 in Luke chapter 18 and or continue our study, our verse by verse here in Luke. And so let's read verses 28 through 30 and I'm gonna give you a background, a context and then we'll move into those verses but reading verses 28 through 30, Luke writes, then Peter said, see we have left all and followed you. So he said to them, I shortly I say to you there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children for the sake of the kingdom of God who shall not receive many times more in this present time and in the age to come eternal life. Now what would prompt the apostle Peter to make that kind of statement? We have left all and followed you. Well all we need to do is remember what has just taken place. What has just taken place is a rich young ruler who has approached the Lord Jesus Christ and has asked him a question. He has said, good master, good teacher, what good thing should I do to inherit eternal life? And so Jesus had responded to that question. The young man was asking a very valid and a very important question. How can I enter into the kingdom of God? And as the Lord Jesus was speaking to him he spoke concerning the things that pertain to him. Seeing that he was a rich young ruler especially a ruler that means that he was a synagogue official. He had religious background and that's what he did. Jesus spoke to him in a religious way. He said you know the commandments and then he gave to him a few of the commandments and he said these are things that you ought to be doing. Obey the law of Moses. Well obviously Jesus would say obey the law of Moses because it would reveal to this young man that he was still empty even though he's attempted to do that. Which was the response. These things I've done since I was a youth. And again remember with me I shared how Matthew had said that the man continued by saying what do I still or what do I yet lack? In other words I've done these things, the things that you've said from the time I was a child and still there's an emptiness in me and that's why Jesus went on to say to him well go sell all that you possess and give to the poor and then come and follow me and you'll have riches in heaven. And the man at that point understood completely what Jesus was saying. He was saying that to follow me is gonna require some sacrifice on your part. You're gonna have to let go of the things that you trust most in which is your riches. And he went away greatly, greatly saddened because he was a very, very rich young man. Verse 23 says when he heard this he became very sorrowful for he was very rich. And so in verse 24 when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful he said how hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. And those who heard it said who then can be saved. But he said the things which are impossible with men are possible with God. You see if you let go of that which is earthly he was saying you will have that which is heavenly. And this man because he was very rich didn't want to relieve himself of those things. And it was his wealth and his possessions that was holding him back and we saw that last time. And so as this is taking place naturally the question is gonna be asked well who can be saved because the rich people have such great advantages. Well with men it's impossible. Man cannot save himself but with God all things are possible because it's God who changes the sinful heart. It's God who is able to save helpless men and helpless women. And so with man it's impossible. This young man isn't gonna be able to keep the commandments. He's not gonna be able to perfect himself to become righteous enough in his own attempts to enter into the kingdom of heaven. Therefore he has to release that which is holding him back. And so man can't save himself with man it's impossible. But with God all things are possible. Salvation originates with God and God is the one who will grant that to us. And so as this is taking place and Jesus has just told this young man to let go of everything he has the Apostle Peter who's standing there listening to what Jesus says immediately interrupts if he will again and he says see we've left all and followed you. And so he's following, he's tracking with the Lord Jesus Christ but now he wants to make it very clear that he and the others who are with him have left everything to pursue the Lord. And they're basically wanting to know what is it that we're gonna have because we have left all and we have followed you. In Matthew chapter four verses 18 through 22. Matthew records Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee. He saw two brothers Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake for they were fishermen. Come follow me Jesus said and I will make you fishers of men. At once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there he saw two other brothers James, the son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee preparing their nets. Jesus called them and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. So Peter is speaking concerning himself and the other men who have given up. Now obviously Judas is part of the 12 that he's speaking concerning but at this point Peter doesn't realize that Judas' heart is not with the Lord. He's speaking for the Apostle so and he's saying we have left all indeed they had and they'd been pursuing the Lord and following him. So