The Trial and the Sufferings of Jesus — John 18-19

0:10 Good morning. Morning. You open your Bibles to John chapter 18. The Gospel of John chapter 18. We're going to continue through our study of John.

0:24 Down below. Where is it? Down below. Okay. Okay, there it is.

0:34 All right. Before we read this, as I prepare this particular portion of the Bible, it it reminded me of when I was a young young man. You know, there's different events that happen in your life that kind of mark your life that you never forget. One of them was, you know, I grew up in the inner city of Houston. Right?

0:58 Now, Vinay was in the suburbs, so he can't identify where's Vinay? You can't identify with me because you're in the in the bird, you know, up there, you know. But I was in the inner city. And so as you're in the inner city, at this particularly at that time, there was a lot of gangs, a lot of gang fighting, which I was not very thrilled to witness. One day, I was coming home from school, and then I noticed this huge mob.

1:24 So I walked towards the mob to see what was going on, and there was a fight going on between two guys, but the one guy failed to realize that his gang was with him, the one he was fighting. So all of a sudden, when the guy was losing, the gang jumped jumped in. So it was like suddenly 10 against one. And they they had cowboy boots on, and they started to to beat him and to kick him. And it was a it was a awful sight to see.

1:57 They would kick him all over the body and his face, and the blood started shooting out. His body started getting kind of deformed from the hits. Then somehow he gets up and he takes off running and he escapes. But that impression really changed my my heart as to my own Christian walk because at that time, I guess I was just, you know, going to church, cruising along. But but what I saw that day took me immediately to the cross, to before the cross to to the sufferings of Jesus Christ, and and and my life has never been the same since then.

2:34 Every time I see that picture, I kind of picture the same thing happened to Jesus, but it wasn't just 10, and it was worse. Right? And so this is what this is. The Holy Spirit decides to reveal to us in this particular portion the trials and the sufferings of Jesus. And so that's what we're going to be considering today.

2:54 We're to look at a three point outline, the accusation, Pilate before the Jews, the priests, the Sanhedrin, and the death sentence. Pretty simple little outline. As we read, try to just pay attention. What I'm going to be doing after we read the text is we're going to have to be referring to Matthew, Mark, and Luke a lot in order to connect the thoughts because John leaves out some details that Luke will bring in or Mark will bring in. So, we're going to have to kind of do some explaining by going to some of the other gospels and kind of filling in the gaps and making some sense out of it.

3:32 So, let's read John eighteen twenty eight through nineteen sixteen. So let's let's read the the text, the word of god. They led Jesus therefore from Caiaphas into the Praetorium and it was early and they themselves did not enter into the praetorium in order that they might not be defiled, but might eat the Passover. Pilate therefore 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, would we have delivered him up to you?

4:11 Pilate therefore said to them, take him yourself and judge him according to your law. The Jews said to him, we are not permitted to put anyone to death. At that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled which he spoke signifying by what kind of death he was about to die. Pilate therefore entered 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?

4:45 Pilate answered, I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and chief priest delivered you up 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 have been fighting that I might be delivered up up to the Jews.

5:04 But as it is, my kingdom is not of this realm. Pilate therefore 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 bear witness of the truth. Any, everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.

5:31 Pilate said to him, what is the truth? When he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and said to them, I find no guilt in him, but you have a custom that I should release someone for you at the Passover. Do you wish then that I release for you the king of the Jews? Therefore, they cried out again saying, not this man but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.

5:57 Then Pilate therefore took Jesus and scourged him. And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. And they began to come to him and say, hail, king of the Jews, and to give him blows in the face. And Pilate came again and said to them, behold, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him. Jesus therefore came out wearing a crown of thorns and a purple robe.

6:32 And Pilate said to them, behold the man. When when therefore the chief priest and the officers saw him, they cried out saying, crucify, crucify. Pilate said to them, take him yourself and crucify him. I find no guilt in him. The Jews answered him, we have a law.

6:53 And by that law, he ought to die because he made himself out to be the son of God. When Pilate therefore heard this statement, he was more afraid. And he entered into the praetorium again and said to Jesus, where are you from? But Jesus gave him no answer. Pilate therefore said to him, do you not speak to me?

7:15 Do you not know that I have the authority to release you and have the authority to crucify you? Jesus answered, you would have no authority over me unless it had been given to you from above. For this reason, he who delivered me up to you has a greater sin. As a result of this, Pilate made an effort to release him. But the Jews cried out saying, if you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar.

