The Resolute Redeemer

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0:00Morning, New Creation. My name is Jacob Jackson. I'm the pastoral assistant here at New Creation. I'm excited to bring God's Word today. Let me ask you a question. Have you ever seen something and you just knew that, man, that just isn't right? If you don't know what I mean, I've got a couple pictures I think that'll help you understand on the screen here. It's not that one. We're used to that one. Okay, there you go. You see the guitar? There. Well, that's just not right. All right. Yeah, that's just awful.

0:39Peanut butter and jelly on the outside. This is the worst one. I want to look at it. And ear earring. That doesn't make sense. Okay. These pictures are uncomfortable. They're just not right. When we look at them, we know that. Fingers go on top of guitar strings. Okay. Peanut butter and jelly. They go on the inside of the sandwich always. And the earrings, I don't even really want to talk about them. There's just something unsettling about those pictures. And our text this morning is Luke 22 or 63 through chapter 23, verse 12. And when we read our text, we definitely get the sense that what we see happening to Jesus just isn't right. That sandwich thing is pretty bad.

1:29But holy God being dismissed and mistreated like we'll see in our text this morning is an absolute catastrophe. And I think that you and I can get so used to the story of Jesus that the shock of what is happening here gets kind of dulled. We know it's bad, but almost in a numb sort of way. This was God's plan after all. If you read Psalm 22 or Isaiah 53, the servant of the Lord, the Messiah, Lord Jesus was going to suffer to save sinners. And this is true. What we are about to, about what we read here and what happens afterward. In fact, this is the sovereign plan of God, but that doesn't mean that the loving condescension of God is not mind blowing. And I don't want us to miss how outrageous this treatment of Jesus is. I don't want us to miss what it is that he endured.

2:35So my goal this morning is that by you and I seeing what Jesus endured compared to how he should have been treated, that it'll do two things that we'll see the glory of God more clearly and worship him and that we would see the depth of his love for us and worship him. Worship is the goal this morning, church. This message is a part of our series, No Greater Love. Jesus is the resolute redeemer. See how he loves you. Let's read the passage together. It's in your bulletin as well, and it should be on the screen. This is God's holy word. Every single part of it is true. Every part of it is applicable to our lives. Let's read together. Now, the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking him as they beat him. They also blindfolded him and kept asking him, prophesy, who is it that struck you? And they said many other things against him, blaspheming him.

3:42When day came, the assembly of the elders of the people gathered together, both chief priests and scribes, and they led him away to their counsel. And they said, if you are the Christ, tell us. But he said to them, if I tell you, you will not believe. And if I ask you, you will not answer. But from now on, the son of man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God. So they all said, are you the son of God then? And he said to them, you say that I am. Then they said, what further testimony do we need? We have heard it from our own lips. Then the whole company of them arose and brought him before Pilate. And they began to accuse him saying, we found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar and saying that he himself is Christ, a king. And Pilate asked him, are you the king of the Jews? And he answered him, you've said so. Then Pilate said to the chief priests in the crowds, I find no guilt in this man. But they were urgent saying, he stirs up the people teaching throughout all Judea from Galilee, even to this place. When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was the Galilean. And when he learned that he belonged to Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod who was himself in Jerusalem at the time. When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad for he had long desired to see him because he had heard about him and he was hoping to see some sign done by him. So he questioned him at some length, but he made no answer. The chief priests and the scribes stood by vehemently accusing him. And Herod with his soldiers treated him with

5:24contempt and mocked him. Then arraying him in splendid clothing, he sent him back to Pilate. And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day. For before this, they had been at enmity with each other. This is the word of the Lord. Let's pray. Lord, as we come to this text, we see terrible things happening. Would you help us, Lord, to take in the gravity of what is happening to King Jesus? Would you let it prick our hearts? Help us to see your glory, Lord. Help us to see your great love for us as we see what you have endured. It's in your name we pray, Jesus. Amen. So number one, I'm going to talk about four different scenes here. The text breaks up into four scenes between soldiers and the council of elders and Pilate and Herod. And number one, what we see is that Jesus endured beating and mockery. Our passage opens with Jesus being mocked and beaten. They're treating as powerless the one in whom all power actually resides. Picture it in your mind. Jesus likely has his feet restricted and his hands are bound together and a company of Jewish temple guards are jeering at him. They blindfold him for sport and they strike his face. They laugh mockingly at him, commanding him to prophesy who struck him. This is appalling behavior. It's an appalling treatment of any prisoner, much less an innocent man, which Jesus was. This would be bad enough if Jesus were only an innocent man. But church, let me remind you, he is an innocent man who is holy God. When God, the son took on flesh, he did not cease to be

7:29God. He is the God who formed the hands that are striking his face. Their hearts actually beat at his pleasure. The strength of their muscles is due to his craftsmanship. In Exodus 19, we read the beginning of the text earlier. Right after that, we see the power of God as he descends on Mount Sinai. He's about to give the law to Israel. And as his holiness comes down on the mountain, it's enveloped in black smoke, thunder and lightning streak through the sky. The earth quakes before Israel's feet as they witness this.

