The King & His Thorns

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called the kingdom of God we called it that because that is Matthew's emphasis throughout the gospel according to Matthew from beginning to end that really is the central theme

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Not only of the Bible, but also of the gospel according to Matthew It is about the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God.

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And so we've been going through this We're in 27 now and we're getting into the crucifixion narrative

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It's difficult It really is a difficult as you think about just how do

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I do this? How do I unpack something that is so? Painfully ugly and yet so beautiful and glorious It is difficult because at times you can do things as a pastor

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Conceptually you can talk about when doing Philippians a study that we did before you can talk about This gift of righteousness from above you can talk about rejoicing in the

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Lord always again, I'll say rejoice Don't be anxious about anything. And so you can run that theme throughout

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Scripture and conceptually sort of draw that out but as you get to Really any of the

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Gospels as you're doing historical narrative? You have to sort of unpack it in a way that is consistent with the whole

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Bible and keep your eye out at times For the important themes that really are pulled together throughout all of Scripture But let me just say this

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Matthew in particular is so Incredible because there are layers here layers deep

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Biblical solid roots going all the way back into the Old Testament Matthew is clearly aware of everything that he's doing now.

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We understand that this is inspired Writings, this is the Holy Word of God.

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This is Scripture So ultimately this came from the Holy Spirit of God, but Matthew is a human being and he's writing a story

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He's telling the testimony of what took place in history and yet it is so deep and so layered

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So I must confess there were times where I'm thinking about this and I'm thinking we can go another 10 years on this

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Now I won't do that to you But we could it is truly that deep it didn't seem so either right to think about a narrative like I was thinking as as I was working through this and Moving from gospel to gospel and looking at the historical account

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Think about this the crucifixion narrative here before us and we're gonna read the text in a moment here

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But I want you to consider this as we're entering into this the crucifixion narrative and narrative of the resurrection of Jesus Look, look where we're at We're in 27

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How many chapters are in Matthew? 28 27 28

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That's where we're at in terms of the crucifixion and unpacking this into the resurrection and the ascension of Jesus So not very much of this gospel is taken up with the crucifixion and resurrection and ascension of Jesus But the truth is you could do 10 years in these two chapters.

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It is that deep and that layered and so let's go to it Matthew 27 verse 27 here now the word of the living and the true

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God then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's headquarters and they gathered the whole battalion before him and they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him and Twisting together a crown of thorns.

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They put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand and kneeling before him

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They mocked him saying hail King of the Jews and they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head when they had mocked him they stripped him of the robe and Put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him as they went out.

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They found a man of Cyrene Simon by name they compelled this man to carry his cross and when they'd come to a place called

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Golgotha Which means place of a skull they offered him wine to drink mixed with gall

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But when he tasted it, he would not drink it And when they crucified him they divided his garments among them by casting lots

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Then they sat down and kept watch over him there and over his head They put the charge against him which read this is

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Jesus the king of the Jews then two robbers were crucified with him one on the right and one on the left and those who passed by derided him wagging their

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Heads and saying you who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days save yourself

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If you are the Son of God come down from the cross So also the chief priests with the scribes and elders mocked him saying he saved others.

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He cannot save himself He is the king of Israel. Let him come down now from the cross and we will believe in him

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He trusts in God let God deliver him now if he desires him for he said

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I am the Son of God And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way

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Thus far as the reading of God's holy and inspired word. Let's pray together as the people of God Lord we come before this ugly

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Unjust evil Moments and we recognize the glory of it and the beauty of it

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We can say that God because we know what your word has said about this moment Long before this moment took place in history

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Lord you painted this beautiful Portrait of the

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Messiah his life and his work and how history would unfold We know

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God that you're the sovereign and you told this story long before it happened. And yet here we are

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Looking back at the moment where Lord you kept your promise. You were the faithful God Lord your word is amen.

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It's true It's guaranteed. We can be certain Lord, I pray that you'd bless

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Lord as we Step into this moment you bless with the proclamation of your word the instruction the teaching

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We pray that you'd change us that you'd renew us as we study this help us to understand

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Lord The glory of this moment and your word and how you told us about it before it happened

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I pray that we'd be renewed from this study We'd be challenged and then we'd be emboldened to go tell the world father about Jesus Christ Lord Jesus is in your name.

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We pray. Amen so this moment Took place in history.

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This is real There is real dirt. There is real earth. There is real blood. There is real sweat.

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There is real pain there. There are real tears There were really people who were disciples followers of the

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Lord Jesus Who heard him say to them that he was going to Jerusalem? They were going to crucify and kill him and in three days arise again

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They had been raised into the hearing of the Word of God the Old Testament Scriptures written down long before Jesus came money many of these prophecies hundreds and hundreds of years before Jesus came

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They knew what Messiah was supposed to be accomplished Was supposed to accomplish so much so that on the road to Emmaus the

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Lord Jesus is with disciples who were very sad very confused because they had just understood that Jesus had been brutalized that he had been spit on Had a crown of thorns crushed into his head that he had been mocked and he had been crucified like a common criminal

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He was dead So dead that the soldiers who came to the crosses that day

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When they were breaking the legs of the criminals so that they can make them suffocate faster and die quicker

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They broke the legs of the criminals, but they didn't even break the legs of Jesus because he was already dead

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But just to be sure that he's really dead because they'll have to be accountable for it

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They knew he was dead But just to make sure they actually pierced his side and shoved a deadly weapon into his heart

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And that's where you see in the text blood and water Flowed out Jesus was dead now as much as the disciples had the scriptures

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From birth. These are just read over them. They're in synagogue. They know the story of the Messiah They have to capture those elements and if they're paying attention, they have to see it's not just victorious conquering

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King That was the emphasis Kingdom of God Messiah Son of David throne all enemies under God's feet all the nation streaming up to God's mountain

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They got that and I think that we can say in many respects They overemphasized it because it is not just victorious conquering

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King. It is that it is also suffering servants and Jesus says to them on the road to Emmaus He says that they are slow of heart to believe all of the prophets had spoken that they were actually foolish

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For it because the scriptures Moses the prophets and the

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Psalms all Foretold every detail I've told you guys before in the past when

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I favorite moments I've had so many opportunities to do evangelism to talk to so many people all over the world

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And and when I was a chaplain, it was every single day all day It was one of the best experiences of my life one of my favorite moments of evangelism

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I've forgotten a lot of them was with a Jewish girl and she said she didn't believe in Jesus but I said to her

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I said I make a commitment to you I Will show you that Jesus is truly Mashiach and I will do it without touching the

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New Testament I won't even use the Gospels. I will only use the Tanakh and the Torah I will only use the

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Old Testament scriptures and she like scoffed Like good luck with that and by the end of two weeks, she called her mom and said mom

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I think I'm believing in Jesus Because that's how clear it is everything necessary to know Jesus as Lord and Savior is long written down before he even comes now

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They know that the disciples know that and yet I always say give them some grace

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Give them some understanding some grace They had just seen Jesus their leader their rabbi the

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Messiah the king They had just seen him brutalized and murdered on a cross They saw his body taken off that cross and rolled up and put into a tomb and a big stone

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Closing it up. They saw that and so of course they're struggling. They're they're human. They're just creatures

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How does someone rise from the dead but in particular how does someone rise from that kind of death?

