Easter Sunday - They Remembered His Words

[0:00] Please turn to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 24, and we'll be looking at verses 1 through 12.

[0:15] But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.

[0:31] But when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing.

[0:46] And as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, Why do you seek the living one among the dead?

[1:01] He is not here, but he has risen. Remember how he spoke to you while he was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.

[1:22] And they remembered his words, and returned from the tomb, and reported all these things to the eleven, and to all the rest.

[1:36] Now they were Mary Magdalene, and Johanna, and Mary the mother of James. Also other women with them were telling these things to the apostles.

[1:52] But these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb, stooping and looking in.

[2:08] He saw the linen wrappings only, and he went away to his home, marveling at what had happened.

[2:23] I really do think that's one of the most fascinating things in all of Scripture. And that is the fact that, as concerns the resurrection of our Lord, who happened to be the very first ones who refused to believe it?

[2:41] The apostles. Isn't that stunning? Out of all of the people who existed that would have more desperately wanted it to be true, it would be the apostles.

[2:57] And when they were told that the Lord was risen, well, first of all, it was the women who told them. Now, the apostles and their masculinity got cranked up, and they no doubt thought and said to one another, well, you know how it is with these ladies.

[3:15] They get quite emotional sometimes. And they kind of get carried away with their feelings. And we know what they said about Jesus being raised from the dead.

[3:31] It's just an overactive imagination. You know, sometimes if you really, really want something to be true so badly, you can almost taste it.

[3:42] You can convince yourself of just about anything. And poor souls, that's what these terribly upset ladies must have done. And the text says, and their words seem to them as idle tales.

[3:59] Fascinating. Fascinating account. Well, I must move along with my message. And as I told you, I'm going to try to dismiss in a good order time. But we'll have a somewhat abbreviated message this morning because I really would like to allow some time for Q&A.

[4:13] So if I may, let me begin by positing some, I call them propositions. They're more or less historical type propositions. And then we will get into the meat of it.

[4:25] It perhaps has never occurred to you that we as believers today are in a very curious situation. And by that I mean that we are in position to know more about the account the apostles of Christ actually experienced than what they did.

[4:46] Now, I know that doesn't sound right. And the reason it doesn't sound right is because we didn't experience it. They did. They were there. They lived every moment of that.

[4:57] And if anybody should know what was going on more than they, I can't imagine who it would be. Certainly wouldn't be us. Two thousand years removed and a continent away with a notion in between.

[5:08] We couldn't possibly know as much about it as they did. But we not only know as much as they did. We know more than they did. I don't know how aware you are of it, but if you've really examined the Gospels carefully, as probably most pastors have, you see that all of the events surrounding the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, from the time he came into town on Palm Sunday, the whole area and all of their thinking of the twelve was just saturated with confusion and perplexity.

[5:53] Do I mean to say that those twelve who had been with our Lord for three years and had heard his words and saw his miracles and heard his teaching, am I saying that they who were closest to him really didn't understand or know what was even happening?

[6:13] Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. And of course, the only reason we do is because we have an inspired record. We have a different perspective than what they had.

[6:26] They had a hands-on, eyes-on perspective. But sometimes you're not able to interpret what you're looking at and what you're seeing. Things don't seem to come together.

[6:38] You're not connecting the dots. It just doesn't compute right. And when that happens, all you can feel is that your brain is kind of befuddled and you don't understand what's going on and what's the significance of it.

[6:51] And it's not supposed to be this way. And these things don't fit. And what's missing here? What's wrong with this picture? There was a lot of that going on from the time Jesus rode into town because they did not have the historical perspective that we have.

[7:07] They were somewhat limited. Now, of course, it would have been absolutely thrilling if we could somehow transport ourselves back there and be the fly on the wall in the upper room when they were having the Last Supper and take all of that in.

[7:19] Everybody would like to do that. But we do have, as Peter said, we have a more sure record or a more sure testimony. And that is what we have in the Word of God.

[7:31] So the confusion that surrounded the period of a few days between the Last Supper in the upper room and our Lord's resurrection was absolutely incalculable.

