WEBVTT 00:00:03.359 --> 00:00:04.160 Good morning. 00:00:07.120 --> 00:00:07.839 Oh yeah. 00:00:10.640 --> 00:00:10.960 Sorry. 00:00:11.279 --> 00:00:12.560 Good afternoon. 00:00:13.679 --> 00:00:14.960 Welcome to church. 00:00:15.199 --> 00:00:17.760 Welcome to Redemption Church Denver. 00:00:17.920 --> 00:00:20.079 If this is your first time, welcome. 00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:22.800 If not, y'all know me. 00:00:23.199 --> 00:00:24.160 I'm Ed Eby. 00:00:24.640 --> 00:00:27.519 You usually see me standing over there in the corner playing the base. 00:00:27.760 --> 00:00:30.480 And uh today I'm going to be bringing the message. 00:00:32.640 --> 00:00:40.560 So uh last week I went in for my annual physical, and my doctor wants me to get back to my original weight. 00:00:40.719 --> 00:00:45.280 And I'm kind of thinking that eight pounds, six ounces just ain't happening. 00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:52.560 Um yeah, that actually went over better than I thought it would. 00:00:53.920 --> 00:00:59.359 Um again, my name is Ed Eby, and uh I have just a ton of hobbies. 00:00:59.520 --> 00:01:00.560 I'm a novelist. 00:01:00.640 --> 00:01:03.039 Uh some of you have read my book. 00:01:03.359 --> 00:01:15.680 I'm uh uh let's see, I'm a carpenter, I'm a bass player, I'm a photographer, I do the IT at a missions organization here in town, uh called World Venture. 00:01:15.920 --> 00:01:18.400 And I used to pastor in Washington, D.C. 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:19.439 many years ago. 00:01:19.519 --> 00:01:32.319 Uh I was the assistant pastor of a small black church down on the streets, and we did a lot of drug and alcohol intervention, a lot of prison ministry, and I'll talk a little bit about that today. 00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:38.480 Um I enjoy speaking, so thank you all for letting me speak to you today. 00:01:38.719 --> 00:01:41.519 Uh I just want to take a moment here. 00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:51.120 I know they didn't they didn't pay me to say this or anything, but James and Zach are like the real deal. 00:01:51.359 --> 00:02:02.319 Um there was a period of about two years that I was the assistant pet or I'm sorry, the youth pastor of a very large church in uh in Virginia. 00:02:02.480 --> 00:02:06.159 And if I told you the pastor's wife's name, you would know who she is. 00:02:06.239 --> 00:02:07.760 She was very famous. 00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:19.759 And uh one day I walked into church, and here the church's secretary just comes running down the stairs, just in full tears. 00:02:19.919 --> 00:02:29.599 And I grabbed her and hugged her while she just wept on my shoulder and uh found out that the pastor had said something really nasty to her. 00:02:29.759 --> 00:02:33.840 I'm like, you know, pastors shouldn't be like that. 00:02:34.159 --> 00:02:42.000 But we're really, really blessed to have some really fantastic men of God that are leading this. 00:02:42.240 --> 00:02:42.879 Thank you. 00:02:43.120 --> 00:02:53.439 I totally agree, uh, that are leading this congregation, and I've been privileged to get to know these guys at a very intimate level. 00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:58.400 I know all of their dirt, so uh, but it's safe here. 00:02:58.560 --> 00:03:16.319 Um and they're just very authentic guys that uh really walk what they talk, and I just I just wanted to say that that I just am so blessed that we have such um such fantastic pastors. 00:03:16.560 --> 00:03:21.759 So uh again, they didn't pay me to say that, but I just had to say it because it's true. 00:03:21.919 --> 00:03:26.879 Um I may sit at some point today, uh depends on how well my back does. 00:03:27.120 --> 00:03:30.639 Uh so today I want to talk to you. 00:03:30.719 --> 00:03:40.800 We we had the we had the scripture out of Isaiah, and I'll allude to that, I'll actually refer back to it in a little bit. 00:03:41.680 --> 00:04:00.639 Today I want to preach a message that I have preached probably a dozen or more times in my pastoring career, and um I've preached it so often because it is the most powerful story in the entire scriptures. 00:04:00.800 --> 00:04:04.639 You can argue with me about that later if you want, but that's my position. 00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:09.520 It is the core of everything that we believe. 00:04:09.680 --> 00:04:16.800 I'm gonna talk about the cross and the resurrection, but we're gonna talk about the great exchange. 00:04:17.120 --> 00:04:34.319 And that's how Jesus took everything that was awesome and holy and pure and good, and he came to earth and he exchanged that for our ugliness and mess that we live in. 00:04:34.639 --> 00:04:36.399 It's it's the great exchange. 00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:49.279 So as I take you through the cross and through the resurrection, you're gonna constantly see this concept of Jesus taking our mess and giving us his righteousness. 00:04:49.519 --> 00:04:56.319 And we find that in the scripture that uh was just read, it says, by his stripes we were healed. 00:04:56.480 --> 00:05:02.639 And that's kind of that's kind of the key that that clues us into what happened on the cross. 