WEBVTT 00:00:06.719 --> 00:00:08.640 We're not here to skip rocks today. 00:00:08.720 --> 00:00:12.480 We need to slow down and let the rocks sink down to the bottom of the pond. 00:00:12.640 --> 00:00:14.400 Because he's perfect, he's innocent. 00:00:14.560 --> 00:00:19.920 He was born without a sinful uh a sin nature, and he never sinned. 00:00:20.160 --> 00:00:26.000 And because he's perfect, because he's innocent, his death is sufficient for the sins of imperfect people like you and me. 00:00:26.079 --> 00:00:26.719 What does that mean? 00:00:26.800 --> 00:00:32.159 If you're sitting in this room and you think to yourself, you know what, I've done so much, there's really no hope for me. 00:00:32.320 --> 00:00:33.439 That's not true. 00:00:33.759 --> 00:00:41.200 This podcast is a ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:41.439 --> 00:00:46.159 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org. 00:00:49.439 --> 00:00:49.920 Amen. 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:50.320 Amen. 00:00:50.479 --> 00:00:51.280 Let's pray together. 00:00:51.359 --> 00:00:57.520 Uh Father, we sing and say Redeeming love has been my theme and shall be till I die. 00:00:57.600 --> 00:00:59.840 Uh before we sang that, you lived that. 00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:02.159 You you came with a redeeming love. 00:01:02.320 --> 00:01:06.640 Many of us in this room have been loved by people and it left us feeling condemned. 00:01:06.799 --> 00:01:09.280 When God loves us, it's redeeming love. 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:12.400 It gives something in exchange for something. 00:01:12.560 --> 00:01:18.159 And so we're going to see in the Bible today how you gave yourself so we can experience this love that we were created for. 00:01:18.319 --> 00:01:23.359 It's why the Bible says in the book of wisdom in Proverbs that what a man desires is unfailing love. 00:01:23.519 --> 00:01:30.879 We need someone to love us in a way that never fails, never disappoints, never lets us down, never leaves us feeling less than. 00:01:31.200 --> 00:01:33.760 Redeeming love makes us feel more than. 00:01:33.920 --> 00:01:39.760 And so, God, today we want to get our head and our heart around that, from your word and by your spirit. 00:01:39.840 --> 00:01:40.959 We pray in Jesus' name. 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:42.879 And everyone said, Amen. 00:01:42.959 --> 00:01:43.280 Amen. 00:01:43.359 --> 00:01:44.719 You can have a seat if you've got a Bible. 00:01:44.799 --> 00:01:47.280 I invite you to take it open up to John chapter 19. 00:01:47.439 --> 00:01:49.439 If you're our guest today, let me just say welcome. 00:01:49.519 --> 00:01:50.400 Uh my name is Neil. 00:01:50.480 --> 00:01:52.079 I'm the lead pastor at Grand Parkway. 00:01:52.239 --> 00:01:53.519 We're preaching to the gospel of John. 00:01:53.599 --> 00:01:55.200 We start in chapter 1, verse 1. 00:01:55.280 --> 00:01:57.200 We're all the way up to chapter 19. 00:01:57.439 --> 00:01:59.519 Jesus is fixing to be nailed to the cross. 00:01:59.599 --> 00:02:03.120 He's fixed to die on the cross for the sins of humanity. 00:02:03.680 --> 00:02:05.280 And so we're up to chapter 19. 00:02:05.359 --> 00:02:08.719 And before I go any further, I want to acknowledge somebody that's in our service this morning. 00:02:08.879 --> 00:02:12.719 The Bible says that those who teach you the word are worth double honor. 00:02:12.879 --> 00:02:21.599 And so if you live in our city, or you don't have to live in our city, how many of you in this room, if you've ever heard of a church in our city named Sugar Creek Baptist Church, would you say amen? 00:02:22.159 --> 00:02:28.639 And what you probably do not know is that the person that God used to make that church a great church is a man named Fenton Moorhead. 00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:30.639 Came a long time ago from Denver. 00:02:30.719 --> 00:02:33.520 He lived in Denver, Colorado, in Applewood, actually. 00:02:33.680 --> 00:02:34.800 And God brought him here. 00:02:34.879 --> 00:02:37.360 And back then they had a gymnatorium. 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:40.479 And that's all it was, it was a gym multi-purpose thing. 00:02:40.560 --> 00:02:45.520 And God used a man named Fenton Moorhead to kind of grow that church to the point where it is today. 00:02:45.680 --> 00:02:46.319 He's in our service. 00:02:46.400 --> 00:02:48.080 I'm gonna ask Fenton if he would to stand up. 00:02:48.159 --> 00:02:49.280 He's right over here. 00:02:55.919 --> 00:02:59.599 I just again, the Bible says those who teach you the word are worth double honor. 