Bhanu Gadde: Good morning, family.
Bhanu Gadde: As soon as Walter said I'm the main chef today, my thoughts immediately went to the kitchen.
Bhanu Gadde: I didn't know if I promised anything to any of you and uh forgot on that promise.
Bhanu Gadde: Maybe you know I'm uh I promised you that I would make pizza, but uh then it hit me what a privilege it is to be able to serve, not only in the kitchen but here, serving from the word of God.
Bhanu Gadde: It is a great honor to have an opportunity to stand before you all, to open up the word of God with utmost confidence in its truthfulness and its inerrancy.
Bhanu Gadde: And we've been hearing from the book of Matthew, we are coming to the end of the prolonged study of the book of Matthew and Matthew's testimony of Christ and him being the Son of God.
Bhanu Gadde: And for the past two weeks, Pastor Micah presented to us the silent lamb.
Bhanu Gadde: And in his sermon, he said the silent lamb, as he was going through this mocked trial before Annas and Caiaphas.
Bhanu Gadde: The silent lamb is the silent priest, and silent lamb is the silent prophet, and silent lamb is the silent king.
Bhanu Gadde: And his silence conveyed so much more than anything that could be uttered.
Bhanu Gadde: And if we consider these trials, I think we will be not, I think we we will be continuing this trial of Jesus Christ.
Bhanu Gadde: See, he was tried in front of the Jewish Supreme Court, and now he is in front of the Gentiles, in front of Pilate, Herod.
Bhanu Gadde: And last week we heard our dear brother Kevin preach from chapter 26 and the first version of 27.
Bhanu Gadde: How these two responses, one of Peter and one of Judas, and how these two responses, the contrast between them, and how Christ must hold us fast.
Bhanu Gadde: What a wonderful encouragement.
Bhanu Gadde: And from the beginning of this study, we've been concentrating on the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies in Him.
Bhanu Gadde: And now we are making our way to the climactic events of the book of Matthew, where Jesus is put on another trial and will be condemned to death on a cross.
Bhanu Gadde: And if we come into this courtroom of Pilate, into this praetorium, and we will see many characters here.
Bhanu Gadde: And to understand, the understanding of these characters that appear in this portion of scripture is extremely important.
Bhanu Gadde: This event is narrated in all of the four gospels.
Bhanu Gadde: It is so important that all four gospels narrate this to a different degree of detail.
Bhanu Gadde: And if we put all of them together, it will give us a complete picture of this trial and will shed light on the important things of this trial.
Bhanu Gadde: Before we read the portion of the scripture, let's go to the Lord in prayer.
Bhanu Gadde: Heavenly Father, we bow before you this morning.
Bhanu Gadde: Father, as we approach your word, Father, we pray that you would give us the presence of mine and also Father's supreme confidence in it.
Bhanu Gadde: And Father, even in my weakness, Father, we pray that you would speak to your people powerfully.
Bhanu Gadde: And Father, as we consider the Christ and his sufferings as he approaches the monumental event in human history, Father, we pray that you would deliver us from all cavalier attitudes.
Bhanu Gadde: And Father, help our hearts to consider Christ in a new way once again.
Bhanu Gadde: In Jesus' name we pray.
Bhanu Gadde: Now Jesus stood before the governor.
Bhanu Gadde: While he was being accused by the chief priests and elders, he did not answer.
Bhanu Gadde: Then Pilate said to him, Do you don't you hear how much they are testifying against you?
Bhanu Gadde: But he didn't answer him, even one on one charge.
Bhanu Gadde: So that the governor was quite amazed.
Bhanu Gadde: At the festival of the governor's custom uh at the festival, the governor's custom was to release to the crowd a prisoner they wanted.
Bhanu Gadde: At that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas.
Bhanu Gadde: So when they had gathered together, Pilate said to them, Who is it you want me to release for you?
Bhanu Gadde: Barabbas or the Jesus who is called Christ?
Bhanu Gadde: For he knew it was because of the envy that they had handed him over.
Bhanu Gadde: While he was sitting on the judge's bench, his wife sent to him, sent word to him, Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for today I have suffered terribly in a dream because of him.
