======================================================================== HIDDEN LIFE OF JESUS by George Eager ======================================================================== A study of Christ's dual nature — divine and human — and the years of His upbringing before public ministry. The work explores how the perfect child Jesus was trained, and how His two natures, though distinct, worked together in the plan of redemption. Chapters: 15 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ TABLE OF CONTENTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. 02. Training Up The Perfect Child 2. 03. Jesus Receives His Divine Calling 3. 04. Doubts-Delays-The Fathers Confirmation 4. 05. The Up Slope 5. 06. The Down Slope 6. 07. Jesus Is Granted Full Knowledge Of Who He Is 7. 08. Jesus Makes The Choice 8. 09.Jesus Prays That He Will Not Die At This Moment 9. 10. Jesus Is In Control And Letting It Happen 10. 11. Jesus Has No Fellowship With The Father 11. 12. Jesus Suffers The Full Penalty 12. 13. Jesus Anticipates Going To Hades 13. 14. Jesus-Prays-Reflects-Praises His Father 14. 15. Looking Back At Out Substitute's Thought Life 15. 16. Getting To Know His Son, Jesus Christ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 1: 02. TRAINING UP THE PERFECT CHILD ======================================================================== Training Up The Perfect Child DIVINE NATURE - HUMAN NATURE We know that Jesus had a divine nature and a human nature, and the two natures did not co-mingle. The Word of God (the Son of God) never lost His position as the second Person in the Godhead. In His divinity, He never had to learn anything because He was totally, perfectly, God from Eternity [past] who never stopped functioning in Eternity [present]. How do we know that? In the book of Colossians, we are told that the Son of God holds the universe together: He is before all things, and through Him all things hold together.Colossians 1:17 When the Son of God took on human form as a Man in this world, somehow in heaven this Person of the Godhead kept functioning-kept holding the universe together. In His humanity (incarnate Son of God), He was a Human Being (Jesus of Nazareth) and He did not cheat (He did not use His divine prerogative). So Jesus lived as a Human Being without using His divine nature, meaning Jesus had to gradually learn who He was. Frankly, that sounds strange to me; does it to you? Let Us Examine This: In heaven, the second Person of the Godhead never stopped functioning and He never lost His omniscience (knowing everything). However, the human being Jesus was born in Bethlehem and He, the Infant in the cradle, did not know anything. Otherwise, it would have been sort of a sham (a person assuming a false character, an imposter); if Jesus was lying in a manger and was fully aware of what was happening, then it was not real-He could not have been our Substitute. However, Jesus did gradually learn who He was in the human sense, because He-the little Baby in Bethlehem-did not know who He was. And Jesus is like any other child-He has no more knowledge and no more awareness than any other child-except He is sinless. A few years pass and Jesus, like every child, wonders from where He came. Really, Jesus did not know! Presented In The Gospels: During His ministry in Galilee, a woman came up in the crowd behind Jesus and touched His cloak; and Jesus asked: “Who is the one who touched Me?”Luke 8:45 Do you know why He asked? Jesus did not know! Jesus did not know from where He came. The problem was: the Boy, although He was fully human, was not totally normal. For most children, parents can give them a fairly adequate explanation of where they came from. However, Jesus’ parents could only tell Him to a point. Of course, Joseph (Jesus’ legal father) and Mary (Jesus’ biological mother) could tell Jesus about the following events: q The promises Gabriel told Mary- Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a Son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.Luke 1:26-38 q The birth of Jesus explained to Joseph- Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows. When His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with Child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, wanted to send her away secretly. But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”…And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.Matthew 1:18-21; Matthew 24:1-25 q The birth of Jesus in Bethlehem- Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all were proceeding to register for the census, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn Son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.Luke 2:1-7 q The witness of the shepherds- And in the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields, and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. And the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a Baby wrapped in cloths, and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” And it came about when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.” And they came in haste and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the Baby as He lay in the manger. And when they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.Luke 2:8-19 q The circumcision of Jesus- And when eight days had passed, before His circumcision, His name was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.Luke 2:21 q The presentation of Jesus to the LORD- And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”), and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord, “A pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons.” And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon Him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said, “Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, According to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your Salvation, Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, A Light of Revelation to the Gentiles, And the Glory of Your People Israel.” And His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed-and a sword will pierce even your own soul-to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years and had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, serving night and day with fasting and prayers. At that very moment she came up and giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth.Luke 2:22-39 q The visitation of the Magi- Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east, and have come to worship Him.”