The Cost of the Crown: From Triumphal Entry to Gethsemane

• Palm Sunday and Messianic Prophecy [00:25:29 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains the fulfillment of prophecy regarding Jesus' entry into Jerusalem on a donkey, contrasting it with Roman political expectations.
• Political and Religious Context [00:27:41 ▶️ 📄]
  > An overview of the three factions in Jerusalem: the Sanhedrin (religious), King Herod (puppet political), and Pontius Pilate (Roman governor).
• The Passion Week Narrative [00:32:09 ▶️ 📄]
  > A chronological recounting of Jesus' actions from Monday (cleansing the temple) through Wednesday (teaching and anointing) to Thursday (Last Supper).
• Gethsemane and Submission [00:37:32 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes Jesus' agony in the garden, the physical manifestation of stress (hematohidrosis), and his prayerful submission to the Father's will despite the disciples' failure to watch.
• Gethsemane and Disciples' Failure [00:38:40 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes Jesus' stress in the garden and the disciples falling asleep despite his requests, highlighting the contrast between Jesus' obedience and their weakness.
• The Betrayal and Arrest [00:40:13 ▶️ 📄]
  > The narrative covers Judas' betrayal via a kiss, the arrival of the mob, and Jesus' identification as 'I Am,' causing some to fall back.
• Divine Power vs. Human Violence [00:42:43 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains Jesus' refusal to use his power to call 12 legions of angels, using mathematical and historical examples (Assyrians) to illustrate the magnitude of power he restrained.
• Religious Condemnation [00:45:01 ▶️ 📄]
  > Jesus is questioned by Annas and Caiaphas, claims to be God, and is condemned for blasphemy, though the Sanhedrin lacks the authority to execute him.
• Peter's Denial [00:46:31 ▶️ 📄]
  > Peter denies knowing Jesus three times before the rooster crows, weeping in guilt.
• Judas' Remorse [00:47:26 ▶️ 📄]
  > Judas returns the silver, is refused by the elders, and hangs himself out of guilt.
• Roman Trial and Pilate's Reluctance [00:47:53 ▶️ 📄]
  > Jesus is brought to Pilate and Herod; Pilate finds no fault but yields to the crowd's demand for Barabbas and crucifixion.
• The Flagellation and Mockery [00:51:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > Detailed description of the brutal whipping with a cat of nine tails and the mocking with a crown of thorns and purple robe.
• The Way to Golgotha [00:54:11 ▶️ 📄]
  > Jesus struggles to carry the crossbar due to exhaustion and injury, leading to Simon being forced to carry it.
• The Brutality of Crucifixion [00:53:18 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor details the physical torture, including the crown of thorns, the carrying of the crossbar, and the anatomical specifics of the nails and suffocation, emphasizing the 'excruciating' nature of Roman capital punishment.
• Theological Significance of [Psalm 22](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+22&version=KJV) [01:02:18 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that Jesus' cry of forsakenness is not a moment of despair but a deliberate reference to Psalm 22, which begins with abandonment but ends in victory and praise, showing Jesus' control over the narrative.
• Jesus' Voluntary Submission [01:00:27 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor highlights that Jesus had the power to save Himself but chose not to, contrasting His refusal to take wine to deaden pain with His acceptance of the cross to fulfill the plan.
• Fulfillment of Prophecy and Miracles [01:07:14 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes the medical signs of death (blood and water), the tearing of the temple curtain, the darkness, and the resurrection of saints as immediate consequences of Jesus' death.
• The Crucifixion and Resurrection Evidence [01:07:25 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor details the medical signs of death (blood and water), the tearing of the temple curtain, the darkness, and the centurion's declaration that Jesus was the Son of God.
• Institution of the Lord's Supper [01:09:17 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor connects the crucifixion to the Last Supper, recalling Jesus' words about his body being broken and the cup representing his blood, establishing the command to remember.
• Communion Liturgy and Logistics [01:10:00 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor transitions into the practical administration of communion, inviting the worship team, explaining the process for gluten-free participants, and inviting stewards forward.

• Sermon Illustration [00:29:23 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes the crowd laying their coats on the ground so the donkey's hooves would not touch the bare rock, illustrating their reverence.
• Sermon Illustration [00:31:16 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts the story of Jesus weeping over Jerusalem, noting that he was mourning the future destruction of the city by the Romans 30 years later.
• Sermon Illustration [00:35:02 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the analogy of best friends gathering for a meal to highlight the heaviness of Jesus washing their feet and announcing betrayal.
• Sermon Illustration [00:37:58 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains the medical condition hematohidrosis to illustrate the physical intensity of Jesus' stress in the garden, where capillaries mixed with sweat to look like blood.
• Sermon Illustration [00:38:40 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the book 'Jaber Crow' where a character interprets 'thy will be done' as a prayer for crucifixion, applying this to Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane.
• Sermon Illustration [00:38:40 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the book 'Jaber Crow' where the main character interprets 'thy will be done' as meaning one might get crucified, paralleling Jesus' experience.
• Sermon Illustration [00:39:03 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses a humorous, modernized dialogue to depict Jesus' frustration with the sleeping disciples in the garden, contrasting his 'sweating blood' stress with their casual apologies.
• Sermon Illustration [00:40:13 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes the mob arriving with pitchforks and torches, comparing it to a 'good old fashioned mob' to visualize the scene.
• Sermon Illustration [00:41:09 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains the Greek phrase 'I Am' in the context of the burning bush in Exodus, linking Jesus' identity to God's self-revelation to Moses.
• Sermon Illustration [00:43:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor engages the audience with a 'math folks' call-and-response to calculate the number of angels in 12 legions (63,360), emphasizing Jesus' potential power.
