1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:00,667 2 00:00:00,750 --> 00:00:03,208 Pastor Mark here in a place that it is believed 3 00:00:03,292 --> 00:00:06,583 that Jesus was held, not at the house of the high priest, 4 00:00:06,667 --> 00:00:08,708 but in addition to that the Scripture records 5 00:00:08,792 --> 00:00:12,292 another place that he would've been temporarily held, 6 00:00:12,333 --> 00:00:18,833 and Luke records this in chapter 22, verses 63-71. 7 00:00:18,875 --> 00:00:21,333 "Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody 8 00:00:21,375 --> 00:00:23,000 "were mocking him as they beat him. 9 00:00:23,083 --> 00:00:25,333 "They also blindfolded him and kept asking him, 10 00:00:25,375 --> 00:00:28,833 "'Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?' 11 00:00:28,875 --> 00:00:32,208 "And they said many other things against him, blaspheming him. 12 00:00:32,292 --> 00:00:34,917 "When the day came, the assembly of the elders of the people 13 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:37,625 "gathered together, both chief priests and scribes. 14 00:00:37,667 --> 00:00:40,125 "And they led him away to their council, 15 00:00:40,167 --> 00:00:42,625 "and they said, 'If you are the Christ, tell us.' 16 00:00:42,667 --> 00:00:44,833 "But he said to them, 'If I tell you, 17 00:00:44,875 --> 00:00:47,000 "you will not believe, and if I ask you, 18 00:00:47,042 --> 00:00:48,333 "you will not answer. 19 00:00:48,375 --> 00:00:51,000 "But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated 20 00:00:51,083 --> 00:00:53,292 "at the right hand of the power of God.' 21 00:00:53,333 --> 00:00:56,000 "So they all said, 'Are you the Son of God, then?' 22 00:00:56,083 --> 00:00:59,000 "And he said to them, 'You say that I am.' 23 00:00:59,083 --> 00:01:01,000 "Then they said, 'What further testimony 24 00:01:01,083 --> 00:01:02,917 "do we need? 25 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:06,125 We have heard it ourselves from his own lips.'" 26 00:01:06,167 --> 00:01:09,667 Now, it's curious here, as well, the men were holding Jesus, 27 00:01:09,750 --> 00:01:12,125 they were mocking him, they were beating him, 28 00:01:12,167 --> 00:01:14,875 they were blindfolding him, 29 00:01:14,958 --> 00:01:16,583 and perhaps they were doing something else. 30 00:01:16,667 --> 00:01:19,375 I'll show you what they would do to kill time. 31 00:01:19,458 --> 00:01:24,333 In this particular area, there was an archeological dig 32 00:01:24,375 --> 00:01:28,625 that unearthed something very interesting. 33 00:01:28,667 --> 00:01:32,917 This is an ancient game of tic-tac-toe. 34 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:36,333 It is likely the way that the soldiers 35 00:01:36,375 --> 00:01:39,917 who abused Jesus spent their time, 36 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:42,917 bored as they were, drawing in the stone 37 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:44,917 games to be played. 38 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:59,833 ♪♪♪ 39 00:01:59,875 --> 00:02:14,875 ♪♪♪ 40 00:02:18,792 --> 00:02:22,500 The most important question for us all to answer is, 41 00:02:22,542 --> 00:02:25,208 "Who is Jesus Christ?" 42 00:02:25,292 --> 00:02:29,833 And it seems as if everyone has their own answer 43 00:02:29,875 --> 00:02:32,583 to that question and an opinion regarding him. 44 00:02:32,667 --> 00:02:34,708 In fact, more books have been written about Jesus 45 00:02:34,792 --> 00:02:37,917 than anyone who has lived in the history of the world. 46 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:40,500 But what would be honorable, what would be right, 47 00:02:40,583 --> 00:02:43,500 what would be fair is not to just consider 48 00:02:43,583 --> 00:02:45,833 what everyone has to say about Jesus, 49 00:02:45,875 --> 00:02:47,917 but instead to listen to what Jesus 50 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:49,917 has to say about himself. 51 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:52,333 In fact, this is the way that you and I 52 00:02:52,375 --> 00:02:55,333 would want to be treated if people misrepresented us, 53 00:02:55,375 --> 00:02:58,583 or spoke ill of us, or criticized us. 54 00:02:58,667 --> 00:03:01,833 We would want them to first hear from us 55 00:03:01,875 --> 00:03:04,500 and allow us to speak on our own behalf. 56 00:03:04,583 --> 00:03:06,625 And we get this magnificent opportunity today 57 00:03:06,667 --> 00:03:10,000 to do just that in the Gospel of Luke. 58 00:03:10,083 --> 00:03:14,292 We're actually in the 95th sermon in Luke. 59 00:03:14,333 --> 00:03:17,375 We will conclude Luke with 100 sermons 60 00:03:17,458 --> 00:03:19,208 coming up in the next few weeks, 61 00:03:19,292 --> 00:03:21,917 but today we learn that Jesus is the Son of God 62 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:26,833 in Luke 22:63-71. 63 00:03:26,875 --> 00:03:29,208 And at this point in the storyline of Luke, 64 00:03:29,292 --> 00:03:31,375 it's a biography of Jesus' life. 65 00:03:31,458 --> 00:03:34,125 We've seen Jesus born and grow up, 66 00:03:34,167 --> 00:03:36,792 spent roughly the first 30 years of his life 67 00:03:36,833 --> 00:03:41,583 working with his father on a construction crew, 68 00:03:41,667 --> 00:03:44,083 building things with his dad. 69 00:03:44,167 --> 00:03:46,917 At about the age of 30, he started a public ministry, 70 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:48,667 preaching, teaching. 71 00:03:48,750 --> 00:03:51,833 It was primarily centered in a rural region called Galilee 72 00:03:51,875 --> 00:03:54,583 where it was comprised of fishermen and farmers 73 00:03:54,667 --> 00:03:56,417 in small towns. 74 00:03:56,500 --> 00:03:59,208 Over the course of 3 years, we've seen Jesus' fame 75 00:03:59,292 --> 00:04:02,500 and popularity grow, and he has now journeyed 76 00:04:02,583 --> 00:04:04,625 to the big city of Jerusalem, 77 00:04:04,667 --> 00:04:06,167 and along the way he's gathered 78 00:04:06,250 --> 00:04:09,083 quite a large following. 79 00:04:09,167 --> 00:04:13,708 His support base has increased markedly. 80 00:04:13,792 --> 00:04:18,333 This makes him opposed by religious and political leaders, 81 00:04:18,375 --> 00:04:23,000 because he keeps declaring himself to be God and a King, 82 00:04:23,042 --> 00:04:25,583 and that infuriates the religious leaders 83 00:04:25,667 --> 00:04:29,000 and the political leaders who see that the people, 84 00:04:29,083 --> 00:04:33,125 in large numbers, love Jesus and are following him. 85 00:04:33,167 --> 00:04:37,667 That means he is eroding their base of authority and support. 86 00:04:37,750 --> 00:04:39,375 And so what they invariably do 87 00:04:39,458 --> 00:04:42,625 is they turn one of his disciples to aid them 88 00:04:42,667 --> 00:04:46,333 in his arrest, a man named Judas Iscariot. 89 00:04:46,375 --> 00:04:48,292 And at about this point in the story, 90 00:04:48,333 --> 00:04:52,833 Jesus is roughly 33ish years of age, 91 00:04:52,875 --> 00:04:55,125 and he has been arrested. 92 00:04:55,167 --> 00:04:57,333 He has been arrested through the collusion 93 00:04:57,375 --> 00:04:59,958 of religious and political leaders. 94 00:05:00,083 --> 00:05:02,708 These two groups disagree on almost everything, 95 00:05:02,792 --> 00:05:05,667 but the one thing that unites them is they want to stop 96 00:05:05,750 --> 00:05:09,375 the growing popularity of Jesus Christ. 97 00:05:09,458 --> 00:05:12,833 And so they hold him through a series of false trials 98 00:05:12,875 --> 00:05:16,083 that are occurring under the cover of darkness 99 00:05:16,167 --> 00:05:17,625 over the course of a night. 100 00:05:17,667 --> 00:05:21,125 And so they are both cowardly and illegal, 101 00:05:21,167 --> 00:05:23,167 and this is not a fair trial. 102 00:05:23,250 --> 00:05:28,583 This is, in every way, an effort to legally justify murder. 103 00:05:28,667 --> 00:05:30,583 That's all that it is. 104 00:05:30,667 --> 00:05:32,625 And so you need to understand context, 105 00:05:32,667 --> 00:05:36,583 that Jesus is on trial, and if he recants and says, 106 00:05:36,667 --> 00:05:40,125 "I am not God," then perhaps he can be set free 107 00:05:40,167 --> 00:05:42,125 and allowed to live. 108 00:05:42,167 --> 00:05:45,208 And if he continues to declare, "I am God," 109 00:05:45,292 --> 00:05:49,833 they're going to put him to death via crucifixion. 110 00:05:49,875 --> 00:05:53,500 And he is at the precipice of his death, 111 00:05:53,583 --> 00:05:55,833 and he knows it. 112 00:05:55,875 --> 00:05:58,708 And so there can be no more honest moment 113 00:05:58,792 --> 00:06:02,000 than the one we find today. 114 00:06:02,083 --> 00:06:04,500 There would be no reason, under these circumstances, 115 00:06:04,583 --> 00:06:06,000 for Jesus to lie. 116 00:06:06,083 --> 00:06:10,917 When you and I lie, it is to benefit us, correct? 117 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:13,667 We don't tell lies that condemn us. 118 00:06:13,750 --> 00:06:17,333 We tell lies that benefit us. 119 00:06:17,375 --> 00:06:19,333 If Jesus were lying, he would be lying in a way 120 00:06:19,375 --> 00:06:21,708 that benefited him. 121 00:06:21,792 --> 00:06:25,000 The fact that he's going to tell the truth, 122 00:06:25,083 --> 00:06:28,500 repeatedly, emphatically, clearly, unapologetically 123 00:06:28,583 --> 00:06:33,000 that he is God, knowing it will cost him his own life, 124 00:06:33,083 --> 00:06:36,500 is strong evidence that he's telling the truth. 125 00:06:36,583 --> 00:06:38,667 And the reason that he says that he's God 126 00:06:38,750 --> 00:06:42,125 is not because he has anything that will benefit him 127 00:06:42,167 --> 00:06:44,833 by doing so, but simply because he believes 128 00:06:44,875 --> 00:06:46,792 it to be true. 129 00:06:46,833 --> 00:06:53,500 And so we find the context of the story in Luke 22:63-65. 130 00:06:53,542 --> 00:06:55,417 "Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody 131 00:06:55,500 --> 00:06:57,667 "were mocking him as they beat him. 132 00:06:57,750 --> 00:06:59,833 "They also blindfolded him and kept asking him, 133 00:06:59,875 --> 00:07:02,375 "'Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?' 134 00:07:02,458 --> 00:07:06,208 And they said many other things against him, blaspheming him." 135 00:07:06,292 --> 00:07:09,125 So, they arrest Jesus, and three things happen. 