How Jesus Suffered For Us

God Centered Theology

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We don't spend a whole lot of time talking about how Jesus suffered. That's right,

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I have got my amen corner solidified with my dear friend Hudson. He's like the cutest kid in the world.

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I love that little boy. I got my amen corner now. But think about it.

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So we've got brother Pears Cross over here. Before Jesus ever was put on it, before the first nail was ever drove into a hand or into a foot,

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He suffered. We don't spend enough time talking about how Christ suffered before He was ever put on there.

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Now, that in and of itself, that's the whole basis for eternal life. And that's important.

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And we're going to cover a portion of that and we're going to flow into next week where we'll also be looking at that in earnest and also the resurrection.

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But I want to spend the bulk of today, and maybe you've never took the time to read it. Maybe you've never been taught it.

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Maybe you've never really, like I was, I mean, I'm just admitting to you before a couple weeks ago when I started thinking about this,

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I never really considered it. I mean, I kind of knew, I knew the stories, I knew, I knew the account, I knew what happened.

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But when you really go through it and think about it, it puts a whole new perspective on what that cross really means and what

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He suffered for us. Now, we're going to do this with various scriptures.

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So if you have your Bibles, the first section we're going to be in is Matthew chapter 26, Matthew chapter 26.

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And this is when Jesus was before Caiaphas, the high priest. Matthew chapter 26, beginning in verse 57, it says,

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Those who had seized Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were gathered together.

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Notice here that this isn't some private thing. This isn't a behind the scenes or a back channel thing or, you know, in, you know, sort of where nobody really knows what's going on.

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It isn't like a closed door meeting where He just had to go behind for one person. This is in public and everybody shows up, all the religious elite, those who think, you know, they're so great and dressed so well and so proper and would never break any of God's laws.

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In fact, we're so good at God's laws, He didn't have enough. So we're going to go ahead and add another 600 to them and then we're going to hold it over everybody's head and we're going to make them feel like, you know, you need to follow ours and they're more important.

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All of them show up, the high priest, the chief priest, all functions, all roles, they're all there.

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It says, But Peter was following at a distance as far as the courtyard of the high priest and entered in and sat down with the officers to see the outcome.

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Now, the chief priest and the whole council kept trying to obtain false testimony.

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Jesus was an innocent man. He was perfectly submitted to Roman authority, but not because Roman Rome had the authority.

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He perfectly submitted to Rome's authority, didn't break any laws and was innocent because it was part of Him being in submission to the

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Father's will. It was the Father's will that He be sinless. He was sinless. I've said this many times.

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It wasn't just that Jesus lived and didn't commit any sin. He was incapable of sinning.

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He knew nothing but righteousness and He was complete submission. He completely and perfectly upheld the law, all the

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Jewish requirements, the Jewish law. He had nothing that you could bring to charge to Him. In fact, as you look at the different accounts in the

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Gospels, many people in many different ways tried over and over to bring just one charge against Him that was legitimate.

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Pilate, the whole way he reacts to Christ, shows you there was nothing legitimate.

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Pilate was the kind of guy, even if it was the most minor little thing, if he had a good reason to put you to death, he'd just do it and be done with it.

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And Pilate's like, I'm washing my hands of this guy. He's an innocent man. I don't want nothing to do with him. You want to do something with it?

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Handle it. Have at it. But I ain't got nothing to do with it. False testimony against Jesus so that they might put

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Him to death. It tells you right there their motive. This wasn't about justice. This wasn't about the

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Jewish law. This wasn't about doing right in the eyes of anything. This was about, we don't like what

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He's saying. We don't like what He's preaching. We don't like who He is. We don't like who He claims to be.

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We want Him dead. We want Him off the scene. Gone. And of course,

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He is completely misrepresented. Very often, they'll bring up the subject matter about Him tearing down the temple and rebuilding it in three days, and they misquote it.

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They don't get it right. They completely misrepresent Him, all in an attempt to try to bring a legitimate charge against Him, which they fail every time.

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An innocent man. Notice in verse 60, it said, they did not find any.

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Even though many false witnesses came forward.

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In other accounts, it talks about many of these false claims were things like, you know, He's trying to tell us we shouldn't pay taxes to Caesar.

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Is that what Jesus said? No. Render to Caesar that which is

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Caesar, to God that which is God, ring a bell. He's saying He's going to take over.

