Answers Bible Curriculum: Lesson 2 - The Church Begins

Let's go ahead and start with a word of prayer and then we'll get into our, our lesson today. Holy Father, you are so good to us, given to us another week, and, and what a beautiful week it's been, and you've provided for us, taken care of us. Oh Lord, you've given to us so much more than that. You've given to us your word and, and the ability to, to read it, to know, to understand it, to gain knowledge and truth from it, and may our hearts be open to, what you have to teach us today as we look into, the arrest and trial of Jesus.

Lord, may we, be able to, to glean the things that we need from it and your spirit, Lord, I ask that you, your spirit would just work through us. In Jesus' name, Amen. Last week, we studied, we, Mike, took us through the Passover, the Last Supper, and, made some connections between, The, the Passover and what we now observe in the communion, and really connected, our faith with, what had been revealed by God, clear back in the days of, Moses in, in the time of the exodus, and, and we'll talk about that a little bit.

We're in a new, quarter.

This just started last or two Sundays ago. And, And so, we are I'm, I'm really having a hard time adjusting without the PowerPoint. It's like I, I don't have that crutch to lean on for some reason. It's, it's weird, but I'm gonna, I'm gonna make it through.

I used to never use PowerPoint, and it got hard to use it. Now it's, I've gotten used to it, it's a little different adjustment. we, in this quarter are really looking at a transition of the, of the ministry of Christ to the, the beginning of the church and the church actually, flourishing into the Book of Acts. And so that's, that's where this quarter is going.

And so we began this, this session, last week with the, the, the, the Last Supper. And so that is really where you see Jesus. separating, and, and refining down his disciples, who he's really developed, his core group. And this core group is going to be the core that is going to then explode through the world.

And they're gonna take the gospel everywhere. And so, this core group in, in this Last Supper as we looked at last week is, is the one that's really going, that Jesus is centering his attention on. They're gonna go through the, the crucible with him. Jesus is gonna, die on the cross.

They're gonna be just torn apart themselves, and their, their faith is gonna be Really, shaken, and it's gonna have to be, it's just part of their journey that God's taking them through, preparing them for what's going to be ahead, for what God is, is going to then use them to do in, in the world. And so, we're gonna, that's the events that we're seeing. And today, we're gonna be looking at the trial of Jesus. In fact, we're gonna be looking at the 6 trials of Jesus.

there was actually 6. They're gonna be examining and just taking it step by step and looking at how it played out. in the, the Passover and the Lord's Supper, there's a reminder that it was the application of the blood that saved their families. You remember, Moses told the people to, to put the, the blood on the, the, around the door, on the sides and on the top.

And, when the death angel would would come over, he would see the blood and pass over them. And that would, prevent the death angel then from, from killing the first born in that household. And so it was a reminder that the blood saved their families from experiencing the judgment of the death angel and brought about deliverance from bondage, which is symbolic then of, of what the blood does for us today, right? Delivers us from the penalty of sin, which is death and delivers us from the bondage of sin.

And so it, it's, it's that thing. And, and so Jesus used some of the symbols of the cedar mill. To create this new memorial, memorial, and to remember that it's his sacrifice. That protects us from judgment.

And so, that's, that's, what we looked at last week. And then, and today, we're looking at those 6 trials and as we look at that, We're gonna see, first of all, the blindness of bias. We know that every one of us as a human being, if we think at all, we have bias. There's just, those are things we grow up with.

We all of us have our mind shaped in a certain direction. And it's, it comes from our parents, it comes from our environment, the things that we read, the people we know, the friends we have, teachers we have, all those things enter into developing our bias. Every human being has it. And it's the, the person who actually grows into maturity is able to recognize the bias and correct for the bias because their intent is to find truth.

That should be what it is that we always are seeking after is truth. And so, that's, that is what we are to do, but most people Either don't recognize bias in themselves. Or they don't care about it. They are what they are, they think what they think and they don't want anybody messing with that.

And it creates a blindness then. And so there is a blindness that comes from that. And what we're gonna see in, in the text that we are gonna read is the bias that, that the Jewish leaders had. Before, when, when they looked at Jesus.

They had a certain bias, you see. They couldn't accept a Messiah. That was God. That's not when they read the scriptures in the, in the Old Testament, and they read about the, the promised one, the one that would come, the Son of David, they didn't see that as being God coming in the flesh.