we have given up things. What do we gain for giving up these things? And I want you to see Jesus' response in verse 29. He said to them assuredly I say to you there's no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children for the sake of the kingdom of God who shall not receive many times more in this present time and in the age to come eternal life. You haven't given up anything. You're gaining everything. I think if we were to understand that you didn't lose you won when you came to Christ your life would be more joyful. I heard somebody giving his testimony once and he said you know when I came to Christ I really gave up a lot. He said I gave up alcoholism. I gave up ulcers. I gave up a rocky marriage. I gave up misery. I gave up all of that. He said just think about all I've given up and really in reality that's pretty much what it is isn't it? I mean we gave up what? We gave up a life of sin. We've given it all up but we've gained so much. We've given it all up. What did we have in the first place? Even this rich young guy had everything but had nothing. He was empty. He had everything but he had nothing. Why was he pursuing a rabbi named Jesus an itinerant preacher who didn't really even have a synagogue that he could say he was a master over. He was someone who went from place to place preaching and ministering and all even as Jesus later on says he says, Foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. Jesus would go into it as he's doing right now here in the Gospel of Luke. He's going into Jerusalem and he's gonna end up spending his time sleeping in the garden of Gethsemane because he doesn't have a place to rest. That's called his own. His followers would provide for him in every way and yet here's this rich man, this guy who's got everything, this man who is absolutely beyond our comprehension rich who comes to this man who has nothing and he says, listen I wanna know how I can get to heaven. I wanna know how I can have eternal life. I believe that you more than likely can supply that answer. Now I'm a religious guy and I'm a young guy. I've got all the advantages of youth and wealth but I really don't have satisfaction in my soul and I'd like to know how I can have that. Well, you know the commandments, keep them. I've been doing that and I'm still empty. Well you've got an anchor, it's called your money. Get rid of it. Give to the poor because in doing so you'll fulfill Leviticus 19, 18 which is to love your neighbor as yourself. You'll care for that person and I'll provide for you. I'll make sure you have your daily bread. I'll make sure you're cared for. You're gonna have to put faith and trust in me. Are you willing to do that? No. No, I was hoping you'd give me a few commands or something I could do for myself so I could gain this. No, you've gotta let go in order to have. Many, many, many years ago now, not thousands but a hundred and some. It was a wrestler, a European champion, came to the United States to wrestle in a series of wrestling matches with American wrestlers in Holland and as the champion, he made a lot of money. And so at that time they paid in gold and he had a bag, several bags, that were filled really with gold dust and gold as anybody here knows is heavy and he had some bags of gold and he traveled across from Europe on a steam ship and so after he had won all his matches and made a lot of money, been here for a while, he was traveling back to Europe and as he was traveling back to Europe, the ship began to sink. And so this guy took his gold and had a gold belt, one of these money belts and he put the gold dust in his money belt and jumped overboard expecting to tread some water and get to one of the life boats and all but he promptly sank to the very bottom and drowned because his gold was weighing him down and ended up in his own death because he valued that more than anything else, he ended up losing everything for that and that's basically what Jesus is talking about here. Jesus is saying to this young man, you have to let go of that which is bringing you down but the apostle Peter is listening and he's saying, well we left all, I was a successful businessman and so was John and a couple of the guys and we left everything and Matthew was very wealthy as a tax collector and we've given everything up and I'm just wondering what do we get because you're telling this guy he can gain everything because if he gives everything up, well we literally have done that so what are we gonna gain from this and seeing that we've given everything up and Jesus is basically saying you haven't given anything up, you're gaining everything. When you let go of that which is bringing you down you gain everything and so that's what Jesus is pointing out. He says to him, assuredly I say to you there's no one who's left house or parents, brothers or wife, children for the sake of the kingdom of God who shall not receive many times more in this present time and in the age to come, eternal life, you don't lose, you gain. On the one hand, there are many of us who when you got saved, you lost, you lost your family. You were wife and your husband didn't want anything to do with you. Your husband, your wife, doesn't like the way that you've changed. Your children don't like the way the parents have become. I can't tell you how many times parents have spoken to me in this fellowship