00:05:03.120 --> 00:05:13.839 Uh the scripture says, Surely he has borne our grief and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him smitten by God and afflicted. 00:05:14.079 --> 00:05:24.480 He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquity, and upon him was the chastisement that brings him brings us peace. 00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:28.319 And with his wounds we are healed. 00:05:28.560 --> 00:05:32.079 So you see that you see that exchange that happens there. 00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:41.279 He left heaven, where everything was perfect, he didn't have to do it, but he loved us so much that that's what he did. 00:05:41.519 --> 00:05:51.040 He came to earth, he became human, he was God and human, fully God and fully human, and he took upon himself all of our sins. 00:05:51.439 --> 00:05:59.040 Now, as I talk today, uh I'm gonna get a little graphic, and uh I hope you're okay with that. 00:05:59.360 --> 00:06:04.079 But as I'm talking, I don't want you to feel sorry for Jesus. 00:06:04.800 --> 00:06:13.519 As he went through all of this, you have to remember that he did it because he wanted to do it for us. 00:06:13.839 --> 00:06:17.600 It was his expression of love for us. 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:32.720 He loved me so much that he was willing to do all of this stuff, and I'm crazy enough to believe that if I had been the only person who had ever sinned, he would have gone through this for me. 00:06:33.040 --> 00:06:35.360 And that's true for you too. 00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:40.720 Every once in a while, um I I love counseling people. 00:06:40.800 --> 00:06:48.399 That's that's one of the things that that God's gifted me with, and I'm not professional or anything, but I'm a good listener. 00:06:48.720 --> 00:06:57.120 And um I was sitting with a couple um was it Monday night, I think, Tuesday night. 00:06:57.360 --> 00:06:58.959 Uh forget what night it was. 00:06:59.120 --> 00:07:09.920 I was sitting with a couple in my living room, and this doesn't happen very often, but this young lady was sitting there questioning whether God really loved her. 00:07:10.800 --> 00:07:26.560 And all of a sudden, I was hit with this powerful feeling of love for this young lady, and and I recognized that it was God letting me see her through his eyes. 00:07:26.720 --> 00:07:41.759 And it was just I I can't put into words the incredible love that he had for this young lady that was sitting there weeping because she didn't know if God loved her. 00:07:42.319 --> 00:07:52.560 And all I could do was say, I can tell you with a certainty, God loves you beyond anything that you could imagine. 00:07:54.160 --> 00:07:56.480 And he loves each of you. 00:07:57.279 --> 00:07:58.959 So I'm gonna start the story. 00:07:59.040 --> 00:08:07.759 Uh, mostly I'm gonna take it from Matthew 26, verse 36, all the way through 27, verse 54. 00:08:07.839 --> 00:08:09.600 If you don't believe me, it's in the Bible. 00:08:09.680 --> 00:08:10.639 You can go look it up. 00:08:10.879 --> 00:08:16.800 In fact, if you've been following our scripture reading in the app, it was in there this week. 00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:19.199 So this shouldn't be unfamiliar to you. 00:08:19.360 --> 00:08:20.720 If it is, that's cool. 00:08:20.879 --> 00:08:23.199 I'd be happy to tell you the first time. 00:08:23.920 --> 00:08:28.240 So uh I'm gonna start the story in the Garden of Gethsemane. 00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:34.480 And Jesus is there and and he knows he's got this terrible thing coming. 00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:37.120 Because, like, he can see into the future, right? 00:08:37.360 --> 00:08:46.240 And so he's there weeping, and he asks a couple of his disciples to come with him, and and they fall asleep on the job. 00:08:46.399 --> 00:08:48.639 It's like, come on, guys, get with it. 00:08:48.879 --> 00:08:56.480 But Jesus knows this terrible thing is coming, and he's weeping before God, and the Bible says he's sweating drops of blood. 00:08:56.639 --> 00:09:04.320 And I understand that physically that is possible, that you can sweat drops of blood, but you got to be under intense, intense pressure. 00:09:04.480 --> 00:09:08.159 I've never been there, but I understand it is physically possible. 00:09:08.320 --> 00:09:17.440 And he's crying before the Father, Lord, if there's any way that you can release me from this thing, let's do it. 00:09:18.480 --> 00:09:31.120 And Jesus comes to a point in his prayer where he says, Nevertheless, Lord, not my will, but thy will be done. 00:09:31.600 --> 00:09:34.960 And something really, really interesting happens. 00:09:35.919 --> 00:09:40.960 It's at that point that angels are able to come and minister to him. 00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:44.960 I find it real interesting. 00:09:45.120 --> 00:09:48.879 Uh, in my life, I'm I'm not a perfect guy. 00:09:49.039 --> 00:09:52.080 I'm I screw up like everybody else. 00:09:52.639 --> 00:09:58.159 And there are lots and lots of times where I don't want to go through something. 