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Yada, yada, yada, whatever, et cetera. None of it's true. All fabrications, misrepresentations.

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But later on, two came forward and said, this man stated, I am able to destroy the temple of God and to rebuild it in three days.

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That's not what he said. It's just not factually accurate. If you turn on the news today, you might see a little bit of this going on.

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Isn't it interesting? And this drives me insane. I'm going to pre -warn you.

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I'm going to try not to go off on this soapbox. I'm going to say this very quickly, move on. It drives me nuts when they parade a

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Christian on TV to speak about Christianity, and they don't have a clue what

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Christianity is. They've never read this Bible, and if they have, they see it as a self -help guide, not as something that has the power to transform your life into Christ -likeness.

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But the whole world, as far as the media is concerned, is, well, this is what

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Christianity is. Now, we're not Jesus, but being

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Christ -like, you will participate in the sufferings of Christ. And this is part of it, being misrepresented and on that level.

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The high priest stood up and said to him, do you not answer? What is it that these men are testifying against you?

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But Jesus kept silent, and the high priest said to him, I adjure you by the living

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God that you tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus said to him, you have said it yourself.

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Nevertheless, I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven.

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Verse 65, then the high priest tore his robes and said, he is blasphemed.

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What further need do we have of witnesses? Behold, you have now heard the blasphemy.

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What do you think? And they answered and said, he deserves death. The high priests, chief priests, elders, scribes,

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Pharisees, the Sadducees, who didn't believe in the erections, that's why they were sad, you see.

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One of the youth pastors I know told me that one time, I was like, dude, I'm so stealing that and using that in a sermon one day.

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The day has come. All these people, all of them, whom

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Jesus had was dragged before, they reveal their hearts here in verse 66 of Matthew 26, and they show that their only motivation, their only goal was to see

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Jesus put to death. Come hell or high water, the expression goes, whatever it takes, whatever levels we have to stoop to, whatever lies we have to tell, as long as it gets done, that's all we care about.

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And here, my friends, is where we start into the suffering. Verse 67, then they spat in his face and beat him with their fists and others slapped him.

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These people, this wasn't, you know, three to five people sitting in a room.

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This was a lot of people. Now when the Roman cohort is mentioned later, we know pretty, with pretty good certainty, this is a battalion of about 600

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Roman soldiers. I looked and looked, I couldn't find a definitive. With more research, I probably could have found the answer, but I don't know the exact number here.

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But I can guarantee you there was probably a few hundred people here, easily. And they go full mob mentality at this point.

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They surround Jesus. They spit in his face, which for a Jewish person, this was the highest way to insult someone.

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Have you, and you don't need to raise your hands or anything, but just think about this to yourself. Have you ever had anybody literally spit in your face before?

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I have. And after I got done pouncing on him, my brother apologized.

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And I accepted his apology. I wasn't mean. I don't even remember what caused it, but he just,

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I was like, dude, did you just spit on me? Like, yeah.

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Like, then I just, I went black and when I woke up, I was on top of him. I mean, I was, you know,

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I'm, you know, and in that case, you know, I don't think I necessarily felt insulted as much as I did feel rage.

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But if you've ever been spit in your face and it's because someone's trying to insult you, imagine that in their culture.

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To them, that was the highest form of insult. To me, and I won't give examples, but I'm thinking of things in my mind.

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If some people were to do to me or say to me that would insult me to a degree, far level, far higher than some other things.

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And with those of you, there's probably certain things that would insult you higher than maybe me and so on and so forth.

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But for the Jewish culture, this was it. To spit in someone's face was the highest insult.

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And they're not just doing it once. They're not taking turns. They're doing it at once, all of them at one time, and it's continuous.

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And they beat him with their fists. We find out from the account in Luke, verse 68 says, well, start over 67, it says, and they spat in his face and beat him with their fists and others slapped him.

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So you had some beating him with fists, closed hand, and some were slapping him with an open hand.

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And then they would say to him, prophesy to us, you Christ, who is the one who hit you? In the account in Luke, we find out that at this point they had blindfolded him.

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So this makes us understand why here they were saying to him, prophesy to us who hit you.

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Now, could he have? Oh yeah. Wow. He could have also called 10 ,000 angels and wiped out every last one of them and done with it.