…And Herod sent them to Bethlehem, and said, “Go and make careful search and worship Him.” And having heard the king, they went their way; and lo, the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them, until it came and stood over where the Child was. And when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And they came into the house and saw the Child with Mary His mother and they fell down and worshipped Him; and opening their treasures they presented to Him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.Matthew 2:1-2; Matthew 8:1-11 q The royal family fleeing into Egypt- Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise and take the Child and His mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.” And he arose and took the Child and His mother by night, and departed for Egypt; and was there until the death of Herod.Matthew 2:13-15 q The royal family returning to Israel, to Nazareth- When Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Arise and take the Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel; for those who sought the Child’s life are dead.” And he arose and took the Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a dream, he departed for the regions of Galilee, and came and resided in a city called Nazareth.Matthew 2:19-23 As we have just seen, Joseph and Mary could tell Jesus [somewhat] about His miraculous birth, but that would just go so far. Why? His parents were human, but Jesus was a superhuman Child; He had a superhuman origin. So how did Jesus learn who He was? He learned the Scriptures. How? o Jesus would have been taught the Scriptures by His father and mother. He learned things in a normal way like any other human being who is raised in a God-loving family. o Jesus read the Scriptures and Holy Spirit illuminated (impressed upon Jesus’ heart) passages that had particular meaning for Him. o Jesus read the Scriptures and, without cheating [in His humanity], He got more understanding than we get. Why? Jesus had no sin nature, so there was no barrier between He and God. Remember, the Lord God tells us Your sins have separated you from Me (Isaiah 59:2). However, this young Boy-barely conscious of who He is as a Person-does not sin, so He does not have that blockage in His mind and He can get more understanding than normal humans. What is the result? Jesus learns He is a special Person. Review: Jesus is born in Bethlehem and He is taken to Egypt to live for a brief time. He is taken back up to Nazareth where He grows up and He lives His life as a young Boy. In Isaiah 49:1-26 through 53 and in some of the messianic Psalms, we listen in to Jesus’ mind as He is meditating on (contemplating) the Scriptures. For a while, He learns who He is in the same way we do-through learning the Scriptures-except that He does not have a sin nature; therefore, as He reads the Scriptures there is no blockage so Holy Spirit can clearly illuminate passages to Him. [That is why, as a Child, He knew more than we do; it is not that He cheated (He did not use His divine nature); it is that He just learned with a pure, sinless heart.] And the Child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.Luke 2:40 Father, we thank You for Your word. As we study the hidden life of Jesus, we ask that You would open our eyes and that You would not let us get away from Isaiah 49:1-26 through Isaiah 53:1-12, from some of the messianic Psalms, and from the Gospel accounts without seeing Jesus. We want to have the mind of Christ, so would You open our eyes to these passages through the power of Your Holy Spirit-the same Holy Spirit who wrote the Bible and who led and taught Jesus? Father, we are not sinless, because we have sin natures. However, we thank You that, because we believe Jesus is our Savior, You wash away our sins, You forgive us, You purify us, and You will keep our sins from blocking our reception of Your word during this time of study. We pray these things in the name of Jesus. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 2: 03. JESUS RECEIVES HIS DIVINE CALLING ======================================================================== Jesus Receives His Divine Calling FIRST RECORDED THOUGHTS Starting in Isaiah 49:1-26, I think we see the first recorded thoughts of the Human Being, Jesus. Note: The prophet Isaiah [inspired by Holy Spirit (God breathed) penned Isaiah 49:1-26 about 400 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea; only God can give such a unique picture of the life of a Man who had not been born yet! Isaiah 49 1Listen to Me, O islands, and pay attention, you peoples from afar. In antiquity, O islands referred to distant lands about which they did not know-they assumed there were far away lands. Basically, He is saying The whole world, wherever you are, listen! The LORD called Me from the womb; from the body of My mother He named Me. At some time as a Child, Jesus learns: He was called form the womb of His mother. Jesus speaks personally of His mother, Mary, and of her womb from which He came. God named Him. The Lord said to Isaiah…“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with Child and bear a Son, and she will call His name Immanuel.”Isaiah 7:14; Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the LORD through the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall be with Child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.”Matthew 1:22-23 He is special. At this point, Jesus does not know yet that there is a special relationship with God the Father; and, Jesus just calls Him: -Adonai (the Lord God) -Elohim (the Creator God) -Yahweh (the Covenant God of Israel). Beginning in verse 2, we are going to start seeing the life of Jesus as a Boy, including what His thoughts were, what God the Father was saying to Him, and what Jesus was saying back to the Father. Again, these are Jesus’ thoughts as a Child, and some of His thoughts here certainly correlate with what we know from the Gospel accounts of His life as a Child. 