00:09:59.840 --> 00:10:06.960 And I fight God and I kick and I quail and I cry and I don't want to go through it. 00:10:08.399 --> 00:10:19.600 But it's not until I say, Nevertheless, Lord, not my will, but thy will be done, that God is able to come and minister to me. 00:10:20.159 --> 00:10:22.320 And I don't know where you are in your walk. 00:10:22.480 --> 00:10:24.240 I don't know where you are in your struggle. 00:10:24.399 --> 00:10:27.840 I do know that you are going through struggles because all of us do. 00:10:28.720 --> 00:10:30.480 But maybe that's where you are. 00:10:30.639 --> 00:10:39.039 Maybe you're in Gethsemane, crying out to the Lord, and you haven't yet said, Nevertheless, Lord, not my will, but thy will be done. 00:10:39.440 --> 00:10:43.440 And you're wondering why the angels aren't showing up to help you out. 00:10:43.919 --> 00:10:45.759 Maybe that's where you are. 00:10:46.559 --> 00:10:59.279 So he's there praying, and and uh and finally he comes back, he finds the job, the disciples asleep on the job, and he says, Come on, guys, wake up because here come the here come the bad guys. 00:10:59.519 --> 00:11:17.519 And uh so Judas comes up, and there's a bunch of guys behind him with swords and and torches, and Judas kisses them on the cheek, and you know the saying, uh it's better to get uh wounds from an enemy, wounds from a friend are better than kisses from an enemy, right? 00:11:17.679 --> 00:11:19.600 Actually, that's one of the proverbs. 00:11:19.840 --> 00:11:25.120 And Judas kisses him on the cheek, and and he says, This is the dude. 00:11:25.440 --> 00:11:36.000 And Peter hauls out a sword, and uh the Bible tells us that he cuts off the servant of the high priest's ear. 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:39.519 So, how many here have ever played with a sword? 00:11:40.399 --> 00:11:42.240 Two, three, four of you? 00:11:43.120 --> 00:11:48.159 So, so he cuts off the ear of the high priest's servant. 00:11:48.320 --> 00:11:59.039 Now, if you have a heavy sword and you take it and you do like this and cut a guy's ear off, that sword is gonna go right on down through the guy's body and split him in half. 00:11:59.120 --> 00:12:00.080 Am I right? 00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:01.759 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:12:02.320 --> 00:12:03.519 That's not what happened. 00:12:03.759 --> 00:12:06.320 Peter was going for the guy's head, right? 00:12:06.559 --> 00:12:10.559 And the guy ducks and his ear gets sliced off. 00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:17.840 And so Jesus, he reaches down and he rebukes Peter, say, put up the sword, dude. 00:12:17.919 --> 00:12:20.399 If you live by the sword, you're gonna die by the sword. 00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:23.919 He picks up the guy's ear, and I guess he must have brushed it off. 00:12:24.080 --> 00:12:29.519 I don't know, I'm assuming he did, and he puts it back on the guy's head and he heals him right there. 00:12:31.679 --> 00:12:36.960 And so they drag him off to the uh to the high priests. 00:12:37.039 --> 00:12:39.200 They drag Jesus off to the high priest. 00:12:39.840 --> 00:12:43.039 Now, I want to tell you, I'm not gonna tell you the whole story. 00:12:43.200 --> 00:12:44.720 I'm just gonna hit the highlights. 00:12:44.960 --> 00:12:55.200 This is a story that I have studied for years and years and years, and each one of these things I'd love to take, you know, like an hour to talk about, but y'all don't want me to do that, right? 00:12:55.679 --> 00:12:56.000 No? 00:12:56.320 --> 00:12:57.120 Okay, okay, good. 00:12:57.279 --> 00:12:57.759 All right. 00:12:57.919 --> 00:13:09.279 So um, they drag Jesus in front of the high priests, and they begin to come up with all of these lies about Jesus. 00:13:09.519 --> 00:13:16.240 And but nobody could could agree, you know, none of the lies agreed because they were making them all up on the spot. 00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:19.919 I just I don't know. 00:13:20.159 --> 00:13:24.080 Have you how do you respond when somebody lies about you? 00:13:25.039 --> 00:13:27.200 I don't I don't take it very good. 00:13:27.919 --> 00:13:31.279 I'm not really gracious when somebody lies about me. 00:13:31.919 --> 00:13:36.879 And yet Jesus stood there and said nothing. 00:13:39.600 --> 00:13:44.639 They um they struck Jesus. 00:13:44.799 --> 00:13:53.200 Uh some people think that they punched him, other people think that they used sticks and you know, like baseball bats and whacked him. 00:13:54.159 --> 00:13:58.559 And they said, Oh, prophesy who hit you. 00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:08.240 And Jesus in that moment went through extreme feelings of rejection. 00:14:10.080 --> 00:14:13.039 You know how it feels when you've been rejected? 00:14:14.639 --> 00:14:20.399 You see, Jesus himself is perfect acceptance. 00:14:21.840 --> 00:14:26.320 Jesus loves every person on the face of the planet. 00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:28.960 He just loves them. 00:14:30.240 --> 00:14:33.279 And Jesus took on himself that rejection. 