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That's connectwithskip.com. Now, let's get started with today's message from Pastor Skip Heitzig. 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 a sudden, the high priest says, 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, as 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. 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 on it 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, procurator, 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, 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, which 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 Pilate comes out. Pilate 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 Pilate said to them, you take him. He wants to dismiss it. He didn't want to have anything to do with a 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. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we get back to Skip's teaching, starting the year with a structured Bible study can shape your spiritual journey for the months ahead and help align your life with God's truth. We want to help you do that with Pastor Skip's book, The Bible from 30,000 Feet and Companion Workbook. Journey through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, gaining a deep panoramic understanding of God's word that helps you understand the big picture of scripture with greater clarity. These resources are our thanks for your gift of at least $50 today to help share biblical teaching with more people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig.
Go to connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888 and request your copies when you give at least $50 today to reach people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig. Let's continue with today's teaching with Pastor Skip. 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 him into 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, 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? 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. He's after even this pagan Roman calloused and history paints him as a very callous, cynical, truculent individual. I mean, are you the king of the Jews? Are you asking this as a Roman or are you asking this out of rumor or are you asking this because you realize that I might be?
That's the idea of the question back to him. Pilate answered, am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you to me.
What have you done? Jesus answered, my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight so that I should not be delivered to the Jews, but now my kingdom is not from here. Pilate therefore said to him, are you a king then? Jesus answered, you say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born. For this cause I have come into the world that I should bear witness to the truth.
Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. Our Lord is saying, I'm a king but not a political king. I'm a king but not a military king. I am a spiritual king and I will be the eventual king of all kings. I'll rule this world one day.
But until then, it's a spiritual kingdom. My kingdom is not of this world. He's the king today. He is a king of sorts. Is he the king of your heart? Is he the king of your life?
He wants to sit on the throne of your life as king, as Lord. Now eventually he is going to take over the world, the political world, the military world. It's all going to be under his jurisdiction one day. One of the best verses, one of the best verses in Revelation, in fact, all of the New Testament is Revelation 11 15 when the announcement comes. The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he will reign forever. That day is coming, Pilate. But until then, he is a spiritual king. So now Pilate's in a quandary because Jesus said this. He said, okay, my kingdom is not of this world. You know, if he would have just said, yes, I am the king of the Jews, then Pilate could have got him for insurrection. But what do you do with the spiritual king? He's in a quandary going, oh man, what do I do with this? This is a hard trial, man.
Now to make matters worse, his wife had a dream. By the way, just a few words about Pilate. You know, Pilate was not a Roman. He works for the Roman government.
He's a Roman procurator, governor, prefect, provincial ruler. But he was not a Roman. You know, he was Spanish.
He was born in Seville, Spain. He joined the Roman legions as a child. He was not a good leader. He was really a flunky.
The only reason he got the job here in Judea is he married the granddaughter of Caesar Augustus. Her name was Claudia Procula. And one evening Claudia Procula got a weird dream. And Claudia sent a note to her husband, uh, dude, leave this guy alone. I had a nasty dream about him.
Just, I don't know what's going on, but hands off. He should have listened to his wife. A lot of men should, but he didn't. But please, before we finish the chapter, notice the wording of Jesus in verse 37. For this cause I was born, now watch this, and for this cause I have come and for this cause I have come into the world.
Two things are at play here. You are delving into the incarnation of Jesus from his own lips. I was born like everybody else is born, unto us a child is born, but unto us a son is given. I came into the world. It connotes pre-existence and incarnation.
I was born and it was that birth that was the means of me who existed from eternity past to come into the world. It's a very interesting grammatical construction. Everyone who is of the truth, here's my voice, Pilate said to him, what is truth? When he said this, he went out again to the Jews and said to them, I find no fault in him at all.
That's a way of saying case dismissed. He didn't want anything to do with them. It's sad that he asked the question, what is truth? But he didn't hang around for the answer.
He walked out. A lot of people do. A lot of people say, man, I just want to find the truth. I'm just interested in the truth. But they are predisposed to believe there is no such thing as absolute truth.
This is the cry of postmodern philosophy. What is truth? Nobody can know absolute truth.
There is no such thing. Your truth is different than my truth and it's on a sliding scale. So what is truth?
Boy, that's a typical politician, too, by the way. What is truth? Because to people in offices like this, truth is a sliding scale determined by spin. You can spin anything to make it say anything.
What is truth? Verse 39, let's finish this up. Take the Lord's Supper.
But you have a custom. He goes back and says to them, but you have a custom that I should release to you someone at the Passover. Do you therefore want me to release to you the King of the Jews? They all cried again saying, not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber. When it says robber, it does not mean a petty thief. It doesn't mean he walked into 7-Eleven, stole a pack of Goan cigarettes, and he was out. This guy was a vile criminal.
This guy deserved the death penalty. He was an insurrectionist. Barabbas or Jesus? Not this man, but Barabbas. Not this man, but Barabbas.
Interesting note. Barabbas, you know what Barabbas means? Bar is son in Hebrew. Abba, anybody know what Abba means? Father or daddy, Abba.
You'll see little children in Israel. Abba means dad or father, daddy. Barabbas or Barabbas means son of a father. That's all it means, son of a father. According to Origen, the Alexandrian Egyptian scholar of the second and third century, the first name of Barabbas was Jesus.
Common name, Yeshua. So the choice is between Jesus Barabbas and Jesus the Messiah. Do you want Jesus the son of a father, or do you want Jesus the son of the father? That was their choice, and they chose for not Jesus the son of the father. And that is what happens every day across this planet.
People make the choice for anyone but Jesus the son of the father, and they did. But he's not a victim. He's a volunteer. He's not a victim of circumstance. These circumstances aren't just happening around him.
He is controlling them. I want to close with this. This is a young boy's understanding of biblical truth. Biblical truth. He writes, he said, after the Old Testament came the New Testament. Jesus is the star of the new. He was born in Bethlehem in a barn. I wish I had been born in a barn too, because my mom is always saying to me, close the door, where were you born, in a barn?
Boy, would it be nice to say, as a matter of fact, I was. During his life, Jesus had many arguments with sinners like the Pharisees and the Democrats. Jesus also had 12 possums.
The worst one was Judas Asparagus. Judas was so bad that they named a terrible vegetable after him. But Jesus was a great man.
He healed many leopards and even preached to some Germans on the mount. But all those guys put Jesus on trial before Pontius the pilot. Pilot didn't stick up for Jesus.
He just washed his hands instead. Anyways, Jesus died for our sins, then came back to life again. He went up to heaven, but he'll be back at the end of the aluminum. His return is foretold in the book of revolution.
I'll tell you, this kid got a lot of stuff wrong, but he got a couple things right. Jesus died for our sins and is coming back to rule and terrain forever. Thanks for listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. We hope you've been strengthened in your walk with Jesus by today's program.
Before we let you go, we want to remind you about this month's resources that will help you gain a deeper understanding of the sweeping story of scripture. Pastor Skip's book, The Bible from 30,000 Feet, and The Companion Workbook are our thanks for your support of Connect with Skip Heitzig today. Request your copies when you give $50 or more. Call 800-922-1888.
That's 800-922-1888. Or visit connectwithskip.com slash donate. And did you know that you can get a weekly devotional and other resources from Pastor Skip sent right to your email inbox? Simply visit connectwithskip.com and sign up for emails from Skip. Come back next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's Word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig. . Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever-changing times.