00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:05.520 And I just think when there's an honorable person like that in our service, I don't want you to miss, hey, you you you need to know this man right here. 00:03:05.599 --> 00:03:08.960 He's walked with God and loved one woman for a long time, okay? 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:10.719 Uh and so I want to talk to you this morning. 00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:13.199 I'm gonna read uh in John chapter 19. 00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:14.800 Uh it's kind of an interlude. 00:03:14.960 --> 00:03:17.520 Chapter 18, Pilate, this guy that's kind of in charge. 00:03:17.680 --> 00:03:22.080 He's the Roman potse who's kind of in charge of the city, the legal affairs. 00:03:22.159 --> 00:03:25.840 And he's already said, hey, I think Jesus is innocent. 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:29.840 I don't find any guilt in him, but the people will not leave it alone, okay? 00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:34.159 Have you ever been driving and your your wife's kind of like, honey, do you know where you are? 00:03:34.560 --> 00:03:35.199 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:03:35.280 --> 00:03:36.080 I got it, I got it, I got it. 00:03:36.319 --> 00:03:37.199 This is just a shortcut. 00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:40.800 And you're like, okay, you drive a little bit longer, babe. 00:03:40.960 --> 00:03:42.240 This doesn't look familiar. 00:03:42.400 --> 00:03:43.599 No, no, no, it's cool, it's cool. 00:03:43.680 --> 00:03:52.960 It's God, I know it, you know, and then all about five minutes later, you, sir, have this gnawing sense that I have no idea where I am. 00:03:53.439 --> 00:03:57.199 That's Pilate in John 19, verses 1 to 16. 00:03:57.360 --> 00:04:03.199 So I'm gonna read these 16 verses, and I want to talk to you this morning about questions we all have to answer about Jesus. 00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:13.120 Here's the great thing about expository preaching, preaching through books of the Bible, it causes you to think about God and ask questions that you by nature wouldn't think about or ask. 00:04:13.439 --> 00:04:15.120 John 19, verse 1. 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:16.639 Pilate is lost. 00:04:16.800 --> 00:04:22.639 I mean, he is, there's no map, GPS is not working, and he's thinking, How do I get back on the road? 00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:24.079 How do I get out of this? 00:04:24.480 --> 00:04:27.360 Verse 1, then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. 00:04:27.519 --> 00:04:32.639 And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. 00:04:32.800 --> 00:04:35.680 They came up to him, saying, Hail, king of the Jews. 00:04:35.920 --> 00:04:37.360 And they struck him with their hands. 00:04:37.439 --> 00:04:43.839 And Pilate went out again and said to them, See, I am bringing him out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt in him. 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:49.759 So Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and Pilate said to them, Behold the man. 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:55.519 When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, Crucify him! Crucify him. 00:04:55.759 --> 00:05:00.000 Pilate said to them, Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him. 00:05:00.160 --> 00:05:07.360 The Jews answered, We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God. 00:05:07.600 --> 00:05:10.720 When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. 00:05:10.879 --> 00:05:14.240 He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, Where are you from? 00:05:14.560 --> 00:05:15.759 Jesus gave him no answer. 00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:19.199 So Pilate said to him, You will not speak to me? 00:05:19.439 --> 00:05:24.079 Do you know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you? 00:05:24.319 --> 00:05:30.160 Jesus answered him, You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. 00:05:30.319 --> 00:05:33.759 Therefore, he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin. 00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:36.079 From then on, Pilate sought to release him. 00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:40.720 But the Jews cried out, If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend. 00:05:40.879 --> 00:05:43.680 Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar. 00:05:43.839 --> 00:05:52.160 So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called the stone pavement, and in Arabic, Gabbatha. 00:05:52.319 --> 00:05:54.480 Now it was the day of preparation of the Passover. 