Well, good morning. It is yet morning, I guess, by 10 minutes. Anyway, where I sit. We will continue our study in John. We're in chapter 19. We're going to look at verses 1 through 11 today and entitled this crucify him. We'll go back to verse 38 of chapter 18 and then read through the rest of 18 for the context today. Verse 38, Pilate saith unto him, what is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews and said unto them, I find in him no fault at all, but you have a custom that I should release unto you one at the Passover. Will you therefore that I release unto you the king of the Jews? Then cried they all again saying, not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber. So that kind of sets the context, if you will. So obviously there's no kindness as shown to Jesus from the Jews who were his own people. History does not soften the truth of the narrative. Jewish orthodoxy cannot erase the crime. Ignorance of it does not erase the truth of it. The truth abideth ever. The lessons shown to Israel were ignored or lost somewhere along the path of Jewish orthodoxy. The deep things of God lost in the rote obedience to the shallow commands and observances of the written law. they begin to worship and serve the creature of their own fabricated traditions rather than the creator himself, to worship the form rather than the substance. Even though prophesied of in the Old Testament from his virgin birth to the very location of his birth, verified by the visit of the three wise men from the East, seeking him who was born King of the Jews. Yet they did not confess him, did not own him as their own, and they preferred a robber in the place of their own Messiah. That's what the record shows. Verse one of chapter 19. Then Pilate therefore took Jesus and scourged him Obviously, it was not Pilate himself that scourged him, but those who were under his command. Obviously, to scourge means to flog using a whip. Even though Pilate found no fault in him, yet he had Jesus flogged. Perhaps to placate the fury of the Jews, to no avail, But what it is is it's a picture of God's wrath for sin beginning to be inflicted upon he who knew no sin to present a visual desecration of the holy for the profane to begin to show the intercession of Christ for the benefit of his chosen people. And his chosen people, I'm not simply referring to the Jews here. And we'll go back to Isaiah 53, which is something I've done frequently in the studies in John. In verse three, Isaiah 53, three. He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. and we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. So Isaiah saw it beforehand. Peter, the apostle to the Jews, also refers to it in the book of 1 Peter. Chapter two, verse 21. For even here unto were you called. Now, Peter's writing to the Jews dispersed that had gone to different places, so he's writing basically to the Jews. For even here unto were you called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow his steps. Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. who when he was reviled, he reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judges righteously. Who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree that we being dead to sins should live under righteousness by whose stripes you were healed. And for the context, I'll just go back to chapter one, verses one and two. It says, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, grace unto you and peace be multiplied. So that's the context of that. Here we are then. Here we are. Here we are. Believers, maybe, and this is kind of a general statement regarding professing believers in the world today. So here we are then, maybe, believers, but we want a reward without personal sacrifice. We want a reward without dedication. We want a reward without serving the cause, without loving him who died. We want all the benefits. We don't want to make any of the investments. That's what we want. We're like beggars, street beggars. wanting something for nothing. Because true love has a manifestation of sacrifice and service to the object of our love. And the tragedy of the times is that we love ourself too much and others not enough. John 19, two and three. And the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe and said, hail, king of the Jews, and they smote him with their hands. So what do we have here? We have a crown, we have a purple robe, and we have a title. Now the thorns represented actually the cursed earth, the results of the fall, the effect of the fall. We go back to Genesis 3.17. Unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it. Cursed is the ground for your sake. In sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face shalt thou eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken, for dust you are, and under dust shall you return. So if you look at the crown of thorns that he had, it was not only symbolic, but it was also punitive. It was meant to harm. It was meant to cut. It was meant to draw forth blood. It was meant to impart pain. And again, this is a stark picture of the imputation of our sins upon our sinless mediator. The purple robe mentioned here is actually called a red robe in Matthew, which it probably was as being probably one of the soldier's cloak, which were typically red. Then they called him King of the Jews, which they did mockingly. but which was also the truth. Now some of the translations indicate that they mockingly bowed before him or got on their knees before him and then said those things in order to add insult to injury. And this is probably being done in the audience of the Jews who gave no indication of any pity for the innocence of Jesus and no advocacy for his torture. A matter of fact, most of them probably reveled in it. John 