Mark chapter 14, we are closing out the book of Mark. It's pretty amazing, sure is a blessing to be able to get through the word of God in this way and learn what we can and do what we can. And verse one, let's read verse one and two. We have to go through this as quickly as we can. There are 72 verses, so we got a lot of ground to cover and we'll do what we can with it and take it piece by piece. And I may just have to go verse by verse and give you what I can as we go. Verse one and two, after two days was the feast of the Passover. That's a common theme through the Bible, the Passover, Jesus Christ is our Passover. It's all significant, it's very important. It's the Feast of the Passover, and of unleavened bread, and the cheat priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft." Now, that's not a good thing. Anytime you're trying to do something by craft, you need to step back and ask yourself what you're really trying to accomplish, because if it takes craft to get it done, you've got to lie, cheat, steal, manipulate, improperly persuade people, then you've got a problem. You've got a very serious problem. and you're heading in the wrong direction. You need to just stop what you're doing, put it all down, either do it honestly or don't do it at all. And they try to take him by craft and put him to death. Now, you know if you're involved in a plot to put anyone to death, you have crossed a line that you're gone, you're in serious trouble. both with man and God." Verse 2, but they said, not on the feast day. I mean, that would just not, not today, any day but today. I mean, we want to be, it's amazing how they try and act pious while attempting to kill somebody. But that's what religious people do. And that's the whole point of Romans chapter 2. You're fine with your sin, but you want to point it out in somebody else's life. You're so corrupt, not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people. We don't want to upset the people. You're about to murder an innocent man. And you're concerned that public opinion might be bad? It's insane. Verse three, and being in Bethany. I wrote a song about Bethany. A young lady at our church in Florida sang it and did a tremendous job. It's on YouTube. You can find it if you want. I am not a songwriter, so she took something very difficult and made it something very beautiful. She did a great job. And being in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, many incredible things happened in Bethany. It's a very significant place in the four Gospels. This is one of them. In the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious and she break the box and poured it on his head. Now we don't have time to look at it but there you could potentially make the case that Simon the leper is the father of Judas Iscariot. who is the son of Simon. And other parallel passages indicate that they are at the house of the father of Judas Iscariot when this happens. So it's not definitive, it's not unbelievably clear, but you could certainly potentially make that case. Verse four, or verse three, she takes this spikenard, which is obviously extremely expensive. The Bible didn't just say it was precious, it's very precious. That's a way of saying that it's difficult to calculate the sacrifice this woman's about to make. And she does it freely, willingly, didn't care what anybody else thought about it. She wanted to do something nice for the Lord Jesus Christ, and she went out of her way to do it. And it was not just a, you know, let me go to the dollar store and find something to pour on him. It was, you know, what's my most precious, most expensive, Item I want to give it to him and it was that oil. She breaks it open pours it on his head and his feet and and just just very tremendous show of of sacrifice verse 4 and there were some that had indignation within themselves and said why was this waste of the ointment made that's always the case and You're always going to have people in your church, in your family, in your society, they see you trying to do more for Jesus, and then they're going to come to you and say, you need to cool down with all that. What's wrong with you? You know, you're making them look very bad because they don't want to do it, and they see you doing it. And rather than them stepping up, they're going to try and come and get you to step down. And there's always going to be those people who see the sacrifice that you're willing to make, and they're going to say, well, that's just a bit overboard. You need to step back with all that. And don't step back. Step it up more. Do more. Verse 5, For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and had been given to the poor, and they murmured against her. You know, that's their real concern. They're really just concerned about the poor, that's all. Nobody believes that. Now, if you go stand on a street corner in towns where they hate God, where it's very liberal, and they really just don't want you to be there, this is always the excuse they use. Why don't you go do something for the poor? Why don't you go do something for the poor? And somewhere like Orlando, it's always convenient. There's always homeless people sitting around wherever you are, so you can take that person and say, well, I'm glad you brought that