1 00:00:00,666 --> 00:00:03,100 Bibles, turn with me to the gospel. 2 00:00:04,066 --> 00:00:07,466 John chapter number 11. 3 00:00:10,633 --> 00:00:14,366 Last time we were hearing, John, we 4 00:00:14,366 --> 00:00:16,166 finally got Lazarus out of the tomb. 5 00:00:18,433 --> 00:00:20,166 Amazing miracle, right? 6 00:00:21,199 --> 00:00:22,533 that only God could do. 7 00:00:24,199 --> 00:00:27,133 Only God raises people from the dead. 8 00:00:28,399 --> 00:00:32,966 And after Jesus gives instruction to 9 00:00:32,966 --> 00:00:37,000 unbind Lazarus and let him go in verse 45, 10 00:00:38,666 --> 00:00:42,500 Curtain falls on this dramatic scene. 11 00:00:42,566 --> 00:00:45,866 And then, we have no further 12 00:00:45,866 --> 00:00:49,033 information about the event at 13 00:00:49,033 --> 00:00:51,000 all in scripture. 14 00:00:52,333 --> 00:00:56,233 Now, tradition says, now this is tradition, 15 00:00:56,266 --> 00:01:01,733 says that Lazarus lived another 30 years, maybe that's true. 16 00:01:02,399 --> 00:01:05,666 I mean, it seems he did live for a while, after he came 17 00:01:05,666 --> 00:01:06,700 back from the dead. 18 00:01:08,466 --> 00:01:09,033 Think about it. 19 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:14,000 We don't know anything about his reunion with Mary and Martha. 20 00:01:14,166 --> 00:01:16,266 Wouldn't you like to know a little bit about that conversation? 21 00:01:16,766 --> 00:01:21,266 I mean, we don't know anything about the shock and 22 00:01:21,266 --> 00:01:25,500 the awe that must have just 23 00:01:25,500 --> 00:01:28,566 roared through the witnesses who were there that 24 00:01:28,566 --> 00:01:32,833 day to see this event for themselves, we 25 00:01:32,833 --> 00:01:34,333 know nothing about any of that at all. 26 00:01:35,700 --> 00:01:38,766 We don't know anything about any of the conversations 27 00:01:38,766 --> 00:01:41,033 that Lazarus had after this. 28 00:01:43,299 --> 00:01:44,433 Can you imagine the questions? 29 00:01:45,700 --> 00:01:46,466 Lazarus? 30 00:01:47,266 --> 00:01:47,966 Where were you? 31 00:01:50,299 --> 00:01:51,066 Lazarus? 32 00:01:51,966 --> 00:01:53,033 Can you tell us where you went? 33 00:01:55,166 --> 00:01:55,833 What was it like? 34 00:01:56,766 --> 00:01:57,533 Wherever you went. 35 00:01:59,599 --> 00:02:01,866 Possibly he had the same response that Paul had. 36 00:02:02,533 --> 00:02:05,900 You remember Paul took a trip to heaven, 2 Corinthians 12, 37 00:02:05,900 --> 00:02:08,900 verse 4, and says he was caught up into 38 00:02:08,900 --> 00:02:12,666 paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak. 39 00:02:14,766 --> 00:02:19,266 So, Paul had been to heaven, and 40 00:02:19,266 --> 00:02:21,000 nobody could get it out of him what it was like. 41 00:02:22,099 --> 00:02:22,533 Right? 42 00:02:22,699 --> 00:02:27,599 So we just have no information whatsoever 43 00:02:27,599 --> 00:02:30,666 about Lazarus after this astounding 44 00:02:30,666 --> 00:02:31,933 miracle occurred. 45 00:02:33,199 --> 00:02:34,266 Now, you want to know why? 46 00:02:36,766 --> 00:02:40,466 Because this event right here is not about the psychology 47 00:02:40,466 --> 00:02:41,666 of reunion. 48 00:02:42,566 --> 00:02:43,366 It's not about that. 49 00:02:44,966 --> 00:02:48,833 It's not about the rest of Lazarus's life. 50 00:02:49,833 --> 00:02:53,833 And this event, surely, is not about our 51 00:02:53,833 --> 00:02:57,000 curiosity of what heaven is like. 52 00:02:57,266 --> 00:02:59,733 So, what is this about? 53 00:03:00,966 --> 00:03:05,366 Well, Jesus already told us back in John 11, verse 4. 54 00:03:06,066 --> 00:03:10,199 This sickness is not to end in death, but 55 00:03:10,233 --> 00:03:12,333 for the glory of God. 56 00:03:13,633 --> 00:03:18,266 So that the Son of God may be glorified by it. 57 00:03:18,666 --> 00:03:21,733 The glory of the sun is the issue, 58 00:03:21,733 --> 00:03:24,800 the rest of the story, and what happened after 59 00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:26,133 is irrelevant. 60 00:03:27,866 --> 00:03:31,466 The purpose of this was 61 00:03:31,466 --> 00:03:35,000 to bring glory to God, and glory to God incarnate 62 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:36,433 on earth, Jesus Christ. 63 00:03:38,833 --> 00:03:42,199 So, the curtain fell, again, 64 00:03:42,199 --> 00:03:45,433 on this scene, last time we were here, in John, 65 00:03:45,433 --> 00:03:49,699 at the end of verse 44, and the scene ends, 66 00:03:49,699 --> 00:03:52,833 so now we want to pick it up, as good expositors ought 67 00:03:52,833 --> 00:03:55,400 to do, in the next verse, verse 45. 68 00:03:57,166 --> 00:04:01,000 And what we have starting here is the aftermath. 69 00:04:01,633 --> 00:04:05,066 And here come the responses that 70 00:04:05,066 --> 00:04:06,433 we do get to learn about. 71 00:04:07,833 --> 00:04:11,766 And they are predictable, because 72 00:04:11,766 --> 00:04:15,000 we've seen these responses like this all 73 00:04:15,033 --> 00:04:16,399 through this gospel of John. 74 00:04:16,566 --> 00:04:19,566 And before we get into it, I want to remind you of a statement made by Peter. 75 00:04:21,366 --> 00:04:24,566 In Acts 3, Peter was preaching in Jerusalem 76 00:04:24,566 --> 00:04:25,933 in the temple courtyard. 77 00:04:27,033 --> 00:04:30,633 And at that time, there were masses of Jewish people who were there. 78 00:04:31,933 --> 00:04:35,000 It was his second sermon after the ascension 79 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:38,066 of Jesus, after the day of Pentecost, 80 00:04:38,066 --> 00:04:41,533 and he indicts the Jews in 81 00:04:41,533 --> 00:04:44,699 this sermon with an ironic, 82 00:04:44,733 --> 00:04:46,699 astonishing accusation. 83 00:04:46,866 --> 00:04:48,833 Look what he says about him in verse 15. 84 00:04:49,166 --> 00:04:52,166 I'm looking at a particular phrase in verse 15, 85 00:04:52,166 --> 00:04:55,633 but put to death, the 86 00:04:55,633 --> 00:04:57,433 prince of life. 87 00:04:59,899 --> 00:05:03,199 You put to death, Peter is saying, the 88 00:05:03,199 --> 00:05:07,833 prince of life, the Greek word translated the prince. 89 00:05:07,933 --> 00:05:12,366 That phrase actually means the author, the 90 00:05:12,366 --> 00:05:13,699 founder. 91 00:05:15,066 --> 00:05:19,333 could also be translated the source, how 92 00:05:19,366 --> 00:05:22,833 ironic, you killed 93 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:25,033 the life giver. 94 00:05:27,199 --> 00:05:27,633 Think about that. 95 00:05:28,766 --> 00:05:31,933 We learned back in John 1, in him was life, in 96 00:05:31,933 --> 00:05:35,533 him, and the power of life, and being in and of himself. 97 00:05:35,733 --> 00:05:39,766 Nothing was made without him because he made everything that was made, John said. 98 00:05:42,266 --> 00:05:45,633 Think about what he told, Martha, I am the resurrection 99 00:05:45,633 --> 00:05:46,966 and the life. 100 00:05:48,699 --> 00:05:51,266 He said, on the way, the truth, and the life. 101 00:05:53,300 --> 00:05:54,666 He doesn't just give life. 102 00:05:56,500 --> 00:05:57,933 He's the source of life. 103 00:05:58,333 --> 00:05:59,466 He's God. 104 00:05:59,899 --> 00:06:01,399 He's the God man. 105 00:06:02,199 --> 00:06:05,233 He is the author of life, as we know it. 106 00:06:05,733 --> 00:06:08,966 The universe, and people, as human beings 107 00:06:08,966 --> 00:06:12,133 don't exist, without his 108 00:06:12,133 --> 00:06:15,266 creating life, as we know it, more 109 00:06:15,266 --> 00:06:18,333 ironically, in the verse before, verse 15, Peter 110 00:06:18,333 --> 00:06:21,500 says in Acts 3:14, but 111 00:06:21,500 --> 00:06:24,666 you disowned the 112 00:06:24,666 --> 00:06:28,199 holy and righteous one, and asked for 113 00:06:28,233 --> 00:06:31,233 a murderer to be granted to you. 114 00:06:31,233 --> 00:06:32,600 That's Barabbas, right? 