Bhanu Gadde: The chief priests and the elders, however, persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to execute Jesus.
Bhanu Gadde: The governor asked them, Which of the two do you want me to release for you?
Bhanu Gadde: Barabbas, they answered.
Bhanu Gadde: Pilate asked them, What should I do with Jesus, who is called Christ?
Bhanu Gadde: They all answered, Crucify him.
Bhanu Gadde: Then he said, Why?
Bhanu Gadde: What has he done wrong?
Bhanu Gadde: But he kept, but they kept shouting all the more, Crucify him.
Bhanu Gadde: When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that but that a royal was starting instead, he took some water and washed his hands in front of the crowd and said, I am innocent of this man's blood.
Bhanu Gadde: See to it yourselves.
Bhanu Gadde: All the people answered, His blood be on us and on our children.
Bhanu Gadde: Then he released Barabbas to them, and after having Jesus flogged, handed him over to be crucified.
Bhanu Gadde: This incident that took place towards the end of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ's earthly ministry.
Bhanu Gadde: In fact, this is his last day.
Bhanu Gadde: And he would be crucified in merely in hours.
Bhanu Gadde: And this will show us about the real tragedy with humanity, and that the real tragedy with humanity is as a result of sin.
Bhanu Gadde: This is a very dramatic incident, and let us for a moment be transported to this courtroom, where this Roman praetorium, where Pilate, the Roman administrator over Judea, is presiding over this trial.
Bhanu Gadde: And at the time Herod Antipas was the ruler over Galilee, these places will become important as the trial unfolds.
Bhanu Gadde: This is the great trial, or should we say, mistrial of all of history.
Bhanu Gadde: Many artists, if we look at ancient paintings, many artists try to portray this moment through different expressions of art and drama to capture the expressions of various characters in this particular scene.
Bhanu Gadde: We may have heard of this so many times.
Bhanu Gadde: The danger is that our hearts can be desensitized to the full gravity of what is unfolding here.
Bhanu Gadde: The atoning death of Jesus Christ and the events that led to this monumental moment in human redemptive history needs our full, undivided attention and proper grasp of what went on here, and that will inform us about why Jesus, the righteous one, was rejected.
Bhanu Gadde: And then, more importantly, not only then, and more importantly, why he is rejected throughout the centuries and even in our current culture and current society, current world.
Bhanu Gadde: Let us consider the background of the man before whom Jesus was brought.
Bhanu Gadde: Pilate was appointed by the Roman government to be the administrator, a governor over the conquered land of Palestine.
Bhanu Gadde: Whenever the Roman government conquered territories, they would appoint a ruler over these lands.
Bhanu Gadde: Pilate was fifth such governor over Palestine, and his tenure lasted from 26 AD to 37 AD, about 11 years.
Bhanu Gadde: His was the longest tenure of any of the governors, and this might make him look like a very successful governor.
Bhanu Gadde: But his long tenure without any promotion indicates mediocre success or even a failure.
Bhanu Gadde: He not only received receive any promotion, but he was fired by the emperor Caligula and was banished.
Bhanu Gadde: And according to historians, Pilate was very stubborn and he was very cruel.
Bhanu Gadde: And he was involved in several run-ins with the Jewish nation.
Bhanu Gadde: And they do not like him, nor does he like them.
Bhanu Gadde: And now if they perceive, see, Jewish leadership has this demand of him at this point, at this trial, and we will see that in a few in a few moments.
Bhanu Gadde: And if they perceive that he will not respond the way they would like him to, they can lodge a complaint against him with Caesar, like they did several times before.
Bhanu Gadde: And here we need to see something.
Bhanu Gadde: Nothing corrupts human hearts like the love of power.
Bhanu Gadde: Because how this authority brings about prideful notions in oneself and how much one absolutely tries to preserve this influence at any cost.
Bhanu Gadde: That is clearly seen in all the actors that are part of this trial.
Bhanu Gadde: Jesus Christ himself said on many occasions that the prophecies were about him in no uncertain terms.
Bhanu Gadde: And in Luke 4 we read, and he was in Nazareth in the synagogue, and he reads from the book of Isaiah.
