 So here we are. John chapter 19. We're going to look at the first 16 verses. We're rolling to a conclusion of our study in the Gospel of John. We've only got a couple of chapters to go. And I've already begun thinking what book we'll be looking at. And I'm really not sure yet. I'm starting to be, starting to concern myself with what are we going to look at next and all on Wednesday night. But we also are about to close our study in 2 Corinthians. We've got a couple of more studies to do in 2 Corinthians. And we'll be looking at chapter 13 for two weeks. We'll open it up this upcoming Sunday. We conclude the book on the following Sunday, the end of the month. So just letting you know in advance, I'm really considering this. I began to look at the possibility of teaching a book on Sunday morning that I haven't taught this particular book in many, many years. And I would venture to say, I don't know if anybody in this room ever went through the book with us. But I quote it fairly often, the book of Job. And I think that that would be probably a good book to look at. We're going to, whether it's going to be on a Wednesday night, which is a possibility, or Sunday morning. But I was going through the first two chapters today and I was looking at it and I was thinking, you know, these are things that the church right now could probably benefit from spending time looking at. And so we're considering, I'm considering that. We are going to look at the book of Job, whether it's Wednesday night, which it may be, or Sunday morning, which it may be. But we will be looking at Job. And I don't know the other book yet that we're going to be looking at, but obviously I'll let you know. With that said, let's begin reading here in John chapter 19. I'll be, excuse me, I'll begin at verse one. I'll read to verse four and we'll get into our study. John chapter 19, beginning at verse one, reading to verse four. John writes, so then Pilate took Jesus and scourged him. And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on his head. And they put on him a purple robe. Then they said, Hail, King of the Jews. And they struck him with their hands. Pilate then went out again and said to them, Behold, I'm bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no fault in him. So Jesus has been delivered to Pontius Pilate to be judged. And he's being judged as an enemy of the nation of Rome. As we've been going through the verses previous to chapter 19, we know that there's a charge that has been fabricated. He's been accused of the crime of insurrection as he was standing before Pilate. And as Pilate is there judging him, Pilate is unconvinced of any guilt on the part of Christ. And it's obvious to him, as we've already seen, it's obvious to him as to why he's been brought before him. He knew that the Jewish leadership wanted to retain their standing in Jewish society. Matthew 2718 says that Pilate knew that Jesus was handed over to him because of their envy. And so because of this, Pilate didn't desire to charge Jesus with any wrongdoing. This is taking place. And as it's taking place, a large group of people are gathering together in front of his mansion. It seems that Jesus has been taken to his mansion and as that has happened, a crowd is beginning to form. And they began to ask him to release one of the prisoners. They were beginning to ask him, save one of them from execution. Mark 15 verse 8 says the multitude crying aloud began to ask him to do just as he had always done for them. So we asked the question, do you therefore want me to release to you the king of the Jews? Now surely they're going to desire somebody like Jesus Christ. And if they request Christ, that's going to solve his problem. So he's asking him, should I release to you a robber or should I release to you a rabbi? Well, instead, the religious leaders began stirring the people up against Jesus and began to demand for the release of Barabbas. And they began to influence the others to request Barabbas' release. Mark tells us in chapter 15 verses 11 through 13 that the chief priest stirred up the crowd so that he should rather release Barabbas to them. Pilate answered and said to them again, what then do you want me to do with him whom you call the king of the Jews? And they cried out again, crucify him. Pilate didn't believe that Jesus was guilty of the charges brought against him. When the people cried out for him to be crucified, he quickly responded. Matthew 27, 23, he said, why? What evil has he done? He's completely innocent. Well, Isaiah tells us in Isaiah 53 verse 80, an Old Testament book that was written over 700 years before the birth of Christ in prophecy related to Messiah. Isaiah 53, 8, speaking of Messiah says he was taken from prison and from judgment. Who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the living. For the transgression of my people was he stricken. And so he's speaking to them and he's arguing with them and they're demanding Barabbas and the release of Barabbas. And this is all taking place. And so as this is happening, remember verse 39 and 40, I'll read that and then move into verse one of chapter 19. Remember how we had said, you have a custom that I should release someone to you 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. Barabbas was a robber. So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged him. Scourging, I've