8:12And a trumpet blasts, announcing royalty in it. It grows louder and louder. The sight of God's holiness and his majesty descending on the mountain terrifies them. This is God who is mighty in power. And his mighty power is displayed in creation. Romans chapter 1 verse 20 tells us that his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and his divine nature have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world. These men that are striking him have no excuse. All that is, church, all that we know as existence was created by the power of his word. This is God whose mighty power is displayed in his government of nations. Babylon, Assyria, Egypt, Rome, China, America, friends, God rules them all.

9:14He is the king over them all. This is the God whose mighty power is displayed over the laws of nature. We see it in the scriptures. Is there a sea in the way of the people of God? Not for God. He just moves it. Does Israel need water in the desert? All you have to do is give God a rock. Caught in a storm on the sea, Jesus speaks to the storm and it listens like it's a pet. Even death is subject to the author of life. His power is displayed. That is who he is. They have in their presence mighty God.

9:54And they are striking and mocking him. And Jesus, friends, endures it. Not only mockery and beating, but as we continue and he goes before the council and the assembly of elders, we see that Jesus endured injustice. The text says, when day came, the assembly of the elders, the people gathered together, both chief priests and scribes, and they led him away to their council. And they said, if you are the Christ, tell us. But he said to them, if I tell you, you will not believe. And if I ask you, you will not answer. But from now on, the son of man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God. So they all said, are you the son of God then? And he said to them, you say that I am. Then they said, what further testimony do we need? We have heard it from his own lips. After a night of beating, Jesus, no doubt, exhausted and hurting, he now must stand and endure injustice.

10:56The assembly of the elders was made up of scribes and priests and influential elders. It was meant to be an assembly of justice, of learned men seeking truth. But these men have no interest in weighing facts and hearing defenses. Their minds are already made up. Jesus must die. They are simply seeking for words spoken publicly that will allow them to request execution from Rome. Jesus sees right through their false question and he answers, if I tell you, if I answer your questions, you won't believe. And if I ask you questions, you will not answer them. He knows they aren't looking for truth, but he speaks truthfully anyway. He says, from now on, the son of man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God. He knows what his death will accomplish and he speaks it out loud. Jesus, when he calls himself the son of man, he is referring here to a messianic title that would have been all too familiar to the ears of those listening. We see it in Daniel 7 verses 13 and 14. The prophet Daniel says, I saw in the night visions and behold with the clouds of heaven, there came one like a son of man. And he came to the ancient of days and he was presented before him.

12:25And to him, the son of man was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which should not pass away in his kingdom, one that shall not be destroyed. When he called himself the son of man, they knew exactly what he was claiming to be, which is why they asked him, are you the son of God? Then the assembly keeps on pushing, are you the son of God? And this is the right question asked with wrong motives. Jesus is right. They will not believe. So he responds, you say that I am. You say that I am the son of God. And they will say that Jesus said that, that he blasphemed so that they can request his death. And it's, it's the height of irony. They say the true words about Jesus, but instead of it being an act of worshipful confession, they use the words to condemn the son of God. Even though Christ is speaking truth, they will label him as a heretic and a blasphemer. This whole court, it's, it's ridiculous. It consists of just two questions aimed at trapping Jesus, aimed at trapping the one who is himself justice. Listen to Deuteronomy 32, four. It says the rock, his work is perfect for all his ways are justice, a God of faithfulness and without iniquity. He is just an upright. That's who God is for church. There is never a moment when God is not just in his perfect righteousness, all of his decrees and his ways are upright. Justice flows from his character. It's not just something he does. It's who he is in their midst in a corrupt court

14:32is the just judge of all the earth. And they have abandoned any semblance of justice as they've prosecuted. I don't know about you, but when I'm the recipient of unjust behavior, when I'm wrongly accused, I can easily become incensed. How about you? I can easily become deeply offended. But the holy God of the universe who can see the hearts of these men, he knows what it's like in their hearts. It's worse than they're even saying he endures it. He is resolute to redeem all of those who will trust him. And he continues. Jesus endures mockery. He endures beating. He endures unjust prosecution. And as we now shift into him being before Pilate, we see that Jesus will endure rejection. So as the whole company of them arose and brought him before Pilate, as soon as the words left his mouth, they rushed him to Pilate. They began to accuse him saying, we found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar and saying that he himself is Christ the king. And that would have mattered to Pilate. You don't need any uprisings when you work for the Roman government. Pilate asks him, are you the king of the Jews? He answered him, you've said so. Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, I find no guilt in this man.

