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That's connectwithskip.com. Now let's get into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig. Why do the nations rage and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His Christ, or anointed, saying, Let us break their bonds and pieces and cast away their cords from us. Let's get rid of God's control. Let's usurp His power and authority. Let's have it our way, our agenda. We'll do our thing.
We'll govern ourselves and do what we want. Now listen to God's response. He who sits in the heavens shall laugh. Ha ha ha, God would say, as puny man shakes his fist and says, He who sits in the... God didn't even get up. He just sits back. God rules the universe with His feet up. He didn't even get up.
He didn't cringe in fear. He's just like, oh, that's all you got? The Lord will hold them in derision. He shall speak to them in His wrath and distress them in His deep displeasure. Yet I have set my king on my holy hill of Zion.
Wow. The rulers gathered together against the Lord. It's speaking of this convocation coming together against God. It sounds like a massive international ACLU convention or something, trying to push God out of life. God laughs.
God has got it all in control. And so here, that the saying might be fulfilled. Then verse 10, then Simon Peter, you remember him.
We love him, don't we? Simon Peter having a sword, so I don't know if he got it from one of the soldiers or he had concealed carry or what, but he's got a sword. He drew it and struck the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear. The servant's ear was named... or the servant's ear. Yeah, they named their ears back then. It's a weird thing.
You may want to try it. The servant was named Malchus. So Jesus said to Peter, put your sword into the sheath.
Shall I not drink the cup which my father has given me? We love Peter. Peter was a great fisherman. Peter was a poor swordsman. Peter wasn't precise. He wasn't aiming at his ear.
Are you kidding? Peter is going ballistic. He's all ISIS on these people. He wants to cut their heads off. He's going for Malchus just like to do them under. He misses being a good fisherman, not a good swordsman, and cuts his ear off.
This could have been a problem. If Jesus does not heal him, and he will, there would have been four crosses on Calvary. This is the capital offense. Jesus says, put your sword up.
Shall I not drink? See, once again, he realizes this is the Father's plan. This is sovereign will. God's sovereign will was being worked out that evening. God had a plan, and everything's going perfectly to plan. Now, yes, the soldiers have their plans.
The officers have their plans. Judas has his plan. There is a conspiracy afoot, but their plan and God's plan is coming together. In fact, God is using their plan. They're like little pawns on his chessboard simply to enact his sovereign plan.
That's all that is. God's plan is that his Son provide forgiveness. Now, Peter is there. Peter is the guy with the sword. Later on, bless Peter's heart.
That's what they say down south when something's wrong with somebody. Bless his heart. Later on, Peter will get this in his head. He'll get this in his heart.
He didn't get it now. He's got a sword. Pretty soon, the sword will be down.
The Bible will be open. And Peter will say to the people of this city, in Acts chapter 3, speaking of Jesus, him, Jesus, him being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by wicked hands, crucified and put to death. You killed him. You put him to death.
You are responsible for your choices and your actions, but this is all part of God's divine sovereign plan, the foreknowledge of God, the purpose of God was enacted. Finally, Peter will, it'll click for him. But at this point, Peter's hurting inside.
He's hurting inside. This is a reaction to something Jesus told him. Remember, Jesus said, Peter, I know you love me or you think you love me more than you really do and you swear that you'll never deny me and you'll always follow me.
You remember, Peter said, you know, these guys are flakes, Jesus, but you can count on me. I'm with you to the end. I'll never deny you. I'll always be with you. You're going to deny me three times actually tonight.
And he denied his denial. No, I'll go to death with you. Even if all others do it, I won't.
He is trying to prove Jesus wrong by taking out the sword. I am here for you. I am going to take over. I'm going to muster my way through this, hack my way through this.
How often we're like Peter, trying to hack our way through lives, trying to just get stuff done with an ax. Instead of letting the Lord, who tells us, I got this covered, I got it handled, let him show himself. Then, verse 12, the detachment of troops and the captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound him. And led him away to Annas first, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was the high priest that year. Now it was Caiaphas who advised the Jews that it was expedient that one man should die for the people. And Simon Peter followed Jesus and so did another disciple.