136 00:07:09,167 --> 00:07:15,125 He is blindfolded, he's beaten, and he is blasphemed. 137 00:07:15,167 --> 00:07:16,833 If you'd be so kind for just a moment, 138 00:07:16,875 --> 00:07:20,625 close your eyes and consider what that was like 139 00:07:20,667 --> 00:07:22,125 for Jesus Christ. 140 00:07:22,167 --> 00:07:26,708 You can't see anyone, you can't see anything, 141 00:07:26,792 --> 00:07:32,417 and you are encircled by a mob of violent, angry men, 142 00:07:32,500 --> 00:07:35,417 some older, who are jealous and have been 143 00:07:35,500 --> 00:07:38,625 publicly stalking you and criticizing you for weeks, 144 00:07:38,667 --> 00:07:44,625 months, maybe even years, and now they've finally got you. 145 00:07:44,667 --> 00:07:46,833 Imagine, as well, their young followers 146 00:07:46,875 --> 00:07:51,125 who want to prove their masculinity by beating you, 147 00:07:51,167 --> 00:07:55,500 pummeling you, punching you, assaulting you. 148 00:07:55,542 --> 00:07:57,625 You can't see where the blows are coming from. 149 00:07:57,667 --> 00:08:00,500 You can't protect yourself, defend yourself. 150 00:08:00,542 --> 00:08:02,917 You can't fight back. 151 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:07,125 You're absolutely, utterly defenseless, 152 00:08:07,167 --> 00:08:09,875 and this mob is beating you incessantly. 153 00:08:09,958 --> 00:08:12,917 They are laughing. They are joking. 154 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:16,208 These are bullies and thugs and jerks. 155 00:08:16,292 --> 00:08:21,792 These are men who find it comedic to make you bleed. 156 00:08:21,833 --> 00:08:23,833 In an effort of one-upmanship, 157 00:08:23,875 --> 00:08:26,333 one guy takes a punch, and the other guy says, 158 00:08:26,375 --> 00:08:28,167 "I can hit him harder than that," 159 00:08:28,250 --> 00:08:30,083 and does so. 160 00:08:30,167 --> 00:08:32,208 Your fear is if you fall to the ground, 161 00:08:32,292 --> 00:08:35,333 you'll be stomped to death, so you're just trying 162 00:08:35,375 --> 00:08:39,500 to stay upright, but the beating is incessant, 163 00:08:39,542 --> 00:08:42,083 and the men have encircled you. 164 00:08:42,167 --> 00:08:44,333 You're getting punched in the nose and the mouth 165 00:08:44,375 --> 00:08:47,583 and the ear, in the face, in the throat, 166 00:08:47,667 --> 00:08:52,000 in the kidneys, in the back. 167 00:08:52,083 --> 00:08:53,708 Open your eyes. 168 00:08:53,792 --> 00:08:56,792 That's Jesus. 169 00:08:56,833 --> 00:08:59,708 This is a beating late at night 170 00:08:59,792 --> 00:09:04,500 by a mob that has no other witnesses, 171 00:09:04,542 --> 00:09:06,208 and it's overseen by religious leaders 172 00:09:06,292 --> 00:09:10,625 because sometimes religious leaders can be the worst of all. 173 00:09:10,667 --> 00:09:14,125 And they blindfold Jesus, they beat Jesus, 174 00:09:14,167 --> 00:09:16,625 and they blaspheme Jesus. 175 00:09:16,667 --> 00:09:19,083 They're speaking ill of him, they're cursing at him, 176 00:09:19,167 --> 00:09:22,583 they are dishonoring him. 177 00:09:22,667 --> 00:09:23,917 It's amazing: 178 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:27,167 God comes to earth, and this is how we treat him. 179 00:09:27,250 --> 00:09:30,917 This is how religion treats him. 180 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:33,625 That's the context. 181 00:09:33,667 --> 00:09:36,500 And they then proceed, after beating Jesus 182 00:09:36,583 --> 00:09:38,208 for what may have been hours-- 183 00:09:38,292 --> 00:09:40,500 because you'll find, in just a moment 184 00:09:40,583 --> 00:09:42,625 their questioning didn't even begin 185 00:09:42,667 --> 00:09:45,333 until sunrise the next day-- 186 00:09:45,375 --> 00:09:49,917 so they apparently beat him all night. 187 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:52,583 Some of you are abuse and assault victims. 188 00:09:52,667 --> 00:09:55,208 The Bible says that we do not have a High Priest 189 00:09:55,292 --> 00:09:57,792 who is unable to sympathize with us in our weakness, 190 00:09:57,833 --> 00:10:01,500 because the Lord Jesus Christ has been there. 191 00:10:01,583 --> 00:10:04,667 Some of you have been physically and/or sexually assaulted 192 00:10:04,750 --> 00:10:07,125 in various ways. 193 00:10:07,167 --> 00:10:08,708 Jesus was physically assaulted. 194 00:10:08,792 --> 00:10:10,833 He was beaten. 195 00:10:10,875 --> 00:10:16,917 His dignity was shamed and attacked by vicious men. 196 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:18,833 Some of you have had abusive boyfriends, 197 00:10:18,875 --> 00:10:21,208 husbands, a violent father, 198 00:10:21,292 --> 00:10:23,417 a bunch of bullies who picked on you, 199 00:10:23,500 --> 00:10:25,417 someone who made your life painful 200 00:10:25,500 --> 00:10:27,000 and they hurt you. 201 00:10:27,083 --> 00:10:29,500 The God of the Bible understands, he relates. 202 00:10:29,583 --> 00:10:31,417 He has been there himself. 203 00:10:31,500 --> 00:10:36,417 That's amazing, and it's tragic. 204 00:10:36,500 --> 00:10:38,667 And as Jesus is enduring all of this 205 00:10:38,750 --> 00:10:41,083 and suffering all of this. 206 00:10:41,167 --> 00:10:43,208 You've got to see him. 207 00:10:43,292 --> 00:10:48,500 By the time of dawn and morning, 208 00:10:48,583 --> 00:10:51,000 he's bleeding out the mouth, he's bleeding out the nose, 209 00:10:51,083 --> 00:10:54,333 his eye is black and blue, his face is swollen, 210 00:10:54,375 --> 00:11:00,208 his kidneys are sore, his joints are aching, 211 00:11:00,292 --> 00:11:02,125 and then they begin the questioning. 212 00:11:02,167 --> 00:11:05,000 After a sleepless night of beatings, 213 00:11:05,083 --> 00:11:09,125 he is hungry, he is tired, he is dehydrated, 214 00:11:09,167 --> 00:11:13,500 and now they're going to have their proverbial trial. 215 00:11:13,583 --> 00:11:15,667 They're going to ask him a series of questions, 216 00:11:15,750 --> 00:11:19,500 and all the questions are really about one issue: 217 00:11:19,542 --> 00:11:22,500 Are you the only God? 218 00:11:22,583 --> 00:11:24,417 That's it. 219 00:11:24,500 --> 00:11:28,500 That's the only point that they are pressing him on 220 00:11:28,583 --> 00:11:32,000 because if they can get him to openly, publicly confess, 221 00:11:32,083 --> 00:11:35,333 "I am God," then the religious leaders 222 00:11:35,375 --> 00:11:39,000 can justify his execution because they would consider him 223 00:11:39,083 --> 00:11:42,500 guilty of blasphemy, someone claiming to be God, 224 00:11:42,542 --> 00:11:46,417 and the political leaders could use the state's authority 225 00:11:46,500 --> 00:11:48,917 to put him to death because in declaring himself 226 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:51,333 to be the King of kings, that would elevate him 227 00:11:51,375 --> 00:11:54,833 above Caesar and make him guilty of treason. 228 00:11:54,875 --> 00:11:58,000 He never sinned; he told the truth. 229 00:11:58,042 --> 00:12:03,375 But they're judging him by religious and legal law. 230 00:12:03,458 --> 00:12:06,417 And you've got to know that if Jesus was not God, 231 00:12:06,500 --> 00:12:12,417 this would be the time for him to articulate that. 232 00:12:12,500 --> 00:12:15,208 These are not just idle threats. 233 00:12:15,292 --> 00:12:17,708 All right, this is a mob of men leaning forward, 234 00:12:17,792 --> 00:12:20,667 asking questions, fists clenched, 235 00:12:20,750 --> 00:12:23,500 encircling him with no witnesses. 236 00:12:23,583 --> 00:12:26,500 They've already beaten him mercilessly. 237 00:12:26,583 --> 00:12:30,167 And when they tell him, "We will kill you. 238 00:12:30,250 --> 00:12:34,167 Answer this question: Are you God?" 239 00:12:34,250 --> 00:12:37,000 it's like someone putting a gun to your head. 240 00:12:37,083 --> 00:12:42,417 At that moment, if you were to lie, 241 00:12:42,500 --> 00:12:44,667 it would only be for your own survival. 242 00:12:44,750 --> 00:12:47,708 It would not be for your own death. 243 00:12:47,792 --> 00:12:51,417 Jesus does not lie; he tells the truth. 244 00:12:51,500 --> 00:12:55,000 And in three ways he declares himself to be the only God, 245 00:12:55,083 --> 00:12:59,958 knowing that he's going to be put to death in a brutal, 246 00:13:00,083 --> 00:13:04,708 bloody, barbarous way: Death by crucifixion, 247 00:13:04,792 --> 00:13:09,833 which is a shameful, public way to die, 248 00:13:09,875 --> 00:13:11,875 and that's going to happen in the presence 249 00:13:11,958 --> 00:13:15,833 of his own brokenhearted mother. 250 00:13:15,875 --> 00:13:18,708 And so here begins the line of questioning, 251 00:13:18,792 --> 00:13:22,125 the first of which reveals to us that Jesus is the Christ. 252 00:13:22,167 --> 00:13:24,792 Luke 22:66-68, "When day came--" 253 00:13:24,833 --> 00:13:27,708 So, again, they beat him all night. 254 00:13:27,792 --> 00:13:30,417 "--the assembly of the elders of the people gathered together, 255 00:13:30,500 --> 00:13:32,708 both chief priests and scribes." 256 00:13:32,792 --> 00:13:35,000 Those are the religious leaders. 257 00:13:35,083 --> 00:13:39,708 You could be religious and not know or love Jesus. 258 00:13:39,792 --> 00:13:41,917 "And they led him away to their council, 259 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:44,917 "and they said, 'If you are the Christ, tell us.' 260 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:47,083 "But he said to them, 'If I tell you, 261 00:13:47,167 --> 00:13:49,292 "you will not believe, and if I ask you, 262 00:13:49,333 --> 00:13:50,792 you will not answer.'" 263 00:13:50,833 --> 00:13:54,292 So, their first question is, "Are you the Christ?" 264 00:13:54,333 --> 00:13:59,708 That's their way of asking, "Are you the only God?" 265 00:13:59,792 --> 00:14:02,500 Christ was a title. 266 00:14:02,583 --> 00:14:06,125 In the Greek New Testament and in the Hebrew Old Testament, 267 00:14:06,167 --> 00:14:10,208 it was also called the Messiah. 268 00:14:10,292 --> 00:14:11,583 So, that's what they're asking. 269 00:14:11,667 --> 00:14:13,583 "Are you the Messiah? Are you the Christ?" 270 00:14:13,667 --> 00:14:15,292 which means, "Are you the anointed one? 271 00:14:15,333 --> 00:14:16,667 "Are you the chosen one? 272 00:14:16,750 --> 00:14:18,292 "Are you the special one? 273 00:14:18,333 --> 00:14:20,208 Are you the awaited one?" 274 00:14:20,292 --> 00:14:23,292 Because God's people had been awaiting a redeemer, 275 00:14:23,333 --> 00:14:26,167 a Savior, a deliverer. 