And they just couldn't, they couldn't get it. They couldn't receive it. And so this was something that, that they just would not, let their bias, their bias just overwhelm that all the time. And they couldn't understand that God would take on human form.

That was, that was just too much for their bias. And so, consequently, Jesus throughout his ministry, Those 3 years when he's working miracles, he's teaching truth, he's challenging, forms and theology. He's challenging accepted ways of doing things, all of those things, it, it confronts their bias. And they will not receive it.

And so we have people like that. Mostly you see those in the Pharisees, the Pharisee side of things. The s Sadducees weren't so concerned about the laws and so on because they were more pragmatic, not idealistic. but they had their issues.

And we see that in the next point. The next point is that we're gonna see the death of human depravity. In this, that, that people are willing to go to any means to accomplish their purpose, even if it means violating. Their own, customs, their own laws, in order to accomplish their purpose.

The sadducees would go to any length. To protect Their territory to protect what they had. And we'll be looking at that as we go through it. We, we're gonna see the rational rationalization that the ends justify the means.

And this trial, we're gonna be looking at are these series of trials. are all in a short amount of time, and they're all against what was normal. The normal policy, their normal procedure, way of doing things, but they're willing to do whatever it takes. To kill this man.

That's, that was their purpose. But we're also gonna see That through all of that, through all of the depravity, all of the bias, all of the wicked workings that were going on, the twisting of customs and so on, It was all to accomplish God's plan. God, God used all of it to accomplish his plan. And so that's the, that's the main point of this whole lesson today is that God accomplishes his plan.

Even with man's weakness. In fact, God uses man's weakness, God knows man's weakness and accomplish his plan through it. And, and that's what we need to see from this lesson. So let's begin with the arrest, and let's look over in John chapter 18 in the 1st 3 verses and we'll read this account of the arrest.

It says there in verse one, when Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth from his disciples over the ravine of the Kidron, where there was a garden in which he entered with his disciples. Now Judas also, who was betraying him, knew the place where Jesus had often met there with his disciples. Judas then, having received the Roman cohort and the officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, came there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Last week, Mike taught about the at, at the Last Supper, that prior to Jesus breaking the bread and, and, and passing the cup, that he had sent Judas away.

saying, whatever you do, do quickly. And so Judas left and, the other disciples thought he was just going up, out to, if you remember, to give money to the poor or to buy something more for the, for the dinner, for the meal. so they, they didn't really have a clue as to what he was doing, but Judas then went to the chief priest. And this was what they had prearranged.

They got together their their soldiers and they picked, they have their own soldiers, the chief priests do that they are there to protect the, the temple and the temple area. And to carry out certain policing things. The, the priests, in the, in the Sanhedrin had a certain level of responsibility and government The things that they carried out and so they did have a a a regiment of, of a, of a, at least a police force. And so they had these soldiers and they had a certain level.

They couldn't do certain things and obviously, the Romans who were in, in power. weren't gonna let them do very much with that, and they did, but they did have some authority. But if you remember, in the, in the ministry of Jesus earlier, the chief priest had sent their, their soldiers out to arrest Jesus, and they had gone out and then listening to him teach, they couldn't arrest him. And they came back empty-handed and they said, well, where, where is he?

And they said, nobody ever taught like this man teaches. So I think that, that, here we have the chief priest and we, I'm not sure we trust you guys to To carry this out. So they enlisted. Roman soldiers to go with them.

to do to fulfill this arrest. And, and so they go out. So that means that, that Pilate, who's the, the governor there, had to know about that. That this is an action that Pilate knows now is happening, that the chief priest believe that there's someone that, that needs to be arrested and so he agrees to let these soldiers go out with the, the temple priests or the temple soldiers to arrest Jesus.

Judas, as I read in one source, probably, just a second, as I read in one source, Probably led them first to the upper room, because that's where they were when he left. But it, as it says, he knows the habits and so he, when they get there and he, and then the disciples and Jesus are not there, he knows, oh, I think, I know where they are now. So he leads them on to, To the garden where they were. Do you have a question?

is. understand If you look in verse 3, It says, it uses the word cohort. Now there's a an italicized word before that, at least in my translation. It says Roman cohort.