• Sermon Illustration [00:43:50 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor cites Isaiah 37, where one angel kills 185,000 Assyrians, to illustrate the disproportionate power Jesus could unleash, noting the Assyrians were the 'fighting force of the world.'
• Sermon Illustration [00:44:22 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor calculates that Jesus could call down enough firepower to kill 11.7 billion people, contrasting this with the mob's pitchforks.
• Sermon Illustration [00:51:16 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes the 'cat of nine tails' flagellation, detailing how leather strips with metal or pottery were tied to sticks to maximize pain and disfigurement, referencing Isaiah 52.
• Sermon Illustration [00:53:28 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes the mocking with the crown of thorns, noting the thorns were 1-1.5 inches long and pressed down with violence, not kindness.
• Sermon Illustration [00:56:03 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts the historical anecdote of Josephus, who found three friends crucified by mistake because they were Roman citizens, highlighting the speed of death and the severity of the punishment.
• Sermon Illustration [00:54:28 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the analogy of a railroad tie and railroad spike to explain the physical mechanics of how the cross was assembled and how the nails were placed in the wrist bones to support weight.
• Sermon Illustration [01:08:43 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the centurion's reaction to the earthquake and darkness, stating, 'Oh my gosh, surely he was the son of God,' to illustrate the impact of the supernatural events surrounding the death.
• Sermon Illustration [01:07:25 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts the historical/biblical narrative of the crucifixion, including the breaking of legs, the spear piercing Jesus' side, the earthquake, the tearing of the 60-foot temple curtain, the sun going out, and Joseph of Arimathea providing the tomb.
• Sermon Illustration [01:09:17 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recalls the night before the crucifixion when Jesus gathered with his disciples, took bread, and said, 'this is my body that's broken for you,' and took the cup, pouring it out.

• Pastoral Charge [01:10:40 ▶️ 📄]
  > Congregation members are instructed to come forward for communion during the dismissal, moving down the middle aisle and exiting around the back.
• Pastoral Charge [01:10:17 ▶️ 📄]
  > Communion stewards are requested to come forward to assist with the service.

[00:01:58] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:01:58] Thanks for coming. We're going to do some worship to start. Would y'all want to stand with me and we'll pray?
[00:02:12] Well, Lord, we just want to come before you tonight. We're going to end this evening with communion, Lord, and we just want to lean into the whole night of remembrance. This is really us leaning into remembering you, remembering who you are as our Lord, remembering who you are as our
[00:02:30] Savior, remembering the sacrifice that you made for us. Thank you so much, Lord, for that.
[00:02:38] So tonight, Holy Spirit, we just ask that you would rest on our hearts, draw us into you, draw us into remembrance, Lord. Bring us to a place where we just can leave the stuff of the day, of the week, of work, of life, of kids, of money aside,
[00:02:57] and just focus on who you are as Lord. Thank you, Lord. Amen.

[00:03:09] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:03:09] They're crucified. They're crucified. Sometimes it causes me to be seated.

[00:25:17] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:25:17] If you got little ones, if they want to go, they're hanging out and back. It's not like a class or anything cool.
[00:25:25] But otherwise, you're welcome to stand here.
[00:25:29] Last Sunday in church was Palm Sunday. If you attended here or somewhere else, you probably heard that.
[00:25:37] That's where our remembrance tonight begins.
[00:25:43] So it's Passover in Jerusalem.
[00:25:48] And anybody who's anybody is on the way to Jerusalem from their homes, wherever that happens to be.
[00:25:55] For Jesus and the disciples, they're traveling in from Galilee, which is not like one state away, two states away.
[00:26:03] and knowing the climate of the time with Judea and then the state of Samaria.
[00:26:11] We know how the Jews felt about the Samaritans.
[00:26:14] They probably went all the way around adding days onto what normally would have just been a couple day trip.
[00:26:20] But Jesus and the disciples travel all the way down from where they were living to the city of Jerusalem.
[00:26:27] They arrive at the city and that's where the remembrance really begins.
[00:26:33] There's really this pouring into Jesus making it abundantly clear that scripture is being fulfilled in him.
[00:26:43] I talked about this last week that in the book of Daniel, there's this word from the Lord about how many very specific days it will be from when the temple is completed.
[00:26:55] In Ezra and Nehemiah, they rebuilt the temple until the Messiah enters the temple gates.
[00:26:59] and lo and behold, it's Palm Sunday and Jesus is entering in through the temple gates.
[00:27:09] He's pulling up and he sends his friends to go, two of the disciples he sends out to go get a donkey for him to ride in on.
[00:27:20] Kind of a funny choice, right?
[00:27:23] But also again, it's fulfilling prophecy in the book of Zechariah.
[00:27:27] It prophesies that the Messiah will ride in on the son of a donkey and here he comes.
[00:27:33] There's a large crowd there.
[00:27:36] They hear that the king of kings is coming.
[00:27:38] So let's do a little bit of context.
[00:27:41] In the city of Jerusalem, there's really three factions that we need to know about in order to remember this thing.
[00:27:49] There's the religious faction, which is run by this group called the Sanhedrin.
[00:27:54] So if you've heard of the Pharisees, that's their group.
[00:27:57] There is the Roman government, but they put up a puppet king, this guy named King Herod.
[00:28:07] You've heard of his ancestor who tried to kill Jesus when he was a baby.
[00:28:13] He's sitting on the throne, but he doesn't really have much power.
[00:28:17] But there's this guy named Pontius Pilate who's the ruling governor in the city of Jerusalem.
[00:28:22] So he's like the voice of Caesar in town.
[00:28:27] So that's this political state of affairs as we're remembering this thing.
[00:28:31] So Jesus is riding into town on a donkey as crowds start to get super excited.