[7:44] These poor fellows were just befuddled. Nothing made sense to them. And when Jesus took the bread and he broke off a piece of bread and said, Take, eat, this is my body which is given for you.

[8:00] I can just imagine the puzzled expression on the apostles' faces. What is he talking about? What did he say? And one apostle turns to another and says, Did you hear that?

[8:14] Yeah, I heard it. Well, what does he mean? I don't know. And then he took the cup, a common cup that they would pass among themselves, and he said, This cup is the new covenant in my blood.

[8:32] Same as if to say, It's signed in my blood, with my blood. And they didn't understand that either. But, you know, I think that Jesus had such an august, indescribable demeanor and way about him that even though they were with him, they spent a lot of time with him.

[9:02] In a way, they were very familiar with him, and yet they stood in such awe of him. There are a couple of times in the Gospels where it says, And they durst not ask him any questions.

[9:18] Almost as if to imply that somehow they were disbelieving him if they asked questions or for more information. And I suspect that even though he was such a wonderful teacher, he still had an aura, a holiness, a separateness about him that, well, you who are believers will someday experience that.

[9:43] We'll know more about it then. So no one was more confused than the twelve, and no one was more calm than the Lord.

[9:55] And yet he was the one who had all the agony ahead of him. The twelve were clueless. Not only did they not know what was going to transpire in Jerusalem, although he told them plainly, so you would think they couldn't miss it, but they did.

[10:20] And we'll show you why shortly. And when they went into Jerusalem, their perspective was such that the crowd gathering, the hosannas that they were shouting, hosanna, blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord, Jesus of Nazareth, save now, deliver now.

[10:44] It was a grand reception that he was getting. I mean, didn't appear to be any protesters at all. Everybody was kind of on board. At least all of those who were shouting those things were there in support of him.

[10:58] So, from their perspective, when things started getting ugly, when the arrest came in the Garden of Gethsemane, probably between 2 and 4 a.m., when the whole city was asleep, and Romans and temple police came marching up this pathway, the Garden of Gethsemane, with their flickering torches and lanterns following the trail, and Judas was leading them.

[11:37] And when they arrived there, at the site where Jesus and the apostles were, the only thing that these apostles could think was, uh-oh, this is not going according to plan.

[11:56] It's not supposed to be this way. What did they think was going to happen? What was their anticipation when Jesus went to Jerusalem?

[12:11] We've got some texts, and we need to turn to these, but let me cover this for just a moment. From their perspective, nothing was going according to plan. From Christ's perspective, everything was according to plan, and right on schedule.

[12:28] He not only told them, days before, what was going to happen when he got to Jerusalem, but even in the Garden, just moments before his arrest, he went a little further, we are told, and he prayed, and he fell on his knees, and he said, what shall I pray?

[12:48] Shall I pray, Father, save me from this hour? But for this hour came I into the world.

[13:02] This cup that he referred to, this cup that he had to drink, was the cup of suffering and death and separation, because that was what was involved in the payment for the sins of the world, and he was the only one eligible to pay it because he was the only one without sin, and he was the only one who could have been an acceptable sacrifice, and because he was deity incarnated, his death and payment was sufficient to cover the sins of the entire world.

[13:40] all because of who he was. So what was the plan from the disciples' perspective? Here was the plan.

[13:52] Jesus was the Messiah. He was sent to bring the kingdom of God to earth, liberate Israel from the Romans, and rule and reign on the earth with his throne established in Jerusalem.

[14:04] That's the plan. That's the way this whole thing is supposed to go down. So that when Jesus comes into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, he marches right into the temple and sits on the throne of David, and the Romans are terrified, and they run in every which direction, and Israel is liberated, and we drive the Romans out, and Jesus sits on the throne as the son of David, governing the entire world, and he will bring in the kingdom of God come to earth.

[14:32] That's the plan. Got that? But things aren't going according to plan, are they? Not hardly.

[14:44] What was the plan from the Savior's perspective? His plan was he came to die for the sins of the world. That's it. That's it.