But the word cohort there is, is a key word. And so, and then it says officers from the chief priest. So there, there does seem to be two different groups or at least there's two and so it is believed, at least the commentaries I read, all said that, these are from both the Romans and the Troops? OK.

is that another translation uses the word troops? New King James used that instead of cohort. OK. OK.

Yeah, and, and what, what is also believed is that once they get to the, the first trial, the first stop, which is Annis's house, we'll get to in just a minute, that the Roman tropes, troops delivered them there. That was their job. They did their job, they left. And so, that's, that's what is believed, at this point.

Another thing too that I read that's, that was interesting to me was, at least one of the commentators, I think it was Etterheim, that said this, that, the soldiers, the Roman soldiers that were, based in Jerusalem were actually from Syria. and so, cause, the empire spreads out everywhere and then they, they draw people, in their, in their armies from, from all over. And so, and this had to do with the actual, the, The beatings and scourgings that took place later on, right before the crucifixion.

The, the, one of the, the reasons for just the, the hatred and the cruelty is because of this long history of antagonism between Syria and Israel.

And, and they're just, there is historical stuff that's coming out that's there. so I just throw that out. It's just something, one of the I think it was pretty sure it was Etterheim, Alfred Edersheim who who put that idea out. Anyway, these are the, the, the soldiers resting.

Judas brings them to Jesus. And, and this is just, this is one of those dirty stories of history. the Judas who had walked with Jesus, now betrays him. And, and so, this is the arrest.

But we, it, it, it is another important point to, to look at this is for, for the sake of the flow of the story and understanding the story is that Pilate knows about this arrest ahead of time. He doesn't first learn about it the next morning when, when Jesus is brought to him. He knows it's something's happening. He knows probably who it is they're after.

And he knows a little bit about Jesus, as we will see. he's never met Jesus, but he knows a little bit about him and his wife, if you remember, is, is familiar with who Jesus is and, and what's going on. So, so these, these are things that are not happening without people knowing what's going on, that there is a lot going on here. OK, now let's look at The first trial, and we'll pick it up in chapter 18 verse 12.

Say, so the Roman cohort and the commander and the officers of the Jews. Arrested Jesus and bound him and led him to Annas first, for he was father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. Now, Caiaphas is one who had advised the Jews that it was expedient for one man to die on behalf of the people. Remember, he's the one who said that right after Lazarus was raised from the dead.

we talked about that a few weeks ago. And then let's go down to Verse 19. The high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples, about his teaching. Jesus answered him, I have spoken openly to the world.

I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews come together and I spoke nothing in secret. Why do you question me? Question those who have heard what I have spoke to them. They know what I said.

When he had said this, one of the officers standing nearby struck Jesus, saying, Is that the way you answer the high priest? Jesus answered him, I have spoken, if I have spoken wrongly, testify of the wrong. But if rightly, why do you strike me? So Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas, the high priest.

So in this first trial, we see Jesus is brought before Annas. Now, Ennis is an important character in this whole story. Annis was high priest, served as high priest from the year 7 to the year 14. after he retired from being high priest, he had 5 sons consecutively serve as high priest.

And he was now, and, and the person now serving is a son-in-law. So you see, he's a person of power there. In fact, he is the most powerful Jewish person in the nation. He's the highest, what you would call a government official.

and, and even though he's no longer serving as high priest, he retained the title, as an emeritus position. And he had really, he was the number one voice of influence in the leadership of Jerusalem. And so Anna is the first person they bring Jesus to. and Anna would be the one who would say, Tell them what to do from here on.

And it would be from Annis's authority that they would continue with the trials that they were going to pursue and with actually their, their project of killing Jesus. This is, this is what they want to do. This is what they've conspired to do, and now they're on their way. So this is an official stop and not really gonna be, an in-depth questioning, really just a beginning place.

To get Annis's approval to move on because he is the number one official. Annis was the Sadduce. As, as we've talked about before, the Sadducees are the ones that who took really power away from the Pharisees in a, in a, basically a war many years earlier, and they really controlled the temple and, and all of what went on in the temple. And so, Consequently.

Annas and, and the, the high priests, and also the chief priests who were all sad, you see, they were very wealthy. Because the temple was a money-making machine. and so that is why when Jesus cleansed the temple both times, the beginning of his ministry and now just a few days before this happens, this is really Jesus, and one of the things Jesus is doing is sticking his finger in their eye. he is saying to, he's, he knows what they're doing, and he's letting them know that it's not OK.