Bhanu Gadde: And he says, The Spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
Bhanu Gadde: So to set free the oppressed, to proclaim the ear of Lord's favor.
Bhanu Gadde: And he then rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down.
Bhanu Gadde: And then he said, This today, as you listen, this scripture has been fulfilled.
Bhanu Gadde: And that is the refrain that we have heard from the beginning of Matthew since we started started this Matthew study, and this has been the refrain.
Bhanu Gadde: And all the prophecies and all the prophets, what they said is about Jesus Christ.
Bhanu Gadde: All these actors who are standing in judgment of this righteous man would have realized just as John did if they paid close attention, and if they paid close attention to what he was saying and how he is purporting himself.
Bhanu Gadde: John 1 14 it says, The word became flesh and dwelt among us.
Bhanu Gadde: We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Bhanu Gadde: But the unfortunate reality here is but in their power-hungry pursuits, all these players missed it all.
Bhanu Gadde: And we will see three this message in three points.
Bhanu Gadde: One is the divine irony, and the divine indictment, and the divine intent.
Bhanu Gadde: While he was being accused, there's 12th and 12 through 14 verses.
Bhanu Gadde: While he was being accused by the chief priests and elders, he didn't answer.
Bhanu Gadde: Then Pilate said to him, Don't you hear how much they are testifying against you?
Bhanu Gadde: But he didn't answer him on even one charge.
Bhanu Gadde: So the governor was quite amazed.
Bhanu Gadde: Probably Pilate has seen many criminals come through his courtroom.
Bhanu Gadde: And to all the accusations, probably he heard so many things.
Bhanu Gadde: They're screaming and crying that they were innocent of this, these charges, and to have mercy on them and to release them.
Bhanu Gadde: But Jesus did not answer.
Bhanu Gadde: And the governor was quite amazed.
Bhanu Gadde: Here, Pilate was sitting in the judgment seat of Christ, and he thinks that he has the authority over Jesus' life.
Bhanu Gadde: But as Jesus said in John, it says, He has no more authority than what was given to him by his father.
Bhanu Gadde: Pilate proclaims that he does not find any fault in him.
Bhanu Gadde: Yet he hands Jesus over to over to them to be crucified.
Bhanu Gadde: Pilate thinks that he has the authority to set any prisoner free and did try to set Jesus free.
Bhanu Gadde: But the divine Son of God, by going to the cross, he set all the prisoners free from bondage to sin.
Bhanu Gadde: As Paul says in Romans, what then?
Bhanu Gadde: Should we sin because we are not under the law but under grace?
Bhanu Gadde: Absolutely not.
Bhanu Gadde: Don't you know that if you offer yourself to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of that one you obey.
Bhanu Gadde: Either of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness.
Bhanu Gadde: But thank God that although you used to be slaves of sin, you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching to which you were handed over.
Bhanu Gadde: And having been set free from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness.
Bhanu Gadde: The irony of irony is that Jesus Christ was accused that he was an insurrectionist and would be a threat to the Roman government.
Bhanu Gadde: And he was accused of being the king of the Jews.
Bhanu Gadde: And he had the political ambitions and wouldn't would constitute a threat to the current power structure.
Bhanu Gadde: Whenever you know these authorities they hear this king or where a person with ambitions to be king, they take notice.
Bhanu Gadde: And his accusers are more worried about their power and their religion.
Bhanu Gadde: See, Jewish nation or Jewish leaders are bringing these false charges against Jesus so that so so as so that they can force Pilate into compliance.
Bhanu Gadde: And Pilate testifies to that fact and says that they have delivered Jesus to him because of envy.
Bhanu Gadde: Everything that they did from the beginning is because of envy, because he had more following than they had.
Bhanu Gadde: And he had he was more popular with the people than they ever were.
Bhanu Gadde: And he did things that they could never even contemplate.
Bhanu Gadde: They were confounded and confused and filled with rage.
Bhanu Gadde: They were accusing Jesus thus because they wanted to get Pilate on board with their agenda.
Bhanu Gadde: Because though they think Jesus must be executed, they did not have the power of capital punishment.
Bhanu Gadde: Though Rome gave local power structures a level of autonomy, they did not give them the power of capital punishment.