00:05:54.560 --> 00:05:55.920 It was about the sixth hour. 00:05:56.079 --> 00:05:58.160 He said to the Jews, Behold your king. 00:05:58.319 --> 00:06:02.319 And they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. 00:06:02.639 --> 00:06:05.680 Pilate said to them, Shall I crucify your king? 00:06:05.920 --> 00:06:08.800 The chief priest answered, We have no king but Caesar. 00:06:08.959 --> 00:06:12.399 So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. 00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:16.399 Questions that we all have to answer about Jesus. 00:06:16.639 --> 00:06:20.000 First question is simply this Why wasn't punishment enough? 00:06:20.240 --> 00:06:21.600 Why wasn't punishment enough? 00:06:21.680 --> 00:06:22.399 It's verse one. 00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:27.519 Uh the Bible sometimes uses words that we don't normally use in language with which we're not familiar. 00:06:27.759 --> 00:06:29.199 This is the case right here, verse one. 00:06:29.519 --> 00:06:32.160 Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. 00:06:32.399 --> 00:06:32.959 Flogged him. 00:06:33.279 --> 00:06:38.240 In this day and age, we won't even speak authoritatively to our children, much less spank them. 00:06:38.399 --> 00:06:40.800 Therefore, we have no idea what flogging means. 00:06:41.040 --> 00:06:42.720 I got flogged, no, I didn't get flogged. 00:06:42.879 --> 00:06:43.360 I got whipped. 00:06:43.439 --> 00:06:47.120 But when he says he handed him over and he flogged him, well, why wasn't that enough? 00:06:47.199 --> 00:06:48.079 You said, What do you mean? 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:53.279 Pilate is working hard to kind of get away from this because he knows this is a bad idea. 00:06:53.439 --> 00:06:59.199 He has that gnawing sense that, hey, that shortcut was not a shortcut, and now I am lost. 00:06:59.279 --> 00:06:59.839 I don't know. 00:06:59.920 --> 00:07:01.680 I want to get I want to get away from that. 00:07:01.759 --> 00:07:04.240 I do not want this on my resume, okay? 00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:05.519 And so he does three things. 00:07:05.680 --> 00:07:09.279 He sends Jesus to Herod so that Herod would take responsibility. 00:07:09.439 --> 00:07:10.399 Herod sends him back. 00:07:10.480 --> 00:07:12.480 He's like, dude, I don't want this on me. 00:07:12.720 --> 00:07:16.000 Second thing he does, he attempts to release him according to a Jewish custom. 00:07:16.160 --> 00:07:22.160 He says to these people, hey, you guys, you have a custom at the Passover where we we release a prisoner. 00:07:22.319 --> 00:07:24.879 And so he gets this scoundrel out of prison called Barabbas. 00:07:24.959 --> 00:07:28.639 And he goes, Hey, you want Barabbas or do you want Jesus to be released? 00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:30.480 And they said, Give us Barabbas. 00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:32.959 And then Pilate thinks, okay, this will do it. 00:07:33.040 --> 00:07:33.920 I'll have him beaten. 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:36.560 I'll have him flogged, is a literal word. 00:07:36.639 --> 00:07:42.959 And so we don't know what flogging is, but let's let me just tell you: when a person was flogged, it was a severe form of punishment. 00:07:43.040 --> 00:07:53.040 They would take them, strip their shirt off, bend them over like a post, like a tree stump, tie their hands down to where their back was exposed, and they took a thing called a cat of nine tails. 00:07:53.199 --> 00:08:01.279 Wooden handle, about 18 inches, had nine straps of leather coming off of that, and embedded in the leather are bits of bone and rock. 00:08:01.360 --> 00:08:03.920 And some people would put a hook on the end of one of them. 00:08:04.079 --> 00:08:07.040 And so basically they beat this person across the back. 00:08:07.199 --> 00:08:10.480 It was so severe that the law limited it to 40 lashes. 00:08:10.720 --> 00:08:12.079 That's all a person could take. 00:08:12.240 --> 00:08:19.839 Some people didn't even survive because the skin on their back would be flayed open, and some people's internal organs would be exposed. 00:08:19.920 --> 00:08:20.879 It was horrible. 00:08:21.040 --> 00:08:25.199 So when Jesus comes out, he's got the purple robe on and the crown. 00:08:28.720 --> 00:08:34.000 And when Pilate says, Behold the man, he's like, Really, do you want to keep doing? 00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:37.120 I mean, look what you're doing to this person. 00:08:37.600 --> 00:08:40.320 I have a friend that's really into UFC, ultimate fighting. 00:08:40.399 --> 00:08:41.360 Anyone know what I'm talking about? 