and have said, listen, I raised my kids without the Lord and now they're teenagers, I've gotten saved. They don't want to come to church. They don't want anything to do with what's going on in my life. I hear that fairly often. The changes that take place, when I got saved my friends basically wanted nothing to do with me. Those whom I thought were my closest friends no longer wanted to be around me because I got saved because I was a Christian. I was, at that time they called us Jesus freaks and that's what I had become and they didn't like that about me. They didn't like the way that I changed. I remember my cousin, I had a cousin named Ray who one day said, what happened to you, man? You used to have such a sense of humor. You used to make us laugh. You used to do such things. You were always laughing, David. Now you're so serious in everything. What happened to you? And I said, well, Ray, I'm the same person I was before except I don't have to be a fool anymore. I don't have to be anybody's clown anymore. I can have self-respect now. I don't need the attention. What happened to me is I got saved and people didn't like that. And some of you know what I'm talking about. They didn't like it. They don't like the changes that took place in you. And so in some ways, you know, you may see a loss in the sense of losing a family, losing a wife or a husband, losing a brother, parents, children, in the sense that their affection is no longer part of your life. Sometimes it costs in that way. In Matthew chapter 10, verses 34 through 38, Jesus said, do not suppose that I have come to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man's enemies will be the members of his own household. Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me, it's not worthy of me. Anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. So you make a choice, who am I gonna follow? Who am I going to please? Like the apostle Paul said, if I still wanted to please men, I wouldn't be preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Who am I going to follow? Who am I going to please? Well, we made the decision to please the Lord. And sometimes we do lose friends, but you may lose your physical family and some have, but you gain a great family called the body of Christ. And that's what happens. In verse 30, he says, who shall not receive many times more in this present time and in the age to come eternal life. You gain when you come to Christ and you begin to fellowship with brothers and sisters when you're part of the body of Christ, you gain. And it's amazing your family has spread out throughout this world. I've had opportunities to travel to quite a number of countries in the world. And I've encountered brothers and sisters in most everyone that I've ever gone to. I've encountered them in Asia, in Israel. I've encountered them throughout Europe. Brothers and sisters in the Lord. People who love Jesus Christ, they pray with you and they speak to you and they share with you and you minister to them, they minister to you, family throughout the world. Not just in the city that I grew up in and not just the city that I now live in, but throughout the world. I have relatives in Christ and that's what he's talking about. In Mark chapter 10, verse 30, Jesus said he shall receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brethren and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions. But in the world to come, eternal life. And you do, you gain so much. It's not what you lose, it's what you're gaining. And when you come to Christ, you gain a family. You gain people who care for you. You gain people who bless you. You gain people who open their house up to you. You gain people who will invite you over for a meal that you don't pay for. You gain so many different things, so many relationships that come because of your knowledge of Jesus Christ. And so the apostle says we left all and followed you but Jesus in essence is saying you didn't really leave anything, you gained everything. So verse 31, then he took the 12 aside and said to them, behold, we are going up to Jerusalem and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the son of man will be accomplished. For he will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. They will scourge him and kill him. And the third day, he will rise again. But they understood none of these things. The saying was hidden from them and they did not know the things which were spoken. So this is now a private conversation that Jesus is having. Notice verse 31, he took the 12 aside. So this is a private conversation with his apostles and he's instructing them in a private fashion. Some of the things that he has to say are for their ears only. They're things that he's preparing them to hear. If you were to look at Matthew chapter 13, for example, in verses 10 and 11, Jesus was given a parable and the disciples came to him and asked, why do you speak to the people in parables? And Jesus' answer was, the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you but not to them. There were some things that Jesus would speak only to his disciples. He was preparing them and ministering to them. And so he says, we're gonna go up to Jerusalem. And so what he's referring to is his suffering and his death. And so I wanna give to you a study at this point to remind you that the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus Christ was no afterthought and it wasn't an accident. Jesus dying on the cross is actually the purpose that he was sent in the first place. We all know John 3.16, I quote it quite often. It's the most famous New Testament scripture. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. The heart of the gospel is the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so the suffering and death of Jesus was not an afterthought, it was not an accident. It wasn't something that occurred simply because he was rejected and therefore a new plan had to be brought up. This was what God had planned all along. Matthew 1811 says the son of man has come to save that which was lost. Later on in Luke in chapter 19 verse 10, Jesus will say the son of man has come to seek and save that which was lost. And so Jesus Christ, his death is not an afterthought. It wasn't something that he was not prepared for but he wants to prepare his disciples. And so it's necessary to instruct them further. They have to be prepared for his death because they're gonna carry on his work in the world. And if they're not prepared for the death of Jesus, his death is gonna destroy them. It's gonna cause them so much grief that it would cause them to become helpless. I mean you have to think about it for just a moment how it would have been to be with the Lord Jesus Christ as one of his early disciples walking with him, listening to him as he spoke. Can you imagine what it would have been like to be with him when he actually would turn that water into wine when they saw that miracle? Can you imagine what that would be like to see something like that? To see him do something like that and it would just be so amazing. To see somebody who's a leper, totally unclean. Somebody who's to live an isolated life. Somebody whose skin is rotting right off their body. Somebody whose skin is so rotten that it smells with a horrible odor. And to see Jesus reach out and touch somebody like that. Breaking the Jewish law against, at least in the eyes of the Pharisees by actually coming into contact with the leper though he cleansed him instantly and wasn't becoming unclean himself. To see him do that. Or to see him walk up to a funeral procession where there's a woman who's got her only son who had died and the mourners there who are weeping and this woman who's being left destitute, helpless and to see Jesus walk and stop that funeral procession and you're there with him and to see him walk up to that corpse and to give life to the dead. Can you imagine what that would have been like? To be hungry in an afternoon and to have watched Jesus as he's ministered and now there's so many people there and so you walk up to him and you say to him you know Master you need to send him away it's getting late and there's no way we can supply their needs out here. They haven't eaten and then Jesus looked at them and says well you feed them. Don't we don't have anything? We've got some bread and some fish and we got that from a little boy ripped off his lunch. I mean, what is that little amongst so many? And there are 5,000 men, the scriptures tell us not including children and wives and some would say that there were anywhere from 13 to 15,000 in total who were there the day that Jesus took some bread and some fish, multiplied it and taught his disciples something about God's supply and every man's need. They're learning these lessons guys. They're watching Jesus when the Pharisees who were the intellectuals of the day, the doctors of the law, when they would come and they would try and debate him. It was so cool to have Jesus there just to watch him as he would just turn them inside out. He didn't lose an argument, he was afraid of nothing. There could be a storm on the sea and with just a fish's voice, just a command, cease be still and the waves and the wind ceases and it calms down like a naughty child that's been disciplined and they saw this. They were there. He even gave to them the ability to go out and do these kinds of works too, to heal the sick, to cleanse the leper, to raise the dead. They knew that with Jesus they could do all things and there was nothing impossible with him. They knew that but he has also been telling them I'm gonna be betrayed, I'm gonna be beaten, I'm gonna die and that is something they just cannot handle. But Jesus is preparing them. He's preparing them because he is gonna ascend to heaven and leave them behind to carry on his work and so he's once again preparing them and so notice verse 31 how he says, behold, we are going up to Jerusalem and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the son of man will be accomplished. He points their eyes to the word of God. You see, in the ministry life of Jesus Christ he fulfilled over 300 specific prophecies demonstrating that he is Messiah. Over 300 specific prophecies. I'll give you nine briefly just to illustrate this because he says that all things that are written by the prophets concerning the son of man will be accomplished and so this is about to be accomplished. He's gonna enter into Jerusalem on a donkey. Matthew 21 verses one through five records that which fulfills Zechariah chapter nine verse nine which reads, rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, shout, O daughter of Jerusalem, behold, your king comes to