Luke 23 - Character's of Christ's Trial — Luke 22-23

0:00 Well, good morning. Morning. Morning. Hey, there you go. Open your Bibles to Luke 23.

0:07 Luke 23. Where's the switch to turn this thing on? I can't remember. It's somewhere in here. Underneath.

0:19 There's light switch there. Oh, yes. Okay. There we go. Luke 23.

0:34 Okay. Now before we read it, I don't know about you, but I I love watching cowboy flicks, cowboy movies. Anybody like to watch them? I sit there and watch them with my father-in-law and with my dad. All of...

0:49 On both sides, we love cowboy movies and old war movies and things like that. One of the reasons that I like them, first of all, is that they're clean. Right? The ones from the fifties and sixties. The ones in the forties are so badly filmed that it's hard to watch those, but they have good good...

1:05 So they're they're clean. And the second thing I like about is that they develop the characters really carefully. So the the good guy, and it's usually the same kind of theme, he comes into the town and there's a bad guy, and then the good guy, people, they don't know if they can trust him or not. And as it's unfolding, you start to see his character and it's like suddenly, wow, he was such a good guy and and he defeated the bad guy. And usually, it's that way, but what we're going to see today is something similar.

1:37 You're going to see a myriad of people or groups and the Bible's going to develop their character and even go into some of their motives. And I pray that as we see this it it would bless you and and just help you appreciate Jesus Christ that much more. So, before we read the text, let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word, the holy word of god. We believe in.

2:02 We know with all our hearts that it is the inspired god breathed word of god. It is inerrant. It is trustworthy and when we open it, we are opening your very words. So, as we consider em, we pray that the holy spirit will help us to understand your text, your words here that you have left for us. That Jesus Christ will be glorified above all and his his name we pray, amen.

3:16 It's also called the whole body, and you're gonna see in different portions of the gospels that they're also called the Sanhedrin, the Sanhedrin. So who is the whole body? Who is this council, this Sanhedrin? Well, it's a group of 70 or 71 elders and teachers of the nation. Now, for those of you who might be familiar with your Bible, you remember in John chapter three that Nicodemus came by night to talk to Jesus because he was a member of the council of the Sanhedrin and he didn't want to be seen by them.

3:51 So, he came at night in secret to talk to Jesus. So who were they? MacArthur says that they were the Supreme Court of Israel presided over by the high priest, and they met daily in the temple to hold court. Sanhedrin had, as a court, authority to maintain the purity of the Jewish customs and practices. They had wide powers, and they could punish and even impose the death sentence.

4:21 However, it had to be confirmed by the Roman authorities. And so it was a group of 70 or 71 men throughout all of Israel that were, I don't know, handpicked or how they got put in there, but a lot of them were rich or became rich by being part of this group. Alright? And so they they were trying to maintain the purity in the culture of Israel, and they were extremely jealous of the lord Jesus. We'll see that more in a minute.

4:53 And so they they have this illegal trial at night and they accused them of blasphemy. That is, they asked him, are you the son of God? And with that question, they were implying, if you say you are the son of God, you're saying that you're God. And he says, yes, I am. And so in other gospels, you're gonna see that they say, what more do we need?

5:19 This is blasphemy. In other words, you calling yourself God, Jesus, is is blasphemy. It's insulting the name of the real God. And therefore, we're gonna have you condemned or or crucified. And so they they come up with their their meeting and and meanwhile, they they're they're beating them, they're they're punching them and spitting on them and doing different abusing them, if you will.

5:47 And this is during the night, and it was illegal for them to meet during the night. However, they did. They met. They came up with a conclusion, but notice the text. Notice chapter 23 and verse one.

6:00 Then the whole body of them arose and brought him before Pilate. And so they they had to wait into the morning and they convene real quick And they said, okay, we all agree. Right? We want to have him crucified. Yes.

6:16 Right. Why? Because he said that he was the son of God. That's blasphemy. We need to kill him.

6:25 And so this is the Sanhedrin. And so the whole body, verse 23, is the Sanhedrin, council that came up with this decision to have Jesus crucified, and they brought him before Pilate. Now, within the group of the Sanhedrin or the council of this group were two men. One of them was Nicodemus. Who was the other one?