shared with you many times concerning this. It was extremely severe. It was actually referred to as what was called the intermediate death. The victim would be tied to a post. His hands would be tied over his head, his head exposing his back. His face, his neck, his back, his chest, his midsection, his loins. His legs were exposed and unprotected. There were two torturers. They called them lictors. Two torturers struck him. So one would be on one side, the other would be on the other and they would take turns. And the amount of stripes determined was determined by the commanding officer. Now Jewish law said an amount of stripes a guilty man could receive. It's found in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy 25 verse 3 where it says he must not give him more than 40 lashes. If he's flogged more than that, your brother will be degraded in your eyes. So 40 is the number in Scripture representing judgment. And so what they would do is they would normally give him 39 lashes, 40 minus one, because 39 represented mercy. Now as they would do this, they were, it was such a terrible torture, but it would hurt and mutilate the body so badly that the body eventually looked like hamburger. You see, Pilate didn't believe Jesus was guilty of the charges that had been brought against him. And when the people had cried out for Jesus to be crucified, Pilate had responded. He had said in Matthew 27, 23, would evil see done? He's innocent. But they insisted and so he decided to do something that might provoke them to a sense of compassion. And that's why he had him scourged. And as he was whipped and all, they would use a whip that had a short wooden handle and it had leather straps. The straps were embedded with bone, with acorn-shaped bits of lead, with sharp spikes. And each stroke would cut into the flesh until the veins and the entrails were laid bare. Often the scourge would strike the face, it would knock out eyes, it would knock out teeth. It usually ended in the victim fainting and sometimes they even died. Now the scourging of Jesus Christ fulfills a prophecy concerning Messiah Psalm 129 verses 2 and 3. It says, many a time they have afflicted me from my youth, yet they have not prevailed against me. The plowers plowed on my back. They made their furrows long. Isaiah 53.5 says, he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him with his stripes. We are healed. And so they scourged him. Verse 2 says, the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns, put it on his head. They put on him a purple robe. They said, Hail, King of the Jews. And they struck him with their hands. Well, Matthew gives us again greater insight in Matthew 27 verses 27 through 30. The soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the praetorium, gathered the whole garrison around him. They stripped him and put on a scarlet robe. When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and a reed in his right hand. They bowed the knee before, mocked him saying, Hail, King of the Jews. Then they spat on him. They took the reed and struck him on the head. My granddaughter, Zoe, who is six years old, was in my office today. She runs the show. We call her Boss Baby. But anyway, my Boss Baby was in my office today. And she likes to come in and order me around. And she was doing that today. But she saw I have in my office on my bookshelf, I have a crown of thorns. And she asked me about it today. She said, Papa, what is that? Is that the crown of thorns? And I said, yes. And I said, that's the kind of thorns they put on Jesus's head. Now, sometimes we, when we think of a crown of thorns, we may be thinking of thorns like you have on your rose bushes and all. You know, half an inch at the longest or whatever, quarter an inch. The thorns that they used to fashion into the crown were about an inch and a half long. They were very thick. They were sharper than needles. And I was handling the crown of thorns today as I was showing it to my granddaughter. And I found myself saying to her, honey, don't even touch these thorns because they can pierce your hand. They can, I told her, they're like a needle. They can pierce your hand. It'll hurt you. So she says, oh, they put that on Jesus's head. And I said, yes, they did. I said, they put it on Jesus's head. And she said, oh, and she said, did they just put it soft? And I said, no, mama, they didn't put it soft. I said, they took a stick, a staff. And as they put this thorn, these thorns upon the head of Christ, I said, when they put it on Jesus, they took the staff and they pressed it in so that the thorns went through his skin. And the thorns were probably breaking off when they made contact with his skull or were possibly even piercing. I said, but as they pressed it into him, I said to her, and she's six years old, and I tried to make it as delicate as I could. I don't want to to horrify her. And yet at the same time, I want her to appreciate, and it's kind of difficult to draw that line and know how much to share and how much detail to give. But I said to her, I said, is the blood poured out of his head, baby? I said, because your head has a lot of blood, a lot of blood vessels. And so when when they're broken, it pours down. See, when we think of Jesus and the crown of thorns and the whipping and all of that, we have sanitized it so much over history. We have