you. He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding upon a donkey and upon the coal, the fall of a donkey. So he's gonna enter into Jerusalem fulfilling scripture. Secondly, he's gonna be abandoned by his disciples. Zechariah 13, seven, O wake, O sword, against my shepherd and against the man that is my fellow, says the Lord of hosts, might the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered and I will turn my hand upon the little ones. That was fulfilled in Matthew 26, 31. He's gonna be rejected by men. Isaiah 53, three says he is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief. We hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised, we esteemed him not. That is fulfilled in Luke 23, 18 through 25. He's gonna die on a cross in front of those who mock him. Psalm 22, 16, dogs have compassed me, the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me, they pierced my hands and my feet. That's fulfilled in John 19, 37. He's gonna cry out. Psalm 22, verse one, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? You see that fulfilled in Mark 15, 34. His clothing is gonna be gambled for. Psalm 22, 18, they part my garments among them, cast lots for my vesture. That's fulfilled in John 19, 23 and 24. He's gonna receive vinegar to drink while on the cross. Psalm 69, 21 says in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink, fulfilled in Mark 15, 23. He's gonna be pierced by a spear. Zechariah 12, 10 says they shall look upon me whom they have pierced. That's fulfilled in John 19, 34 through 37. And then obviously he's gonna fulfill the promise of resurrection, which is the core of all Christian faith. Psalm 16, verse 10, which says, you will not leave my soul in hell, neither will you suffer your holy one to see corruption. And so when Jesus is speaking to his disciples, he's letting them know that what he's going to do is fulfill scripture. This has been written by the prophets. This is what is gonna happen. This is something that I've come to do. And so that's what's about to take place. So they're gonna go up to Jerusalem. Now, when he says here in verse 31, behold, we're gonna go up to Jerusalem. Immediately his disciples are concerned. They know that he's a marked man in the city of Jerusalem. As a matter of fact, conspiracy to put him to death has been developing for some time. You see, Jesus had been in Jerusalem and he had healed a man. There was a crippled man at the pool of Bethesda. And when Jesus had healed this crippled man at the pool there, Jesus had performed that work on the Sabbath. And so the people who were present when Jesus Christ did that began to think that Jesus did not honor the law of Moses by breaking the Sabbath, which they considered to be a work. And you're not supposed to work on the Sabbath. Therefore, Jesus doesn't honor Moses, nor the law, he's a false teacher, and they had a real problem with him. It says in John 5, verses 16 through 18, for this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to kill him because he had done these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, my father's been working until now and I've been working. Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill him because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was his father making himself equal with God. The disciples are aware of the fact that there is a plot to kill Jesus Christ. Jesus has set his face to go to Jerusalem, but they are concerned for him because they know that there's a plot to kill him. So when Jesus is speaking, we are going up to Jerusalem, that's gonna send a chill in their heart. Now he's been instructing them concerning this for some time because as we've been here in Luke since chapter nine, verse 51, Jesus has been making his way to the city of Jerusalem because it says in Luke 9, 51 it came to pass when the time had come for him to be received up that he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem. And so Jesus is on his way and he tells them what's gonna take place. Notice verse 32. He will be delivered to the Gentiles, will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. They will scourge him and kill him, and the third day he will rise again. Delivered, mocked, insulted, spit upon, scourged, crucified. That must have been something very difficult to believe that this one who can raise the dead is gonna voluntarily yield up his own life. That would be so very difficult to embrace. But the bottom line is that Jesus had 12 men, but one of them was unfaithful, Judas. When my kids were born, I wanted to give them biblical names. Now obviously, Corrine was the exception, because I've never read the name Corrine in the Bible. I actually found her name when I was in Holland in 1975. Met a girl named Corrine Anderson, and I thought, that's a cool name. If I ever have a little girl, I think I'll name her that. And so when Corrine was born, I gave her the name Corrine. But my other kids have biblical names. David Aaron, Anna Rebecca, Joseph Andrew. Actually, Corrine's real name isn't Corrine. Her real name, her legal name, is Marie Elena. I've never told you this story, I don't think. When Marie gave birth, she was so out of it that they brought the paperwork and where it said name of child, Marie wrote Marie Elena. And so Corrine didn't even know her name is really Marie Elena until she went to