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From the cat of nine tails ripping your back open exposing ribs and possibly organs

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How do you survive something like that and come out of it? How do you come limping out of the tomb?

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I mean if it was a fake in some way, how do you how do you even make it look real? He was really dead.

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And so they're struggling. How can Jesus be the king over the entire world?

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He shall have dominion from sea to sea from the river to the ends of the earth That's a prophecy that's mentioned more than once in the

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Old Testament That he's the one who's gonna have the obedience of the nations all the nations drawing near to God's mountain

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Descendants as numerous as the stars like the sand on the seashore You see this Messiah the way that it's foretold in the

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Old Testament the kingdom of God the rule of God This is a victorious conquering kingdom that ultimately fills the entire world

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The entire world is going to be transformed and renewed because of the Messiah, but what do they miss this part?

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This part before us the passion It is not that the passion wasn't foretold in the Old Testament.

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It is vividly Foretold in the Old Testament in clear detail. I had our deacon

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Jerry read before you're hearing today Psalm 22. Did you catch it?

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Jerry read Psalm 22. I had him read that one for a reason We always go through different Psalms Somewhat related to the passages that we're in whether it's for salvation or judgment or victory or praying

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Against the enemies of God, whatever the case may be God is Deliverer God is our Shepherd, but I wanted

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Jerry today to read from Psalm 22. Did you catch it? Did you hear it? He read

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Psalm 22. What'd you hear in Psalm 22 the passion of the Messiah? So detailed that as you read

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Matthew 27 You can clearly see that moment happening in the life of Jesus at the crucifixion

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Only that moment was long written down way before Jesus actually was there on that cross that day

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God had told them this is what it's gonna look like But it's amazing because listen close to this in Psalm 22 if you heard it

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If you heard it you heard details there people wagging their heads people mocking the

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Messiah Casting lots for his clothing piercing his hands and his feet his heart like wax

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Melted within him and yet that Psalm doesn't end in that tragedy does it? It doesn't end in the tragedy because in Psalm 22

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You clearly have the passion of Christ written down about a thousand years before it actually takes place

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And yet how does the psalm end it ends in victory? Suffering conquering King it ends with all the families of the earth will return and worship

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Yahweh that was the story they were supposed to understand is that this King is not like other

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Kings That is the story of Matthew. He's the king. This is the kingdom. It's arrived in history, but he's not like other

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Kings He's not like other Kings even politicians these days. They got to look the parts, right?

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They got to paint a narrative of the politician He's gonna have like like what what color are you gonna wear to the debate sort of a thing, right?

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Everything has to look spot -on just right. You have to look high -level. You have to look respectable

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You have to look professional You have to have it all down and they've got handlers that work with them to make sure that everything looks just right that you're walking the right direction sometimes guys forget where they're going and they go different directions, but You got handlers what the handlers for they're to control the narrative to control

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What are people supposed to think about this politician down to like what color tie should they wear to the debate?

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Just so that they give the image of professionalism and leadership, right? Everything is is very well controlled

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You want to have the person that looks strong that looks powerful that looks like a leader that looks like they can't be touched

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They guard that very carefully today. And so this This doesn't make any sense

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This doesn't make any sense from a human perspective Because from a human perspective we want the conqueror.

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We want the strong one. We want the one that has it all together We want the one that can't be touched the one that has power and yet Jesus comes into the world as the true king of Kings and Lord of Lords the one who rules the world in Righteousness and justice and peace and he comes into the world in a very different way

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He comes into the world in a way where he says if you want to be great you have to be least He comes into the world and he serves others.

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He comes into the world and he washes others feet He comes into the world and he lays his life down for the sheep.

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He's not like other kings He's not like others who keep themselves detached from the population in the community

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That tries to look like he's simply above Jesus calls his followers his friends and He gives himself up for them.

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He gives everything of himself away to them. He's not like other kings. He's the true king

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He's the true king the high king of heaven and in this moment. He is coming to purchase his victory so when

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I say that it is beautiful and Ugly it's understandable. How could you call a moment like this beautiful?

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Isn't it just ugly? Isn't it just bloody? Isn't it just broken?

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Isn't it just bruises? Isn't it just reviling and mockery from a human perspective?

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There's one degree of this that you say. Yes, that's what it is. And it is the height of evil in human history

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This is the worst crime committed in human history because Jesus is the only innocent person who's ever lived

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And that's why this is the worst. It was as though in this dark moment all of sinful creation

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Was gathered together against Jesus to destroy him I've said often that we are so rebellious so depraved so Sinful that we hate

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God so much that if he can come down from heaven off his throne and put flesh on him

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We would kill him and we did that's the story and this is beautiful though Because what do we see in this moment?

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Yes, it is ugly. Yes, it is brutalizing and yes, it is unjust and painful and evil

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But we also know the testimony of the early church When they prayed they said they gathered against your holy servant

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Jesus They start naming all the players Herod Pontius Pilate the peoples of Israel and the

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Gentiles to do what to do to whatever your hand predestined to occur

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God Planned the murder of Jesus He plans the murder of Jesus.

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Everybody who was involved was culpable because they did what they wanted

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God didn't make anybody sin here They hate God and this is how they can get their hands on him and they killed

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Jesus the Lord of Glory and yet in this moment We see so much that is beautiful and powerful and I have to confess.

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I struggle a lot Getting through this narrative. I struggle because my mind goes to moments where you'll see a word

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That has such a depth of meaning and you say oh gosh I got to tell the 15 stories that led up to this word of Scarlet You want to do that?

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No, okay, so It's it's hard It's hard because as a pastor, this is so rich and it is so clearly divine

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It's difficult to put your hands around and say I've got it all together You could mine this gospel for the rest of your life and you will never tap out its riches

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You will not so I'm gonna do my very best today and Talk about the fact that if you really want to understand the gospel according to Matthew this moment

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You really have to know the story that began long before it took place

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You hear me saying things I repeat myself a lot because I had good teachers that repeat themselves a lot and I learned from that I repeat myself a lot about this point.