never seen an actual depiction that is accurate concerning what happened to Jesus. The closest thing that I've seen that has accuracy was was when the movie was brought out by Mel Gibson. And and you see the beating in all that that he portrayed with Jesus and you get an idea of what actually took place. The fact that his body was broken, that his his his face was was was pummeled, that the blood was pouring from his from his head, matting in his hair. And the mockery and the lack of humanity as they're kneeling before him and they're saying, hey, oh, King of the Jews, they spat on him. And they took that reed and they struck him on the head. They openly did this. They were doing it before a garrison of 600 soldiers because these these soldiers had been gathered to be entertained. And then they as they stripped him, they put the scarlet robe on him by putting the robe on Christ. They were mocking him because he's the King of the Jews. Let's give him a scarlet robe, a symbol of authority and kingship. His back is an open wound. But there's no sympathy. There's no mercy. Isaiah 50 verses six and seven says, I gave my back to those who struck me my cheeks to those who plucked out the beard. I did not hide my face from shame and spitting. For the Lord God will help me. Therefore I will not be disgraced. Therefore I have set my face like Flint. And I know that I will not be ashamed. And so as they were beating him and and mocking him, and he gave himself voluntarily over to them. This is what was taking place. They twisted this crown of thorn according to verse two. They set it on his head and this crown of thorns was intended to mimic Caesar's wreath. It was something to to mock him in his authority. But as he has a crown of thorns, it reminds us of the curse that was placed on the earth when Adam and Eve succumbed to the enemy and his work against them. How that God had said that the ground that at one time was going to was flourishing will now produce thorns. And so he took those upon himself. And as they put the staff in his right hand and they knelt in front of him, they began to mock him. They said, Hail, King of the Jews. Again, notice I mentioned this a moment ago. They spit on him. They struck him. His head was swollen, lacerated from previous beatings that he had received earlier. John tells us in verse three that they struck him with their hands. They had already hit him before. We saw that in chapter 18 verse 22. And there he is. He's being beaten. He's being mocked. He's being scourged. And this is all being done for us. He did not hide his face from shame and spitting. And Pilate in verse four, Pilate then went out again and said to them, Behold, I'm bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no fault in him. And Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, Behold the man. I can't imagine what that moment would have been like to see Jesus as he's being let out. To see the open humiliation that they're putting him through this, the Savior, this righteous man, this good man, this loving man, this merciful man, this kind man, this powerful man, this loving man, and all these people. You know, sometimes when we read our Bibles, we don't get an idea of what it would be like. But if you're watching the news at all, if you're watching it at all, then perhaps you're seeing what the mob could have been like. I mean, some of us saw the film of that man who was beaten up just, was it yesterday? And somebody ran up and did that kick on his head and all. And you hear the yelling and the anger and all of that. That kind of envisioned that kind of anger in a mob, trying to envision that and then maybe we'll get an idea of what's taking place with Jesus because we can sanitize it. We can begin to think, oh, you know, this is just a historic kind of photographs, snapshots. But if you allow yourself for a minute to place yourself there in that place as an observer watching and you see Jesus being hidden and you see Jesus having to read thrusting thorns in his head and you see him as they're spitting on him and putting on a robe and grabbing his beard and pulling it and then mocking him and kneeling before him, oh, king of the Jews. And then they get him up and they bring him out and he's standing there with his dignity and his royalty still intact. And then you have Pontius Pilate, this arrogant Roman official who was not convinced that Jesus should be put to death. And he finally says, behold the man, look at him, look at him. He may have been attempting to arouse their sympathy. Isaiah tells us in Isaiah 52, his visage was marred more than any man is formed more than the sons of men. Take a look at this man. Maybe you'll have some pity. Behold, he claims kingship. But in fact, look how helpless he is. He poses no threat. Look at him. Take a moment to look at this man. Again, sometimes we just don't. We don't look. Sometimes we don't see. Our eyes are held back. Our minds are made up. And we don't see. It reminds me of how when that woman was there with Jesus at Simon's house, Simon the Pharisee's house in Luke seven and how that woman had come and wept and began to minister to Christ. And Simon's watching this take place as she's wiping the feet of Jesus with her hair as her tears has washed his feet. And he's saying, he's saying, if this man truly were a prophet, he would know who and what manner of