The Wicked Trial | Pastor Cody May 18th, 2025- Mark 14:53-65

them. Help them to cling to you, to your word, and that Lord, they would embrace their future without fear, but with great courage, and that Lord, you would use them to advance your kingdom for your honor and for your glory. We ask this in your name. Amen. Our call to worship this morning can be found in Psalms 139. 9:es 9- 10 and verse 16. And it says, "If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me and your right hand shall hold me. Your eyes saw my unformed substance. in your book were written every one of them the days that were formed for me when as yet there was none of them graduates wherever your journey leads God's hand guides you church let us worship the God who knows and leads us all I invite you to stand as we uh begin in worship [Music] Let praises now awake the dawn. We'll greet your mercy with a song. Your people stand and sing for all your loving kindness. You carried us in faithfulness upon the paths of righteousness. Our gracious king, you crowned us with your loving kindness. How great is your loving [Music] kindness, oh God of goodness, our joy forever to sing the glad refra forgiveness. Oh, how great is your loving [Music] kindness. You lift us with a father's hand. You shelter us with your commands. A heart could fully comprehend your mercies endless bless. You lead us through the shadows deep. When doubt trace every step it

seems, but as the darkness breaks, we'll see the morning promise. How great is your loving kindness, oh God of goodness, our joy forever to sing that glad we praise grace that saved us of sweet forgiveness. Oh, how great is your loving [Music] kindness down to rescue us with arms stretch upon the cross. The greatest gift for ever was a loving kindness. A life laid down to rescue us with arms outstretched upon the cross. The greatest gift for ever was of loving kindness. Your loving kindness. How great is your loving kindness. Oh God of goodness, our joy forever to sing the glad refra forgiveness. Oh, how great is your loving kind. How [Music] great is your loving kindness. Oh God of goodness, our joy forever to sing the glad [Music] refra forgiveness. Oh, how great is your loving kindness. [Music] Your loving [Music] kindness. Your loving kindness. [Music] How deep the Father's love for us. How vast beyond all measure that he should give his only son to make a wretched treure. How great the pain of searing loss. The father turns his face away. As wounds which mar the chosen one bring many sons to [Music]

gloryy. Behold the man upon a cross. my sin upon his shoulders. Ashamed I hear my mocking voice call out among the scers. It was my sin that held him there until it was unclish. His dying breath has brought delight. I know that it is [Music] finished. I will not boast in. No gifts, no power, no wisdom. But I will boast in Jesus Christ his death and resurrection. Why should I gain from his reward? I cannot give an answer. But this I know with all my heart. His wounds have paid my ransom. Why should I gain from his reward? I cannot give an answer. But this I know with all my heart. His wounds have paid my ransom. But this I know with all my heart. His wounds have my [Music] Amen. We're going to do this. We're going to do this backwards from what some of them usually do it. I'm going to read the scripture part first. Okay, that way I've got your attention because this is this is important stuff. When you read the scripture, it's important stuff. Amen. The question is, how does Christ execute the office of a prophet? In Hebrews 1 1 and2 it says long ago at many times and in many ways God spoke to our fathers by the prophets but in these last days he has spoken to us by his son whom he appointed the heir of all things. Through him also he created the world. And also in Luke 4:24 27 it says and he said truly I say to you no prophet is acceptable in his hometown but in truth I tell you there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah when the heavens were shut up three years and six months and a great famine came over all the land. And Elijah was

sent to none of them, but only to Zarapath in the land of Siden to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha. And none of them was cleansed, but only non the Syrian. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, this morning we we come with our resources that you've given us and we're giving back some of that and uh you own all of it and u also we we have se seven young people here that today that have their whole life in front of them. Uh they've graduated from high school and they've got a a long way to go. But we know that if they honor your word and honor you that they're going to do great things. And I pray for each one of them that that will happen in Jesus name. Amen. After the plates's been passed, if you would join us in standing as we worship and we thank Jesus for his broken body, for his shed blood so that way we could be made right with God. There's no keys coming through, are there? Can you guys hear the piano out there? No. Okay. Can you guys hear the keyboard at all? Okay. I was like I'm like I hear it in my ear. Sorry. Let's try that again. Go ahead. There it [Music] is. I was a rich. I remember who I was. I was lost. I was blind. I was running out of time. Sin separated. The breach was far too wide. But from the far side of the chasm, he held me in your sight. So you made a