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It is emphasized throughout the Gospels What that this was according to the scriptures?

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This is according to the scriptures the scriptures said according to the scriptures and Matthew does it? This was to fulfill what the prophet had spoken.

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And so he's connecting that story to the Old Testament This is something that is a story from the master storyteller about all of human history

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Summed up in Jesus Christ all to his glory but God told this long before it happened and so if you just simply pop open the gospel here in the narrative of the

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Crucifixion and the resurrection and the Ascension and you say okay There's someone who claimed to be the

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Son of God. He was brutalized tortured murdered rose again and ascended. Okay, so what?

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Matthew understands so what he understands the why it's not just what happened in history

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But why did it take place and to understand this you can't start simply at the back of the book at the story

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I've mentioned before that I I need to be sanctified in the area where you're watching a movie and you are like three -quarters of the way through it and a family member sits down next to you plops down on the couch and says starts talking to the screen and in some way talking to you saying

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Why did she say that? All right, why is he doing that or why did he do that or why is she going there or whatever?

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This is how I hear the the voices. Okay, right and I have to confess

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I'm only human and being sanctified when I hear those words like why is this and why is that it finds?

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its way into the bottom of my spine and it crawls all the way to the back of my head and I struggle because what's the obvious thing that we all should understand?

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You should have watched the beginning I'm not missing out on the climax by answering your questions right, oh

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Man, it was especially hard when you go to like a theater like go to like a theater and you're in a theater

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You hear someone in the theater yelling like why? Why is doing that you should you shouldn't have gone to get your popcorn you missed like 20 minutes, right?

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Just be quiet. Come back later pay again. Watch the whole thing We all understand like it's funny like you're trying to get to the end you're asking a million questions, but like why this and why her and how come he did that to her or him or whatever and You're like, please

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Please just watch the movie from the beginning Especially difficult when someone tries to pop into like the

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Lord of the Rings trilogy and like the third one and you're like no no No, no, no. No, no, leave the room

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Leave the room go somewhere else go to the bathroom get an Amazon account and you watch

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For hours and you come back and talk to me, right? Like you just understand there are rules here don't speak.

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So if you ever take me to a movie just know shut up, okay? That's the rule of movies, right?

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But we all get it with films like you have to watch the beginning because the storyteller is trying to develop the story

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Because the story has a beginning in the middle and ends and that the director is Specifically trying or the writers of the script are specifically trying to like build a character study, right?

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What's this person like and like what's their background and actors will do that as well? You know actors will talk at times when they do acting training at times where they will they'll see a script and they'll say okay

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This is the bare bones of it. But what they'll do is in their own minds. They'll develop a backstory to the character

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They'll think about like what were his parents like and they'll think about an event they had in their lives So they could sort of like try to tap into that emotion or they'll they'll put something into their wallet just to just to feel like it's really like they're really that person and We understand in our day when stories are told that's how they're developed

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You really can't just step in at the end and say okay. I've got it. Well, you've got facts

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You've got some bare facts But the why and the how you're missing completely a lot of times in stories

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There are symbols symbols that speak to something the director will place a symbol in the film or the story itself

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And the symbol will symbolize something and it has meaning that's not just the symbol like Lord of the

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Rings Well, it's the ring and the ring represents a whole lot of stuff. We know what the ring does to people

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We know the kind of power we know all of this with just a simple Symbol inserted into the story stories are like that human minds work like that because we're creatures of God and God is very big on symbolism and We get that.

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So for example, this is Appropriate for today and of course keep them in prayer, but tornadoes just ran through Kentucky and some surrounding states

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My wife's family and friends are all in Bowling Green And so she was getting phone calls of all the wreckage and all the destruction and all the rest

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But we recognize from an event something that takes place. We have a tornado. We recognize the terror of a tornado

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We were we think about the tornado and if you've been around them You probably understand like when one pops up you have the sirens blaring all over so everyone can hear it

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Everyone runs down into the storm shelter You can see it off in the horizon with lightning all of a sudden you see it sort of jump out at you

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So the lightning lights up the dark storm and you see the tornado and it it means destruction

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And so in reality, we know what a tornado is and what it does, but the tornado also becomes symbol

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So for example, you could have a little rug rat running around It's like two years old and strong as a bull and you can say the little boy's a tornado, right?

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Right, you take the word it's a symbol now and it means something this kid is entirely destructive and his name is

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Augustine When you see a symbol like Red Cross say on a van somewhere like a

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Red Cross What do you immediately know? It's medical right they're working on taking care of people because the

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Red Cross now carries Symbolism and you recognize it works, you know in many many ways or like let's say if you see an ass a donkey

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We know what that means Right. It's appropriate at times that it's given to particular political parties.

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You're like that fits Right and you laugh about it because it's a symbol you go get that has a lot of meaning

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I don't know why you'd pick that one, right But we recognize that even the symbol of an ass or a donkey it means something

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But we see in Scripture that you can layer these symbols and you already understand this So for example, if I mentioned the word

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Exodus and then I say lamb Right, you think okay. There was a real lamb.

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They're supposed to do particular things with the lamb Don't break its legs spot no spot or blemish blown over the doorposts, but you recognize that it's not just simply the thing

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Biblically, it's also something layered behind it. The lamb means something it means a lot of things

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It means a lot of things the diversion of God's wrath away from people

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It means exit from their slavery entrance into the promised land this relationship with God It means sacrifice, but ultimately it's pointing to Jesus so when

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John the Baptist sees Jesus for the first time he says behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the

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World and the symbol of the lamb placed on Jesus Floods these memories and the ideas and these truths these concepts about the lamb

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Associated with Jesus we get it from the priest to the lamb to a goat to thorns

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Thorns You see Matthew comes from this worldview where he seeped in the Old Testament and all that Symbolism and all that story of Israel and all those promises of Messiah are

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Flowing into this moment in the historical narrative of the crucifixion of our

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Savior The symbols are important keep that in mind as we unpack the text here.

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Just the first little section here Now what's really important too is the eyewitnesses if you read the

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Gospels you have the synoptic Gospels, which means what? Oh Synoptic means seeing together.