276 00:14:26,250 --> 00:14:28,625 The question is, "Are you he? 277 00:14:28,667 --> 00:14:31,208 "Are you God among us? 278 00:14:31,292 --> 00:14:33,625 "Are you here to save? 279 00:14:33,667 --> 00:14:37,625 "Is that who you think you are? God? 280 00:14:37,667 --> 00:14:39,667 Are you the Christ?" 281 00:14:39,750 --> 00:14:42,917 What's Jesus' answer? 282 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:45,292 "You know this is what I've said many times. 283 00:14:45,333 --> 00:14:46,917 "That's why I'm on trial. 284 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:49,208 "That's why I'm here. 285 00:14:49,292 --> 00:14:52,625 "And I could tell you again, but you're not going to believe me. 286 00:14:52,667 --> 00:14:54,500 "Your hearts are not receptive. 287 00:14:54,542 --> 00:14:58,125 "Your minds are not open. 288 00:14:58,167 --> 00:15:02,417 "You should believe that I am the Christ. 289 00:15:02,500 --> 00:15:05,625 "But it doesn't matter how many times I say it; 290 00:15:05,667 --> 00:15:07,708 you won't believe it." 291 00:15:07,792 --> 00:15:12,833 He is here publicly confessing, "Yes, that's who I am. 292 00:15:12,875 --> 00:15:14,833 "That's exactly who I am. 293 00:15:14,875 --> 00:15:19,667 I am the Christ, the Messiah." 294 00:15:19,750 --> 00:15:21,417 Some of you have been lied to. 295 00:15:21,500 --> 00:15:25,167 You've been told Jesus never said he was God; 296 00:15:25,250 --> 00:15:27,708 Jesus was a good teacher and a nice man, 297 00:15:27,792 --> 00:15:30,000 and he never said he was God. 298 00:15:30,083 --> 00:15:32,000 He did. 299 00:15:32,042 --> 00:15:36,208 He repeatedly, emphatically, clearly said he's the only God. 300 00:15:36,292 --> 00:15:37,917 That's why they put him to death. 301 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:39,625 That's why they blindfolded him. 302 00:15:39,667 --> 00:15:41,167 That's why they beat him. 303 00:15:41,250 --> 00:15:43,708 That's why they blasphemed him. 304 00:15:43,792 --> 00:15:46,125 Some of you prefer certain other parts of the Gospels. 305 00:15:46,167 --> 00:15:48,125 You'll say, "Well, Jesus loved children 306 00:15:48,167 --> 00:15:50,208 "and he was friends with marginalized women 307 00:15:50,292 --> 00:15:52,833 "and he fed the poor and he looked toward the outcast 308 00:15:52,875 --> 00:15:54,917 and he welcomed the stranger." 309 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:56,500 All of that is completely true, 310 00:15:56,542 --> 00:15:59,500 but that's not why they killed him. 311 00:15:59,542 --> 00:16:04,125 None of those reasons motivated them to arrest him, 312 00:16:04,167 --> 00:16:07,625 blindfold him, beat him, and blaspheme him. 313 00:16:07,667 --> 00:16:09,208 One. 314 00:16:09,292 --> 00:16:11,417 One thing caused those things to occur: 315 00:16:11,500 --> 00:16:13,000 He said he was God. 316 00:16:13,958 --> 00:16:16,875 He said he was God. 317 00:16:16,958 --> 00:16:19,500 Some of you have been lied to. 318 00:16:19,583 --> 00:16:21,917 Some of you have been told he never said that. 319 00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:23,208 He did say that. 320 00:16:23,292 --> 00:16:29,125 He said it on trial, and he says it three times in three ways 321 00:16:29,167 --> 00:16:33,125 just on this occasion in Luke's gospel, 322 00:16:33,167 --> 00:16:37,125 and the first way he says it is, "I'm the Christ." 323 00:16:37,167 --> 00:16:42,125 So, they press and proceed with their line of questioning. 324 00:16:42,167 --> 00:16:46,208 We then read that Jesus is the Son of Man in Luke 22:69. 325 00:16:46,292 --> 00:16:49,417 He says, "But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated 326 00:16:49,500 --> 00:16:52,083 at the right hand of the power of God." 327 00:16:52,167 --> 00:16:53,500 Number one, "I'm the Christ." 328 00:16:53,583 --> 00:16:55,667 Number two, "I'm the Son of Man." 329 00:16:55,750 --> 00:16:57,125 And, again, we hear this, 330 00:16:57,167 --> 00:16:59,333 and for us, this can be hard to ascertain. 331 00:16:59,375 --> 00:17:02,792 What exactly does that title mean? 332 00:17:02,833 --> 00:17:07,625 Well, they would've known, because he lifts this language 333 00:17:07,667 --> 00:17:09,583 from the Bible. 334 00:17:09,667 --> 00:17:12,583 And what's amazing is the people who are opposing 335 00:17:12,667 --> 00:17:16,083 and harming him, they know the Bible. 336 00:17:16,167 --> 00:17:19,083 You can know the Bible and not know Jesus. 337 00:17:19,167 --> 00:17:21,500 Now, the truth is the Bible is all about Jesus, 338 00:17:21,583 --> 00:17:24,167 so you may know the Bible, but you don't really understand 339 00:17:24,250 --> 00:17:27,000 the Bible unless you love Jesus. 340 00:17:27,083 --> 00:17:28,375 These are religious people. 341 00:17:28,458 --> 00:17:29,917 This is how religious people work. 342 00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:32,500 They will quote the Bible and say they believe the Bible, 343 00:17:32,583 --> 00:17:36,625 but they don't love Jesus. 344 00:17:36,667 --> 00:17:40,917 And so Jesus quotes the Bible that they say they believe in. 345 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:43,125 And he goes roughly 700 years prior, 346 00:17:43,167 --> 00:17:45,708 and he quotes from Daniel 7. 347 00:17:45,792 --> 00:17:49,125 And this is Jesus' favorite designation of himself, 348 00:17:49,167 --> 00:17:52,708 title for himself in all four gospels: 349 00:17:52,792 --> 00:17:54,417 Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. 350 00:17:54,500 --> 00:17:58,375 He refers to himself roughly 80 times as the Son of Man. 351 00:17:58,458 --> 00:18:00,792 He uses this title, "Son of Man," 352 00:18:00,833 --> 00:18:03,000 some 25 times in Luke's gospel. 353 00:18:03,083 --> 00:18:05,500 We've looked at it repeatedly in our more than 2-year 354 00:18:05,542 --> 00:18:10,333 investigation of Luke, and here he uses it again. 355 00:18:10,375 --> 00:18:13,500 And so I want to revisit where this comes from. 356 00:18:13,583 --> 00:18:17,625 It comes from Daniel 7, penned by the prophet Daniel 357 00:18:17,667 --> 00:18:19,625 under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, 358 00:18:19,667 --> 00:18:23,792 some 700 years before Jesus was even born on the earth. 359 00:18:23,833 --> 00:18:28,208 In Daniel 7:13-14 we read, "...with the clouds of heaven--" 360 00:18:28,292 --> 00:18:30,000 So, where does he come from? 361 00:18:30,083 --> 00:18:32,708 Somebody's coming. Where's he coming from? 362 00:18:32,792 --> 00:18:34,417 The clouds of heaven. 363 00:18:34,500 --> 00:18:37,208 So, he exists before he enters human history. 364 00:18:37,292 --> 00:18:41,125 This is God, the Creator dwelling eternally 365 00:18:41,167 --> 00:18:42,417 in his heavenly kingdom. 366 00:18:42,500 --> 00:18:46,708 He's coming from the kingdom of heaven to the earth. 367 00:18:46,792 --> 00:18:50,375 God is coming "like a son of man." 368 00:18:50,458 --> 00:18:52,208 He's going to take on human flesh, 369 00:18:52,292 --> 00:18:55,917 this eternal Spirit, God. 370 00:18:56,000 --> 00:18:57,625 He's going to take on human flesh, 371 00:18:57,667 --> 00:19:00,083 and he's going to look like the rest of us. 372 00:19:00,167 --> 00:19:02,000 He's going to look like a human being. 373 00:19:02,083 --> 00:19:06,000 He's going to appear among us as one of us. 374 00:19:06,083 --> 00:19:08,083 "And he came to the Ancient of Days 375 00:19:08,167 --> 00:19:09,875 and was presented before him." 376 00:19:09,958 --> 00:19:12,000 Well, that's God the Father. 377 00:19:12,042 --> 00:19:15,500 So, there are two ruling here in heaven together. 378 00:19:15,583 --> 00:19:17,208 The first member of the Trinity-- 379 00:19:17,292 --> 00:19:19,417 we believe in the Trinity, one God, three persons, 380 00:19:19,500 --> 00:19:23,000 not three Gods; one God, three persons. 381 00:19:23,083 --> 00:19:24,917 The Ancient of Days, God the Father, 382 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:26,917 and one "like the son of man." 383 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:29,208 That's the second member of the Trinity, 384 00:19:29,292 --> 00:19:31,708 the Lord Jesus Christ coming into human history, 385 00:19:31,792 --> 00:19:34,917 sent by God the Father on a mission, 386 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:38,792 on a mission, Creator entering into creation, 387 00:19:38,833 --> 00:19:43,667 the God of heaven coming on a mission to the earth. 388 00:19:43,750 --> 00:19:46,792 "And to him was given dominion and glory--" 389 00:19:46,833 --> 00:19:48,417 that's worship language-- 390 00:19:48,500 --> 00:19:50,208 "and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, 391 00:19:50,292 --> 00:19:52,625 and languages should serve him." 392 00:19:52,667 --> 00:19:54,500 That's worship language. 393 00:19:54,542 --> 00:19:59,833 This person is to be worshiped, because he's the King of kings, 394 00:19:59,875 --> 00:20:01,583 Lord of lords. 395 00:20:01,667 --> 00:20:05,125 He rules over all peoples, all languages, all cultures, 396 00:20:05,167 --> 00:20:08,625 all religions, all times, all places. 397 00:20:08,667 --> 00:20:12,292 You can't get a bigger declaration than this. 398 00:20:12,333 --> 00:20:14,917 This is as big as it gets. 399 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:17,500 He's coming, he's coming, he's coming, 400 00:20:17,542 --> 00:20:20,708 and everyone needs to worship and serve him. 401 00:20:20,792 --> 00:20:25,208 Everyone needs to give glory to him. 402 00:20:25,292 --> 00:20:27,833 And he's going to establish a kingdom as the King of kings, 403 00:20:27,875 --> 00:20:30,333 ruling over all kings and kingdoms. 404 00:20:30,375 --> 00:20:33,000 And how long will his kingdom last? 405 00:20:33,083 --> 00:20:36,000 "His dominion is an everlasting dominion, 406 00:20:36,083 --> 00:20:37,833 "which shall not pass away, 407 00:20:37,875 --> 00:20:40,708 and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed." 408 00:20:40,792 --> 00:20:43,125 That's a massive statement. 