00:08:41.440 --> 00:08:42.159 Say amen. 00:08:42.639 --> 00:08:47.679 And he he gets pay-per-view, all the fights, you know, call me and say, Hey, you want to come over and watch the fight? 00:08:47.840 --> 00:08:49.279 And he goes, Do you like UFC? 00:08:49.360 --> 00:08:52.159 I said, I like UFC until somebody gets hit. 00:08:53.440 --> 00:08:54.480 And that's his response. 00:08:54.559 --> 00:09:06.799 He's like, dude, the goal of it is to hit, not like just a little punch, but when the the first guy that gets just cold cocked and he says, something goes off in me, and I think, don't hit him again because I'm gonna want to hit you. 00:09:07.679 --> 00:09:08.960 That's mercy. 00:09:09.200 --> 00:09:09.919 That's what that is. 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:15.919 That's why I could never go to UFC because you'd be watching, some of you guys be watching and go, oh, that's my pastor climbing in the ring. 00:09:16.080 --> 00:09:18.159 Like last night there was a UFC fight. 00:09:18.320 --> 00:09:19.840 Like, who's that bald man? 00:09:20.159 --> 00:09:22.960 Okay, looks like the love child of Tim Keller and Pitt Bull. 00:09:23.039 --> 00:09:24.480 Oh, that's my preacher, anyway. 00:09:24.559 --> 00:09:30.399 Uh because I it's something the mercy goes off in me and gets militant, like, stop hurting this person. 00:09:30.559 --> 00:09:39.120 Uh last night there was a UFC fight, and some guy, he hit the other guy, the guy swung, he backed up and wham, the guy was out on his feet, just falling back. 00:09:39.279 --> 00:09:41.679 The referee jumped in and was like, no more, no more. 00:09:41.840 --> 00:09:42.960 Can't hit him anymore. 00:09:43.200 --> 00:09:46.399 There is no referee to jump in and rescue Jesus. 00:09:46.559 --> 00:09:49.039 You should ask yourself, why wasn't punishment enough? 00:09:49.279 --> 00:09:51.120 Flogging was horrible. 00:09:51.279 --> 00:09:55.200 It was, it was, I mean, the people weren't even recognizable when they were done. 00:09:55.440 --> 00:09:59.840 Pilate marches him out and mocks him, you're a king, here's your purple robe. 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:01.039 And it wasn't enough. 00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:02.799 Why wasn't punishment enough? 00:10:03.039 --> 00:10:05.039 There's a simple reason the Bible tells us. 00:10:05.200 --> 00:10:11.600 The wages of sin, the consequence for my sin and your sin is not punishment, it's death. 00:10:11.919 --> 00:10:13.440 So punishment's not enough. 00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:17.279 Second question we have to ask ourselves is was he really innocent? 00:10:17.519 --> 00:10:18.559 Was he really innocent? 00:10:18.799 --> 00:10:19.440 Verse 4. 00:10:19.679 --> 00:10:29.840 Pilate, he's already said it back in chapter 18, the previous chapter, about verse 38, verse 4, Pilate went out again and said to them, See, I'm bringing him out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt in him. 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:34.720 So Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and Pilate said to them, Behold the man. 00:10:34.960 --> 00:10:37.039 In other words, look at this if you can. 00:10:37.279 --> 00:10:40.480 This is, you shouldn't do anything more to this man. 00:10:40.799 --> 00:10:45.360 When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, Crucify him! Crucify him. 00:10:45.519 --> 00:10:48.879 It's not enough that you punish him, he has to be put to death. 00:10:49.919 --> 00:10:54.320 Pilate said to them, Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him. 00:10:54.559 --> 00:11:00.159 The Jews answered him, We have a law, and according to that law, he ought to die because he's made himself the Son of God. 00:11:00.480 --> 00:11:01.679 Pilate heard this statement. 00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:03.679 He was even more afraid. 00:11:03.919 --> 00:11:08.720 It's this growing sense of, oh my gosh, something's happening here. 00:11:08.879 --> 00:11:13.200 So the question the Bible asks us when we look at Jesus is, was he really innocent? 00:11:13.360 --> 00:11:20.559 I just say, if you really want to understand the innocence of God, look at all the people who had anything to do with Jesus' death that day. 00:11:20.639 --> 00:11:21.440 I'll just list them for you. 00:11:21.519 --> 00:11:22.320 Don't try to write them down. 00:11:22.399 --> 00:11:23.919 You can take your phone out and take a picture. 00:11:24.240 --> 00:11:32.000 First of all, Judas, the one of his disciples that initially betrayed him, he said, This after the fact, I've sinned by betraying innocent blood. 