one of that man's disciples, are you?
SPEAKER_04: No, he said, I am not.
SPEAKER_04: Because it was cold, the household servants and the guards had made a charcoal fire.
SPEAKER_04: They stood around it, warming themselves, and Peter stood with them, warming himself.
SPEAKER_04: The high priest questions Jesus.
SPEAKER_04: Inside, the high priest began asking Jesus about his followers and what he had been teaching them.
SPEAKER_03: Jesus replied, Everyone knows what I teach.
SPEAKER_03: I have preached regularly in the synagogues and the temple, where the people gather.
SPEAKER_03: I have not spoken in secret.
SPEAKER_03: Why are you asking me this question?
SPEAKER_03: Ask those who heard me.
SPEAKER_03: They know what I said.
SPEAKER_04: Then, one of the temple guards standing nearby slapped Jesus across the face.
SPEAKER_04: Is that the way to answer the high priest?
SPEAKER_04: He demanded.
SPEAKER_03: Jesus replied, If I said anything wrong, you must prove it.
SPEAKER_03: But if I'm speaking the truth, why are you beating me?
SPEAKER_04: Then, Annas found Jesus and sent him to Caiaphas, the high priest.
SPEAKER_04: Peter's second and third denials.
SPEAKER_04: Meanwhile, as Simon Peter was standing by the fire warming himself, they asked him again, You're not one of his disciples, are you?
SPEAKER_04: He denied it, saying, No, I am not.
SPEAKER_04: But one of the household slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, Didn't I see you out there in the olive grove with Jesus?
SPEAKER_04: Again, Peter denied it, and immediately a rooster crowed.
SPEAKER_04: Jesus' trial before Pilate.
SPEAKER_04: Jesus' trial before Caiaphas ended in the early hours of the morning.
SPEAKER_04: Then he was taken to the headquarters of the Roman governor.
SPEAKER_04: His accusers didn't go inside because it would defile them, and they wouldn't be allowed to celebrate the Passover.
SPEAKER_04: So Pilate, the governor, went out to them and asked, What is your charge against this man?
SPEAKER_01: We wouldn't have handed him over to you if he weren't a criminal.
SPEAKER_01: They retorted.
SPEAKER_01: Then take him away and judge him by your own law.
SPEAKER_01: Pilate told them.
SPEAKER_01: Only the Romans are permitted to execute someone.
SPEAKER_04: The Jewish leaders replied, This fulfilled Jesus' prediction about the way he would die.
SPEAKER_04: Then Pilate went back into his headquarters and called for Jesus to be brought to him.
SPEAKER_04: Are you the king of the Jews?
SPEAKER_03: He asked him.
SPEAKER_03: Jesus replied, Is this your own question?
SPEAKER_03: Or did others tell you about me?
SPEAKER_01: Am I a Jew?
SPEAKER_01: Pilate retorted.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: What have you done?
SPEAKER_03: Jesus answered, My kingdom is not an earthly kingdom.
SPEAKER_03: If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders.
SPEAKER_03: But my kingdom is not of this world.
SPEAKER_03: Pilate says, So you are a king.
SPEAKER_03: Jesus responded, You say I am a king.
SPEAKER_03: Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth.
SPEAKER_03: All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true.
SPEAKER_03: What is truth?
SPEAKER_01: Pilate asked.
SPEAKER_01: Then he went out again to the people and told them.
SPEAKER_01: Would you like me to release this king of the Jews?
SPEAKER_01: But they shouted back, No, not this man.
SPEAKER_04: We want Barabbas.
SPEAKER_04: Barabbas was a revolutionary.
Forrest: No matter if you're uh on a road trip, in a theme park, in an office building.
Forrest: There's some words, a sentence that men never want to hear.
Forrest: You look lost.
Forrest: Just something in our pride.
Forrest: Even if we are, we don't want to look that way.
Forrest: We want to look like we have it all together.
Forrest: Daniel Boone once said, I've never been lost, but I have been confused for a couple of days.
Forrest: See, we're in this series, Lost and Found.