[14:55] He came to die for the sins of the world. That was the whole plan. That was the whole plan for phase number one.

[15:08] And that's what this was. We call it the first advent, or the first coming of Jesus. And it started in that little manger in Bethlehem when he came.

[15:24] Both plans, the plan that the disciples had in mind about Jesus ruling and reigning was going to be fully operative, but not as the twelve envisioned.

[15:38] And, both plans. Here's where some of the confusion comes in. Both plans. First coming plan, second coming plan. Both of them are clearly prophesied throughout the Old Testament.

[15:53] The Messiah who was promised would come to die, and the Messiah who was promised would come to reign, and the comings would be in that order.

[16:06] And that's where a lot of the confusion came in. Because we are speaking of the clear prophecies given of both comings, the first and the second.

[16:17] The first coming was overlooked and lost sight of in the light of the second coming, portrayed more frequently and in a more stunning fashion.

[16:28] For instance, Messiah's first coming was mysterious and did not make sense to the Jews. Now, the prophecy that a Messiah deliverer would come and redeem the whole earth was part of Jewish thought and Jewish theology all the way back to Genesis 3 when Christ talked about the seed of the woman, which means the descendant of Eve, would crush the head of the serpent.

[16:57] The serpent was, of course, Satan, who was actually incarnated, and he was in that serpent occupying that, and that the seed of the woman would crush that serpent's head, and that, too, would become a reality.

[17:14] The first coming was overlooked in light of the second coming that was portrayed more frequently and in a more stunning fashion.

[17:25] And as you go through the Old Testament, I'm talking about the scriptures as they existed when Jesus was here, which at that time was just the Old Testament.

[17:36] The New Testament hadn't even begun to be written yet. But all through the Old Testament, from that passage in Genesis 3, all the way up through Malachi, we find repeated references of the second coming of Christ.

[17:51] And he hadn't even been there yet for the first time. But it is the second one that is found so much more frequently in the Old Testament and the minor prophets, major prophets and minor prophets.

[18:03] The first coming is there also, even including the city that he'd be born in, Bethlehem, Micah 5, 2, talks about that. But, understand, the first coming of Christ is not at all dramatic.

[18:20] It's comparatively ho-hum. Because, I mean, the first coming is about this little baby in the manger. And we sing Christmas carols every year and everybody kind of focuses on that coming and away in a manger and an old holy night and all the rest of it.

[18:38] And I don't mean to minimize it. It was very, very significant. But the Old Testament prophets don't have nearly as much to say about the coming of the Messiah the first time as they do the second time.

[18:53] In fact, if I were to just hazard a guess, I would say probably six times as much are the references to the second coming as they are to the first coming.

[19:04] And the second coming, oh, wow. It is, hey, there isn't going to be any quiet manger scene with shepherds and magi coming from the east where everything is nice and tidy and kind of quiet and low-key.

[19:21] No, no, no. The second coming is going to be incredible. It is going to be. So, everybody's going to see it. Every eye will see him.

[19:33] He will bring with him in the midst of darkness which is going to prevail during this tribulation period. He is going to come and bring his own light.

[19:46] He is the light. And he will illumine himself and every eye will see him and the fireworks is going to be incredible. I mean, it is going to be consternation like this world has never seen.

[19:58] And you know, it is so easy to lose sight of the rather tame first coming in light of all of the drama that is going to accompany the second coming.

[20:13] The first coming just kind of gets shifted aside and nobody pays too much attention to it. And that is exactly what the Jews did. Because in the second coming he isn't coming as a savior.

[20:26] in the first coming he came as a savior. In the second coming he is coming as a judge and a warrior.

[20:41] The difference is going to be radical. Someone has said Jesus is coming again and this time he will not be in a good mood.

[20:53] that is right. It is the terrible day of the Lord. And it is absolutely stunning.

[21:09] You can read all about it in Matthew 24 and 25. It is something. The revelation depicts this especially in chapters 19 and 20 tells us what it is going to be like.

[21:24] The world has never seen anything like it. You can't imagine Hollywood special effects and Steven Spielberg can't touch this. Way out of his league. That is what it is going to be.