[00:28:36] The Messiah is here. That's the word that's spreading. The Messiah is here. The one who's going to save us. Remember the political climate. These Romans are ruling us. We need somebody riding in, probably on a white horse, maybe some armor or something, and a sword. It's not how this
[00:29:01] is going down. A son of a donkey. That's the mode of transportation that our Savior chooses to go into the city, but people are so excited. They're so invested in this thing that's happening that they take off their clothes. They take off their coats and they lay their coats down on the
[00:29:23] ground that this donkey's hooves wouldn't touch the bare rock. Like, oh, that the donkey that you're riding on, like wouldn't even have to touch bare rock. Let it walk on my coat.
[00:29:40] And they're taking off these and they're taking palm branches and they're laying them on the ground. And they're shouting, blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord, peace in heaven and glory in the highest. And they're shouting Hosanna to the son of David. And Hosanna is an
[00:29:56] idiom at the time. And it translates to like, oh, save us. But they would have said, save!
[00:30:03] Like that's how they would have used it. It would have been the rallying cry for them.
[00:30:06] We got these Romans who are murdering us.
[00:30:10] Come and set us free.
[00:30:12] And so there's this context of this pressure of the Messiah is here.
[00:30:19] And he's going to set us free.
[00:30:24] The Pharisees come out because these people are saying, blessed is the king.
[00:30:29] And the Pharisees are losing their mind.
[00:30:32] They can't handle it.
[00:30:33] They're like, are you kidding me?
[00:30:36] You are getting the crowd all riled up and they're shouting about a king.
[00:30:40] King Herod's inside. What you're doing is insurrection. You are going to cause riots and an uprising. If the Romans hear this, they will come out and they will kill us all.
[00:30:54] Stop it. You can't be doing this. And Jesus says to them, I tell you, if they keep quiet, even the stones are going to cry out. This can't be stopped. And then Jesus rides up to Jerusalem
[00:31:16] and he weeps. Remember, this is that prescribed moment in human history when the walls have been rebuilt in the city of Jerusalem. And Jesus sees them and he weeps. And at the time, I'm sure people
[00:31:28] were like, I don't get it. But he's mourning for their loss already. Because we know that about 30 years later, the Romans destroy the city, including the walls. So Jesus's triumphal entry somehow doesn't feel so triumphant in the flesh.
[00:31:51] So Jesus returns to Bethany, which is probably about three miles away.
[00:31:58] And that's where they're staying while they're in town for the Passover.
[00:32:01] And the week starts, Jesus immediately gets in more trouble.
[00:32:09] Monday shows up and Jesus goes into the temple.
[00:32:13] And if you've ever been in Sunday school, you probably know the story that they're making money.
[00:32:18] They're changing money.
[00:32:19] They're making a profit on exchanging finances.
[00:32:24] Jesus turns over the table.
[00:32:25] He says, my house will be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers.
[00:32:30] So instead what Jesus does is he heals the blind and he heals the lame.
[00:32:38] He quotes scripture and then he goes home.
[00:32:43] But we know that the Pharisees are furious at him because they don't want the change.
[00:32:54] They don't want to rock the boat.
[00:32:56] There's too much political stuff going on.
[00:32:58] They're not interested.
[00:33:00] Tuesday and Wednesday, Jesus shows up and he just teaches.
[00:33:04] He just teaches and teaches.
[00:33:05] He gives all kinds of messages.
[00:33:07] Some of the messages that you've known your whole life from Sunday school are messages that he gives here in his last couple days.
[00:33:15] You know, about the parable of the two sons, the tenants, the parable of the virgins and the oil.
[00:33:21] All of these stories that we know are stories that he's giving really in preparation for what he knows is on the end, that's coming here at the end. And then on Wednesday, he starts to talk
[00:33:33] about his own death. In conjunction with that, the Pharisees are now working a political angle and they are going to plot to have him arrested and killed. Jesus is anointed with oil, with an alabaster jar that's broken over and he's anointed with that oil. And Jesus says,
[00:34:02] this is funeral prep. This is okay. And meanwhile, the Pharisees are hanging out with Judas, offering him 30 bucks, 30 pieces of silver, if he will help make sure that they get the right guy
[00:34:19] when the time comes. Thursday night rolls around and Jesus sends the disciples ahead and he's like, hey, I need you to go into town. There's this place that has an upper room. It's a simple house,
[00:34:33] but it has a space up above. We're going to meet up there and we're going to have a meal.
[00:34:37] You guys go tell them we're coming and we're going to get together. And so Jesus and the disciples gather in the upper room for what we know is the last supper. But so much happens
[00:34:48] in that time. It's such like a dense piece of scripture. Jesus washes their feet. Can you just think through. You and your best friends are gathered for a meal, and this is the kind of
[00:35:02] stuff that happens. Jesus washes your feet. He then announces that one of you is going to betray him so that he will be arrested. Is that getting heavy? He breaks bread. He pours some wine.
[00:35:21] It seems heavy to me. And then the disciples argue about who's the best, which one of us is the greatest. And Jesus has been talking this week about, I'm about to die. And the disciples are
[00:35:38] trying to figure out which one of them is the most awesome. Jesus tells his best friend, the closest of them, he says, Peter, before the rooster even crows tomorrow, you will disown me three times.
[00:35:51] Peter's like, no way. That is not happening. Not on my watch. We are too close. This crazy thing happens where Jesus says, you need some swords. Do y'all know this is in the Bible? Jesus says,
[00:36:05] you might need to sell some of your belongings, but you need to go get some swords. Peter says, yeah, we got two swords. And Jesus says, okay, that's enough. And then Jesus does some more
[00:36:19] teaching. I am the way, I am the truth and the life. Y'all know that from John. Everyone believes in me will do the words that I have been, the things that I have been doing. Y'all know that.
[00:36:30] And then he promises that, again, I'm leaving.