7:13 He had not consented to their plan and action. A man from Arimathea, the city of the Jews, who was waiting for the kingdom of God. All right. So within the council, there was this Joseph. Now when they met that night, Joseph and Nicodemus, I'll show you that in a minute, when they met that night, Joseph and Nicodemus didn't agree with the agreement that they had to crucify Jesus to condemn him to death.

7:45 And so he disagreed and he pulls away from the council and so does Nicodemus. Now, I want you to follow this because this is important. Look at look at John chapter 19. John chapter 19 and look at verse 38. Look at verse 38.

8:08 Alright. So after these things, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus... Notice now that the Bible says that he was a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews. So he was part of the council, and they were making all these decisions every day, but he became a a believer in Jesus Christ. And then when the council comes together and they're falsely accusing him, and they're beating him and doing all these things, and they decide to murder Jesus, he says, I don't agree.

8:45 Because he was a believer in Jesus, but a secret disciple. And so he was a secret one because why? Because of fear. Fear of the Jews. And he asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus.

9:00 And Pilate granted permission. He came therefore and took away his body. And look at verse 39. And Nicodemus came also, who had first come to him by night, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes about a 100 pounds weight. And so when this council comes together and they make this decision, these two men reveal or it comes out finally, they stop being cowards.

9:26 It finally comes up. You know what? I'm a believer in Jesus. I'm his disciple. I was a secret one.

9:33 I wasn't... I was keeping it under the covers, but now I'm bringing it out. And notice this happened before he resurrected, before Jesus resurrected. And so within this council were two men who became believers, followers of Jesus, and they didn't agree with what they were doing. So the council then was a group of the leaders of Israel who decided to crucify Jesus.

10:01 Out of that came two men who revealed that they were believers in Jesus, and they pulled away from the council. Now we're gonna come back to all of these guys. We're just considering everybody then. So we have them the council of the Sanhedrin. Then we have Pilate.

10:44 The whole body of them arose 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 the king. And Pilate asked him saying, are you the king of the Jews? And he answered him and said, it is as you say. And so here they come. Now remember, the council had said that they were gonna kill him because of blasphemy.

11:16 But when they come to to to to the Roman people, and they they weren't gonna bring a religious accusation, so they had to make up a lie. And so they come up with a political accusation. This guy is stirring up all of Israel, and he's telling us not to pay taxes to Caesar. Is that true? Is that true?

11:39 Of course not. He had just said, remember a few chapters earlier, pay to Caesar what is due to Caesar and pay to God what is due to God. So, yes, pay your taxes. He told Peter, go and get some money out of that fish's mouth so you can pay your taxes. So that is an outright lie.

11:56 So the council then that's supposed to be spiritual leaders that are jealous of Jesus, are now just condemning an innocent man, and they're just outright lying about him and slandering him. So he's misleading our nation. They say he's forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar. Not... That's not true.

12:17 He is saying that he's Christ the king. So what they were saying is, he's saying that he's Christ the king, and you better be careful because he's gonna wanna take over the Roman government. He's a danger. And then finally, notice what they say, that he stirs up the people teaching all over Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem, which is true. He was in all those places teaching, and he was stirring up the people because he was bringing the truth of God's love to them.

12:53 And so people were being moved by him and by his message. Alright. So in light of this, Pilate says, alright. Well, let me let me ask him some questions. Let me...

13:04 Let let let... Let's see if this is true, that he is stirring up and causing trouble, and he's a danger to Rome. And so he asked the the simple question, are you a king of the Jews? And he answered him and said, it is as you say. So in other words, yes.

13:23 Jesus can't lie. Yes, he is. He is the king of the Jews. Whether they admitted it or not or recognized it or not, he was and is still the king of the Jews. And the Bible says clearly in the future that he's gonna return and he's gonna reign in Jerusalem as a king and rule over the Jewish people.

13:45 So by the way, the Jewish people will never be defeated. And throughout their history, you see that the Germans tried to exterminate him instead of other people. And even now, they're in war, and it's gonna be true to the very end, but Israel will never be defeated. They will always exist. And at the end, Jesus is gonna come and rescue those, the remnant, who are true believers and rule over them.

14:11 So yes, he is the king of the Jews. Now, in Luke's rendition, he doesn't say too much, well, Luke doesn't, about the discussion. But again, if you go to John, you'll see a little bit of the discussion. And I'm not going to linger there, but just go there for background sake so we can understand a little bit more of Pilate and what he was doing. John chapter 18 and verse 36.

