 We're gonna be looking today at verses six through 15 here in Mark chapter 15. And so just before I even begin, I'll remind you, some of you perhaps are new to us and you may not know how I go about teaching. What I do is I try to give you a backdrop, something to look at this passage with more understanding. In this particular study, I'm gonna be giving a little bit more information to develop it with you and you'll see that as we do so. And my way of teaching is giving the information, giving an introduction, giving the information, touching each verse and closing with an exhortation. That's how I teach. And so that's what you'll see today. And so as we begin here in chapter 15 of Mark's gospel, we'll begin at verse six. I'll read to verse 15, give you the backdrop, move into the teaching verse by verse and then move on to exhortation as we conclude. Excuse me, so let's begin at verse six and I'll read to verse 15. Mark chapter 15 verses six through 15. Now at the feast, he was accustomed to releasing one prisoner to them, whomever they requested. And there was one named Barabbas who was chained with his fellow rebels. They had committed murder in the rebellion. Then the multitude crying aloud began to ask him to do just as he had always done for them. But Pilate answered them saying, do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews? For he knew that the chief priests had handed him over because of envy, but the chief priests 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? So they cried out again, crucify him. Pilate said to them, why? What evil has he done? But they cried out all the more, crucify him. So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them and he delivered Jesus after he had scourged him to be crucified. Now at this point we know and I'll gather some background and develop it but at this point Jesus has gone through a series of interrogations. The Jewish High Council had sent men to arrest Jesus when he was in the Garden of Gethsemane. Now Jesus had become a great problem to them. They wanted him removed. You see, over the years he had become well known. He had become well known because of his teachings as well as his miracles. But the miracle that had led to his arrest was the raising of a man by the name of Lazarus. Now Jesus had raised Lazarus after he had been buried for four days and this was the miracle that provoked them to find a way to kill Jesus. Now in that conversation Christ was having with Lazarus' sister and all they had said to him, she had said to him that Lazarus had been dead for four days. And when you read your scriptures and you see that in John 11, but Lord, because he had said remove the stone and she said Lord, he's been there for four days. By now he stinks. Now for us in the Western world and in our time, the idea of why that would be something, especially four days, why would that be something that was told to him to remind him of something. And so at that time there was a common belief that after four days they were actually absolutely, truly dead. There was this tradition and somebody was writing about it and they said for three days the soul goes to the grave thinking the body may return. But when it sees the figure of the face has been changed, it goes away and leaves it. So they believed that the soul would visit the body until the fourth day because by the fourth day his visages, his outer appearance had been changed. Three days a man is in the grave and his bowels burst and after three days that defilement is seen upon his face. So when Jesus was there and he said remove the stone and he was reminded he's been in the grave for four days, he stinks by now, putrification has occurred. Because the Jews didn't embalm, they just put spices around the body. And so to remove that stone there would be to allow the smell of a dead body and they wanted to resist that but there was a reason it said four days. It's because they believed that the soul would return to the body until the body was no longer recognizable. So that miracle was when that was intended to break that superstition as well as to glorify and amplify what God was about to do what Christ was doing when he raised Lazarus from the dead. It was so incredible when that happened that many began to believe in him. In John chapter 11 verse 45 it says many of the Jews who had come to Mary and had seen the things Jesus did believed in him. So this miracle finalized the religious authorities determination to put him to death. John 11.53 says from that day on they plotted to put him to death. Their opportunity had come when Judas had made a deal with the religious leaders to betray Christ. We saw it in chapter 14 here in Mark verses 10 and 11 how it says Judas Iscariot one of the 12 went to the chief priest to betray him to them. And when they heard it they were glad and promised to give him money. So we saw it how he might conveniently betray him. So Judas's opportunity had arrived and he led the officers there to the garden to arrest Christ. Now he went before, Jesus went before the high priest Annas but Jesus wouldn't respond. He was uncooperative to his questions. So Annas had sent him to his son-in-law the presiding high priest, a man named Caiaphas. And they were trying to find a charge to lodge against him. So when he said he was the son of the blessed and that he would return in power, well that secured a charge against him. The charge that was a religious one in nature was blasphemy. In Jewish law blasphemy is a capital offense. So they had gathered again in the morning so they could formalize the charges and then they sent him to Pontius Pilate. The charges that they gave against Christ were charges of blasphemy, religious and sedition which was political. Now at first as we've seen Pilate wanted to avoid the problem, he sought