He is bringing down, calling down condemnation on their practices. of making money. in this grand way, off of the worship of God. Now, we know from Old Testament law, go back and read Leviticus, that, that God had made provision.

For the priesthood and, and, and so on, as, as the people would bring in their offerings and, and that was all appropriate. But what was happening here, Jesus came in and condemned because it was way over the top. And so we find Annas living in a palace, we find Caiaphas living in his palace, and, and these are all wealthy, wealthy people, way more wealthy than everyone else around. And, and what Jesus, when Jesus cleansed the temple, he's threatening their, their source of income.

He's threatening their livelihood, and, and so from the sad you see side of things, Jesus needs to go. He's, he's raising questions that we don't wanna deal with. He's upsetting our apple cart. We don't wanna deal with that.

He needs to go. So from the, the sad, that's the sad you see side or the motivation from their side of, of why Jesus needs to die. The Pharisees had different motives and the Pharisees and Sadducees did not like each other. But they, as we've talked about in the past, they could find common cause.

And, and Jesus, in the, in the death of Jesus was their common cause here. But this is who Jesus is, is dealing with in these trials, is these people. All right. We see here in, in this passage that he refuses to convict himself.

Anna asked him a question and about his teaching and, and Jesus says, look, I've taught everything in the open. Everything I've said is, is out there. It's public record. Ask anybody that's heard me teach, they'll tell you what I've taught.

there's nothing I've taught that's in secret. and so Jesus, in his own defense, doesn't say something that would convict him of anything. And we also see in this, he, he, the first physical abuse. He is struck by one of the officers.

And so we, we see the beginning of what he's going to endure physically as well with his first stop. At Ennis's house. Now, let's go to the second trial. As we ended there, he's sent bound to Caiaphas, and we're gonna go over to Matthew.

And these trials, by the way, in, in this whole journey, we're gonna be looking at 3 different gospels, trying to put it all together. See, the gospel writers did not have the purpose to give blow by blow accounts of this whole action, these whole days. They had different points, different purposes for writing about the crucifixion. So we get, so with all of them together, we get a, a, a pretty good picture of what happened, but it has to be put together and it's put together by people a lot smarter than me and I'm just depending on, on what they wrote down to, to put it together for you.

but Matthew, We'll be looking at in verse, in chapter 26. Matthew 26:57. Those who had seized Jesus led him away to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were gathered together. But Peter was following him at a distance as far as the courtyard of the high priest and entered in and sat down with the officers to see the outcome.

Now, the chief priest and the whole council kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus, so that they might put him to death. They did not find any, even though many false witnesses came forward. But later on, 2 came forward and said, this man stated, I'm able to destroy the temple of God and to rebuild it in 3 days. The high priest stood up and said to him, Do you not answer?

What is it that these men are testifying against you? But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest said to him, I adjure you by the living God, that you tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus said to him, You have said it yourself.

Nevertheless, I tell you, hereafter, you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest tore his robes and said, he has blasphemed. What further need do we have of witnesses? Behold, you have now heard the blasphemy.

What do you think? They answered, he deserves death. Then they spat in his face and beat him with their fists, and others slapped him and said, prophesy to us, you Christ, who is the one who hit you? So Jesus is led to Caiaphas.

They brought forth trying to get witnesses to come and make charges against him, but it's, it, it's here Matthew describes as false witnesses. what's happening is you're getting a, a mixture of people with, with all kinds of crazy stories that contradict each other and so nothing that makes sense. There's nothing they can use. And so they, they do have to have some prudence in what they're doing.

And so finally they get these, these two people who come forward and, and, and, and talk about what he said about destroying the temple and rebuilding it. And then that leads to, a direct question about his deity. And Jesus answers it. But not in a subtle way.

But in a way that is inflammatory. It's, it's amazing to me, this answer that Jesus gives is so bold and so direct, that Jesus is, is very clear about stating who he is, that he is the Son of God. And when he says, The Son of, you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven. This is, is a very big answer.

And so, the high priest then tears his robes and, and so on. But what we see here is they call him a blasphemer. The, the, the, the thing that happens here is that truth becomes blasphemy. Jesus speaks the truth.

And they see it as blasphemy. And, and that is, that is like a very human reaction to What comes from God. Man has been resistant against God. From the beginning, right?