115 00:06:34,333 --> 00:06:37,933 So he's preaching to these Jews, you killed 116 00:06:37,933 --> 00:06:42,000 the author of life, and you gave life to a killer. 117 00:06:42,566 --> 00:06:42,699 Wow. 118 00:06:45,899 --> 00:06:48,033 But that's the nature of unbelief. 119 00:06:50,366 --> 00:06:55,533 And in the history of crime, what 120 00:06:55,533 --> 00:06:58,533 happened on Calvary is a crime 121 00:06:58,533 --> 00:06:59,566 that has no parallel. 122 00:07:01,233 --> 00:07:04,666 It is without equal in its heinousness. 123 00:07:05,899 --> 00:07:09,733 When God became a man, man murdered 124 00:07:09,733 --> 00:07:11,233 God in human flesh. 125 00:07:11,233 --> 00:07:14,300 There's no crime that comes close to that crime. 126 00:07:16,266 --> 00:07:20,633 Now, as you know, it had been the desire of 127 00:07:20,666 --> 00:07:24,199 the religious leaders in Israel to kill Jesus for a long time now. 128 00:07:24,266 --> 00:07:26,666 We've seen that in our study of this Gospel of John. 129 00:07:28,633 --> 00:07:31,633 And this miracle is really the final straw. 130 00:07:33,266 --> 00:07:37,233 They cannot, they just simply cannot let this man live any longer. 131 00:07:38,233 --> 00:07:40,566 As we're fixing to see, they're going to call a council together. 132 00:07:40,866 --> 00:07:43,866 And in that council, they're going to say, what 133 00:07:43,866 --> 00:07:44,933 are we doing? 134 00:07:45,566 --> 00:07:48,866 We cannot let this man go on like this? 135 00:07:49,699 --> 00:07:53,966 They are completely oblivious 136 00:07:53,966 --> 00:07:57,133 to the fact that Jesus just raised 137 00:07:57,133 --> 00:07:59,399 a man from the dead, for heaven's sake. 138 00:08:00,066 --> 00:08:03,066 I mean, on top of everything else that 139 00:08:03,066 --> 00:08:04,500 he's done up to this point. 140 00:08:06,733 --> 00:08:09,899 Never, never lose sight of the fact that 141 00:08:09,933 --> 00:08:13,066 it is a radical radical claim for 142 00:08:13,066 --> 00:08:16,699 anybody to say, I am God. 143 00:08:18,699 --> 00:08:19,766 What if I came up in here today? 144 00:08:19,833 --> 00:08:20,966 I got something for hell, y'all. 145 00:08:21,566 --> 00:08:22,333 I'm God. 146 00:08:23,066 --> 00:08:23,500 Huh? 147 00:08:24,300 --> 00:08:25,866 I think the deacons would have a meeting. 148 00:08:26,899 --> 00:08:29,733 with Roger Dale, and that would be my last day. 149 00:08:31,633 --> 00:08:36,299 Anybody who makes that claim 150 00:08:36,299 --> 00:08:39,500 is to be rejected out of hand, no matter who 151 00:08:39,500 --> 00:08:41,466 says it with one exception. 152 00:08:43,700 --> 00:08:44,433 And that's Jesus. 153 00:08:46,700 --> 00:08:47,766 He said he was God. 154 00:08:49,466 --> 00:08:52,600 But he is the only person in 155 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:56,233 the history of the world who made that claim, 156 00:08:56,233 --> 00:08:59,533 and then proved it, with clear, 157 00:08:59,533 --> 00:09:01,500 irrefutable evidence. 158 00:09:03,500 --> 00:09:06,566 And, as you know, you have two choices of what to do with that information. 159 00:09:07,933 --> 00:09:11,600 You can believe it, or you can reject it. 160 00:09:12,966 --> 00:09:14,933 Jesus said in Luke 11:23. 161 00:09:16,399 --> 00:09:19,566 He who is not with me is 162 00:09:19,566 --> 00:09:20,899 against me. 163 00:09:21,033 --> 00:09:23,266 There's no third possibility. 164 00:09:23,766 --> 00:09:24,500 You understand that? 165 00:09:25,266 --> 00:09:27,533 There's no safe middle ground. 166 00:09:27,633 --> 00:09:29,200 There's no third way. 167 00:09:29,899 --> 00:09:32,733 All the evidence demands belief. 168 00:09:32,833 --> 00:09:35,966 But still, no matter what he did, no matter what he said, no 169 00:09:35,966 --> 00:09:38,966 matter how clear the evidence was, the Jewish 170 00:09:38,966 --> 00:09:42,633 leaders of Jesus' day hated Jesus' 171 00:09:42,633 --> 00:09:44,666 guts and wanted him dead. 172 00:09:47,166 --> 00:09:50,166 Now, as we come here to the end of 173 00:09:50,166 --> 00:09:53,166 this, 11th chapter, we're 174 00:09:53,166 --> 00:09:56,333 going to see a literally like a microcosm 175 00:09:56,366 --> 00:09:59,733 of what we've seen throughout the whole ministry of Jesus, 176 00:09:59,733 --> 00:10:03,799 and in reality, what we still see today, in our day. 177 00:10:05,733 --> 00:10:09,666 There are people who believe in Jesus, and 178 00:10:09,666 --> 00:10:12,666 they know him and believe in him savingly, 179 00:10:12,666 --> 00:10:14,833 with saving faith. 180 00:10:14,899 --> 00:10:18,500 But there are also people who do not believe in Jesus. 181 00:10:18,566 --> 00:10:22,533 And in fact, they are aggressively hostile 182 00:10:22,533 --> 00:10:23,600 towards Jesus. 183 00:10:24,333 --> 00:10:25,366 They had them back then. 184 00:10:25,399 --> 00:10:27,133 They still have them today, and all through history. 185 00:10:28,833 --> 00:10:33,033 And then there is that massive group of people, which 186 00:10:33,033 --> 00:10:36,333 makes up the majority report in the United States 187 00:10:36,333 --> 00:10:40,266 of America that have some sort of marginal, 188 00:10:40,266 --> 00:10:43,433 sentimental attitude, and intellectual 189 00:10:43,466 --> 00:10:46,533 belief, but not true saving faith, and that is 190 00:10:46,533 --> 00:10:47,566 equally as damning. 191 00:10:49,833 --> 00:10:53,133 They say they believe in Jesus, but they don't give evidence of that belief 192 00:10:53,133 --> 00:10:55,700 with the way they carry theirself in the way they live their life. 193 00:10:57,666 --> 00:11:00,033 And we're going to meet the first group starting here in verse 45. 194 00:11:00,266 --> 00:11:01,000 Look at it with me. 195 00:11:01,866 --> 00:11:05,000 It says, Therefore, many of the Jews, who came 196 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:09,266 to Mary and saw what he had done, believed in him. 197 00:11:09,333 --> 00:11:12,333 Now, this is the same group of the many 198 00:11:12,333 --> 00:11:15,566 that were who came to console Mary 199 00:11:15,566 --> 00:11:17,533 and Martha back in verse 19. 200 00:11:17,733 --> 00:11:21,033 And remember, that we learned, that this was a pretty substantial 201 00:11:21,033 --> 00:11:24,766 family, with Mary and Martha and Lazarus. 202 00:11:24,799 --> 00:11:26,299 This village of Bethany. 203 00:11:26,366 --> 00:11:29,433 Remember, there was two Bethanies I told you about, and this one was 204 00:11:29,433 --> 00:11:33,100 just two miles east of Jerusalem near the Mount of Olives. 205 00:11:33,133 --> 00:11:36,600 It was right on that main road that went to Jericho. 206 00:11:36,733 --> 00:11:39,133 That was a major highway. 207 00:11:39,433 --> 00:11:43,166 So folks from Jerusalem would be real familiar 208 00:11:43,166 --> 00:11:46,633 with this village, kind of like Baton 209 00:11:46,633 --> 00:11:49,633 Ridge is directly connected to Central, where kind of a suburb 210 00:11:49,633 --> 00:11:51,133 of Baton Rouge. 211 00:11:51,200 --> 00:11:55,233 And obviously, lots of people from Jerusalem were from Milliar with this family. 212 00:11:57,100 --> 00:11:58,399 So you got those folks. 213 00:11:59,733 --> 00:12:02,966 And the villagers in Bethany, you got those folks. 214 00:12:03,866 --> 00:12:07,600 And these make up the many who are described here. 215 00:12:07,866 --> 00:12:12,433 We don't know exactly how many, but had to be a pretty sizable group of people. 