woman this is who's touching him. She's a sinner. And remember again, I've pointed this out before, how Jesus at Simon, you see this woman. We don't always see. We, our eyes sometimes for whatever reason refuse to see what's before us and and that's what's taking place here. Behold the man. Look at him. He's helpless. There's nothing he can do. He's not resisting. It would seem as if he's trying to draw out of them some compassion and sympathy. He poses no threat. But as is common, he underestimates the power of religious zeal. Misguided religious zeal can result in acts of violence. You see the proper motivation for serving God will always be love for God. That will always be the proper motivation. You don't do things for God. In other words, we know this. You don't do things for God to try and get them on your side. You don't do good work so that you can hopefully pile up enough good works on some heavenly scale so that your good works are going to outweigh your your evil deeds. We don't do good things simply to be seen by men and we don't do good things to try and purchase something from God, some favor from him. We do good things because God saved us and what motivates us to do those good things is love for him. That's what it is. In 2 Corinthians 514, the love of Christ constrains us. Why do you do what you do? Why do you get up and read the Word? Why do you pray? Why do you fellowship? Why do you share with other people about Jesus Christ? Why did you get up and come on Wednesday night? The Dodgers are on. Why did you do that? And why are you home? Anyway, I would hope because you love him. I would hope that you do what you do because he's loved you. And I would hope that because the love God showed you is so overwhelming that you can't help but talk about him. You can't help but tell others about him. You can't help but live for him. The love of Christ constrains us. The love that God showed us when he said to us, behold the man, when he said to us, see him for what he is and understand what he's done. There's never been another man that was that gave up what Jesus gave up. He left the splendor of heaven. He didn't have to come. He didn't have to take upon himself our sin. But it was God's plan for him to do it. And he did it as an obedient son, as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He took upon himself my sin. And God even today would say to me, remember to look at the man, behold the man, behold what he did for you. There's nobody else who's ever done anything like that. And he's drawing people's attention to Jesus Christ. And he's saying, look at him. I find no fault in him. And he presents Christ. He says, behold him. But notice what happens in verse six. Therefore when the chief priest and officer saw him, they cried out saying, crucify him, crucify him. Pilate said to them, you take him and crucify him. I find no fault in him. The Jews answered him, we have a law. And according to our law, he ought to die because he made himself the Son of God. And therefore when Pilate heard that saying, he was more afraid. And he went again into the Praetorium. He said to Jesus, where are you from? But Jesus gave him no answer. Pilate said to him, are you not speaking to me? Do you not know that I have power to crucify you and power to release you? Jesus answered, you could have no power at all against me, unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered me to you has the greater sin. So instead of arousing sympathy and compassion, it inflames him. And as they're demanding and making these demands, again, you take him, Pilate said, you crucify him. I want nothing to do with this. I don't have a legal charge against him. Remember that Matthew tells us that earlier Pilate's wife had sent a message to him. It's found in Matthew 27, verse 19. Matthew said, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him saying, have nothing to do with that just man. I have suffered many things today in a dream because of him. And perhaps the dream that he had, she had, was from the Lord reinforcing the innocence of Jesus. And so Pilate says in verse 6, I find no fault in him. Well, verse 7, the Jews answered, we have a law. According to our law, he ought to die. They're outraged. He's not our king. He's a blasphemer. He needs to be put to death. You see in the Old Testament book of Leviticus in chapter 24 verse 16, the law said, whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. And all the congregation shall certainly stone him, the stranger as well as him who was born in the land. When he blasphemes the name of the Lord, he shall be put to death. They said, we have a law and the law that they were using is the law of blasphemy. Now they had presented a legal charge against him of sedition. But the real reason they wanted him put to death is, according to their law, that Jesus Christ, making himself as the Son of God, declared himself for who he is was a blasphemer. Well, as this is taking place, Pilate hears this and he's now more afraid. This isn't a problem that's going to disappear, in other words. These people are bent on killing Jesus. I can't calm them down. I can't slow them down. They're bent on this. They're going to do this. It's not going away. What if he really is divine? What if what he's saying is actually true? You know, remember, Israel's not a large country. You can go