We know that and so when truth comes, man's resistance just flares up. And we'll be seeing this more as this goes on. That man has just this built-in resistance to truth. Yet another question.

then. Basically That is correct. Yes, he, he is quoting Old Testament passages and he is. And from those, the, yeah, they, they can't, they can't come to any other conclusion that he is saying that he is the Son of God.

That is the only thing that they can They can draw from that. They Fight So I, I would, I would read that, that part is the, the question is whether the, the asking whether he's a Son of God is, is a question that's, that's mocking or a derision kind, a question. They know that he's made these claims before in his ministry. They've heard them or they've heard about them.

They know that this has been around. And so what they're, they're just trying to build a case, all right? They're trying to, to bring out, the case and, and blasphemy is a big deal. And so, I think they're just trying to do that.

Now, when you come down to this next one and they say, prophesy to us, you Christ, I think that one is, you, Messiah, prophesy to us. And so, there, that does come right afterwards, I believe. but I think the first is really interrogatory. They're really trying to get him to open up.

See, he's not answering the questions. He's not Being real forthcoming with them. Nor, but on the other hand, and this is another thing, an important point that I saw in, in the commentaries is that He's not just standing there hanging his head like a guilty person is, that's been arrested. He's not, just trying to avoid or being evasive.

He's actually really calm and, and forthright. And, but he's, but see, he's not letting their silliness draw him out. So like with all the false witnesses with, and, and some of the, the things that are coming at him, he just, he doesn't even respond to it. Not until he gets serious.

And here, there comes a direct question. And so Jesus answers it directly, with, quoting scripture and, and saying who he is. And so he is there. He's very upfront about it.

but see, Jesus knows where this is going. They know where the, they have a plan where this is going. They're hoping it goes there. Jesus knows it's going there, and in fact, Jesus is not gonna let them off the hook on this to get away.

It's, it's actually gonna go there. And it's Jesus' purpose all along through this whole thing is not to get out of this, but to go through it. And which is amazing. I, I, as I finished this whole thing yesterday afternoon, I just couldn't help but be overwhelmed with that sense of God's purpose and of, and of God's love to go through all of this.

with, with all of the, the frailty of mankind and, and, so on. I need to keep going. I'm running out of time. Anyway, this is, is, but yeah, it's a good point that, That Jesus is, is being very direct and, and he is not trying to hide who he is.

All right, let's move on to the the 3rd trial and let's go to Luke chapter 22. In verse 66. Since when it was day, the council of elders of the people assembled, both chief priests and scribes, and they led him away to their council chamber, saying, If you are the Christ, tell us. But he said to them, if I tell you, you will not believe.

And if I ask a question, you will not answer. But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God. And they all said, Are you the Son of God then? And he said to them, yes, I am.

Then they said, what further need do we have of testimony, for we have heard it ourselves from his own mouth. So we're still at Caia's house. but what has been happening is, according to things I read is that The, the full council, the Sanhedrin or the leaders of the Sanhedrin has sent out a message to the other members of the Sanhedrin that they need to be prepared to come in the middle of the night, that this is happening. The rest is gonna happen.

You're gonna have to come. And so, with the first or the second trial, When Jesus first gets to Kai's house, there weren't very many members of the Sanhedrin there. And so, but the, the, the questioning begins and, and Then with this 3rd trial, is actually is really the formal, before the formal counsel. And there's some things that are pretty interesting about the Sanhedrin.

It has 71 members. 23 were required for a quorum. And so probably what we have here is, is most of the Sanhedrin, there may not have been all of them. Like for instance, Nicodemus was a member of the Sanhedrin.

But Nicodemus, as we find out just later in that day, that afternoon, is the one who helps bury Jesus. So he's a, he's a believer. He's someone who, who follows Jesus. So he probably wasn't invited.

to this. And there might have been a few others, but I would say most of the Sanhedrin was here. they had more than enough for a quorum. But that was about the only rule that they followed and that they had for their, for their sanhedrin.

Trials of this nature, had to be conducted at their regular meeting place. See, the Sanhedrin, one of the things that they did was, conduct trials. They actually were a legal court that would judge cases. And so they would take cases and, and make judgments about them.

They had people, that would write down stenographers, you would call them. They would keep notes of all the proceedings and, and they, they had a, a certain way of sitting, In, in like a half like a part of, partial circle and, and so they would hear the case and, and, and so on. They had a regular meeting place where they conducted trials. But this isn't their regular meeting place.