up. Let's go together right now and do something for this homeless man. Well, I don't want to. I know you don't. You just thought it was going to be a useful tool to bash me over the head and get me to stop serving Jesus Christ until you got called out on it, and now you don't want to do it. And so verse 6, And Jesus said, Let her alone, why trouble ye her? She hath wrought a good work on me. Jesus said taking the most precious, most valuable thing you have and giving it to him is a good work. despite what everybody else says. With proper intentions and a good heart, you give all that you have to Jesus Christ, the Lord said, that is a good thing to do. If your neighbor says that's crazy, if your other church members say you're doing too much, Jesus said, now if you're doing it to be noticed, you're doing it for recognition, you're doing it to gain in some way personally, it's not a good work. You're wasting your time and whatever you're giving. You might as well keep it. But if you have the right heart, the right mindset, and your goal is to further the gospel and the honor and glory of Jesus Christ, and not your own personal gratification, Jesus Christ said that is a good work. Everybody saw what she did. She didn't hide it. So it wasn't that she did it privately. She did it publicly in front of everybody. But her heart was set on honor and glory for Jesus Christ. And the Lord said, what that woman did will be spoken of throughout the entire world forever. That's incredible. We'll see that in just a second. I'm a little ahead of myself, but that's a blessing. The Lord takes that very seriously. Verse 7, for you have the poor with you until you end poverty. No. For you have the poor with you always. So what do we do about all these big poverty projects? We're going to end poverty. No, you're not. You're not going to end poverty. There's nothing wrong with you doing something nice to try and help someone in their time of need. That's a blessing. It's not a bad thing to do. It's a good thing to do. If your goal is to end poverty, it's a futile goal. If your goal is to save the earth, it's a futile goal. God himself is going to burn it down. You're not saving it. Man's not going to destroy it. God is. When his day comes, when his time comes, he's going to destroy the earth. And ironically, he's going to do it with a fervent heat. It's going to be global warming. But it'll be God's version of global warming, not this garbage that they make up today and tack on you. They use it to try and manipulate you. They use it to try and extract freedom and money from you. And that's all it is, a ploy. It's a political ploy that they can use to try and scare you into giving governments more power and more of your money. They have to save you as they fly around on their private jets. And so, you know, you're too dumb to take care of yourself, but if you just give your money and your freedom to them, they'll take care of you for you. I don't suggest that. So, the Lord said, she had done a good work, and you need to leave her alone. And he said, the poor you have with you always, and whensoever ye will, you may do them good, but me you have not always. Now, consider the mindset. The Lord says, you're always going to have people in poverty. You're never going to run out of people who are in poverty. You can go do good to them anytime you want, as much as you want, no problem. That's not the goal of the church. That's not the purpose of the church. But if you find some people who are in poverty and you have the means and the ability to go and help those people, the Lord said that's a wonderful thing to do, have at it. But you have a limited time to serve me. Your time to serve me is running out. And that really should be your focus. Now, if you can do both, great. But the purpose of the church is not to help people in poverty. The purpose of the church is to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, to get the word of God in the hands of people, and teach them how to live godly in Christ Jesus. That is the unbelievably important commission of the church, and that has to be the focus. Anything outside of that, you're getting off track. Now, is it a nice thing for a church to go and help people in poverty? Sure, no problem. But that's not the purpose of the church. And Jesus Christ said, the poor, they're always going to be there. You will always have opportunity to help the poor and make yourself feel better. That's ultimately what it's about. People go and help people in poverty because it makes them feel good. They don't really care about people in poverty. That's why you see movie stars talking about this all the time. They're just, we got to go help the poor. Well, you got millions of dollars, I noticed. Have at it. You could take an entire village and bring them out of poverty overnight with all the money you have. I notice you're not doing that. And so they're not going to do that. The Lord said, you want to help the poor, go help them. I mean, that's up to you. But in terms of serving me, you don't always have this opportunity to serve Jesus Christ. And that is far, if you go and help the poor and bring them out of poverty and they die and go to hell, you didn't help them. But if they live in their poverty but trust in Jesus Christ, they'll