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But would we have life that way? No. Oh, how he suffered for you and me.

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True mob mentality. Our second section I want you to go with is just one chapter over.

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Go to Matthew chapter 27, picking up in verse 19. Matthew chapter 27, picking up in verse 19.

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This is the section now where he's before Pilate and it was customary for him to release one of the prisoners.

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So the people demand Barabbas to be released and to crucify Jesus. And this is this whole account here.

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Verse 19, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, this is Pilate sitting there. His wife sent him a message saying, have nothing to do with that righteous man.

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Pilate's wife seems to have come to the understanding that he's a righteous man.

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And what's wrong with the rest of them? For last night

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I suffered greatly in a dream because of him. I would suggest to you that God got ahold of this lady's heart.

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But the chief priests and the elders notice these guys just keep rearing their ugly heads. The chief priests and elders once again persuade the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to put

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Jesus to death. But the governor said to them, which of the two do you want me to release to you? And they said,

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Barabbas. Pilate said to them, then what shall I do with Jesus who was called Christ? They all said, crucify him.

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And he said, why? What evil has he done? But they keep on, keep shouting all the more saying, crucify him, crucify him, crucify him.

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And when Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting.

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Keep that phrase in mind. I'm going to come back to it in just a second. A riot was starting. He took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd saying,

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I'm innocent of this man's blood. See to that yourselves. Pilate was more fearful and more scared over the political element of what was going on in front of him than he was concerned with truth.

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The truth was Jesus was innocent. The truth was Pilate knew it.

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But because of another, it says it, notice it says a riot, but rather that a riot was starting.

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This was not the first riot that had occurred. He recognized it, saw that it was starting and said,

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I better deal with this now or we're going to be in a whole host of trouble here. We see this in today's world.

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I mentioned the person they prayed on TV. So many Christians. And I'm in the same boat.

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There's been times where I haven't said or done what I should have done out of fear. We all do it. We're all fearful.

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We don't want to be insulted. We don't want to be torn down. We don't want to potentially lose a job or whatever else.

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So instead of standing for truth, we, well, we weigh the politics of it. My friends,

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I don't care if it's Barack Obama, Donald Trump, or whoever comes after Trump 50 years from now, whoever,

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Jesus is still on the throne and he's not getting up until he returns.

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I love America. I love our system of government as founded, but my friends,

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I'd much rather be living in the kingdom of Jesus Christ on earth. I'd gladly give America up today if it meant

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Jesus Christ was literally on the earth ruling and reigning. Politics are important, but just like Pilate, politics doesn't change truth, period.

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And he's making a political decision here. Verse 25, all the people said, his blood shall be on us and on our children, boy, would they come to regret that sermon for another day, but they would stay.

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Many of them come to regret that. Then he released Barabbas for them and notice this here, but after having

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Jesus scourged, he handed him over to be crucified. Talking about adding insult to injury,

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I want to read a quote for you. This is out of the commentary that I have on this chapter of Matthew by John MacArthur.

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I use him a lot. There's other people I read, I do read other people, but I mainly use him because there's

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I like to follow Thomas Rainer for leadership issues, but MacArthur has a way of putting things and explaining things and he explains this scourging very well.

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This is a direct quote. He says, the whip used for scourging had a short wooden handle to the end of which were attached several leather thongs.

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Each thong was tipped with very sharp pieces of metal or bone. The man to be scourged was tied to a post by the wrist high over his head with his feet dangling and his body taut.

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Often there were two scourgers, one on either side of the victim who took turns lashing him across the back.

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Muscles would be lacerated, veins and arteries torn open. It was not uncommon for kidneys, spleen or other organs to be exposed and slashed.

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Now I certainly don't hate to have to be so graphic, but my friends, this is not just a fairy tale.

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This is real history. This is exactly what happened to our Savior. So to me, it's important that we understand this.

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As would be expected, many men died of scourging before they could even be taken out for execution.

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And while we do not know the full extent of Jesus's wounds, he was so weakened by them he was not even able to carry his own cross after this.

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MacArthur goes on to say in the next paragraph in this book, Despite the accusatory verbiage of that tragic night, it was not really

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Jesus who was on trial but the rest of the world. The Jewish religious community condemned themselves as they viciously demanded his crucifixion.