216 00:12:13,866 --> 00:12:16,866 Remember, from our last time, our last couple of times, that we went 217 00:12:16,866 --> 00:12:18,966 through these sermons about this event. 218 00:12:19,700 --> 00:12:21,866 There have been four days of mourning. 219 00:12:23,299 --> 00:12:25,233 The resurrection has happened. 220 00:12:26,500 --> 00:12:28,566 And now in this passage, they're still here. 221 00:12:28,866 --> 00:12:29,766 They're still here. 222 00:12:30,566 --> 00:12:33,799 They have witnessed something that nobody ever, ever 223 00:12:35,166 --> 00:12:38,066 expects to see in their lifetime. 224 00:12:38,966 --> 00:12:43,466 How can we kind of make an example to get the gravity of this? 225 00:12:43,933 --> 00:12:45,600 Just imagine our modern day funerals. 226 00:12:47,566 --> 00:12:51,566 Imagine, old Uncle Joe has passed on to the next life. 227 00:12:52,566 --> 00:12:56,100 And you're there at Raven Horse in the funeral home, 228 00:12:56,100 --> 00:12:59,299 and he's in the casket with the makeup 229 00:12:59,299 --> 00:13:02,366 bone, and he's graveyard dead, and somebody comes 230 00:13:02,366 --> 00:13:04,899 in and says, Uncle Joe, come forth. 231 00:13:04,933 --> 00:13:07,266 And old Uncle Joe just rises up out the cache. 232 00:13:08,500 --> 00:13:09,933 That's what we're talking about here, folks. 233 00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:13,766 That's what happened there at the tomb. 234 00:13:13,833 --> 00:13:15,466 same thing, just modern for us. 235 00:13:15,866 --> 00:13:16,399 Same thing. 236 00:13:16,633 --> 00:13:19,700 So these people are shell shocked, 237 00:13:20,566 --> 00:13:22,166 as we would be, right? 238 00:13:22,533 --> 00:13:24,200 I mean, you can't even... 239 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:25,266 I can't have... 240 00:13:25,266 --> 00:13:27,666 I don't have words to describe how shocked they were, okay? 241 00:13:27,799 --> 00:13:28,933 I'm just trying to tell you. 242 00:13:29,766 --> 00:13:34,399 And because this miracle was so clear, and 243 00:13:34,399 --> 00:13:38,399 so absolutely unmistakable, 244 00:13:38,399 --> 00:13:41,966 obviously, their hearts 245 00:13:41,966 --> 00:13:45,433 are open to the reality that 246 00:13:45,433 --> 00:13:48,733 this man, Jesus, really, truly 247 00:13:48,733 --> 00:13:50,700 is who Martha City is. 248 00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:56,533 This very well may be the Messiah right here. 249 00:13:57,566 --> 00:13:58,600 The Son of God, 250 00:13:58,700 --> 00:13:59,766 Who else can do this? 251 00:13:59,966 --> 00:14:03,100 And we assume that there is a genuine belief, because 252 00:14:03,100 --> 00:14:06,433 when Jesus asked Martha back in verse 26, 253 00:14:06,433 --> 00:14:09,433 do you believe, and she said, Yes, I believe, then 254 00:14:09,433 --> 00:14:12,433 you get right here to verse 45, look at it in the 255 00:14:12,433 --> 00:14:15,433 same context, and it says, many of the Jews, 256 00:14:15,433 --> 00:14:16,700 same word believed. 257 00:14:18,033 --> 00:14:21,200 So with that verb, in the same context, it's reasonable 258 00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:23,399 to assume, that it has the same meaning. 259 00:14:24,500 --> 00:14:25,933 and the same significance. 260 00:14:27,266 --> 00:14:31,766 They genuinely believed with saving faith. 261 00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:35,600 And I would say they certainly, you would believe. 262 00:14:36,966 --> 00:14:40,133 I mean, what would you believe if you saw what they saw? 263 00:14:41,533 --> 00:14:44,833 They saw the glory of God live in living color, 264 00:14:44,833 --> 00:14:47,000 will the dead man come to life? 265 00:14:49,166 --> 00:14:53,733 They believed, as we learned back in John 1, that 266 00:14:53,733 --> 00:14:57,033 they were given the right to become the children of God. 267 00:14:58,100 --> 00:15:00,066 They were redeemed. 268 00:15:01,233 --> 00:15:04,700 So said all that to say, Many of 269 00:15:04,700 --> 00:15:08,066 the people at this event were genuinely saved, with 270 00:15:08,066 --> 00:15:10,833 true genuine regeneration and saving faith. 271 00:15:11,366 --> 00:15:14,133 There is a kind of believing that doesn't save. 272 00:15:14,466 --> 00:15:17,533 We learned about that back in John chapter 2, many 273 00:15:17,533 --> 00:15:20,600 believe, remember, after watching the signs and 274 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:23,966 wonders and miracles of Jesus, but it says, on his part, 275 00:15:23,966 --> 00:15:27,200 remember, we read this, he was not entrusting himself 276 00:15:27,200 --> 00:15:30,200 to them, for he knew all men, and because 277 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:33,266 he didn't need anyone to testify concerning men, 278 00:15:33,266 --> 00:15:35,833 for he himself knew what was in man. 279 00:15:37,033 --> 00:15:40,399 He knew their belief was just a superficial intellectual belief, 280 00:15:40,399 --> 00:15:41,966 like the demons believe, and they tremble. 281 00:15:43,666 --> 00:15:47,566 So, as we'll see a little later here, that was a superficial belief. 282 00:15:50,200 --> 00:15:52,633 That's the kind of belief that Nicodemus had at first. 283 00:15:54,066 --> 00:15:56,600 Praise God not what he died with, but at first. 284 00:15:57,600 --> 00:16:00,666 It's not sufficient to save, it's sad, and 285 00:16:00,666 --> 00:16:04,399 it's equally as damning as any other kind of unbelief that there is. 286 00:16:04,466 --> 00:16:08,066 But here at the funeral of Lazarus, his first group is very encouraging. 287 00:16:09,399 --> 00:16:13,399 Haven't demonstrated regeneration in saving faith, but let's move to this second group. 288 00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:17,666 The second group, we're going to call them the murderers. 289 00:16:19,366 --> 00:16:22,566 Group 1 is the mini, Group 2 is the murderers, and they take up the 290 00:16:22,566 --> 00:16:25,333 bulk of the rest of this section, verse 46. 291 00:16:27,266 --> 00:16:31,033 We returned to look at our old pals, the Pharisee. 292 00:16:32,466 --> 00:16:33,833 They were a very powerful group. 293 00:16:35,233 --> 00:16:38,666 They were basically the architects of 294 00:16:38,666 --> 00:16:42,200 Judaistic synagogue religion of 295 00:16:42,200 --> 00:16:46,333 that day, as you know, it had got wildly, 296 00:16:46,333 --> 00:16:49,700 wildly off course, from the words of the New Testament, 297 00:16:49,700 --> 00:16:50,833 of the Old Testament. 298 00:16:52,566 --> 00:16:54,799 These men had total power and control over the people. 299 00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:57,266 They dominated the people. 300 00:16:58,866 --> 00:17:01,933 With all of the extra laws and rules and Sabbath 301 00:17:01,933 --> 00:17:05,599 restrictions and restraints that they had added to 302 00:17:05,599 --> 00:17:10,266 the Old Testament, and all the people pretty much knuckled under the Pharisees. 303 00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:13,233 He didn't do that. 304 00:17:14,366 --> 00:17:16,000 You got thrown out of the synagogue. 305 00:17:17,599 --> 00:17:20,966 And if you got thrown out of the synagogue, you 306 00:17:20,966 --> 00:17:22,599 became a pariah in the community. 307 00:17:22,833 --> 00:17:26,066 You were cut off from all social contact in 308 00:17:26,066 --> 00:17:29,833 the community, and at that point, you might as well have been a leper, if 309 00:17:29,833 --> 00:17:32,400 they kicked you out of synagogue for breaking any of their rules. 310 00:17:32,666 --> 00:17:36,966 So everybody sort of just took whatever abuse the 311 00:17:36,966 --> 00:17:40,866 Pharisees dished out, because they wanted to stay in the system. 