die, pass from this life to the next, and walk on golden streets. They'll have a place prepared for them with an inheritance in heaven. That's real help. This short-term life we have, it is but a vapor. It passes by so quick. All right, we got to go. We got to keep moving. Verse 8, she hath done what she could. She has come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying. That's amazing. His own disciples, he told his own disciples, I'm going to go to Jerusalem. I'm going to die, be buried, and rise again the third day. And what did Peter say? Not so. No way. You're not doing that. And here's this woman who says, I'm doing this to anoint your body for the burial. She understands he's going to die. You know, there's, again, strong evidence that this is Mary and Martha is who we're dealing with here, the two women, and I believe it's Mary that's breaking the box open and pouring the oil on him. And if you look at the conversations, especially in the book of John, between the Lord and Mary and Martha, they understand the death, burial, and resurrection more than anybody else that you're going to come across in scriptures, which is amazing. And I think it's part of the reason why you see women, more women in churches than you see men. Men just, they're not getting it. They don't care. They have other things on their mind. They're not focused on the Lord Jesus Christ. But all through the Gospels, you see women faithfully following the Lord, and then all through churches throughout the world, not just in America. It's always women first that come to the church and fill that place up before men start showing up and doing what they're supposed to do. And that's a shame. It's not a shame that women are showing up. That's a blessing. It's a shame that the men are not here leading the way and doing what they're supposed to be doing. We get frustrated in our society about all the women who want to be domineering and take over positions that don't belong to them. And that's a biblical statement. I'm not bigoted. If you're a woman in a position of power, good for you. That's a societal accomplishment. That's not a biblical accomplishment. That's not the way God would have had it structured, but that's the way our society has structured it. And you're in that position. You've worked hard to be there, I presume. I hope. And if that's the case, then, you know, have at it. Do a great job. I'm not condemning you or telling you to step down or anything of that sort. I'm telling you the biblical order is for men to be in positions of leadership and men are failing to do that. So women are stepping up and taking those positions because men just aren't willing to do it. They're at home playing video games and smoking pot and getting perms. And I don't understand it. They don't want to do anything with their lives. They'd rather just waste it. And then they get mad when they see, well, why are these women doing this? Well, you've got to get off the video games. You've got to get up and go do something. If you're not going to get up and go do something, then you think women are just going to sit around and let a bunch of weak men lead them? It's not going to happen. Anyways, verse 10, and Judas Iscariot, one of the 12, went unto the chief priests to betray him unto them. And when they heard it, listen to this, they were glad. Isn't that amazing? Now what do we read in verse one? Look back at verse one. After two days was the feast of the Passover and of unleavened bread, and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft. And here comes Judas. I've got the solution. and they were so happy. Thank you, Judas, we appreciate it. We've been trying to work on a way to get this man and put him to death, and you just gave us what we needed. And they were glad and promised to give him money, and he sought how he might conveniently betray him. Conveniently betray him. Isn't that amazing? That's incredible terminology. The way that God structured that language there, it's just convenient betrayal. made me money, I have the inside information, I can pass it on to you, and I can get you where you need to be to take him and put him to death. But as long as I profit and I come out okay, then it's all right. It's amazing. Verse 12, And the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the Passover, his disciples said unto him, Where wilt thou that we go, and prepare that thou mayest eat the Passover? And he sendeth forth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, Go ye into the city, and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water. Follow him. Now you shouldn't try this. It's not going to work out for you. You need to plan better. The Lord can do this, you can't. And you know, a lot of Christians try this stuff. Like, I walked in town and there was a man with a picture. Okay. We have some friends who are missionaries and we asked them, so how do you know the Lord wants you to go to where you're going? And he's like, well, I was just sitting in class one day and a train drove by and there was the name of a country painted on the side of a cart. I was like, and that, okay. I mean, what, you know, that, okay. What if it said Afghanistan? You would have ignored it. What if it said Iraq? It turns out it was a beautiful