a way out of it. Jesus had been brought to him but he didn't find him guilty of anything in Luke 23 verse four. Pilate said to the chief priest and the crowd, I find no fault in this man. Now when he said this, they got extremely angry but he gave him a way out because in Luke 23, six and seven, it says they were the more fierce saint, he stirs up to people teaching throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee to this place. When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked the man we're a Galilean and as soon as he knew that he belonged to Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod who was also in Jerusalem at that time so he wants to get out of it. So he says, Galilean, wait, Herod is here, he has jurisdiction over that province, I'll get rid of him by just sending him to Herod. Now the Bible tells us that Herod had long wanted to see Christ, he wanted to see him do a miracle. So he began to ask him questions and Jesus answered nothing. The chief priest and the scribes charged him before Herod's but Jesus wouldn't respond and because he wouldn't, Herod and his men began to ridicule and to mock him. The Bible tells us that they dressed him in a beautiful robe and then they sent him back to Pontius Pilate and this act of contempt, please Pilate because he and Herod at that time had been at odds but it says in Luke 23.12, that very day Pilate and Herod became friends with each other for previously they had been at enmity with each other. No, Pilate knew that concerning Christ, he wouldn't have a problem at least with Herod. In Luke 23.13 through 17 it says Pilate, when he had called together the chief priest, the rule is the people said to them, you brought this man to me as one who misleads the people indeed having examined him in your presence I have found no fault in this man concerning those things of which you accuse him. No, neither did Herod for I sent you back to him and indeed nothing deserving of death has been done by him. I will therefore chastise him and release him for it was necessary for him to release one to them at the feast. And so that's where we pick up right now where he has sent them back. So in verse six here in chapter 15 it says, at the feast he was accustomed to releasing one prisoner to them whomever they requested. So there was a custom to do that. Now we have no information on the origin of this kind of custom. It's believed that because Passover celebrated deliverance that a release like this would be in keeping with the celebration of freedom. And there are those who believe that that may have been the origin. We don't know for sure but one thing we know, Pilate was more than willing to let Christ go. Perhaps he thought that they would ask for Jesus to be released. He was giving them an option. Perhaps he'll ask for Jesus. Well it says in verse seven, and there was one named Barabbas who was chained with his fellow rebels. They had committed murder in the rebellion. Barabbas, now this is an interesting thing I'll be touching on this for a little while as I go through this passage with you. But the name Barabbas is an interesting name. Barabbas means son of father, son of the father. The Hebrews will call you like I would be, this is interesting, but I would be David Bar Frank. Frank's not a Jewish name but that's what I would be. I'm the son of my father whose name was Francisco. His name was Frank. And so David Bar Francisco. Now Barabbas, Bar means son of Abba, Abbas is father. Barabbas is son of a father. That's what his name means. We're gonna see this in a moment. Now Barabbas was a violent revolutionary. According to Luke 2319, Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city and for murder. In John's account, John 18 verse 40, he said that Barabbas was a robber. The word is a brigand, he was a robber. He was somebody who ambushed people and would rob them. Barabbas had led a revolt against the Romans. He opposed the Roman government. So what he was doing by force in a carnal way was he was trying to throw off the oppressive rule so they could be free from their bondage. So in his revolt, he had committed murder. Now it seems that he represented freedom from oppression. He was also willing to kill to secure a goal. Now that's an interesting contrast. It's a contrast really of the kingdom of man and the kingdom of God, Barabbas. Son of a father used violence and killing to secure freedom. Jesus, the son of the father, the true son, laid his life down to bring us freedom and to set us free from that slavery and bring in his kingdom. He didn't do it by taking somebody else's life. He laid down his own. Now as this is taking place in verse nine, Pilate answered them saying, do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews? Now the way he asked this question, notice how he phrased it, do you want me in doing that? He's revealing he hopes that they're gonna say, yes, we would like you to release this man, Jesus, yes. You see, Pilate had found no fault in him and Pilate wanted to avoid a riot. Perhaps it would calm down. Perhaps it would allow Jesus to be released and it says in verse 10, for he knew that the chief priest had handed him over because of envy. Now envy is one of the most evil sins. It's a sin that actually delivered Christ up to be crucified. That's how bad it is. Envy, you have jealousy, but you have envy. Envy's worse. Envy has been defined as displeasure when someone has what you don't want them to have. One guy said, somebody has what you don't want them to have and you want it for yourself. It's a very evil sin. They're very envious of him. They're envious of his popularity. They're envious of the fact that he is a great teacher and that he's a miracle worker. And all we have to do is look back at some scripture to see that. An example is found in John 7 