[00:36:34] They don't buy it.
[00:36:35] They don't get it.
[00:36:36] I don't, I think they're still trying to figure out who's right and who's left and who's number one and who's number two.
[00:36:40] But he says there's this Holy Spirit coming.
[00:36:44] And then they worship together.
[00:36:46] They spend some time singing hymns after their last meal together.
[00:36:52] From there, they leave and they go to this place called the Mount of Olives, which is just outside of town.
[00:36:57] and then knowing that the end is imminent, Jesus starts doing some more teachings.
[00:37:04] He says things like, I am the vine and you are the branches.
[00:37:08] The world may despise you, but he talks about the work of the Holy Spirit and that he will guide you in all truth.
[00:37:19] And then this is where he promises, you will have hardship, but don't fear for I have overcome the world.
[00:37:28] Jesus gets to the garden, which is right at the edge of the Mount of Olives.
[00:37:32] And he says, guys, I'm going to go into this garden and I'm going to pray for a little bit. Can you keep watch?
[00:37:38] So Jesus asked the disciples to watch while he prays. While he's praying, an angel comes and strengthens him. That's amazing. And then this crazy thing happens where he starts sweating and he's so stressed out that blood starts dripping from his forehead.
[00:37:58] We know now that there's this medical condition called hematohidrosis where a person can become so stressed out that their capillaries, the sweat in their capillaries mixed with blood and it looks like they're sweating blood. And I can only imagine knowing what's about to happen that
[00:38:17] Jesus is here in the garden sweating and it looks like blood. So much so that then he says, Abba Father, may this cup be taken from me, yet not as I will, but as you will.
[00:38:40] There's this book called Jaber Crow, where the main character says, I guess that praying And as your will be done, may mean that you get crucified.
[00:38:51] And here Jesus is in the garden, stressing out, but says, Lord, your will.
[00:38:59] He goes out and the disciples are asleep.
[00:39:03] He's like, are you kidding me?
[00:39:05] I'm sweating blood in here, y'all.
[00:39:09] Like, it's kind of a rough night.
[00:39:12] Can you just stay awake?
[00:39:14] Just do that thing I asked.
[00:39:15] Just stay awake a little bit.
[00:39:18] And they're like, oh, sorry, sorry.
[00:39:19] Okay, yeah, yeah, we'll stay awake.
[00:39:20] We'll stay awake. He says, couldn't you keep watch for one hour? And he goes back in, comes back out. They're asleep again. Are you kidding me? Like, just one, guys, just a little bit. Just do me a solid and stay awake a little bit. He goes back in to pray some more. We're
[00:39:46] getting into the early, early hours of the morning. He comes back out and yeah, yeah, sure enough.
[00:39:53] too much communion, I guess. They're still asleep. And Jesus says to them, I'm sure he's shaking his head at this point, says, rise, let us go. Here come my betrayers. And Judas and a detachment of soldiers and officials from the chief priests and Pharisees arrive.
[00:40:13] It's a mob. It's like a good old fashioned mob. Pitchforks, torches, they're there to collect.
[00:40:24] Judas walks right up to Jesus and he kisses him on the cheek.
[00:40:28] And that prearranged signal that he made, exchanged 30 bucks for, 30 pieces of silver.
[00:40:35] I'll go in and I'll kiss the one.
[00:40:36] That way you know, you know exactly who the one is.
[00:40:40] He goes up and he kisses Jesus on the cheek.
[00:40:43] He says, greetings, rabbi, which means teacher.
[00:40:47] Jesus says, are you betraying the son of man with a kiss?
[00:40:51] And then he says, do what you've come for.
[00:40:54] So the mob comes up.
[00:40:55] That was a signal. That was it. The thing's triggered. Events are in motion. The mob comes up.
[00:41:01] He asked them what they want. He says, who are you here for? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth.
[00:41:09] And then this really interesting piece of Greek literature, Jesus says, oh, I am, which sounds fine, right? But if you look at the language, at the burning bush, way back when in Exodus, and Moses shows up at this bush, and this bush, this burning bush is telling Moses,
[00:41:42] go set my people free. And Moses says, yeah, I'm in, but I need a name. Who should I say is here. The burning bush says, tell them it's a go a me. I am. And these guys with pitchforks show
[00:42:02] up and they're like, are you Jesus? And he says, I am. Some fall down, but some come to arrest him.
[00:42:17] Peter says, this is it. This is my moment. I've been prepping for this. I got my two swords.
[00:42:24] Peter is ready to go.
[00:42:27] Peter comes out swinging.
[00:42:29] The first guy in, Peter takes his ear off.
[00:42:32] Swings at him, hits him in the head, takes his ear right off.
[00:42:36] This is a servant of the high priest.
[00:42:39] And then Jesus rebukes him.
[00:42:43] In this moment, I think it's a setup.
[00:42:46] I've used the terminology before.
[00:42:48] I think Jesus is creating a situation where he's like, I'm going to be glorified right now.
[00:42:52] So you can just chill out.
[00:42:54] And Jesus says, don't you know that I could call 12 legions of angels down right now if I wanted to?
[00:43:05] All right, where are my math folks?
[00:43:08] Nobody?
[00:43:09] Yes.
[00:43:10] All right, y'all math people.
[00:43:12] All right, 12 legions of angels.
[00:43:15] One legion at that period of time in Roman history has 5,280 soldiers.
[00:43:22] Okay?
[00:43:22] Okay. That's 63,360 angel soldiers that Jesus is like, I can call these guys anytime I want to.
[00:43:34] It seems like a lot, but wait, there's more. In Isaiah 37, Isaiah is sharing the story about how one, one angel of the Lord goes to fight the Assyrians. And if you know the Assyrians,
[00:43:50] the Assyrians are like, they're, I mean, they're it. They are the fighting force of the world.