[21:37] So that gets all the press and that gets all of the attention and the first coming the manger thing Bethlehem it just kind of gets lost in the shuffle. So what were these apostles looking for when Jesus was here the first time they were looking for second coming activity and results not first second but that was way ahead of the program.

[22:03] There had to be all of the things accompanying the first one before the second could ever be realized. So let us move on quickly if we may. The Jews of Jesus' day they were completely absorbed with the second coming of the Messiah not the first and this included the twelve apostles.

[22:25] Jesus was completely absorbed with his duties regarding his first coming not his second. And what was on his agenda for the first coming?

[22:37] He had a one item agenda that was it. We draw up agendas and we have numbers one through whatever. but Jesus had an agenda number one that's it.

[22:51] That's the whole agenda for the first coming. Die for the sins of the world over and out that's it. Nothing else mattered. That was his objective. Does this explain the depth of confusion that existed during those seventy-two hours?

[23:13] Well, it certainly does for me and I want you to see the verification of that in Luke chapter seventeen. Luke chapter seventeen and we're going to begin reading with verse twenty.

[23:33] Luke seventeen twenty. Now, having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, he answered them and said, the kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed.

[23:49] Nor will they say, look, here it is, or there it is, for behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst. Well, what in the world does that mean?

[24:01] I think we have a questionable translation here. And I think what he is saying is this. Some translate this and they mean that the kingdom of God is within you, that is within your heart, that it is a spiritual thing.

[24:14] And there is no question that those who have received Christ have Christ in their heart. That is not the point here. But the point here is this. What Jesus is saying is that he is the personification of the kingdom of heaven come to earth.

[24:32] Now, please understand, when I talk about the kingdom of heaven, I am not talking about the place in the sky where God lives, in the third heaven where believers go when they die.

[24:42] That is heaven, the dwelling place of God. That is not the same as the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven is the reign and rule of heaven come to earth. And that's when everything gets fixed.

[24:55] Everything that's wrong with the world in its fallenness is going to be restored and purged and purified. And Christ is going to do that. They thought that's what he was going to do when he was here the first time.

[25:08] And he is telling them that he himself personally is the personification of the kingdom. Because characteristics of the kingdom have to do with wrong things in the world being made right.

[25:26] Dramatically so. What's wrong with the world now? Well, let's start with crippled children. What's right about that? Let's start with cancer.

[25:39] What's right about that? How about blindness? Deafness? These are things that's wrong with the world because what's wrong with the world is the people that's in it. We are a broken people.

[25:52] And at the end of it all we're going to lay down and die. That's what's wrong with the world. Jesus said he came that men might have life and have it more abundantly.

[26:03] So where is it? what is this stuff about children's hospital and mortuaries and funeral homes and embalming and all of that stuff?

[26:20] So in order for Jesus to authenticate that he was who he said he was, he better put up or shut up. So he put up. And where he went, he made things that were wrong.

[26:35] Right. He gave sight to the blind. He gave hearing to the deaf. He raised the dead. He cleansed lepers. All of those things were done to authenticate his claim for being who he was.

[26:51] And wherever Jesus was, the kingdom of heaven was there in his person. heaven. So what this text I think is saying is not the kingdom of heaven is in you, but it's the kingdom of heaven is among you.

[27:07] Here it is. Look at me, he could say. This is your kingdom of heaven. This is your down payment, if you will, for your kingdom of heaven.

[27:18] here in our text in verse 20, in answer to that question, nor will they say verse 21, look here it is, there it is.

[27:31] Behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst, the kingdom of God and kingdom of heaven. we take it synonymous. And he said to the disciples, the day shall come when you will long to see one of the days of the son of man and you will not see it.

[27:49] And they will say to you, look there, look here, do not go away and do not run after them. Now, listen, this next verse is just a miniature exposure to what the second coming is going to be like.

[28:04] And he clarifies it by saying verse 24, for just as the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the son of man be in his day.