14:39 And he says this, Jesus answered, because the same question was asked, are you the king of the Jews? Jesus answered, my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then my servants would fight, would be fighting that I might be delivered up to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not of this realm. Pilate therefore said to him, so you are a king.

15:09 Jesus answered, you say correctly that I am a king. For for this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world to bear witness of the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. And so Pilate then could easily conclude that Jesus is no threat to Rome and all of these accusations hold no water. But Pilate, being very weak in character and not a good leader, is probably thinking in his mind, how am I gonna get out of this?

15:47 They're accusing this man, they want me to kill him, to crucify him. I see nothing wrong in what he's... He's totally innocent. It's obvious. So what do I do?

15:58 And then when he hears that he's starting from Galilee even as far as this place, he hears the word Galilee. Oh, Galilee. Oh, good. That's my out. I know Herod's in town.

16:10 And so... Because I I don't wanna mess with this. This is a complicated case, and he's obviously innocent, and they're insisting that I that I do something. I I don't know how to get out of it, but, oh, Herod, he's from Galilee. I'm just going to send him to Herod.

16:48 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. Alright. So who was Herod? He was the son of Herod the Great. Now Herod the Great is a man who in Matthew chapter two had all those children murdered.

17:13 Remember that? So he was... His dad was ruthless, and he would just kill children, innocent babies. He would just murder them because any threat to his kingdom, to his position, was gonna be dealt with immediately. And so he did.

17:28 And he... So many children died because of him. It was horrible. Well, this is his dad. And this guy is just as cruel and just as sinful and and indifferent.

17:40 He doesn't care about anything but about himself. And so this is the Herod. He's the one, by the way, this Herod is the one that had John the Baptist's head cut off. And he's the one in Luke itself, it says a few chapters prior to this one. He's the one that said that he was looking for Jesus.

18:01 He wanted to get him. And so listen to what Ryrie says. To Herod, the whole matter seemed to be a joke, since he treated the incident as an occasion for amusement and then returned Jesus to Pilate. To Herod, it was free entertainment. And so it says that he wanted to see some sign performed.

18:23 He goes, oh, wow. I've been hearing about this guy that he does miracles. I'm gonna have him come. This is great. And maybe he'll do a miracle.

18:31 This is like a, you know, some kind of a clown show or a, you know, dog and pony show. I can see some some things done, tricks and things. Wow. And so it was just a joke for him. He brings him in.

18:45 Now you can imagine Herod saying, that's Jesus? Remember, they had beat him. His face was probably swollen. He had probably was bleeding already. On top of that, you remember that Mary poured perfume on him.

18:59 And he probably... Odor was emanate. It was a it was a beautiful odor. Right? That nard.

19:06 And so he's like, this is Jesus, all bruised, all beat up. He had been up all night, going through one trial after another. Hearing had been abused even before they whipped him. And so to him, like, this is the Jesus that I've been wanting to see? And notice in verse nine that he questioned him at some length, but he answered him nothing.

19:35 And the chief priests and the scribes were standing there accusing him vehemently. And so he's he's asking him a lot of questions, but you notice that only in this case, only in this case, Jesus does not answer him a word. He doesn't speak one thing. Now with Pilate, he did. He had a conversation.

19:59 And with other men who accused him, he did answer. But with Herod, he didn't say a thing. Again, MacArthur has some insight here. He says it is significant that in all of Jesus' various interrogations, Herod was the only one to whom Jesus refused to speak. Herod had summarily rejected the truth when he heard it from John the Baptist, So it would have been pointless for Jesus to answer him.

20:28 Plus he knew that Herod was just... Everything was funny for him. He's just laughing and joking about it. And you can see it because notice verse 11. And Herod with his soldiers, after treating him with contempt and mocking him, dressed him in a gorgeous robe and sent them back to Pilate.

20:49 And so they bring him in. They look at him, wow, come on, do some kind of magic trick. I want to be entertained. And he thought it was funny. And then when he was done, he wouldn't answer him.

21:01 So he goes to his wardrobe, he pulls out a nice robe, and he puts it on him to laugh. And he and all the prisoner... His soldiers are just laughing at him. And then he sends him back. This guy didn't do anything wrong, so he sends him back.