This we think is John, the author of this book. Now that disciple was known to the high priest and went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, but Peter stood at the door outside. Then the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to her, who kept the door and brought Peter in. Then the servant girl who kept the door said to Peter, you are not also one of this man's disciples, are you? And he said, I am not.
Now let me try to do this quickly. There was not one trial by Jesus. He's arrested now and he's going to go to trial. But there's not one trial. There are, in fact, six separate trials.
Mark them. The first one is before Annas, the previous high priest, still wielding great influence in the nation. The second trial is before the actual high priest, the one in power, the son-in-law of Annas, named Caiaphas. He goes to Annas and then Caiaphas, and those are like pretrials. They're trials, but pretrials. The third trial is with the whole ruling body of the Jews, the Sanhedrin, very, very early in the morning. So there are three trials that are religious trials.
The next three are civic trials. And the first one, or the fourth one in the list of six, he goes before Pontius Pilate. Pontius Pilate sends him to Herod Antipas. Herod sends him back to Pilate. Pilate renders the final verdict.
So six trials altogether. Now first he goes to Annas, not to the high priest. The high priest is named Caiaphas. Annas is not the high priest. He is the father-in-law of the high priest.
But to complicate things further, Annas used to be the high priest. He was the high priest put into power under a provincial ruler named Corinneus. Do you know that name? You do know that name.
Every Christmas you read that name. Luke chapter 2, Caesar Augustus gave a decree the whole world should be registered. This decree was given while Corinneus was governing Syria. That Corinneus allowed Annas to be the high priest. But around 15 AD he was deposed by another provincial ruler named Valerius Grotus, the predecessor of Pontius Pilate. He pulled him out and put in Caiaphas, his son-in-law. Now why is that important? Because high priests don't have terms.
They don't get voted in for four years or eight years and then you get a new one. They're a high priest for life. But the Romans are in charge so they pull out the high priest, put in a new one that they can control a little bit easier. But Annas still wields power and influence. And the reason they went to Annas first, let me tell you why I think it is. Annas controlled the business of the temple. All the doves that were bought and sold, all the lambs that were bought and sold, all the money changes that were in the temple courts, all of that belonged to Annas. Jesus twice had upset his business. So Jesus comes before Annas first, then to Caiaphas, the high priest, then to the Sanhedrin, as I mentioned.
You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we return to Skip's teaching, start 2025 off right, exploring the richness of God's Word with Pastor Skip's book, The Bible from 30,000 Feet, and accompanying workbook. These resources offer an aerial view of Scripture, covering all 66 books of the Bible with a unique flight plan, facts, landmarks, itinerary, gospel, history, and travel tips. They're a perfect tool to help you enrich your Bible study and apply its teachings to your daily life. You'll explore every book of the Bible with Pastor Skip's insightful flight plan, while the workbook provides exercises and questions to guide your reflection. We'll send you The Bible from 30,000 Feet book and workbook, as our thanks for your gift of $50 or more to reach more people with God's love through Connect with Skip Heitzig.
Go to connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888 and request your copy when you give. Now let's get back to Skip for more of today's teaching. So verse 18, Now the servants and the officers who had made the fire of the coal stood there, for it was cold, and they warmed themselves. And Peter stood with them and warmed himself. And the high priest then asked Jesus about his disciples and his doctrine. Jesus answered, I spoke openly to the world. Now before I get to that, Peter has denied Jesus already, has he not?
He's going to deny him again. And our Lord told him he would. Now let me just, let me speak on behalf of my brother Peter. Preachers love to rag on Peter. Preachers love to make Peter their whipping post. And you know Peter, he did this and here's all the mistakes Peter made. Can I just say there's going to be a long line of preachers in heaven waiting to apologize to Peter for all the things we said about him. And I'll be in that line because I've had my share of sermons on Peter. And yes, he denied the Lord, but listen, he's in the courtyard. The other ones have fled, only John and Peter are there. At least, listen, this guy's courageous.
I know he denies Jesus and there's a lot of reasons we could look as to why I've got my own theories. But Peter's the guy that took the sword out. Not a good plan, but that's not a lack of courage.
That's like I'm willing to die now. And he's following Jesus to the center of action. So for all the bad things you want to say, you at least have to grant Peter that he's there.
And by the way, it's not over for Peter. Even when he denies the Lord, Jesus knew he was going to deny him. That's part of the control. That's part of the sovereignty of God. Jesus said to Peter, it's recorded in the Gospel of Luke, Peter, Satan has been asking for you that he might sift you like wheat, but I prayed for you. And when you are restored, strengthen your brothers. He'll be restored. Jesus loves to restore failures. Are you a failure? You're in the right place. You're about to take the right elements.
You're about to come clean and be covered. And you might feel far from God, but God is never far from you. You can call on him.
You can turn back to him right where you are at one step. Well, the high priest, verse 19, asked Jesus about his disciples and his doctrine. Now look at what Jesus says.
It's very interesting. I spoke openly to the world. I always taught in the synagogues and in the temple where the Jews always meet. And in secret I have said nothing. Why do you ask me? Ask those who heard me. What I said to them, indeed they know what I said. And when he had said these things, one of the officers who stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, Do you answer the high priest like that? Jesus answered him. If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil.
But if well, why do you strike me? Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas, the high priest. Our Lord Jesus, knowing all things, also knew that in that trial before Annas and the proceedings that will follow, that this was an illegal trial. He knew this was not fair. He knew that this was not according to their law. According to Jewish law, you can never have a court proceeding on a capital offense the night during or before a festival. This is Passover. In fact, for that matter, you can't have a court at night at all.
You have to wait for the next morning. Also, the high priest can never directly question the defendant because they had laws protecting against self-incrimination. It was a prelude to our Fifth Amendment.
You know, when somebody says, I plead the Fifth Amendment, I will not answer on grounds that it might incriminate me. That was part of Jewish law as well. So all of this was rigged and Jesus knew it. So what he's saying is call a witness. You need to have witnesses here. You can't directly question me according to your law. You always have to have witnesses. Call your witness.
I've said nothing in secret. Well, they reacted. It was an ad hominem attack. They slapped him, struck him. Simon Peter, verse 25, stood and warmed himself. Therefore, they said to him, you are not also one of his disciples, are you? They asked him that before.
He denied it and said, I am not. One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of him whose ear Peter cut off, said, didn't I see you in the garden with him? Peter then denied again and immediately a rooster crowed. Let me plan something in your mind. Next time you think of Peter, the apostle, I want you to think of three phases of his life, three phases of his ministry.
How's that? Peter was at the fire. He's warming himself by the fire, cozying up, cuddling up to the world that is amassed against Jesus. So he's at the fire, number one.
Number two, he's under fire. You're the guy, right? You're the guy. You were with him. You're one of his disciples.
No, no, no. So Peter was at the fire. Peter under fire.
Number three, Peter on fire. When he gets restored again, when Jesus sees him at the shores of Galilee and recommissions him again, this boy will be on fire. And you'll see it in the book of Acts, filled with the Holy Spirit, witness of the resurrection, and he is on fire.
But right now he's hurting. He denied and immediately a rooster crowed. Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium, and it was early morning. But they themselves did not go in the Praetorium because lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover. Pilate then went out to them and said, what accusation do you bring against this man?
There's an old saying that says, if you can't find a lawyer who knows the law, find a lawyer who knows the judge. The Jews had a problem. They could not adjudicate in capital cases and have a positive verdict.
They could not enact the death penalty. That had been taken away by the Romans. They knew that. They found him guilty. They wanted him killed. But they could not kill him because of Roman law. And so the best thing to do is take it before the one who can lay his gavel down and bring a positive rendering in this case and get this man killed.