7:43 Everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar. When Pilate therefore heard these words, he brought Jesus out, sat down at the judgment seat at the place called the pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. Now it came, now it was the day of preparation for for the Passover. It was about the sixth hour And he said to the Jews, behold your king. They therefore cried out, away with him, away with him, crucify him.

8:16 Pilate said to them, shall I crucify your king? The chief priest answered, we have no king but Caesar. So then so he then delivered him to them to be crucified. Wow. This is a very sobering portion of the scriptures where again, the the Bible decides to give us a descriptive detail of the trial and the suffering of Jesus.

8:44 So, if you want a title, there you go. The trial and the sufferings of Jesus And let's just begin. Go ahead and dive right into it. Let us pray. Father, guide us, we pray to the Holy Spirit.

8:55 And may it glorify your name may be of you. And we pray that once again for help from the spirit in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. First of all, we're going look at the accusation.

9:32 So Matthew 20 six:sixty three says then this, you can listen to it. 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 them, you have said it yourself. Nevertheless, I tell you, therefore, you shall see the son of man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven. So in other words, his answer was, yes, I am the son of god.

10:01 I am God because only God can have the privilege of sitting at the right hand of God and coming on the clouds of heaven with power. Verse 65, then the high priest tore his robes saying, he has blasphemed. What further need do we have of witnesses? Behold, you have not heard the blasphemy. What do you think?

10:23 And they answered and said, he is deserving of death. Then they spat in his face, and they beat him with their fists, and others slapped him. So even before he was taken to Pilate, they already had beat him and spat on him and did all kinds of things to him. And so notice also chapter 27 of Matthew in verse 18. Pilate is the one speaking, for he, Pilate, knew that because of envy, they had delivered him up.

10:54 So Pilate had enough discernment to see that when they brought Jesus to him to be condemned, he knew that they were just envious of Jesus, that they really didn't have a case. They didn't have any reason to really condemn him to death and to ask of Pilate that he would crucify him. So let's look at the accusation then. The accusation was this, that he had blasphemed. So what was the accusation?

11:26 They didn't have a good one. They really didn't have a good accusation. That's why Pilate said to them, in verse going back to John eighteen and twenty eight, Pilate therefore went out to them and said, what accusation do you bring against this man? Well, they knew that if they said, he's the son of God, that wasn't going to hold any water in their courts. And so they just basically get defensive, and answered, verse 30, and said to him, if this man were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered him up to you.

11:59 So you notice that they really didn't give an explanation. They kind of assumed that if they brought him to Pilate, they brought Jesus to Pilate, that Pilate was just going to say, Okay, hey, let's crucify him. But he said, well, what's the accusation? Why do you want me to get this man crucified? And they just start saying, well, we didn't just bring him for no reason.

12:20 What's the reason? 31, Pilate therefore said to them, take him yourself and judge him according to your law. The Jews said to him, we are not permitted to put anyone to death. Now when you initially read that, you're thinking, what's the big deal? And why did the spirit of God put that in there?

12:38 Because listen, while the scholars aren't sure, they're not really sure if this law was put in in '86 or in the year '30, There's kind of a debate. But the thing is that it was inserted, this Roman law, that from that point on, no one could condemn someone to death unless it went to the Roman courts. Why is this important? Because if that law was not inserted, the Jews would have then taken Jesus themselves and stoned him to death. And what does that mean?

13:11 That means that Jesus would have been found not being true to his word. All right? Now remember, remember what Jesus said. He said in Mark ten thirty two and thirty four, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him to the Gentiles. They will mock him and spit on him and kill him, and three days later, he will rise again.

13:37 So this is what Jesus said. It has to go through the Gentiles. That's the way I'm going to die. And in John three fourteen, the Son of Man must be lifted up on a cross. And in John twelve thirty two, and I, Jesus, if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw amen to myself.

13:55 So Jesus himself was saying, I'm going to die on cross or on a cross. The cross is the issue even today. The Jews can't stand the cross. Neither can the Muslims. We'll we'll believe this Jesus if you omit the cross section, if you can just take that part out.