Bhanu Gadde: And Pilate did not buy their argument at all.
Bhanu Gadde: But little did he know that these accusations will come true in time, albeit in a different way than one could have imagined or anticipated, because the Roman Empire was indeed conquered by the gospel of Jesus Christ not too long from that trial.
Bhanu Gadde: Apostle Paul had Macedonian vision and he brought the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Roman Empire.
Bhanu Gadde: And one of and one of the disciples of Christ, Thomas, in the first century came to India bringing the message of hope to the Indian subcontinent.
Bhanu Gadde: When Pilate came to know that Jesus was from Galilee, you know, he saw that this is an opportunity for him to wiggle out of this burden the Jewish leaders were putting him putting on him.
Bhanu Gadde: Then he then sends Jesus to Herod.
Bhanu Gadde: And he is a judge, Pilate.
Bhanu Gadde: And without any just cause, he was not comfortable giving into the wishes of the Jewish leaders and the crowd.
Bhanu Gadde: But he was afraid that they might complain to the emperor, and this is not the first time they did.
Bhanu Gadde: And previous times when they complained, it did not go very well with Pilate.
Bhanu Gadde: Herod examines Jesus and mockingly puts King's robe on him and returns Jesus to Pilate.
Bhanu Gadde: Now things are becoming a little more difficult for Pilate because there is one more option for Pilate, the amnesty.
Bhanu Gadde: Matthew tells us that there is a custom which is the in which the governor would release a prisoner of crowds' choice.
Bhanu Gadde: There was a notorious prisoner named Barabbas, whose full name, according to early biblical scholars, Jesus.
Bhanu Gadde: Jesus Barabbas.
Bhanu Gadde: Pilate now is in a very precarious place here because he knows that he he has failed so many times in the dealing with the Jews, he is afraid if they report him to Caesar again, this could be the final straw.
Bhanu Gadde: In John's Gospel, 19th chapter, he record John records it like this.
Bhanu Gadde: The Jews, they have reminded him of this fact.
Bhanu Gadde: If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend.
Bhanu Gadde: Anyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.
Bhanu Gadde: And here he is claiming to be the king.
Bhanu Gadde: That is the accusation.
Bhanu Gadde: Trying to hang on to justice, he makes an appeal and he said to them, You brought this man to me as one who incites the people to rebellion.
Bhanu Gadde: And behold, having examined him before you, I found no guilt in this man regarding the charges which you make against him.
Bhanu Gadde: Nor has Herod.
Bhanu Gadde: He sent him back to us.
Bhanu Gadde: And behold, nothing deserving death has been done by him.
Bhanu Gadde: Therefore, I will punish and release him.
Bhanu Gadde: Punish him for what?
Bhanu Gadde: He proclaimed his innocence, Jesus' innocence, several times already.
Bhanu Gadde: Punish him for what?
Bhanu Gadde: I will punish him unjustly, illegally, and covertly, and then release him?
Bhanu Gadde: Wouldn't you be satisfied with that?
Bhanu Gadde: If I just lash him?
Bhanu Gadde: You know, no, their designs are much greater and they are much more vicious than to be satisfied with a little corporal punishment.
Bhanu Gadde: The custom of the governor, as we are told, at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner of their choice.
Bhanu Gadde: And this is the phase three of this trial before a Gentile court.
Bhanu Gadde: The first pilot, then he was sent to Herod, and he's back in the pilot's courtroom again.
Bhanu Gadde: And this amnesty is probably a way to appease the occupied people.
Bhanu Gadde: Amnesty for one prisoner of the people's choice, by the way, by the ancient sources you know, Roman governors had this.
Bhanu Gadde: They have done many times these things to show or to maintain a sense of kindness.
Bhanu Gadde: And he probably was thinking, these people have seen Jesus and his miracles.
Bhanu Gadde: They have benefited immensely from his ministry, and not too long ago, the throngs of people were following him.
Bhanu Gadde: They witnessed Jesus as a miracle worker.
Bhanu Gadde: Jesus was a threat to Jewish leadership, and Pilate knows that very well.
Bhanu Gadde: He attacked their motives.
Bhanu Gadde: Jesus did.