how that the religious leaders had sent some officers to go and to arrest Jesus Christ. And these officers came back without him. And when they came back without Jesus, they said, where is he? And in John 7, 46, they simply said, no man ever spoke like this man. We listened to him. We were there to arrest him. And as he was speaking, we're looking for certain signs of him attempting to arouse the people, the carnal behaviors, maybe rebellion. And we were transfixed by the way he spoke. As we listened to him, we couldn't stop listening to him. You're asking us to arrest somebody like that? This is a man who speaks with authority. This is a man who brings the voice of God to the earth. And you're asking me to arrest this man? They wouldn't do it. On another occasion when Jesus was in Jerusalem, he had healed a man who had been born blind. And again, the Pharisees had objected. And so they questioned this man. They wanted to know how this had happened in and who had performed this miracle. They wanted to dispute the healing. But the man speaks very clearly. It's found in John 9, 32 and 33. The man who had been healed says this. He said, since the world began, it has been unheard of that anyone open the eyes of one who had been born blind. And then he went on to say, if this man were not from God, he could do nothing. And so the way he spoke and the things he did had caused these authorities to become greatly concerned. And Pilate knew. He knew that Jesus had been handed over because of their envy. Somebody said it like this. Envy was the low passion that influenced the chief priest. They saw that Jesus was gaining a great and increasing influence over the people by the sublime beauty of his character, by the fame of his miracles, and the constraining power of his words. Because of this, they concluded that unless he was arrested and put out of the way, their own influence would be soon gone. The whole world was going after him. Therefore, he must be destroyed. So Pilate knew that the whole that power and authority, he knew that hold. He knew the hold he could have over a person. And he saw through their fake religious zeal. He knew exactly what was moving them. Well, as this is taking place, he receives a message from his wife. She said, bring some milk and bread home. No, he received a message from his wife. In Matthew 2719, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him saying, have nothing to do with this righteous man. I have suffered many things today in a dream because of him. Have nothing to do with him. I had a nightmare concerning him. Have nothing to do with him. Don't condemn Jesus. Don't be involved in his death is what she's saying. Now, as I was reading this and researching the background of such a comment, many commentators believe that she was a devout woman, a religious woman, a woman of faith. And because of that, she's cautioning her husband about the Lord. It's interesting, she said, I had a dream. The source of the dream is unknown. It's likely, though, that she had heard of Jesus. God, by the way, in the old, as well as the new, would communicate on occasion through the use of dreams. Part of the last day, as Joel says, is your old man will be dreaming dreams. And I can attest to that. Job 33, 15 and 16 says it like this, in a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they slumber in their beds. He may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings. Well, this woman, Pilate's wife approaches, I have suffered many things this day in a dream. Have nothing to do with this righteous man. But as this is taking place, notice verse 11, the chief priest stirred up the crowd so that he should rather release Barabbas to them. He's concerned that they're gonna have a riot. There are a lot of Jewish people in Jerusalem, it's the Passover. There are many people who have flooded into the city. It only takes a spark to start a fire of a riot. And I don't know how many of you have ever been around a group of people that were being provoked into anger or were angry. My wife, Marie and I have had occasion on more than once to be there. We saw this when we were in Washington, DC, there were people in this particular square and they had the megaphones and they were arousing the people. They were getting them angry. And it's interesting to see how people can be stirred in that. We were also one time in New York and there was a march in New York going down from Times Square. Marie and I were in the room looking out the window because we could hear noise. We could hear the sound of a drum beating. So you heard this drum beat and so naturally I looked out and I saw this crowd and it looked like it was a dangerous crowd. So I told Marie, go and see what's going on. No, I didn't do that. We just stood by the window looking out. And it was so loud, several stories up and it was so loud and you have double pains, you could still hear it. And I thought, boy, that crowd's out for blood. Pilate doesn't want to have a riot. He doesn't want to have violence. He's already been looked at closely by Rome. He doesn't want more problems. He's trying to find out how he can release Jesus without causing a riot, but the chief priests, according to verse 11, are stirring up the crowd. They're rabble rousers, that's a word that used to be used there. They're stirring them up and trying to get them to be on their side. They're using their authority and their religious standing to actually cause these people to demand the death of a man. Think about that for a minute. These are religious leaders who are stirring people up to kill an innocent man. That's what they're doing. They want to see him put to death and so they're moving the people to call out for Barabbas. And you can almost hear this. You can almost hear the sound of the people as they're stirring