14:14 And so that little thing in there that says we're not permitted is so important because if they were permitted, there wouldn't have been a cross. But Jesus said, I'm going to die on a cross. That was a plan. You notice also that they didn't want to enter into the Praetorium. They had no issues murdering someone, but they didn't want to miss out on the meal, on the religious meal.

14:41 And so their attitude was so... Of so much envy and so much hatred towards the lord Jesus Christ, god's son, that they didn't care if they defiled themselves by murdering someone but they couldn't miss out on this Passover meal. And so we enter the text again. Verse 32, that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled which he spoke, signifying but what kind of death he was about to die. In other words, he was going to die on a cross through the Romans, putting him on a cross.

15:16 Notice that everything Jesus said came true. Not one word, not one thing he said was not fulfilled. And so don't miss that as you're looking at this text. All right. So that's the scenario.

15:48 Again, if you go to Luke, don't go there. I'm going to read it to you. Luke 20 three:two, they began to accuse him. John leaves this part out, but Luke 20 three:two said they began to accuse him. We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, and you know that that was a lie because Jesus said pay to Caesar what's Caesar's, right, and give to God what's God.

16:12 And so they made this. It was a total lie. And they were saying that he himself is the Christ that's what he was saying about himself and he's the king. And so John left that out. And so you have to understand that when we come to verse 33.

16:26 That's why Pilate says, are you the king of the Jews then? Because that's the accusation according to Luke. Are you pleading guilty or not guilty of this accusation that you're the king of the Jews? Verse 34, Jesus answered, are you saying this on your initiative or does that tell you why are you asking me this question? Do you think I am or does someone else tell you?

16:49 Verse 35, Pilate answered, I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation, and the chief priest delivered you up to me. What have you done? And so you've got to give Pilate, this fickle man, a little bit of credit. He's just trying to find out, you know, okay, what did you do?

17:04 Why are they so angry at you? Why do they envy you so much? Why do they want to get rid of you? What in the world did you do? And so Pilate is really trying to investigate, even though he is very fickle as a man.

17:16 We'll see that more in a moment. Notice his answer, most enlightening what he said. My kingdom because see, Pilate wants to know if he's a threat to Rome. He said, don't pay taxes. And he says he's a king.

17:33 I said, well, what did you do? My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then my servants would be fighting that I might not be delivered up to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not of this realm. So what is he saying?

17:53 Look, if I was really trying to overthrow the Romans, don't you think I would have an army? Doesn't it make sense? Wouldn't I have somebody with me backing me up right now? Wouldn't we be at least trying to fight? Because Pilate's trying to fight, figure out, is this guy a threat to Rome or not?

18:12 So basically, what he was answering was this, that he was a king but not a political ruler intent on changing Rome's rule, MacArthur. In John six, he had rejected the crowd's attempt to make him king. Remember? When they came at him, and let's crown him king. He's the one, and Jesus walked away.

18:33 No, no, no, no. I'm not going to become a king and become an insurrectionist and try to take over Rome. That's not why I came. So he walked away. And you remember also in the triumphal entry, when they were all worshipping him and they were throwing the palm leaves and he was walking in, he refused to be crowned king at that moment as well.

18:56 It wasn't political. Follow me now because watch what Jesus is going to explain. Verse 37, Pilate therefore said to him, so so you are a king. He's kind of like, what can I I'm trying to figure this out? So so so are you a king?

19:14 And Jesus said Jesus answered, well, you answered correctly that I am a king because he is and was a king, right? Amen? Yes, he was a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world to bear witness of the truth. Therefore, anyone, everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.

19:39 So I'm going again, I'm going to quote MacArthur on this. Christ's kingdom is spiritually active in the world today, and one day he will return to physically rule on the earth in millennial glory. But until then, his kingdom exists in the heart of believers where he is undisputed king and sovereign lord, unquote. I'm going say it again. Please allow this to sink in.

20:11 This is a tremendous truth that you must grasp. Christ's kingdom is spiritually active in the world today, and one day he will rule return to physically reign on the earth in millennial glory. But until then, his kingdom exists in the heart of believers, where he is undisputed king and sovereign lord. And everyone who has turned to Jesus for the salvation of their soul, Jesus is the king and the Lord, and he tells us what to do. Amen?

20:39 He's my Lord and he's my sovereign king. I obey him and I bow to him. I worship him and I follow him. That's what it means that the kingdom of God is spiritual. He's ruling now from heaven.