409 00:20:43,167 --> 00:20:47,792 The eternal Creator, Spirit God, is going to come like a man 410 00:20:47,833 --> 00:20:51,375 into human history, and everyone is to worship, 411 00:20:51,458 --> 00:20:53,833 honor, glorify him. 412 00:20:53,875 --> 00:20:57,000 He's establishing a kingdom that will never end. 413 00:20:57,083 --> 00:21:00,417 He'll live forever, and his people will live forever 414 00:21:00,500 --> 00:21:04,500 under his rule, and it doesn't matter what your ethnicity, 415 00:21:04,583 --> 00:21:07,417 what your race, what your sexual orientation is, 416 00:21:07,500 --> 00:21:09,500 what your cultural background is. 417 00:21:09,542 --> 00:21:14,500 Everyone, everywhere, all the time should honor him. 418 00:21:14,542 --> 00:21:17,333 That's a massive statement! 419 00:21:17,375 --> 00:21:19,708 And so God's people were waiting for hundreds of years. 420 00:21:19,792 --> 00:21:22,167 Who is this? 421 00:21:22,250 --> 00:21:26,917 The answer is he is the Son of Man, 422 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:29,333 God become a man. 423 00:21:29,375 --> 00:21:33,333 And so when Jesus shows up, and he's on trial, 424 00:21:33,375 --> 00:21:38,625 out of his bloodied mouth, he says, "I am the Christ, 425 00:21:38,667 --> 00:21:41,708 and I am the Son of Man." 426 00:21:41,792 --> 00:21:44,708 Wow! 427 00:21:44,792 --> 00:21:50,917 You cannot make a clearer statement of deity than that, 428 00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:53,333 and he does so in front of his enemies, 429 00:21:53,375 --> 00:21:57,417 he does so on trial, he does so on public record, 430 00:21:57,500 --> 00:21:59,333 and he does so with nothing to gain 431 00:21:59,375 --> 00:22:02,875 if he's telling a lie. 432 00:22:02,958 --> 00:22:05,875 And he continues, and in a third way 433 00:22:05,958 --> 00:22:08,792 he declares himself to be God. 434 00:22:08,833 --> 00:22:15,375 So, we then learn that Jesus is the Son of God in Luke 22:70-71. 435 00:22:15,458 --> 00:22:19,917 "So they all said--" Now they're leaning forward. 436 00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:23,208 This is like blood in the water for the sharks. 437 00:22:23,292 --> 00:22:26,000 "Oh, we've got him now. 438 00:22:26,042 --> 00:22:31,125 "If we can just make sure that this is absolutely clear, 439 00:22:31,167 --> 00:22:35,292 incontrovertibly clear, he's ours." 440 00:22:35,333 --> 00:22:39,000 Oh, the bloodshed has just begun. 441 00:22:39,042 --> 00:22:44,833 Leaning forward, all at one time--this is a mob, 442 00:22:44,875 --> 00:22:48,625 men with furrowed brows and clenched teeth 443 00:22:48,667 --> 00:22:53,333 and closed fists-- they asked this question, 444 00:22:53,375 --> 00:22:57,667 "They all said, 'Are you the Son of God, then?'" 445 00:22:57,750 --> 00:23:00,292 Here's the issue. There's one issue. 446 00:23:00,333 --> 00:23:07,333 "Are you, yes or no, yes or no, the Son of God?" 447 00:23:08,333 --> 00:23:12,500 "And he said to them, 'You say that I am.'" 448 00:23:12,583 --> 00:23:13,875 Here's what Jesus is saying. 449 00:23:13,958 --> 00:23:17,000 "I have told you repeatedly I am the Son of Man. 450 00:23:17,083 --> 00:23:20,875 "All you're doing is echoing what I've already said. 451 00:23:20,958 --> 00:23:22,875 "Yes, that's who I am. 452 00:23:22,958 --> 00:23:24,833 "Yes, that's what I've said. 453 00:23:24,875 --> 00:23:28,667 Yes, that's what I'm saying." 454 00:23:28,750 --> 00:23:31,833 "Then they said, 'What further testimony do we need? 455 00:23:31,875 --> 00:23:35,292 We have heard it ourselves from his own lips.'" 456 00:23:35,333 --> 00:23:38,875 "He's guilty!" 457 00:23:38,958 --> 00:23:42,500 It is as if you were brought into court. 458 00:23:42,583 --> 00:23:46,208 They put you on the stand and the attorney stands before you. 459 00:23:46,292 --> 00:23:47,500 "How do you plead?" 460 00:23:47,583 --> 00:23:50,208 "Guilty to all charges." 461 00:23:50,292 --> 00:23:52,583 There's no need to bring in additional witnesses. 462 00:23:52,667 --> 00:23:54,917 There's no need for a long deliberation. 463 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:57,125 There's no need to take it to the jury. 464 00:23:57,167 --> 00:23:59,417 It's over! 465 00:23:59,500 --> 00:24:04,333 Jesus is on trial, and it's a false trial 466 00:24:04,375 --> 00:24:09,625 run by cowards and abusers, but it's a trial nonetheless. 467 00:24:09,667 --> 00:24:12,875 "Are you the only God?" 468 00:24:12,958 --> 00:24:16,625 "If that is the charge, guilty. 469 00:24:16,667 --> 00:24:19,208 "I'm guilty of saying I'm God. 470 00:24:19,292 --> 00:24:23,333 "I'm guilty of being God and I'm not recanting of being God. 471 00:24:23,375 --> 00:24:27,375 And if you need to, put me to death." 472 00:24:31,083 --> 00:24:36,000 He is the Son of God, 473 00:24:36,083 --> 00:24:42,083 and that was, for them, the final word. 474 00:24:43,292 --> 00:24:47,625 He is the Son of God. 475 00:24:47,667 --> 00:24:54,167 So, what does that mean, Jesus is the Son of God? 476 00:24:54,250 --> 00:24:58,125 Let me first tell you what it does not mean. 477 00:24:58,167 --> 00:24:59,833 And it's interesting, because this issue 478 00:24:59,875 --> 00:25:03,000 is absolutely relevant today. 479 00:25:03,042 --> 00:25:04,667 It's amazing. 480 00:25:04,750 --> 00:25:07,833 We're reading an eternal book that's timeless, 481 00:25:07,875 --> 00:25:11,125 so it's always timely. 482 00:25:11,167 --> 00:25:14,333 Today, this issue of Jesus being the Son of God 483 00:25:14,375 --> 00:25:21,333 is in the news with Mormons and Muslims. 484 00:25:21,375 --> 00:25:24,417 We've got a Mormon running for president, 485 00:25:24,500 --> 00:25:27,000 and the question is, are Mormons Christians, 486 00:25:27,083 --> 00:25:30,208 and do they believe Jesus is the Son of God? 487 00:25:30,292 --> 00:25:32,583 And, similarly, there's a big debate raging 488 00:25:32,667 --> 00:25:34,583 in Christian circles about how we translate 489 00:25:34,667 --> 00:25:39,083 the Bible for Muslims, 490 00:25:39,167 --> 00:25:42,500 and should we call Jesus the Son of God? 491 00:25:42,542 --> 00:25:45,083 There was actually a translation committee meeting. 492 00:25:45,167 --> 00:25:48,917 I think it was in Istanbul, Turkey, recently. 493 00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:50,208 There's a big debate: 494 00:25:50,292 --> 00:25:52,167 Should we call Jesus the Son of God? 495 00:25:52,250 --> 00:25:53,500 Well, the Bible does. 496 00:25:53,583 --> 00:25:55,000 But they say, "Well, Muslims struggle 497 00:25:55,042 --> 00:25:56,875 to understand that concept." 498 00:25:56,958 --> 00:25:59,833 So, again, ripped right out of the headlines is this issue: 499 00:25:59,875 --> 00:26:04,208 Is Jesus Christ the Son of God? 500 00:26:04,292 --> 00:26:06,500 We'll deal with how the Mormons interpret this firstly. 501 00:26:06,583 --> 00:26:09,500 So, let's say a couple of nice guys in white shirts 502 00:26:09,583 --> 00:26:15,333 with ties, on bikes, showed up to your house, 503 00:26:15,375 --> 00:26:18,625 knocked on the door, very nice, clean cut, 504 00:26:18,667 --> 00:26:20,708 and you ask them, "Is Jesus Christ 505 00:26:20,792 --> 00:26:24,000 the Son of God?" what will they say? 506 00:26:24,042 --> 00:26:25,417 "Yes." 507 00:26:25,500 --> 00:26:27,125 You say, "Okay, so they're Christians." 508 00:26:27,167 --> 00:26:29,125 No, they're not. 509 00:26:29,167 --> 00:26:33,000 Ask them what they mean, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. 510 00:26:33,083 --> 00:26:37,333 See, cults, and false teachers, and aberrant theologians, 511 00:26:37,375 --> 00:26:39,500 they'll use the same language of Christians, 512 00:26:39,583 --> 00:26:40,917 but they'll import different meaning. 513 00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:43,917 Like, I had a cult leader come to my house years ago. 514 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:45,833 I said, "Do you believe in the Trinity?" 515 00:26:45,875 --> 00:26:47,667 "Oh, yes, we believe in the Trinity." 516 00:26:47,750 --> 00:26:49,375 "What do you think the Trinity is?" 517 00:26:49,458 --> 00:26:50,708 "Faith, hope, and love." 518 00:26:50,792 --> 00:26:53,417 Ah, wrong answer! 519 00:26:53,500 --> 00:26:54,917 Father, Son, Holy Spirit. 520 00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:58,917 That's the Trinity. 521 00:26:59,000 --> 00:27:01,917 So, if you ask a Mormon, 522 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:04,083 they will say Jesus is the Son of God. 523 00:27:04,167 --> 00:27:06,000 Okay, what do you mean by that? 524 00:27:06,083 --> 00:27:10,500 What they will say is that men become gods, 525 00:27:10,583 --> 00:27:14,500 not that God became a man, but that men become gods, 526 00:27:14,542 --> 00:27:17,917 and that when men become gods, they can impregnate women 527 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:21,792 and have children that are then the sons of god. 528 00:27:21,833 --> 00:27:24,625 Oh, that's different. 529 00:27:24,667 --> 00:27:28,000 Yeah, by about this much, that's different. 530 00:27:28,042 --> 00:27:31,417 So, they would say there's a God named God the Father, 531 00:27:31,500 --> 00:27:37,792 who, then, he is a man with anatomical-- 532 00:27:37,833 --> 00:27:39,708 I've gotta figure how I say this. 533 00:27:39,792 --> 00:27:41,792 He's a guy, he's a man, physical man. 534 00:27:41,833 --> 00:27:43,875 There, I don't have to fire myself. 535 00:27:43,958 --> 00:27:45,500 [congregation laughing] 536 00:27:45,542 --> 00:27:48,375 He's a man anatomically and physically. 537 00:27:48,458 --> 00:27:52,500 So, you know, there's lots of gods then, 538 00:27:52,542 --> 00:27:55,417 and gods are basically glorified men 539 00:27:55,500 --> 00:27:58,000 in physical bodies. 540 00:27:58,083 --> 00:28:01,833 And that this god, in a physical body, 541 00:28:01,875 --> 00:28:06,333 had actual intimate relations with a teenaged girl named Mary 542 00:28:06,375 --> 00:28:07,917 and got her pregnant. 543 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:11,208 So god knocked up a junior high girl. 544 00:28:11,292 --> 00:28:12,792 Okay? 545 00:28:12,833 --> 00:28:16,000 And then she gave birth to Jesus Christ, 546 00:28:16,083 --> 00:28:20,417 and because the father was a glorified spirit being, 547 00:28:20,500 --> 00:28:24,833 Jesus is a son of a god. 548 00:28:24,875 --> 00:28:28,167 But lots of people are sons of god, 549 00:28:28,250 --> 00:28:32,208 and sons of gods, and perhaps even Lucifer, then, could count 550 00:28:32,292 --> 00:28:36,292 as a son of god in their theology. 551 00:28:36,333 --> 00:28:39,667 There's a debate regarding that point. 