00:14:34.000 --> 00:14:52.799 You know how it is when your girlfriend says crap about you to somebody else and and or or somebody that you were just you really thought highly of, turns their back on you, or or doesn't return the phone call, or doesn't return the email. 00:14:53.200 --> 00:14:56.480 Jesus took all that rejection on himself. 00:14:58.559 --> 00:15:15.279 Out in the courtyard, Peter's hanging out with the the servant people, the there's and there was a servant girl that saw him and said, Hey, you're one of Jesus' people! And Peter goes, No, man, I don't even know the guy. 00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:20.399 You know how it feels when your best friends let you down. 00:15:21.440 --> 00:15:25.759 You know, you're in a hard spot, they're walking away. 00:15:30.480 --> 00:15:34.799 So then a little bit later, they took Jesus to the civil authorities. 00:15:35.039 --> 00:15:38.720 Uh what was going on back in those days, uh, let me back up. 00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:46.720 So back in the Old Testament times, the religious authorities were in charge of national uh events. 00:15:47.039 --> 00:15:49.039 So they could put somebody to death. 00:15:49.279 --> 00:15:57.039 But because Rome was over uh was ruling Israel at the time, the religious authorities couldn't put Jesus to death. 00:15:57.360 --> 00:16:02.799 So they had to take him to the civil authorities, and they took him to a guy named Pilate. 00:16:03.279 --> 00:16:09.919 And so Pilate interviews Jesus, and he can't find anything wrong with him to put him to death. 00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:12.240 But the people are about to riot. 00:16:12.480 --> 00:16:26.799 So at that time, uh, what Pilate did was every year at the time of the Passover, uh he would release one prisoner to the people just to kind of make people happy and and and uh you know keep the peace. 00:16:26.960 --> 00:16:35.039 And so there was a guy named Barabbas, and uh he was a what we today would call a terrorist. 00:16:35.279 --> 00:16:37.840 He was a murderer and an insurrectionist. 00:16:37.919 --> 00:16:39.600 We would call him a terrorist, right? 00:16:39.840 --> 00:16:41.919 So so he he took this guy out. 00:16:42.000 --> 00:16:43.600 He says, This is the worst of the worst. 00:16:43.679 --> 00:16:55.840 What I'm gonna do is I'm gonna put this bad, bad guy up here, and uh um they're gonna pick Jesus to be released because they're not gonna want this insurrectionist, this terrorist to be among them. 00:16:56.000 --> 00:16:59.759 So he says, Who do you want released, Barabbas or Jesus? 00:17:00.080 --> 00:17:02.639 And the people all said, Barabbas. 00:17:02.720 --> 00:17:05.519 And he's like, Oh, where in the world did that come from? 00:17:07.279 --> 00:17:11.359 And Jesus was rejected by the world. 00:17:14.160 --> 00:17:18.960 Rejection is a terrible thing, but Jesus took all of that on himself. 00:17:20.160 --> 00:17:25.519 Jesus, uh, or I'm sorry, Pilate heard that Jesus was a Galilean. 00:17:25.680 --> 00:17:32.720 And uh, so this this is, I'm gonna go over to Luke 23 to pick up this part of the story because Matthew didn't write it. 00:17:32.960 --> 00:17:49.759 So he sends Jesus over to Herod, and Herod is all excited about it, and he wants to see Jesus because he's heard Jesus has done all these miracles, and he's hoping that Jesus will make, you know, a dove fly out of a handkerchief or something. 00:17:49.839 --> 00:17:50.240 I don't know. 00:17:50.319 --> 00:17:58.000 He's looking for a miracle because I guess his court jester was uh on strike or something, I don't know, but he wanted to see a miracle. 00:17:58.480 --> 00:18:04.000 And so Jesus just stands in front of him and doesn't say anything, and Herod goes, Ah, forget it. 00:18:04.160 --> 00:18:10.880 So he sends him back to Pilate, and Pilate and Herod became friends that day. 00:18:15.759 --> 00:18:20.640 Pilate takes Jesus and he flogs him. 00:18:21.200 --> 00:18:32.799 Now, the when I when I was a kid, I thought I heard about you know the flogging of Jesus, and I thought it was like uh, you know, but in a in the I grew up on a farm. 00:18:32.880 --> 00:18:40.640 So we had a cow whip, you know, it was a long, long pole, and at the end it had this floppy thing, and you whack a cow with it. 00:18:40.799 --> 00:18:52.079 Um if you watched Westerns, you can see the guys with the snake whips, you know, and they you know, like Indiana Jones, you know, he's got that snake whip, and and he pulls it out and he does all these kind of things with it. 00:18:52.240 --> 00:18:55.599 That's what I thought the whip was like that they whipped Jesus with. 00:18:55.839 --> 00:19:00.640 But that's not how the that's not the kind of whip that they used on Jesus. 00:19:00.880 --> 00:19:09.279 The kind of whip that they used on Jesus was, and this is this is not taken from the scripture, but it's taken from historians at the time. 00:19:09.839 --> 00:19:12.400 It was called a cat of nine tails. 00:19:12.640 --> 00:19:16.400 Cat-O-9-Tales. 00:19:16.640 --> 00:19:18.000 That's how it's spelled. 00:19:18.319 --> 00:19:22.240 And it was a really, really nasty thing. 00:19:22.480 --> 00:19:31.839 So it had a a handle, and then out of the handle were these wooden bra, I'm sorry, these leather braids that came out. 00:19:32.160 --> 00:19:41.680 And there could be nine of them or twelve of them, or it didn't matter how many their tails there actually were, it was called a cat of nine tails. 