20:54 He's ruling my heart. Through the word of God and to the preaching of the word, I bow to Jesus and to him alone, he's a king of king and lord of lords. And that's what he's saying. And then he says another thing. And here's my message that I came to bear witness.

21:14 Here's what I'm preaching, not a political agenda. I'm not preaching anything, but I'm preaching the truth. I came to bear witness of the truth. Alright? He was the truth.

21:26 He is the truth. He will always be the only truth. Jesus said, I am the truth, and the truth will set you free. John eight thirty six. If therefore the son of man shall make you free, you shall be free indeed from sin and from condemnation.

22:03 He was told that the way to be happy is to have political power, and thus, Pilate is is the governor, to have this prestige that comes with it, to have this authority. And he's a man living in fear with no peace in his heart, totally confused. He's very fickle. And you're like, what's the truth? I I just told you, I'm the truth.

22:27 I'm standing right before you. And even today, the word of god clearly says, Jesus is the truth. There's no other truth. And there he is. The message is out there again.

22:40 Those who hear his voice will come to him. Are you listening? Have you heard his voice? After he says this, Pilate said to him, what's the truth? And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews who were accusing him and said to them, what does he say?

22:59 I find no guilt in him. Look, I investigated him. I had a conversation with him. This guy is no threat to Rome. He's not guilty.

23:12 But what he tries to do then is do like a political move, kind of try to make his... The people like him. Politicians, you... They don't like him no matter what they try. Right?

23:24 There's always gonna be two different sides. And so he's trying to he's trying to please the Jews, trying to get him off his back, if you will, because he had already... The Jewish people had already complained to Rome about this guy that that he was not being fair to them and sensitive to their to their laws. And so he goes, man, I can't blow up with these guys. I gotta kinda appease them.

23:45 So he comes up with this bright idea, not very bright at all. And here it is, verse 39. But you have a custom that I should release someone for you at the Passover. Do you wish then that I release for you the King of the Jews? Because he's being sarcastic as he's using that statement.

24:05 And he thought he got away with it. They're going to say, yeah, just let him go then. But the answer surprised him, verse 40. Therefore, they cried out again saying, not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.

24:21 Boy, this backfired on him big time. Like, oh my word, what am I gonna do with this Jesus now? Want me to release Barabbas, and he's a he's a robber. Matthew twenty seven sixteen says he's a notorious prisoner. Mark fifteen seven says he's an insurrectionist who had committed murder.

24:39 Luke twenty-three 19 says, for insurrection and for murder, he was placed in jail. And so Pilate is like now baffled. It's like, oh my goodness, you're accusing this man of insurrection, and you want me to let a murderer and a man who is an insurrectionist to let him go and keep this guy who I find not guilty. You see how crazy this is going? Pilate is losing control here.

25:08 He shouldn't have tried that maneuver backfire on him. And so they screamed, no, let Barabbas go. And of course, he had to because he said he would. So he let Barabbas go. Let me say something right now.

25:25 I believe that when Jesus went to the cross and he was dying, that Barabbas looked from a distance and said, that man died in my place. I was guilty. I'm a murderer. I'm an insurrectionist, and an innocent man took my place. He must have been blown away by that.

25:48 And so the same Jesus died for us. Right? We were guilty. We deserve to die, but he died in our place. So so Pilate is really losing control, and he's trying to appease the crowd.

26:14 This was brutal. The whip had a bone and metal attached to the end, which would cause the body to be so torn and lacerated that the muscles, the bones, the veins, or even internal organs were exposed. Maybe this is why Psalm twenty two seventeen, which is a psalm about Christ and the cross, he said, I can count all my bones. Maybe when he looked down, he can see his ribs. He was he was torn up.

26:46 And then the text goes on to say, this is hard to read. And if you looked at the passion of the Christ, the passion of the Christ was not wrong in in this depiction of how Jesus was scourged. And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. You couldn't embarrass him more. His body was torn up.

27:09 They put a crown on his head of thorns. And it says in Matthew and Luke that they took a rod and they beat the crown of thorns into his head. And they began to come up to him and say, Hail, King of the Jews, notice, and to give him blows in the face, which reminds me again of my youth when I saw that guy, you know, getting blows from all these... From the gang. And yet...

27:37 But Jesus didn't run away. He he stood there. And and Pilate came out again and said to them, behold, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him. Jesus therefore came out. You can just imagine all the crowds.