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This is where you could take Matthew Mark and Luke and there's there's sort of a lot in the same ballpark

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They're talking about the same event, but some will give different details Some will leave details out the synoptics you can lay side -by -side you can see them together

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John will touch same of some of the same things, but John actually takes sort of a difference

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He takes a different approach in many respects than the synoptics and it's beautiful But if you take the witnesses and you pull them together you get a fuller more comprehensive understanding of what was taking place

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But you have multiple witnesses and this is what's really important. You don't have this corroboration between Witnesses so you'll see differences at times with how something is worded

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You'll see that one author will actually take something out The other one has in one will have more details one will actually explain what the other is saying

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Who's using more Jewish terminology for more of a Gentile audience? You have multiple eyewitnesses and it's amazing because you would need that for a solid story in terms of you are investigating something different witnesses all talking at times even about same events, but giving more details or actually rewording things at times you know,

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I Experienced this not very long ago. I was I think I told you guys this story

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But I think it needs to be understood that we even understand this today in terms of witnesses.

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No corroboration I was coming home late at night. I think I think it was just I think it was 2020

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I was coming home. It was it was dark outside. I went to Fry's grocery store at 24th Street and baseline

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Which is getting more and more dangerous as the days go by But it's dark and I pull into the

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To go park into one of the lanes and I see what I thought was a child Laying in the middle of the road and there's people everywhere cars everywhere

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I have my first thought was why is there a child in the middle of the road laying down and as I pulled closer

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I realized it wasn't a child. It was a man. So now I'm getting really confused What's going on and then I see people run up to this man

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And so I'm the only one in the lane. I sort of pull up and kind of get to the side I look down and I see blood

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Everywhere, I mean there is a like a stream of blood coming out of this guy pouring Down the road where there's an incline and so everyone looks totally confused

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And so I no one's really doing much of anything it just happened and so I jump out of my car and I come to this guy and he's just Screaming and the more he is screaming the more blood is just pumping out of him and so the first thing

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I thought Was I need to get this guy to calm down because the more he is yelling and panicking the more blood is pouring out of Him and so I can't really quite see where the blood is coming from because really it's everywhere

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But there's a stream coming out of him It's all over his shirt and his back and I'm trying to talk to him and I said hey

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What's your name and he wouldn't respond. I said, hey, look, my name is Pastor Jeff. I'm a pastor. I'm here

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I'm gonna try to help you today. I need you to breathe with me I want you to just breathe me right now and I had

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I said breathe in your nose breathe with me now breathe out I wanted to slow his heart rate down as much as I possibly could and so I'm telling him breathe with me

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What happened and so they're calling the police I said get some stuff to to pack into these wounds

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And so we're trying to pack the wounds up and get him to where he's not bleeding So profusely he's calming down now.

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The blood is slowing down. And so when the police arrived They showed up pretty quickly when they arrived

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They run up on him and then I I look over and I realize I can see white on his arm

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And I'm thinking to myself like what is that? I'm trying to see what it is I see white and what it was was his bone

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I could see his bone and his arm was completely open and there were things like spilling out of his arm

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He was stabbed five times in his back he was stabbed in his front somebody had swiped him with a knife across his arm and just split him wide open and He just got jumped in the parking lot of fries

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And he's bleeding everywhere But I was there weren't many eyewitnesses to it just the two that were there and then myself when

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I pulled up I didn't see it happen I was just there to help afterwards But what's interesting is as soon as the police got there

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They separated me and the other guy and the other guy tried to talk to me and they jumped on and they said no no

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No, they say he's a stop stop. Don't talk to him. You stay over there. You don't say anything to him

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Do not speak to each other at all like they got really aggressive and the cop came over to me and said

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Hey pastor Jeff. I watch you all the time. It really happened.

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I Well, praise God like yeah, and he said but we were we can't have you guys talking to each other We want to stop him because we can't have any corroboration going on between you guys of the story of what you heard or whatever

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So we need to have they said we need to have independent witnesses. I was like, I like that. That's straight out of Scripture The cop was like, yes it is

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But there was no corroboration allowed between the witnesses so that the stories though they might be seen from different angles

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They might be seen with different details. You can see the stories actually match up but just different eyewitness testimonies

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Not sort of like clocked together, right? No corroboration. You see that in the

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Gospels You're gonna see why that's important in just a moment here There are different emphases within the gospel records at this point and I think those emphases are really important Here's why

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I'm bringing it up because there's actually a difference in the Gospels in this moment in terms of the

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Scarlet robe put on Jesus or a purple robe. We're gonna talk about that.

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Here we go Matthew 27 27 when the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's headquarters and they gathered the whole battalion before him and They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him and twisting together a crown of thorns

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They put it on his head and put a reed in his right hands now

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Just could be noted here when it says that a battalion a battalion is a tenth of a

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Roman legion a Battalion is a tenth of a Roman legion. So oftentimes when we have portrayals of this moment

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What do you usually have in the portrayal you have, you know, maybe like 25 30 people sort of there

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You know a couple a couple Roman soldiers are present You know You only have this this scene the way that it really was a tenth of a

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Roman legion is 600 men 600 men there's a lot involved in this moment from the betrayal of Jesus in the garden where you had temple police and Roman soldiers up to 1 ,000 people showing up with clubs and swords coming to get

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Jesus This is everyone conspiring together to get Jesus and to have him killed and in this moment

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When he's delivered over to this battalion, he's delivered over to 600

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Roman soldiers 600 Roman soldiers.

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I don't think there's any way for us to understand the beating he took. I Don't think there is I Really don't

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I don't think there's any way for us to fully comprehend this moment the depravity the injustice the beating 600

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Roman soldiers It's their job to fight to wound and to kill.

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This is what they're good at and now they have the Lord of Glory and So the whole battalion puts

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Jesus before them they strip them and they put a scarlet robe on him a scarlet

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Robe, is this a contradiction? because Matthew 27 28 says that it's a scarlet robe in John 19 2 and Mark 1517 they say purple in Luke 23 7

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Luke mentions that Herod put on a gorgeous or Splendid white robe on Jesus before sending him back to Pilate You remember as we've done this together and I've walked us through the timeline you have

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Jesus betrayed You have Jesus going to Annas the old high priest then you have Jesus going to this other place

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You have Jesus just being tossed around back and forth. They can't get their stories to work

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They're calling out false witnesses to come and actually testify against Jesus.

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Nothing is working now they have Jesus before the governor Pilate the most powerful man of the moment and so you have all of this taking place

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Essentially overnight under the cover of darkness and now we have the moment before us where you have

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Matthew saying that it's scarlet You have John and Mark saying it's purple and then

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Luke mentions that when Herod got Jesus He sends Jesus back to Pilate wearing a white robe

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So you got a white robe a purple robe and a scarlet robe now oftentimes Skeptics and critics of the

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Bible have said ha ha ha that's a contradiction There's a contradiction.

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You've got different colored robes going on here First question to ask the atheist who says that is why are contradictions a problem?

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Right you're borrowing from Jesus in order to argue against Jesus because only with Jesus Do I get truth that is absolute that matters laws of logic and all the rest and so for the

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Christian I'm concerned with contradictions because Jesus is my God You're the atheist who believes that your ancestors were fish and bacteria.

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What do you care for? That's the first step Second step is to demonstrate that this is no contradiction

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This is multiple witnesses giving an account of an incident in history

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And they're giving different parts of the account and I think actually in this divine revelation where God is the master storyteller

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There's actually a lot going on with the white and the purple and the scarlet for example when

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Jesus in Luke 2311 is Given a white robe from Herod Herod is giving him a white and splendid and glorious robe to mock him

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However, what is he doing? He's sending Jesus back to his trial with Pilate's wearing all white

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Showing that he actually is innocent Herod meant to mock him But in but in terms of what was really taking place all their sin is actually identifying who

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Jesus actually is He's the righteous one He's the blameless one when he sent back to Herod Herod eventually set sorry to Pilate Pilate eventually says what about Jesus?

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What's he say about him? He says I find no fault in him and he washes his hands as a matter of Historical records saying that he is innocent you see to it

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He's so fears the mob that he knows Jesus is guiltless that he's totally innocent that white robe means something

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It's true. And yet he's so terrified of a riot and the mob that he delivers

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Jesus to be destroyed even though he's innocent But let's talk real fast about these colors.

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Shall we? first scarlet There's no problem with the language here in terms of trying to make excuses for the language.

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They're different words scarlet and purple Kinos cook Kinos it was that's scarlet and that was actually

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The root of it comes from a female insect that was smushed to produce the red color

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Interesting process and one of the things about scarlet is that scarlet actually was a difficult dye a different Difficult color to actually get out of garments like once it was in there.

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It was really in there. It's hard to wash away Scarlet very difficult but that's where it comes from actually from an insect where they would smush it and get the red color and they would dye things and The purple the word purple is a poor furun a type of muscle that produced the purple color

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It's a type of muscle like gross sea stuff muscles. I hate seafood.

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Okay Very amen, there you go. Very much so but I know you guys can love it.

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Okay, you can love it Pastor Zach is really gross He likes the grossest seafood there is he says that if he could be brought to the bottom of the ocean to drag his face across the floor

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He would be totally satisfied and he really means it. Trust me. I've seen that man eat some gross stuff.

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But anyways This is a type of muscle that produced the purple color that used to dye things purple

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So listen, there's there's there's no reason to say there's a discrepancy in the language or what -have -you.

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These are two different words They mean purple. They mean scarlet so many times

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Christians have tried to overcome this objection. I think to go the wrong direction They'd say well, maybe Matthew from his perspective.

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He saw Scarlet but like, you know in the Sun maybe John and Mark were you know when they saw it?

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It was more of a different color. It's just two different vantage points. I think that's lame. I Think that's lame and it actually doesn't fit the story itself.

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Let's talk about the timeline. Jesus has a scarlet robe according to Matthew Now here's what's important for Matthew.

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He's already said Jesus is the king He's clearly thinking in Old Testament words and symbols and categories the entire time

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He's already mentioned stuff about this previously in the story and when he has Jesus going before this battalion taking a beating he has them putting into his right hand a

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Reed putting onto his body the scarlet robe and fastening to his head a crown of thorns

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Matthew knows his Bible He knows what thorns mean. He knows what the reed means.

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He knows what scarlet portrays and So it's very purposeful in Luke's gospel in Luke 23 11 again

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Remember the timeline in Luke's gospel Herod sends Jesus to Pilate and he sends him wearing what color robe?

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What color? White so that's one robe. He sends him to to Pilate with a white robe in Matthew 27 26 through 28 we have the battalion beating

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Jesus and they put a crown of thorns and put a scarlet robe on Jesus Interestingly John let's go to John John 19

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John gives us more details John actually gives us more details that Matthew just leaves out wasn't important for his story and what he wanted to tell

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He wanted to tell us about the crown of thorns and the scarlet robe and the reed and Jesus right hand He wasn't concerned to tell us what

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John does John tells us a little bit more in John 19 2 it says and the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe

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They came up to him saying hail King of the Jews and struck him with their hands Pilate went out again and said to them see

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I am bringing him out to You that you may know that I find no guilt in him. So Jesus came out

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Wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe Pilate said to them behold the man when the chief priests and the officers saw him they cried out crucify him

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Crucify him this made them angry Why royal was the sorry purple was the color of royalty and in John's narrative

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We see that this beating with 600 soldiers took place and in John's narrative at some point obviously the soldiers not only put a scarlet robe on Jesus, but when he's presented before the people they put a purple robe on Jesus and so when

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Pilate brings Jesus the king of the Jews out before them to display he has

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Jesus in a purple robe Before the people and it's so angers them they say crucify him crucify him

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So John gives you more details a detail that Matthew leaves out and that's our pilot actually brings

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Jesus back out before the people wearing a purple robe Let's talk about what this may mean

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First of all, I think it's powerful thought number one Jesus Throughout the

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Gospels is wearing different things that symbolize the truth of what's actually taking place in that moment

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Herod throws the white robe on him to mock him, but it actually is true He's the blameless one. And by the way, if you're in Christ, you're hiding in Jesus in his white robe

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Matthew is telling us that when he's taking a beating at one point Obviously the soldiers placed this crown of thorns on Jesus and they put a scarlet robe on Jesus John and Mark talk about the fact that he was also at one point wearing a purple robe that spoke to his royalty

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But let's talk for a moment about scarlet and what that means in Scripture Now I don't want to go too far on this So I found a summary statements in a commentary in Bible study

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And I want to just read this to you so we can do it quickly because there's a lot to say Remember I told you I said I just want to just unpack this and go over it and over and go to all these scriptures

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Here's a summary in a commentary Scarlet in the Bible occurs 52 times six of which are in the

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New Testament Its use in Scripture can represent royalty as in Daniel 5 7 16 29

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Matthew 27 28 mark 15 17 and 20 John 19 2 or the power to rule like a king in Revelation 17 for it can also mean a person's sins and Sinfulness as in Isaiah 1 18 it can mean prosperity as in 2nd

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Samuel 1 14 Proverbs 3121 Lamentations 4 5 Revelation 18 12 and 16 or dedication to opposing

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God in Revelation 17 13 scarlet was used extensively in God's wilderness tabernacle built by Moses It was also commonly found not only in Jerusalem's temple, but also on the clothes worn to serve in it

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It was an important part of the temple rites that cleansed lepers Leviticus 14 and in the ceremonies of purification

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November's 19 six the Bible also states that warriors wore clothes of this color

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So that's scarlet. That's scarlet. Let's talk for a moment about purple in the

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Bible in terms of a symbol What did it mean in the Bible the word purple occur occurs 48 times of which nine are in the

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New Testament? purple can represent royalty Majesty and high officials judges 826

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Esther 815 as well as conveying the meaning of wealth prosperity and luxury

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Exodus 28 5 Ezekiel 27 7 Proverbs 31 22 and on it was an integral part of the temple and its services

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Exodus 25 4 26 1 36 27 16 numbers 413.

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It was used in curtain veils and Carpets found in the tabernacle along with blue scarlet and white as well as the garments worn by the high priest

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Working with it was such an important skill that King Solomon requested that from tires King Haram a man

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Specializing and dying with it 2nd Chronicles 2 to supervise building the temple

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So we have these colors we have an historic meaning and I want to talk for a moment about what

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I think There's so much that could be done here in terms of layering this what exactly does this mean?

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I think it's interesting because Matthew doesn't mention the purple robe That the 600 put on Jesus when he was brought out on display before the

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Jews He doesn't mention that He actually mentions Just the moment where he has the crown of thorns and the scarlet robe and the reed in his right hands.

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I Emphasizing that in the punishment and brutalization of Jesus Because all those symbols biblically have a tremendous amount of weight and meaning

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I think it is interesting because I'm going to say just quickly the crown of thorns is a Very very important symbol in Scripture and it's at the very beginning of the

47:57

Bible As soon as the fall occurs and God promises the curse upon creation

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What does he say is a result of the curse and sin entering into the world that there will be what?

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thorns There will be thorns Isn't it a glorious and powerful thing that when the king came to purchase his possession and to save us from our sins?

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He died on a cross and gave his life Wearing the very symbol of the fall on his head

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Matthew knows that Now the Roman battalion didn't

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They thought they were mocking this common criminal and They fastened together this crown of thorns

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Not understanding that God had already said that this will be the visible symbol in display of the fall

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Itself and the curse and they smash it into the head of the king They put it on his head.

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So he died wearing the very symbol of the fall thorns

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Matthew knows that It really happened but Matthew has in his story It was thorns and I'll mention the scarlet robe that Jesus is wearing now.

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I think there's a lot of layers here I don't think we could tap them all out. But scarlet I would say there is something that is common in Matthew and that is that Matthew is reciting from Isaiah a lot

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Isaiah is in the back of Matthew's mind quite a bit. You can see that throughout Matthew He even mentions in Matthew 12 the prophecy of the reed in Matthew.

49:37

Sorry Isaiah 42, but here's the point He mentioned scarlet, you know the famous scene don't you?

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It's all over Christian coffee mugs and you know Paintings and all the rest though your sins are as what?

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Scarlet they shall be what white as snow Though your sins are as scarlet.

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They should be white as snow Why is it such a problem by the way people wonder like what's the big deal about scarlet? Well, here's the point I already mentioned it scarlet was hard to wash out.

50:07

That was a really potent dye when I got into clothing It's not coming out. It's in there. It's stuck.

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You're not getting rid of it And that's the point of Isaiah though. Your sins are like scarlet. You can't get rid of it.

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It's a dye that sticks I'll make them white as snow. I'll cleanse you of your sin.

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I So here Matthew highlights the fact that at one point Jesus was wearing a scarlet robe He is wearing as the king as the

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Savior. He is wearing the very visible displays to the watching world of sin

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Crown of thorns and a scarlet robe It's like the weight of the world's sin is all over him and then he's wearing in his hand what a reed?

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And that's what it says The text says that they put a reed into his hands.

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Now it's interesting, the other Gospels don't necessarily mention that they put a reed into his right hand.

51:09

They mention that he was beaten with the reed. They actually beat him with the reed itself, but this says in Matthew's Gospel they put the reed into his right hand as a form of mockery.

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Here's a king with a crown of thorns wearing a scarlet robe and instead of a scepter in his hand that is just coated in gold and weighty like a staff, he's wearing this easily breakable stick.

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And they're beating him with it. And here he is carrying it in his hands. Now let's talk for a moment more about that crown of thorns.

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So to do it I don't want to just make a passing remark to it. I want you to see it for yourselves. Go to Genesis chapter 3.

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I told you you have to read the beginning of the story to understand the end of the movie, right? Genesis chapter 3, this is the moment of the fall.

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And in Genesis chapter 3 we know what takes place. Eve is deceived. Adam sins with a high hand.

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God says this but not that. He does it anyway. He's our first parent. Death and curse and condemnation enters into human experience that day.

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And here's what God says in Genesis 3 .14. The Lord God said to the serpents, because you've done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field.

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On your belly you shall go and thus shall you eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman.

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Don't lose it. You and the woman. And between your offspring and her offspring.

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He, it's a specific person, he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel.

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This is deeply symbolic. It's powerful and it happened in history. It's happening right before us in the crucifixion of the

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Son of Man. This is where Satan receives the death blow to his skull at the same time wounding this offspring of the woman.

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You can see all the echoes there of the virgin birth. So much is there long before Jesus comes.

53:18

But here's what it says. So the woman, he said, I will surely multiply your pain and childbearing. In pain you shall bring forth children.

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Your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over you. Feminists hate that. And to Adam he said, because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which

53:34

I commanded you, you shall not eat of it. Cursed is the ground because of you. In pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life.

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Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you. And you shall eat the plants of the field by the sweat of your face.

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You shall eat bread till you return to the ground. For out of it you were taken. For you are dust and to dust you shall return.

53:55

There's the beginning of human history right there. That explains all the brokenness all around us.

54:00

Our story begins with humanity as the image of God in a garden with face -to -face contact with our

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Creator. No sin, no stain, no rebellion. It is glorious and it is beautiful. And that by the way is where history is going back to.

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But what happens in the garden is that God's image is cast out of the garden. So we go from a garden city.

54:20

We're with God, face -to -face with God. There is no sin, no decay, all of that. And the image of God is cast out into a spiritual wilderness.

54:31

And God says that thorns are going to be seen as a sign of the curse itself.

54:38

A sign of the curse itself. Now listen, Matthew knows that. Matthew understands thorns.

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This week I was with Matt DeJesus and our team.

54:53

Carmen was there. Isaac was there. Isaac was there. And we drove way out in the middle of nowhere to a mountain.

55:00

I was told, hey Jeff you have a mountain by your house. We'll just film for this documentary we're doing there.