312 00:17:42,866 --> 00:17:46,466 And some of these people, who were, obviously, 313 00:17:46,466 --> 00:17:50,133 as we're going to see real suck ups to the Pharisees, they 314 00:17:50,133 --> 00:17:53,133 were there mourning at the funeral 315 00:17:53,133 --> 00:17:56,133 of Lazarus, and when they 316 00:17:56,133 --> 00:17:59,433 see what happened, and the miracle and the whole nine, 317 00:18:00,566 --> 00:18:03,466 they decide, well, we're going to go report this to the Pharisees. 318 00:18:03,500 --> 00:18:04,166 Look at verse 46. 319 00:18:04,533 --> 00:18:07,633 But some of them went to the Pharisees, and told them the 320 00:18:07,633 --> 00:18:09,266 things which Jesus had done. 321 00:18:10,966 --> 00:18:12,766 So they gave them the incredible story. 322 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:15,366 He was graveyard dead. 323 00:18:16,033 --> 00:18:20,066 And he come out of that tomb when Jesus told him to come forth, and he 324 00:18:20,066 --> 00:18:21,433 had been dead for four days. 325 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:27,133 There's no doubt he was dead, and there's absolutely no doubt right now he's alive. 326 00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:28,566 You can go over there and talk to him if you want to. 327 00:18:31,099 --> 00:18:35,599 Now, this group is more concerned about the Pharisees than 328 00:18:35,599 --> 00:18:37,700 their own souls, obviously. 329 00:18:39,266 --> 00:18:41,900 And that is, folks, what false religion does. 330 00:18:43,833 --> 00:18:47,066 False religion allows you to 331 00:18:47,066 --> 00:18:50,533 give up your soul to please somebody who 332 00:18:50,533 --> 00:18:53,900 is the destroyer of your soul, namely, 333 00:18:53,900 --> 00:18:55,633 the person at the top of that false religion. 334 00:18:55,766 --> 00:18:56,366 Take your pick. 335 00:18:57,400 --> 00:18:58,933 Muhammad, go down the line. 336 00:19:00,666 --> 00:19:02,200 And that's what all false religion does. 337 00:19:03,166 --> 00:19:06,233 So they report, they saw the miracle, they describe the 338 00:19:06,233 --> 00:19:09,500 miracle, and with a sinister intention, 339 00:19:09,500 --> 00:19:12,933 you can believe that for sure, they tell the Pharisees 340 00:19:12,933 --> 00:19:16,099 because everybody already knows how much 341 00:19:16,099 --> 00:19:17,166 they hate Jesus. 342 00:19:17,733 --> 00:19:18,566 Everybody knows this. 343 00:19:19,833 --> 00:19:23,133 And these people know that 344 00:19:23,133 --> 00:19:26,233 this is really going to put the Pharisees over 345 00:19:26,233 --> 00:19:27,900 the edge when they hear about this. 346 00:19:28,099 --> 00:19:31,700 This is the extreme hardness of 347 00:19:31,700 --> 00:19:36,066 the human heart in the face of literally overwhelming evidence. 348 00:19:36,566 --> 00:19:39,266 Evidence means nothing at all to these people. 349 00:19:40,933 --> 00:19:42,799 And why do they hate Jesus so much? 350 00:19:43,566 --> 00:19:46,200 Jesus already told me in scripture. 351 00:19:47,099 --> 00:19:50,166 The world hates me because I testify to it that 352 00:19:50,166 --> 00:19:52,266 its deeds are evil. 353 00:19:53,366 --> 00:19:53,799 That's why. 354 00:19:55,666 --> 00:19:56,966 To call sin sin. 355 00:19:57,200 --> 00:19:57,799 Call it out. 356 00:19:58,700 --> 00:20:02,766 They hated him because he told them they were evil. 357 00:20:05,900 --> 00:20:09,933 not only in their sin, but also in their religion. 358 00:20:10,799 --> 00:20:11,766 Now, let me tell you something. 359 00:20:14,466 --> 00:20:16,266 You can test this out and watch what happens. 360 00:20:17,599 --> 00:20:21,366 It's one thing to tell people you're evil in your sin. 361 00:20:22,299 --> 00:20:25,566 There's a lot of people that can handle that. 362 00:20:26,066 --> 00:20:29,133 I mean, like, if you had come to me before I was saved 363 00:20:29,133 --> 00:20:30,733 and said, do you know you're a sinner? 364 00:20:30,733 --> 00:20:32,000 I would say, yeah, I sure am. 365 00:20:32,133 --> 00:20:33,333 Boy, you better believe I am. 366 00:20:33,366 --> 00:20:33,966 I'm a big one. 367 00:20:34,266 --> 00:20:35,533 I got really no problem with it. 368 00:20:36,633 --> 00:20:39,933 But when you tell people that they're 369 00:20:39,933 --> 00:20:45,366 evil in their righteousness in their religion, 370 00:20:45,366 --> 00:20:48,633 in the false religion, that they're caught up in, 371 00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:53,733 Oh, they'll really hate you for that, and 372 00:20:53,733 --> 00:20:55,299 they will come against you for that. 373 00:20:57,033 --> 00:21:00,366 So even though the creator, God, had put his glory on display 374 00:21:00,366 --> 00:21:01,799 through the Son of God. 375 00:21:03,033 --> 00:21:04,366 They didn't really see it. 376 00:21:05,700 --> 00:21:07,866 So look what happens next in verse 47. 377 00:21:08,133 --> 00:21:11,900 Therefore, the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council. 378 00:21:13,566 --> 00:21:16,566 And this was a meeting of the whole Sanhedrin. 379 00:21:16,633 --> 00:21:19,033 The Sanhedrin was the religious tribunal. 380 00:21:19,099 --> 00:21:22,833 This is the ultimate Supreme Court, Congress of Israel. 381 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:26,833 The Sanhedrin was made up of the Pharisees, the Sadducees, 382 00:21:26,833 --> 00:21:29,966 the chief priests, former high priests, and members of 383 00:21:29,966 --> 00:21:31,333 the high priestly families. 384 00:21:31,533 --> 00:21:34,599 This was the religious elite of Israel. 385 00:21:36,066 --> 00:21:36,833 People with money. 386 00:21:38,566 --> 00:21:41,799 People with power, people with influence 387 00:21:42,466 --> 00:21:45,266 in Israel, and they convene this council. 388 00:21:45,333 --> 00:21:48,433 Look next in verse 47, and 389 00:21:48,433 --> 00:21:50,099 we're saying, what are we doing? 390 00:21:52,266 --> 00:21:55,933 Well, this man is performing many signs, verse 48. 391 00:21:56,166 --> 00:21:58,400 If we let him go on like this. 392 00:21:58,466 --> 00:22:00,033 In other words, what are we doing? 393 00:22:00,066 --> 00:22:01,333 We got to stop this man. 394 00:22:03,133 --> 00:22:04,133 We have to act. 395 00:22:07,333 --> 00:22:11,099 So as John Calvin put it, they come up with a plausible 396 00:22:11,133 --> 00:22:12,166 disguise. 397 00:22:12,633 --> 00:22:14,566 Oh, what a way with words Calvin had. 398 00:22:16,266 --> 00:22:19,400 They create a theoretical, 399 00:22:19,400 --> 00:22:23,000 imaginary, disaster ahead 400 00:22:24,566 --> 00:22:25,833 because they want Jesus dead. 401 00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:29,900 They don't believe this, but they invent this. 402 00:22:30,266 --> 00:22:34,233 Notice, they say, for this man is performing many signs. 403 00:22:35,099 --> 00:22:36,066 It's pretty wild, really. 404 00:22:37,466 --> 00:22:40,599 This is the testimony of the people who hated 405 00:22:40,599 --> 00:22:44,033 Jesus that what he was doing was miraculous. 406 00:22:44,599 --> 00:22:48,366 They're admitting it right here, performing many signs. 407 00:22:49,366 --> 00:22:52,866 And that's because nobody could deny that 408 00:22:52,866 --> 00:22:55,633 the miracles of Jesus were indeed miracles. 409 00:22:55,766 --> 00:22:56,733 You couldn't deny them. 410 00:22:58,366 --> 00:23:02,233 It's pretty crazy that there are liberals today who 411 00:23:02,233 --> 00:23:06,000 deny the miracles of Jesus when his enemies never denied them. 412 00:23:06,866 --> 00:23:08,433 The ones who saw them firsthand. 