This is the, the palace of Caiaphas. And so this shouldn't have been considered an official meeting, an official trial, and yet they violated that rule that they had to go ahead and conduct it. Another rule they had was that it could not, they could not begin a trial in the middle of the night or even in the afternoon. Trials needed to start in the morning, so there'd be time to adjudicate it that day.

but this one, this is, we call it today kangaroo court. this is something they're ramrodding through and And they, they desperately want to get it through at night because there's so much controversy about Jesus. There's a lot of people that are, are believing and just a few days earlier, there was the mass march into Jerusalem with palm tree, palm leaves and branches and, shouts of Hosanna and so on. And so, they don't want to do this in the daytime in front of everybody and create a, a huge disturbance.

So they're gonna do this in the middle of the night. the trials could not take place on Sabbaths or on festival days. Well, they're right in the middle of the Passover. so they're, they're breaking that rule.

In fact, they can't even start trials the day before a Sabbath or a Passover or, or a festival day in case the trial needed to go an extra day. And so, they violate those rules. That's why it's in, in some places you might read that the trial was illegal. It, it, they, they crossed lines, their own lines.

In order to make this happen, they were desperate to see this through. The other thing that we see here is another affirmation that Jesus gives that He is the Son of God, very plain, that Jesus says, yes, I am the Son of God. And so they have what they need and now they're gonna take it to Pilate. So let's go to the 4th trial.

And we're gonna go to chapter 23. And reading verse one. Then the whole body of them got up and brought him before Pilate. And they began to accuse him, saying, we found this man misleading our nation.

And forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar. And saying that he himself is Christ, a king. So Pilate asked him, saying, Are you the king of the Jews? And he answered him and said, it is as you say.

Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, I find no guilt in this man. But they kept insisting, saying he stirs up the people teaching all over Judea, starting from Galilee, even as far as this place. When Pilate heard it, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. And when he learned that he belonged to Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who himself was also in Jerusalem at that time.

Let's go to John. Chapter 18. And we're gonna read the same scenario, but from John's perspective in verse 28, we'll pick it up. Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas into the praetorium, and it was early, and they themselves did not enter the praetorium so that they would not be defiled, but might eat the Passover.

You see, they couldn't. Go into the praetorium because they would be defiled to eat the Passover, but they could have an illegal trial. And that wouldn't defile, they could commit murder, and, and that wouldn't defile them. Therefore, Pilate went out to them and said, what accusation do you bring against this man?

They answered and said to him, if this man were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered him to you. You see, they know Pilate knows that they went out and arrested him. And so now they're, they're affronted. but take into consideration, Pilot does not like these people.

Pilate doesn't like the Jewish people at all. but he doesn't especially like these people. And so he is, antagonistic just from his own personality against them. And, and so part of what he's doing is kinda making, looking for opportunities to dig in at them.

And so that, that's what's going on here. So Pilate said to them, take him to yourselves and judge him according to your law. The Jews said to him, we are not permitted to put anyone to death, to fulfill the word of Jesus which he spoke, signifying by what death he was about to die. See, their capital punishment was stoning.

But the prophecies from Old Testament. All signify something else which would be fulfilled at the cross, and the cross is a Roman thing. And so, That's how God performs his plan, doesn't he? Therefore, Pililate entered again into the praetorium and summoned Jesus and said to him, Are you the king of the Jews?

Jesus answered, are you saying this on your own initiative or did others tell you about me? Pilate answered, I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priest delivered you to me. What have you done?

Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then my servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not of this realm. Therefore, Pilate said to him, so you are a king.

Jesus answered, you say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this, I have come into the world to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. Pilate said to him, what is truth?

So Jesus being brought before Pilate, Pilate asked him the direct question, are you the king of the Jews? And Jesus says, yes. And, but he says, My kingdom is not of this world. Pilot doesn't get the import of that.

In fact, for all, for just normal reading, for us as human beings, we read that, we think, oh OK, he's just talking about something spiritual. there's just something, out there, imaginary or, wherever, that doesn't really make any physical tangible difference to us. That's, that's not what it is. Jesus is, is actually making a very powerful statement here that should be terrifying to someone like Pilate or to the Roman Empire, or to the Jewish community or to any nation in the world, because What he is revealing here is something that is, that his kingdom is not of this world.