them up and they're crying out, Barabbas, give us Barabbas. This is an obviously clear picture of unqualified spiritual leaders. They were so blind to Christ because of their hunger for power, even the secular leader Pontius Pilate saw through this. He saw right through it. They're envious. This man has standing. This man has usurped in their mind their authority and taken their place as a religious voice and he saw right through it. You see, in John 11, 48, the chief priests and the Pharisees had said, if we let them alone like this, everyone will believe in him and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation. The Romans will come and take away our standing, the influencers that we are in our society. They're gonna take that from us. We won't have that anymore. Plus they may come and devastate the nation because of what's going on. And so we don't want them to bring the nation to ruin but we also don't wanna lose our standing. Now, when you look at Barabbas again, son of the father, he's a picture of carnal flesh. He represents what's within the heart of people. They wanted freedom from Rome. He represented the way to freedom and that shows us how far from God our fleshly desires can take us. They would prefer a murderer over their Messiah. They would prefer a man of action and violence over a man of peace. That shows you how far human nature really has fallen. It's interesting when you spend a little time, perhaps going to class or reading books or whatever, watching shows for that matter today. So many of them will say this. There's so many who say that human nature is actually good. The human beings are good. Now, there are some very fine human beings. Of course, we're not all as evil as we could be. And there are quite a number of people that, be honest with you, I've met some very nice people who don't have a religious faith, but they're nice people. So I would never say everybody's as bad as they could be. But I will say this. We're not as good as we can be either. When I was in college a long time ago, I took several classes in psychology. My reading, for casual reading, when I was in my mid-20s, was usually from a psychological standpoint. I did a lot of reading in that way. I took several classes. I say that to say this, that in every one of my secular college classes, every one of them, not to say every teacher teaches the same thing, but in every one of my classes I took, every one of them that were secular, the teachers would teach that human nature is good. They said we're really intrinsically good. They never answered the question of evil. If we're so good, how did evil arise? They never gave me an answer for something like that. Well, if we're that good, if we're all good, if we're born with a blank slate or whatever you wanna say, that how is it that we're not as good? Well, how is it? How can good become corrupted? And they didn't have an answer for that. They still don't. The Bible provides the answer for that. It's that we are born with a human nature that is fallen. That's what the Bible teaches. Adam and Eve, they failed their test there in the garden, if you will. And Eve took the forbidden fruit, gave it to her husband, he did eat. We receive from Adam his nature. It's called the Adamic nature in scripture that's referred to that way theologically. We receive our sin nature from the father. Our nature comes from the father. And we do evil because evil is just part of our makeup. It's what we do. And we know that's true. I mean, look at it this way. I mean, you're a kid, you're four or five years old or whatever, and you go to a friend's house and that kid has a toy you wish you had. It only makes sense to me to take the toy because I want it. He's got several. Why not take it? My son, David, did that. I brought him home from his best friend's house. He was wearing his little pajamas with the little feet, the same ones I wear. And he had, and one of his, his leg was a little longer than the other. As I carried him in, I put him down and lo and behold, he had taken Adam's little toys and he had stuffed them in his pajamas and they had rolled on down to his feet. And so I go, oh man, I've got a thief, a thief for a son. I was so mad at Marie for that, but no. So I called Debbie up. I said, Deb, I'm so sorry, Adam's mama, Debbie. Deb, I'm so sorry. David stole Adam's toys. She says, don't worry about it. Adam stole a lot of David's. So I mean, you know, when you're five years old, it only makes sense to beat up a three-year-old. It only makes sense. Why would you fight with an eight-year-old when you can beat up the three-year-old? That's human nature. It's been said that babies would kill their father and the mother if they could. They're just too weak to do it. Anybody who's a parent knows there's some truth to that. They get so mad if you don't give them what they want. Their faces get all red. That's the mother. The kids are worse. Human nature, human nature. How can I argue that human nature is good if I don't take into consideration all the evil that occurs? How can I argue that? And so when people begin to argue and say, oh, we're really good, now all you need to do is see what they did to Jesus. So all you have to do, if they're so good, why did they want him crucified? And so Barabbas and their desire for Barabbas reveals their carnal desire for power and position. In verse 12, it says, Pilate answered and said to them again, what then do you want me to do with him whom you called, the king of the Jews? Well, what do you want me to do with him? Now it seems that Pilate at this point believes that Christ is innocent, but he resists fighting for his release. And so verse 13, they cried out again, crucify him. We want nothing less than his death. Well, as they're saying that, verse 14, Pilate said to them, why? What evil