413 00:23:09,433 --> 00:23:11,400 They never denied that the miracles were not real. 414 00:23:12,133 --> 00:23:13,500 Look, again, in verse 48, 415 00:23:13,566 --> 00:23:17,333 They say, If we let him go on like this, all men will believe in him. 416 00:23:18,133 --> 00:23:21,133 And the Romans will come, and take away both 417 00:23:21,133 --> 00:23:23,066 our place and our nation. 418 00:23:25,766 --> 00:23:26,366 You know what that is? 419 00:23:27,966 --> 00:23:28,799 It's used today. 420 00:23:29,766 --> 00:23:31,833 It's called political hyperbole. 421 00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:34,633 All men will believe in him, really. 422 00:23:35,366 --> 00:23:38,200 And the Romans will come and take away our place in the nation. 423 00:23:39,099 --> 00:23:39,966 We will lose our position. 424 00:23:40,266 --> 00:23:41,233 We will lose our power. 425 00:23:41,466 --> 00:23:42,500 We will lose our nation. 426 00:23:42,666 --> 00:23:44,233 Talk about a doomsday scenario. 427 00:23:44,900 --> 00:23:46,766 This is the end of everything, if he goes on. 428 00:23:47,133 --> 00:23:48,766 Kind of like climate change. 429 00:23:48,799 --> 00:23:52,266 We're 15 years away from being underwater, all of us, right? 430 00:23:53,099 --> 00:23:54,266 We can't allow this to go on. 431 00:23:54,666 --> 00:23:55,566 We gotta act. 432 00:23:56,666 --> 00:23:57,533 We're going to lose everything. 433 00:24:00,366 --> 00:24:03,700 This is an idea concocted as a pretense to kill Jesus. 434 00:24:04,566 --> 00:24:08,833 for his teaching, which tore every 435 00:24:08,833 --> 00:24:12,200 time at the very fabric of their false religious system. 436 00:24:12,866 --> 00:24:13,633 That was the problem. 437 00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:18,866 By the way, this is the same thing that they're going to say to Punchus Pilate later. 438 00:24:20,166 --> 00:24:23,633 They're going to tell him, well, if you don't crucify Jesus, 439 00:24:25,099 --> 00:24:26,433 you're no friend of who? 440 00:24:27,366 --> 00:24:28,166 Caesar. 441 00:24:29,066 --> 00:24:32,066 Because Jesus is going to lead a revolution, and when 442 00:24:32,066 --> 00:24:35,366 he does, Caesar's not going to be happy, and 443 00:24:35,366 --> 00:24:37,166 you're already on thin ice, buddy. 444 00:24:37,766 --> 00:24:38,900 as we've talked about before. 445 00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:42,966 Listen, they knew Jesus wasn't a revolutionary. 446 00:24:43,633 --> 00:24:44,299 They knew this. 447 00:24:45,566 --> 00:24:46,466 What did Jesus say? 448 00:24:46,566 --> 00:24:48,799 Render to Caesar what is Caesar's, and unto God? 449 00:24:48,866 --> 00:24:49,700 What is God, right? 450 00:24:51,599 --> 00:24:53,133 Did Jesus ever pick up a sword? 451 00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:55,266 You see that in scripture anywhere? 452 00:24:56,799 --> 00:24:58,333 Did Jesus ever start a revolution? 453 00:24:59,200 --> 00:24:59,599 Political? 454 00:25:01,033 --> 00:25:02,666 Jesus wasn't anti Roman. 455 00:25:03,633 --> 00:25:05,299 Not anywhere I can see. 456 00:25:05,666 --> 00:25:08,066 Jesus didn't try to free any slaves, did he? 457 00:25:08,166 --> 00:25:09,666 Did you see that anywhere in scripture? 458 00:25:10,933 --> 00:25:14,900 Do you see Jesus getting involved in politics or economics anywhere in New Testament? 459 00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:20,000 And just a word to the liberal Christianity 460 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:23,000 that's now making inroads in politics, example 461 00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:26,166 would be James Tallarico, the new senator 462 00:25:26,166 --> 00:25:29,333 in Texas, just a word to him, 463 00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:32,766 Jesus never got caught up in social justice, either. 464 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:36,366 He wasn't in any kind of social movement. 465 00:25:37,700 --> 00:25:39,033 He didn't start an army, did he? 466 00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:40,700 Anybody see Jesus starting an army? 467 00:25:40,766 --> 00:25:41,233 I didn't. 468 00:25:42,599 --> 00:25:44,066 He didn't need people to defend him. 469 00:25:46,299 --> 00:25:48,866 He walked this earth as God in human flesh. 470 00:25:49,033 --> 00:25:50,900 He was meek, he was compassionate. 471 00:25:51,133 --> 00:25:54,200 He didn't go around killing people like Muhammad 472 00:25:54,200 --> 00:25:56,599 did when he was here, quite the opposite. 473 00:25:57,966 --> 00:25:59,933 He went around making dead people alive. 474 00:26:03,500 --> 00:26:04,166 And they knew this. 475 00:26:06,266 --> 00:26:09,733 So this is all just a ploy, 476 00:26:09,733 --> 00:26:13,099 on their part, to create a massive potential 477 00:26:13,099 --> 00:26:16,400 scenario, so that we can justify 478 00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:19,633 killing Jesus, or else everybody's going to believe in, which, 479 00:26:19,633 --> 00:26:22,700 again, is another testimony to the validity of his miracles. 480 00:26:24,466 --> 00:26:26,500 His worst enemies, think about it. 481 00:26:26,533 --> 00:26:30,000 The very people who really crucified him using the 482 00:26:30,033 --> 00:26:33,033 hands of the Romans, believed in his miracles, because I'm 483 00:26:33,033 --> 00:26:34,166 telling you, they had no other choice. 484 00:26:35,666 --> 00:26:39,433 No amount of sleight of hand or magician's tricks could duplicate what Jesus did. 485 00:26:39,666 --> 00:26:42,733 You get every sorcerer in the whole world to 486 00:26:42,733 --> 00:26:44,900 stand outside and shout at Lazarus. 487 00:26:44,966 --> 00:26:45,933 He's not ever coming out. 488 00:26:47,299 --> 00:26:48,133 according to their word. 489 00:26:49,866 --> 00:26:53,166 So, this man named Caiaphas steps up to the plate. 490 00:26:55,266 --> 00:26:58,666 And I'm here to tell you, Caiaphas is really a despicable human being. 491 00:27:00,433 --> 00:27:03,566 He was the son in law of Annas, Annas had 492 00:27:03,566 --> 00:27:06,099 previously been the high priest. 493 00:27:06,666 --> 00:27:10,733 Caiaphas is in that office now, because Rome allowed him to be there. 494 00:27:10,833 --> 00:27:11,966 You understand what I'm saying? 495 00:27:12,966 --> 00:27:16,133 And he knows that, in fact, Rome had the power 496 00:27:16,133 --> 00:27:20,000 to depose any high priest. 497 00:27:21,500 --> 00:27:25,200 Now, according to the Old Testament, oh, the high priest's office, 498 00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:28,566 that was an office for life, like, you know, Supreme Court justice. 499 00:27:29,133 --> 00:27:32,266 If it didn't, it didn't always work out that way, but 500 00:27:32,266 --> 00:27:35,366 that was really the ideal in Judaism, once 501 00:27:35,366 --> 00:27:38,433 you were a high priest, you were high priest, for life, but contrasts that with 502 00:27:38,433 --> 00:27:41,500 the fact that Josephus, the great Jewish historian, tells 503 00:27:41,500 --> 00:27:44,766 us that from the time of Herod the 504 00:27:44,766 --> 00:27:47,933 Great, which was just about the time we moved from BC 505 00:27:47,966 --> 00:27:51,033 to AD in world history, between Herod the Great, 506 00:27:51,033 --> 00:27:54,766 and 70 AD, when Jerusalem is totally destroyed, 507 00:27:54,766 --> 00:27:59,366 that's less than 100 years, there were 28 high 508 00:27:59,433 --> 00:27:59,966 priests. 509 00:28:01,400 --> 00:28:02,533 Now that's not the ideal. 510 00:28:04,833 --> 00:28:07,066 So this position became a revolving door. 511 00:28:08,666 --> 00:28:11,900 This became a power position, the 512 00:28:11,900 --> 00:28:14,299 high priest, a political position. 