[28:20] Now, he's talking about himself, but he is expressing it in the third person, singular. He is calling himself, he's not saying, so will the coming of me be, but that's exactly what he meant.

[28:31] Because he is the son of man and that was his favorite designation. So will the son of man be in his day. But first, look at that next verse.

[28:46] But first, first, what does he mean? He means before verse 24 is going to occur, something needs to take place before it.

[29:00] But first, he, again, third person, singular, referring to himself, he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation, that is, those people present in that time.

[29:17] And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it shall be also in the days of the son of man. Don't lose sight of that, but first. That is very important. Now, while we're in the neighborhood, come quickly to Luke chapter 18 and verse 31.

[29:35] And he took the twelve aside. These are the apostles. If you look at Matthew chapter 10, they are named there one by one, beginning with Peter, Matthew, James, and John, etc.

[29:46] And we are told, in verse 31, he took the twelve aside and said to them, Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem.

[29:59] And this will, of course, be his last visit to Jerusalem. This is when he will be crucified, when he gets to Jerusalem this time. We are going up to Jerusalem, and all things which are written through the prophets, that's the Old Testament, about the Son of Man himself, will be accomplished.

[30:22] What will that consist of? All right, he tells us. For he, again, this is the third person, meaning himself, he will be delivered to the Gentiles.

[30:34] Who are they? They are the Romans, presided over by Pontius Pilate, the Roman government, with its representatives there in Jerusalem, because Israel was an occupied land.

[30:48] The Romans had come in and taken over. They were occupying. They defeated them. They defeated everybody. Rome ruled the whole world. He will be delivered to the Gentiles, and will be mocked, and mistreated, and spit upon.

[31:06] And after they have scourged him, and all of this he's talking about himself. Now, we could ask him, Jesus, I imagine you're really looking forward to this, aren't you?

[31:18] Of course he wasn't. Nobody in their right mind would look forward to something like that. But his face was set as a flint to go to Jerusalem, because this was the whole purpose for his being here.

[31:32] nothing else mattered. And after they have scourged him, he's going to be scourged.

[31:43] You have no idea what that means. But some of the recently removed, some of the recent movies that have been made about the passion, etc., gives you a pretty good, pretty vivid description of what scourging was like.

[31:57] It literally means that you lay the human's back open. You just slice the back. And it is just a mess of blood and tissue, and it is horrible to even contemplate.

[32:17] After they have scourged him, they will kill him, and the third day he will rise again. Now, let me ask you a question. Is that pretty plain language? How could you not understand that?

[32:32] We are 2,000 years removed from the event. And we can read it and we can say, boy, that is pretty descriptive. That is very graphic. I understand every word of it. And if I understand it, 2,000 years removed, you can be sure that it really settled in on the disciples' minds.

[32:51] And they started thinking, oh, my, this is terrible. I can't imagine. They didn't get it. And you know why they didn't get it?

[33:04] It did not compute with their perspective. This is the reason a lot of people don't believe a lot of things. Because some of the things they're called upon to believe doesn't fit the grid or the mold that they have already created.

[33:18] And it has never occurred to them in their wildest imagination that they could possibly be wrong. How could they be wrong? So it's this new information they're getting that's obviously not right.

[33:32] Because it doesn't square with my position. And if I have to take the position of the Bible as opposed to my position, I mean with my superior intellect, which am I going to do?

[33:45] Well, of course, I'll have to go my way because I know better and I'm smarter than these old bearded guys who wrote the Bible in their bathrobes years ago. I know a lot more than they do.

[33:57] So this is called human arrogance, but we're all we're all we're all dosed with it, aren't we? Sure we are. So. Verse 34 says they understood none of these things.

[34:11] They understood none of these things. They didn't say, oh, that's terrible. We won't let that happen. Or let's don't go to Jerusalem. Let's bug out. Let's let's let's go down to.

[34:24] No, they just didn't understand. And the reason they didn't understand was because Jesus didn't want them to understand. Well, then why did he tell them?

[34:38] He didn't want them to understand for a very good reason. He was afraid they would mess it up and they would have throw a monkey wrench in the whole thing, make a big scene, just disrupt the whole plan.