place. And so they were like, Oh, the Lord must want me there. I always wondered how come my wife and I couldn't be called to, you know, Costa Rica or Belize or, you know, some, we, we, we were really praying about going to the Azores. Azores is one of the most beautiful places on earth. I've been there. It's in, it's, it's in the middle of the ocean. It's a, it's an Island that belongs to Portugal. And, um, it's just an incredible place. And we really wanted to go there and just, Lord never worked it out, so we ended up in Africa. And now we're here in Mississippi, which I love it here. I'm thankful to be here. I'm not talking down about that. I'm just saying that it's interesting to me how many of these missionaries end up in these beautiful places, which need the gospels. Just because it's beautiful doesn't mean they don't need the gospel. We have a friend who just went from Germany to Hawaii, and he was concerned that churches were not going to understand his desire to go to Hawaii because it's Hawaii. In their mind, they're thinking he's going to go kick his feet up and, you know, hang out on the beaches and do nothing. And that's just not the case. Hawaii desperately needs the gospel. There are not a lot of good churches in Hawaii. In fact, there may just be less than a handful. And so it's a blessing that he'd go there. I didn't see the problem with it, but I think he got himself more worked up than he should have. All right, we gotta keep going. Where was I? A picture, follow him, and wheresoever he shall go, wherever he shall go in, say ye to the good men of the house, the master saith, where is the guest chamber where I shall eat the Passover with my disciples? And he will show you a large upper room furnished and prepared, there make ready for us And his disciples went forth and came into the city, and found, as he had said unto them, and they made ready the Passover, and in the evening he cometh with the twelve. And as they sat and did eat, Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, One of you which eateth with me shall betray me." That is amazing. To be so calm and consistent, knowing the very man who's going to betray you is sitting with you at the last supper. I don't know that I could have done that. I might have had my pistol trained on him under the table. That's exactly right, I'm not God. The long suffering of the Lord and of God himself is just amazing to me. And just the detail in verse 17, in the evening, he cometh with the 12. It's very specific. All 12 of them are there. And then as they sat and did eat, Jesus said, one of you, one of the 12, you're going to betray me. He's here right now in the room with me. And they began to be sorrowful. And to say unto him one by one, is it I? And another said, is it I? And that boggles my mind as much as everything else going on in this passage. You have the 12 going around the room asking themselves, wait, am I the one that's going to do that? I did have some bad thoughts. What would compel them? I would like to think I could be sitting in a room with someone that I love and know, I haven't done anything to betray you, and I have no intentions to do so. But Peter was, as we're gonna find out, was completely confident he would never betray the Lord, or he would never turn his back on the Lord, and he's gonna do exactly that. And so here they're going around the room asking. And so the real lesson from this is you should never think it's above you to make this mistake. It's not beyond you. to betray the Lord, or to turn your back on the Lord, you could be one of the twelve asking that very question, and you could be Peter denying the Lord in a moment of intensity. You just don't know, and so it's best to just take it moment by moment, keep your focus on the Lord Jesus Christ, and try to stay faithful. But don't sit and think about or tell someone, well, this is what I would do. You don't know what you would do. If the Nazis came knocking on the door and said, either you reject Jesus Christ or we're going to throw you in a concentration camp, you might start considering rejecting Jesus Christ. If you knew how brutal those camps were and what they were doing to people there, you might be inclined to start thinking, well, you know. You don't know how far you'd be willing to take it. We should always be faithful to the Lord and never reject Him. But you don't know how you're going to react in one of those situations, so it'd be best to pray you never find out. I'd like to think I would stand strong, but better than that, I'm going to pray that I never get in that situation and have to find out. Now, I have been in those situations. When I was in Egypt, it got pretty intense. I was taken to the secret police and interrogated. came pretty close to disappearing, and it got scary. And praise the Lord, he worked it out, and I got out of there without disappearing. You know, the United States government, so they say, I don't know this for certain, but after working in Egypt and knowing what I know about the inner workings of their military, I learned while I was there that the United States, we do not torture. We hire other countries to torture. And Egypt is that country. And so their secret police are highly trained in torture techniques to get you to talk. And so I'm in this