way across the great divide. Left behind heaven strong to build it here inside. There at the cross you paid the debt I owed. Broke my chains. Bring my soul. For the first time I had hope. Thank you Jesus for the blood applied. Thank you Jesus. It has washed me white. Thank you Jesus. You have saved my life. Brought me from the darkness into glorious [Music] life. You took my place, laid inside my tomb of sin. You were buried for 3 days, but then you walked right out again, and now death has no sting, and life has no end. For I have been transformed by the blood of the lamb. Thank you Jesus for the blood of life. Thank you Jesus. It has washed me white. Thank you Jesus. You have saved my life. brought me from the darkness into glorious light. There is nothing stronger than the wonderworking power of the blood. The blood that calls the sons and daughters. We are ransom by your father through the blood. The blood. There is nothing stronger than the wonder working power of the blood. [Music] of that calls sons and daughters. We are ransom by our father through the blood. The blood. Thank you Jesus for the blood of life.

Thank you Jesus. It has washed me white. Thank you Jesus. You have saved my life. Brought me from the darkness into glorious life. [Music] Thank you Jesus for the blood of life. Thank you Jesus. It has washed me white. Thank you Jesus. You have saved my life. [Music] brought me from the darkness into glorious [Music] [Applause] light. Want to bow your heads. Father God, thank you for bringing our brothers and sisters together in your house. And um Father God, I ask you to enter Cody and speak through him as he preaches your word, Lord. And Father, we thank you for everything. We love you so much for being such a great father in Jesus name. Amen. Well, if you have your Bible, and I hope that you do, please turn with me to Mark 14. Mark 14 verse 53 um through 65 is where we're going to be today. We're talking about the the trial of Jesus Christ. And um Jesus has been arrested. He's been forcibly taken into Jerusalem. He's been abandoned by his disciples, thrown around by the guards, and he is entering the darkest, most hypocritical, most vile room in the history of the planet. It was a place where Satan was. Satan was invested in what was happening to the Lord Jesus Christ. But he didn't know that Christ was in control. He he had full sovereignty in this situation. And I want you to imagine for a moment um what your attitude or your response would be to uh being falsely accused of something, right? What would your attitude be like?

You might might protest really strongly. there's no, you know, and you're you're you're you're yelling and you're defending yourself or maybe maybe you decide to run, right? Um, you know, what what is it like when you're you're accused, you're mocked. Let's say that you were standing trial for something that you didn't do. What would your reaction be? Now, I want you to consider Jesus, the sinless son of God, who endured the shame, the mocking, the scorn, all the vile accusations on your behalf. I doubt many of us are ever going to have to deal with a mock trial where the judges are seeking to condemn us. At least, I hope not. But Jesus did. And these judges, they are not seeking truth in this situation. They've been seeking a way to destroy Christ ever since the beginning of the book of Mark. The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him. How to destroy him. They've already established he's guilty. Doesn't matter what Jesus says or does. Doesn't matter. They want Jesus destroyed. They want him dead. They want his name forgotten. This rabbel rousing rabbi from Galilee would be just a a small footnote in the history of Israel if they have anything to say about it. But they don't understand God's redemptive plan. It's way better than they could ever possibly imagine. I want you to consider that and think on it. Christ's unjust condemnation, his divine identity, and his sacrificial obedience prove that his atonement is sufficient and that we can trust him. Let's all stand together in honor of God's word as we read Mark 14:es 53 through 65. God's word. It says