from the top to the bottom pretty much in a day in a car. It's not a very big country whatsoever. It only takes a couple of hours to go from the West Coast, from the sea, to the East Coast, to the very border of it. It takes no time at all. You can do that in two or three hours. It's a small, very small country. And so Pilate would undoubtedly have heard what's going on. You have two regions that are major regions. You have the North called Galilee. You have the South of Judea. And the Galilee, Jesus did a lot of works, a lot of miracles, and people knew of him. And his fame had followed him down South, as he ministered in Jerusalem, various places. How do you keep it silent when somebody was raised from the dead? And Jesus raised three different people from the dead. There's no doubt that Pilate has heard that this is a man who has done marvelous things. There's no doubt that this governor has information that has taken place of Jesus doing miracles, of walking on water, of Jesus healing the sick, of multitudes that would gather to hear him. Thousands at one time would listen to him. They would follow him when he came into Jerusalem. They were just a week before shouting out Hosanna. This is a man who is aware of what's taking place. What if the things that had been said about him, what if those things are true? What if he's actually performing these miracles? What if all of this actually has happened? And that's why in verse nine again he says, where are you from? Notice Jesus remained silent. Why did he do that? Well, he'd already responded. Pilate had enough information to make a decision. You know, sometimes God does remain silent. The time comes when nothing more can be or needs to be said. You have to make a decision. What are you going to do? Have you ever shared your faith with someone? Shared the faith of Christ with somebody? And you share with them, then you share with them, and then maybe another time you share with them again? And eventually what happens is, I've done this, eventually what happens is you say, so what are you going to do? What are you going to do with the information? I have a short story to tell you. It's story time. I'll try and condense it. Right now my friend that I'm going to speak of is probably watching because he watches on Wednesday. So Bill, I'm going to mention your name, and I know you're real happy right now because you love your name being mentioned. He's such a creep. I have a friend of mine that I have known since I was very little. We actually were in the same kindergarten room. He went to the same kindergarten with me. I have somewhere, I have our kindergarten picture, and there's me and there's Bill. Bill lived across the street from me. And we became friends when we were probably in fourth grade, fifth grade. And he became like a brother to me for a long time. And we were rascals together, got in trouble together, got drunk together, did drugs together, got arrested together. And in many ways for a long time we were inseparable. I went one way, he went another. Hadn't seen him for a while. He started going to a church called Calvary Chapel when he did. He started trying to bring me to church to hear the gospel. I was raised in the Catholic faith. And so I had no use for him preaching this Protestantism to me. Had a problem with it. And I would tell him, say, you know, we're the first church and the Pope is, you know, appointed by Christ. And you Protestants are late comers. And I would argue the little Catholic theology I had received as a child, I would argue it with him. And he was a brand new professing believer at that time. So he would try to argue with me. He couldn't win the argument because I refused to listen to it. But he's the one who took me to Calvary Chapel for the first time in the summer of 1970, 50 years ago this month, right around this month, 50 years ago, went to Calvary Chapel, 20 years, 19 years old, yet to turn 20. So I'll speed it up a little bit. Eventually he's the one who went with me, took me, actually kidnapped me. So I could go and hear the gospel at a Marinatha concert December 27 1970. And I got saved at that concert. Now he and I were both recipients of, well we were winners. I won the California lottery. I've never told you probably that. You may find that interesting. But it was the draft lottery. I won the lottery. And there's so many things I could be telling you right now about that. But I started dodging. I received my induction notice. I was supposed to go in August 25 1970. So August 24 1970, the night before, because my birthday is the 23rd. I have a friend of mine who was birthdays the 24th. We combined our birthdays and we partied all night. Got totally, totally inebriated, loaded, you name it, that's what we did. And so I went into the service. I was supposed to go in the service August 25th. I went, but they rejected me because when I was 18, I had burglarized a jewelry store. And so they saw my record. They said, this is a felony account. Now I knew that it had been removed from my record. It had been expunged. I knew that. So they said, we can bring you in today. Or you can come in at a different time. What's your choice? So I said, I'll see you later. And I left. I went home. Now I developed the pen pal relationship with Uncle Sam. He kept on writing me saying, you're here by order to be inducted. And I kept writing