21:36 And he 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. So it was it was obvious to Pilate that Jesus was innocent. Verse 15, nor... I know, nor has Herod, for he sent him back to us, and behold, nothing deserving death has been done by him.

22:10 I would therefore punish him and release him. So he made it really clear, we both investigated him, pilot and I did as well, and neither of us find him doing anything that would threaten Rome. And so he's totally innocent, but here's what I'm gonna do, just to satisfy you because I see that you're bloodthirsty. I'm gonna have him punished. And he was thinking in his mind, maybe that'll be enough, and they'll calm down, and I can wipe wipe my hands on this.

22:38 But to his surprise, to his surprise, they didn't back down. No, we don't want you just to whip them. We want them crucified. Absolute rejection of Jesus Christ. And so he thought that this was going to appease him, calm him down, and it didn't work.

23:00 Verse 17, now he was obligated to release to them at the feast one prisoner. But they cried out together saying, away with this man and release for us Barabbas. Now enter in them the next person, and that is Barabbas. So we have the Sanhedrin. We have these two men who pull away.

23:39 This guy was dangerous. He was the one who wanted Rome out and caused riots and plotted schemes to overthrow them. Mark fifteen:seven says he had been imprisoned with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the insurrection. And in John chapter 18, it says that that he was also a thief. So the the the very man who is guilty of all the charges is the one that they're gonna release, and they're gonna crucify an innocent man whom they could not find any legitimate charges.

24:22 It just doesn't make sense, does it? But that's the world. The world hates Jesus. And they they... It doesn't make sense to them that he would be the savior of the world, that he would forgive sins, that he died on a cross.

24:41 And so suddenly, Barabbas, this guy who was in prison, and grant me a little bit of license here. I think... It doesn't have to be true, but it's sanctified imagination. Right, brother? He likes when I say that.

25:01 Sanctified imagination. I think that Barabbas was gonna be the third person on the cross with those other two guys. He was he was gonna be the one, I think. But regardless, he's sitting there in jail condemned. He would...

25:19 They they had caught him. He had murdered. He had stole. He had done all those things against Rome. And the people say, we want him released.

25:25 Now, you would think Pilate would say, look, I'll let... I'll release someone for you, but not him. I mean, this guy is the one who's dangerous to Rome and to our authority. He's a murderer. You want me to release him?

25:37 There's no way. But Pilate, again, was very weak. He he didn't stand for truth or for what's right and what's wrong. He just wanted to please everybody and to appease the crowd. So notice then.

25:57 Verse 18, but they cried out altogether saying, away with this man and release for us Barabbas. He was the one who had been thrown into prison for a certain insurrection made in the city and for murder. And Pilate, to release Jesus, addressed them again. He wanted to release Jesus because he knew that he was absolutely innocent. But they kept on calling out, saying, crucify him, crucify him.

26:29 And he said to them the third time, why? What evil has this man done? I have found in him no guilt demanding death. I will therefore punish him and release him. And so so Pilate then is still trying to release Jesus.

26:55 The crowd is getting more violent and and more angry, and they're yelling out loud, and he can't find a way out of it. He should have just said, no. I'm not going to have this man crucified. I'm not gonna release Barabbas. That that would be absolutely wrong and ridiculous.

27:11 I'm not going there. But notice then what Pilate does in other... Again, the other gospels give us some insight. In in Matthew twenty seven twenty four, and he washed his hands in front of the multitude. I am innocent of this man's blood.

27:32 Now, in in some cases, when when a ruler or somebody that's in leadership, that's a judge or whatever, if someone gets wrongly punished or wrongly murdered, and you had nothing to do with it, you can legitimately say, hey, I washed my hands. Alright? I had nothing to do with it. Don't don't accuse me of his murder or what happened. I am innocent.

27:58 Now, in Pilate's case, that's not true. Now, he tried to to do that, so he washes his hand in front of him. Look, you're gonna you're gonna crucify him. Okay. But I'm innocent of this.

28:09 No, you're not because you are allowing it to happen. And so as much as he tried to say, well, didn't have anything to do with it. Yes, you did. He could have manned up and said, no, this is wrong. I'm not gonna allow it.

28:23 Now, as we're looking at these characters, the Bible reveals more. In Matthew fifteen fifteen, it says that Pilate wishing to satisfy the multitude, Pilate released Barabbas for them. Again, he he just wanted to have everybody... Be nice to everybody. Let's just satisfy the crowd because if I don't, it might start a riot.