27:59 They bring him out of the praetorium, stands up. He came out wearing a crown of thorns and a purple robe. You imagine how embarrassing that must have been? His body torn, bleeding everywhere. Probably his face was already at this time deformed.

28:17 They bring him out and he says, behold the man. What a sight. The the creator of the universe being openly mocked, brutally beat, and publicly humiliated. They spat on him, and it was unmitigated mockery. Behold the man.

28:38 That's Isaiah fifty two fourteen says, so his appearance was marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men. You ever seen anybody beat to where they're not recognized? They see the Jews had already beat them. And then they scourged them. Then the Romans beat them.

29:01 Then they put that thing on his back. Can you imagine how it hurt having that thing and then the crown on his head? Then they bring him out. Behold the man. Notice in verse six, therefore, the chief priest and the officers saw him and they cried out, crucify him.

29:19 Don't miss that. This was not the picture that they had in mind of a messiah. That that's that's the messiah. That's the savior. All beat up and bleeding and being laughed at?

29:33 We we picture the Messiah as as coming from heaven and and all of this power and destroying the enemy and freeing us. What is that? And so they say, we don't we don't want him to be our our our messiah. How can that be the savior? How can that be the messiah?

29:51 Crucify him. That's what they said. Take him yourself, verse six, the latter part, and crucify him for I, listen, I find no guilt in him. Pilate still knew that he was absolutely innocent, that they had no legitimate reason to crucify him, and he's doing everything he can to keep this from happening. The Jews therefore answered him and said, we have a law, and by that law, he ought to die because he made himself out to be the son of God.

30:26 And so they're trying desperately to get him crucified, so now they appeal to their own law. Okay, look, we found him guilty of blasphemy, And so he should die. He should die. Verse eight, when Pilate therefore heard this statement, he was more afraid. When he made heard the statement that he made himself out to be the son of God.

30:49 By this time, Pilate is just freaking out. Like, oh my goodness, who who is this guy? He's not guilty, but they hate him. They reject him. They want him killed, but he says that he's God.

31:32 He can't get away from him. And I'm going to tell you, if you heard about Jesus, he's going to haunt you. He's either going to become your savior and lord, or or one day, you're going to stand before him, and and he's going to judge you. And this woman couldn't sleep. And Pilate is just going crazy.

31:51 You know, he's afraid. Who is this guy? And so verse nine, and he entered into the Praetorium again, and he says to Jesus, where are you from? Where are you from? But Jesus gave him no answer.

32:12 Pilate therefore said to him, you do not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and I have the authority to crucify you? And so, of course, the classic answer from Jesus, you would have no authority over me unless it had been given to you from above. For this reason, he who delivered me up to you has the greater sin. And so the Bible says consistently, you can read in Daniel four when when King Nebuchadnezzar finally bowed down and said, there's only one God, and he has authority over me because Nebuchadnezzar thought that he had authority over everybody.

32:51 He was all puffed up. Read that. It's amazing, his confession. There's one true God, and he has the ultimate authority. And so Jesus basically tells him, the only reason you are where you're at right now, Pilate, is because God put you there.

33:07 The the the any king, whatever intelligence you have, whatever position you have right now, it doesn't matter. God put you there. And he can take it away in a minute. He can take it away in a minute. And so verse 12, as a result of this, Pilate made efforts to release him.

33:28 So you can see Pilate now grasping for straws, trying to find some way to release him cause he knew he was innocent. But the Jews cried out saying, if you release this man, you're no longer a friend of Caesar's. Everyone who makes himself to be a king opposes Caesar. And so quoting Reyrie now, the accusers reverted to the political charges against Jesus. The Jews had already protested to Rome about Pilate's actions, that he was insensitive to their customs.

33:55 And so the Jews wanted him dead so bad that they go back to the political argument. If you don't crucify him, then you are opposing Caesar. You don't love Caesar. Wow. Now his position, Pilate's position as governor of having all this authority and his lifestyle, because you know with that comes a lot of money, a lot of prestige.

34:20 We're being threatened. You're opposing Caesar, and we're going to tell him what you did. And so they're pressuring him, and they're cornering him. And when he heard these words, notice verse 13, when Pilate therefore heard these what words? That you are opposed to Caesar, you're opposing Caesar, right?