this, "And they talking about the the guards and the temple guards and the Romans, okay? They led Jesus to the high priest and all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together and Peter followed him at a distance right into the courtyard of the high priest and he was sitting with the guards and warming himself at the fire. Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death. But they found none. For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree. And some stood up and bore false witness against him, saying, "We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another not made with hands." Yet even about this, their testimony did not agree. And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, "Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?" But he remained silent and made no answer. Again, the high priest asked him, "Are you the Christ, the son of the blessed?" And Jesus said, "I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven." And the high priest tore his garments and said, "What further witnesses do we need? You have heard this blasphemy. What is your decision? And they all condemned him as deserving death. And some began to spit on him, to cover his face, and to strike him saying "Prophesy." And the guards received him with blows. Let's pray. So Lord, we do thank you for this time uh that we get to have to learn about your word, but we just ask this morning that you would help it to fall fresh on our hearts. uh give us spiritual understanding. Give us spiritual eyes to see exactly what you're what you want us to learn from this passage. Lord, it's

it's chalk full of information, but let us not learn information for information's sake, but so that we would know you better. We ask, Lord, that you would move in us, that you would uh move in our hearts. We do want to lift up to you the many people that we know and that we love that are really just going through it. Lord, we constantly want to lift up to you and remember uh Vern and Denny. We want to lift up to you Steve Warren and Cindy, Judy Juel, and many others that are preparing for for different surgeries. And thanks God. Please uh be with them. uh also be with uh uh lost people that are in this room right now. I pray that they would hear this message today and that their hearts would be um made new by your your holy spirit. God, that you would call them out of darkness and into uh your glorious light. God, we ask that you would please speak to our hearts today. Help us to know you better in Jesus name. Amen. Well, the temple complex um contained the seat of the Sanhedrin. Uh this is the archaeological site. We're going to uh actually study this a little bit more next week as we talk about Peter's betrayal. Uh this is Caiaphas's house. You might say, "Man, I really don't see how that could be a house." There's actually a stairwell up to the courtyard. Um, oh well, I thought there was another picture there. Oh, there it is. Thanks. Um, so this is uh uh just digital reconstruction. This is the courtyard right here uh that that Peter is in. Uh this is the open area where the uh Caiaphas and all the the Sanhedrin would have met uh in order to uh convict Christ. Now the Sanhedrin, they were the ruling council of the Jews and they would make decisions regarding their own people and there were strict rules strict rules uh regarding the the

how trials should be conducted. Uh one of the rules is that the Sanhedrin would only meet at the temple mount. It's the only place they would meet. It was called the uh the place of hune stone. And the scriptures, they clearly teach that they take him to Caiaphas's residence. This is where the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes, they all gather to accuse Jesus. And they gather in the early hours of the morning. This is probably roughly around 3:00 a.m. at this time. Now this is not the entire Sanhedrin because we know that there were some followers of Jesus that were a part of that. Men like Joseph Arythea, Nicodemus, guys like that. But this is a quorum, right? If you're familiar with business meetings, you know there has to be a certain amount of people to be there in order to uh reflect the majority uh or or to conduct business. The high priest this year, he was an extremely influential man. His name is Joseph Caiaphas. He was exceptionally powerful. The average tenure of a high priest at this time was roughly about four years. This man, he ruled all of Israel for 19 years. His surname, which is how we know him as Caiaphas, uh is best translated inquisitor. He was known as that, the inquisitor. He was not a good man. He was not a righteous man. He was not a holy man. Uh this this whole event takes place in a kangaroo court, which for little ones that doesn't mean that's a court full of kangaroos. It's it it it's a sham. It's a false trial. For example, a couple of the rules that they violated, we know that they met in the wrong place, but also the Jewish courts weren't allowed to make decisions between uh sunset and sunrise. They did not conduct any business with issues regarding capital punishment. Those couldn't be considered

during feast days. They couldn't be considered before feast days or immediately after feast days. Uh and so there's just a few of the rules that they're violating their own rules in order to try to condemn the Lord Jesus. And it just shows us that even the lost will violate their own conscience when their sinful desires are great enough. And that's not surprising because guess what? We were all like that at one point in time, weren't we? It helps us to remember the kind of people that we could be if it wasn't for the grace of God in our own lives. Now, Peter, he's outside of Caiaphas's house. And Johnny tells us how Peter was able to get into this area. In John 18:16, Peter, he stood outside at the door. So, the other disciple who was known to the high priest went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door and brought Peter in. So John and Peter, they are both there in the courtyard and they're with the guards, likely the servants, not not the Roman guards or anyone like that, but they served in the high priest home. At this point in time in the night, most of them would have gone away, but something big's happening. They are there. They present, but Peter, we're going to focus on him. They are following Jesus at a distance. And this is a good place for us to ask ourselves, are we following Jesus at a distance? Like there's many followers of Christ that they want to do the bare minimum to be considered a follower of Christ. Like they they'll follow, they won't abandon. Maybe maybe they will for a short period of time, but they're back, right? But church isn't a priority. Neither is Bible study, prayer, spiritual habits, evangelism, mission work, serving in the church. But by golly, they will live for Jesus. Before we laugh, we need to look at ourselves, right? Like, am I there?