552 00:28:39,750 --> 00:28:41,875 Well, that's not what Christians believe, 553 00:28:41,958 --> 00:28:45,333 because the Bible says Mary was a virgin. 554 00:28:45,375 --> 00:28:49,000 In addition, the Bible says repeatedly God is not a man. 555 00:28:49,083 --> 00:28:52,708 God the Father doesn't inhabit a physical body. 556 00:28:52,792 --> 00:28:54,500 God the Father is a spirit being. 557 00:28:54,542 --> 00:28:56,875 Jesus says, "God is spirit, and those who worship him 558 00:28:56,958 --> 00:28:58,833 worship him in spirit and truth." 559 00:28:58,875 --> 00:29:01,292 But what they do is they'll take the Father/Son language 560 00:29:01,333 --> 00:29:04,500 of the Bible, and they will press too literally. 561 00:29:04,583 --> 00:29:06,917 So, now we're going to get into something called hermeneutics. 562 00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:09,083 You're going to get a few big college words. 563 00:29:09,167 --> 00:29:11,833 The first one is hermeneutics, and that means interpretation 564 00:29:11,875 --> 00:29:13,917 and how we interpret the Bible. 565 00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:15,917 And some will say, "Well, you can't interpret 566 00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:17,208 the Bible literally." 567 00:29:17,292 --> 00:29:18,583 It's like, "Really? 568 00:29:18,667 --> 00:29:23,208 Do you want me to interpret that literally?" 569 00:29:23,292 --> 00:29:25,583 See, we do interpret the Bible literally, 570 00:29:25,667 --> 00:29:27,708 but we believe there are two kinds of literalness. 571 00:29:27,792 --> 00:29:31,500 There's plain literal and figurative literal, 572 00:29:31,583 --> 00:29:34,417 and this is how we use normal everyday conversation, right? 573 00:29:34,500 --> 00:29:38,625 So, if I came to you and I said, "I'm hungry, 574 00:29:38,667 --> 00:29:42,625 you would say, "You know what? I think he's hungry." 575 00:29:42,667 --> 00:29:47,000 You wouldn't have to do much interpretation. 576 00:29:47,042 --> 00:29:49,917 "I think 'hunger' there means a Freudian longing 577 00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:52,583 of the human soul for complete wholeness." 578 00:29:52,667 --> 00:29:54,583 No, it means burrito. 579 00:29:54,667 --> 00:29:56,708 That's what it means. 580 00:29:56,792 --> 00:29:58,417 I think he just wants a burrito. 581 00:29:58,500 --> 00:30:01,417 I don't think it's Freudian, Jungian, Malthusian. 582 00:30:01,500 --> 00:30:03,000 I think it's burritian, right? 583 00:30:03,083 --> 00:30:04,417 He just wants a burrito. 584 00:30:04,500 --> 00:30:07,167 That's what he wants. 585 00:30:07,250 --> 00:30:09,583 But let's say I came to you and I said, 586 00:30:09,667 --> 00:30:13,625 "I could eat a horse." 587 00:30:13,667 --> 00:30:15,500 You'd say, "Really, a whole horse?" 588 00:30:15,583 --> 00:30:18,125 I'd say, "No, that's a figure of speech," right? 589 00:30:18,167 --> 00:30:21,125 I don't want a horse with sauce at all. 590 00:30:21,167 --> 00:30:22,583 [congregation laughing] 591 00:30:22,667 --> 00:30:23,917 It's a figure of speech. 592 00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:26,500 And so what you'd have to do there is you'd attempt 593 00:30:26,583 --> 00:30:28,208 to interpret it according to plain literal. 594 00:30:28,292 --> 00:30:29,708 You'd say, "That doesn't make sense. 595 00:30:29,792 --> 00:30:32,375 "A horse, I don't think he could eat a whole horse. 596 00:30:32,458 --> 00:30:34,083 "What would he do with the hoofs? 597 00:30:34,167 --> 00:30:36,167 "There's just a lot of complex variables. 598 00:30:36,250 --> 00:30:37,667 "Ah, a figure of speech. 599 00:30:37,750 --> 00:30:39,375 He wants a burrito." 600 00:30:39,458 --> 00:30:41,375 All right, we're back to the original interpretation. 601 00:30:41,458 --> 00:30:43,792 So, this is how we conduct ourselves in normal speech. 602 00:30:43,833 --> 00:30:45,917 If there's a bunch of guys, and they're like, 603 00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:47,292 "That gal is really hot." 604 00:30:47,333 --> 00:30:48,625 "Really? She looks normal temperature." 605 00:30:48,667 --> 00:30:51,000 No, no, no, no, it's a figure of speech, right? 606 00:30:51,083 --> 00:30:52,917 A bunch of gals see a good-looking guy. 607 00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:55,375 "Oh, he looks really hot," no. 608 00:30:55,458 --> 00:30:58,417 "Oh, he's attractive," a figure of speech. 609 00:30:58,500 --> 00:31:00,333 We do this all the time, right? 610 00:31:00,375 --> 00:31:01,875 So does the Bible. 611 00:31:01,958 --> 00:31:05,333 So, when we come to the Bible, we go to plain literal, 612 00:31:05,375 --> 00:31:06,792 and if that doesn't make sense, 613 00:31:06,833 --> 00:31:08,208 then we go to figurative literal. 614 00:31:08,292 --> 00:31:10,625 Oh, it must be a literal truth communicated 615 00:31:10,667 --> 00:31:13,083 in a figurative way. 616 00:31:13,167 --> 00:31:16,000 And what the Mormons do, they go to the Bible and say, 617 00:31:16,042 --> 00:31:19,333 "Oh, God's the Father and Jesus Christ is the Son of God. 618 00:31:19,375 --> 00:31:21,917 "Then he must be a man who had intimate relations 619 00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:23,292 with a teenage girl." 620 00:31:23,333 --> 00:31:24,667 No. 621 00:31:25,792 --> 00:31:27,000 No. 622 00:31:27,083 --> 00:31:29,667 Because if you do that, you end up with really weird 623 00:31:29,750 --> 00:31:31,625 views of God, because elsewhere in the Bible 624 00:31:31,667 --> 00:31:35,333 it says that God gathers his people unto himself like a hen, 625 00:31:35,375 --> 00:31:38,917 a mother hen, gathers her chicks under her wings. 626 00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:40,500 "Oh, so God's a chicken." 627 00:31:40,542 --> 00:31:41,833 [congregation laughing] 628 00:31:41,875 --> 00:31:43,500 "God's a chicken. 629 00:31:43,542 --> 00:31:46,417 "So, I'm going to die and stand before a huge chicken 630 00:31:46,500 --> 00:31:48,875 "to give an account for my whole life, 631 00:31:48,958 --> 00:31:50,875 including all the chicken wings I ate." 632 00:31:50,958 --> 00:31:53,625 [congregation laughing] 633 00:31:53,667 --> 00:31:58,500 So, you know, I don't think God's a chicken. 634 00:31:58,542 --> 00:32:01,917 I think that's figurative language that God loves us, 635 00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:05,667 and cares for us, and covers us like a mother hen 636 00:32:05,750 --> 00:32:07,208 cares for her chicks. 637 00:32:07,292 --> 00:32:10,417 It's a beautiful picture, right, if you understand 638 00:32:10,500 --> 00:32:13,333 figurative literal language. 639 00:32:13,375 --> 00:32:14,708 Well, that's what's happening here. 640 00:32:14,792 --> 00:32:17,208 God is, to use the language of John Calvin, 641 00:32:17,292 --> 00:32:19,500 he's using baby talk. 642 00:32:19,542 --> 00:32:21,917 When we're trying to communicate things to our children, 643 00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:23,500 we're trying to, "Okay, how do I say this in a way 644 00:32:23,583 --> 00:32:26,500 that you're going to understand?" 645 00:32:26,542 --> 00:32:30,875 And we are nowhere near the intelligence of God. 646 00:32:30,958 --> 00:32:32,583 We have 3-pound fallen brains, 647 00:32:32,667 --> 00:32:34,125 and there's a lot we don't understand, 648 00:32:34,167 --> 00:32:35,708 especially when it comes down to 649 00:32:35,792 --> 00:32:38,583 there is 1 God, 3 persons, sharing the divine attributes, 650 00:32:38,667 --> 00:32:42,333 simultaneously existing together forever in perfect union 651 00:32:42,375 --> 00:32:46,000 and communion, without any physical being, 652 00:32:46,083 --> 00:32:48,375 but out of nothing they created everything, 653 00:32:48,458 --> 00:32:51,333 and they love and serve and glorify one another. 654 00:32:51,375 --> 00:32:52,875 Huh? 655 00:32:52,958 --> 00:32:56,125 Okay, it's like a dad and his son. 656 00:32:56,167 --> 00:32:59,333 Like Father, like Son, they share similarities. 657 00:32:59,375 --> 00:33:01,000 We'll call them attributes. 658 00:33:01,042 --> 00:33:03,375 They love one another, they do life together, 659 00:33:03,458 --> 00:33:06,125 they care for one another, they communicate with one another, 660 00:33:06,167 --> 00:33:08,625 and they share a deep, unbroken affection. 661 00:33:08,667 --> 00:33:12,917 "Oh, okay, it's a figure of speech." 662 00:33:13,000 --> 00:33:15,917 It's figurative literal. 663 00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:18,833 And so we do not believe that God inhabits a physical body, 664 00:33:18,875 --> 00:33:21,833 and that men become gods and that we can impregnate women 665 00:33:21,875 --> 00:33:25,833 through illicit union, with physical, spiritual gods, 666 00:33:25,875 --> 00:33:28,125 and physical women, and all of that. 667 00:33:28,167 --> 00:33:32,500 No, that's not what we mean by "Son of God." 668 00:33:32,542 --> 00:33:35,833 What we mean is that God is using a figure of speech. 669 00:33:35,875 --> 00:33:37,625 He's using baby talk. 670 00:33:37,667 --> 00:33:40,292 It's the same way I would explain it to my sons. 671 00:33:40,333 --> 00:33:42,417 If one of my sons came up to me, 672 00:33:42,500 --> 00:33:45,083 let's say my 5-year-old, Gideon, or my 9-year-old son, Calvin, 673 00:33:45,167 --> 00:33:46,583 or my 12-year-old son, Zac. 674 00:33:46,667 --> 00:33:48,708 "Dad, what's it like, the first and second member 675 00:33:48,792 --> 00:33:50,083 of the Trinity?" 676 00:33:50,167 --> 00:33:52,708 I'd say, "You know what? It's kind of like us, buddy. 677 00:33:52,792 --> 00:33:54,875 "You know, we have things in common, 678 00:33:54,958 --> 00:33:56,208 "so God's like that. 679 00:33:56,292 --> 00:33:58,417 "God has attributes that the first and second members 680 00:33:58,500 --> 00:34:00,208 "of the Trinity have in common. 681 00:34:00,292 --> 00:34:03,333 "And just like I love you, you love me, 682 00:34:03,375 --> 00:34:06,208 "and you respect me, and I serve you, 683 00:34:06,292 --> 00:34:08,417 "and we do life together, and no matter what, 684 00:34:08,500 --> 00:34:11,875 "we're sticking together forever and I always want what's best 685 00:34:11,958 --> 00:34:16,500 "for you, and I know you love me, and you want to honor me, 686 00:34:16,542 --> 00:34:17,833 "it's kind of like that. 687 00:34:17,875 --> 00:34:19,708 "It's kind of like the love we share, 688 00:34:19,792 --> 00:34:22,125 but in a bigger, more perfect way." 689 00:34:22,167 --> 00:34:24,708 When the Bible is using that familial language 690 00:34:24,792 --> 00:34:27,125 for the nature of the Trinitarian God of the Bible, 691 00:34:27,167 --> 00:34:28,417 that's what it's doing. 