has he done? But they cried out all the more, crucify him. They don't care about evidence. They want nothing less than his death. Luke 23 verse 23 says it like this, they were insistent demanding with loud voices that he be crucified and the voice of these men and of the chief priests prevailed. Matthew 27, 24 through 26 says, when Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water, washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I'm innocent of the blood of this just person, you see to it. And all the people answered and said, there is blood beyond us and our children. Then he released Barabbas to them. And when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. No amount of reasoning would prevail. This mob was out for blood. He had made a fair, even a proper decision, but they don't want justice. They want injustice. They don't care about evidence. They want death. Now, Pilate had chosen a Jewish ritual to demonstrate that he was not guilty of injustice. When you look at your Bible in Deuteronomy in the Old Testament, chapter 21, verses six and seven, well, that portion of scripture provides a hand washing ritual when judges can't render justice. The Psalmist in Psalm 26 verse six said, I will wash my hands in innocence. And so there was a ritual. He took a Jewish ritual of hand washing to visually portray to them, I am washing my hands of this. That's part of where we get that phrase, he washed his hands of it. That's where Pilate was doing. Now, I'm washing my hands of responsibility. I wash my hands in innocence. Now, he's trying to distance himself from responsibility. So by saying that Jesus is innocent, he places the blame on the Jewish leaders. Well, what do they do? Well, the people cry out, his blood be upon us and our children. We're willing to be held responsible for the death of this man. So verse 15, so Pilate wanting to gratify the crowd released Barabbas to them, he delivered Jesus after he had scourged him to be crucified. Pilate wanting to gratify the crowd released Barabbas. In Luke 23, 24 and 25, Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they requested. He released to them the one they requested who for rebellion and murder had been thrown into prison but he delivered Jesus to their will. Notice he released Barabbas and had Jesus scourged. Now Jesus had said this would happen in Luke 1833, they will scourge him and kill him. So he delivered verse 15, he delivered Jesus after he scourged him to be crucified. Pilate was not convinced of any guilt on Jesus' part, he knew that Jesus had been delivered because of envy. So he offers the people a choice. He's asking them who do you prefer, who do you want? He's offering them a choice, you can have Jesus or you can have Barabbas, it's up to you. Now, as this is taking place, he delivers Jesus up to be scourged. It's possible, because we'll look at this more next time we're together, but it's possible that he thought that this might touch them, it might cause them to have sympathy because the scourging guys is something that it's been called the living death. You see, at this point, Jesus had been ministering constantly. His last week was filled with ministry. His last day was filled with ministry, went into the later portion of the evening as he was teaching, then he was taken captive, he was placed before these different representatives and all, and he was tired. By this time, he was very, very tired. Not only that, when he had gone before the high priest, he was abused physically. Mark 14.65 says, some began to spit on him, to blindfold him, to beat him, and to say to him, prophesy. The officers struck him with the palms of their hands. So he's already been abused, he's already had spit, he's already been hit in the face, he's been hurt. So he's now delivered to be scourged. He was tied to a post. Some of us perhaps are aware of what scourging was, but this is the description of it. He was tied to a post with his hands over his head, so that opened him up on his back. He was completely open and exposed. His face, his back, and his neck were all exposed. There were two men, they were called liptors, they're torturers, and they took turns striking him from one side and the other. They were using a whip that had a short wooden handle and several straps. Each one of those straps were made out of leather, and they were embedded with bits of sharp lead, or with sharp bones or spikes. So each stroke cut the flesh until the veins and the entrails were laid to bear. One writer said often the whip struck the face knocking out eyes and teeth. It ended in fainting and even in death. It was called the living death. According to Jewish law, when somebody was scourged, they could only be scourged with 39 lashes. Jesus had no less than 39 lashes, and sometimes they would go more just to mock the Jewish legal system. As this is taking place, and you can almost, if you take a moment to think, you can almost hear the sound of a whip. You can almost hear the sound of it hitting human flesh, being aware of the sharpened bones or spikes, the ripping of the flesh and the moaning and the groaning of Jesus. You can almost, in your mind's eye, just imagine what he was going through. Again, this fulfilled prophecy in the Old Testament, the book of Isaiah chapter 50 verse six, 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. They grabbed the face of Christ and he had a full beard as the Jews of his Jewish men of his day did. They grabbed his face and pulled out his beard. And my children were small when they were learning to grow, to walk rather. Couple of them I learned, but from this what I'm about to share, but I used to wear a full beard. For a long time I had a full beard. And so I would kind of be over my babies and you know, dads do, I remember. And the baby would be moving her