Am I following Jesus at a distance? Do people know where my allegiance lies? So, stop following Jesus from a distance. Live for him today. And let's give credit where credit's due. Because the other nine are missing. They're gone. But they are there. and they are present in the midst of hostility. Meanwhile, the chief priests and the rest of the group that are condemning Christ, they are not acting as judges seeking truth. They were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none. This leads us to the first point that we have here is that Christ, he endured unjust accusations. These men, they have had years to develop a case against Jesus Christ. They had heard of him a testing of himself in the temple according to John's gospel. They heard about what Jesus had said about himself. They had years to develop this case. And they cannot accuse Jesus of any wrongdoing. And why is that? Because he is actually innocent. He did not do anything sinful or wrong. I didn't say that he was weak. I said he was innocent. He hadn't done a single thing. And they even hired false witnesses. Can you imagine the scandal of bribing actors to come into a court of law and giving false witness? We've never seen that before, have we? But that's the thing about about lies is that the story changes. There's contradictions and that's what happens with those who are deceptive. And yet Christ, he endured these accusations knowing that he was surrounded by liars, by cheats, by murderers. And yet this is the cost of our redemption because all scripture had to be fulfilled in order for our redemption. Look at Isaiah 53:7. He was oppressed and he was afflicted. Yet he opened not his mouth like a lamb that is led to the slaughter and like a sheep

that before its sheerers is silent. So he opened not his mouth. He suffered unjustly so that you and I could receive salvation by grace. He opened not his mouth against the accusations against these false witnesses. You know lies they never carry the conviction of truth, do they? false witnesses even today they will try to slander or minimize Jesus Christ but that word that word witness there in verse 56 it's the word marteria uh it's where we get our word martyr from because Christians that's what they did is that they were very eloquent with their words because they had they had met Christ they had experienced a complete and radical life change and so because they were bearing witness of the resurrected Lord they were called martyrs marturio Here in verse 57 is a different word. It's pseudo martio. Uh so you think of uh uh pseudocience like false science and and stuff like that. Pseudocsychology not true. In verse 58 it's an example of this false witness. If we look at uh 14 verse 58 we heard him say I will destroy this temple that is made with hands and in three days I will build another not made with hands. Now Jesus, he said something like this, but he didn't say this. This is an example of satanic lies where there's a bunch of truth with a mixture of deception. Here's what Jesus actually said. And oh, went the wrong way. Sorry. Uh, in John chapter 2, Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up." That's a lot different. That's a lot different. The Jews then said, "It has taken 46 years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?" But he was talking about the temple of his body. Notice Jesus, he doesn't say, "I will destroy the temple." He says,

"Destroy this temple." To talk about the destruction of the temple was sometimes considered a capital offense. Not just with Jesus, but even in the Old Testament, 700 years before this, Jeremiah, he prophesizes against this house. Look at what it says. The priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord, talking about this house being destroyed. And when Jeremiah had finished speaking, all the people uh speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people. Then the priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold of him, saying, "You shall die." Why have he prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, "This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate without inhabitant, and all the people gathered around Jeremiah in the house of the Lord." Jesus, he's not talking about Herod's temple being destroyed. Rather, he is talking about his body being destroyed. Christ Jesus did not hold the temple in high regard at all. He did not ever teach that was the dwelling place of God. In fact, Stephen, he says this in Acts chapter 7. Yet the most high does not dwell in houses made by hands as the prophet says. Heaven is my throne. God bless you, Jeremy. Thank you. And the earth is my foottool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord? Or what is the place or what is the place of my rest? Did not my hand make all these things? You see, this church, this facility is not God's house. That's a cultural phrase. Has no bearing upon the word of God at all. That's just something that culturally people said. I know that that goes all over some of you, but it's the truth based upon what the word of God says. It's a resource that the Lord has