interrogation room on a secret police compound that I'm not supposed to be on. And I'm going through this interrogation about giving out Bibles and tracts and preaching the gospel on military installations. And it got real awkward real fast. And praise the Lord, it worked out. And it got really scary, but nobody touched me. I wasn't tortured or anything of that sort. I don't want to find out what I would do if it would have gone to torture. I don't want to know. I would rather just live in peace and serve God with the freedom that I have. That's why things like this past election are so important. Our focus is not on politics, but we do want the liberty and freedom. It is nice to serve God without being burned alive in a cage. That's kind of a good thing to have. And so we want to keep it that way. All right. We gotta keep moving. He coming with the 12, verse 19, and they began to be sorrowful, verse 20, and he answered and said unto them, it is one of the 12, there he is again, very detailed, that dippeth with me in the dish. You're sitting right here, you know who you are. You're eating with me, you're dipping with me. I couldn't be Judas Iscariot in this situation. He's telling you, I know, He's telling you, I know exactly what you're going to do. And I know you're here right now. If I was Judas Iscariot and I'd done that, and I'm hearing the Lord say this, I'm like, mm-mm, I'm not doing it. I give up. I quit. In fact, I just want out of here. I don't want to be here. I've been found out. Not only have I been found out, it's something shameful and terrible. I just want to go. I will disappear. I'll move somewhere. You'll never hear or see from me again. But He carries through. He can't let it go. And the Son of Man indeed goeth. Those are grave words. I am going to the cross. I am going as it is written. As it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. Good were it for that man if he had never been born. Judas is sitting there listening to those words, and yet he gets up, walks out, goes and betrays Him for silver. Foolish mistake. Verse 22, and as they did eat, Jesus took bread and blessed and break it and gave to them, and said, Take, eat, this is my body. And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said unto them, This is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for you. Many. Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine until that day I drink it new in the kingdom of God." That day is rapidly approaching where we'll partake of this. We'll never forget the death of Jesus Christ. Even in eternity, we are going to thank Him for eternity for dying on the cross. Not because of the inheritance and the gold streets and the mansions and all that. You got to escape the hell you deserve. because of the death of Jesus Christ, you will thank Him eternally because of that. Or at least you should. If you go to heaven, you will. You absolutely will. And so then he goes on, as they did eat, Jesus took the bread and blessed it and break it. And this is my body. Then you come back down to the kingdom. Verse 26, and when they had sung in hymn, they went out into the Mount of Olives. That's why we always end the Lord's Supper with a hymn because That's what the Lord did after He and His disciples partook of the Last Supper, then they sang in hymn together, and then they dismissed. Now they're going into the Mount of Olives. And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night. For it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered. That's a prophecy from the book of Zechariah. But after that I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee. Now, if you remember, and we'll see it eventually when we get there, at the resurrection, where did the angels tell these men to go? They said, the Lord said he's going to meet you in Galilee. How come you're not in Galilee? Well, he died. He told you he was going to die. And he told you he was going to be buried. And he told you he was going to rise again the third day and that he'd meet you in Galilee. How come you're not in Galilee? And so then they have to run and get their behinds in Galilee. Verse 29, but Peter said unto him, although all shall be offended, yet will not I. Bold statements. Sounds like something dumb I would say. You know, when the Lord tells you what you are, just believe him. Don't think that you're something different than what God said you are. It's best to just settle down and say, yeah, Lord, you're right. I don't want to be that. Can you help me not be that? Can you teach me, guide me, make me better? But don't think that you're something special or different outside of what God said that you are. And we're going to see Peter is just adamant, verse 30. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, that this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. But he spake, the more vehemently, If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise. Likewise also said they all. And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane. And he saith unto his disciples, Sit ye here, while I shall pray. And he taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy. And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death. Tarry ye here, and watch. And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed, that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee. Now think about that. The Son of God is praying to the Father and He is saying, everything, all things are possible to you. Okay, so based on that, what is the request? Take away this cup from me. Okay, so the Son is telling the Father, you can do anything. Based on that fact, can you please take this cup away from me Then he continues, nevertheless, not that I will, but what thou wilt. And he cometh and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? Couldst not thou watch one hour? Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready. In the other passages, it says willing. So ready and willing are coupled together in this context. But the flesh is weak. Now that's a perfect description of Peter. I think it's a perfect description of me. What I am willing to do, what I desire to do, what I am ready to do in the Spirit, man, I'm ready to take on the whole world. But then my flesh gets tired and hungry. and whatever else, distracted, and all sorts of things, it should not be. And the Lord says, yeah, spiritually, you've got the strength. Physically, man, you've got to discipline that body. You've got to get that body under control. You cater to your flesh far too much. And here it is, an example of it. They're just, I just want to sleep. And we'll see why. Verse 39, And again he went away, and prayed, and spake the same words. And when he returned, he found them asleep again. For their eyes were heavy, neither wist they what to answer him. They don't even know what to say. They're just weary, tired, worn out. falling asleep, they see the Lord in this great emotional distress, and they can't even keep themselves under control enough to be concerned about the person they love, who's obviously in tremendous distress. Verse 41, And He cometh the third time and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest. It is enough. The hour is come. Behold, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. What a What a thing to have to say about God. Now he volunteered to come and do this. He knew it was going to happen. Verse 42, rise up, let us go. Lo, he that betrayeth me is at hand. And immediately while he yet spake, come with Judas, one of the 12. Remember that it keeps emphasizing that. When he went into that upper room, he was with the twelve. When he ate and took of the Lord's Supper, he was with the twelve. And he said, one of you, one of the twelve, is going to betray me. Now here he is, Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve. there to betray him into the hands of sinners, with a great multitude with swords and staves from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. And he that betrayed him had given them a token, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss." What a way to betray somebody. I think I'd have to do it from a distance. He's down there wearing a green shirt. You go down there and get him. I'm not going down there. I don't want to see him. I don't want to talk to him. If I'm going to betray somebody, What a thing to do. How about just not? But he did, and he went down there and looked at him face to face and did it with a kiss on the cheek. That same as he, take him and lead him away. Now what, look at that last word. What is that word? Take him and lead him away safely. What did Judas think was going to happen? What did he think they were gonna do? They were just gonna, what, take him and put him in a paradise somewhere and lock him away in an open prison that was half heaven, half... What did he think was gonna happen? Take him away safely, don't hurt him, okay? Okay. And that's not what happened. You've deceived yourself. Verse 45, And as soon as he was come, he goeth straightway to him, and saith, Master, Master, never Lord, always Master. Judas, as far as I can remember, Judas does not call him Lord. And whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. and kissed him, and they laid their hands on him and took him. And one of them that stood by drew a sword, that'd be Peter, doing what Peter does, and smote a servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. Now, it seems, it appears, Peter is not a great swordsman. I don't know how you attack somebody with a sword and all you did was cut off his ear. Unless he's a master swordsman and was giving a warning, It's one or the other. Either he's a bumbling fool who picked up a sword and didn't know how to use it, or he's so good with that sword he just sliced off that person's ear as kind of a warning. You better step back or I'll do surgery. So it's one or the other. I'm probably going with the former rather than the latter. Verse 48, And Jesus answered and said unto them, Are you come out as against a thief with swords and with staves to take me? I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and you took me not. But the scriptures must be fulfilled. You're a bunch of crooked, manipulating, lying people, and that's why you're out here doing this in the middle of the night in the dark. And they all forsook him, all, every one of them, including Peter, I'll never forsake you. And they all forsook him, turns out the Lord was right, and fled. And there followed him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body." I