00:19:42.079 --> 00:19:58.400 And in braided into the leather strips were little bits of glass and razor blades and sharp steel and all kinds of really, really nasty things. 00:19:59.759 --> 00:20:13.920 And they took that cat of nine tails and they would swing it and it would wrap around Jesus' body, and just about the time it would hit his back, they would just pull straight back on it. 00:20:14.319 --> 00:20:23.200 And those the glass and the and the bits of steel just shredded his skin right off his body. 00:20:24.400 --> 00:20:34.079 We know that is true because I'm getting out of line. 00:20:34.799 --> 00:20:36.000 Here we go. 00:20:37.200 --> 00:20:48.880 Over in Psalm chapter 22, the psalmist looks forward a thousand years into the future, and he sees Jesus being whipped. 00:20:49.200 --> 00:20:56.880 And he says, and I'm gonna read it for you, Psalm 22, verses 14 and 17. 00:20:58.319 --> 00:20:59.680 I'm not gonna read it to you. 00:20:59.920 --> 00:21:00.880 I didn't write it down. 00:21:01.359 --> 00:21:02.799 Somebody have it for me. 00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:07.279 I got too many pages up here. 00:21:07.680 --> 00:21:08.559 Oh, um. 00:21:09.920 --> 00:21:10.720 Hold on. 00:21:15.279 --> 00:21:17.279 Just a minute, you gotta hear this. 00:21:18.319 --> 00:21:34.319 Psalm chapter 22, verses 14, says, I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. 00:21:34.880 --> 00:21:38.319 My heart has turned to wax and is melted with me. 00:21:38.880 --> 00:21:47.519 Verse 17 says, All of my bones are on display, and people gloat and stare over me. 00:21:48.319 --> 00:21:52.880 They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garments. 00:21:53.519 --> 00:21:57.279 He could count his bones, he could look down and see his bones. 00:21:58.319 --> 00:22:00.400 His flesh was torn from his Body. 00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:09.759 That's why the scripture that was read earlier said, people looked at me and it was it didn't look like a human form over in Isaiah. 00:22:11.519 --> 00:22:12.720 Did I have that written down? 00:22:12.880 --> 00:22:14.400 No, I don't. 00:22:15.519 --> 00:22:28.160 I used to uh when when I was in the city, we used to take guys out of the out of the prisons and uh we'd do a work release program with them. 00:22:28.799 --> 00:22:38.400 And uh we were allowed as pastors to come in, the city allowed us to do this, to come in and have a uh devotion with them. 00:22:39.119 --> 00:23:00.319 And most of the guys coming out of prison were Muslims, and they believed in Jesus, but they believed that he was a good prophet, and they also believed that Jesus, the story of the cross, was made up by humans, and they didn't believe it was real. 00:23:00.799 --> 00:23:05.039 And so they had all their defenses around the gospels. 00:23:05.440 --> 00:23:07.039 That didn't bother us. 00:23:07.279 --> 00:23:17.599 We just preached Jesus out of the Old Testament, and out of the 50 guys that came through the program, there was only one who didn't give his heart to the Lord. 00:23:17.920 --> 00:23:22.720 We preached Jesus out of Psalms and out of Isaiah. 00:23:24.960 --> 00:23:34.799 And uh we saw how Jesus, how Jesus on the cross was prophesied out of the Old Testament. 00:23:37.039 --> 00:23:43.359 So they they whipped Jesus and then they put this royal robe on him. 00:23:43.680 --> 00:23:49.680 I don't know if it was Pilate's robe, I don't know who gave it up, but they put a royal robe on Jesus. 00:23:50.400 --> 00:23:55.200 And so what happened to this robe as they put it on him? 00:23:55.440 --> 00:23:57.519 His body's just mutilated. 00:23:58.640 --> 00:24:03.599 Well, the blood started soaking through. 00:24:04.079 --> 00:24:07.519 And it didn't matter that he had a royal robe on him. 00:24:07.599 --> 00:24:10.000 He sure didn't look like a royal guy. 00:24:10.319 --> 00:24:15.440 He looked all messed up and the blood seeped through and ruined the robe. 00:24:16.640 --> 00:24:20.400 And you know what? 00:24:20.480 --> 00:24:22.480 That's how we do church a lot. 00:24:25.599 --> 00:24:38.480 We were messed up people, and instead of being authentic and letting people see how we are, we put on this pretend robe. 00:24:39.039 --> 00:24:42.640 And we walk into church and we look good, yeah. 00:24:42.880 --> 00:24:51.839 And we do what I call plastic church, where we just pretend that we've got all our stuff together, and we don't. 00:24:52.400 --> 00:24:54.400 I love our small group. 00:24:54.480 --> 00:25:02.880 Uh we sit around and and we we we share the dirt on ourselves. 00:25:03.039 --> 00:25:04.799 I'm going through this. 00:25:05.359 --> 00:25:12.000 And we we sit and we cry together, and and we pray for one another. 00:25:12.240 --> 00:25:30.880 Uh I'll I'm going somewhere, and all of a sudden God will put one of our um our uh small group mates on my mind, and I'll just pray for them because I know their their wounds, I know how they're hurting, and I can pray better. 00:25:31.519 --> 00:25:44.480 You know, people think that that church people are um pretentious and hypocrites, and you know what? 00:25:44.640 --> 00:25:46.160 A lot of times we are. 00:25:47.680 --> 00:25:48.880 We're pretentious. 