00:11:32.320 --> 00:11:39.759 Pilate's own wife said to him, She said, Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I've suffered much because of him today in a dream. 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:42.559 Pilate himself said, I find no guilt in him. 00:11:42.720 --> 00:11:43.919 Neither did Herod, by the way. 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:46.799 He seemed to Herod, and Herod sent him back. 00:11:46.879 --> 00:11:52.080 So he said, Hey, neither did Herod, because he sent him back to us, uh, the thief on the cross. 00:11:52.320 --> 00:11:56.720 Uh Jesus dies not in a pristine church building. 00:11:57.039 --> 00:12:04.639 He dies at a place called Golgotha, where thieves get together and talk smut and and plot their next endeavor. 00:12:04.799 --> 00:12:07.840 And he dies between two thieves, two guilty men. 00:12:08.080 --> 00:12:13.840 And one of them says to the other one, because the other one's like, hey, if you're really God, save yourself and us. 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:16.879 The thief on the other side of Jesus says, Hey man, what are you doing? 00:12:16.960 --> 00:12:18.080 We're getting what we deserve. 00:12:18.320 --> 00:12:19.200 This guy is innocent. 00:12:19.279 --> 00:12:21.279 This man has done nothing wrong. 00:12:21.440 --> 00:12:25.519 The Roman centurion who was at the cross said, Surely this man was innocent. 00:12:25.759 --> 00:12:30.799 After the fact, when all of a sudden the cloud, it's the middle of the day and it goes pitch black. 00:12:31.039 --> 00:12:32.559 And it's like, uh-oh. 00:12:33.120 --> 00:12:36.639 The soldiers gathered there and said, Truly, this was the Son of God. 00:12:36.879 --> 00:12:38.799 When I say, was he really innocent? 00:12:38.960 --> 00:12:39.919 Why is that a big deal? 00:12:40.080 --> 00:12:42.960 Because he was conceived of the Holy Spirit through the womb of a virgin. 00:12:43.120 --> 00:12:46.639 He inherited no sin nature and he never sinned. 00:12:46.799 --> 00:12:47.919 Why is that a big deal? 00:12:48.080 --> 00:12:49.039 Because he's perfect. 00:12:49.279 --> 00:12:52.960 His death is sufficient for the sins of imperfect people like you and me. 00:12:53.279 --> 00:12:56.879 Now let me just pump the brakes here just for a second so this will settle in on you. 00:12:57.039 --> 00:12:58.559 We're not here to skip rocks today. 00:12:58.639 --> 00:13:02.240 We need to slow down and let the rocks sink down to the bottom of the pond. 00:13:02.559 --> 00:13:04.320 Because he's perfect, he's innocent. 00:13:04.559 --> 00:13:09.840 He was born without a sinful uh a sin nature, and he never sinned. 00:13:11.120 --> 00:13:17.039 And because he's perfect, because he's innocent, his death is sufficient for the sins of imperfect people like you and me. 00:13:17.120 --> 00:13:17.679 What does that mean? 00:13:17.840 --> 00:13:23.120 If you're sitting in this room and you think to yourself, you know what, I've done so much, there's really no hope for me. 00:13:23.360 --> 00:13:24.320 That's not true. 00:13:25.120 --> 00:13:25.600 Why? 00:13:25.840 --> 00:13:27.600 Because Jesus is innocent. 00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:32.720 And because he's innocent, he's perfect, his death is sufficient. 00:13:32.879 --> 00:13:35.039 This also explains the crowd's reaction to him. 00:13:35.279 --> 00:13:40.720 Because the sinlessness of Jesus, and when you read this, you just think, dude, why do y'all hate on this guy so much? 00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:45.840 The sinlessness of Jesus elicits a response from them that is unexplainable. 00:13:46.159 --> 00:13:47.360 Let me ask you a question. 00:13:57.519 --> 00:13:58.399 Y'all like God? 00:13:58.559 --> 00:13:59.600 I'm not admitting to that. 00:13:59.759 --> 00:14:00.480 How about this? 00:14:00.720 --> 00:14:05.200 Do you have people in your life right now that you find it really easy to talk about behind their back? 00:14:06.320 --> 00:14:08.879 Yes, that's a more Baptist form of hatred. 00:14:09.759 --> 00:14:11.279 I'm not hating this person. 00:14:11.360 --> 00:14:15.279 I'm just sharing with my wife why I find it so difficult to love them. 00:14:15.519 --> 00:14:16.480 Yeah, yeah. 00:14:16.639 --> 00:14:22.240 I mean, these people were just like, ah, I mean, Pilate beats Jesus beyond recognition, okay? 00:14:22.480 --> 00:14:26.080 Trots him out to make a mockery of him, kind of like, okay, this is enough. 00:14:26.159 --> 00:14:27.039 We've punished him. 00:14:27.120 --> 00:14:28.080 Let's all go home. 00:14:28.159 --> 00:14:29.840 This is getting off the reservation. 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:32.399 And they're like, crucify him. 00:14:33.440 --> 00:14:35.200 Dude, lighten up, drink decaf. 00:14:35.360 --> 00:14:36.399 What are y'all doing? 