Forrest: And as we're looking through the Easter story, we've been zeroing in on different people and individuals across the story, in the beginning, in the middle, and the end, that have lost their way on the path.
Forrest: As we enter into this holy week and we're on this Palm Sunday, we think about Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, where there were hordes of people who were lining the streets, putting down palm branches in their coats as Jesus came into the city and they're singing and shouting, Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest, praising Jesus, the same crowd a few days later that would scream, Crucify Him, crucify him, crucify him.
Forrest: That quickly to lose the way.
Forrest: And maybe for some of us in the room today, you may have come in today and you're on your life's journey, your life's path, and you may not realize it that you've veered off of course of the plan and the purposes that God has for you.
Forrest: Or maybe you're one of the ones who are in the room today, and you know that there's some things that are happening in your life, some secret things, and you know that the path has diverged, but you don't want to look lost in any way.
Forrest: But maybe there's some of us in the room that you've come in today and you're seeking, you're saying, I need something different.
Forrest: The path that I'm walking down right now in my life, things are not working out.
Forrest: And maybe, just maybe, just maybe this God thing, maybe this thing about Jesus, I don't know, somebody invited me.
Forrest: Amen in the room, I'm just trying this out.
Forrest: And so what we're gonna look at of this passage of scripture that we just went through is to kind of imagine John chapter 18 as like a Netflix episode.
Forrest: See, if this was, if if if chapter 18 was a Netflix episode, it would be the one right before the finale.
Forrest: Because we have these different individuals that are in the story, and we're gonna take a look at each of them quickly, and we're gonna analyze what path and pitfall they've fallen into.
Forrest: So that they is a warning sign that we won't also follow into, follow a path away from Jesus.
Forrest: See Matthew, or chapter 18 of John that we just went through in the beginning of the next chapter, is when they fix a crown of thorns on a Jesus' head.
Forrest: And they beat him beyond recognition.
Forrest: And they whip him, and they tear the flesh from his back.
Forrest: And he carries his cross up the hill.
Forrest: See, the first of these paths that diverge away from Jesus is the path that the priests are on.
Forrest: These priests, these religious leaders that have it all figured out.
Forrest: They know exactly what the Messiah is supposed to look like.
Forrest: They know exactly from from how studied they are and how smart they are.
Forrest: That this humble Jesus from Nazareth that he couldn't possibly be the Messiah and he didn't fit the mold of what they wanted.
Forrest: And so they were walking down a path of pride.
Forrest: So oftentimes in our lives, we want to make Jesus into our image instead of us following Jesus and making ourselves into his image.
Forrest: This path of pride.
Forrest: In verse 12, so the soldiers and the commanding officers and the temple guards arrested Jesus.
Forrest: They tied him up.
Forrest: First, they took him to Annas, since he was the father of Caiaphas, the high priest, at that time.
Forrest: And Caiaphas was the one who told the other Jewish leaders, it's better that one man should die for the people.
Forrest: We saw this passage last week.
Forrest: Caiaphas, the high priest.
Forrest: He says, it's better that one man should die for the people.
Forrest: But that wasn't a spiritual statement.
Forrest: That wasn't Caiaphas saying, Oh, Jesus the Messiah, he's going to die for our sins and he's going to save the whole world.
Forrest: No, what he was saying is that it's better for this person, this Jesus, to die, than for Rome and the emperor and our oppressors to come with their military might and political might and destroy us because of some kind of uprising.
Forrest: So they were thinking about their political position, their power, their influence.
Forrest: And for us, we look at that and we think to ourselves, and should think to ourselves, the amount of humility that we should be walking in.
Forrest: The Jesus of the scriptures will be the Jesus that we follow.
Forrest: And not the one that we want to pick and choose and turn into the Jesus of our preferences.
Forrest: See, in this same vein of the political and military was Pilate, this powerful governor, who stands in the judgment seat over King Jesus.
Forrest: Even asking him, Are you the king of the Jews?
Forrest: And you can see the moral decay and corruption in him.