00:25:48.960 --> 00:25:52.799 We're we we pretend like we got everything all together. 00:25:53.119 --> 00:26:11.759 And the only difference between people in the world and people in the church should be that we have a hope for our future, and that we have people around us to put their arms around us when we're hurting and going through our stuff. 00:26:12.079 --> 00:26:13.920 Because we're all going through it. 00:26:14.640 --> 00:26:20.480 So just like the world, they're going through their stuff, and we're going through our stuff. 00:26:23.279 --> 00:26:30.799 So they put this royal robe on Jesus, and it didn't look like a royal robe by the time it was done. 00:26:31.039 --> 00:26:38.319 And the blood clots started started sticking things to his body, and then they ripped it off of him. 00:26:40.640 --> 00:26:58.160 They, they uh Pilate writes on a piece of paper in three languages, Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews, and they put it on the top of his cross. 00:26:59.200 --> 00:27:02.079 They strip his clothes off. 00:27:02.319 --> 00:27:13.039 Now, I believe that Jesus was sent to the cross naked, and I'll tell you why I believe that. 00:27:13.359 --> 00:27:20.480 Is because his undergarment that he wore was made, it was very expensive. 00:27:20.640 --> 00:27:24.160 Uh they it was made all in one piece, it didn't have any seams. 00:27:24.240 --> 00:27:28.960 It was made on a loom that it was, I I don't, I don't know. 00:27:29.039 --> 00:27:35.039 I I guess if you would knit it, if you're a person who can knit things, you could make a garment without any seams. 00:27:35.119 --> 00:27:37.039 Uh it was the same concept. 00:27:37.200 --> 00:27:46.640 It was very expensive, and that's what the soldiers threw lots, they they threw dice or whatever, uh, to see who would get his undergarments. 00:27:46.880 --> 00:27:54.559 So I believe that Jesus went through the streets of Jerusalem completely naked. 00:27:55.279 --> 00:27:57.599 Um that's that's my belief. 00:27:57.680 --> 00:28:00.640 You can argue with me about that later if you want. 00:28:01.279 --> 00:28:04.400 They put a crown of thorns on his head. 00:28:06.240 --> 00:28:10.319 Now, when I was a kid, I thought, oh, rose thorns, right? 00:28:11.599 --> 00:28:11.920 No. 00:28:12.720 --> 00:28:16.480 My dad has a thorn tree on my brother now. 00:28:16.640 --> 00:28:19.279 My brother has a thorn tree on his farm. 00:28:19.519 --> 00:28:24.160 And I used to, I had a crown of thorns made up. 00:28:24.400 --> 00:28:35.759 The thorns on that thorn tree are about this long, and they're so sharp that if you touch the end, it it breaks your skin. 00:28:36.960 --> 00:28:43.039 And and I believe that's the kind of thorns that they put on Jesus' head. 00:28:43.279 --> 00:28:46.240 And they didn't just gently place it on his head. 00:28:46.480 --> 00:28:53.119 The Bible says that they beat it into his head so that blood ran down. 00:28:53.599 --> 00:28:56.240 Now we're talking about the great exchange, right? 00:28:56.559 --> 00:29:02.559 So what are the things that attack our heads that Jesus took on himself? 00:29:03.599 --> 00:29:10.559 Well, um told you I did a lot of a lot of drug and alcohol intervention. 00:29:10.880 --> 00:29:16.960 Um I know for sure that that drugs do this mind-altering things. 00:29:17.119 --> 00:29:25.359 Uh, there was a guy in our in our aftercare center that uh got high. 00:29:26.079 --> 00:29:30.720 And I was staying, no, I got called. 00:29:30.960 --> 00:30:01.359 And um, so I went rushing over to the aftercare center, and this guy was had gotten into some bad crack, and he was taking furniture and just moving it over here, and and and then grab another piece of furniture and he move it over here in his room, and I couldn't get in because the door was jammed because he had put a dresser up in front of it, and he was just so full of crazy energy that he was just moving his furniture back and forth and back and forth and back and forth. 00:30:01.680 --> 00:30:05.039 I know that drugs attack the mind. 00:30:05.920 --> 00:30:18.799 Uh, what happened was that we I we commanded him to be sober, and instantly he was. 00:30:21.200 --> 00:30:30.559 And um it was it was just like he had drunk twenty five gallons of coffee. 00:30:30.799 --> 00:30:33.200 He was just cold dead sober. 00:30:33.359 --> 00:30:36.240 He said, I'd never seen anything like this before. 00:30:36.799 --> 00:30:40.400 And um I stayed at the aftercare center that night. 00:30:40.480 --> 00:30:57.519 I slept down on the couch, and outside our aftercare center, there I there was a prostitute, a pair of sisters that lived next door, they were prostitutes and they they were out beside the house doing their thing and drugs, drug deals going on all around the house. 00:30:58.240 --> 00:31:00.880 But I know that drugs attack the mind. 00:31:01.039 --> 00:31:03.279 I know that alcohol attacks the mind. 00:31:04.079 --> 00:31:08.079 Um depression, suicide. 00:31:09.839 --> 00:31:18.240 There's actually a uh chemical reaction that happens in males' minds when they watch pornography. 00:31:19.039 --> 00:31:24.799 See, Jesus took all of that stuff on himself at the cross of Calvary. 00:31:26.640 --> 00:31:31.279 Says, by his stripes we were healed. 