692 00:34:28,500 --> 00:34:30,125 It's a literal truth, but it's communicated 693 00:34:30,167 --> 00:34:32,208 in a figurative way. 694 00:34:32,292 --> 00:34:35,167 Now, what happens-- so back to the point. 695 00:34:35,250 --> 00:34:36,583 Are Mormons Christians? 696 00:34:36,667 --> 00:34:37,917 No. 697 00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:41,417 They may be nice neighbors. They may be decent friends. 698 00:34:41,500 --> 00:34:44,083 They may be all kinds of things, but they don't worship 699 00:34:44,167 --> 00:34:47,500 the same God as historic, orthodox, biblical Christianity. 700 00:34:47,583 --> 00:34:50,333 Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox Christians 701 00:34:50,375 --> 00:34:53,125 all agree there's one God, three persons. 702 00:34:53,167 --> 00:34:56,833 God is not a man and God the Father does not inhabit 703 00:34:56,875 --> 00:34:59,833 a physical body, and he did not impregnate a teenage girl, 704 00:34:59,875 --> 00:35:05,000 and we're not all sons of God like Jesus was. 705 00:35:05,042 --> 00:35:08,125 And then the Muslims come along, and they hear this language 706 00:35:08,167 --> 00:35:10,000 of God the Father and God the Son, 707 00:35:10,083 --> 00:35:12,000 and they immediately think the same thing 708 00:35:12,083 --> 00:35:13,375 the Mormons do. 709 00:35:13,458 --> 00:35:16,000 "Are you saying that God the Father is a physical being, 710 00:35:16,083 --> 00:35:19,000 "who inhabits a physical body, and impregnated a teenage girl, 711 00:35:19,083 --> 00:35:21,417 and therefore they had Jesus as the Son of God?" 712 00:35:21,500 --> 00:35:24,375 If so, they find that scandalous. 713 00:35:24,458 --> 00:35:25,917 They say, "That sounds horrible. 714 00:35:26,000 --> 00:35:27,208 That can't be true." 715 00:35:27,292 --> 00:35:28,583 So, they reject it. 716 00:35:28,667 --> 00:35:31,208 And there's a lot of things we disagree with Muslims on, 717 00:35:31,292 --> 00:35:34,125 but, actually, on this point, we agree with them. 718 00:35:34,167 --> 00:35:35,917 They would say, "That sounds wrong." 719 00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:38,333 Well, that is wrong. 720 00:35:38,375 --> 00:35:45,208 But then what happens is Muslims tend to see this Son of God 721 00:35:45,292 --> 00:35:50,917 language as necessitating kind of a Mormon view of God. 722 00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:52,625 And, again, Muslims, like Mormons, 723 00:35:52,667 --> 00:35:55,333 they deny the Trinity, so they have a different God. 724 00:35:55,375 --> 00:35:58,417 Muslims don't think that Jesus is God. 725 00:35:58,500 --> 00:36:01,125 They don't think he died on the cross for our sins. 726 00:36:01,167 --> 00:36:03,000 Some say that he swooned on the cross. 727 00:36:03,083 --> 00:36:05,833 Others would say that someone else died on the cross, 728 00:36:05,875 --> 00:36:07,417 not Jesus. 729 00:36:07,500 --> 00:36:09,833 They would say that Jesus is a prophet of God, 730 00:36:09,875 --> 00:36:11,125 but he's not God. 731 00:36:11,167 --> 00:36:14,000 They may even say that he was the best man who lived, 732 00:36:14,083 --> 00:36:15,500 until the prophet Muhammad came along, 733 00:36:15,583 --> 00:36:18,500 and we would call him the false prophet Muhammad. 734 00:36:18,542 --> 00:36:20,667 And they would say, "Jesus is like us. 735 00:36:20,750 --> 00:36:22,083 "He's just a man. 736 00:36:22,167 --> 00:36:24,583 "He's not the God man, but he's a good man, 737 00:36:24,667 --> 00:36:26,708 but he was a prophet who spoke for God." 738 00:36:26,792 --> 00:36:29,000 And I would say, "If he says he's God, 739 00:36:29,042 --> 00:36:31,583 "how could you call him a prophet? 740 00:36:31,667 --> 00:36:33,500 "You can't say Jesus is a good man, 741 00:36:33,583 --> 00:36:35,917 "who spoke for God. He said he was God!" 742 00:36:36,000 --> 00:36:37,208 "Well, that's wrong." 743 00:36:37,292 --> 00:36:39,833 "Well, then, he's not a good man or a prophet. 744 00:36:39,875 --> 00:36:42,417 He's a liar." 745 00:36:42,500 --> 00:36:44,833 You can't say he's a good man and a prophet 746 00:36:44,875 --> 00:36:49,625 who lied about being God! 747 00:36:49,667 --> 00:36:53,708 That would make him a false prophet and a bad man. 748 00:36:53,792 --> 00:36:56,833 So, Jesus is either a truth-teller or a liar, 749 00:36:56,875 --> 00:36:59,583 and when he clearly, emphatically, publicly 750 00:36:59,667 --> 00:37:04,917 says, "I'm God," in a variety of ways, 751 00:37:05,000 --> 00:37:09,083 the Muslims are on the horn of a dilemma. 752 00:37:09,167 --> 00:37:12,583 They can't receive him as a good man and a prophet. 753 00:37:12,667 --> 00:37:16,625 They would say that Muhammad was actually better than Jesus, 754 00:37:16,667 --> 00:37:19,625 a better representative and prophet for God, 755 00:37:19,667 --> 00:37:21,833 and he is the greatest man who has ever lived, 756 00:37:21,875 --> 00:37:26,167 greater than Jesus, and Jesus is not God. 757 00:37:26,250 --> 00:37:28,208 So, the Mormons actually believe in multiple gods, 758 00:37:28,292 --> 00:37:30,417 and they would say that perhaps Jesus is a god, 759 00:37:30,500 --> 00:37:32,208 but there's lots of gods. 760 00:37:32,292 --> 00:37:34,417 Muslims would say Jesus was not God; 761 00:37:34,500 --> 00:37:37,500 there is only one God, but that's not him. 762 00:37:37,583 --> 00:37:40,500 And so both miss Jesus, and part of it is around 763 00:37:40,583 --> 00:37:46,000 this language of the Son of God. 764 00:37:46,042 --> 00:37:49,292 And this is really a big issue for Muslims. 765 00:37:49,333 --> 00:37:50,708 Is Jesus the Son of God? 766 00:37:50,792 --> 00:37:54,000 I had a sweet gal ask me this question recently at Mars Hill. 767 00:37:54,083 --> 00:37:56,667 Earlier today, here at the Mars Hill Ballard Church, 768 00:37:56,750 --> 00:38:00,208 we had an Iranian Muslim gal understand Jesus, 769 00:38:00,292 --> 00:38:04,333 become a Christian, and get baptized today. 770 00:38:04,375 --> 00:38:06,333 She finally understood Jesus is Son of God. 771 00:38:06,375 --> 00:38:10,000 [congregation applauding] 772 00:38:10,083 --> 00:38:12,000 She finally understood what it meant 773 00:38:12,042 --> 00:38:13,833 that Jesus was the Son of God. 774 00:38:13,875 --> 00:38:16,000 That means, like Father, like Son. 775 00:38:16,083 --> 00:38:17,917 He's equal to God the Father. 776 00:38:18,000 --> 00:38:19,625 There's one God and three persons, 777 00:38:19,667 --> 00:38:22,792 not three gods, one God. 778 00:38:22,833 --> 00:38:25,500 And this is a theme that is woven throughout 779 00:38:25,542 --> 00:38:27,375 the Gospel of Luke. 780 00:38:27,458 --> 00:38:29,000 I'll give you three occasions. 781 00:38:29,083 --> 00:38:34,917 In Luke 1, the angel Gabriel, Luke 1:31-32, comes to Mary, 782 00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:37,083 and he says, "You will be with child 783 00:38:37,167 --> 00:38:40,000 "and give birth to a son, and you are to give him 784 00:38:40,042 --> 00:38:42,333 "the name Jesus," which means, "God is my Savior." 785 00:38:42,375 --> 00:38:46,417 "He will be great and be called Son of the Most High." 786 00:38:46,500 --> 00:38:49,000 "Mary, do you remember back in Isaiah, 787 00:38:49,083 --> 00:38:53,708 "where it says that the virgin would have a child, a son? 788 00:38:53,792 --> 00:38:57,333 "You're that virgin. That his name would be Immanuel, 789 00:38:57,375 --> 00:39:02,417 "which means 'God with us.' That's happening in your womb, 790 00:39:02,500 --> 00:39:04,583 "and you're going to give birth to a son, 791 00:39:04,667 --> 00:39:07,417 "but he's ultimately going to be the Son of God, 792 00:39:07,500 --> 00:39:10,208 "God in human flesh, God in human history 793 00:39:10,292 --> 00:39:13,375 coming through your womb." 794 00:39:13,458 --> 00:39:16,000 The same thing happens in Luke 3:22, 795 00:39:16,083 --> 00:39:18,083 as we investigated some time ago, 796 00:39:18,167 --> 00:39:19,708 at the baptism of Jesus. 797 00:39:19,792 --> 00:39:22,500 There's the whole Trinity. 798 00:39:22,542 --> 00:39:24,125 The second member of the Trinity, 799 00:39:24,167 --> 00:39:26,792 the Lord Jesus Christ, is being baptized. 800 00:39:26,833 --> 00:39:28,125 And as he comes up out of the water, 801 00:39:28,167 --> 00:39:30,125 the third member of the Trinity descends on him 802 00:39:30,167 --> 00:39:33,167 in the form of a dove, and God the Father, 803 00:39:33,250 --> 00:39:34,792 the first member of the Trinity, 804 00:39:34,833 --> 00:39:38,833 speaks from heaven and says, "This is my Son, 805 00:39:38,875 --> 00:39:41,167 in whom I am well pleased." 806 00:39:41,250 --> 00:39:43,208 So, the angel Gabriel, on behalf of God, 807 00:39:43,292 --> 00:39:46,833 and God the Father, himself, both publicly declare Jesus 808 00:39:46,875 --> 00:39:50,333 is the Son of God. And Satan does the same. 809 00:39:50,375 --> 00:39:54,292 In Luke 4:9, we looked at Jesus spending 40 days, 810 00:39:54,333 --> 00:39:56,833 prayer, fasting in the wilderness. 811 00:39:56,875 --> 00:40:00,000 Satan is tempting, and trying, and testing him, 812 00:40:00,083 --> 00:40:03,417 and he says, "If you are the Son of God--" 813 00:40:03,500 --> 00:40:04,708 Here's what he's saying. 814 00:40:04,792 --> 00:40:06,917 "You keep saying, Jesus, you're the Son of God. 815 00:40:07,000 --> 00:40:08,208 Prove it." 816 00:40:08,292 --> 00:40:10,417 And Jesus says, "I don't prove anything to you. 817 00:40:10,500 --> 00:40:11,875 "I don't submit to your authority. 818 00:40:11,958 --> 00:40:13,417 "I don't play by your rules. 819 00:40:13,500 --> 00:40:17,500 I reject your temptations." 820 00:40:17,542 --> 00:40:20,500 Jesus is the Son of God. 821 00:40:20,583 --> 00:40:25,208 The angel declares it, God the Father declares it, 822 00:40:25,292 --> 00:40:29,208 Satan even knows it, and Jesus, on trial, 823 00:40:29,292 --> 00:40:31,792 from a bloodied mouth, proclaims it, 824 00:40:31,833 --> 00:40:36,208 knowing it will result in his own murder. 