Forrest: That he takes this path of least resistance to allow an innocent man to be killed.
Forrest: He's succumbed to this path of political power, of political correctness.
Forrest: This governor that's supposed to be, he's supposed to be a judge, one who holds up truth, one that's in a place of authority, but then he looks at Jesus and he says, What is truth?
Forrest: What is truth?
Forrest: He had gotten to the place that his path had gone so far off that he basically was willing to do whatever he could in order for him to keep his political power, have no convictions.
Forrest: And you think about that compared to our Christian brothers and sisters in the first century.
Forrest: See, we don't really think about it through this lens, but the earliest of Christians, the first followers of Jesus, had zero political power.
Forrest: So much so that the earliest of Christians, many of them, died for their faith.
Forrest: Some of them, even in Roman Colosseums, being torn apart by lions for entertainment.
Forrest: Hung is hanging candles, burning alive at parties for the Roman emperors.
Forrest: See, even in a town like ours, it's possible for politics to become a religion.
Forrest: And the centuries of time have taught us that politics is a terrible savior.
Forrest: See, Jesus is not an elephant, and he's not a donkey.
Forrest: He's a lion and a lamb.
Forrest: He transcends it, he's beyond it.
Forrest: Do we walk out our faith and does it inform how we go, what which way we go in life, and what we do and our decisions?
Forrest: Absolutely.
Forrest: But Jesus is king.
Forrest: He's above any political system, he is our Lord of lords.
Forrest: And so we submit ourselves to him.
Forrest: So then, even like Pilate, when it's not politically expedient for us to be followers of Jesus, we still follow him.
Forrest: It was Jesus who said in Luke chapter 9, verse 26 If anyone is ashamed of me and my message, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels.
Forrest: See, this is the trap.
Forrest: This is the path and the trap and the pitfall that Peter fell into.
Forrest: Because Peter followed down this path of preservation.
Forrest: Out of fear and uncertainty of what would happen in the pressures from the crowd, he falters in the face of adversity.
Forrest: Because in verse 17, a woman asked Peter, Are you not the man's disciple?
Forrest: Are you?
Forrest: And he says, No, I'm not.
Forrest: And then he's asked again, and he says, I'm not.
Forrest: And he's asked again, and he says, I'm not.
Forrest: And then the rooster crows.
Forrest: Peter's following down this path of fear.
Forrest: That when somebody would ask him the question so plainly, are you one of the disciples?
Forrest: Did you follow that Jesus?
Forrest: His answer ashamed was no.
Forrest: What will our answer be?
Forrest: When yes, I'm a follower of Jesus, it's not politically correct to say.
Forrest: It doesn't help us get that promotion.
Forrest: It doesn't help us get favor with our neighbors.
Forrest: I think about in the 1930s.
Forrest: In the 1930s in Germany, Hitler was quickly rising to power.
Forrest: And his ideology, the Fuhrer ideology, was gaining ground and gaining traction and was becoming the popular opinion of the day.
Forrest: This evil Aryan purity ideology to exterminate, genocide a whole group of people.
Forrest: And in the late 1930s, the majority of pastors in Germany at the time fell in line with Hitler and supported him.
Forrest: They supported him because it's Jesus who was rising to power.
Forrest: All the people knew it, even though what he was saying was not the way of Jesus, but he was saying that he was this Christian leader, and for their own expediency, they came in alignment with Hitler, himself, and the Nazi Party, only for just a few short years later, the majority of those pastors to be sent and die in Nazi concentration camps after Hitler took control of the church in Germany.
Forrest: See, they followed this political correctness.
Forrest: And they thought that it was gonna be good for them to just fall in line.
Forrest: The rooster crows.
Forrest: And it flashes back to just a few chapters earlier in John chapter 13.
Forrest: And this is Jesus after the Last Supper, and after he's gotten down and he's washed their feet, and he begins to teach them, and he tells them that somebody's gonna betray them, and Judas goes off to sell Jesus out for 30 pieces of silver.
Forrest: And Jesus says this in verse 31.