16:09But they were urgent saying, he stirs up the people teaching throughout all Judea from Galilee, even to this place. Here before Pilate, Jesus does endure more injustice. Pilate was the prefect of Galilee. He was responsible for keeping peace in Jerusalem and adjudicating court. The Jews had to come to him if they wanted Jesus to be. And our text tells us that Pilate's own opinion was that Jesus was innocent. He says, I find no guilt in this man. And the other gospels reveal even more saying Pilate's wife is a premonition of sorts in a dream. And she sends Pilate a message that says, have nothing to do with this righteous man and his death. Later, when the Jews are crying for the crucifixion of Jesus, Pilate cries out, why? What has he done? So injustice continues as we move into this counter with Pilate. Jesus knew that the cross was his definition and here too, he would not defend himself. But there's something more happening here than just more injustice. Says the whole company of the assembly of elders goes to accuse Jesus before Pilate. And they outright lie about Jesus misleading Israel. And they lie about how Jesus is trying to spur a rebellion against Rome. They say to Pilate, he says he's a king, Pilate. He encourages people not to pay taxes to Rome, Pilate. He's a usurper.

17:48He'll be trouble for you, Pilate. Pilate asks, are you the king of the Jews? And we can understand Pilate to be asking, are you what they say you are? And Jesus responds, you've said so. Jesus will not defend himself out of this predicament. He could have silenced all the accusations. He could have proven their accusations to be false and full of malevolence, but he doesn't. He will die as a sacrifice to redeem his people. But he won't say what is false either. He is not a false king. He is the true king. But I want to highlight more that Jesus just enduring more injustice is that he also receives rejection. These men who hurry him to Pilate, they are his brothers in Israel. He is of their people.

18:54He grew up in their midst. And they are so committed to his painful, humiliating death. They hate Jesus so much. In Matthew 23, 37, Jesus says about Jerusalem, Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it. How often I would have gathered your children as a hen gathers her brood under her wings. And you are not willing. Jesus was willing, but they were not. The love of God church is the most precious treasure that can be had. When Jesus describes it in parables, he says that it's, it's like treasure in a field, which a man covers up and then he goes and sells everything he owns so that he can buy the field. He says, it's like a merchant of pearls who finds one pearl of great value and then trades everything he has so he can buy that one pearl.

19:58The love of God is worth everything that you will have. And even more. In fact, human language is, is inadequate to express the immeasurable value of fellowship with God. Jesus came to bring these very people that very people that are prosecuting him into the kingdom, but they would rather live in a kingdom built by their own hands where they are on the throne. Jesus endures their rejection. Even though they should have adored him, even though they should have loved him and bowed before him, they rejected him as something to be thrown away as a nuisance to nail to a tree. Jesus endures mockery and beating and injustice and rejection. And then in our last picture, we see here that Jesus also endures insolence. When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. He picks up, oh, he's from Galilee. Pilate wants to escape this. And when he learned that he belonged to Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at the time. When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad. He had long desired to see him because he had heard about him and he was hoping to see some sign done by him. So he questioned him at some length, but he made no answer.

21:31The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. And Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him, then arraying him in splendid clothing, sent him back to Pilate. And the text says that all of this wickedness was also the beginning of a friendship between Pilate and Herod. Pilate wanting to be rid of the problem of Jesus sends him to King Herod. And this Herod is Herod Antipas. It's the son of Herod the Great. In Israel, this Herod was known as Herod the Fox, which is not a compliment. In our society, maybe that could mean cunning wit. In this society, it meant worthless, a worthless king. This was the same Herod who killed John the Baptist, Jesus's cousin. And we quickly find out that Herod is glad to see Jesus, but for the wrong reason.

22:26For a moment, it seems good. Herod was glad to see Jesus. Good. He long desired to see Jesus. Good. He had heard about him. That's good. And he was hoping to be entertained by him. What a waste.