That, that really means that my kingdom is not from this world. My kingdom is out there in, in one day, it's going to dominate this kingdom. And that is the truth. And, and Jesus is, is bringing, raising this issue of truth to Pilate.

And Pilate is so distracted with everything else that his response is is strange. What is truth is his answers. He's turns away, what is truth and, and goes back out to, to start, to talk to the Jews. But Jesus said, earlier that night.

He'd been talking to his disciples. He said, I am the way, the truth and the life. He came as John 1:9 states, as the light that enlightens men. And that light, is the truth.

You see, when men are enlightened, what do they do? They see the truth. They see what's real. And And so what we have here is an ability to see ultimate reality.

What is really real. As, as human beings, without his light, we muddle about in the darkness., trying to figure things out. Why am I here? How did I get here?

Where am I going? What's my purpose? What am I made for? We look for meaning and answers.

And Jesus is the ultimate truth. Jesus is the one that's ultimate. He is the way to know about ourselves, why we exist and where we are headed. The greatest gift that God gives is light.

And light is truth with understanding. If we can get truth with understanding, then we have everything, don't we? We have the way we know where to go. We know what to do.

But Pilate here is in a place, he's cynical, he's frustrated because of he's doing this thing he doesn't want to do. And he's put himself in a, in a corner because of prior actions. Remember, he's the one who sent soldiers into the temple area where they're sacrificing and killed people, mixing their blood with the sacrifices, because he hated the Jews. He just hated them.

And he hated being there. In fact, most of the time, he didn't live in Jerusalem. He lived in Caesarea, but he was required because of his job. To, for festival times to come to Jerusalem because it was at those festival times, it was the greatest chance of, of trouble happening.

And so he had to come for the festival times. The rest of the time he spent in Caesarea. And so he's here and And he's having to deal with these priests who he despises and he, he just really would rather this thing just go away. I don't want anything to do with it.

that's his attitude about it, but he can't. Because The Caesar, Tiberius has, has, has passed a law that's friendly to the Jews because there had been some, some of his own, people that had started killing Jews and Tiberius heard about it and put an end to it and sent out a decree that they were to be protected. And so now Pilate is in, in a corner here. And see, he's a person who had one time been a friend of Caesar.

Now, remember, the Jews are gonna hold that against him and say, if you let him go, you are no friend of Caesar. And he, he's really in a, in a corner. He can't get out of and he has to do this. He's cynical, frustrated or disillusioned.

So his question is the question that really is from mankind from the beginning. And he is standing before the ultimate answer. And he can't see it. He's blind, just can't see it.

And he doesn't really have the disposition to pursue. What Jesus is saying. Jesus is opening the door for him, and he just walks right by it, just walks right by it, and, and doesn't see it. Chuck Coulson in his book, The Body has two chapters really on Pontius Pilate and this, this whole thing.

They're really good. And, and, and here's one of the things he says about it. He says in the middle of the darkest night of Pilate's life, Jesus told him, Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. Pililate had ears, but he did not hear.

And so he turned away asking, what is truth, even as he stood before the truth himself. But P Pilate is more than a tragic figure of Shakespearean proportions, condemned by history to wash his blood-stained hands forever, for he symbolizes the very mind of man. Particularly modern man. You can see Pilate asking his disdainful question in living color any day.

Simply turn on your television. All right, let's move on to the 5th trial, Luke chapter 23. Verse 8. Now Herod was very glad when he saw Jesus, for he had wanted to see him for a long time because he had been hearing about him and was hoping to see some sign performed by him.

And he questioned him at some length, but he answered him nothing. And the chief priests and the scribes were standing there accusing him vehemently. And Herod with his soldiers, after treating him with contempt and mocking him, dressed him in a gorgeous robe and sent him back to Pilate. Now, Herod and Pilate became friends with one another that very day, for before, they had been enemies with each other.

I don't have too much time to go into much detail on that, but Jesus brought before Herod. Herod wanted to see a miracle. I don't know. Do you want to see John the Baptist brought back from the dead?

I don't know, what Herod wanted to see, but Herod's the one responsible for the death of John the Baptist. Herod's the one that Jesus called that fox. in a derogatory way. So Jesus doesn't have much regard for Herod.