Forrest: As soon as Judas left the room, Jesus said, The time has come for the Son of Man to enter his glory, and God will be glorified because of him.
Forrest: And since God receives glory because of the Son, he will give his own glory to the Son.
Forrest: And he will do so at once.
Forrest: Dear children, I will be with you only a little longer.
Forrest: As I told the Jewish leaders, you will search for me, but you cannot come where I'm going.
Forrest: Verse 34.
Forrest: So now I'm giving you a new commandment.
Forrest: Love each other.
Forrest: Just as I have loved you.
Forrest: You should love each other.
Forrest: And then verse 35.
Forrest: And Simon Peter asked, Lord, where are you going?
Forrest: What are you talking about?
Forrest: And Jesus replied, You can't go with me now, but you'll follow me later.
Forrest: But why can't I come now, Lord?
Forrest: He asked.
Forrest: I'm ready to die for you.
Forrest: And Jesus answered, Die for me.
Forrest: I tell you the truth, Peter.
Forrest: Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.
Forrest: We can't be too harsh on Peter, though.
Forrest: Because there's another group of individuals in this story, and that's the people, the crowd.
Forrest: That follow the path of popular opinion to hatred and to violence and the prevailing winds of what was popular to be said.
Forrest: Pilate stands and he gives them this option in verse 39.
Forrest: But you have a custom of asking me to release one prisoner each year at Passover.
Forrest: Would you like me to release this king of the Jews?
Forrest: But they shouted back, No, not this man.
Forrest: We want Barabbas, who was a murderer, who was a revolutionary.
Forrest: And just a few short verses later, they're screaming, crucify him, crucify him, crucify him.
Forrest: They follow this path of what's popular at the time.
Forrest: Reminds me a time I was on a path, Emily and I, when we were dating years ago, down, I know I went to Cumberland, so down in that southern uh area of Kentucky, went to Cumberland Falls, and we went out to this special place out at Cumberland Falls.
Forrest: It's one of the falls that you have to hike back to.
Forrest: When you get to it, it opens up, and there's this beautiful waterfall and this lagoon, and we're hanging out and having food, and we're just so in love.
Forrest: And we swam together and we talked.
Forrest: Together and as the day went on, we didn't realize that it was getting closer and closer tonight.
Forrest: Quite a long way away from the vehicle.
Forrest: All of a sudden, we find ourselves in darkness with nothing but a little flashlight to light our way.
Forrest: Now, this was not even one of the new flashlights, like one of the older flashlights.
Forrest: These nice bright ones.
Forrest: And so we're on this path, and it's pitch black.
Forrest: There's no moon.
Forrest: The cover of the trees are covering over, and we're on the path.
Forrest: And Emily's got a hold of the back of my shirt, and we're taking a step at a time and lighting up, trying to figure out are we okay?
Forrest: Are we still on, are we still on the trail?
Forrest: Where are the markers?
Forrest: Where are the trees?
Forrest: And I'm trying to keep my light on my feet and on hers here.
Forrest: I'm just doing this whole thing, everything, trying to light it up because I don't want to stumble over a rock or a stump and fall on my face.
Forrest: And I'm lighting up the path, and I'm lighting up my feet, and I'm lighting up my path, and I'm lighting up my feet just so that I can stay on course, that we can make it back to the car.
Forrest: It's God's word.
Forrest: It's a lamp unto my feet.
Forrest: And a light unto my path.
Forrest: It's both.
Forrest: To know which way we should go in this life.
Forrest: And it's a light for our feet so that if we stay walking with Jesus, that we don't stumble and fall.
Forrest: That if we follow on the path, the path that Jesus wants us to follow, which is this path of promise, a path of hope, a path of the one that bled and died to light our way.
Forrest: That we would follow the promise of God.
Forrest: That the Savior of this world, that just a few verses later, is hanging on the cross.
Forrest: Bloody and beaten, unable to breathe, a crown of thorns on his head, King of the Jews written over.
Forrest: Before he takes his last breath, they put a sour wine on his lip.