513 00:28:14,533 --> 00:28:17,533 There were people who were vying, buying, and 514 00:28:17,533 --> 00:28:18,799 selling this position. 515 00:28:19,633 --> 00:28:23,066 You even have reference in the New Testament to Annapas, Annas, 516 00:28:23,066 --> 00:28:26,599 and Caiapas, both being the high priest at the same time. 517 00:28:26,833 --> 00:28:29,000 That was not supposed to happen. 518 00:28:30,166 --> 00:28:33,366 According to the Word of God, it was supposed to be much more strict than 519 00:28:33,366 --> 00:28:36,200 this, the way they had it going at this point. 520 00:28:36,200 --> 00:28:39,266 Caiaphas, as I said, was Annas' son in law. 521 00:28:40,266 --> 00:28:43,700 So, the position kind of stayed in the family, kind 522 00:28:43,700 --> 00:28:45,799 of like in South Carolina, tried to be. 523 00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:50,599 But Caiaphas, mainly, he is there, 524 00:28:51,666 --> 00:28:54,466 because he's not a threat to Rome, that's the main reason he's there. 525 00:28:55,633 --> 00:28:58,633 He knows, hey, I've got this position of power as long 526 00:28:58,633 --> 00:29:01,700 as I please Rome, and I make Rome happy, and 527 00:29:01,700 --> 00:29:04,233 very interesting side note to this is found in verse 51. 528 00:29:04,333 --> 00:29:08,233 Look down in verse 51, where it says, but being high priest that year. 529 00:29:10,466 --> 00:29:16,266 That year is interesting, because that year, in reality, 530 00:29:16,266 --> 00:29:19,733 is a final year, of any legitimate 531 00:29:19,733 --> 00:29:24,200 high priest in history, of any illegitimate 532 00:29:24,200 --> 00:29:26,666 priest in history, why do I say that? 533 00:29:27,666 --> 00:29:29,633 Because a week later, after this day? 534 00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:34,400 The veil in the temple was shredded from top to bottom. 535 00:29:35,966 --> 00:29:37,133 at the crucifixion of Jesus. 536 00:29:38,233 --> 00:29:42,200 And the priestly system of the old testament 537 00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:45,266 at that moment when Jesus said it is 538 00:29:45,266 --> 00:29:48,500 finished and the veil was rent, the priestly system became 539 00:29:48,500 --> 00:29:50,833 null and void at that moment. 540 00:29:52,366 --> 00:29:55,599 Any sacrifices that were done between that moment and 541 00:29:55,599 --> 00:29:59,400 70 A.D. when the temple was flattened were irrelevant. 542 00:30:00,466 --> 00:30:02,866 because the new cabinet had ushered in. 543 00:30:04,466 --> 00:30:07,599 So Caiaphas, really, is the 544 00:30:07,599 --> 00:30:10,799 last somewhat official high priest, 545 00:30:10,833 --> 00:30:11,966 and from guess what? 546 00:30:13,166 --> 00:30:16,599 That day in 70 A.D. to this day, 547 00:30:16,599 --> 00:30:20,099 right here, 2026, there's never been another high priest in Judaism. 548 00:30:20,900 --> 00:30:23,900 From that day to this, hmm, coincidence, you think? 549 00:30:24,766 --> 00:30:26,733 Now back to this Council of the Sanhedrin. 550 00:30:28,666 --> 00:30:31,466 These men right here are in crisis management mode. 551 00:30:33,366 --> 00:30:36,366 If we let this man go on doing all what he's doing, everybody's going to 552 00:30:36,366 --> 00:30:39,733 believe in him, the Romans will take away our place, and that's going to be the end of Israel. 553 00:30:39,799 --> 00:30:41,366 We're not even gonna exist anymore. 554 00:30:41,666 --> 00:30:43,000 And next in verse 49. 555 00:30:43,533 --> 00:30:46,700 It says, but one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, 556 00:30:46,700 --> 00:30:47,833 you know nothing at all. 557 00:30:49,166 --> 00:30:51,433 Now, he's talking to the whole Sanhedrin right here. 558 00:30:51,500 --> 00:30:51,933 Picture this. 559 00:30:53,066 --> 00:30:54,033 You're all ignorant. 560 00:30:55,166 --> 00:30:56,366 Aren't you glad I'm here? 561 00:30:56,599 --> 00:30:57,866 That's what he's saying to them. 562 00:30:58,099 --> 00:31:01,400 You know nothing, and I've got the answer to everything, verse 563 00:31:01,400 --> 00:31:04,700 50, nor do you take into account 564 00:31:04,700 --> 00:31:08,133 that it is, look at this word, expedient. 565 00:31:08,466 --> 00:31:09,066 Stop there. 566 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:12,866 He's talking to the Sanhedrin. 567 00:31:14,133 --> 00:31:14,900 The elite. 568 00:31:15,033 --> 00:31:18,133 And notice, he says, It is 569 00:31:18,133 --> 00:31:19,200 expedient. 570 00:31:20,133 --> 00:31:23,966 Not, it is just, not, 571 00:31:23,966 --> 00:31:26,966 it is righteous, not, 572 00:31:26,966 --> 00:31:31,166 it is correct, not, it is anything 573 00:31:31,166 --> 00:31:35,599 other than expedient, beneficial, 574 00:31:35,599 --> 00:31:38,733 look next, for you, that one man 575 00:31:38,733 --> 00:31:41,833 die, for the people, and that 576 00:31:41,833 --> 00:31:44,099 the whole nation, not perish. 577 00:31:46,066 --> 00:31:46,733 Don't you get it? 578 00:31:48,500 --> 00:31:50,166 He's saying it's beneficial. 579 00:31:52,333 --> 00:31:56,166 Under the guise of being a noble politician, under 580 00:31:56,166 --> 00:31:59,533 the guise of Jewish nationalism and patriotism, 581 00:31:59,533 --> 00:32:02,599 this unscrupulous man is trying to get rid of 582 00:32:02,599 --> 00:32:05,966 the biggest obstacle to his own power to 583 00:32:05,966 --> 00:32:08,833 his own popularity and theology, and that is Jesus. 584 00:32:10,766 --> 00:32:11,933 He wants Jesus dead. 585 00:32:13,466 --> 00:32:16,700 And he's making the argument that if we don't kill him, 586 00:32:16,700 --> 00:32:18,033 we're all going to die. 587 00:32:19,533 --> 00:32:23,666 Again, just nonsensical, political, hyperbole, 588 00:32:23,666 --> 00:32:28,166 either one man perishes, or the whole nation perishes, as their argument that he's making. 589 00:32:28,466 --> 00:32:31,700 And the conclusion of the council is 590 00:32:31,700 --> 00:32:34,866 going to be to follow the wishes 591 00:32:34,866 --> 00:32:37,733 of the high priest, Caiaphas. 592 00:32:37,833 --> 00:32:38,799 We've got to kill him. 593 00:32:39,566 --> 00:32:40,599 It is going to be a revolution. 594 00:32:40,866 --> 00:32:42,200 The Romans are going to come in. 595 00:32:42,633 --> 00:32:43,966 They're going to massacre us. 596 00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:45,933 Look at the words of verse 50 again. 597 00:32:47,466 --> 00:32:49,333 It is expedient for you. 598 00:32:49,633 --> 00:32:50,466 Follow this closely. 599 00:32:51,500 --> 00:32:54,566 That one man die, for the 600 00:32:54,566 --> 00:32:58,566 people, and that the whole nation not 601 00:32:58,566 --> 00:33:02,400 perish, that one man die, 602 00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:05,533 for the people, 603 00:33:05,533 --> 00:33:08,533 Jesus must die, he's 604 00:33:08,533 --> 00:33:12,066 saying here, to save the nation, 605 00:33:12,066 --> 00:33:15,299 hmm, how strangely 606 00:33:15,333 --> 00:33:16,900 true, big picture, that is. 607 00:33:19,200 --> 00:33:19,933 How about that statement? 608 00:33:21,966 --> 00:33:25,133 It's just not in the way that Caiaphas thought. 609 00:33:25,900 --> 00:33:26,233 Huh? 610 00:33:28,033 --> 00:33:31,700 The words of Caiaphas here have a deep, resonating 611 00:33:31,700 --> 00:33:34,933 reality of truth that he never even understood 612 00:33:34,933 --> 00:33:37,333 as the words were coming out of his mouth. 613 00:33:38,466 --> 00:33:40,700 Because look next in verse 51 and 52. 