00:14:36.720 --> 00:14:38.000 Here's what they're doing. 00:14:38.320 --> 00:14:43.200 You have to realize that true righteousness will always elicit hatred from unrighteousness. 00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:48.080 True righteousness will always elicit hatred from the unrighteous. 00:14:48.320 --> 00:14:51.440 The person, by the way, uh, can I get in your business for a minute? 00:14:51.600 --> 00:14:52.240 Say amen. 00:14:52.960 --> 00:14:57.519 The person, by the way, that drives you crazy, you find it easy to talk about, you don't hate them. 00:14:57.919 --> 00:15:02.240 You hate something about yourself, and they remind you of that whenever you're around them. 00:15:02.559 --> 00:15:08.320 And so instead of facing what's wrong in you, it's easier to talk about or hate them. 00:15:08.799 --> 00:15:10.000 That's what we do. 00:15:10.159 --> 00:15:11.600 That's why people never change. 00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:12.639 They just hate different people. 00:15:12.720 --> 00:15:15.120 They just go through life finding someone else to disagree with. 00:15:15.279 --> 00:15:20.240 Now, by the way, he's innocent, and you would think that because he's innocent and we aren't, that he couldn't relate. 00:15:20.320 --> 00:15:22.879 You're like, oh man, I just there's no way. 00:15:22.960 --> 00:15:24.960 I mean, I'm far from innocent. 00:15:25.120 --> 00:15:32.960 Yet the Bible says this in Hebrews chapter 4, verse 15 for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses. 00:15:33.200 --> 00:15:41.759 Don't think, in other words, because God is innocent and sinless, that he can't get down in the dirt with you and understand what it feels like to be you. 00:15:42.080 --> 00:15:51.919 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who is in every respect has been tempted as we are, and yet without sin. 00:15:52.320 --> 00:15:56.960 Let us then, that's Bible talk for because of this, let's do this. 00:15:57.120 --> 00:16:04.879 Let us then, with confidence, draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. 00:16:05.200 --> 00:16:08.240 God doesn't triumph over us with this moral superiority. 00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:13.360 I remember being in college, I went to college with a girl who was one of the most prideful people I've ever met in my life. 00:16:13.519 --> 00:16:16.559 She would come sit at my table, me and my buddies, and there's other girls there. 00:16:16.720 --> 00:16:23.840 But every time a girl would walk by, she would tell us uh what kind of person she was and all the things she was doing wrong with her boyfriend. 00:16:24.000 --> 00:16:25.600 And one day I just got tired of it. 00:16:25.759 --> 00:16:27.360 I just picked my tray up and she goes, Where are you going? 00:16:27.519 --> 00:16:29.519 I said, I'm going to sit with sinners. 00:16:31.279 --> 00:16:32.159 And she said, What? 00:16:32.320 --> 00:16:34.879 I said, I just don't enjoy being around you. 00:16:35.200 --> 00:16:37.519 You're the most judgmental person I've ever met. 00:16:37.679 --> 00:16:41.440 You're up here, and we're all down here, and it's a little convicting. 00:16:41.679 --> 00:16:43.919 She says, Well, I mean, it's not my fault you're convicted. 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:44.879 I'm not convicted. 00:16:44.960 --> 00:16:48.799 I want to harm you, and I don't need to do that, so I'm gonna move away now. 00:16:50.240 --> 00:16:53.600 Well, if you just can't stand the truth, no, I can't stand you. 00:16:53.759 --> 00:16:55.919 I like the truth, I can't stand you. 00:16:56.480 --> 00:16:59.120 And so I just went over and set with sinners. 00:16:59.519 --> 00:17:03.440 And she's like, I saw we had class after lunch. 00:17:03.679 --> 00:17:05.920 Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. 00:17:07.519 --> 00:17:09.920 She said to me one time, she goes, You think I'm a bad person? 00:17:10.079 --> 00:17:12.000 No, I think you're full of yourself. 00:17:12.240 --> 00:17:19.759 And I think you do good with all the names of God that need translation, like Jehovah Rapha, the Lord our God who heals, Jehovah Sidkunu, the Lord Our Righteousness. 00:17:19.920 --> 00:17:25.200 I don't think you do very well with the plain English title of God, friend of sinners. 00:17:26.400 --> 00:17:30.319 And so I don't find any, I don't find a friendship with you meaningful at all. 00:17:30.559 --> 00:17:36.160 Here's why, because God doesn't, though he's innocent and perfect, he doesn't triumph over us with moral superiority. 