00:31:31.440 --> 00:31:35.279 Remember, I talked about how Jesus' flesh was ripped from his body? 00:31:35.519 --> 00:31:38.319 It's by his stripes that we are healed. 00:31:38.559 --> 00:31:39.759 Another story. 00:31:39.839 --> 00:31:44.640 Uh, it was a cold, cold night in Washington, D.C. 00:31:45.119 --> 00:31:53.839 And um we went down to, we did a lot of uh playing music out, and our senior pastor preached. 00:31:54.160 --> 00:31:56.160 And uh it was a cold night. 00:31:56.240 --> 00:32:06.559 We went up to Nate Dugar's church on 14th Street, and I remember how cold it was because I was supposed to play bass, and when your fingers get cold, it's hard to play. 00:32:06.799 --> 00:32:14.720 So if you ever see me in the wintertime wearing mittens in church, that's why I'm trying to keep my fingers uh loose. 00:32:15.599 --> 00:32:57.920 And there was a young lady, we'll call her Gail, uh, that wasn't her name, and um she had a tumor the size of a small orange on her ovary, and she was going to go in the next day for surgery, and she came down for prayer, and our pastor had counseled her and knew some things, and he said to her, I need you to forgive your father, and she said, I can't do that. 00:32:58.880 --> 00:33:00.160 I said, Yeah, you can. 00:33:00.559 --> 00:33:06.400 I need you to forgive your father, and no, I I just can't do it. 00:33:06.480 --> 00:33:08.079 And she was just in tears. 00:33:08.240 --> 00:33:21.200 Her father had done some really, really evil things to her, and finally she broke down and she forgave her father. 00:33:22.880 --> 00:33:36.640 The next day she went in to have her surgery, and before they opened her up, they took an x-ray just to make sure that the thing hadn't moved, that everything was exactly what they expected. 00:33:36.799 --> 00:33:44.160 And the doctor puts the x-ray up on the up on the uh back in those days, they had like, you know, those old film x-rays. 00:33:44.319 --> 00:33:46.400 You've seen it in the movies, you know what I'm talking about. 00:33:46.559 --> 00:33:47.519 My dad used to do that. 00:33:47.599 --> 00:33:53.599 He was a radiologist, he put the x-ray up on the on the light panel, and he started getting all upset. 00:33:53.680 --> 00:34:00.799 And he ran out of the room and he got a couple other doctors, and they came in and they started talking, and she's sitting over there just scared to death. 00:34:00.960 --> 00:34:07.519 She's about to have surgery, they're gonna open her up, they're gonna take something off of her ovary, and they are freaking out, and she's freaking out. 00:34:07.599 --> 00:34:10.639 She finally says, Tell me what's going on. 00:34:10.800 --> 00:34:12.159 You're scaring me. 00:34:12.400 --> 00:34:21.039 And the doctor comes over to her and says, takes her over to the x-rays and says, Here's yesterday's x-ray. 00:34:21.199 --> 00:34:24.880 And he puts it up and he says, Here's the tumor, here's today's x-ray. 00:34:25.119 --> 00:34:27.199 Puts it up and she says, It's gone. 00:34:27.760 --> 00:34:29.280 What happened? 00:34:29.840 --> 00:34:32.960 And she said, uh, I don't know. 00:34:33.119 --> 00:34:35.360 They prayed for me last night at church. 00:34:35.599 --> 00:34:49.440 And the doctor said, Well, I don't believe in God, but you keep believing in your God because there's yesterday's x-ray, there's today's x-ray, there's a tumor there, and there's no tumor here. 00:34:52.320 --> 00:34:54.880 By his stripes we're healed. 00:34:56.559 --> 00:35:07.119 1 Peter calls out in uh chapter, 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 24, and he says, by his stripes we were healed. 00:35:07.360 --> 00:35:11.519 So in Isaiah, it says, by his stripes we are healed. 00:35:11.679 --> 00:35:14.480 Peter says, by his stripes we were healed. 00:35:14.639 --> 00:35:16.800 It happened on the cross at Calvary. 00:35:16.960 --> 00:35:19.679 In Isaiah, before it happened, it was present tense. 00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:22.800 By the time Peter came along, it was past tense. 00:35:24.639 --> 00:35:28.960 So they took Jesus and they put him on the cross. 00:35:29.039 --> 00:35:31.679 Or they put the cross on his back. 00:35:32.159 --> 00:35:36.960 And he begins to walk through the streets of Jerusalem. 00:35:37.840 --> 00:35:39.280 I believe totally naked. 00:35:39.440 --> 00:35:45.360 You can argue that point with me if you want, but certainly incredibly humiliated. 00:35:46.239 --> 00:35:50.480 And he's dragging this thing down through the streets. 00:35:51.039 --> 00:35:53.360 His strength is gone. 00:35:54.000 --> 00:35:58.079 And finally he just collapses under the weight of this thing. 00:35:58.639 --> 00:36:03.199 And they pick it up and they grab a man out of the out of the crowd. 00:36:03.280 --> 00:36:05.440 His name is Simon of Cyrene. 00:36:06.239 --> 00:36:10.400 I've done a lot of study on Simon. 00:36:10.719 --> 00:36:13.440 Uh it's a fascinating story. 00:36:13.840 --> 00:36:22.480 They put it on his back, and Jesus continues to a place called Galgotha or place of the skull. 00:36:23.599 --> 00:36:31.039 And every step that Jesus takes, he leaves his precious blood behind him. 00:36:34.239 --> 00:36:36.960 I told you, don't feel sorry for Jesus. 