[34:54] And, you know, it almost happened that when they came, when those soldiers came in the temple police with those lanterns and torches up the path and Judas was leading them. And Jesus said, whom seek you?

[35:05] We seek Jesus of Nazareth. I am he, said he. If you're seeking me, why don't you let these go? Meaning his apostles. And all these apostles were thinking of is Jesus is going to the temple and establish his kingdom and we're going to put the Romans to flight.

[35:26] Boy, if it's going to happen, let it start right here. And Peter pulled out his sword and sliced off the guy's ear. Come on, guys. Let's get it on. And he was ready to take them all on.

[35:39] And Jesus interrupted and said, hold it. Hold it right there, Peter. Those who live by the sword will perish by you. Put your sword away. This is all part of the plan.

[35:55] And then very calmly, our Lord reached down and picked up the severed ear of Malchus. and reattached it.

[36:11] What was the response? Well, I suspect that many people didn't even know what was going on because remember, this was like 2 to 4 a.m. It was dark. All of the light they had with the torches that they were carrying.

[36:25] Probably most of them didn't even know what Jesus had done. But the guy who lost the ear, you can be sure he knew. And I'm sure that he went around the rest of the day going like this, feeling his ear and it's still attached.

[36:40] And I've what, what, what? Just complete perplexity. He's just stunned. What is this? How could that happen? Nobody can do that. Nobody can take a severed ear and put it back. Well, now they do it with fingers and stuff like that.

[36:52] But it's a tedious ordeal and it's microsurgery and it's by highly trained surgeons, et cetera. So this was just an amazing thing. Just as an amazing thing. In verse, in chapter 18, where are we here?

[37:09] I lost my place. Chapter 18 and verse 31, he tells them about that. And we are told in verse 34 that they did not comprehend the things that were said.

[37:25] Now, I want you to keep in mind why Jesus told them when he didn't want, he wanted them to know. But he didn't want them to do anything about it.

[37:35] He didn't want them to try and prevent it. He didn't want them to enter into some kind of a riot right there. In fact, this was the main reason that the religious authorities sought to take Jesus at night.

[37:51] Because they knew if they tried to arrest this popular figure with the masses of the people and they sent police to bodily take Jesus by the arms and lead him away, the people would just throw a fit.

[38:06] There'd be a big ride on the scenes. The Romans would come. It'd be a big mess. And that's why they made this deal with Judas to take him on the side when the whole town would be sleeping and nobody would know what was going on.

[38:17] Now, in chapter 24, the portion that was read at the beginning is what I want to close with.

[38:29] Chapter 24. And we are going to look specifically at verse 7. Well, verse 7 is so good, let's start with verse 6.

[38:48] Actually, verse 4 is really good too. Verse 4. And it happened that while they were perplexed. Oh, yeah. There's a lot of perplexity going on.

[39:01] While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men. Now, they are called men. They aren't men at all. But they look like men. They're angels. Specially dispatched for this situation.

[39:14] While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling apparel. And as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, because these men must have had a really unusual appearance about them.

[39:34] They didn't know who they were or what they were, but they knew, don't mess with these guys. They are something special. And they bowed their faces to the ground, and the men said to them, why do you seek the living one?

[39:48] Meaning Jesus. Among the dead. He is not here, but he has risen. Remember? Remember? Remember how he spoke to you while he was still in Galilee?

[40:03] We must go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be shamefully entreated, turned over to the Romans, crucified, raised from the dead, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and the third day rise again.

[40:19] And they remembered his words and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.

[40:31] That is just really something. I tell you. Then they remembered his words. Now, let me explain this very quickly. The reason Jesus told them in a very, very plain language was simply so he could get the facts on the record before they happened and relate them just exactly as they were going to happen.

[40:55] And even though they did not register with the apostles at the time he told them, these words were actually hidden from them, but they heard them, and yet they couldn't put it together.