hand, his hands or whatever, and then grab my face. They would grab my beard and they would, and I'd go, whoa, and I'd pull back and they would stand up by holding on to my beard. Yeah, it hurts. Even with a small baby, it hurt when they would grab, hold, and twist because you gotta get a good, you know, good grip. You know, and I, oh, I'd pull back and then they're standing and I'm real proud of them for standing, but please let go of my face, right? So I learned a long time ago and some of you ladies did too. No, some of you guys did too. That part of your face is kind of tender. I got in trouble by the way one time when I was in New York, I was teaching at a friend of mine's church, an Italian fellow, dear guy and his wife, and I was talking to his wife and him, and we were visiting him many years ago now, and I said to, they're both Italians, so I said to him in front of his wife, I said, do you know why Italian men grow mustaches? He says, no, I don't. I said, to look like their moms, and when I said that, that's when I discovered Italians can get mean, you know, and it wasn't him, he laughed, it was the wife, but anyway, grabbed the beard. In Isaiah 53, four and five, Isaiah said this, surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted, but he was wounded for our transgressions, he was buried bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement for our peace was upon him by his stripes we are healed. The apostle Peter in 1 Peter 2, 23 and 24 said it like this, when he was reviled, he didn't revile in return. When he suffered, he didn't threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously, who himself bore our sins in his own body on that tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness by whose stripes you were healed. When Jesus died, his death provided healing for our wounded souls, because sin wounds us from within, Jesus' death provided healing for us within. He spiritually heals our broken hearts as he forgives us of our sins. I was reading something, I'll do more research on this, I'm gonna do a little further reading on this, I don't want you to be misled by what I'm about to say, but I found it interesting, interesting enough to share with you. I was listening to a professor or a doctor who was sharing something about memory, and I'm always interested in things related to memory, and he was saying that through scientific investigation and all, and this is a guy who has no reason to say this other than to say what is current, and perhaps I may have a nursing professional, medical doctor or whatever here, you can share with me if you'd like about this if it's incorrect, but I was reading, I'm only repeating what I'm actually listening to his lecture in, and he said, he said, we have discovered recently through various means of research that not only does your brain retain memory, we already know that of course, he said, but there are actual memory receptors in your heart. I thought, how interesting is that? Memory, he said, you can actually store memories in your heart, now I find that very interesting for a lot of reasons, but one of them is that Jesus said, I came to heal the broken hearted, I wonder if we were honest with God before God just ourselves, some of us are able to do so in front of others, some of us are restrained by our own inhibitions to be able to do that for whatever reason, but if we were honest, I wonder how many of us could say that you have suffered with a broken heart, you have suffered with pain, a memory that is so deep that you can actually sometimes almost feel it in your heart. I don't know, I'm interested in this because when Jesus said, I have come to heal the broken hearted, that may have a deeper meaning than I before have come to understand, but I do know this, I do know that his stripes that he took for us, he took them on himself for us by his stripes were healed, was not a guarantee for physical healing, was a promise that he would heal your brokenness inside. I have things they should grow older, you're gonna deal with things and we just do, that's just part of growing older in this body that I have. But the one thing that God has done is he can heal you from here, from inside. Jesus, when he took upon himself, my sin, your sin, has also given me the remedy for a broken heart because he wants to and can and does heal us from the inside out, by his stripes we have been healed. When he took that, when he took those, the scourging the way that he did when his body was so destroyed by these people and it's done for the purpose, it's part of it to try and satisfy the bloodlust of these people and also maybe to even provoke them to some form of sympathy because we'll see how Pilates brings Christ out and he's arrayed in robes of mockery and all in, he says, behold the man, look at him, look at what he's done, look at him, behold him, all they wanted was crucifixion. Crucify him, put him to death, but that's why he came. He heals our broken hearts and he takes away our sin. Now Peter made reference to Israel's desire for Barabbas in Acts 3.14 when he said, you disowned the holy and righteous one and asked for a murderer to be granted to you. You didn't want your Messiah, you wanted your murderer, you didn't want the one who gives life, you wanted the one who takes it and that comment applies to this day because when people are looking for leadership and not necessarily looking for virtue, they're looking for power, they're looking for somebody who can change things to make them happy, it hasn't changed, it hasn't changed. Human beings still desire the wrong things and that's why the gospel is the only message that sets you free. When you understand that God forgives sinners and transforms lives and brings peace to you, you can see a transformed society. Our father, we ask that you would.