00:36:37.679 --> 00:36:39.280 He did that for me. 00:36:40.639 --> 00:36:42.159 Because he loved me. 00:36:45.360 --> 00:36:51.119 They took him up to the to Galgoton. 00:36:51.440 --> 00:36:54.960 They laid him out on the on the cross. 00:36:55.679 --> 00:36:58.639 And the Bible says they put the nails in his hands. 00:36:58.800 --> 00:37:06.480 You have to understand that at the time the forearm was considered part of the hand. 00:37:08.320 --> 00:37:12.079 Scholars believe that it actually the nails went through his wrist. 00:37:12.239 --> 00:37:15.760 Otherwise, if it was in his hand, the flesh would have just torn out. 00:37:16.159 --> 00:37:25.599 So the nails went through his wrists, and they nailed his hands and his feet to the cross. 00:37:26.800 --> 00:37:36.559 Now, when you're on the cross like that, you don't, you're not going to die from your wounds. 00:37:36.880 --> 00:37:45.119 What happens is your chest muscles get paralyzed because your arms are stretched out like this. 00:37:45.679 --> 00:37:51.840 And so what the guys would do is they'd sink down and sink down and sink down. 00:37:51.920 --> 00:37:56.960 And then they couldn't breathe because their chest muscles were were uh constricted. 00:37:57.119 --> 00:37:58.639 So they would push up. 00:37:59.440 --> 00:38:03.039 Then they'd grab a breath and they'd sink down. 00:38:03.840 --> 00:38:09.360 And you know, eventually they'd run out of strength and they couldn't breathe anymore. 00:38:21.280 --> 00:38:25.679 Jesus not only took our sin, but he took our guilt. 00:38:26.320 --> 00:38:29.519 How many in here besides me have ever done bad things? 00:38:31.440 --> 00:38:38.639 How horrible would it be if he just took away our sin and left us with the guilt? 00:38:39.519 --> 00:38:41.280 Wouldn't that be awful? 00:38:41.920 --> 00:38:43.679 That would be terrible. 00:38:44.639 --> 00:38:48.400 But he took our sin and he took our guilt. 00:38:51.920 --> 00:39:02.960 Not only did he take our sin and take our guilt, but in his death on the cross, he made us pure. 00:39:03.519 --> 00:39:07.119 Now that's one thing that just blows my mind. 00:39:08.079 --> 00:39:18.639 When God in heaven looks down and sees little old Ed Eby and all the screw-ups I do, he doesn't see me as a screw up. 00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:25.679 He because Jesus Christ exchanged all of that stuff for what he had. 00:39:33.039 --> 00:39:42.960 Jesus took the sins that others have meted out upon us. 00:39:44.320 --> 00:39:45.599 You know how it is. 00:39:45.840 --> 00:39:50.960 You can be going along minding your own business and somebody comes along and assaults us. 00:39:51.360 --> 00:40:00.800 It can be a sexual assault, a rape, it can be a verbal assault, it can be all kinds of other things. 00:40:01.119 --> 00:40:03.440 But Jesus took that on himself. 00:40:05.039 --> 00:40:08.800 They placed him between two thieves. 00:40:09.840 --> 00:40:12.559 And one of the thieves mocks him. 00:40:12.880 --> 00:40:16.239 Now Matthew doesn't pick this up, but one of the other gospels do. 00:40:16.559 --> 00:40:26.079 The other guy says, Hey, Jesus, I know who you are, and I believe in you. 00:40:27.119 --> 00:40:30.239 Remember me when you come into your kingdom. 00:40:30.800 --> 00:40:32.960 And Jesus took time out. 00:40:33.199 --> 00:40:35.920 He stopped dying for just a few minutes. 00:40:36.400 --> 00:40:40.559 And he started the first prison ministry right there on the cross. 00:40:40.800 --> 00:40:44.960 And he turned over and said, I'll see you in a little bit. 00:40:50.239 --> 00:40:52.800 They cast lots for his clothes. 00:40:52.960 --> 00:40:54.400 I told you about that. 00:40:55.599 --> 00:41:00.960 Jesus looks down and he sees his mama down at the foot of the cross. 00:41:01.199 --> 00:41:02.480 Everybody loves your mama. 00:41:02.559 --> 00:41:03.840 I mean, not everybody. 00:41:04.000 --> 00:41:05.840 Almost everybody loves their mama. 00:41:07.360 --> 00:41:11.599 And I just lost my mom back in December. 00:41:12.000 --> 00:41:13.840 Lost my mother-in-law. 00:41:14.079 --> 00:41:15.599 It was a hard time. 00:41:16.079 --> 00:41:18.639 Jesus looks down and sees his mom there. 00:41:19.360 --> 00:41:24.000 And he says, Hey John, she's now your mother. 00:41:24.079 --> 00:41:25.440 You take care of her. 00:41:25.679 --> 00:41:27.840 And he gives away his mother. 00:41:29.679 --> 00:41:33.039 They put some sour wine on a branch of hyssop. 00:41:33.920 --> 00:41:39.679 If you are a student of the Old Testament, you'll find that back at the original Passover. 00:41:39.760 --> 00:41:46.880 They used hyssop and the blood of the Lamb to overcome the death angel. 00:41:48.960 --> 00:41:59.599 And then Jesus gets to the end of his life and he calls out with a loud voice, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? 00:42:00.000 --> 00:42:03.199 Quoting from the King James, I hope that's okay with you. 00:42:05.679 --> 00:42:12.000 Now, I have many times in my life erroneously quoted that scripture. 00:42:15.119 --> 00:42:40.320 Jesus, in unthinkable obedience, goes to the cross, and when he takes on all of our sins and sicknesses and diseases and all of the crap that we go through, he's hanging there on the cross, and God cannot stand to be in the presence of that sin. 00:42:40.559 --> 00:42:45.920