614 00:33:41,966 --> 00:33:46,099 Now, he did not say this on his own initiative, 615 00:33:46,099 --> 00:33:50,366 but being high priest that year, he prophesied 616 00:33:50,366 --> 00:33:53,599 that Jesus was going to die for the nation, 617 00:33:53,599 --> 00:33:57,033 verse 52, and not for the nation only, 618 00:33:57,033 --> 00:34:00,366 but in order that he, Jesus, might also gather 619 00:34:00,366 --> 00:34:03,433 together into one, the children of God, who 620 00:34:03,433 --> 00:34:04,566 were scattered abroad. 621 00:34:04,833 --> 00:34:08,266 How fascinating that little tidbit is for us, huh? 622 00:34:10,033 --> 00:34:13,566 This slick, brutal, very 623 00:34:13,566 --> 00:34:17,466 corrupt high priest actually gave, 624 00:34:17,466 --> 00:34:20,933 unbeknownst to his brain, a very clear statement 625 00:34:20,966 --> 00:34:24,733 on the substitutionary atoning work of Christ. 626 00:34:26,866 --> 00:34:28,733 He has no idea what he's actually saying. 627 00:34:31,099 --> 00:34:32,366 And that's not surprising. 628 00:34:34,333 --> 00:34:38,066 God used the mouth of Balaam's jackass to speak for him, right? 629 00:34:41,500 --> 00:34:45,433 This is where you have to understand, there are no limits, folks, on what God can do. 630 00:34:45,966 --> 00:34:47,233 Do not put a limit on God. 631 00:34:48,266 --> 00:34:51,366 He will make fun of you, as he's basically doing right 632 00:34:51,366 --> 00:34:52,400 here with Caiaphas. 633 00:34:52,466 --> 00:34:55,099 Watch what you're fixin' to say, buddy, and what it really means. 634 00:34:57,666 --> 00:34:59,466 Caipas had no idea what he was talking about. 635 00:34:59,533 --> 00:35:02,099 He meant one thing, but God said, uh, I mean something different. 636 00:35:03,099 --> 00:35:06,333 Put in the pages of scripture for all time in history, 637 00:35:06,333 --> 00:35:10,400 and we're reading about it right here in 2026 on Hooper Road. 638 00:35:10,566 --> 00:35:11,900 Proverbs 19, too. 639 00:35:11,966 --> 00:35:13,333 Many plans are in a man's heart. 640 00:35:15,433 --> 00:35:17,366 But the council of the Lord will stand. 641 00:35:19,099 --> 00:35:22,166 You remember Joseph's 642 00:35:22,166 --> 00:35:27,400 words to his brothers in Genesis 50, you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. 643 00:35:27,566 --> 00:35:30,099 Let me tell you, what can we call? 644 00:35:30,133 --> 00:35:31,699 We can call this divine irony. 645 00:35:34,099 --> 00:35:34,833 And understand this. 646 00:35:34,866 --> 00:35:35,699 Now, let me be clear. 647 00:35:36,066 --> 00:35:40,133 We always want to be clear when it says there, look in verse 51, that he prophesied. 648 00:35:41,066 --> 00:35:43,533 That doesn't mean that he had any prophetic gift. 649 00:35:43,833 --> 00:35:44,900 Nowhere in scripture. 650 00:35:44,966 --> 00:35:46,633 Does it say that about Caiaphas? 651 00:35:46,699 --> 00:35:50,666 This isn't an actual prophecy that he gave out of his heart. 652 00:35:50,733 --> 00:35:52,833 This is not a power that belonged to the high priest. 653 00:35:53,066 --> 00:35:56,366 He said what he said, and it happened, so happened that what 654 00:35:56,366 --> 00:35:59,366 happened in providence is that God had 655 00:35:59,366 --> 00:36:02,366 ordered every word exactly, and gave it a completely 656 00:36:02,366 --> 00:36:06,133 different meaning, and made sure that the Holy Spirit inspired 657 00:36:06,133 --> 00:36:07,466 John to write it down. 658 00:36:07,533 --> 00:36:10,699 So you were clear on the meaning in the following verses afterwards, but 659 00:36:10,699 --> 00:36:12,033 every single word was absolutely correct. 660 00:36:13,033 --> 00:36:16,633 So that through Caiaphas, and 661 00:36:16,633 --> 00:36:19,766 his ignorant meaning with the words that he used, God took 662 00:36:19,766 --> 00:36:22,766 the same words to declare the true impact of the Lord 663 00:36:22,766 --> 00:36:24,033 Jesus Christ, death. 664 00:36:25,400 --> 00:36:27,033 Now, Jesus was going to die for the nation. 665 00:36:28,400 --> 00:36:31,833 And not only for the nation only, but in order that he, 666 00:36:31,833 --> 00:36:34,833 Jesus, might also gather together into one, the 667 00:36:34,833 --> 00:36:37,300 children of God scattered abroad. 668 00:36:37,533 --> 00:36:40,766 He's died for the sins of the people scattered all over the world, Jew 669 00:36:40,766 --> 00:36:44,500 and Gentile, which is going to make up the church. 670 00:36:46,633 --> 00:36:49,699 So the hateful, ignorant, trumped up words of 671 00:36:49,699 --> 00:36:53,766 Caiaphas, they actually turn out to be absolutely true, 672 00:36:53,766 --> 00:36:57,633 in the big picture, giving us a foretaste of what it's going to be like. 673 00:36:58,966 --> 00:37:02,133 When we go through the Passion week here in the Gospel of 674 00:37:02,133 --> 00:37:05,266 John, how every single solitary detail, 675 00:37:05,266 --> 00:37:08,766 no matter who is doing what, for what reason, is perfectly 676 00:37:08,766 --> 00:37:11,933 fitting into God's purposes, and Caiaphas 677 00:37:11,966 --> 00:37:15,133 is just a link in the chain, begun by God's 678 00:37:15,133 --> 00:37:18,300 decree, before the foundation of the world, until 679 00:37:18,333 --> 00:37:20,199 God fulfills his purpose. 680 00:37:21,199 --> 00:37:24,733 Using men, however, he sees fit to accomplish his purpose. 681 00:37:24,933 --> 00:37:26,300 But look next in verse 53. 682 00:37:29,966 --> 00:37:34,533 So from that day on, they plan together to kill him. 683 00:37:35,466 --> 00:37:38,366 Apparently, it was a unanimous vote. 684 00:37:39,400 --> 00:37:40,233 We have to kill him. 685 00:37:41,900 --> 00:37:42,633 to save the nation. 686 00:37:44,133 --> 00:37:45,400 Caiaphas' speech worked. 687 00:37:47,166 --> 00:37:49,533 They decided to kill him from then on. 688 00:37:49,699 --> 00:37:50,833 and it didn't take long. 689 00:37:51,866 --> 00:37:55,033 They're pretty amped up, and at the end of the next week, 690 00:37:55,033 --> 00:37:57,599 they were able to accomplish it. 691 00:37:57,666 --> 00:37:59,166 The end of the next week is Good Friday. 692 00:38:00,933 --> 00:38:04,599 but also perfectly within the timing, 693 00:38:04,599 --> 00:38:07,766 and the purpose of God, that as the 694 00:38:07,766 --> 00:38:11,166 lambs were being slaughtered at the same time, the lamb was being slaughtered 695 00:38:11,166 --> 00:38:13,266 on Calvary's tree at the same time. 696 00:38:14,866 --> 00:38:18,699 Now, as a final group, to add to these murderers, 697 00:38:18,699 --> 00:38:21,866 next in verse 54, look at it with me. 698 00:38:21,933 --> 00:38:25,566 Therefore, Jesus no longer continued to walk publicly 699 00:38:25,566 --> 00:38:28,199 among the Jews. 700 00:38:29,500 --> 00:38:30,033 Isn't that something? 701 00:38:31,066 --> 00:38:33,233 The eternal Son of God becomes an outlaw. 702 00:38:34,533 --> 00:38:35,900 as he walked this earth. 703 00:38:35,966 --> 00:38:38,433 He's a wanted man in Israel. 704 00:38:38,433 --> 00:38:41,433 Says next, we went away from there to the country 705 00:38:41,433 --> 00:38:44,433 near the wilderness into a city called Ephraim, and 706 00:38:44,433 --> 00:38:46,533 there he stayed with the disciples. 707 00:38:46,699 --> 00:38:48,633 Now this was a town about 12 miles away. 708 00:38:49,233 --> 00:38:52,466 And next in verse 55, we come to the final group. 709 00:38:54,366 --> 00:38:55,400 The multitudes. 710 00:38:57,133 --> 00:39:01,566 They were stirred by Jesus, but they were indifferent. 711 00:39:01,699 --> 00:39:03,066 Look at verse 55. 