2a He has made My mouth like a sharp sword, Jesus, the first born, is growing up in this family with [half-] brothers and [half-] sisters; and, in a way, He is like them. However, Jesus knows that, because He is different from other people, there will be problems. As He is growing up, though He does not mean to, Jesus causes conflict. [We know He did not cause conflict on purpose, because that would be a sin and Jesus never sinned.] This is a young Boy who: Studies the Scriptures at His father’s and mother’s feet. Knows He has a special purpose. Is sinless. Understands what sin is, and already has developed distaste for sin just by studying the Scriptures. When Jesus sees His [half-] brothers and [half-] sisters doing something wrong, without trying to be a tattletale, He calls out That is sin; that is wrong; that is unrighteousness; that is ungodliness. Again, He is not trying to be a smart aleck; that is just His nature-producing a sword. Note: What His family did not know, and what Jesus Himself did not know, was that it was God the Father speaking through the Person of Holy Spirit, so what the Boy, Jesus, was saying was profoundly beyond His years. Presented In The Gospels: Later in His teaching ministry, Jesus told the 12 disciples: “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”Matthew 10:34 I am wondering if Jesus is remembering the early days when, as a small Boy, He was producing a sword, causing trouble in His own family. So Jesus is a special Boy-He knows something is special about Himself-but He is in obscurity (condition of being unknown): 2b In the shadow of His hand He has concealed Me; And He has also made Me a select arrow, He has hidden Me in His quiver. Jesus is hidden away, even in the small town of Nazareth. Presented In The Gospels: In Mark 6:1-56, Jesus is fully into His ministry, and He goes back to His hometown, Nazareth, which was not a large city: Jesus went out from there and came into His hometown; and His disciples followed Him. When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?” And they took offense at Him.Mark 6:1-3 The locals were saying Who is this person? Wait a minute; is that not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Is that not Mary’s son? Is he not James’ brother? That proves that even when Jesus was a Child growing up in Nazareth, the townspeople did not notice anything unusual about Him, or know Him very well, because He was hidden away. Note: Jesus’ family did notice unusual things about Him. As a young Boy, Jesus is learning the Scriptures-through the teaching of His father and mother and through the internal witness of Holy Spirit mixing with Jesus’ human spirit-and He is gradually learning that He is a special Child. And, I believe, for quite a while, that is the only way Jesus learned things about Himself. Then one day something happened. We do not know exactly when it was, but, I think, it must have been just before Jesus turned twelve years of age, and it probably startled this young Boy at first: 3 He said to Me, “You are My Servant, Israel, In Whom I will show My glory.” [I think-] This is the first time the Father speaks directly to Jesus; this is the first time Jesus hears the Father’s voice directly. Transition: WORD OF GOD Here, I believe, it shows the difference between the following words: Logos, which is the written word of God- Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path. Psalms 119:109 -is also used as Jesus, the Eternal Word of God (the Logos), as follows: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.John 1:1 Rhēma, which also means word, is a different word than the written word of God. It is the same word used in Romans 10:1-21 : Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.Romans 10:17 That is the rhēma (word) that means the spoken individual voice (word). Note: Today, we do not hear a spoken voice, but we hear the direct voice of God the Father in our own way. That is the transition we see here: Prior to this point, Jesus knew the logos of God; now Jesus starts hearing the rhēma of God. Again, before Jesus turned twelve years of age, all of a sudden the Father breaks in directly and says: 3 You are My Servant, Israel. Notice that the Father calls Jesus Israel. Why? Let Us Think About This: Where would God the Father start teaching Jesus about who He is? First, the Father wants His Son to know that He is a Representative of Israel. Is that not interesting? Certainly, God the Father does not tell Jesus about the Cross or even about the Kingship first. No, the first thing is You are going to represent Israel. God the Father says that Jesus will be identifying with the nation of Israel first. Later, the identification with all the nations will come; but first, He wants His Child to know He is going to identify with Israel. What is the next thing He says? 4 In whom I will show My glory. Glory is a very religious sounding word, however, it is hard to know what it means. Question:What Is The Glory Of God? God has many attributes, including God is: Love Pure Holy Merciful Righteous Compassionate Faithful Omniscient Omnipresent There are many-maybe innumerable-attributes of God; however, if we could picture each of His attributes as one part of a rainbow, then His glory would