And, Jesus says nothing, gives him nothing, nothing happens. And so Herodan sends him back. So that is the 5th trial. The 6th trial is brought back to Pilate.

And so we'll pick it up in verse 13, says Pilate summoned the chief priests and the rulers of the people and said to them, you brought this man to me as one who incites the people to rebellion. And behold, having examined him before you, I have found no guilt in this man regarding the charges which you make against him. No, nor has Herod, for he sent him back to us. Behold, nothing deserving death has been done by him.

Therefore, I will punish him and release him. Now he was obliged to release to them at the feast one prisoner. But they cried out all together saying away with this man and release for us Barabbas or Bar Abbas. He was one who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection made in the city and for murder.

Pilate wanting to release Jesus. Addressed them again, but they kept on calling out, saying, Crucify, crucify him. And he said to them the third time, Why? What evil has this man done?

I have found him in him no guilt, demanding death. Therefore, I will punish him and release him. But they were insistent, with loud voices asking that he be crucified, and their voices began to prevail. And Pililate pronounced sentence that their demand be granted, and he released the man they were seeking for who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder.

But he delivered Jesus to their will. a different gospel says, Jesus or Pilate said to them, see to it. And so they did, and it was done. So Pilot Delivers him over to be crucified in these trials.

To which Jesus is subjected, it has the appearance of being railroaded. By evil and foolish men, As, as I was reading through these, I, I kept getting the sense of the force. It's like you had this plan and they're just forcing it through and it's just, it's as if it's inevitable. It's, it has an inevitable conclusion.

It's just going there. This is where it's going. It's in such a short amount of time and just boom, boom, boom, boom, all six trials, it's just going, there's only one outcome that, that's there, that possibly can be. It's, it, it is forced.

and, and, so yes, evil men are have conspired. They have put together this plan, to arrest, to abuse, and then finally to, to kill Jesus. In all of that though, God is able to bend their headlong run, headlong rush into accomplishing his plan, which is atonement for our sins. And so We see the, the works of evil people.

Being done and God accomplishing his purpose, his plan, God doing what he had planned to do from the beginning, from Genesis chapter 3. Where Adam and Eve are told that the seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent. That is what's about to happen. And so, God does accomplish his plan.

We who follow Jesus do so. After having received his forgiveness for our own betrayals and rebellion. Jesus came to seek and to save we who are lost. And so God does what he had planned to do and what he purposed to do.

Every communion service is a remembrance and celebration that God's plans cannot be thwarted regardless of man's evil devices. Every month, we have a special service, a special part of our service to observe communion. Then in our care groups, we observe it. Every time we do that, it's, it's a time for us to remember.

The power, the majesty, the sovereignty of God, and His love for His creature. Mankind and how God went to such a great length and went to through such things to accomplish that plan, which is to pay for our sins. One final quote by Chuck Coulson. He says Christianity is not some religious structure or social institution.

It is not merely a set of beliefs or creeds about the nature of reality. Christian faith rests on the truth. Which is ultimate reality. The Christian experience begins with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, made possible as men and women are declared righteous by their faith.

These born again individuals then constitute a new society that points to the coming kingdom, which is centered on the core of all meaning, the God who was, who is, and who is to come, and the God who has revealed Himself in human history. That's the profound profundity of this whole thing. That God would become one of us, die for us. And provide for our sins, and that he is the ultimate reality.

No longer do we have to muddle around in the dark. Not knowing which way to go, trying to find our own way. are living in, in our own stubbornness. But we actually have hope because we have the ability to find truth.

God gives that to us. What a gift. What a gift to get to know the ultimate reality. And so this, this is just an amazing story for us.

OK, we're out of time. Let's closing prayer. Father, I can't even begin to, to thank you for. For what you have done for us.

It is an amazing story. It's the greatest story that could ever be. And to be able to, to even get a small amount of understanding and to have the light that you give to us, to, to be able to see truth and to be able to come to you and to have forgiveness and to have a relationship with you, to be brought into your family. you're so good to us.

And Lord, we just want to lift our, our praise to you and live lives of praise before you. as we live throughout our day to day, throughout the week, As we go into the future, we go into it knowing that you are the God of the future. You are, you've already been there. where it's going, and we trust in you for what it is.

But thank you for the gift of light to be able to see what we need to see in Jesus' name. Amen. God bless you all.