get a passport on her own a few years ago, and she called her mom up and said, what did you do to me? My name is Marie Elena. And anyway, just thought I'd tell you that. But you name your kids. A lot of kids in our church are named Joseph or Josiah, or there are a lot of biblical names. But I've never dedicated a Judas. Have you ever heard me say this is Judas? Oh my God. Now they turn out to be one when they're 13, but that's another story. Oh, you don't name a child Judas. You name a mean dog Judas, but you do not name a child Judas. Why not? Because he's a betrayer. Because that name has gone down in history in infamy, that's why, because you would not do that to a child. You would not give that child the name Judas because that's an evil name. And but we've got one, Judas. Judas is one of the 12. And for whatever reason he had, he sold Jesus Christ. He sold him out. This was a guy who has no excuse for that. I was talking to somebody just the other day and they said, well, I have a friend who thinks that it was unfair. That Judas would be a betrayer. I mean, it's like he was selected to do that. I said, no, wait a minute. If there's anybody in history who has no excuse, it's Judas. He has no excuse. This is a man who walked with Jesus for over three years. This is a man who camped out next to him, who heard things said that no other ears had heard before other than the 12. This is a man who received the authority and power to raise the dead. This guy had the ability to heal the sick in the name of Jesus Christ. This guy had such a tight, close relationship with the Lord that he was able to use that to his advantage because he was the one who was the treasurer in the apostolic group. And he would take that money, John tells us, and he would take money out of the bag and he would spend it on whatever he wanted. He was a thief and he stole the revenue from the ministry of Jesus Christ. This was a man who had every opportunity to be a follower of Christ who decided against it. And Judas sold Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. We don't know what that valuation is at this moment, but I do know that 30 pieces of silver, 30 pieces was what you would pay during that time for a house slave. You would pay for a human being with 30 pieces of silver. Judas treated Jesus in that fashion, sold him out for 30 pieces of silver. He sold him out to the priests, but the priests in turn, because they didn't have the ability to put a man to death. They had lost that right when Rome rescinded it from them. Which really falls in line with prophecy because the Jewish method of capital punishment is stoning. But Jesus was to be crucified. So in God's way he worked things out, if you will, Romans having authority for capital punishment were able to pierce Jesus Christ, thus fulfilling Psalm 22. But Judas had sold Jesus to the priests who in turn wanted to have Jesus put to death but didn't have the authority to do that, and therefore they had to take him to Pontius Pilate, a Gentile, which is what Jesus is speaking about here. When he says in verse 32, he will be delivered to the Gentiles. Pontius Pilate being a Gentile was the one who was able to enact the death penalty. Matthew chapter 26 verses 14 through 16 says, one of the 12 called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests and said to them, what will you give me, and I will deliver him up unto you? And they covenanted with him for 30 pieces of silver, and from that time he sought opportunity to betray him, and then ultimately he turned him over to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. In John 1831, when they had brought Jesus before him, Pilate said to them, you take him and judge him according to your law, and the Jews said to him, it's not lawful for us to put any man to death. And so they had handed him over to the Roman authorities because Rome was gonna be the ones who were gonna be putting him to death under their law. Now while he was in custody of Rome, Jesus is mocked, spit upon, and he was scourged, and that's what it says in verse 32, he will be mocked, insulted, and spit upon, as well as being beaten. The Bible in Matthew 26 verses 67 and 68 says, they spat on his face and they beat him, and others struck him with the palms of their hands. Same prophesy to us Christ, who is the one who struck you? Blindsided. Some of us like to play football, and some of us know what it's like to be running with a ball and to be looking upfield and not to see somebody on your side. And in the last minute to get nailed, you're not prepared for that because when you're running and you see them in front of you and you know they're about to hit you, you can do something about it. But when you're running and you're looking upfield and somebody's coming from an area you can't see, you have no moment of preparation, and sometimes you just get nailed. I remember going up for a pass and I was stretched out and this guy hit me in my tailbone and I did a complete flip and landed on top of my head, and they call that and ring in your bell. And man, I was like, you could hear the birds chirping and it was just an amazing experience, you know. It hurts. There are guys who, you know, they're at a party, somebody's getting loud or weird. And there are guys who will just come up and stand behind them and then just hammer them as hard as they