00:17:36.319 --> 00:17:42.160 No, his moral perfection achieves for us mercy and helps us find grace in our time of need. 00:17:42.880 --> 00:17:49.039 At the lowest point of your life, God is not standing over you going, I'm great, and you're not. 00:17:49.359 --> 00:17:55.839 God's standing beside you, saying, Come to me, all you that labor and heavy laden, and you'll find rest for your souls. 00:17:56.079 --> 00:17:59.839 The third question that the text asked us today is, What do you see? 00:18:00.079 --> 00:18:00.799 What do you see? 00:18:00.960 --> 00:18:01.839 Verse 5. 00:18:02.160 --> 00:18:06.880 So Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and Pilate said to him, Behold the man. 00:18:07.119 --> 00:18:11.839 When the chief priests of the officers saw him, they cried out, Crucify him, crucify him. 00:18:12.079 --> 00:18:16.480 Pilate said to them, Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him. 00:18:16.720 --> 00:18:23.359 The Jews answered him, We have a law, and according to that law, he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God. 00:18:23.599 --> 00:18:24.400 What do you see? 00:18:24.559 --> 00:18:25.599 I see two things. 00:18:25.839 --> 00:18:29.599 I see that peace is an expensive thing, and I see this portrait of desperation. 00:18:29.759 --> 00:18:37.519 Now, by the way, when you see this kind of response, this kind of hatred from these people, I don't want you to see that, man, these people were violent and Jesus was hated. 00:18:37.680 --> 00:18:41.119 What I really want us to see is that you and I are that sinful. 00:18:42.480 --> 00:18:43.839 And you're like, what? 00:18:44.559 --> 00:18:45.440 Yeah, yeah. 00:18:45.680 --> 00:18:47.200 You and I are that simple. 00:18:47.279 --> 00:18:51.680 We are not spectators at this, we are implicated in this and by this. 00:18:52.240 --> 00:18:54.000 Because they're crying out, crucify him. 00:18:54.240 --> 00:18:54.640 Why? 00:18:54.880 --> 00:18:59.119 If the wages of sin wasn't death, Jesus could have gotten off the hook that day. 00:18:59.519 --> 00:19:02.720 But the payment, the consequence for sin is death. 00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:04.880 And so somebody has to die. 00:19:05.200 --> 00:19:11.920 And this merciful, innocent, holy God said, Hi, I'll die, so these people don't have to. 00:19:12.319 --> 00:19:14.400 And so when he said, What do you see? 00:19:14.559 --> 00:19:16.559 Uh this is Isaiah 53. 00:19:17.039 --> 00:19:20.000 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. 00:19:20.160 --> 00:19:24.240 Yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 00:19:24.480 --> 00:19:29.359 But he was pierced for our transgressions, and he was crushed for our iniquities. 00:19:29.519 --> 00:19:33.039 Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace. 00:19:33.279 --> 00:19:35.359 See, peace has always been an expensive thing. 00:19:35.519 --> 00:19:42.400 Upon him was the chastisement, the being mocked, made fun of, punished, beaten. 00:19:43.359 --> 00:19:46.000 Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace. 00:19:46.079 --> 00:19:48.640 And with his wounds, we are healed. 00:19:48.799 --> 00:19:50.640 All we like sheep have gone astray. 00:19:50.799 --> 00:19:53.839 We have turned everyone to his own way. 00:19:54.079 --> 00:19:58.960 And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 00:20:00.640 --> 00:20:03.200 Second thing that I see is the portrait of just desperation. 00:20:03.279 --> 00:20:04.480 It's verse seven. 00:20:05.519 --> 00:20:06.559 Hear it again. 00:20:06.880 --> 00:20:14.079 Verse seven, these people are so incensed, they said, We have a law, and according to that law, he ought to die because he's made himself the son of God. 00:20:14.480 --> 00:20:19.279 And you should just hear God over all of this saying, Oh, yeah, God has a law. 00:20:19.359 --> 00:20:23.599 I have a law, and according to that law, he has to die because he is the son of God. 00:20:24.960 --> 00:20:28.559 The fourth question they ask us is simply this: where's Jesus from? 00:20:28.960 --> 00:20:30.319 It's verse 9. 00:20:30.880 --> 00:20:32.079 He entered his headquarters. 00:20:32.160 --> 00:20:34.640 Pilate did it again, and he said to Jesus, Where are you from? 00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:37.599 Now, if you're a thinking person, you're just like, that's a dumb question. 00:20:38.079 --> 00:20:39.119 Where he's from, he's from Galilee. 00:20:39.200 --> 00:20:39.759 Everybody knows that. 00:20:39.839 --> 00:20:41.200 That's not what Pilate's asking. 00:20:41.359 --> 00:20:48.319 Pilate has this growing, gnawing sense that, oh my gosh, you, I think you're from heaven. 00:20:48.480 --> 00:20:52.160 I think you're really who you've said you were all along. 00:20:52.319 --> 00:20:58.240 And if, oh my, this this is the ramifications of being wrong are starting to dawn in him. 00:20:58.559 --> 00:21:00.079 Have you ever asked yourself this question? 