28:47 And they start a riot, they're gonna report to Rome, and Rome might remove me from being governor. Therefore, I wanna satisfy everybody. Everybody calm down. Everybody calm down. I wash my hands.

28:59 I have nothing to do with this. Y'all are evil. Y'all are the ones that wanna do this. But he was guilty. He was accountable.

29:41 Luke twenty forty one. Just listen. Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes and love respectful greetings in the marketplaces, the chief seats in the synagogues, and the places of honor at banquets who devour widows' houses, and for appearance sake, offer long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation. So we get the Sanhedrin with the priest and all of those guys.

30:12 They were envious of Jesus. But why were they envious? Because people were were, as the Bible says in Luke also, they were hanging on every word that Jesus said. He was speaking truth. He was speaking forgiveness.

30:26 He came to show us God the father. And and so they were starting to get... They were getting jealous. They were envious. Hey, look, if this keeps up, we're gonna start losing financially.

30:42 We're we're losing popularity. We're not going to get to sit in banquets and have all these feasts and all these things. We're being called out by Jesus, and we don't like it. And so I don't know about you, but I don't want to lose my my, you know, financial standing. I like being admired when I go to the marketplace and having my robes and my nice outfits.

31:09 It's kind of kind of cool using our religion to make ourselves rich and to get everything we have. And so Pilate, being a non believer, could see through them and say, I know why you're doing this because you're envious. You're envious of Jesus because he didn't do anything wrong. Now the crowd, the crowd, it just goes with the culture of the day. One minute, Jesus walking into Jerusalem and they're all like, yay, Hosanna, the king.

31:44 And and they're throwing palm leaves down and they're all clapping, all excited. And it's just a few days later, that same crowd is saying, crucify him. See, the Sanhedrin spread themselves out throughout the crowd, they were saying, start yelling, crucify him. He deserves to die. And the crowd just...

32:03 Whoever whispers louder in their ears, they just follow them. Sounds like the people of our day. Just go on YouTube, wherever preaches, says anything, just follow them and believe in you. There's all these thoughts and all these philosophies and and the culture goes one way and goes another and the crowd just kind of swings along with it. And then we go back to Herod.

32:28 Herod just brushes everything off. As long as it benefits me, who cares? I mean, the dude didn't even perform magic tricks for me. So send them back. I don't need them.

32:43 Then we go back to Barabbas. Now Barabbas could legitimately say, Jesus took my place. Right? And so I can imagine this guy had nothing to do with it. He's sitting in jail, condemned.

32:59 He was guilty. They knew it. All the all the gospel say, yeah, he was a murderer. He was a thief. He was an insurrectionist.

33:07 He caused all kinds of problems. When he was released, there's a... Why am I being released? Oh, because they're gonna crucify that man Jesus. Really?

33:18 What did he do wrong? Well, they really can't come up with a good accusation. And so they're envious. They want to get rid of him because, you know, he's stealing the popularity. Wow.

33:34 And so the guy who thought he was going to die or get crucified or whatever he was gonna do to him, if he was the one, suddenly he's released and he's free. Now I can imagine that he didn't just run off, but he watched the whole crucifixion, and he just sitting there saying, wow, I was released. And they crucified an innocent man. See, that's a picture of salvation. That's exactly what Jesus did.

34:05 We're all guilty, and we all fall short of the glory of God. And Jesus took our place. That's salvation. Well, I'm not like Barabbas. I didn't murder anybody.

34:15 Maybe you stole, maybe you lied, maybe you're selfish. We all are guilty. We all have sinned, and we all needed a savior. And so Barabbas then can can look and say, wow, he took my place. He died in my place.

34:33 I was released being guilty, and he paid the price being innocent. And so the sinless savior was willing to die for lost sinners. And then we come to Jesus. Totally innocent, falsely accused, abused, and mocked, he offers voluntarily to be our sin bearer. What a savior.

35:28 He was willing to suffer for us. Now let's go back to Joseph and Nicodemus. Again, I'm quoting MacArthur. To have made allegiance to Christ public, which they did when they went and took him off the cross, not only would have cost Joseph his place in the Sanhedrin, but he would have jeopardized his economic, social, and family welfare as well. The same with Nicodemus.