22:44How disappointing. Herod would have been asked before receiving Jesus if he wanted to receive Jesus, even though he was a worthless king, he was still a king. And he gladly does it, but not to seriously inquire about who he was. He didn't receive Jesus to seek forgiveness for his sins, to bow at the feet of the true king. Herod brings Jesus in like a court jester. Herod seeks to be entertained by the true king of all the earth. Insolence, this whole sermon I struggled with, church, just to be honest, because I just feel like how can we even put words to what is happening here? All of these words fall short. Insolence falls short. To have the Son of God in your presence and to question him for entertainment, hoping to see something miraculous, not to help your belief, but to combat your boredom is the height of arrogance. He has the king in his court. Listen to what Isaiah says. The prophet Isaiah gets a vision of God in his throne room. He says, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up and the train of his robe filled the temple and above him stood seraphim. They had six wings and with two, they covered their face and their feet and they flew and they called to one another and they said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory and the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called and the house was filled with smoke and Isaiah says, woe is me for I am lost. I am a man of unclean lips. I dwell in the midst of a

24:43people of unclean lips. For my eyes have seen the king, the Lord of hosts. That is a proper response. He is the king of glory. He's the sovereign almighty ruler. He's the king of our hearts. He's the alpha and the omega church. All things are from him and through him and to him. There are none above him and everybody owes him their loyalty. And someday all knees will bow before him, including Herod the fox. But now the God of all the earth in our text endures the insolence of one who should be bowing to him. It's outrageous. The whole scene is outrageous and it just gets worse. Jesus won't answer a single question from this murderous, arrogant king of men. So he just stands there fulfilling scripture that he would not defend himself, though attacked. And all the while as he's doing this, the scribes are still there. They're vehemently accusing him that that is to accuse with energy and passion. They're thirsting for his death. And here too, Jesus is subjected to more mockery, more contempt. They mockingly dress him up as a person of great importance, not because they believe that he is, but because they believe that he isn't. They lead him back to Pilate and chains.

26:22Everything he has endured up to this point crescendos into this great evil against him. Jesus, God in the flesh, this too, he endures. And church, the persistent question in my heart and my mind is why? When you get sucked into the text, I just want to know how, how can a holy God endure such disparity between how he was treated and who he truly is? When I think about this, I want to see satisfaction. I want the story to end in a different way in my flesh. I want Jesus to put them in their place. I want him to confound them with his wisdom, leaving them speechless. I want them to see his power and his glory in a way that shuts their mouths and bows their heads. With Peter, when I, when I see these scenes, I want to cry out, far be it from you, Lord, this shall never happen to you. But then I, along with Peter, would be in league with Satan, trying to prevent the Lamb of God from freeing the people of God from their sin. Why did Jesus endure these things? Friends, look around. Look, look into the eyes of the eyes of the people that Jesus loves. Why did he endure this outrageous evil? Because he loves us. He truly loves you. His love drove him to be the suffering servant. His love drove him to put equality with God as a thing to be grasped aside. Jesus is resolute to redeem us in his love. Do you see how he loves you? When mocked, he could have silenced them. When subjected to their violence, he could have displayed his power. When faced with injustice, he could have condemned his accusers. And when he was

28:33insolently treated as garbage, he could have revealed his majesty. But he endured. For our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. And friends, let us not get it twisted. This is not just a story about bad people who are not like us. You and I have been the soldiers. We have been the assembly. We've been Pilate and Herod. You and I have mocked and disdained and accused. Our hearts have joined their hands and their hands could have easily been ours.

29:16But Jesus didn't die for the righteous who don't need a Savior. He died for us who desperately need him. So what is our response to God's glory revealed? His glory to endure so much that was beneath him because he loved us so much. Just briefly, three ways we can respond to our text this morning. Number one, let this text encourage you to come to him. Let it encourage you to come to him. Whoever you thought God was, this text reveals to you the heart that he has for you. He loves you and he desires to save you. You don't have to have your whole life figured out. You don't have to wait to be good enough. You don't even have to wait for all of your answers about God to be, or questions about God to be answered. You just need to fall into the embrace of the one who is waiting for you and desires to cast his love on you. So let this text encourage you to come to him. Number two, let this text strengthen your resolve to live for God. We prayed that laborers would enter into the field.

30:28Jesus is the kingdom. And his kingdom is forever. Let me ask you, are you living your life for his kingdom? Or like me, like I've done before, have you been in the kingdom walls building up your own little kingdom over here? Because it's more comfortable here. Because you're the ruler here, you think. Are you living for him? It can be so easy to come over here. We seek comfort so much.

31:04It can be so easy to desire control. We believe the lie that we are better kings over our lives than God, but it is a lie, church. See his love for you and commit all of your life to him in every area. Amen. Number three, let this text remind you to meditate on the love God has for you consistently. Church, strength for living in Christ is found in Christ. And nothing strengthens our hearts more than being reminded of God's great love displayed for us in Jesus. He really does love you. Just like he could see the hearts of all of those who are accusing him in this text, he sees your heart.

31:57He knows your sin and he loves you. He loves you. He really does love you. He loves you as you are with all of your struggles and hangups. He didn't make a mistake in saving you. He did it on purpose because he loves you. He wants you to come to him. He wants you to find your greatest treasure in him. He is the resolute redeemer who loves us so completely. Let us worship him with all of our heart and our soul and our mind and our strength. Amen.