him letters. Sorry, I can't come today. I'm going to the doctors because you could do that to dodge the draft. So I started dodging the draft and continued doing that. Now I got saved. What am I going to do? Because I really don't know what to do. And I'm a brand new Christian. I'm going to Calvary Chapel. I'm growing as a Christian. I want to serve the Lord. I don't want to go into the military. I don't want to be taken away from my new life. And also I really had a real conflict of faith. And so what I did is I started reading the Bible. And I was trying to find the answer. And I'm a brand new Christian. But I happened to be at my aunt's house watching a movie called Sergeant York. And Sergeant York is there on some mountain saying, I don't know whether I should go in the military or not. And he reads, render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar and unto God, the things that are God. And that's what caused this man, Sergeant York, to go in. He served in the 82nd, by the way. And he went in. And that's what convinced me. So I volunteered for the draft. And my friend Bill and I, because both of us had won the lottery, he and I were both going in. So we went in together. I just got a note two days ago from a guy named Bill Godwin. And Bill Godwin was telling me, I haven't seen Bill in years. I gave him my first Bible. He came to my parents' house. And I shared the Lord with him. Now he writes me. And he says, I used to listen to you on the radio when I was living out in that area. And before you know it, he's writing to me, I'll be having lunch with him next week. This is a guy I haven't seen in many years. But anyway, he writes me. And he's saying, I don't have your Bible because I said, you still got my Bible. I want it back. So he says, I remember, he said, March 15th, he said, I remember when we went in, he said, how you were standing next to your bunk. And we had a corporal who came in and he saw books on my rack, on the rack there. And he said, on the bed, and he said, this corporal says, what kind of books are these? He thought it was porn. And so I showed him the books and they were devotional. So there were Christian books. And then he turns, this big old corporal turns to everybody and he says, this man's a religious man. You don't bother him. You respect this man. That's how it used to be even back then. You respect this man. He's a religious man. But Bill said, I remember when you told the corporal that these are God Christian books and the guy told people, leave you alone. Well, all of that to say that I went one way, Bill went another. I did my basic, Bill did his. Bill went into what is called AIT. I went to jump school in North Carolina. We separated, hadn't seen each other for many years. I'm doing a baptism here about 11 years ago. Hadn't seen Bill often sporadically. Hadn't seen Bill. And then Bill, I'm walking and some guy says to me, as I'm going to the baptism to the pool, some guy says to me, wear your Speedos. And I look at this guy and I said, I said, I'm not wearing them. He is. And I pointed to the guy next to me. He's got his Speedos on. I don't wear them. And I thought that's kind of a funny thing for somebody to say. So I go and I do the baptism. And when I'm walking back, the same guy's still there. Now, that's not a good sign, usually. When somebody kind of hangs around like that, kind of creeper or whatever. And so I'm looking at him and I'm pushing the guy in front of me. So you know, to protect me so I can look around him. And the guy says, hey, have you seen Bobby Trujillo? And I look at this guy and I said, and I stopped. I said, you know Bobby Trujillo? Bobby Trujillo. I met Bobby when I was 14, a freshman in high school. Come back. You know Bobby Trujillo? Do I know Bobby Trujillo? I look and it's my friend Bill. So I said, Bill, I got somebody was standing when I saw him. I hadn't seen him in years. Somebody took a picture of me shaking his hand. And I've got it in my office. Me shaking Bill's hand with this kind of like this look like, wow, I haven't seen you so long. Trying to give you a real fast story here isn't working. Is it? So Bill says he was Bill, Bill retired as he was a training officer undercover and various other things for LAPD. 32 years on the job. He had retired and he was kind of bored and he does all kinds of training for people and all for officers. And he knows how to do a lot of different things that the military can use. And so he actually signed a contract to go to the Middle East to work with a military group. And so he was under contract. He said it was 120 degrees. I'm carrying around 60, 70 pounds of armor and he said, I'm 58 years old and I'm saying to myself, why am I doing this? He said, I hadn't thought about God. He said, I hadn't thought anything for a long time. And I was laying in my tent 100 and whatever outside. And he said, and I prayed for the first time. And I said, God, he said, if you get me out of here, I'll go see David. He said, I don't even know why I did that. He said, but I'll go and see David. And so he said, that's why I'm here. Because he said it was like a miracle. He says they allowed me out of my contract. So the first thing I wanted to do was to come and see you. And so he's sitting there with me and I said, let's get some, let's get some coffee. And so he started coming. This was about 12 years