[41:08] They couldn't make sense of it. Well, that's not supposed to happen. That's not going to be that way. What is he talking about? And he was talking about exactly what was going to happen. But it was important that he get that on the record and that they be able to look back on the prediction word by word that Jesus gave them before those things ever unfolded.

[41:32] And all that would do would be to confirm in their hearts and minds more and more, he was who he said he was and he fulfilled what he said he came to do. That would put steel in the backbone of these men.

[41:48] You wouldn't be able to shut them up. You wouldn't be able to intimidate them. This would fill them so full of resolve they would go forth with this message and preach it even if it cost them their life.

[42:01] And it did. And it was still a price they were willing to pay. Because any time you die for the truth, you die for the most noble cause there is.

[42:13] They needed to know this. And they needed to know before it happened. Couldn't believe it when it was happening.

[42:24] Mixed feelings. Confusion. Why do you suppose Peter even denied that he knew them when they got into Caiaphas court? Peter said, I don't know. I don't know this man.

[42:35] Three times he denied him. What's going on? Peter is confused. He can't figure this out. It's not supposed to be like this. But here he is. He was so conflicted.

[42:50] And what did all the other apostles do when they came to arrest Jesus in the garden? They all took off. They all headed for the high grass. Fled in different directions. Scared as rabbits.

[43:01] Why did he do that? Because this thing is not going according to plan. This is terrible. It's not supposed to happen like this. Jesus is supposed to take charge. He's supposed to rule the reign.

[43:12] What's going on anyway? We better get out of here. They're going to be after us next. And they all split in different directions. And when the crucifixion occurs, they're all out of it.

[43:25] As far as we know, and we aren't told this in the scriptures, but as far as we know, only Mary, the mother of our Lord, was there.

[43:37] And John seems to be the only one present of all the apostles. Where are the other 11? Well, Judas has already gone out and hanged himself, so that leaves 10.

[43:48] Where are those other 10 guys? We don't know. They split. They will resurface, but right now, they figure it's too hot to be out and around here. If they did this to our master, they're probably going to be looking for us too.

[44:01] We'll be next. So they took off in all kinds of directions. Wow. What a story. What a privilege we have to have a record like this. I wish I had another hour.

[44:16] I've got so much I would like to tell you, but I'm already past my time, so. And I trust that I am not presuming upon you to assume your forgiveness for my tardiness.

[44:30] But I'll tell you what I'm going to do. Next Sunday will be my last Sunday here for a month. Marie and I will be gone for the month of May. But next Sunday, I promise you, I'll tell you, what we'll do, Marie, hold me to this.

[44:45] What we will do next Sunday, we will start with Q&A. That way, I know you'll get it in. Okay? So if you've got questions you want to write out, write them out.

[44:55] You don't have to sign them. I don't care who you are about asking the question. If you want to ask questions, and I particularly enjoy hard ones, don't give me any easy questions. Drop them in the offering box if you want, or feel free to ask them from the floor next Sunday when we get together.

[45:11] So would you stand, please? Father, we are so enormously indebted to truth.

[45:24] We, in this congregation, need to be and want to be a people of truth who respect the truth and love the truth and seek the truth and guard the truth and buy the truth and sell it not.

[45:39] Thank you for what you've been pleased to make available to us. Thank you for the implications that are involved. And thank you for the presence of each person here this morning.

[45:51] And we pray that if anyone is here who has never seriously contemplated the claims of Jesus Christ, may they see them in their reality that he loves them and he loves them in such a way that he was willing to lay down his life for them.

[46:13] The very least that we can do is examine these claims and see whether these things be true. And if we're convinced that they are, then we need to deliver ourselves to you not only for your salvation and your forgiveness but for everything else that is involved.

[46:34] You are a worthy Savior, a great God. There is none like unto you. We are privileged to simply know more about you. We trust that what has been said this morning will stimulate in our hearts and minds an appetite for even more truth.

[46:53] Thank you for these dear folks with us this morning. Thank you for their kind attention and we trust that they will seriously ponder the claims of Jesus Christ upon their life. Nothing else really matters.

[47:09] Thank you for it all in his wonderful name. Amen. You are dismissed.