35:11 He sits down at the judgment seat. He brings them out. And in total mockery again, poking at the at the Jews, at the people who are rejecting him, his own people. And he says, behold your king. Behold your king.

35:26 And notice their response. They therefore cried out, away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate said, shall I crucify your king again in sarcasm? The chief priest answered, notices, we have no king but Caesar. We have no king but Caesar.

35:47 This is a tremendous statement. Because of this statement, and you can read the other Gospels as well. Because of that statement, God temporarily set aside his plan for the Israel, for the Jews, and he started working with what we call now the church. And when he raptured the church and he comes back, the point of tribulation is to bring the Jews back to their place. And until then, why do you think the Holocaust happened?

36:20 Why do you think the Jews are hated throughout the world because of this statement? We have no king but Caesar. They turned their backs on Jesus, and he was the savior, the messiah. Even today, I witnessed to a Jew not too long ago. I told him, I I...

36:39 You know, your messiah is Jesus. And he tells me, no. We don't think he's the messiah. We're still waiting for him. He already came.

36:47 And so until then until then, the gospel is open to everyone who wants to be saved, who turns to Jesus because of what they did. As the Bible says, we have been engrafted, grafted in in to to the plan of god's salvation because of this rejection. Because of that very rejection, in 8070, they were destroyed as a nation and dispersed everywhere. And so it's going to be that way until in Zechariah twelve ten, where it says that it's already the tribulation. It's Armageddon.

37:25 Suddenly, Jesus comes in a second return, right, the second coming of Jesus. And when they see him, the remnant, the few Jews that are left, they're to see Jesus. What do think they're going to see? They're going to see the scar on his side and his feet and his hands. And they're going say, oh, word.

37:42 He was the Messiah. And there's going to be mourning. They're going to cry. They're going to repent. They're to repent because they know that all the atrocities that happened to Jews throughout all of these years is because of the rejection of Jesus Christ.

37:57 And they're going to cry like babies. And at that time, all Israel will be saved. Let me conclude with four things that I observe. Pilate said that he was innocent or I find no fault in him four times. He went against his conscience even when his wife told him to stay away.

38:23 How many of you guys don't do what your wife tells you to do? And then you you wish you would have done it later on. Amen, gentlemen? Yeah. I I do this all the time and I'm always wrong.

38:37 And this dude should listen to her. Stay away from him. He's righteous. Four times he even said he's not guilty, but he went against his conscience. You could be fighting right now and going against your conscience instead of believing in the Lord Jesus.

38:55 The next thing I noticed is he asked the question, what is truth? Jesus declared repeatedly that he was the truth. Have you in faith responded to Jesus, the only truth? Everything else is a lie. The next thing I see is that Jesus said, everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.

39:15 If you have heard my if you have heard his voice this morning, would you respond to him in faith and believe him? Would you be saved today? And Jesus said that he is the only authority. Have you bowed to him? Is he your lord and savior?

39:51 If you read the the gospels and even acts, the apostle said, you Jews, you killed them. And then they say, you Gentiles, Rome, you crucified them. But but I want you to notice what what the Bible says in in the... Just listen. Just listen.

40:11 Just listen. Psalm sixty nine twenty six. For they have persecuted him whom Jesus, that is whom thou hast smitten, and they tell of the pain of those whom thou hast wounded. So in other words, God wounded him. Look at Isaiah 53 and verse four, most revealing.

40:38 Isaiah 53 and verse four says this. Surely our griefs he himself bore, our sorrows he carry, we ourselves esteemed him stricken, notice, smitten of God and afflicted. So in other words, God was the one. Verse 10, fifty three ten, but the Lord was pleased to crush him, putting him to grief. So who killed Jesus?

41:09 Yes, men did their work, but ultimately, God the Father crushed Jesus. And what that was saying is that he was taking our place on the cross. He was suffering in our place so that we could be saved. It was the father who crushed him on that cross. And so do you do you know the Lord in a personal way?

41:38 He says, you hear his voice, he's calling you. It'd be great if you turn to him. I don't know about you, but you can read this text and not gain a greater appreciation for the lord Jesus and I pray that you would. Father, bless your word to our hearts. We can't thank you enough for what Jesus did for us.

42:01 We're still baffled by that statement that it pleased you to crush him for us. But we believe it is true and we worship you because of it. Father, may we worship Jesus and exalt him more than ever. And I pray this in your name, amen. Amen.

42:21 Thank you.