can in the back of the head. No moment to respond, you just get blindsided. I've had that, that hurts too. Everything hurts when I think about it. My age, everything hurts. Getting up out of bed hurts, but when you think about the Lord, they had blindfolded him and they hit him and then they would say, prophesy to us, Christ, who hit you? No opportunity to be prepared. Not only did they do that to him, but they took great portions of his beard and they twisted it with their hands and pulled it out of his face so that large gaps of his beard had been ripped out from him. They took a reed and they smote him in the head with it. They hit him in the head. It's like being hit with a billy club. They took thorns that were about an inch and a half long and they actually wove this thorny bush into a thorny crown and they put it on his head and pressed it in and slammed him with the club. That's how they treated Jesus. And it's interesting to me that he's telling them, I know exactly what's gonna happen to me. I'm gonna be delivered to the Gentiles. I'm gonna be mocked. I'm gonna be insulted. I'm gonna be spit upon. The greatest insult, one of the very greatest insults that you could ever give to a Jewish man is to spit on him. Even to this day, tell me how you would feel. Even we Americans in the 21st century, if somebody was angry at you and spit in your face, there's just something about that that would be so humiliating and so anger provoking, they spit on his face. Jesus' head was swollen, was bruised. His beard had been pulled out of his face, his head all swollen, caked blood. This actually happens. And that's what he's speaking about. Verse 33, they will scourge him. Every Easter, every good Friday, I share with you in details about the scourging that took place. We have a tendency of sanitizing what happened to Jesus. We sanitize it because we cannot bear to really see how brutal it was. How they would take that prisoner and tie his hands over his head on a post. How they would strip him. And they would get their, they were called lictors. They would get the men who would do the beating, who were very adept at it, who would use what we would today call a cat of nine tails. It was a small handled whip with nine pieces of leather that had ceramic or various sharpened rocks that were embedded in it. And they knew how to use it in such a way, a way that they could actually snap it. And it would cross in front of the chest and would rip from the chest in the front all the way to the back. And in Jewish law, there was a scourging. There was a law that stated that you could receive 40 lashes. But they would usually have 40 and then they would reduce that penalty by one because 40 is the number of judgment in Scripture. 39 is the number of mercy. And so the Jews said that judgment must always be tempered by mercy. And so we know that when the Romans were beating Jesus that they gave him great numbers of stripes. As a matter of fact, the people who were being beaten very often, it was called the living death because sometimes they would quiver with shock and blood loss during the beating to the degree that some would die under the lash. And Jesus is saying, this is what's gonna happen to me. I am going to be scourged. So when they took Jesus and scourged him, they lacerated his entire frame from the chest through the back, more than likely through his buttocks down to his thighs, was all one open wound. When you have 40 and then you have nine straps, think of how many wounds were placed on his back. And he's speaking about this to his disciples and he's telling them, this is what is gonna take place. You see, whenever I go through this passage, the Lord has a tendency of causing me to think of that for a minute, to think about what happened. I mean, we can have this almost a casual idea of what it costs the Lord Jesus Christ to purchase us and we can reduce it because we weren't there, we didn't see it happen. But can you imagine what it would have been like to have been standing there, seeing this one whom you love with all of your heart being treated like this? Can you imagine what it would have felt like? What did his mother feel like? What did his men who could see this, what did they feel like? And yet he's letting them know, he's saying, this is gonna take place. I am gonna have this happen. I will be mocked, I will be insulted, I will be spit upon, I will be scourged and I will be killed. But verse 33, the third day he will rise again. When Jesus died, can you imagine what the disciples went through at that moment? Can you imagine what you would have felt because you're not thinking in terms of a resurrection, that is something you don't understand yet. It's never happened. All you know is that all of your hopes and all of your dreams, all of your faith died on a cross. That's all you know. And you have nothing else in your mind other than I thought this was the one and apparently he wasn't. But Jesus is encouraging his disciples to maintain their faith in him. I was reading how General Wellington commanded the victorious forces at the Great Battle of Waterloo that ended the Napoleonic Wars. The story has been told that when the battle was over, Wellington sent the great news of his victory to England. A series of stations, one within side of the next, had been established to send code messages between England