given to us that we should take good care of. You know, we we should take really good care of our facility. Uh we should do everything that we can to make sure that it's that it looks nice, that we're respectful of it because it's not mine. It's not yours. It's something that the Lord has entrusted to us. There's nothing inherently holy about this pulpit. Okay? Something nothing mysterious happens where, you know, as I stand behind the pulpit, all of a sudden it becomes not Cody, right? uh as as a Christian you have the Holy Spirit within you and therefore the seat that you are sitting in is just as holy as this pulpit that I stand in which should not minimize the pulpit but should elevate your seat. It should elevate your life should elevate your home. Should elevate elevate the way that you work, the way that you talk, the way that you act, the way that you speak to your family. should impact everything that you do because Christ himself dwells in our hearts the moment that we receive salvation. And so everywhere that Christians go, it becomes holy and useful to the Lord. Christ was not concerned about the temple because it was a building. Steven's word words does not dwell in houses made by hands is not a positive phrase but a derogatory one. You think that God delights just simply in the the wood and the studs and the stones. We would say the brick and the ethernet cables and the lights. The food of Christ was to do the will of the father. And Christ was pointing everyone to the fact that Jesus is the true temple. Jesus is the one that we must enter into in order to have full atonement and to commune with God. This is what the prophets look forward to. In 2 Samuel, it says this, "He shall build a house for my name, and I will

establish the throne of his kingdom forever." Now this was partially fulfilled um under uh under Solomon but truly it is fulfilled by Jesus Christ. In Zechariah 6:12, it says, "And say to him, thus says the Lord of hosts, behold the man whose name is the branch," talking about Jesus, "for he shall branch out from his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord." The false witnesses, they even got the part wrong about rebuilding it. Jesus doesn't say that he would rebuild it. He says that he would raise it up, talking about his own body. And this proves what I'm saying about Christ's body being the new and the better temple. And this is one reason why Christians should not be encouraging the building of the second temple in Israel or the third temple because to do so actually minimizes Christ's sacrifice and his resurrection. His temple is the only temple that matters. Have you entered into it? I hope for your sake, for the sake of your eternal soul that you have. And the Sanhedrin, they set their best trap. And even their best plots could not ens snare Christ. And that simply proves that Christ is not a victim to a circumstances. He is laying his life down. No one takes it from him. He lays it down willingly because it is his joy to please the father. And so in a last ditch effort, Caiaphas, he stands up and he says, "Don't you have anything to say? What is it that these men testify against you?" But Jesus, he remains silent. He doesn't give an answer. In Mark, he depicts Jesus as the suffering servant. Just like what we read earlier in the book of Isaiah, it's in this final desperate attempt that Caiaphas asked Jesus directly, are you the Christ, the son of the blessed? Now, this is important because son of the blessed is just just a way to

say the son of God. Are you the son of God? Are you the son of the blessed? Now, there's plenty of people in Israel's history that claimed to be the Messiah. Actually, in 100 years after the death of Jesus, after Jerusalem is destroyed, you have all the Israelites that are uh still somewhat around that area. And there was a an influential rabbi, his name was Rabbi Akoba, who openly de declared a man, his name was Bar Kakba, who was the leader of the second revolt against Rome, to be the Messiah. Well, guess what? Everyone believed it. All all the Jewish people, they they believed it even after Barakba's death. But notice Christ's response. He says, "Egoy, I am." This is the profession that Jesus made back in John chapter 5 that got the Jewish people worked up. This is why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own father, making himself equal with God. Later on in John chapter 8 it says Jesus said to them truly truly I say to you before Abraham was ego I am. So they picked up stones to throw at him and Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. When Jesus says I am that's strike one. When he says you will see the son of man that's strike two. Who is the son of man? How would Caiaphas have understood that phrase, the son of man? You might remember when we were in the book of Daniel a few years ago that we talked about this in Daniel chapter 7. It says, "I saw in the night visions and behold with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man and he came to the ancient of days and was presented before him and to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages should

serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away in his kingdom. One that shall not be destroyed. He's not just saying that he's the Messiah. He is here saying that he is divine. Jesus is making this God claim about himself. And he he puts it this way. It is he is the son of God who sits at the right hand of God. or as Jesus puts it, the right hand of power. And so you see, this is not the trap of Satan. The snare is not set by Satan. And Satan goes, "Haha, I won." This is the plan of God. Jesus, he even tells Caiaphas that when you see me, you will see me seated at the right hand of the father and coming with the clouds of heaven. And here Jesus, he publicly claims his divine identity. And so that's strike free three for Caiaphas, right? Jesus's divine nature is the entire cornerstone of our redemption. We look at Hebrews 7. It says, "For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need like those high priests to offer sacrifices daily. First for his own sins, then for those of the people since he did this once for all when he offered himself up. Jesus had to be perfect. He had to be sinless in order for the atonement to actually be effective. In 2 Corinthians 5, it tells us, "For our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." So you see, Christ, he is the sinless son of God. He had to be the one to take our blame. And that was all part of God's divine plan that through the death of Christ, we see God's redemptive purpose. And it is a Jesus claim. It is his truth claim that enrages everyone and it leads to his condemnation for

blasphemy. You ever seen the show Undercover boss? Okay. Like watching that there's like three different kinds of people really. There's there's like the really good worker, right? Who who has some type of heartstring story, you know? It's like, yeah, you know, I work hard, I give myself. They're they're an awesome employee. They're like amazing and and and they're working hard and they're giving themselves up and and and and so you get to know them. They're kind of the one of the main characters. And then then there's like your average employees. They're there. They clock in, they clock out, they work hard, but they really don't go above and beyond. And and so they're kind of extras in the background. But then there's always one at least one guy, right, that's just a turd. He he is I mean he's a jerk. He he's he's there. He's goofing off. Many times it's the manager. He thinks that the company's there to serve him and and he's violating all sorts of rules and protocols. He's being obnoxious or rude. And then the great reveal happens, right? Like and and that's an oh no moment for those people. They know I'm this game over, man. and and and for me like I I look at that and and I think that this is almost it should have been an oh no moment for Caiaphas. I mean Christ he reveals his divine identity and what should have happened was oh no I've I've messed up. I need to get things right. What happens is is he rebelss and he continues to rebel. I believe that in order to be saved, you have to have that oh no moment. You have to be aware of your sin. You got to realize oh no. You need to see your sin for its vileeness, your need for Christ, the despair of knowing that you have no other hope but to flee to the cross of Jesus. You can have that oh no moment

right now or you can have it after you die. When you stand before Christ who is seated at the right hand of the father who has all authority and dominion and power whose kingdom will not ever pass away. So you can take Jesus seriously now or you can take Jesus seriously later. And for those that choose now, you've chosen the better thing. So don't wait. Come to Christ. This is a good place for us to ask Christians, do you believe what Jesus said about himself? I mean, do do you rebel against his authority about what he said about himself? Christ, he reveals himself here is God Almighty. So, that settles it. Okay? He is he's God and he has all authority over you doubly both as your lord and master as the creator because he made you and he has authority over you as savior because he redeemed you. But maybe you're passionate about pursuing your own plan for your life. But Jesus, he demands that he reigns over everything. Our personal goals, our own ambitions, how you spend your money, your time, everything. Maybe you try to justify sinful choices as freedom. You think that his divinity, yeah, it has every right to save you, but it doesn't really have a right to call you to deeper holiness and obedience. God, he has given his moral standards for us. So, you know, if you're sleeping with your boyfriend or your girlfriend or you're living in rebellion, you need to repent. You're getting drunk, you need to repent. You need to walk in the light. If your words are full of cursing and and coarse jokes, then you need to talk to the the Lord who bought you, who redeemed you and get it right. And you talk to someone about that to hold you