[00:43:57] They sacrifice babies, and they drink people's blood.
[00:44:00] I mean, they are bad news.
[00:44:02] They are the most serious fighting force in the world at that time.
[00:44:06] And this one angel of the Lord goes out in the night and kills 185,000 of them.
[00:44:12] So Jesus says, Peter, put away your one stinking sword, because I can call down, well, Peter had one, and then another dude in the back had one, your two swords that I told you to get,
[00:44:22] because I can call down enough firepower right now to kill 11.7 billion people right now.
[00:44:32] This mob with their pitchforks and their torches, they don't scare me.
[00:44:39] I'm going with them.
[00:44:44] It's about 3 a.m. at this point.
[00:44:46] So Jesus has been up all night.
[00:44:48] We know the disciples got some rest, but Jesus has been up.
[00:44:53] He's been stressed out.
[00:44:54] He's bleeding out of his forehead.
[00:44:55] He's so stressed and he's taken to the high priest.
[00:44:59] So now he's going to see the Sanhedrin.
[00:45:01] This is a guy named Annas.
[00:45:03] Jesus is questioned.
[00:45:05] They're like, hey, did you say this stuff?
[00:45:07] He's like, everything I've said is public record.
[00:45:10] He's not denying anything.
[00:45:12] He's not admitting anything.
[00:45:13] He's like, I don't have to defend myself to you.
[00:45:17] You can go and see what I said.
[00:45:18] So they smack him.
[00:45:22] He's taken to another high priest, Caiaphas, and to the Sanhedrin, which is the ruling body.
[00:45:28] And again, they say to him, are you calling yourself the son of God?
[00:45:35] And again, Jesus says, I am.
[00:45:39] One of the high priests tears his own clothes.
[00:45:44] For them, this is the worst.
[00:45:46] This is blasphemy that they can't even deal with.
[00:45:50] This person is saying that he's God.
[00:45:53] That's what he's doing.
[00:45:55] He's claiming to be God.
[00:45:57] On Sunday, they were talking about him being the king.
[00:46:00] we can't handle that because the King's going to come down. King Herod's going to come down and he's going to murder all of us. But now he's talking about being God. This is too much.
[00:46:11] So they condemn Jesus to death. The guards blindfold him and they beat him. And they say, oh, if you really are him, tell us who hit you. Out in the city, Peter is walking around.
[00:46:31] And so people are like, hey, don't you know that Jesus guy?
[00:46:37] Peter says, no, no, I don't know what you're talking about.
[00:46:41] A little servant girl comes up and says, hey, yeah, you look like one of the guys who was just with that Jesus that they took in there.
[00:46:49] Peter says, I don't know what you're talking about.
[00:46:53] Another person says, you sound like you're from Galilee.
[00:46:58] That Jesus guy is from Galilee.
[00:47:00] You sound like from the same place.
[00:47:05] Peter is so mad, he curses them.
[00:47:10] And he says, I don't know that man.
[00:47:16] And then a rooster crows as the sun's coming up.
[00:47:21] Peter goes and he weeps by himself.
[00:47:26] Somewhere else in town, Judas is realizing what his choices got him.
[00:47:33] He's frustrated.
[00:47:34] He's riddled with guilt.
[00:47:35] He goes back to the elders in the temple.
[00:47:37] He offers them that 30 pieces of silver back.
[00:47:41] They refuse.
[00:47:42] so he goes out and he hangs himself.
[00:47:47] The problem that the Jews have, that the Sanhedrin has, is that they don't actually have any authority in town.
[00:47:53] From a religious perspective, they can say, hey, you are out of line.
[00:47:57] We could excommunicate you.
[00:47:59] We can condemn you, but they don't have any authority.
[00:48:01] And what they really need is authority.
[00:48:03] So about 6 a.m., they take Jesus to see Pontius Pilate, who is the governor.
[00:48:09] What they're really trying to do is they're really trying to determine, is this a capital offense?
[00:48:14] Is Jesus saying things like, I'm the king of kings, or I am God?
[00:48:19] Is that illegal enough that we can condemn him to capital punishment?
[00:48:26] So they say, are you calling yourself the king?
[00:48:29] Jesus mainly remains silent with Pontius Pilate.
[00:48:33] And he's super frustrated, but he finds out that Jesus is from Galilee.
[00:48:37] He's like, oh, that doesn't feel like a Roman issue.
[00:48:41] I'm going to send you to King Herod.
[00:48:43] Maybe he can make a decision.
[00:48:45] So Jesus is taken across town again to King Herod, and King Herod interrogates him.
[00:48:52] Again, Jesus remains silent.
[00:48:54] Herod mocks him and gives him a beautiful robe and sends him back to Pilate.
[00:49:00] At this point, it's seven, eight in the morning.
[00:49:05] Jesus has been up all night.
[00:49:07] He's got about two and a half miles in of just walking back and forth at this point from the garden to the temple to the throne room back to the about two and a half miles
[00:49:17] just in this past three hours on no sleep.
[00:49:23] So Jesus is back before Pilate.
[00:49:25] And Pilate's not convinced, but there's people that we're sure are just gnawing at his ear, right?
[00:49:32] Whispering in his ear, making requests, making demands.
[00:49:36] So he's trying to find a way out of it.
[00:49:39] And he thinks he has just the ticket because in the Jewish culture, there's this celebration that they do at Passover where they let a captive free.
[00:49:48] Oh, that's nice.
[00:49:51] I've got a captive here who I am really sure hasn't done anything other than make some of the Jewish guys mad.
[00:49:58] We can set him free.
[00:49:59] So Pontius Pilate orchestrates a situation where he's like, hey, we're gonna get this Jesus guy set free.