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The fickle multitudes condemned themselves as they mindlessly went along with their leaders.

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Mob mentality. Herod condemned himself as he mocked the king of kings.

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Pilate condemned himself as he willingly allowed an innocent man to be put to death, choosing the world and politics above the

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Son of God. And through the ridicule, scorn, and blood, the sinless

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Son of God was still further exalted. So at this point, he's been beaten, slapped, mocked, spit upon, and scourged.

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And he's not even on the cross yet. Bleeding profusely.

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Weak. Just imagine the physical fitness that Jesus had to have been in to be alive at this point.

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Verse 27, Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the praetorium and gathered the whole

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Roman cohort around them. This is these roughly 600 Roman soldiers I referenced earlier.

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They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. Now they didn't just nicely, very easily take his jacket off.

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They ripped it off. And imagine, you know, he's stripped down to be scourged. They put that back on.

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Now imagine ripping it back off. And they put this scarlet robe on him. And to these soldiers,

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Jesus wasn't anything special. He was simply another condemned prisoner that they had the liberty to abuse, punish, hurt, and publicly embarrass as much as they so desired.

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The only thing that held them back was that they were not to allow their prisoner to be killed before the actual specific commanded execution.

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And for Jesus, it was crucifixion. So as long as they kept him alive to the point they got him on a cross and nailed him on, their job was done.

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They only had to worry about the person dying beforehand. These soldiers enjoyed doing what they did.

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They were professional killers. You know, they were probably amused at this man in front of them that he claimed to be the

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Son of God and claimed to be king. And they were probably thinking, look at you now, some king, some king you are.

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Verse 28, they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. That's sort of interesting.

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In the book of Isaiah, chapter 1, verse 18, it says,

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Come now and let us reason together, says the Lord, though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow.

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Though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool. Isn't it interesting, my friends, that in the very moment that soldiers were mocking him, they clothed him in the very thing that he was about to take on for us that place our faith and trust in Jesus Christ.

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He was in a picture with a robe of what he would literally do a few hours later, clothing himself in the very sins of the world so that all who believe on him could be made white as snow.

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Irony for these soldiers, I would venture to say. And it doesn't stop there.

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Verse 29, and after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head. I grew up in a home of land surveyors.

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And from the age of 10, you were told you were going to go to work. I even tried pretending

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I had strep throat one time to get out of it. I still ended up in the woods that day. Have any of you, well, we have many hunters, so I imagine you hunters would say, thorns are a kind of thing you don't really want to come up on.

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Have you ever had them dig in, and yes, they do go through denim. I know this firsthand. They hurt.

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They hurt, man. I don't like thorns. That's why I'm a pastor, not a land surveyor.

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And they put this crown together. And no, they did not just very gently lay it on top of his head to make sure it wouldn't hurt him.

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They shoved it down on top of his head. Once again,

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I love the Bible. You know, by the way, I think it has the power to transform your life. I don't know if I've told you that before.

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I just love how the Bible is consistent, it's balanced, it's perfect. Crown of thorns, huh?

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Genesis chapter 3 and verse 17. Then to Adam he said, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree about which

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I commanded you saying you should not eat from it, cursed is the ground because of you. In toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.

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Both thorns and thistles shall grow for you.

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And you will eat the plants of the field by the sweat of your face. You will eat bread until you return to the ground because from it you were taken.

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For you are dust and to dust you shall return.

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Oh how prideful these religious and they are but dust.

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Putting a crown of thorns on our Savior's head. In a picture, the whole point of...

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We have the curse, the sin curse. Thorns, thistles, disease, cancer.

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Everything that goes with it. Result of sin. Here's the

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Son of God, the second person of the Trinity. Hasn't even been put on the cross yet. And a picture of that curse is on his head now.

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A picture of our sin and the reason he had to go there to begin with is now firmly shoved down on his head.

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My friends, in a very literal and real way, he died for sin. But also in his suffering before the cross, many things were done to picture for us what he would do in a very real way in dealing with sin so that we can have eternal life.

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Picking back up in Matthew 27. Verse 29, and after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and a reed in his right hand.

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And they knelt down before him and mocked him saying, Hail, King of the Jews. Then in verse 30, they spit on him again.

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And then they take the reed that they gave him to mock him, because after all, he's royalty, he's a king, as they say.