55:05

I thought, because I literally have a mountain a block and a half away from my house, oh this is great. I'm just going to get dressed real fast.

55:11

And I'll just kind of sort of wander over there. And next thing you know I'm following Matt. And we're going like we're driving forever.

55:17

And I realize he means like there's mountains around your house Jeff. And we're going to go somewhere.

55:22

So we end up like in an Indian reservation. And we're just driving and trying to find a spot to film.

55:28

But I'm like it's barren. Like you're driving. You're driving on dirt. And there's nothing around.

55:34

And it is ugly. It's not a beautiful scene. And we go out. We finally find a place to park.

55:40

That's hard to say in a row. And we go out. And this place was ugly. All these bushes with thorns all over them.

55:47

It is dry. I thought that our team was going to bring water.

55:56

Because we're going to the desert. And it turns out no one thought. Like hey we're going to the desert.

56:01

Maybe we should have some water. But no one thought of that. And so I can see

56:07

Carmen. Like you know we're like out there filming. And I see Carmen every once in a while just like going. Like he's just so excited.

56:14

We left. We went to a restaurant to get lunch. And we're just all sucking on water. Anyways. So we're in the desert.

56:20

And it's ugly. And it's dry. And it's barren. It is not a garden. And it is filled with thorns and things that want to kill you.

56:30

And that's in one sense that is a reality.

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But it is also a display of the fallenness of the world. The way things ought not to be. God created us in a flourishing beautiful place with face to face intimate contact with God.

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And our first parents rebelling against God. Death entered into the world. And then we were cast out of the garden to enter into this spiritual wasteland.

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This barren place. And now enter Jesus. The perfect Adam.

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That's by the way in Romans 5 how Paul does it. Right? He says here's Adam. What do you get in Adam? If you're in Adam you get death.

57:08

You get separation from God and condemnation. If you're in Christ you get the gift of righteousness and eternal life.

57:15

You've got two heads of humanity. One is Adam and one is Jesus. Jesus the perfect Adam.

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What Adam was supposed to be is the image of God. Jesus is. Jesus the righteous servant.

57:27

What Israel was supposed to be is the righteous servant of Yahweh. Jesus is the true righteous servant.

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And here Jesus is now coming now to purchase his possession and what is taking place.

57:38

He is what Adam was supposed to be. Adam was supposed to take dominion over the earth and to subdue it. And here's the king.

57:44

King Jesus. The one who shall have dominion from sea to sea from the river to the ends of the earth.

57:50

This is Jesus who enters into this spiritual wasteland. This desolate place.

57:56

And it's as though the whole creation is revolting against him. And he wears on his head thorns.

58:03

They thought they were mocking him. That crown was his glory.

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And he's wearing scarlet. The very color that's so hard to get out.

58:17

He's covered in it. God is saying something here in this moment. He was saying something in history and he's saying something to us in this moment.

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But that's by the way where all of history is going. It goes from garden to curse back to garden again.

58:32

I will mention it briefly because I think it's glorious. John is the only person that mentions it in his gospel. When the women came to the tomb and Jesus was raised from the dead and they're freaking out, they mistake

58:42

Jesus as the gardener. How do you mistake somebody for gardening? Because they're working the ground.

58:49

The first thing that Jesus is seen doing as resurrected Savior is he starts to work the ground.

58:55

To do what? To do what Revelation says. To bring this world back to that garden city.

59:02

That's who Jesus is. All of this symbolism. All of these signs.

59:07

It really took place but it speaks to a larger story in history. He's wearing that sign of the fall.

59:15

God made Jesus who knew no sin to become sin on our behalf.

59:20

To be sin on our behalf. So that we would become the righteousness of God in him. You see a crucified criminal brutalized.

59:29

You see injustice. You see false witnesses. I see a crown of glory. I see a king coming to purchase his people.

59:38

I see and we should all see our sin being dealt with on that cross.

59:45

We thought it was only ugly and God said it was beautiful. All of creation rising up against God's son.

59:53

And God saying I planned that. That's for my glory. The ugliest moment in history.

59:59

The most brutal acts. This evil crime and injustice. All for Jesus Christ and his glory.

01:00:06

That crown was beautiful. But I'll just say this about the reed.

01:00:12

Because look at the text. Let's go there and let's finish looking at that. It says in 29 and twisting together a crown of thorns they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand and kneeling before him they mocked him saying hail king of the

01:00:28

Jews and they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head.

01:00:37

They put a reed in his right hand. Now here's what's important. We need to get to know our Bibles.

01:00:43

Brothers and sisters if this is the words of God if these are the words of God then we have to we have to dedicate our lives to reading it and understanding it.

01:00:52

This is God speaking to us. That's how Jesus viewed the scriptures. What God wrote is

01:00:57

God speaking to you. You want to hear God's voice? You want to hear him speaking?

01:01:03

It's right here. This is the voice of God. And if we believe that we need to dig in.

01:01:09

Because it is truly powerful. Matthew already talked about a reed. Did you know that?

01:01:16

So keep one finger here in Matthew 27 and just go back quickly I'll remind you because it was like 10 years ago we did it but in Matthew chapter 12.

01:01:27

Remember this moment where Matthew quotes from one of my favorite passages in all of scripture?

01:01:35

I know Pastor James loves this as well now. In Matthew chapter 12 verse 15

01:01:43

Matthew quotes the passage about the reed. Jesus aware of this withdrew from there verse 15 and many followed him and he healed them all and ordered them not to make him known.

01:01:56

This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah behold my servant whom I have chosen my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased

01:02:03

I will put my spirit upon him and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles he will not quarrel or cry aloud nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets a bruised reed he will not break and a smoldering wick he will not quench until he brings justice to victory and in his name the

01:02:22

Gentiles will hope. You know what that is? That's a section of scripture that I often use to challenge the modern evangelical that retreats from the world and thinks that God isn't concerned with justice in this life and in this world.

01:02:39

That verse is one of the many verses that section of scripture one of the many sections of scripture that proclaim the conquering kingdom of Jesus the

01:02:48

Messiah that his kingdom will not just bring salvation to individual sinners but will establish justice it actually says he will not grow faint or weary until he's established justice in the earth and the coastlands wait for his law.

01:03:08

You wonder why the disciples were a bit confused about this suffering servant Jesus because they read

01:03:13

Isaiah 42 they knew what the world was supposed to look like in Messiah's kingdom and Matthew already quoted it.

01:03:21

How come Jesus was so lowly? How come he was so quiet? How come he was so gentle?