36:02 Do you realize that the Bible says, if you can read it yourself in the Gospels, that Joseph was rich? In fact, it was his tomb which was used, right, because it says in in Isaiah, he was buried with the rich. It was his tomb because you had to have money those days to have your own tomb. And the guy had dug out his own tomb where they were gonna bury him when he died, and he put... They put Jesus in his tomb.

36:35 And so he had money. He had position. He was in a good place. And yet none of what he had could fill the void in his heart. And when he saw Jesus, he he says, there's something about him.

36:51 He is the messiah. He is the savior. And and I'm tired of hiding what what I what I know to be true. And so as I'm making this move, I'm I'm conscious. I'm aware of the fact that as I come and I make allegiance to Christ and I make my faith in him public, I know that they're gonna laugh at me.

37:12 I know they're gonna throw me out of the Sanhedrin. I'm gonna lose my financial status. I'm risking so much. But who cares? I am no longer going to be embarrassed.

37:26 I'll be a secret disciple. I'm going to make it public that I belong to Jesus. No more hiding. Then we have Nicodemus. You know, Nicodemus in in in chapter three of John was hiding.

37:42 He goes in the dark. Where's the Sanhedrin? I don't want them to see me. And he goes to speak to Jesus. And in chapter seven of John, he argues with the other leaders that Sanhedrin, of that group, and they get mad at him.

37:57 Read it. They insult him. You're not believing him, are you? Then finally, he can't take it anymore either. Look, I'm tired of of hiding for fear of the Jews.

38:09 I'm tired of hiding because they might laugh at me. I'm tired of hiding because they... I'm gonna lose my financial status and my reputation or whatever. I'm tired of... I'm going to come out with Joseph.

38:20 We're both going to, gladiantly, take him down from the cross and declare to anyone, to everyone, that we were followers of Jesus. And so the the Bible then is incredible how it reveals all of these characters. Right? We have the Sanhedrin, selfish, using religion to make themself rich, to to rob from widows, and to to to get admired and doing these long prayers. And God says, man, you you were so fake.

38:57 It's not even funny. And they were so envious that they were willing to crucify an innocent man. And then we have Herod, the the... Everything's funny. Everything's a joke.

39:12 Why? Well, he he didn't need god. He had money. He was a king and to him, I can't give me some entertainment. And so to many, Jesus is just a a an excuse to curse.

39:27 Movie after movie. Jesus Christ. And all you hear is swearing using his name. And then we have Barabbas. The the the guilty one set free, and he didn't even know why.

39:41 He's sitting there scratching his head. I was released. Why? So that they can kill an innocent man so that he could be crucified in my place? Wow.

39:52 And then we have Jesus. Wow. So I don't know where you stand with Jesus, how you see him. Maybe you've been embarrassed in the past. But listen, we have Nicodemus and Joseph that said, that's it.

40:11 No more hiding. We're coming out. We're going to live our faith. We're we're going to make it public. We're going to start witnessing and telling people, it doesn't matter what other people say or what loss we may take.

40:25 We're going to follow the Lord Jesus. And I pray that you would do the same. Jesus was not embarrassed to be ashamed for us and be laughed at and mocked at. As you can see over and over again, he was being laughed at and mocked and rejected and spat upon and and beat. And he wasn't...

40:52 Was willing to do it for us. And so now we respond to him and we say publicly and valiantly, Jesus Christ is Lord. He is the savior of the world. Now, these people made allegiance to him before he even resurrected. And so may the Lord help us then to be like Nicodemus and Joseph That came out from hiding no more secret disciples.

41:23 They were willing then to risk even their their position and their lives to make it public that they were believers in the lord Jesus. May the lord bless us for let's pray. Father, we thank you. We thank you that Jesus took our place. It's embarrassing lord to see how people treated him.

41:44 How they laughed, how they beat him, how they spat, how they were so cruel, and and people even today laugh at you. But Lord, in this local church, we declare that Jesus is Lord. We declare that he is the savior of the world. That he was punished in our place. That he rose from the dead, and in him is eternal life.

42:14 Help us, oh lord, to be like Joseph and Nicodemus. To violently proclaim our follow... Our our faith and the fact that we follow Jesus Christ. Thank you for this portion of scripture. We pray that it will sink deep into our hearts.

42:34 And we thank you once again father for the lord Jesus Christ, our blessed savior. Send us home now with your blessing. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen.