WEBVTT 00:00:01.960 --> 00:00:05.400 This is your daily reminder. God has not run 00:00:05.400 --> 00:00:09.199 out of mercy, not for you, not today. Welcome 00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:12.140 to the New Mercies Podcast. Welcome back. Glad 00:00:12.140 --> 00:00:14.839 you found us today. If you are here for the first 00:00:14.839 --> 00:00:17.420 time and maybe you're just now jumping into the 00:00:17.420 --> 00:00:19.940 episode, I want to say welcome. Be sure you like 00:00:19.940 --> 00:00:22.039 and subscribe and follow and all the things so 00:00:22.039 --> 00:00:24.199 you don't miss one of these daily episodes Monday 00:00:24.199 --> 00:00:26.480 through Saturday as we go through our reading 00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:28.679 plan together as a church family, as a church 00:00:28.679 --> 00:00:31.260 body, and those of you listening outside of our 00:00:31.260 --> 00:00:34.250 local church. family. And as always, if you'd 00:00:34.250 --> 00:00:36.070 like to support financially, you can do so in 00:00:36.070 --> 00:00:38.549 the episode description. There's a link in there 00:00:38.549 --> 00:00:40.990 that you can give any amount to help keep this 00:00:40.990 --> 00:00:44.109 podcast growing and going and to allow that to 00:00:44.109 --> 00:00:46.409 continue ministering to people around the world. 00:00:46.469 --> 00:00:49.450 Thankful. for today, and our reading today is 00:00:49.450 --> 00:00:53.250 being found in Luke 23. Once again, Luke 23, 00:00:53.490 --> 00:00:57.189 the first 25 verses. Now, if you were in our 00:00:57.189 --> 00:01:00.850 church family yesterday, I preached Luke 23, 00:01:00.969 --> 00:01:04.069 1 through 25, and shared a lot about it. We've 00:01:04.069 --> 00:01:07.120 been in it, so last... Tuesday, last Friday, 00:01:07.260 --> 00:01:10.760 and then on Sunday, and then now today, the same 00:01:10.760 --> 00:01:13.519 text over and over again. I was trying to explain 00:01:13.519 --> 00:01:16.219 this to somebody over the weekend that they said, 00:01:16.260 --> 00:01:19.560 why do you put us in the same text multiple times? 00:01:19.760 --> 00:01:23.239 I said, because the more you put it in your heart, 00:01:23.299 --> 00:01:24.620 the more you put it in your mind, the more you 00:01:24.620 --> 00:01:26.959 think about it, you're allowed to then meditate 00:01:26.959 --> 00:01:29.700 on it. It allows to kind of flow in your mind 00:01:29.700 --> 00:01:31.319 and your heart. And then whenever I get up to 00:01:31.319 --> 00:01:33.379 share the word or share something I've preached, 00:01:33.500 --> 00:01:36.659 what happens is Your mind is connecting all these 00:01:36.659 --> 00:01:39.159 things together. It's connecting all these pieces 00:01:39.159 --> 00:01:42.079 that you then want to learn more and know more. 00:01:42.159 --> 00:01:44.319 And you can connect things that God has shown 00:01:44.319 --> 00:01:46.439 you and revealed to you that maybe God didn't 00:01:46.439 --> 00:01:48.959 even reveal to me this week. Or maybe that God 00:01:48.959 --> 00:01:50.180 didn't reveal to somebody else. He's going to 00:01:50.180 --> 00:01:51.700 reveal it to you. And then whenever you hear 00:01:51.700 --> 00:01:54.659 the word proclaimed, then you can, again, connect 00:01:54.659 --> 00:01:56.359 it to things that are even deeper within your 00:01:56.359 --> 00:01:58.219 heart and in your soul. It's a good thing for 00:01:58.219 --> 00:02:00.790 all of us. I think it's healthy for us to be 00:02:00.790 --> 00:02:02.670 in the Word together and to look at the Word 00:02:02.670 --> 00:02:04.849 in separate times and then when we come together, 00:02:05.010 --> 00:02:06.930 it's wonderful and it's awesome. So I encourage 00:02:06.930 --> 00:02:09.870 you, read Luke. 23, 1 through 25, once again 00:02:09.870 --> 00:02:12.090 today. I just want to bring out a couple of things 00:02:12.090 --> 00:02:15.110 towards the end of the chapter, or the end of 00:02:15.110 --> 00:02:17.849 the passage that we're looking at. I know I shared 00:02:17.849 --> 00:02:21.389 this a little bit in the sermon yesterday, but 00:02:21.389 --> 00:02:23.150 I also want to jump into a couple of things that 00:02:23.150 --> 00:02:25.210 I didn't have time to share, and that is found 00:02:25.210 --> 00:02:28.629 down in verse number 21 and following. Here's 00:02:28.629 --> 00:02:30.710 what the Bible says, but they kept shouting, 00:02:30.949 --> 00:02:35.310 crucify, crucify him. A third time he said to 00:02:35.310 --> 00:02:37.689 them, Why? What evil has he done? I have found 00:02:37.689 --> 00:02:40.870 in him no guilt deserving death. I will therefore 00:02:40.870 --> 00:02:44.110 punish him and release him. But they were urgent, 00:02:44.270 --> 00:02:47.430 demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. 00:02:47.830 --> 00:02:51.460 And their voices... prevailed. As we looked at 00:02:51.460 --> 00:02:54.219 that yesterday, this is Pilate. Now, by this 00:02:54.219 --> 00:02:57.520 point in the narrative, in the storyline, Jesus 00:02:57.520 --> 00:03:01.419 has been arrested in a garden. He's been mocked. 00:03:01.419 --> 00:03:03.840 He's been beaten. He's been put on trial. He's 00:03:03.840 --> 00:03:06.460 been lied about. He stood there silent. He's 00:03:06.460 --> 00:03:09.199 answered questions. He's stood silent again. 00:03:09.319 --> 00:03:11.919 He's been brought from one governor to the other. 00:03:12.020 --> 00:03:14.580 He's been tried on multiple occasions. And now 00:03:14.580 --> 00:03:17.120 we're at this last couple of points where Pilate 00:03:17.120 --> 00:03:20.680 is there. Again, we... I shared yesterday a little 00:03:20.680 --> 00:03:22.759 bit about what it meant when it says at the end 00:03:22.759 --> 00:03:25.379 of the, in verse number 24 and 25, Jesus was 00:03:25.379 --> 00:03:29.599 handed over while Barabbas was released. In that 00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:31.439 text, there's something powerful and something 00:03:31.439 --> 00:03:33.659 amazing to see Jesus was handed over, or he was 00:03:33.659 --> 00:03:37.599 delivered into the hands of the next group. And 00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:39.520 I was talking about how that word, delivered 00:03:39.520 --> 00:03:42.460 or handed over, is a word in the Greek language 00:03:42.460 --> 00:03:45.240 that means it's a progression, it's an action. 00:03:45.479 --> 00:03:48.560 It wasn't just somebody said something one time, 00:03:48.560 --> 00:03:51.759 but it was an action to deliver Jesus into the 00:03:51.759 --> 00:03:55.000 next group. place. And we look from the time 00:03:55.000 --> 00:03:57.879 of Judas, whenever he betrays Jesus, he hands 00:03:57.879 --> 00:04:00.419 him over to the mob. The mob hands him over to 00:04:00.419 --> 00:04:02.599 the first trial. The first trial hands him over 00:04:02.599 --> 00:04:04.120 to the chief priest and the chief priest hand 00:04:04.120 --> 00:04:05.560 him over to the next trial and the next trial. 00:04:05.639 --> 00:04:07.879 He keeps getting handed over. And we're going 00:04:07.879 --> 00:04:10.219 to see, I believe in tomorrow's reading, when 00:04:10.219 --> 00:04:12.340 he gets handed over to the last place and the 00:04:12.340 --> 00:04:15.879 last stop, whenever he then no longer gets handed 00:04:15.879 --> 00:04:19.360 over. After Jesus completes his mission, there 00:04:19.360 --> 00:04:22.389 is no more handing Jesus over. is him coming 00:04:22.389 --> 00:04:25.129 to reign in the end. But I want to talk today 00:04:25.129 --> 00:04:27.290 just for a minute about these chief priests and 00:04:27.290 --> 00:04:30.250 these people that have come up and arrested Jesus 00:04:30.250 --> 00:04:32.930 and put him on trial. Now they're yelling crucify. 00:04:33.089 --> 00:04:36.089 Why? Well, one of the reasons is they are trying 00:04:36.089 --> 00:04:39.490 their very best to shut down any talk that this 00:04:39.490 --> 00:04:41.910 is the Messiah. They're doing their very best 00:04:41.910 --> 00:04:44.569 to say this guy is not the one the Old Testament 00:04:44.569 --> 00:04:46.649 was talking about. So how are they doing that? 00:04:46.730 --> 00:04:49.439 Well, multiple ways. One, they're doing everything 00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:51.360 they can to arrest him and beat him and kill 00:04:51.360 --> 00:04:54.360 him and just wipe him out because he was still 00:04:54.360 --> 00:04:57.459 young considered as a rabbi. He's still in the 00:04:57.459 --> 00:05:00.040 early stages of his ministry. He's just been 00:05:00.040 --> 00:05:03.319 in the ministry, quote, three years or so. And 00:05:03.319 --> 00:05:05.180 so now they're saying, how can we get rid of 00:05:05.180 --> 00:05:07.100 him quickly? Let's eliminate him very, very quickly. 00:05:07.259 --> 00:05:10.540 So they shout crucify because in Deuteronomy 00:05:10.540 --> 00:05:14.379 chapter number 21, down in verse 23, we read 00:05:14.379 --> 00:05:17.019 that God says, cursed is everyone who hangs on 00:05:17.019 --> 00:05:20.519 a tree. And we see that because in Paul's letter 00:05:20.519 --> 00:05:23.600 to the church of Galatia in chapter 3, verse 00:05:23.600 --> 00:05:26.720 number 13, I believe, he says that Jesus died 00:05:26.720 --> 00:05:29.100 on a cross and he took on the curse for us because 00:05:29.100 --> 00:05:32.379 everyone who is hung on a tree is cursed. So 00:05:32.379 --> 00:05:35.199 the religious leaders are saying if he gets crucified, 00:05:35.660 --> 00:05:39.240 we know because of the Mosaic law, he'll be cursed 00:05:39.240 --> 00:05:43.060 even in his death. So let's say he's done everything 00:05:43.060 --> 00:05:47.319 right so far. Let's say he's crossed every T, 00:05:47.500 --> 00:05:50.180 dotted every I, and done everything exactly the 00:05:50.180 --> 00:05:52.220 way the Old Testament says. We'll beat him this 00:05:52.220 --> 00:05:56.240 way. Here's the loophole that we can continue 00:05:56.240 --> 00:05:59.980 to stop his ministry from going any further. 00:06:00.339 --> 00:06:02.980 Because the last thing they wanted was a martyr 00:06:02.980 --> 00:06:06.540 Messiah that then people would have this uprising 00:06:06.540 --> 00:06:08.600 after he died. So they said, we'll even have 00:06:08.600 --> 00:06:12.000 him die in the way that is cursed by God to make 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:14.899 sure once and for all. Well, what they didn't 00:06:14.899 --> 00:06:17.420 realize is they kept doing the wrong things and 00:06:17.420 --> 00:06:20.449 it was fulfilling. more of the Scripture. That 00:06:20.449 --> 00:06:23.149 term that it talks about when Pilate handed him 00:06:23.149 --> 00:06:26.050 over, he handed Jesus over, that term is found 00:06:26.050 --> 00:06:28.009 all the way through. It's connected all the way 00:06:28.009 --> 00:06:30.930 through Scripture. Back in Isaiah 53, over in 00:06:30.930 --> 00:06:34.250 the book of Acts, we see the piece that the Son 00:06:34.250 --> 00:06:36.930 of Man must be handed over. Why? To suffer. Handed 00:06:36.930 --> 00:06:39.269 over means he's gone from now the accusations 00:06:39.269 --> 00:06:43.829 of being accused of these crimes to now suffering 00:06:43.829 --> 00:06:46.290 in those crimes. Each time he was handed over, 00:06:46.370 --> 00:06:48.620 there was more suffering that came. Every time 00:06:48.620 --> 00:06:51.220 we're going to see tomorrow and tomorrow's reading 00:06:51.220 --> 00:06:53.920 more about that suffering that had to come. But 00:06:53.920 --> 00:06:56.420 as I look through the text, I think, why in the 00:06:56.420 --> 00:06:58.740 world did this happen this way? Why are they 00:06:58.740 --> 00:07:00.839 yelling crucify? Why did they keep handing him 00:07:00.839 --> 00:07:03.379 over to the next thing? And there's one other 00:07:03.379 --> 00:07:05.759 word that really stands out to me in the text. 00:07:05.879 --> 00:07:09.240 And it was found in verse number 23. And it says, 00:07:09.319 --> 00:07:11.139 but they were when when Pilate says, listen, 00:07:11.259 --> 00:07:13.860 we've tried this guy multiple times. The third 00:07:13.860 --> 00:07:16.139 is the third time I'm telling you this. I can't 00:07:16.139 --> 00:07:18.319 find anything wrong with him. I know you're yelling 00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:20.500 crucified. That seems extreme for somebody that's 00:07:20.500 --> 00:07:22.920 not done anything wrong. He hasn't broken any 00:07:22.920 --> 00:07:25.660 laws. There's nothing deserving of death that 00:07:25.660 --> 00:07:28.620 I can find, that Herod was able to find. You 00:07:28.620 --> 00:07:30.500 all are making stuff up, and you want this guy 00:07:30.500 --> 00:07:32.720 dead, and I don't know why. I'm going to release 00:07:32.720 --> 00:07:35.720 Barabbas. I'm not going to release this Jesus. 00:07:35.759 --> 00:07:39.339 It doesn't make any sense to crucify this Jesus 00:07:39.339 --> 00:07:42.019 and release this prisoner who's known for murder 00:07:42.019 --> 00:07:44.860 and causing an insurrection, all kinds of problems. 00:07:44.980 --> 00:07:47.240 What are you doing? Then in verse number 23, 00:07:47.240 --> 00:07:50.509 it says, but they were more urgent. And that 00:07:50.509 --> 00:07:53.550 word stuck out to me today. I'll be honest, before 00:07:53.550 --> 00:07:55.569 I didn't even know this, whenever I was studying 00:07:55.569 --> 00:07:59.170 to preach the sermon this past Sunday, but that 00:07:59.170 --> 00:08:01.269 word urgent jumped off the page to me today. 00:08:01.629 --> 00:08:04.029 And I thought, why is that word jumping off the 00:08:04.029 --> 00:08:06.990 page? And I looked it up, and I tried to figure 00:08:06.990 --> 00:08:08.410 out what the word meant and tried to figure out 00:08:08.410 --> 00:08:10.449 why. Because I want to get in the scene, right? 00:08:10.529 --> 00:08:12.529 This is a courtroom. There's a lot of energy, 00:08:12.649 --> 00:08:15.149 a lot of passion. Jesus stands silent. The crowds 00:08:15.149 --> 00:08:18.230 of Pharisees, the crowds of the scribes, the 00:08:18.230 --> 00:08:20.240 chief priests are yelling. and they're throwing 00:08:20.240 --> 00:08:23.019 all these accusations out. What is it? Why is 00:08:23.019 --> 00:08:25.180 it so urgent? I want to know. I want to feel 00:08:25.180 --> 00:08:27.300 it, right? I want to experience the scene that's 00:08:27.300 --> 00:08:29.800 happening. And what I noticed was that word urgent 00:08:29.800 --> 00:08:33.139 is the same. It carries the same connotations, 00:08:33.139 --> 00:08:36.500 the same understanding of being thrown on hot 00:08:36.500 --> 00:08:40.559 coals. So it's the response your body would give 00:08:40.559 --> 00:08:43.600 if you've been thrown on hot coals. I want you 00:08:43.600 --> 00:08:45.610 to think about how hard you would jump. That 00:08:45.610 --> 00:08:49.509 is an urgent thing. As soon as that sensation 00:08:49.509 --> 00:08:52.450 hits you, you are jumping. There's no thinking. 00:08:53.230 --> 00:08:57.590 It's a shout that's immediate. So I want you 00:08:57.590 --> 00:09:01.690 to picture this. It says they were urgent. They 00:09:01.690 --> 00:09:05.330 were demanding or calling out or saying, here's 00:09:05.330 --> 00:09:08.250 our demands. Here's what we will say, and we 00:09:08.250 --> 00:09:12.039 will not take no for an answer. I just think 00:09:12.039 --> 00:09:14.259 how in the world they kept demanding that he 00:09:14.259 --> 00:09:17.559 be crucified. They said we, they were so urgent. 00:09:17.799 --> 00:09:20.700 So I want you to imagine if you've been thrown 00:09:20.700 --> 00:09:23.559 on coals, how urgently you're going to jump off 00:09:23.559 --> 00:09:25.799 of them. How urgently you're going to try to 00:09:25.799 --> 00:09:28.080 get away and get out of the situation that you're 00:09:28.080 --> 00:09:31.879 in. That urgency is that panic mode that comes 00:09:31.879 --> 00:09:33.600 up in your mind, in your heart, in your body. 00:09:33.720 --> 00:09:36.559 So these chief priests, this crowd becomes that 00:09:36.559 --> 00:09:39.600 urgent. And they're saying, this is the third 00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:41.759 time Pilate says he's not guilty. We have to 00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:45.279 strike right this second. That's the intensity 00:09:45.279 --> 00:09:49.419 in the room. Pilate finally says, okay, have 00:09:49.419 --> 00:09:52.529 it your way. I'm going to hand him over. I'm 00:09:52.529 --> 00:09:55.529 going to free this prisoner who has been accused 00:09:55.529 --> 00:09:57.230 of all these things, who have been found guilty 00:09:57.230 --> 00:10:00.289 of all these things, who was on death row. I'm 00:10:00.289 --> 00:10:03.289 going to free him, and I'm going to allow Jesus 00:10:03.289 --> 00:10:06.889 to be handed over to the violent men of our time 00:10:06.889 --> 00:10:09.990 and let him be crucified. Today, I don't know 00:10:09.990 --> 00:10:14.799 exactly. what to encourage you with other than 00:10:14.799 --> 00:10:18.360 don't always think that the most urgent voices 00:10:18.360 --> 00:10:21.519 are the ones you need to listen to. The urgent 00:10:21.519 --> 00:10:25.039 voices, why? Because urgent voices come with 00:10:25.039 --> 00:10:27.740 passion, right? If you are trying to get off 00:10:27.740 --> 00:10:30.139 of hot coals, your whole body, everything about 00:10:30.139 --> 00:10:32.919 you looks like you are needing to get to the 00:10:32.919 --> 00:10:35.980 right place. You are in a dangerous spot. Your 00:10:35.980 --> 00:10:37.820 body's in this fight or flight mode and you're 00:10:37.820 --> 00:10:40.519 going as hard as you can go. Sometimes the urgent 00:10:41.480 --> 00:10:43.879 isn't important, and sometimes the urgent isn't 00:10:43.879 --> 00:10:47.259 right. Just because something sounds like you 00:10:47.259 --> 00:10:50.879 have to do it right this second is not necessarily 00:10:50.879 --> 00:10:53.419 what you need to do. I want to encourage you 00:10:53.419 --> 00:10:56.320 today in this. Settle in what the Lord wants 00:10:56.320 --> 00:10:59.100 you to do. Listen to His heart. Listen to His 00:10:59.100 --> 00:11:01.740 voice. There's a lot of scenes that take place 00:11:01.740 --> 00:11:05.200 in Luke 23, in these first 25 verses, a lot of 00:11:05.200 --> 00:11:08.309 moments where Jesus keeps getting pushed. place 00:11:08.309 --> 00:11:10.210 to place to place. We talked about last week 00:11:10.210 --> 00:11:12.909 a little bit, you know, Pilate finds him not 00:11:12.909 --> 00:11:15.070 guilty and still says, you know what, let's just 00:11:15.070 --> 00:11:17.710 beat him up. Well, that's not what, what is, 00:11:17.710 --> 00:11:20.090 what are you doing? He's trying to appease everybody. 00:11:20.409 --> 00:11:23.009 Stop trying to appease everybody. We serve one 00:11:23.009 --> 00:11:25.809 God. We're trying to honor one father. He's in 00:11:25.809 --> 00:11:28.629 heaven. That's who we're trying to honor. Stop 00:11:28.629 --> 00:11:30.470 trying to please men. Stop trying to look for 00:11:30.470 --> 00:11:33.200 the approval of men. Pilate was looking for the 00:11:33.200 --> 00:11:35.639 approval of men. Herod wanted to be Lord over 00:11:35.639 --> 00:11:37.779 Jesus. Do this for me. Do this for me. Do this 00:11:37.779 --> 00:11:40.720 for me. Jesus stands silent. You want to stop 00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:42.860 God's voice? Tell him what to do. He's not going 00:11:42.860 --> 00:11:44.679 to respond to you. He's not going to talk to 00:11:44.679 --> 00:11:47.039 you. He then gets handed back over to Pilate. 00:11:47.340 --> 00:11:49.620 Pilate says, you know what? This guy should be 00:11:49.620 --> 00:11:54.240 set free. And the urgency of the people, the 00:11:54.240 --> 00:11:59.299 passion in their campaign was so strong that 00:11:59.299 --> 00:12:03.360 Pilate finally said, okay. Your voices will prevail. 00:12:03.639 --> 00:12:06.379 I'm going to hand Jesus over to the violent men 00:12:06.379 --> 00:12:09.620 of the world. I want to encourage you today and 00:12:09.620 --> 00:12:13.039 tell you today that Jesus did every bit of this 00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:16.360 so that he could honor his Father in heaven, 00:12:16.539 --> 00:12:20.120 bring glory to him first and foremost, and bring 00:12:20.120 --> 00:12:23.960 us into his family. He did all of this so that 00:12:23.960 --> 00:12:26.940 we could be the Barabbas in the story, to free 00:12:26.940 --> 00:12:30.240 us of what we were found guilty for. Take on 00:12:30.240 --> 00:12:33.039 our punishment so that we can be with him forever. 00:12:33.500 --> 00:12:35.899 Christians should rejoice. We should find a little 00:12:35.899 --> 00:12:38.679 bit more humility, a little bit more joy, and 00:12:38.679 --> 00:12:40.659 a little bit more peace knowing that he did every 00:12:40.659 --> 00:12:43.440 bit of this so that he could have us in his family.