[00:50:07] However, we know the Pharisees have a different plan.
[00:50:13] So they get into the crowd to start whispering.
[00:50:18] And Pontius Pilate's like, all right, we got this guy, Jesus, who for all intents and purposes hasn't done anything wrong.
[00:50:23] And over here, we have this guy named Barabbas who is a, in quotes, well-known criminal.
[00:50:31] We think that he probably killed somebody.
[00:50:35] Who are you gonna set free for Passover?
[00:50:37] And we know that the crowd shouts that they want Barabbas to go free.
[00:50:43] And Pontius says, well, what should I do with Jesus?
[00:50:45] And the crowd shouts, crucify him, which is capital punishment.
[00:50:51] Pontius Pilate's so frustrated, he literally turns around and goes and washes his hands.
[00:50:55] So here's where we get into the part where Jesus has to now be punished.
[00:51:05] This is the punishment component.
[00:51:07] So they take Jesus to the place called the flagellation room, the Roman punishment that often preceded the crucifixion.
[00:51:16] They beat him with something called a flagellum, which sometimes we call a cat of nine tails.
[00:51:23] So typically, you know, it's a stick.
[00:51:26] And the Romans, what they would do is they would tie leather strips to the end of it.
[00:51:30] Several of those, three, four, five, nine.
[00:51:34] If you've heard of a cat of nine tails, that's the same device.
[00:51:38] And depending on how official they were and how big their budget was, they would put stuff on the end.
[00:51:45] You know, and maybe that's a piece of metal.
[00:51:48] They don't have a budget, piece of broken pottery, some rocks.
[00:51:53] and they tie Jesus to this post.
[00:51:58] So his arms are up in the air and his back's exposed.
[00:52:01] And then two professional beaters take turns whipping him with a cat of nine tails.
[00:52:12] And we know that it's bad.
[00:52:18] You know that these guys are pros, right?
[00:52:22] And if you can swing the cat of nine tails in the right way and you can get the pottery to maybe latch a little bit, then as you pull back, you can get some opening.
[00:52:36] If you have both guys doing that, in Isaiah 52, Isaiah prophesies that his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being as these two guys take turns beating him.
[00:52:56] He's then taken to a place called the Praetorium.
[00:52:59] They strip him all the way and they put a robe on him and just thinking about how this whole process is meant as capital punishment. It's meant to dissuade people from committing crimes. So it's maximizing pain
[00:53:18] and humiliation. So I can't imagine a situation where they are draping a robe onto his shoulders.
[00:53:28] hey buddy to his back that we know is so open that Isaiah has said you can't even recognize him they twist together a crown of thorns and again I can't imagine the gentleness and we know that
[00:53:44] the thorns in the region are about an inch to an inch and a half long and as they make a crown out of these thorns and they press it down on his head we can just imagine that it's not meant
[00:53:58] with kindness. And they mock him by saying, oh, you're the king of the Jews. And they spit on him and they beat him with their sticks. And it's time for him to go up the hill.
[00:54:11] So they take the crossbar, if you think about a railroad tie, and they put it on his open wounded back. And they ask him to carry it out from the praetorium. You have to exit the city
[00:54:28] and you have to go up the hill to this place called Golgotha, which means the place of the skull.
[00:54:35] Jesus can't do it.
[00:54:37] He can't bear the weight.
[00:54:40] We're getting on probably 9 or 8.30 in the morning.
[00:54:43] He's, again, awake all night.
[00:54:46] He's now got several miles in.
[00:54:49] He's been beating to the point that he can't be recognized, and now they've asked him to carry his own crossbar up the mountain.
[00:54:57] He can't do it.
[00:54:58] They find a guy in the crowd.
[00:54:59] we know later on that some guy, his name's Simon, they have him carried up instead. About nine o'clock, they're up the hill. Crucifixion is capital punishment. It's meant to make sure that nobody messes with Rome again. It was originally created by the Persians about 400 years before
[00:55:20] this. And the word crucifixion means excruciating. That's the idea. That's the point. But the Romans are actually a little bit civilized. They're so civilized that they would never ever crucify a Roman because it's so bad. Like we're not going to crucify somebody we care about. So they save
[00:55:42] it for the non-Romans. There's this guy named Josephus, which if you ever do history, if you do Jewish history, Roman history, you're going to come across him. He has this story about three buddies of his who were committed of a crime and condemned to crucifixion and were crucified.
[00:56:03] Josephus says that he finds out and there was a mistake because they're Roman. He gets there as fast as he can. So they crucify them and then bring them down. But in that quick of a span,
[00:56:18] two of them die. That's the design. That's the Roman design for this thing is that it's so painful and so excruciating that nobody's going to commit that crime again.
[00:56:33] Jesus is crucified. When that happens, it's the horizontal bar. Again, think of railroad tie that they put on the ground. They can put you there. They kind of stack your feet on top of each other.
[00:56:46] Think railroad spike that they would pound through your feet into the horizontal piece.
[00:56:54] They've lashed, or sorry, the vertical piece. They've lashed a horizontal piece, tie your hands up, and then they can put a nail into your hand. So we know from the just anatomy of the Roman world that they put the nail right between your wrist bones,
[00:57:13] because otherwise your hand would pop off. So they put the nail down here. In the ancient world, that was considered part of the hand. And so when it says that they put it in his hand,
[00:57:25] it still jives with how we know that the Romans would crucify people. Then they have a hole. They lift this pole up and drop it in the hole. So Jesus is now hanging on a cross.
[00:57:41] Byron was mentioning on church on Sunday that crucifixion usually actually ends in suffocation.
[00:57:48] Like that's the design is that you're hanging so much that you can't breathe. And so you end up suffocating and that's how people die. It's the excruciating the component. It's the point when it's like the Romans are like, how can we convince
[00:58:01] nobody to ever do this thing again?