Bhanu Gadde: And their economy and their seat of power and their religion.
Bhanu Gadde: And Pilate knows that they are doing this because of envy.
Bhanu Gadde: He is everything that they cannot be.
Bhanu Gadde: And moreover, he is popular, and Pilate probably thought that, you know, Pilate wanted to bypass the Jewish leadership and go directly to the crowd.
Bhanu Gadde: And he was convinced that probably people will choose Jesus because of his popularity if he gave them the choice.
Bhanu Gadde: So instead of Sanhedrin, who were difficult, he went to the people.
Bhanu Gadde: And he saw what happened on Monday when Jesus entered Jerusalem triumphantly, his triumphal entry.
Bhanu Gadde: And so many crowds were chanting, hailing him as their king.
Bhanu Gadde: So he is going to move away from the vicious, unjust leaders, and he is going to address the people who have been given the privilege on occasions like this at the Passover to choose a prisoner to be released.
Bhanu Gadde: The man named Barabbas was his choice to present to them as an option.
Bhanu Gadde: He had been imprisoned with the insurrectionists and who had committed murder in the insurrection.
Bhanu Gadde: And the irony is that the Hebrew meaning of Barabbas means the son of the father.
Bhanu Gadde: Bar is the son of Abbas, the father.
Bhanu Gadde: This is the father, son of the father, offered in place of the divine son of the divine father.
Bhanu Gadde: This man is a robber.
Bhanu Gadde: He is a murderer.
Bhanu Gadde: He is a revolutionary.
Bhanu Gadde: He is called by Matthew a notorious prisoner, a well-known, surely headed for crucifixion.
Bhanu Gadde: Very soon, Romans did not wait in executing prisoners.
Bhanu Gadde: And now, in the verse 19, there is a little incident that occurs at this time.
Bhanu Gadde: As Pilate is sitting on the bench contemplating, his wife sent a word to him, have nothing to do with that righteous man, for today I've suffered terribly in a dream because of him.
Bhanu Gadde: And now, as he is contemplating his wife's request, the Jewish leadership was in the crowd.
Bhanu Gadde: Sanhedrin is busy instigating the crowd, and they are stirring up the crowd, and they effectively persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and put Jesus to death.
Bhanu Gadde: And the governor asked them, which of the two you want me to release for you?
Bhanu Gadde: Barabbas, they answered, have nothing to do with that righteous man, his wife's request.
Bhanu Gadde: While Pilate is conversing or contemplating his wife's request, Sanhedrin is trying to move the mob.
Bhanu Gadde: And in verse 20, the chief priests and the elders, however, persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to execute Jesus.
Bhanu Gadde: What an amazing turn of events.
Bhanu Gadde: What did Barabbas do ever for anyone?
Bhanu Gadde: What good was Barabbas in Luke?
Bhanu Gadde: In the book of Luke, he describes it, the scene like this.
Bhanu Gadde: Away with this man and release Barabbas.
Bhanu Gadde: Let the guilty live and kill the righteous one.
Bhanu Gadde: Treat the guilty as innocent.
Bhanu Gadde: And treat the innocent as guilty.
Bhanu Gadde: So now they render their verdict on Jesus.
Bhanu Gadde: And in reality of it, Jesus renders his verdict on them.
Bhanu Gadde: And Luke says, Pilate wanting to release Jesus, still addresses the crowd again.
Bhanu Gadde: Pilate said to them, Then what shall I do with him whom you call the king of the Jews?
Bhanu Gadde: What do I do with him?
Bhanu Gadde: And even here he asks that question in Matthew.
Bhanu Gadde: The answer is crucify him.
Bhanu Gadde: That is the crowd.
Bhanu Gadde: From Monday to Friday, they join the rest of the corrupt blasphemers.
Bhanu Gadde: They take their place with Judas and Annas and Caiphus and Herod and Pilate and the Sen Hed.
Bhanu Gadde: The question, this is the question, isn't it?
Bhanu Gadde: What do I do with Jesus?
Bhanu Gadde: What do we do with Jesus?
Bhanu Gadde: We will come to this question a bit later.
Bhanu Gadde: And Pilate, still incredulous, in verse 23, said to them, Why?