712 00:39:04,400 --> 00:39:07,466 Now, the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went 713 00:39:07,466 --> 00:39:10,599 up to Jerusalem, out of the country before the Passover, 714 00:39:10,599 --> 00:39:13,699 to purify themselves, the Levitical 715 00:39:13,699 --> 00:39:16,866 law laid out in the book of Leviticus, and 2 Chronicles, all 716 00:39:16,866 --> 00:39:20,300 kinds of ceremonial cleansings 717 00:39:20,300 --> 00:39:23,433 were required to participate in before you could 718 00:39:23,433 --> 00:39:26,866 participate in Passover, so they all come pouring 719 00:39:26,866 --> 00:39:30,666 into Jerusalem prior to the actual Passover, 720 00:39:30,666 --> 00:39:33,900 to get all of that stuff done, and notice, as they're gathering, 721 00:39:33,966 --> 00:39:38,333 verse 56, so they were seeking for Jesus. 722 00:39:39,366 --> 00:39:39,633 Why? 723 00:39:41,900 --> 00:39:44,066 I mean, look, there was no internet. 724 00:39:44,599 --> 00:39:45,800 There was no TV. 725 00:39:46,566 --> 00:39:50,466 He has been the focal point of 726 00:39:50,466 --> 00:39:53,599 the past few years in 727 00:39:53,599 --> 00:39:55,166 every person's mind in Israel. 728 00:39:55,400 --> 00:39:57,566 Everybody's thinking about Jesus all the time. 729 00:39:57,866 --> 00:40:00,333 He's healing people all over the place. 730 00:40:01,500 --> 00:40:04,533 He's the topic of conversation, every single day 731 00:40:04,533 --> 00:40:06,199 throughout this nation. 732 00:40:07,833 --> 00:40:11,800 And look next, and we're saying to one another, as they stood in the temple, what do you think? 733 00:40:13,166 --> 00:40:14,966 That he will not come to the feast at all? 734 00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:19,400 Everybody knows how the leaders feel. 735 00:40:20,133 --> 00:40:22,533 They know how much he's hated, and then verse 57. 736 00:40:23,000 --> 00:40:26,133 Now, the chief priest and the Pharisees had given orders 737 00:40:26,133 --> 00:40:29,233 that if anyone knew where he was, he was to report it 738 00:40:29,233 --> 00:40:31,166 so that they might seize him. 739 00:40:33,300 --> 00:40:36,500 So, what can we say about this crowd? 740 00:40:36,666 --> 00:40:39,433 Well, were they curious about Jesus? 741 00:40:39,566 --> 00:40:40,533 Yeah, sure they were. 742 00:40:41,300 --> 00:40:42,666 Did they know all about Jesus? 743 00:40:42,733 --> 00:40:43,033 Yeah. 744 00:40:44,566 --> 00:40:46,533 Were they fascinated with Jesus? 745 00:40:46,566 --> 00:40:48,433 How could you not be fascinated with Jesus? 746 00:40:48,500 --> 00:40:51,333 Have you got anywhere within his field of gravity at any time? 747 00:40:52,400 --> 00:40:53,433 And they're all asking, 748 00:40:53,666 --> 00:40:54,400 Well, where is he? 749 00:40:55,400 --> 00:40:56,166 We want to see him. 750 00:40:57,000 --> 00:40:57,733 You know what they want. 751 00:40:57,866 --> 00:40:59,300 They wanted to see some more of those miracles. 752 00:41:00,599 --> 00:41:02,966 You think he'll show up here at the Passover? 753 00:41:04,666 --> 00:41:05,199 Well, guess what? 754 00:41:05,233 --> 00:41:05,666 He did. 755 00:41:07,699 --> 00:41:08,433 He did show up. 756 00:41:09,766 --> 00:41:10,366 And what happened? 757 00:41:11,666 --> 00:41:12,933 What happened when he showed up? 758 00:41:13,099 --> 00:41:14,533 What happened when he came? 759 00:41:14,666 --> 00:41:17,833 Well, chapter 12 was going to tell us when he came into town, they shouted 760 00:41:17,833 --> 00:41:20,166 to him, 'Host, Danny, in the house. 761 00:41:20,233 --> 00:41:22,400 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 762 00:41:22,533 --> 00:41:23,800 That's the triumphal entry. 763 00:41:23,833 --> 00:41:24,733 That's when he came. 764 00:41:27,400 --> 00:41:31,033 He came in on a Friday, on a Monday, but 765 00:41:31,033 --> 00:41:33,666 by Friday, what were these saying people saying? 766 00:41:34,699 --> 00:41:35,466 Crucify him? 767 00:41:36,400 --> 00:41:36,866 Killing him. 768 00:41:38,766 --> 00:41:41,933 And we're going to go through every bit of that, verse by verse, when we get to it one day. 769 00:41:43,866 --> 00:41:47,366 But at the end of the day, it 770 00:41:47,366 --> 00:41:50,433 always comes down to the same issue when 771 00:41:50,433 --> 00:41:51,699 it comes to Jesus. 772 00:41:51,933 --> 00:41:54,966 You believe savingly, not on your terms, but on 773 00:41:54,966 --> 00:41:57,433 his terms, stabingly, or you reject. 774 00:41:57,733 --> 00:41:58,933 The evidence is clear. 775 00:41:59,300 --> 00:42:01,466 There is no lack of evidence for Jesus whatsoever. 776 00:42:01,633 --> 00:42:05,466 You either reject with hostility and animosity 777 00:42:05,466 --> 00:42:08,833 and anger, or you reject with your superficiality and 778 00:42:08,833 --> 00:42:12,066 indifference, and just, oh, yeah, I believe in Jesus, man, I'm a good guy. 779 00:42:13,099 --> 00:42:15,433 But either way, there's only one heaven, and there's only one hell. 780 00:42:15,733 --> 00:42:16,333 That's it. 781 00:42:17,966 --> 00:42:21,366 And no matter how you go about rejecting Jesus, 782 00:42:21,366 --> 00:42:24,500 with your hatred or your sentimental American good feelings, 783 00:42:24,500 --> 00:42:27,800 you will end up, as Jesus said, dying in 784 00:42:27,800 --> 00:42:30,966 your sins, if you reject him, no matter how you do it, and 785 00:42:30,966 --> 00:42:33,900 there's no changing that situation once you get to where you're going. 786 00:42:36,966 --> 00:42:39,966 attached in one of the most important question in 787 00:42:39,966 --> 00:42:43,333 all of the human experience, which, by the way, doesn't last very long. 788 00:42:45,433 --> 00:42:47,766 is what Jesus asked Martha very simply. 789 00:42:49,533 --> 00:42:50,566 Do you believe? 790 00:42:53,666 --> 00:42:57,033 Now, you got to understand what believe means, as 791 00:42:57,033 --> 00:43:00,099 I've been laboring to say to you today, and I always labor 792 00:43:00,099 --> 00:43:04,566 to say to you, you got to understand what believe means, 793 00:43:04,566 --> 00:43:07,699 and if you do, what 794 00:43:07,699 --> 00:43:11,233 we going to do now is celebrate, 795 00:43:12,099 --> 00:43:13,633 what we put our faith and belief in. 796 00:43:15,066 --> 00:43:17,733 And that's the person and the work of Jesus Christ. 797 00:43:17,833 --> 00:43:18,800 That's what this is about. 798 00:43:21,266 --> 00:43:25,366 And if this is the most important reality in your life, 799 00:43:25,366 --> 00:43:29,166 your faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ, then 800 00:43:29,166 --> 00:43:32,333 being obedient to the command in coming together 801 00:43:32,366 --> 00:43:35,500 on the Lord's Supper, that should equally 802 00:43:35,500 --> 00:43:38,900 be important to you, to participate 803 00:43:38,900 --> 00:43:41,366 as a believer in Jesus Christ. 804 00:43:41,533 --> 00:43:47,033 And when you stand up and you walk down that aisle 805 00:43:47,066 --> 00:43:50,133 before God, who sees you, and your sisters 806 00:43:50,133 --> 00:43:53,300 and brothers in the church, when you stand up to walk down that aisle, 807 00:43:53,300 --> 00:43:56,366 you are saying, I am a believer with saving faith in the Lord Jesus 808 00:43:56,366 --> 00:43:59,533 Christ, because that's the only people that are supposed to come to this table. 809 00:44:01,166 --> 00:44:01,966 Not unbelief. 810 00:44:03,166 --> 00:44:04,233 This is for believers. 811 00:44:04,333 --> 00:44:08,233 Matter of fact, this whole worship service is not designed for unbelievers but for believers. 812 00:44:08,300 --> 00:44:09,366 If an unbeliever comes in, 813 00:44:09,566 --> 00:44:10,699 Here's the gospel, get saved. 814 00:44:10,833 --> 00:44:11,599 Come on, join a family. 815 00:44:12,400 --> 00:44:16,033 But we don't design the worship service, but for unbelief, 816 00:44:16,666 --> 00:44:19,000 only for those who believe.