ago. And he would come to see me on a monthly basis. And so for a full year, Bill was coming to see me and he was bringing Bobby Trujillo. Bobby Trujillo got right with God. Bobby's serving the Lord. So Bobby comes with Bill and Bill's sitting across from me for a year, every month. And I'm talking to him about the Lord, reminding him of various things for at least a year. And not pressuring him, I'm just talking to him. And then finally one day I said to him, so what are you going to do? What are you going to do? And I said, where are you now with the Lord, Bill? And Bill said, I believe I've come back to him. I believe I've come back. That was about 11 years ago and for 11 years since then. So for the last about 12 years, I have been meeting with Bill and Bobby, not only as a friend who's known them since I was a kid, but as a man who ministers to them and shares with them. And in many ways Bill will bring two pages of questions every time he comes. He says, what about this? And when I read the Bible, it says that. And I've been spending time with my friend. And why did I tell you that story? I just felt like it. No, I tell you that story because what are you going to do with Christ? What is it that you're going to do? The question can be asked. What about him? Behold the man. What is your response to him? We as believers, we will minister to people, but eventually what happens is they have to answer that eternal question. What if the things Jesus said, what if they're true? What if the works that Jesus has claimed that he performed? What if that's accurate? What if he really did die on the cross? What if he really was buried? What if he really was resurrected? What are you going to do with Christ? Behold the man. What did he do for you? I'm telling you that you get to the point where nothing more needs to be said other than what are you going to do with him? And when Jesus is speaking here, he's remaining silent because the time has come when nothing more can be or needs to be said. Where are you from? But Jesus remains silent. You already know I've already told you. You have enough information. What are you going to do? So Pilate verse 10 says to him, are you not speaking to me? Do you not know that I have power to crucify you? Power to release you? This is no time to be quiet. Your life is at stake. It's in my hands. But Jesus answers, you could have no power at all against me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore, the one who delivered me to you has the greater sin. Remember John 3.27, a man can receive nothing unless it's been given to him from heaven. So the one who gave you authority because it's not your own is God himself. But when it comes down to guilt, well, the one who delivered me to you has the greater sin. You see, Pilate, you see me only as an innocent man getting a bad deal. But on the other hand, Judas has a greater sin to answer for because he sinned against knowledge. You see, Jesus had prepared his men in advance. We can see it. I could give you so many scriptures, but let me give you a couple. John 13.21, Jesus, when Jesus had said these things, he was troubled in spirit, testified and said, most assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray me. In John 15.22, if I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. Luke 12.48, everyone to whom much is given from him much will be required. Pilate, you really don't know me, but the one who delivered me to you, Judas, he is the one who has the greatest responsibility. Well, as he hears all of this taking place, verse 12, Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out saying, if you let this man go, you're not Caesar's friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar. You're supposed to remove pressure from Caesar, not increase it. We're going to report you as incompetent. Caesar himself will deal with you, and Caesar will consider you a traitor, because you have supported an insurrectionist. So you're going to get it. You're going to get in trouble. Pilate, therefore, verse 13, when Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the pavement, but in Hebrew, gavata. It was the preparation day of the Passover and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, behold your king. But they cried out, away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate said to them, shall I crucify your king? The chief priest answered, we have no king, but Caesar. And he delivered him to them to be crucified. And they took Jesus and let him away. Verse 14 says it was preparation day. It's the day before the Jewish Sabbath. And as Jesus has brought out, notice what he says in verse 14, he says to them, behold your king. There's nothing more that I can do, but I'll try one last time. Behold your king. Once again, trusting in the goodness of man, perhaps they will pity him. I was watching a commercial today and they have this commercial where there's somebody who's kind of, he's reading a script where you have pictures of various people and everything. But the center of the commercial as I saw it and understood it was, and they basically say this, that men are basically good. And they're saying that men are basically kind. People are basically good. But we don't do as much evil as we can potentially do. And there are not that many people who actually rise to the occasion of being the most