accountable and walk in faithfulness. Maybe it's neglecting just spiritual disciplines. Obedience, it never saves. We know that it it is evidence that you're that you're saved. I I heard a pastor recently put it that obedience is not what gets you grace. It's the evidence that grace has gotten you. So if you're tempted to skip things like prayer time, church just church, Bible study, devotions, habitually, like you were called to abide in Christ, to seek first the kingdom of God. Like you can be a Christian and you can not be in prayer and church and Bible study and and things like that. And just like you can be a living human being and starving to death. That's not God's plan for you. I don't think that's evidence that you're saved. Eventually something's going to give. Jesus Christ is Lord. So do you live like he's your Lord? Going back to the passage at hand, we see Caiaphas. He's tearing his robes. He's renting his robes. These were not priestly garments. It's 3:00 in the morning. He is wearing his his dark cloak at this time, his common clothes. And this is a typically a a sign of of tremendous grief in the Old Testament, but here it's not grief. These men do not care about the holiness of God. They might say that they do, but their actions say otherwise. They've in they violated the entire law of God. They're not loving God with all their heart. They're being deceptive. They've blasphemed. They're lying. They're coveting. They're murdering. They're committing idolatry. I mean, it's amazing that Jesus is the innocent one and he's the one that's on trial. Meanwhile, the Sanhedrin, they're the judges that are lifting themselves up in self-righteousness against their creator, against God Almighty.

And the high priest, he he quickly calls the Bethen, the the court to be witness to themselves. Formerly, he asked their opinion. He's saying, "This is blasphemy. You've heard this blasphemy. What do you guys think?" And everyone says, "Death." And here's the thing. If it was anyone other than Jesus, it would have been blasphemy. But it wasn't. They all condemned him as deserving of death. They spit on our Lord. They covered his face. It means that they they put a sack over his head. They began to beat him. And since he was he was making prophetical claims, they said, "Prophesy." And they handed Jesus over to the guards who received him with punches to the stomach. And the atonement that purchased our redemption began. And we see point three, which is Christ's sacrificial obedience. Here we see the mocking. We see the severe abuse that the creator took from his creation because of his great love for his people. But the abuse here, it it fulfills prophecy that was written 750 years before any of this happened. I gave my back to those who strike and my cheeks to those who pull out my beard. I did not hide my face from disgrace and spitting. And yet Christ, he remained obedient to the father's will. He knew that this path of suffering was the path of freedom and salvation for sinners like me and for sinners like you. And the penalty for Christ's actions was only death. Blasphemy, it was a it was a capital offense. According to the law, stoning was the prescribed method for killing a blasphemer. But the Sanhedrin didn't have these rights. So they needed to present the case before Pilate and we'll pick up there next week uh two weeks from today. But please don't lose sight of the purpose of this passage. This passage, it shows the path that Christ took to redeem our souls.

Jesus, he endures all the mocking, all the violence to show his sacrificial love for you. and he takes our shame and our sin so that we can be reconciled to God. Listen to what Paul writes in Romans. For while we were still weak at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. That's me. I'm the ungodly. You're the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person. Though perhaps for a good person, one would dare even to die. But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Picture a firefighter rushing into a burning building. Flames are roaring. He knows that he might not come out. And he dives through all the smoke and debris in order to find trapped people and carry them to safety at the cost of his own life. And that's just a faint shadow of what Jesus did. In Mark 14, he faces lies and mockery and brutal blows, not be because he was guilty, but because we were guilty. And he endured the cross to rescue us from the fire of our sin. And he took on our shame so that we could be reconciled to God and saved from an eternity in hell. Church, Jesus is not just some teacher or prophet. He is the divine son of man. He and he is seated at the right hand of power and he is coming again in glory and his grace is sufficient. Amen. And his authority is absolute. The question is is will you trust in him today? Like have you repented and believed and turned to Christ? Well then his atonement covers all of your sins. And if you're a believer, stop following like at a distance like like Peter did. Surrender your plans, your sins, your all to the one who gave his life for you. And by God's grace, live for him, knowing that the Holy Spirit empowers your obedience. Head, heart, hand, head. God. He wants you to know Jesus faced injustice and