Bhanu Gadde: What has he done wrong?
Bhanu Gadde: Again, another proclamation of innocence.
Bhanu Gadde: This is an amazing Passover day.
Bhanu Gadde: They were there that day to honor God with a Passover meal.
Bhanu Gadde: This was the high point of worship for them.
Bhanu Gadde: They were there to bring sacrifices before God, to show their obedience to God.
Bhanu Gadde: They were there to eat the commemorative meal that remembered the deliverance of God, the goodness of God, the mercy of God that has brought them out of slavery in Egypt.
Bhanu Gadde: They were remembering God and his goodness while at the same time screaming for the death of the Son of God.
Bhanu Gadde: They were demanding the death of the one who has the power to make all their pursuits into reality.
Bhanu Gadde: Give them the righteousness that is not their own, but his own.
Bhanu Gadde: And deliver them from the true bondage and slavery that the slavery of Egypt would not even compare.
Bhanu Gadde: That is the irony.
Bhanu Gadde: And this whole passage is dripping with irony, as Pastor Doug said last night.
Bhanu Gadde: Now we come to the divine indictment.
Bhanu Gadde: Matthew tells us that when Jesus was before Pilate, Pilate asked the Jewish leaders who had brought Jesus there, the question, what shall I do with Jesus, who is called Christ.
Bhanu Gadde: Pilate, being the governor in Israel, was powerful.
Bhanu Gadde: You know, this power, and true, he was superior to many of even to Herod and all the Sanhedrin and all the leadership.
Bhanu Gadde: Being in power can bring altered perceptions of authority and what authority they possess.
Bhanu Gadde: Pilate being the governor in Israel was powerful and he didn't mind demonstrating his power.
Bhanu Gadde: When he asked the question, what shall I do with Jesus?
Bhanu Gadde: He is under the illusion that he is actually, no, he has something to do or some authority over Jesus' life.
Bhanu Gadde: The truth is, neither him nor does anyone could do anything with Jesus on their own.
Bhanu Gadde: No one has the power, no one has the position, and no one has the authority to determine what will be done with Jesus except God.
Bhanu Gadde: In fact, in our law in our Lord's trial before Pilate, Pilate expresses this illusion of his power with these words.
Bhanu Gadde: He says to Jesus, according to John 19, he says, When the chief priests and the temple servants saw him, they shouted, and uh crucify, crucify, pilot responded, take him and crucify yourselves.
Bhanu Gadde: And this is another way he tried to get out of this.
Bhanu Gadde: He said, You know what?
Bhanu Gadde: Take him and crucify according to your law.
Bhanu Gadde: And since I find no grounds for charging him, and they say, We have a law, and Jews replied to him, and according to that law, he ought to die because he made himself the Son of God.
Bhanu Gadde: Now they're saying they come to the come to the reality here.
Bhanu Gadde: When Pilate heard this statement, he was more afraid than ever, and he went back into the headquarters and asked Jesus, Where are you from?
Bhanu Gadde: But Jesus did not give him an answer.
Bhanu Gadde: So Pilate said to him, Do you refuse to speak to me?
Bhanu Gadde: Don't you know that I have the authority to release you and the authority to crucify you?
Bhanu Gadde: And Jesus answers, You would have no authority over me at all if it had not been given to you from above.
Bhanu Gadde: And we've been looking at this irony that exists in the midst of the betrayal of the trials of Jesus.
Bhanu Gadde: There is a list of these corrupt characters who feel that they play a very important role and self-motivated, self-governed, self-directed role in the destiny of Jesus.
Bhanu Gadde: There is Judas who purposely puts Jesus into the hands of those who desire to kill him for money.
Bhanu Gadde: And he thinks he is acting on his own.
Bhanu Gadde: There is Annas, the very corrupt and conniving former high priest, who is the real power behind the whole, this temple system.
Bhanu Gadde: And with all its corruption, both religiously and economically.
Bhanu Gadde: Annas thinks that he sits in the seat of power and can determine Jesus' destiny.
Bhanu Gadde: And now there is Caiaphas, his son-in-law, who is the current high priest, who for certain he thinks that he is the determiner of Jesus' destiny.