don't know what this dude was doing. How did you end up in the Garden of Gethsemane with the Lord pouring out His heart, falling on His face, sweating, as it were, drops of blood, praying to His Father in agony? Everybody else is laying around sleeping, and you're wrapped up in a sheet naked. What were you doing? So somebody grabbed him and he took off running and all they got was a linen cloth and his naked behind streaking through the garden. He's just gone, running. Verse 53. And they led Jesus away to the high priest, and with him were assembled all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes. And Peter followed him afar off, even into the palace of the high priest. And he sat with the servants and warmed himself at the fire. And the chief priest and all the council sought for witness against Jesus to put him to death, and found none. That'd make it difficult. We finally got him. We're going to put him to death. Well, we need some witnesses. Well, we don't have any. Well, go find some. There have to be some. We found none. Nobody. from any bare false witness against him, and their witness agreed not together." They can't even get their story straight. "'And there arose certain and bare false witness against him, saying, We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands. But neither so did their witness agree together.'" That's how you know everybody's lying. Wait, you said he said this, and you said he said that. Which one is it? Would you want us to say? I forgot what you told me to say. That's just, when you're telling a lie and you're being questioned, the problem is, that's why interrogations are so intense. When a police officer begins an interrogation in an interrogation room, they start off being very friendly, very kind, and just want you to talk. And then they ask you very general, broad questions about the situation and your involvement, and they just want you to talk. They just want you to say things. They don't care what you say. But they're taking note, and they're recording it. Then they're going to come back and ask more detailed questions. And if you don't remember your lie, you're going to accidentally tell a different lie or tell it a different way. And they've been trained to pick up on those discrepancies. And they start picking your story apart. And next thing you know, you just might as well say, yeah, I did it. Now, if you didn't do it, you don't have that problem. And they can tell that. They can listen to your story, and your story has this consistency to it and this genuine aspect to it. And they can tell, OK, I'm struggling to see this person's involvement because their story is consistent and it's clear. And the reason it's consistent and clear is because they're not lying and trying to keep up with all their lies. That makes it very hard. Here they are just, well, what did you say? I don't remember. What did I say? What did I make up? Verse 60, And the high priest stood up in the midst, and asked Jesus, saying, Answerest thou nothing? What is it which these witness against thee? But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? And Jesus said, I am, and ye shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rent his clothes and saith, what need we any further witnesses? We don't need any more liars. He just told us he's the Son of God. He just told us he is God. That's blasphemy. Put him to death. Well, it's blasphemy if it's not true. In this case, it just happens to be true. Verse 64, You heard the blasphemy, what think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death. And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him, prophesy. And the servants did strike him with the palm of his hands. And as Peter was beneath in the palace, There cometh one of the maids of the high priest, and when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon him and said, And thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth. But he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest. And he went out into the porch, And the cock crew and the maids saw him again, and began to say to them that stood by, This is one of them. And he denied it again. And a little after, they stood by and said again to Peter, Surely thou art one of them, for thou art a Galilean, and thy speech agreeth thereto. But he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this man of whom you speak. And the second time, the cock crew and Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept. It must have been a terrible, terrible situation to find yourself in. It's important when God tells you what you are from the word of God, just believe him because it's exactly what you are. You're no different. You can't read the word of God and say, that's what people are like. That's what they are like. It's unbelievable. You ask somebody on the street, are you a liar? They'll say, well, everybody lies. I didn't ask you that. Why can't you just say, yes, I am a liar. You've got to deflect to some extent. And Peter, I'll never forsake you. Well, Peter, actually, here's what's going to happen tonight. And then it happened, and Peter's left standing there, weeping. That'd be a terrible way to handle that thing, but the Lord's gracious to him, the Lord's gracious to us, praise the Lord.