825 00:40:36,292 --> 00:40:38,208 And those who originally heard the language of, 826 00:40:38,292 --> 00:40:41,125 "Jesus is the Son of God," they didn't hear it the way 827 00:40:41,167 --> 00:40:42,500 the Mormons do. 828 00:40:42,542 --> 00:40:44,667 They didn't hear it the way the Muslims do. 829 00:40:44,750 --> 00:40:47,333 They heard it as God intended. 830 00:40:47,375 --> 00:40:50,167 He is claiming to be equal with God the Father. 831 00:40:50,250 --> 00:40:53,500 He is claiming to be the Creator of heaven and earth! 832 00:40:53,583 --> 00:40:57,792 He is declaring himself to be Lord over all 833 00:40:57,833 --> 00:41:04,125 and not just the best among us, but in a category unto himself! 834 00:41:04,167 --> 00:41:06,583 He's saying he's God! 835 00:41:06,667 --> 00:41:09,625 And if that's not true, that's blasphemy, 836 00:41:09,667 --> 00:41:11,792 and the penalty is death. 837 00:41:11,833 --> 00:41:17,208 And we see this in another place in John 5 838 00:41:17,292 --> 00:41:19,125 where Jesus makes this same claim, 839 00:41:19,167 --> 00:41:21,792 that he is the Son of God, and they hear that 840 00:41:21,833 --> 00:41:23,500 as a claim to deity. 841 00:41:23,583 --> 00:41:26,792 So, John 5:18, "This is why the Jews were seeking all the more 842 00:41:26,833 --> 00:41:29,417 "to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, 843 00:41:29,500 --> 00:41:33,000 "but he was even calling God his own Father, 844 00:41:33,083 --> 00:41:35,500 making himself," what? 845 00:41:35,583 --> 00:41:38,333 "Equal with God." 846 00:41:38,375 --> 00:41:42,708 Friends, that's why Jesus was arrested. 847 00:41:42,792 --> 00:41:45,375 That's why Jesus was blindfolded. 848 00:41:45,458 --> 00:41:47,667 That's why Jesus was beaten. 849 00:41:47,750 --> 00:41:50,917 That's why Jesus was blasphemed. 850 00:41:51,000 --> 00:41:53,292 That's why Jesus was hated. 851 00:41:53,333 --> 00:41:57,583 That's why Jesus was crucified. 852 00:41:57,667 --> 00:42:00,833 And they took Jesus, and they beat him some more. 853 00:42:00,875 --> 00:42:03,917 They scourged him, ripping the flesh off his back. 854 00:42:04,000 --> 00:42:07,667 He was marred beyond human likeness. 855 00:42:07,750 --> 00:42:12,208 They made him forcefully carry a heavy Roman crossbar 856 00:42:12,292 --> 00:42:16,167 on his barren, bloodied, traumatized back. 857 00:42:16,250 --> 00:42:20,875 He fell on his face, and it crushed his chest. 858 00:42:20,958 --> 00:42:23,208 He had to have help to carry that crossbar 859 00:42:23,292 --> 00:42:27,000 to his place of execution and crucifixion. 860 00:42:27,083 --> 00:42:29,708 And they laid him down, and they drove the equivalent 861 00:42:29,792 --> 00:42:33,167 of railroad spikes through the most sensitive nerve centers 862 00:42:33,250 --> 00:42:36,875 on the human body, the hands and the feet, 863 00:42:36,958 --> 00:42:40,292 and they killed him openly, publicly, 864 00:42:40,333 --> 00:42:45,208 and shamefully, in the presence of his own mother, 865 00:42:45,292 --> 00:42:48,208 as people cursed at him, and jeered at him, 866 00:42:48,292 --> 00:42:52,833 and spat upon him. 867 00:42:52,875 --> 00:42:54,500 And friends, let me say this. 868 00:42:54,583 --> 00:43:00,583 If he was lying, you have to explain to me why. 869 00:43:04,083 --> 00:43:09,833 All he had to do was recant, "I'm not God," 870 00:43:09,875 --> 00:43:16,000 and his life was spared. 871 00:43:16,042 --> 00:43:18,000 And he died. 872 00:43:18,083 --> 00:43:21,625 And to ensure he was dead, they ran a spear underneath his side, 873 00:43:21,667 --> 00:43:24,708 puncturing his heart sac underneath his rib cage, 874 00:43:24,792 --> 00:43:27,500 so that water and blood, the inner and outer sacs 875 00:43:27,542 --> 00:43:33,125 of the heart, flowed from his side. 876 00:43:33,167 --> 00:43:36,000 They buried him in upwards of 100 pounds of burial linens 877 00:43:36,042 --> 00:43:38,333 and spices, and they put him in a cold tomb, 878 00:43:38,375 --> 00:43:41,792 hewn out of rock, and they rolled an enormous stone over it 879 00:43:41,833 --> 00:43:44,000 to ensure that there was no tampering with the body, 880 00:43:44,042 --> 00:43:46,625 and they placed the seal of the Roman government upon it 881 00:43:46,667 --> 00:43:48,333 to defend and protect it. 882 00:43:48,375 --> 00:43:51,208 They posted guards to observe it, 883 00:43:51,292 --> 00:43:57,708 and Jesus was dead, and he died for our sins. 884 00:43:57,792 --> 00:44:00,875 Three days later, on a Sunday morning, 885 00:44:00,958 --> 00:44:05,875 he rose from death, 886 00:44:05,958 --> 00:44:12,000 essentially declaring, "I told you I'm God," 887 00:44:12,083 --> 00:44:15,333 and he conquered sin and death. 888 00:44:15,375 --> 00:44:19,125 And those who had previously been afraid, 889 00:44:19,167 --> 00:44:24,500 afraid of persecution, afraid of arrest, 890 00:44:24,583 --> 00:44:27,833 they had cowered in fear, they were intimidated, 891 00:44:27,875 --> 00:44:32,208 they didn't want to suffer the same fate as Jesus, 892 00:44:32,292 --> 00:44:35,625 all of a sudden they became bold. 893 00:44:35,667 --> 00:44:37,375 "Yes, Jesus is God." 894 00:44:37,458 --> 00:44:38,708 "We're going to arrest you." 895 00:44:38,792 --> 00:44:40,208 "That's fine." 896 00:44:40,292 --> 00:44:43,792 "We're going to crucify you, as we did him!" 897 00:44:43,833 --> 00:44:45,833 "We saw what happened. 898 00:44:45,875 --> 00:44:47,833 "He'll take care of us. 899 00:44:47,875 --> 00:44:50,667 "Jesus is God, who forgives sin. 900 00:44:50,750 --> 00:44:54,208 "Jesus is God, who conquers death. 901 00:44:54,292 --> 00:44:59,833 We're no longer afraid of death." 902 00:44:59,875 --> 00:45:04,375 And what I find fascinating, God comes to earth, 903 00:45:04,458 --> 00:45:07,833 and we put him on trial! 904 00:45:07,875 --> 00:45:10,708 We put God on trial! 905 00:45:10,792 --> 00:45:12,083 We still do it today. 906 00:45:12,167 --> 00:45:13,667 It happens in psychology. 907 00:45:13,750 --> 00:45:15,083 It happens in philosophy. 908 00:45:15,167 --> 00:45:16,417 It happens in history. 909 00:45:16,500 --> 00:45:17,792 It happens in theology. 910 00:45:17,833 --> 00:45:21,833 It happens in spirituality. 911 00:45:21,875 --> 00:45:25,208 People judge Jesus all the time, as if we have a right 912 00:45:25,292 --> 00:45:27,833 to sit on a bench with a gavel in our hand 913 00:45:27,875 --> 00:45:29,917 and parade him before us. 914 00:45:30,000 --> 00:45:32,583 "Ah, he said he's the way, the truth, and the life, 915 00:45:32,667 --> 00:45:35,000 "and no one comes to the Father but through him. 916 00:45:35,042 --> 00:45:37,208 "That seems very intolerant. 917 00:45:37,292 --> 00:45:40,375 "Guilty of intolerance, Jesus. 918 00:45:40,458 --> 00:45:41,708 "You said we're all sinners. 919 00:45:41,792 --> 00:45:44,833 "That seems very negative. 920 00:45:44,875 --> 00:45:47,208 "That seems very primitive. 921 00:45:47,292 --> 00:45:49,417 "Jesus, your ideas are outdated. 922 00:45:49,500 --> 00:45:51,583 "Guilty! 923 00:45:51,667 --> 00:45:54,000 "Oh, Jesus, you talked about hell more than anyone else 924 00:45:54,083 --> 00:45:55,500 "in the Bible. 925 00:45:55,542 --> 00:45:59,000 "We took a vote at our community college study group. 926 00:45:59,042 --> 00:46:03,292 "We were studying philosophy with a guy in long hair 927 00:46:03,333 --> 00:46:04,833 "who plays hacky sack. 928 00:46:04,875 --> 00:46:07,500 "He's our professor, and he's working on his degree. 929 00:46:07,542 --> 00:46:11,083 "He seems very smart. 930 00:46:11,167 --> 00:46:14,833 "And he sort of opened up this conversation, 931 00:46:14,875 --> 00:46:18,208 "and we decided some of the things you said 932 00:46:18,292 --> 00:46:23,292 "are very offensive, and we should reject them 933 00:46:23,333 --> 00:46:28,583 "and we should reject you or you'll need to edit yourself 934 00:46:28,667 --> 00:46:33,667 "because us sophomores, we voted, and it was very serious. 935 00:46:33,750 --> 00:46:38,125 "We expect you to consider that. 936 00:46:38,167 --> 00:46:41,417 "And the long-haired grad student prof, 937 00:46:41,500 --> 00:46:44,500 "he agrees with us. 938 00:46:44,583 --> 00:46:46,833 "So, what do you have to say about that Jesus? 939 00:46:46,875 --> 00:46:48,625 We've judged you." 940 00:46:48,667 --> 00:46:51,000 Really? 941 00:46:51,083 --> 00:46:55,500 How many of you have judged Jesus? 942 00:46:55,542 --> 00:46:57,333 "I don't like what he said. 943 00:46:57,375 --> 00:46:59,958 "I don't like how my life is going. 944 00:47:00,083 --> 00:47:03,167 "I don't like the way he conducted himself 945 00:47:03,250 --> 00:47:06,833 on certain occasions." 946 00:47:06,875 --> 00:47:08,917 Friends, let me tell you this. 947 00:47:09,000 --> 00:47:15,417 There is a judge; it's not you. 948 00:47:15,500 --> 00:47:17,625 That God was humble enough to come into human history, 949 00:47:17,667 --> 00:47:19,625 that God was humble enough to be judged, 950 00:47:19,667 --> 00:47:24,333 just shows how horrendous we are. 951 00:47:24,375 --> 00:47:29,167 We don't judge Jesus; Jesus judges us. 952 00:47:29,250 --> 00:47:31,792 And Jesus is coming again to judge the living and the dead. 953 00:47:31,833 --> 00:47:33,375 He says this in John 5. 954 00:47:33,458 --> 00:47:35,000 He says, "The Father judges no one. 955 00:47:35,083 --> 00:47:39,208 He's entrusted all judgment to the Son." 956 00:47:39,292 --> 00:47:41,792 Here's reality, friends. 957 00:47:41,833 --> 00:47:44,000 If you're still sitting in judgment over Jesus, 958 00:47:44,083 --> 00:47:48,333 you're just like those people who crucified him. 959 00:47:48,375 --> 00:47:53,833 You're just as arrogant, and proud, and self-righteous. 960 00:47:53,875 --> 00:47:55,792 You think that you're smarter than he is. 961 00:47:55,833 --> 00:47:57,917 You think that you're better than he is, 962 00:47:58,000 --> 00:48:00,417 or you think that your influence-- 963 00:48:00,500 --> 00:48:02,833 that might be a philosopher, or a religious leader, 964 00:48:02,875 --> 00:48:05,000 or a theologian, or a historian-- 965 00:48:05,042 --> 00:48:06,708 that their criticism of Jesus is valid, 966 00:48:06,792 --> 00:48:08,667 because you find them to be more compelling, 967 00:48:08,750 --> 00:48:10,667 and more insightful, and more convincing. 968 00:48:10,750 --> 00:48:12,125 And here's my question to you. 969 00:48:12,167 --> 00:48:14,500 Will you trust Jesus or someone else? 970 00:48:14,542 --> 00:48:17,833 And if you're going to trust someone else, why? 971 00:48:17,875 --> 00:48:20,000 Are they smarter than Jesus? 972 00:48:20,042 --> 00:48:21,833 Are they better than Jesus? 