Bhanu Gadde: And along with Sanhedrim, which is the Supreme Court of Israel.
Bhanu Gadde: And Pilate also thinks that he has the authority over Jesus' life.
Bhanu Gadde: They all think Jesus is in their hands and his end is for them to decide.
Bhanu Gadde: Then the truth of the matter, however, is no matter what those people thought about their authority and their power, and they did not determine Jesus' destiny.
Bhanu Gadde: God did.
Bhanu Gadde: By his silence, Jesus is saying here, you're not going to judge me, but I'm going to judge you.
Bhanu Gadde: If you believe in me, you escape the judgment.
Bhanu Gadde: If you do not believe in me, you have been judged already because you have not believed.
Bhanu Gadde: While Jesus, on the account of his trials, may look like, made to look like he is a criminal.
Bhanu Gadde: In fact, he is the judge.
Bhanu Gadde: All those who put themselves in the position to judge Jesus are the real criminals, and Jesus' destiny is not determined by them.
Bhanu Gadde: And in John chapter 5, 24, truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life.
Bhanu Gadde: All this exercise, dear ones, is about matters of life and death, matters of eternal life and matters of eternal death.
Bhanu Gadde: And this is the divine indictment against sinners, and all those who do not believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, are under God's wrath, and those who are in him are accepted in him because they are in his beloved, and are accepted in his beloved Son.
Bhanu Gadde: And as Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 1, blessed is the God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ.
Bhanu Gadde: For he chose us in him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in love before him.
Bhanu Gadde: He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ Himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the pace of his glorious grace that he lavished on us in the beloved one.
Bhanu Gadde: In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, that he richly poured out on us in all with all us with all wisdom and understanding.
Bhanu Gadde: In reality, though these corrupt individuals think that they have power over Jesus, it is God, the Father, who has pronounced his judgment on Jesus, his beloved Son, sinless savior.
Bhanu Gadde: Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5, 20 and 21.
Bhanu Gadde: Therefore, we are ambassadors of Christ.
Bhanu Gadde: Since God is making his appeal through us, we plead on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God.
Bhanu Gadde: He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God.
Bhanu Gadde: That brings us to the divine intent, which is for us to be reconciled to God, and in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
Bhanu Gadde: What a glorious destiny of the people who have believed in this condemned prisoner, condemned to death on a cross, not by anyone, not by a mere human agency, but by God Himself.
Bhanu Gadde: And we are able to sing.
Bhanu Gadde: I heard an old, old story, how a savior came from glory.
Bhanu Gadde: And he how he gave his life on Calvary to save a wretch like me.
Bhanu Gadde: I heard about his groaning, of his precious blood atoning.
Bhanu Gadde: Then I repented of my sins and won the victory.
Bhanu Gadde: Oh, victory in Jesus, my savior forever.
Bhanu Gadde: He sought me and bought me with his redeeming blood.
Bhanu Gadde: He loved me ere I knew him, and all my love is due him.
Bhanu Gadde: He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood.
Bhanu Gadde: That is the divine intent behind all this that we see.
Bhanu Gadde: And we go to the if we go to the book of Isaiah, and we see the prophecies about the suffering servant.
Bhanu Gadde: And it starts in Isaiah 50, like this, in his it talks about the obedient servant.
Bhanu Gadde: And in verse 6 goes on to say, I gave my back to those who beat me, and my cheeks to those who tore out my beard.
Bhanu Gadde: I did not hide my face from scorn and spitting.
Bhanu Gadde: And this is what is coming.
Bhanu Gadde: Go when Jesus is standing before Annas.
Bhanu Gadde: In John 18th chapter, it says, Annas asks him a question.
Bhanu Gadde: And he says, This, I have spoken openly to the world.
Bhanu Gadde: I did not keep anything a secret.
Bhanu Gadde: Jesus answered him, I have always taught in the synagogue and in the temple where all the Jews gather, and I haven't spoken anything in secret.
Bhanu Gadde: Why do you question me?
Bhanu Gadde: Question those who heard what I told them.
Bhanu Gadde: Look, they know what I said.
Bhanu Gadde: And listen to this, when he said these things, one of the officials standing by slapped Jesus, saying, Is this the way you answer the high priest?