01:03:27

How come he wasn't this powerful powerful political leader just squashing people and starting rebellions because he's the true king and his kingdom comes and is purchased in a different way.

01:03:41

And Matthew quotes the reason it was so quiet and so silent he's saying don't tell anybody about me is because well that's what the prophecy said about Jesus.

01:03:48

He was going to be the lowly king he actually has people drawn to him in a different way than other political leaders and kings and rulers.

01:03:58

Jesus it says a bruised reed he will not break. Now reeds are not like trees they're like wetlands sort of things like sticks almost.

01:04:08

They've been used throughout history like thatch for top of houses and roofs they're used for like musical instruments they're used as walking sticks but they are very they can be very very brittle.

01:04:19

Easy to break and essentially once they break these things are useless. Very easy to destroy these things.

01:04:26

Now what's interesting is that Matthew's already quoted about the reed. A bruised reed he will not break but he's the king who's going to establish justice in the earth.

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He's the real king. And now you have Matthew telling you that at this beating by the battalion it's a crown of thorns a scarlet robe and they take a reed and they put it in his hands.

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Other rulers would have a scepter and a golden crown and that scepter would be like a staff and it would be golden and heavy right hard powerful weighty and these guys think they're mocking the king of the

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Jews they're only giving him all the very things that testify that he's the ruler of the world.

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You thought you were mocking my king. You were just handing him everything that testified to who he really was.

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The thorns the robe and the reed in his right hand. That is glorious.

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Man that is powerful. That is powerful. You see so Matthew is in this historical narrative telling you what took place but he is purposefully emphasizing the fact that this is

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God's story. Yeah that happened to Jesus. It was a real brutalization. It was really powerful evil.

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It was real bloodshed. It was real pain. He really endured that for us.

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But in all of these moments where you have wicked and evil people trying to rise up against God himself in the flesh they think that their sin is somehow overcoming

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God and in reality this is the king coming to receive his kingdom.

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This is the king coming to receive his kingdom. And here's the amazing thing I mean you have you know

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I'll finish on this you have that statement you know Jesus says my kingdom is not of this world otherwise my servants would fight.

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People have misinterpreted that a lot to mean that Jesus' kingdom isn't in this world.

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That's not what he was saying. He has all authority in heaven and on earth. The prophecies of the kingdom are very much earthly prophecies.

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They're about this life this world and then beyond yes. But he's a different kind of king isn't he?

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My kingdom is not of this world otherwise my servants would fight. If it was like your kingdom Pilate then my servants would be fighting.

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That's not how Jesus gains victory. That's not how Jesus actually purchases victory.

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How did Jesus win you? Well he won you by dying for you.

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He won you by living a life you couldn't live. He won you by being the truly righteous one.

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He won you by being the obedient one. He won you and this doesn't make from a human perspective a lick of sense.

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It says that Jesus goes to the cross because of the joy set before him.

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He goes to this moment this pain this brutalization for the joy set before him that he and this no one could possibly understand this as much as you want to say as a human being

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I'll give up my life for another person yes okay people do that yes but not like this not like this.

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Jesus gives up his life and he endures this brutalization and this murder this injustice for people who hate him.

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And if you don't believe that about yourself before Christ you need to hear it.

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The Bible's description of every human being in the world is they are not righteous no not one they are not good.

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The way we are described in Romans chapter 1 is people who suppress the truth of God and unrighteousness and we are haters of God enemies.

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By nature Paul says Ephesians 2 by nature children of wrath.

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That's the truth. You want to know why this story is both ugly and beautiful? Because that's true of you and me.

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It is beautiful because you are the rebel the hater of God the enemy of God you are the child of wrath and Jesus endures this hardship this brutalization to purchase people who hate him.

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There is no greater love than that. There is no more powerful display in all of human history of love than this moment.

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There is no better story in human history than this story. You can't top it.

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It can only be emulated and copied. It can't be topped. The God that we've offended stepping into human history to chase down rebels who hate him.

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We often complain against God. We do. We complain against God for our sufferings and our plight.

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We complain against God for the evil that's in the world. It's interesting too because Pastor James has recently been trying to offer help to the church by refuting a very, very erroneous, fallacious, and unbiblical perspective of the sovereignty of God related to the problem of evil in the world.

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People are trying to wrap their minds around that one. If God is a good God, then why is there so much evil in the world? I'm not going to even begin to address that for the moment, but just to emphasize this.

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Why is it such a powerful objection? Because we all feel pain. We all have endured evil and suffering in the world and so we feel the weight of it.

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And people at times will cry out to God and they'll say things to God like, God, why me?

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Right? And you must be the absentee landlord and you don't even care and you seem to be just off too busy doing something else than to care about me and our plight and the evil in the world.

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Where is God in all this evil? You want to know why this is the greatest story in the world?

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Because he's right here. He enters into a fallen, rebellious world and he endures everything you and I taste in this fallen world.

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Betrayal, abandonment, lies, hunger, thirst, beating, brutalization, murder.

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So when you say to God, where were you or why aren't you this? You read this moment of Scripture and you look at the glory of the

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King. God loves his sinful people so much that he endures everything this fallen world has to throw at him because he loves you.

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This moment is beautiful and it is ugly. It is both. But here's the final word of challenge.

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Okay, you've heard all that. Where are you with him, though? Because as James mentioned before the sermon today, all the depictions of Jesus as the meek and mild and lowly little baby and helpless little baby and all these different things, there's a place for that.

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Yes. And there's a place for this moment where there's a crown of thorns and there is a reed and not a scepter in his hands, right?

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And there's a scarlet robe and a purple robe and all of this. So yeah, there's this moment of betrayal and abuse and nailing

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Jesus to this cross. But that was only a moment because he overcame death in victory and he is raised and seated on his throne.

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He is the conquering king now. He's accomplished victory over death and sin and so the call of the gospel now going into the world is he is not lowly and meek and broken anymore.

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He is resurrected from the dead and he is the conquering king and the call of the gospel is that the father has raised

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Jesus from the dead and now God commands men everywhere to repent. So where are you with Jesus?

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He won't be touched like this anymore. When he comes back, it's going to be very different.

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It'll be about justice and judgment. So where will you be? Will you be someone who will be standing with other believers, glorifying

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God and extolling all the amazing things about it is finished, that it's accomplished, that it's over, that I'm forgiven?

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Or will you be somebody facing God's justice and wrath because of your sin and your rebellion?

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Where will you stand? Will you be in Adam or will you be in Christ? The call of the gospel is to repent and to believe the gospel, come to Christ and live.

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Let's pray. Father, I pray that you bless the word that went out today for your glory and kingdom. Help us to understand.