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They take this reed back from him and then beat him with it on his head.

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And keep in mind, it does not say they took the crown of thorns off first and then beat him on the head. The crown of thorns is still on his head and they're beating him on the head with the reed that they gave him to mock him.

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Oh, how he suffered for us. Verse 30, they spat on him and took the reed and began to beat him on the head.

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And after they had mocked him, they took the scarlet robe off him and put his own garments back on him and led him away to crucify him.

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Well, I guess finally, you know, they'd had enough with him. You know, we've heard him enough.

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I guess we'll go get around to that whole crucifixion thing, right? Boy, I would not want to be these guys at the judgment.

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Oh, I would not want to be them. It's very interesting that they give him this reed or this staff and then take it and beat him on the head with it.

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Why? Because I love the inerrancy of the Bible. I love the beauty of Scripture. So let's once again, let's take a look at this reed in another way.

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The book of Revelation chapter 19. And I saw heaven open and behold a white horse and he who sat on it is called faithful and true and in righteousness he judges and wages war.

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His eyes are a flame of fire and on his head are many diadems and he has a name written on him which no one knows except himself.

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He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood clothed in fine linen and his name is called the

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Word of God and the armies which are in heaven clothed in fine linen white and clean were following him on white horses.

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From his mouth comes a sharp sword so that with it he may strike down the nations and he will rule with a rod of ice.

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Have your fun religious elite. Have your fun mocking him Roman soldiers.

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Put a robe on him, put a crown of thorns on him spit on him, beat him with a reed because one day he's coming back and he's going to have a crown, he's going to have a robe he's going to have a rod and he's going to rule and the dust of these people will be dealt with because that's all we are is dust.

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We are nothing without Jesus Christ and we are everything in him.

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Have your fun. The hour of darkness was upon them and they had their day they got to do what they got to do but another day is coming and Jesus is going to come back to this earth and when he does no one else will have any glory in that moment except for him.

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These soldiers, these religious elite might have thought they were having some glory filled day here look at what we're doing to this guy that claimed to be a king.

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Look what Revelation says he's going to do to you one day when he comes back. Lastly for this morning, same chapter chapter 27 picking up in verse 35 and when they had crucified him and this doesn't speak to his actual when he gives up his spirit and dies this is just to deverve to crucify now at this point he is literally hung on the cross the nails are in place and from what

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I understand they had this big hole dug in the ground and they took this big old beam and just dropped it.

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So imagine when that hit and all that weight comes crashing down but you're nailed on, you're not going anywhere.

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They divided up his garments among themselves by casting lots and sitting down they began to keep watch over him there and above his head they put the charge against him which read this is

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Jesus the king of the Jews and then in verse 41 of the same chapter this is after the section where they had the robbers that were with him hung with him there and people passing by were wagging their heads and mocking him once again and the chief priest just couldn't stand they just couldn't accept the fact that they're already getting him crucified they couldn't just go home with that, they had to come by and mock him again in the same way the chief priest also along with the scribes and elders were mocking him and saying he saved others, he cannot save himself he is the king of Israel let him now come down from the cross and then we will believe him he trusts in God, let

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God rescue him now if he delights in him for he said I am the son of God they say this statement he saved others, he cannot save himself because many of these people if not all of them were there, they saw the miracles they saw

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Jesus perform with power they knew who he was they knew what he was about and they're mocking him look at him now on that cross such a powerful king he is he saved others, let him come down let him save himself news flash he didn't come to save himself he came to save you he came to save me

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Jesus gives up his life verse 50 -54 a lot of things happen from earthquakes so on and so forth this is the last verse

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I want to leave you with today verse 54 it says now the centurion and those this is after Jesus has already cried out yelled his last and give up the spirit now centurion and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening became very frightened and said truly this was the son of God they finally got it

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I didn't spend much time this morning talking about all that he suffered while he was on the cross did I all valid things, all real things look at how much he suffered for us before he ever had the first nail put through his hand my friends sometimes we get so caught up in things that we are doing or what is right in front of us

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I do it, I know y 'all do it we all do it, we're so distracted so caught up that we forget that the greatest truth we will ever know in this world is that Jesus saves

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Jesus saves, do you know him? have you repented of your sin and placed your faith in the person of Jesus Christ?