[00:58:04] And you can push yourself up a little bit on your feet that have a nail through them and a board, and you can get some breaths, but at some points, you end up suffocating.
[00:58:17] I always wonder at this point, you know, why was this the plan?
[00:58:26] You know, in the big scheme of things, I think Jesus could have come whenever.
[00:58:31] You know, 2,000 would have been good.
[00:58:35] Capital punishments, way better. But that wasn't the plan, you know? It was always, this is the worst of the worst.
[00:58:49] This is really like the time in history when it was the worst possible moment when Jesus could have chosen to return and be given capital punishment. They hang him up and they offer him some wine. He refuses. Some scholars think that the wine part is to deaden the pain. If you
[00:59:10] can get enough alcohol in, you stop feeling things. And Jesus declines because that's not the point.
[00:59:17] There are two rebels, one on either side of him. And down below, the soldiers have taken his clothes and they start chucking dice. They start gambling to see who can take his clothes home. Jesus looks
[00:59:33] down, he says, Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. They make a sign for him. And on it it says, I-N-R-I, which in Latin means the first letter of Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.
[00:59:49] Again, mocking him. Jesus is on the crowd and they're mocking him, the chief priests, the elders.
[00:59:57] I think once that sign goes up and it's like, oh, King of the Jews, well, save yourself.
[01:00:03] If you are who you say you are, save yourself.
[01:00:10] This is the other moment when I think about Peter coming out, that guy with the one sword, and Jesus saying, I can bring down enough firepower to murder the whole planet.
[01:00:23] I'm going to go with these folks.
[01:00:27] And he's on the cross, and these guys are mocking him.
[01:00:32] Oh, save yourself.
[01:00:33] Why don't you save yourself?
[01:00:35] And know in full well that at a moment, Jesus had the power to save himself, but he decides not to.
[01:00:47] One of the rebels, the guys on the side, because we know capital punishment, so he was probably rebellious.
[01:00:52] He wasn't Roman.
[01:00:53] He says, aren't you the Messiah?
[01:00:54] Save yourself and us.
[01:00:58] The guy on the other side says, man, this man hasn't done anything.
[01:01:02] Jesus, remember me.
[01:01:04] And Jesus says, truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.
[01:01:10] Amen.
[01:01:12] His mother and the other women who followed him are there.
[01:01:19] And Jesus, in just one of his last moments of anything, says to John, he says, hey, here's your mother. He finds Mary and he says, hey, this is your new son.
[01:01:31] Because we know in that world that if you were a woman that didn't have a husband or a son, you didn't have anything. We don't know where Joseph is, but he's not around anymore.
[01:01:44] And one of the last things that Jesus does is make sure that his mom's not going to be miserable.
[01:01:47] kind of amazing. And at that moment, Jesus finally, for the first time, it's past noon.
[01:01:57] So he's been on the cross three hours. He finally says, okay, I'm thirsty. I'll have a sip of something. He gets a drink and then he cries out, which is translated from the Aramaic as my God,
[01:02:18] my God, why have you forsaken me? And we think, oh man, this is a really bad moment.
[01:02:26] This is the worst moment of all if Jesus feels forsaken by his father, but we're missing the point. When we read that on the surface level, we miss the point. What Jesus is doing is he's,
[01:02:40] it's, think pre-Bible existence, where we knew that there was a Mark 31 or a Matthew 14 or a Psalm 22.
[01:02:54] People would, when they, instead of saying Psalm 22, they would say the first line of the Psalm.
[01:02:59] What Jesus is doing, he's saying, hey, Psalm 22, from the cross.
[01:03:07] Mom, this is your son.
[01:03:09] Son, this is your mom.
[01:03:11] Psalm 22.
[01:03:13] Why?
[01:03:14] Let's read it.
[01:03:18] This is a Psalm of David.
[01:03:21] It says, so, reading one chapter of a Bible is a lot, but from the cross, Jesus is saying, read this verse.
[01:03:31] So we're going to do that corporately. Okay. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
[01:03:37] Why are you so far away? When I groan for help every day, I call to you, my God, but you do not answer. Every night I lift my voice, but I find no relief. Yet you are holy and thrown on the
[01:03:50] praises of Israel. Our ancestors trusted in you and you rescued him. They cried out to you and they were saved. They trusted in you and were never disgraced. And this is Jesus on the cross.
[01:04:03] But I am a worm and not a man. I am scorned and despised by all. Everyone who sees me mocks me.
[01:04:13] They sneer and they shake their head saying, is this the one who relies on the Lord?
[01:04:17] then let the Lord save him.
[01:04:20] If the Lord loves him so much, let the Lord rescue him.
[01:04:26] Yet you brought me safely from my mother's womb and led me to trust you at my mother's breast.
[01:04:31] I was thrust into your arms at my birth.
[01:04:34] You have been my God from the moment I was born.
[01:04:38] Do not stay so far from me for trouble is near and no one can help me.
[01:04:43] My enemies surround me like a herd of bulls.
[01:04:45] Fierce bulls of Bashan have hemmed me in Like lions, they open their jaws against me, roaring and tearing into their prey.
[01:04:53] My life is poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joints.
[01:04:58] My heart is like wax, melting within me.
[01:05:02] My strength is dried up like sun-baked clay.
[01:05:04] My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.
[01:05:07] You have laid me in the dust and left me for dead.
[01:05:10] My enemies surround me like a pack of dogs.
[01:05:13] An evil gang closes in on me.
[01:05:14] They have pierced my hands and my feet.
[01:05:17] I can count all my bones. My enemies stare at me and gloat. They divide my garments among themselves and they throw dice for my clothing. Oh Lord, do not stray far away. You are my strength.