willingly faced that injustice to fulfill God's plan of redemption. Jesus is not a victim of his circumstances. He knowingly and willingly walked into that betrayal and into that arrest to accomplish God's redemptive purpose. His suffering was a part of God's plan. Heart. God. He wants you to believe that Jesus is sovereign and faithful even in suffering. Even when betrayed and abandoned, Jesus remained faithful. And so you can you can believe that he is in control and that he is completely trustworthy even when you're going through your dark moments. In hand, God, he wants you to trust God's plan, especially when life feels uncertain or painful. Because Jesus, he trusted the father's plan through all that pain that he experienced. You can trust God when life feels uncertain, when you're going through the darkness, and his purposes are good, even when they're hard for us to see. And so, Lord, we do ask that you would bless us, Father. Thank you for your word today. Thank you for being the suffering servant that died to redeem us Lord. We either trust in you and you receive uh and we are credited Christ's righteousness or or we pay for our sin debt ourselves. So Lord, I pray I pray that every person here knows you, Lord, because we do not want people to to go to hell. We want them to to know you and to love you all the days of their lives, Lord. And I pray right now that you would just speak to their hearts. Help them to be right with you. We know that uh uh you bring about that uh work of regeneration. But Lord, I pray that they would uh make it known uh that they would talk to someone, talk to me, talk to a friend and make sure that they know that they know the Lord Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Help us uh in

light of this passage to look to you who suffered on our behalf. Help us to walk with obedience and trust, knowing that you're in control even in the midst of our own suffering, just like you were in control of your own and you did so faithfully and that you walk with us faithfully. And in the meantime, help us um just to live for you each and every day. We thank you for your blood. We just pray Lord that you would help us to walk in the joy of your resurrection in Jesus name. Amen. Let's all stand and let's respond to the Lord in worship together. In Christ alone my hope is found. He is my light, my strength, my soul. This cornerstone, this solid ground, firm through the fiercest drought and storm. What heights of love, what deaths of peace. When fears are still, when striving cease my comforter, my all in all, here in the love of Christ I stand. In Christ alone who took on flesh, fullness of God in helpless faith. This gift of love and righteousness scorned by the ones he came to save till on the cross as Jesus died. The wrath of God was satisfied. For every sin on him was laid. Here in the death of Christ I live. There in the ground his body lay, light of the world by

darkness slay. and bursting forth in glorious day. Up from the grave he rose again. And as he stands in victory, sin curse has lost his grip on me. For I am his and he is mine. Bought with the precious blood of Christ. No guilt in life. No fear in death. This is the power of Christ in me. From life's first cry to final breath. Jesus commands my death. No power of hell, no scheme of man can ever pl me from within till he returns or calls me home. Here in the power of Christ our stand. No power of hell, no scheme of man can ever plot me from his hand. till he returns or calls me home. Hearing the power of Christ I stand. Amen. Praise the Lord. Uh if y'all could just have a a quick seat, I want to introduce you guys uh uh to Jovin and Mandy. Uh they have uh uh gone through our new members class. I think they're a little gunshy to get up here in front of y'all. Uh but they uh uh have given good testimony of knowing the Lord Jesus Christ. Uh they've gone through the new members class and said we want to be a part of this church right here and uh we just celebrate the Lord in that. And uh also thankful for you guys uh and getting to know you. Y'all been here for

what six months roughly about and it's been really awesome just getting to know y'all a little bit and your boys. Let's see here. There's there's Obie, Nemo, and Amaziah, right? Yeah. So awesome. And uh so uh church members, if you would uh receive them into our fellowship, would you say amen? Amen. All right. Any opposed? Okay. Awesome. Praise the Lord. And so, uh uh yeah, just be sure to come up there up here, give them a a handshake, uh or a hug. Are y'all huggers? Handshake. Handshake. All right. And uh and so anyways, uh uh love you guys. How about I pray pray over them and uh we just uh and I'll also pray for the food at our potluck as well. So, if y'all would bow your heads and close your eyes with me. Father, thank you so much uh just for uh Jovin and Mandy and just pray that you would continue to work in their lives. Uh thank you for how you're working in our church. Uh we ask that you would continue to um conform us more and more into your image. Um, we thank you so much for the food that we're about to enjoy and uh we just ask that you would grant us a good business meeting this afternoon. We love you and we just thank you for your goodness in Jesus name. Amen. Welcome.