evil. But we certainly aren't good either. From the time that we're little, we believe that the world revolves around us. From the time we're born, we act as if the world revolves around us. And there are obvious reasons as to why babies are so demanding and why babies cry when they're hungry and they're helpless and all. But we know that sometimes our babies can have such a rage that if they could grow up to be man-sized they'd probably kill us. Because within them, what is bound up in the heart of a child is rebellion, is anger. And that's why it takes training. That's why it's important for us to train up a child in the way he should go so that when he's old, he doesn't depart from it. It requires training because we don't do things that are good naturally. We do things that suit our purposes naturally. When people say we don't love ourselves, that's really not true. We love ourselves so much that we put ourselves first and that's why we're supposed to die to self in order that we might live unto him. There are people who say, no, the Bible teaches you, you're supposed to love yourself because the Bible doesn't, the Bible says, love your neighbor as yourself. Well, there's an inference there that you love yourself. No, it says love God with all of your heart, strength, mind. And then love your neighbor as yourself. There's only two commands, but they've made three out of those two. And the third command is love yourself, but the Bible doesn't teach us to do that. Why is that? Because Paul said no man has ever hated his own flesh. He loves it, ignoreshers it, and he cherishes it. No, we put ourselves first. You know, and I know that there are some perhaps watching right now, none in this room would ever think this. But if I took a picture of this audience right now, who's the first person you look for? It's not gonna be the person next to you. It's gonna, I'll be hearing you say, no, look, I had my eyes closed. No, you're gonna be looking at yourself. Why? Why do we take care of ourselves? Because it's the instinct that we have. Skin for skin, all that a man has, he will give for his skin. Satan said that to God when he was asking for permission to take and to try Job. Because we within ourselves are always putting ourselves first. That's what we do. And that's why the Scripture teaches us to die to self. That's why the Scripture tells us that within us, inherent within us is a sin nature, a nature that needs to be dealt with. And the only way it can be dealt with it, it has to be put to death. We have to be crucified with Christ. Like Paul said, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me in the life that I now live in the flesh. I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. That's how it works. I am crucified with Christ. I'm alive. A dead man doesn't die a second time. I'm dead in Christ, but now I live. So the life I now live is to bring glory to Jesus Christ. That's how it works. And so God would have us work within ourselves through his power to live in a way that brings glory to him. And when Pontius Pilate is watching Jesus there who refuses to speak and he says to him, I have power to kill you. Jesus' response is you have no power unless it's given to you. You don't have the authority you think you have. My God, my Father, every good gift, every good gift comes down from above from the Father of life with whom there is no variableness, neither shadow nor turning. James tells us in chapter 1, every good gift, every perfect gift comes from God. It comes from him. Man can receive nothing unless it's given to him. So you have no power. But the one who betrayed me, I trained him. He was with me three years. He saw the works. He heard the words. He knows the message. But he betrayed me. He has greater responsibility, Pontius Pilate, than you. Pontius Pilate is there. I don't know what to do. Let him go if this man is, this man is in this. I have no charges. If you let him go, you're not a friend of Caesar's. So what's he do? He delivers him. And they take Jesus according to verse 16. And they lead him away. Matthew 27, 24 says, when Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising. It was going to be a riot. He took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I'm innocent of the blood of this just person. You see to it. So at that point, Pilate actually brought judgment on Jesus. But the next time they see one another, Jesus will judge him. Think about that for a moment. Pilate judged Jesus. But the next time they see one another, Jesus will judge him. For we all shall stand before the judgment seat of Christ. And Pilate has this tremendous responsibility. And he will be held accountable for it. And so will those who are crying out for the death of this just man. I don't know about you. I'll close with this thought. But I am certainly blessed and I can't help but praise God every day for the fact that in the midst of all of this, Jesus did embrace that cross. He did die and he died for us. It's the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. But on the third day he rose from the dead. And he ever lives to make intercession for us. He is our Savior. And what we're watching is the drama of what led to his death. But I always like to remember that it didn't end in the grave. But he rose from the dead and he lives. And because he lives, we live. Let's remember that.