Bhanu Gadde: And this king of glory had the power to annihilate him.
Bhanu Gadde: But he answers like this If I have spoken wrongly, Jesus answered him.
Bhanu Gadde: Give evidence about the wrong, but if rightly, why do you hate me?
Bhanu Gadde: You know, there has never been a more righteous man convicted of more heinous sin than this.
Bhanu Gadde: And it is by God's decree.
Bhanu Gadde: And the servant is obedient, and he obediently submitted himself in all this humiliation, and he says in the seventh verse of Isaiah 50, the Lord God will help me, therefore, I have not been humiliated.
Bhanu Gadde: Therefore, I have set my face like flint, and I knew I will not be put to shame because he was about fulfilling his father's purpose.
Bhanu Gadde: And by condemning him, they thought they condemned him.
Bhanu Gadde: And in Matthew 24 to 27, 24 through 26, we read, when Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, and he washes his hands, says, I am innocent of this man's blood.
Bhanu Gadde: See to it yourselves.
Bhanu Gadde: And then the people answered, His blood be on us and on our children.
Bhanu Gadde: They pronounced condemnation on themselves.
Bhanu Gadde: In Isaiah 53, he says, Yet he himself bore our sickness and carried our pains.
Bhanu Gadde: And we in turn regarded him stricken, struck down by God and afflicted, but he was pierced because of our rebellion.
Bhanu Gadde: We all went astray like sheep.
Bhanu Gadde: We all have turned to our own way, and God the Lord has punished him for our iniquity, iniquity of us all.
Bhanu Gadde: He was oppressed and afflicted and did not open his mouth like a lamb led to the slaughter, and like a sheep silent before his shearers, he did not open his mouth.
Bhanu Gadde: He was taken away because of oppression and judgment.
Bhanu Gadde: And who considers his who considered his fate?
Bhanu Gadde: For he was cut off from the land of the living.
Bhanu Gadde: And in tenth verse it says, Yet the Lord was pleased to crush him severely.
Bhanu Gadde: In this trial, as the righteous one was rejected.
Bhanu Gadde: What do we do with Christ?
Bhanu Gadde: There is no middle ground, there is no neutrality.
Bhanu Gadde: You either are with him or against him, or you are either by his side or in the crowd shouting for his crucifixion.
Bhanu Gadde: You need to answer that question because this is the most important question we will anybody will ever answer in their lifetime.
Bhanu Gadde: Our eternal destiny depends on how we answer this question.
Bhanu Gadde: Do I receive him or do I reject him?
Bhanu Gadde: By rejecting him, they have pronounced divine judgment on themselves.
Bhanu Gadde: They said, His blood be on us and on our children.
Bhanu Gadde: Further, we need to ask this: if we reject him, why do we reject him?
Bhanu Gadde: Take a moment to think about how the culture we live in responds to the law of Almighty God.
Bhanu Gadde: Are willing to embrace sexual chastity and purity?
Bhanu Gadde: Or do we revolt body and soul against the prohibition against this sin?
Bhanu Gadde: We live in a world where people cannot express themselves without blaspheming the name of God or Christ.
Bhanu Gadde: And the expressions of this reality were seen last week at the opening ceremony of Olympics.
Bhanu Gadde: Christ stands as the supreme obstacle to our sin, to your sin, because he has delivered us from its power.
Bhanu Gadde: And all this exercise and all the courtroom drama that took place and all that it is yet that all that is yet to come is because of this awesome deliverance in Christ Jesus.
Bhanu Gadde: If you receive him, you must own up to our sin and you must fall on your face in repentance.
Bhanu Gadde: You must beg for the forgiveness of God for the way you have violated his law.
Bhanu Gadde: But if we can reject Jesus and reject the one who sent him, we have no hiding place.
Bhanu Gadde: It is appointed for man wants to die and then the judgment.
Bhanu Gadde: God has appointed the day by which he will judge the world through the one he has appointed judge, whom he has vindicated by the power of resurrection on that day, Jesus will be either your judge or your advocate.
Bhanu Gadde: Because if you reject him now, he rejects you then.
Bhanu Gadde: Amen.