00:21:00.240 --> 00:21:06.880 What it would mean for you and your children if everything the Bible says about God and you is actually true? 00:21:09.119 --> 00:21:17.680 If you get stuck in a conversation with somebody and you don't know how to make it interesting, just ask them, hey, have you ever pondered the ramifications for you and your children? 00:21:17.920 --> 00:21:22.000 If everything the Bible says about God and you and I is actually true? 00:21:22.240 --> 00:21:23.519 Because this is what's happening. 00:21:23.599 --> 00:21:25.440 This is beginning to kind of dawn in him. 00:21:25.599 --> 00:21:31.759 Now, by the way, when I say that, have you ever pondered if the ramifications, if everything the Bible says about you is true? 00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:35.519 Most people in this room and in the world, your mind goes to the negative. 00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:38.079 You're like, oh yeah, I am a sinner. 00:21:38.319 --> 00:21:40.480 Oh, I am a bad person. 00:21:40.799 --> 00:21:42.799 Does your mind ever go to the good? 00:21:43.359 --> 00:21:46.640 Because the gospel, gospel is a word that means what? 00:21:47.359 --> 00:21:48.079 Good news. 00:21:48.319 --> 00:21:48.799 Good news. 00:21:48.880 --> 00:21:50.880 So Christianity is not about coming to church. 00:21:50.960 --> 00:21:59.759 Becoming a Christian doesn't mean, okay, come to church and be told every Sunday what a pathetic, pathetic, sinful, horrible, bad person you are. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:00.319 Are. 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:04.559 Matter of fact, I'm in uh we call them D groups here at Grand Park, where it's a discipleship group. 00:22:04.640 --> 00:22:06.720 Myself and two other guys meet together. 00:22:06.880 --> 00:22:12.640 Uh, we meet early in the morning, like this past we met at 7, because apparently Jesus doesn't want you to meet at 7 o'clock at night. 00:22:12.880 --> 00:22:14.720 He wants you to get up early. 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:16.559 No, amen. 00:22:16.720 --> 00:22:17.519 Shut up. 00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:21.039 I come dragging in like, okay, where's the coffee? 00:22:21.119 --> 00:22:22.880 Um, we've read through different books of the Bible. 00:22:23.039 --> 00:22:25.920 We read through Galatians, we read through Ephesians, we just read over and over. 00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:27.519 Right now we're in book one of the Psalms. 00:22:27.680 --> 00:22:29.200 That's Psalms 1 to 42. 00:22:29.359 --> 00:22:32.960 And we get together and I just say, hey, what Psalm set your soul on fire this week? 00:22:33.200 --> 00:22:42.240 A couple weeks ago, or a month or so ago, we talked about Psalm 8, how the Bible says this is, you gotta stop seeing the bad in yourself and start seeing the good. 00:22:42.480 --> 00:22:45.680 Jesus experienced the bad so he could give you the good. 00:22:45.920 --> 00:22:50.960 And it is not Christianity just to always go, oh, I stink, I'm such a horrible person. 00:22:51.119 --> 00:22:52.799 You don't believe the gospel. 00:22:53.279 --> 00:22:54.799 That's not the gospel. 00:22:55.119 --> 00:23:00.400 Jesus underwent everything we're reading about today so that you and I could get it right about us. 00:23:01.039 --> 00:23:06.799 We looked at how in Psalm 8, David said, Hey, uh man, he says, and what is man that you're mindful of him? 00:23:07.039 --> 00:23:12.240 Yet you have crowned him with glory and honor and given him dominion over everything you've created. 00:23:12.400 --> 00:23:16.000 And so me and my two friends, uh, somebody said, Who's in your D group? 00:23:16.079 --> 00:23:17.119 I said, I'm not gonna tell you. 00:23:17.200 --> 00:23:18.240 But what are they like? 00:23:18.400 --> 00:23:20.640 I said, Well, one's a businessman and one's a lawyer. 00:23:20.880 --> 00:23:24.000 So, like Jesus, I hang out with sinners, okay? 00:23:24.319 --> 00:23:26.640 You know how the lawyers are, they're all on the tank. 00:23:26.720 --> 00:23:30.880 I'm like, hey, you know what's horrible about a bus full of lawyers going over a cliff? 00:23:30.960 --> 00:23:33.119 And he's like, I don't know, an empty seat. 00:23:35.519 --> 00:23:35.839 No? 00:23:36.240 --> 00:23:36.559 Okay. 00:23:36.799 --> 00:23:46.480 Anyway, so like Jesus, I'm hanging out with these people, and then we look at each other and say, are you willing to think about yourself as crowned with glory and honor and dominion? 00:23:47.119 --> 00:23:51.039 Because if you are, then you have to ask yourself, does anything have dominion over me? 00:23:52.400 --> 00:23:55.920