[01:05:33] Come quickly to my aid. Save me from the sword. Spare my precious life from these dogs. Snatch me from the lion's jaws and from the horns of these wild oxen. And I think people could have
[01:05:46] stopped, but Jesus didn't say, hey, read the first part of Psalm 22. I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters. I will praise you among your assembled people. Praise the Lord, all you who fear
[01:06:01] him. Honor him, all you descendants of Jacob. Show him reverence, all you descendants of Israel, for he has not ignored or belittled the suffering of the needy. He has not turned his back on them,
[01:06:12] but he has listened to their cries for help. I will praise you in the great assembly. I will fulfill my vows in the presence of those who worship you. The poor will eat and be satisfied.
[01:06:23] All who seek the Lord will praise him. Their hearts will rejoice with everlasting joy. The whole earth will acknowledge the Lord and return to him. All the families of the nations will bow down before
[01:06:34] him, for royal power belongs to the Lord. He rules all the nations. Let the rich of the earth feast and worship. Bow before him, all who are mortal. All who lives will end as dust. Our children will
[01:06:47] also serve him. Future generations will hear about the wonders of the Lord. His righteous acts will be told to those not yet born. They will hear about everything he has done. And then about three o'clock, Jesus says, it is finished and he dies. The guards come and their intention is to
[01:07:14] break everybody's legs. It's three o'clock. They want to be off their shift. We know that if people can still propel their body up, that they can breathe. They break their legs and they fall and
[01:07:25] they suffocate. So they break the legs of the rebels on either side, but they get to Jesus and they don't think they need to because he's not responsive. They pierce his side with a spear
[01:07:34] and blood and water flow out, which is medically a sign that he's dead. Maybe heart attack would lead to that condition. And then things get crazy, that there's an earthquake and there's this graveyard not so far away. People come up out of the graves. The temple or the curtain in the
[01:08:08] temple that's 60 feet high and 30 feet wide. And it says it's the thickness of a man's hand. So I don't know how you interpret that, but that's about four inches that this curtain rips in half
[01:08:21] and the sun goes out. Larry was just sharing the other day that it wasn't eclipse season.
[01:08:33] It's just the sun went out.
[01:08:35] And one of the centurions says, oh my gosh, surely he was the son of God.
[01:08:43] And they take Jesus' bodies down and a guy in the community, whose name was Joseph of Arimathea, lets the disciples put him in his tomb.
[01:08:57] I want to think back to that Thursday night, a couple nights before, or the night before Jesus was crucified, when he had his buddies together for this last meal and that he talked about remembering and he went over and he picked up this hunk of bread
[01:09:17] and he said, this is my body that's broken for you. So when you eat this, remember me.

[01:09:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[01:09:30] And the Bible says, likewise, he took the cup, poured some out and he said, hey, I think out of

[01:10:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[01:10:00] a place of obedience because we've been commanded to by our savior. So Lord, we were going to remember you. So the worship team is going to come up, and they're going to play some music in church
[01:10:17] as a congregation. We're going to have some communion in remembrance, and that's what we're going to do. If my communion stewards could come forward, that'd be appreciated. So when I dismiss, if you come down the middle aisle, you can have communion with us, and then go around the back,
[01:10:40] farsides, that would be meaningful. If you are gluten-free, you should also have communion.
[01:10:49] So if you see Oliver, he will be the gluten-free communion dispenser. Let's pray.
[01:11:05] Well, dear Lord, we just, Father, we are so thankful. We are so thankful for you and for your sacrifice for us because you love us. So tonight when we gather, Lord, we really do so
[01:11:21] in remembrance and we remember, Lord, that you didn't bring down an army of angels to disperse the mob, that you went with them. Lord, when your mom watched you die on the cross and the soldiers
[01:11:42] mocked you, they said, come on down if you can. And you could, but you didn't because in your death then comes resurrection. And you did that because you love us. So Lord, we do this in remembrance

[01:12:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[01:12:01] of you. I want you to know that Jesus is your Lord and Savior. Maybe this didn't feel like as

[01:29:21] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[01:29:21] meaningful because you just don't know that. Tonight would be a really great opportunity to take care of that. You know, that's the opportunity where we can say, hey, Lord, I'm not God in my life. You are. And we get to put him first. If that's you and you want to do that before you

[01:29:39] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[01:29:39] leave, come and see me. And I would love to pray with you. So we are so thankful for you and we

[01:32:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[01:32:40] love you so much. Lord, we remember you today. We remember your sacrifice for us. And folks, it would be remiss if we didn't take an opportunity to say, Lord, I'm so sorry.
[01:32:54] I get this awesome gift of salvation, Lord, and sometimes I mess that up and I do things I ought not do. But church, do you know that like in the Old Testament, every single case of revival that
[01:33:06] happens is because corporately the people of God turned away from their sin and turned back to who he is. So corporately, Lord Jesus, we turn away from our sin. Whatever it is, it doesn't matter,
[01:33:16] y'all. It doesn't matter, Lord. We turn away from it, and we choose you instead. We choose you as our Savior who died on the cross and then rose again. We choose you. Thank you so much. So we
[01:33:31] remember, y'all. But as Jesus on the cross said, read Psalm 22, we're not stopping. We're not stop him with this moment that seems so, so hopeless, because we know that joy comes in the morning. And he says, the poor will eat and be satisfied, and all who seek the Lord will praise
[01:33:52] him. Their hearts will rejoice with everlasting joy. The whole earth will acknowledge the Lord and return to him. All the families of the nations will bow down before him. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
[01:34:05] Hallelujah. So make sure you're back here on Sunday morning, because y'all, we got something to celebrate, right? Because our Lord and Savior didn't stay on that cross, and he didn't stay in a grave, and we get to celebrate that. Amen? Amen. I love you all. Have a great night.