So they come to punch his pilot where? It says the Praetorium. Now the Praetorium is a structure. If you go to Jerusalem, you can see it. You can see the remnants of the building, and it's been added to, but it's essentially the same size. It was this huge castle-like structure attached to the Temple Mount on the northeast side of the Temple Mount. And why was it there? Because during festivals, millions of people from all over the world came for sacrifices and for festivals. The Romans were afraid of an uprising, so they stationed extra troops at festival time, and they had this tower that overlooked the Temple Mount so they could see any activity and be honored right away.
So the Antonia Fortress is where troops were stationed during the festival. Not only that, but Punch's pilot is there. He didn't live there.
Listen, pilot was smart. You know where he lived? At the beach. His headquarters was at Caesarea by the Sea, a beautiful spot, great weather.
Not bad waves, by the way. But whenever there was a festival, as part of his duty as the Roman governor, the operator to go back to Jerusalem, get stationed there and watch over the proceedings. Well, he's a Gentile.
And according to Jewish tradition, the dwelling places of the Gentiles are defiled, are contaminated. So they want pilot to give them what they want, which is a guilty verdict for Jesus. But they won't go inside the Praetorium. He's got to come out to them, and it doesn't set well with him.
That's why he wants to dismiss the case. Plus, being Passover, one of the rituals before a Passover is to go through the house and get all the leaven out of the house. You take leaven out, and you search for it.
It's a very elaborate process. It's called the berikat chometz, the removal of the leaven, the search for the leaven. And so to go into a Gentile's palace or house, I'm sure it's going to be leavened, defiled. So they want to be ceremonially clean. How hypocritical can you get?
I want to break the sixth commandment and get a guy killed for no good reason at all and break all of the laws of the court, but I want to make sure that I'm not defiled so that I can celebrate the Passover. So pilot comes out. Pilot went over and said to them, what accusation do you bring against this man? They answered and said to him, if you were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered him up to you. Then pilot said to them, you take him. He wants to dismiss it.
He didn't want to have anything to do with the religious squabble. You take him. And judge him according to your law. Therefore the Jews said to him, it's not lawful for us to put anyone to death.
Ah, now they're showing their hand. They want him killed. We've already taken him to our court. We've already given him the sentence guilty.
We just want you to run through the paperwork, get it done. And notice what it says. That the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spoke signifying by what death he would die. Remember he said, if I be lifted up, I'll draw men to myself? Jesus said that.
You know what he was speaking of, right? The cross. The lifting up of the cross. Not lifting somebody up in worship. It meant being lifted up on a Roman cross and being stapled to it.
Now why is this significant? Because Jesus predicted he would die by Gentile, not Jewish means, by a cross. Jews didn't crucify people. How did they enact capital punishment? Stoning.
They would stone a person to death. But to signify by what death he would die, Jesus already announced I'm going to be killed on a cross. All of this is happening. Again, all under God's control for you.
This is God loving you, controlling the outcome of this to pay for your sin and for mine. Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again and called Jesus and said to him, are you the king of the Jews? Jesus answered and said to him, or Jesus answered him, are you speaking for yourself about this or did others tell you this concerning me?
Very interesting response. Are you the king? Now Jesus turns the tables and asks him a question.
Why? He's after his heart. We're glad you joined us today. Before you go, remember that when you give $50 or more to help reach more people with the gospel through Connect with Skip Heitzig, we'll send you Pastor Skip's book, The Bible from 30,000 Feet and companion workbook to help you dive into scripture in the coming year. This sweeping aerial view of God's word will help you understand the big picture with greater clarity and gain a deeper appreciation for God's timeless truths. To request your copy, call 800-922-1888.
That's 800-922-1888. Or visit connectwithskip.com slash donate. For more from Skip, be sure to check out the many resources available at connectwithskip.com slash store. Come back next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Make a connection, make a connection at the foot of the crossing. Cast all burdens on his word. Make a connection, connection. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever changing times.