and the continent. The message to be sent was, Wellington defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. Meanwhile, a fog set in and interrupted the message sending. As a result, people only saw news of Wellington defeated. Later, the fog cleared and the full message continued, which was quite different from the outcome that the people originally thought had happened. And the same is true today. When many look at what happened on Good Friday, the death of Christ, they see only defeat. Yet on Easter, at the resurrection, God's message was completed because the resurrection spelled victory. And that's what Jesus has teaching them. On the third day, he will rise again. Verse 34, but they understood none of these things. The same was hidden from them. They did not know the things which were spoken. How did they react? They didn't understand it. Now this is consistent with how they've been acting. In Luke 9, 44 and 45, Jesus had said, let these words sink down into your ears. The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men. They did not understand this saying. It was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it and they were afraid to ask him about this saying. So they simply did not understand it. You see, Jesus says to them in John 13.7 and I love this scripture. What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will know after this. There are some things in your spiritual life that you have to wait until the full message is given. There are some things that you won't understand immediately. There are things that can happen that you simply do not see God's actions in it. You can't imagine how the Lord could be even part of that. There are things that have happened in my own spiritual life where I thought for sure that it was a hopeless event, that there's nothing I can do about this, where God has taken this, what appeared to be a defeat and turned it into a wonderful victory in my life. And I've discovered that all you need to do with the Lord is wait. A long time ago, I began to learn the lesson that when something seems to be impossible, give it three days and let's see what God can do. Jesus was in the grave for three days. And for those three days, you had disciples who thought, he's gone, it's all over, but give him three days and watch what God can do. He has a way of resurrecting hope. He has a way of doing things that'll blow your mind. And in spiritual growth, some things take time. Some things you're just not ready to understand it. In John 16, verse 12, Jesus said, I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. There are things that I wanna share with you that you're not in the position yet to understand. You're a young woman, you get married. You become pregnant. You're first baby. You just get the news that you're pregnant. You talk to your mom. Mom had four or five kids. Your mom starts telling you, well, these are things you can expect. But you know more than mom, don't you? What's your mom really know? She didn't know anything. You know, mom, don't you understand? This is 21st century. You know, you got pregnant with me back in the 20th century. Things are different. And so your mom says, well, honey, don't be surprised if you throw up. Don't be surprised if she starts telling you things that she went through. Now she's your mom, but you, no, no. No, I'll be fine. Then one day you start to get sick to your stomach and you say, mom might've known something I didn't know. Mama told you something that at that moment you weren't ready to receive. But after a while, you do. You do receive it. You do understand it. In spiritual things, there are times the Lord will give to you something. You'll say, this is what I'm gonna do. But you're not yet ready to receive that. But over time, you will. That's how spiritual maturity takes place. Because later on, it is to be revealed to you and it is revealed by the Spirit of God. In John 14, verse 26, Jesus said, the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. Spiritual truth is revealed by the Spirit of God. And so as Jesus is speaking here, they don't understand. They understand none of these things. Why? It's hidden from them. They did not know the things which were spoken. They didn't understand it then. But when Jesus was resurrected, then it all made sense. So that's what he was talking about. And that's how it works in our spiritual life. I like to give the Lord time. I've learned to do that to some degree. Lord, I don't understand right now. So I'm gonna give you time to teach me because it's obvious that I really am not on the same page with you. So I'm just gonna give you time to teach me because I know you're going to. I know this will be revealed to me. What you're doing, I do not understand now, but I will later. So some things the Lord will answer you quickly. Some things he'll answer you shortly. Some things take a lifetime till you finally understand them. But most all things you ultimately, if you put them in the hands of the Lord will gain an understanding of. Just by trusting him, just by waiting on him, and just by allowing him to bring you to the place where it finally all ties together and makes sense. And so they didn't understand at that moment that things were hidden from them, but ultimately they would. And in our life, not everything makes sense, but ultimately it does.