19, 4, Pilate therefore went forth again and said unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that you may know that I find no fault in him. Then came Jesus forth wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and Pilate said unto them, Behold the man. So he's basically saying, I bring him forth, bloodied from the flogging and from the thorns and bruised from the smiting of the hands of the soldiers. And so Jesus comes forth wearing the crown of thorns, the purple or the red robe, and Pilate says to them, behold the man. Now I'm going to take you to 1 Timothy 2, verse 5. There's one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. So referencing the same man. Pilate says, look to the Jews, behold the man. Paul writing to Timothy says, there's one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. How could he be an effective mediator if he did not become man? Now, essentially what Jesus was, and we saw that in John 1, he was the Word, he was with God, and he was God. Then the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We beheld his glory. full of grace and truth. Now, in the reference in Timothy, the man Christ Jesus, some of the ancient languages place this word mediator between God and man in a position of interposition. Okay, that's obviously as being between God and man, but being both God and man at the same time. Okay, so this is obviously not simply a biological equation. Okay, obviously you can't be with somebody and be that somebody at the same time in a biological sense. Okay. Now, a little education here. Christ in his inner incarnation was a union of divinity and biology, spirituality and biology, flesh and spirit. If we can consider the concept of two being one, even if it's beyond our comprehension, But consider also it's typical of the concept of man and woman being one flesh. And that's fleshed out in Ephesians 5, 23 through 33. That is the relationship between husband and wife being representative of the relationship between Christ and the church to becoming one. This then also takes us back to being made accepted and to be loved prior to the foundation of the world in Ephesians 1. Okay, try to follow me here, this next paragraph. Being then in Christ and the Beloved, as per Ephesians 1, in the spiritual sense, then it's obviously also going to be true in the biological sense. As the good seed that was sown in the parable between the wheat and the tares The good seed were the children of God or the children of the kingdom. They weren't potential children of the kingdom, they were. As they were sown, that's what they were. Christ was who and what he was before his incarnation. His incarnation didn't change anything other than his physical manifestation. So he was who and what he was during his incarnation, and he is yet even now the same. So he was who and what he was before his incarnation, he was who and what he was during his incarnation, and he is yet even now who and what he was, the same. So I think it is the same with the elect. That is, We must also experience the pangs of sin and its cost within ourselves to truly come to know and appreciate the sacrifice of Christ in our behalf, due to being made accepted and beloved in Christ before the world began. Coupled with this concept or reality, however one may see it. I'm going to run this by you for your consideration, Philippians 2, 5, and 6. Pay attention to what he says. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, sought it not robbery to be equal with God, Okay, so the mind that is in you, let this mind that's in you, which was also in Jesus, that mind, the same mind being like-minded, who being in the form of God, so if we are like-minded with Christ, thought it not rather be equal with God? Not equal in a sense, but equal in a sense that we are in, as we are in Christ positionally, then we have, how many things did we read in John? where it talks about Jesus talked about I, me, you and me and the Father are all one. We are all one. That's the spiritual unification. So, equalness with God is being in positionally in God in the same way that we are in Christ. Now, I don't know if you follow that or not, but learning is. going places you haven't been before. John 19.6 When the chief priests, therefore, and the officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him, for I find no fault in him. Obviously, the image of the wounded and bleeding Christ evoked no sympathy from the Jews, but only more bloodlust. On the other hand, the political mind of Pilate overruled his rational mind or whatever sense of honor he may have had, for he actually makes a statement of his own weakness in saying, Even though I find no fault in him, I will consent to his death. Such rulers the earth has been cursed with throughout its history and will not end until this present world is destroyed. John 19, 7, 8, and 9. The Jews answered him, We have a law and by our law he ought to die because he made himself the son of God. And that's all they were looking at was their law. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid. And he went again into the judgment hall and he said unto Jesus, whence art thou? Where'd you come from? But Jesus gave him no answer. Now, Pilate here becomes aware of the possibility of his name being recorded in history as the name of the one who condemned to death the Son of God, becoming what is known as infamous And so he has awakened unto the possibility of it and thus seeks to hear from the mouth of Jesus what the facts might be. Pilate's question sought to know whether Jesus was of the gods or if he was only singularly biological. I don't think Pilate was a lover of the true God. but was sensitive of concerning offending the false god of the times, the gods of the Greeks and the Romans. Even though the Jews did reply in the singular, the son of God, singular, well, at least the Jewish model was monotheistic, not polytheistic. At least they had that going for them. However, the traditions and their veneration of those traditions blinded their eyes to the truth of the claims and the miracles and the works of Jesus Christ. And so Jesus answered him not because he didn't deserve an answer, because Pilate sought only to save his own skin. Verse 10 and 11. Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? Do you not know that I have power to crucify you, and I have power to release you? Jesus answered, You could have no power at all against me, except it were given you from above. Therefore he that delivered me unto you hath the greater sin. Jesus did not deny what Pilate was able to do or not to do, but he identifies where that power came from, except it were given thee from above. The greater sin was not in Pilate, but in him that delivered Jesus to Pilate. So then we have Judas and the chief priests and the scribes, those instrumental in delivering Jesus to Pilate, had the greater sin. That can be said because Pilate himself disavowed being a Jew. He said, am I a Jew? Am I supposed to know that stuff? So he had no knowledge, basically, of their religion beyond a shallow exposure to it. The Jews, on the other hand, proceeded from the standpoint of malice, envy, and fear. not desiring to see the end of their own standing and state among the people of the Jews, nor in the loss of their venerated traditions. So the works and the miracles and the testimony of Jesus and their own prophecies pointed out that Jesus was indeed who he said he was. So while Pilate was only knee-deep in sin concerning this, the Jews themselves were over their heads in it. They have no excuse. Now, here's an interesting thing. In 2 Corinthians, go there, chapter three, Verse 14, Paul's talking about Moses coming down from the mountain, stuff like that. He says in verse 14, 2 Corinthians 3, 14, but their minds were blinded. For until this day, as Paul writes, remains the same veil untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament, which veil is done away in Christ. Okay. at that point in time, the veil is done away in Christ. But even under this day, and then he says, okay, even under right now, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart. And we say, well, gee, that sounds like something new. It's not, nothing new. If you go to Deuteronomy 29, verse four, Moses is addressing the children of Israel. And he called them, verse two, he called to them, in Deuteronomy 29, and he said, you have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, unto Pharaoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land, the great temptations and trials which your eyes have seen, the signs and those great miracles. Yet the Lord hath not given you a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear unto this day. And you couple that with what Paul said about them in 2 Corinthians 3, 15, even unto this day when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart. Okay. You can do with that whatever you want to do with it. Isaiah, another little reference I have, my own personal cross references here. Isaiah 610, make the heart of this people fat, make their ears heavy and shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and convert and be healed. Well, that's a great mystery. I guess one of the lessons here is this. God's approval is not based upon carnal works. Because if you haven't been given the enlightenment, if you haven't been quickened, you haven't been born again, you have not the Spirit of God within you, none of that stuff is gonna make sense. All they saw and all that made them obedient unto the law was what they did and how they responded to the law of God. And the history, you know, secular history, shows us that they were not always really diligent to do that. But even that is, be that as it may, it's the blood of Jesus Christ who cleanses us from our sin. It's not the blood of animals. It's not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sin in Hebrews 9 and 10. Not possible. Those things were a type, a prefigurement of the sacrifice of Christ. If you're not a Messianic Jew, you're still an Orthodoxy. If you're still an Orthodox, you're still depending on something that you do rather than something that was done for you on your behalf out of love, out of election, out of predestination, whatever you want to call it. It doesn't make any difference. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. God and Jesus being one are the same yesterday, today, and forever. So, the Jews, there they are. Remember what God said to Abram, I will make a great nation of thee. And then he said, part B, and all nations or families of the earth shall be blessed because of you. All nations, I will make a great nation, singular, but all nations of the earth, plural, will be blessed because of thee. So, I guess they missed that. Maybe didn't know the difference between singular and plural. Well, they did in a lot of other aspects of the law, but they missed out on that one. Okay, it says what it says. And even though you might be ignorant of what it said or what it means, it does not change the truth of it. Okay? And that's one of the primary lessons when we study the scripture is we come to understand that. Anyway, I hope that God has blessed his word to your heart today. Stick with us as we go through this crucifixion scenario. And we'll see, well, we know how it comes out, but we'll look at, we'll take this nuanced view of it as we go. May God bless you and your household in his mercy and his grace and his love. According to his good pleasure. Thank you for listening.