Forrest: And then he says on the cross, It is finished.
Forrest: And then the earth began to quake.
Forrest: And darkness filled the earth.
Forrest: And the veil that was in the temple tore in two.
Forrest: And the Roman soldier fell on his face and he said, Surely this is the Son of God.
Forrest: That Jesus finished work on the cross for you today.
Forrest: That today would be the day that you say, God, I'm going to allow you to light my path.
Forrest: I've been on my path, my way, for so long that it's time for me to be found.
Forrest: In a few minutes, we're going to celebrate these baptisms together.
Forrest: And it's this beautiful picture and a celebration of the ones that are proclaiming and saying, Jesus, I follow you.
Forrest: Everyone, let me proclaim that my life is Jesus.
Forrest: It's given to him.
Forrest: I'm no longer on my own path in the darkness, but I'm walking in the glorious light of my Savior.
Forrest: And we're going to celebrate that here in just a few minutes.
Forrest: And I can't wait.
Forrest: On our second birthday.
Forrest: But I wonder, I wonder if there's anybody else in the room today.
Forrest: That today is your day.
Forrest: That you need to receive the finished work of Jesus on the cross.
Forrest: He bled and died in your place so that you could walk in his way, in his path your life, for his promises over you.
Forrest: That you'll walk from this life into the next, into eternity with God, in relationship with him, and not separated in a place called hell because of our sin, but forgiven and found by the power of the blood.
Forrest: Would you bow your heads with me now?
Forrest: Father, I pray all across the room right now.
Forrest: Lord, there's people in our midst, Father, that know that they're walking on the wrong path.
Forrest: They come here today, and Lord, I pray, God, that this will be a moment that they turn their heart and mind over to you.
Forrest: They give it to you.
Forrest: Father, I pray right now, all across the room, Father, someone who's come into this place that's in a desperate spot, and they need you to find them, to pick them up and show them the way.
Forrest: Father, I pray, God, that today, that today, God, would be a day of a moment of change.
Forrest: Not by our own power, but by your power.
Forrest: And so, God, I pray all across the room right now, Father, if there's anybody in this place who's not accepted you as Savior, Father, and walking with you, that today would be the day of their salvation.
Forrest: Today would be the day that they give their heart and their life to you, that they turn from their sin and walk on the path with you.
Forrest: And if that's you here this morning, I'm gonna ask you to pray right now to the Lord.
Forrest: Pray to the Lord right now in your heart and your mind, from a genuine place.
Forrest: Jesus, save me.
Forrest: I believe that you're the Son of God and that you're alive.
Forrest: Forgive me, cleanse me as white as snow, so that I can be in heaven with you one day.
Forrest: I give you my life as you gave yours for mine.
Forrest: Thank you for saving me.
Forrest: Head bowed in this room today.
Forrest: If today was the day that you prayed that to be forgiven, to walk on the path with Jesus, for you to receive his salvation and finish work on the cross, if today was the day that you prayed that to follow Jesus, to be made new, to give your heart and your life to him, what I'm gonna do is on the count of three, I want you to raise your hand so I can see you, so I can pray for you.
Forrest: If today is the day that you've prayed that, to walk in the path of Jesus, to receive him as Savior, if that day is today, the count of three.
Forrest: One, two, three.
Forrest: Anybody?
Forrest: Yep, right over here?
Forrest: Yep, right here in the back.
Forrest: Anybody else?
Forrest: Anybody else right here?
Forrest: Father, in the back.
Forrest: I see you.
Forrest: Father, right now, Lord, the ones that have raised this hand towards you, God, I pray, Lord, that this has come from a genuine place of them giving their heart and life to you.
Forrest: That God, that this this moment of salvation, that God, it would be sealed.
Forrest: That God, that they would be forgiven and that we would walk with you every single day.
Forrest: From now and into eternity.
Forrest: Thank you, Father, for new life in this place.
Forrest: In Jesus' name.
Forrest: Everybody said, Amen.
Forrest: Church, will you celebrate together as we stand and we sing?