973 00:48:21,875 --> 00:48:23,708 Have they made a bigger difference than Jesus? 974 00:48:23,792 --> 00:48:25,500 Are they more selfless than Jesus? 975 00:48:25,583 --> 00:48:28,208 More humble than Jesus? More loving than Jesus? 976 00:48:28,292 --> 00:48:30,000 More truthful than Jesus? 977 00:48:30,042 --> 00:48:31,333 The answer is no. 978 00:48:31,375 --> 00:48:34,000 You've got to trust somebody, and at Mars Hill 979 00:48:34,083 --> 00:48:37,917 we would encourage you, trust Jesus. 980 00:48:38,000 --> 00:48:39,833 We don't believe Jesus is God 981 00:48:39,875 --> 00:48:42,208 because it's something we made up. 982 00:48:42,292 --> 00:48:43,792 We don't believe Jesus is God 983 00:48:43,833 --> 00:48:46,125 because it's something the church history made up. 984 00:48:46,167 --> 00:48:50,292 We believe Jesus is God because he said he was God. 985 00:48:50,333 --> 00:48:54,875 We believe Jesus is God because Jesus is God, 986 00:48:54,958 --> 00:48:57,917 and he died without ever recanting, 987 00:48:58,000 --> 00:49:03,500 and he rose from death to prove he is the only God. 988 00:49:06,958 --> 00:49:12,958 And I so appreciate that Jesus did this openly and publicly. 989 00:49:14,000 --> 00:49:15,500 And friends, let me say this. 990 00:49:15,583 --> 00:49:18,667 People don't make this claim. 991 00:49:18,750 --> 00:49:22,208 You can't say Jesus was a nice man and a good teacher, 992 00:49:22,292 --> 00:49:27,000 who said he was God, who has billions of followers, 993 00:49:27,083 --> 00:49:30,125 who tells people, "Give your life to my cause, 994 00:49:30,167 --> 00:49:35,583 "give your finances to my cause, give your children to my cause. 995 00:49:35,667 --> 00:49:38,708 "Glory to me, worship me, honor me, 996 00:49:38,792 --> 00:49:40,917 serve me, obey me!" 997 00:49:41,000 --> 00:49:44,917 You can't say he's a good man who teaches nice things, 998 00:49:45,000 --> 00:49:50,000 and he got one thing wrong, the whole God part! 999 00:49:52,458 --> 00:49:54,917 So, you've got a decision to make, 1000 00:49:55,000 --> 00:50:00,500 and there's no other religion that has this statement 1001 00:50:00,542 --> 00:50:02,500 by its founder: "I'm God." 1002 00:50:02,583 --> 00:50:07,708 In fact, we know you're holy, if you say you're unholy, right? 1003 00:50:07,792 --> 00:50:09,792 If you say, "I'm sinless and perfect, 1004 00:50:09,833 --> 00:50:14,208 and I've come down from heaven, and my name is God," 1005 00:50:14,292 --> 00:50:20,292 we don't say, "They're a nice person with pithy insights." 1006 00:50:20,333 --> 00:50:24,083 We say, "That's a lie," or "It's the truth." 1007 00:50:24,167 --> 00:50:26,000 It's really that simple. 1008 00:50:26,083 --> 00:50:28,417 That kind of clear statement means 1009 00:50:28,500 --> 00:50:30,208 you're telling the truth or lying. 1010 00:50:30,292 --> 00:50:33,083 There's really no other option. 1011 00:50:33,167 --> 00:50:37,792 No other world religion has its founder ever saying, 1012 00:50:37,833 --> 00:50:40,583 "I'm God. I've come down from heaven. 1013 00:50:40,667 --> 00:50:42,000 "I'm the King of kings. 1014 00:50:42,042 --> 00:50:43,333 "I'm the Lord of lords. 1015 00:50:43,375 --> 00:50:44,833 "I am the Christ. 1016 00:50:44,875 --> 00:50:46,417 "I am the Son of Man. 1017 00:50:46,500 --> 00:50:48,125 I am the Son of God." 1018 00:50:48,167 --> 00:50:49,625 People don't say that, 1019 00:50:49,667 --> 00:50:52,583 and the handful who do are not good; they're evil. 1020 00:50:52,667 --> 00:50:54,208 They're not truth-tellers; they're liars. 1021 00:50:54,292 --> 00:50:56,125 They're not prophets; they're false prophets. 1022 00:50:56,167 --> 00:51:02,375 They're not safe; they're very dangerous. 1023 00:51:02,458 --> 00:51:06,500 You have a decision to make, the most important decision 1024 00:51:06,583 --> 00:51:08,125 in your whole life, 1025 00:51:08,167 --> 00:51:11,917 the decision that determines your eternal life. 1026 00:51:12,000 --> 00:51:14,917 Are you going to judge Jesus, 1027 00:51:15,000 --> 00:51:18,625 or are you going to let Jesus judge you? 1028 00:51:18,667 --> 00:51:20,333 Are you going to acknowledge, 1029 00:51:20,375 --> 00:51:26,333 "I'm the sinner, self-righteous, proud. 1030 00:51:26,375 --> 00:51:28,000 "I have no right to judge Jesus. 1031 00:51:28,083 --> 00:51:32,375 "He has every right to judge me, and he loved me so much 1032 00:51:32,458 --> 00:51:35,500 "that he came into human history as a person 1033 00:51:35,583 --> 00:51:36,833 "to identify with me. 1034 00:51:36,875 --> 00:51:39,417 "He lived without sin, the life I've not lived. 1035 00:51:39,500 --> 00:51:44,792 "He died on a cross, the death I should die. 1036 00:51:44,833 --> 00:51:49,625 "He rose, conquering Satan, sin, and death, 1037 00:51:49,667 --> 00:51:52,875 "and he tells me that one day I will be judged by him. 1038 00:51:52,958 --> 00:51:57,500 "And so he invites me on this day to trust in him 1039 00:51:57,583 --> 00:51:59,500 "so that his death would be my death, 1040 00:51:59,542 --> 00:52:02,125 "and that his righteousness would be my righteousness, 1041 00:52:02,167 --> 00:52:06,000 "and that his life would be my life, 1042 00:52:06,083 --> 00:52:09,833 "and that he would be my God, and that I would be a citizen 1043 00:52:09,875 --> 00:52:13,708 of his kingdom forever with him." 1044 00:52:13,792 --> 00:52:18,083 And friends, this is the day of your salvation. 1045 00:52:18,167 --> 00:52:22,708 Jesus publicly declared himself to be the only God, 1046 00:52:22,792 --> 00:52:27,625 and some of you don't know Jesus as God. 1047 00:52:27,667 --> 00:52:29,125 You have to take him at his word. 1048 00:52:29,167 --> 00:52:31,417 You can't make him into someone he is not 1049 00:52:31,500 --> 00:52:35,500 or less than he truly is. 1050 00:52:35,542 --> 00:52:39,125 And so you've got a decision to make. 1051 00:52:39,167 --> 00:52:42,000 Is Jesus your God? 1052 00:52:42,042 --> 00:52:43,667 Not just your teacher, not your leader, 1053 00:52:43,750 --> 00:52:46,083 not your example, not your inspiration, 1054 00:52:46,167 --> 00:52:50,417 but your God and your Savior? 1055 00:52:50,500 --> 00:52:53,292 Some of you today, God is working in your heart, 1056 00:52:53,333 --> 00:52:55,500 and he is stirring in your soul. 1057 00:52:55,583 --> 00:52:59,000 Some of it may have been a process leading up to today 1058 00:52:59,083 --> 00:53:00,708 that culminates with you saying, 1059 00:53:00,792 --> 00:53:02,333 "That's it. Jesus is my God. 1060 00:53:02,375 --> 00:53:04,917 I become a Christian today, by the grace of God." 1061 00:53:05,000 --> 00:53:07,333 For some of you, it's something that God is beginning 1062 00:53:07,375 --> 00:53:09,708 to work in you right now. 1063 00:53:09,792 --> 00:53:11,583 And this is not just information; 1064 00:53:11,667 --> 00:53:14,208 it is, for you, unsettling. 1065 00:53:14,292 --> 00:53:16,625 "Yes, I have not really considered Jesus 1066 00:53:16,667 --> 00:53:18,500 as I ought to." 1067 00:53:18,583 --> 00:53:21,125 Who is he, and who is he to me? 1068 00:53:21,167 --> 00:53:23,708 Let me say that that is God stirring and working 1069 00:53:23,792 --> 00:53:26,375 and beginning to birth new life, 1070 00:53:26,458 --> 00:53:28,417 Christian life in you. 1071 00:53:28,500 --> 00:53:31,083 For some of you, you've borrowed the faith of your parents, 1072 00:53:31,167 --> 00:53:34,583 or your friends, or your family, and you need to have your own 1073 00:53:34,667 --> 00:53:36,625 relationship with Jesus, and you can't just say, 1074 00:53:36,667 --> 00:53:37,917 "Jesus is our God." 1075 00:53:38,000 --> 00:53:43,500 You have to say, "Jesus is my God." 1076 00:53:43,583 --> 00:53:45,417 We love you. 1077 00:53:45,500 --> 00:53:49,125 We're so glad you're here, 1078 00:53:49,167 --> 00:53:53,583 and we want you to know Jesus as God. 1079 00:53:53,667 --> 00:53:56,500 So, I'm going to pray for you, and then we'll tell you 1080 00:53:56,542 --> 00:53:58,292 what is next. 1081 00:53:58,333 --> 00:54:01,833 Father God, I thank you that you, 1082 00:54:01,875 --> 00:54:04,417 Ancient of Days, devised a plan to send 1083 00:54:04,500 --> 00:54:10,833 the Son of Man into human history. 1084 00:54:10,875 --> 00:54:14,625 Lord Jesus, I thank you that you came humbly, 1085 00:54:14,667 --> 00:54:18,333 that you resisted all temptation, 1086 00:54:18,375 --> 00:54:22,417 that you endured all opposition. 1087 00:54:22,500 --> 00:54:27,708 Jesus, thank you that you were willing to be blindfolded, 1088 00:54:27,792 --> 00:54:34,125 beaten, and blasphemed by people that you made, 1089 00:54:34,167 --> 00:54:40,417 that shows how good you are and how bad we are. 1090 00:54:40,500 --> 00:54:47,333 And Jesus, I thank you that when on trial before a mob, 1091 00:54:47,375 --> 00:54:51,625 you said, "I am the Christ," 1092 00:54:51,667 --> 00:54:55,667 you said, "I am the Son of Man," 1093 00:54:55,750 --> 00:55:01,125 and you said, "I am the Son of God!" 1094 00:55:01,167 --> 00:55:07,708 And you died without ever recanting of those clear claims 1095 00:55:07,792 --> 00:55:10,208 to be the only God. 1096 00:55:10,292 --> 00:55:14,875 And Jesus, you died for our sin. 1097 00:55:14,958 --> 00:55:18,208 And Jesus, we thank you that you rose from death, 1098 00:55:18,292 --> 00:55:20,625 that you conquered sin and death, 1099 00:55:20,667 --> 00:55:24,292 that everything you said was proven true 1100 00:55:24,333 --> 00:55:28,000 by your triumphant victory. 1101 00:55:28,083 --> 00:55:29,833 And so, Jesus, I pray for my friends. 1102 00:55:29,875 --> 00:55:34,417 And Holy Spirit, I ask you, I humbly invite you 1103 00:55:34,500 --> 00:55:38,000 to have your way with the people who would hear this word, 1104 00:55:38,083 --> 00:55:40,500 that, Holy Spirit, you would change hearts, 1105 00:55:40,583 --> 00:55:45,500 that you would renew minds, that you would alter destinies, 1106 00:55:45,542 --> 00:55:49,000 that you would cause people to stop judging Jesus 1107 00:55:49,083 --> 00:55:53,792 and start trusting him as God. 1108 00:55:53,833 --> 00:55:59,000 And God, we ask that this would be a sacred moment for many. 1109 00:55:59,083 --> 00:56:04,125 And Jesus, we thank you that you did not lie. 1110 00:56:04,167 --> 00:56:05,833 You told the truth. 1111 00:56:05,875 --> 00:56:07,833 Give us the grace to receive that truth. 1112 00:56:07,875 --> 00:56:10,208 We ask, Lord God, in Jesus' good name. 1113 00:56:10,292 --> 00:56:11,667 Amen.