be the [entire] rainbow. The glory of God is the total of all His attributes! Look how God the Father is breaking the news to His Son-You are My Servant, You are going to represent Israel, and through You I am going to show My glory. That would mean a lot to this Jewish Boy who had studied the Scriptures, because He had certainly read about Moses, who asked to see the glory of God: Then Moses said, “I pray You, show me Your glory!”Exodus 33:18 But the Lord responded to Moses: “Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.”Exodus 33:20-23 God says I cannot show it to you. You can see the back of Me, and He shielded Moses. Now this young Boy, Jesus, hears God the Father’s voice saying I am going to show all My glory in You. Do you think Jesus catches on that maybe He is going to be more important than Moses? It did not matter that Moses could not see God’s full presence, because nobody could. However, to Jesus, the Father says Son, I am going to show You all My glory. [I believe-] The first communication that Jesus receives from His Father is You are going to identify with the nation of Israel, and in You, I am going to show all My glory. Jesus had studied the Scriptures and He had read about the messiah-there is the hint that Jesus Himself is the Messiah. But now the Father breaks in and says I am going to show My glory in You; and You will represent Your nation, Israel. Do you think the eleven-year-old Boy knew He was the Messiah? I do, because many times in the Old Testament Messiah is identified with the people. Plan A was that the nation of Israel would accept Messiah and they would become unified as one with Messiah-when you said Israel and when you said Messiah, you were saying the same thing. So Jesus knew He was called to a special ministry to Israel. Even though Jesus knows He is the Messiah, He does not yet know the full implications of that. There is a lot of confusion that even a sinless Person, influenced by Holy Spirit, would have had. Frankly, there are messages about the Messiah that seem contradictory in the Old Testament, including Messiah will: Reign Prosper Suffer Be Beaten Be Killed Though this Boy of eleven years of age does not have a full understanding of that, He is learning that He is the Messiah. Things are starting to change. Presented In The Gospels: [I believe-] Directly after this, another significant even happens: Jesus and His family go to Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover, as we see in Luke 2:1-52 : And His parents used to go to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when He became twelve, they went up according to the custom of the Feast; and as they were returning, after spending the full number of days, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. And His parents were unaware of it, but supposed Him to be in the caravan, and went a day’s journey; and they began looking for Him among their relatives and acquaintances. And when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, looking for Him. And it came about that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them, and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers. Joseph and Mary start back to Nazareth, and at day’s end, there is no Jesus. They are frantic, so they run back to Jerusalem. After three days, they find Jesus teaching people in the Temple complex: And when they saw Him, they were astonished; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You treated us this way? Behold, Your father and I have been anxiously looking for You.” And He said to them, “Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be about the Father’s business?” And they did not understand the statement which He made to them. Now it seems like all these things Jesus has learned from the Scriptures, and all these things God the Father has told Him finally have come to pass because at the age of twelve, He is in the Temple teaching other people. [I believe-] Jesus must have felt much more comfortable in the Temple than He did back in His parent’s home in Nazareth, and in His mind, Jesus had no intention of going back This is it. This is My new home. Jesus is starting to think more like God, however, His parents tell Him to come back to Nazareth. Of course, Jesus was not able to disobey [because if He were to disobey that would be sin, and Jesus never sinned]… And He went down with them, and came to Nazareth; and He continued in subjection to them.Luke 2:41-50 Question: What Would Have Happened If- When Jesus Was Twelve, His Parents Had Said Jesus You Can Stay In The Temple? Jesus would have stayed, because at that point Israel was accepting Him-it was only when Jesus started offending the Pharisees and Sadducees that Israel was not accepting Him. Question: How Would That Have Frustrated God’s Plan For Jesus’ Full Ministry? Jesus would have been the King, Israel would have called Him Messiah; and He would have been contained right there in the Land of Israel. And that is why Satan did everything he could during Jesus’ ministry to make Him an earthly King. If He made Jesus the King of just Israel, then Satan would have been perfectly content. The entire scenario would have been different. No matter what Jesus thinks about the state of His ministry, He cannot sin. So Jesus willingly goes back to Nazareth with His parents, and He starts working with His father, Joseph. Word Meaning: MASTER BUILDERS What did Jesus and His [legal] father, Joseph, do for a living? They were, according to the traditional meaning of the word, carpenters. Note: I always get a picture of Jesus and Joseph working in a small shop and making a crummy, little chair. Actually, the Greek word means something different; it means architect or master craftsman, and it refers to master builders. Apparently, there were not very many of these people; and normally, the word was used for people making big buildings. At that time, the only big buildings in Israel were synagogues. That was the business Jesus was in. Speculation: When Jesus went into the synagogues around the Sea of Galilee, such as the synagogue in Capernaum, I wonder if He was going into the synagogues that He had built? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 3: 04. DOUBTS-DELAYS-THE FATHERS CONFIRMATION ======================================================================== Doubts - Delays - The Fathers Confirmation DOUBTING As time goes on, Jesus must have been wondering if something is going wrong: As a Child, Jesus is learning, and in His mind, He really believes that Holy Spirit is giving Him impressions that He is a special Child: He was called from the womb. At the age of eleven, the Father speaks directly to Jesus: I am going to show all My glory in You-and Jesus thinks that is what He heard. At the age of twelve, Jesus is in the Temple teaching the wise men of the Scriptures (the rabbis), who are accepting Him as a teacher. Now Jesus is back in Galilee working with His father, and He is thinking If I am the Servant (Messiah) to reconcile the world, then why am I working as a builder? As the years go by, Jesus must have been thinking Is this real? Is this really happening? Those thoughts are reflected in the following verse: [Isaiah 49:1-26, continued] 4 But I said, “I have toiled in vain, I have spent My strength for nothing and vanity; [I believe-] Jesus thought this about the age of twenty, because in that culture I have spent My strength was taken to mean by the time you are twenty years old, you are past the marrying age and your strength is over. Does it seem strange for Jesus to think I have done this in vain; I have spent all My strength for nothing? It would seem strange in His divine nature, but certainly not in His human nature. Application: This is very important to us, because one of the things we learn in the first part of Jesus’ life-before He knew that the Cross was waiting for Him-is that He suffered many doubts, which is completely understandable. What does that tell us about doubting? Obviously, it is not a sin to doubt. How do we know that? Jesus had doubts, and we know that He never sinned; therefore, we know that doubting is not a sin. Presented In The Book Of James: Part of the reason why people think that it is a sin to doubt might stem from their [wrong] understanding of the following passage: But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord.James 1:5-7 It seems as though James is saying that if somebody doubts, then God will not give him wisdom. If God does not give wisdom to individuals who doubt, then it would not be true that He gives to everybody generously and without reproach; it would be a contradiction. This verse is saying: God is generously giving wisdom, but a doubting person cannot receive it. Illustration: It reminds me of a time in 1960 when I was in the backseat of our family car listening to the seventh game in the [baseball] World Series between the New York Yankees and the Pittsburgh Pirates. I was straining to hear the game because we were driving through southern Louisiana and the radio dial was set at an East Texas radio station [crackle-crackle “Mickey Mantle” crackle-crackle]. The signal went out totally with two outs in the ninth inning. And what I missed was Bill Mazeroski hitting a home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to win the historic game for the Pirates (their first world championship in 35 years)! When I stopped hearing the radio broadcast of the World Series, the game did not stop. [I thought that it would have been nice for them to delay the game until we could tune it in again] The signal was still being transmitted; I just was not getting it. Application: That is what James is saying about a person who doubts: God gives wisdom out to everybody-He throws it out there for everybody-but the doubting person does not receive it. In those times that He doubted, Jesus had to do something about it, because in those moments He was not receiving the Father’s wisdom. What did Jesus do? There is an unmistakable pattern in His life: Jesus has a doubt. As long as Jesus does not say anything, He still doubts. As soon as Jesus verbalizes the doubt to the Father, it is cleared up, and Jesus gets a revelation from God’s Holy Spirit. It happened over and over again. Illustration: This is like the story I heard about a woman who had been an unbeliever all of her life. She was a good woman who raised a family, and the love of her life was her daughter. When her daughter became a teenager she developed leukemia, and the prognosis was bad: she had a very short time left to live. So the woman left the hospital, drove home, and parked the car in her driveway. As she sat in the car, rage built up in her until she started beating on the steering wheel and cursing God. For five minutes she let out a stream of cursing and hatred against God. Then this unbeliever heard an unmistakable voice say I have been waiting for 15 years for you to talk to Me. Keep talking, and I am going to heal your daughter. Application: That is it! God the Father wants people to verbalize [to Him] where they are. And that is a lesson even God the Father’s own Son learned. That was an unmistakable pattern even for Jesus-He had a doubt, and every single time He expressed His doubt, the Father broke through with a special revelation to Him. Note: If you would like to study this pattern of doubt, you will find more passages in Isaiah 49:1-26 through 53 and in some of the Psalms, which show what Jesus was thinking at certain times and an unmistakable pattern of doubt: Doubt-An Expression Of Doubt-A Specific Revelation Here, obviously, Jesus doubts This is all in vain. Then He expresses it to God I have toiled in vain, I have spent My strength for nothing and vanity. However, look how Jesus suddenly changes His mind in the remainder of the verse: “Yet surely the justice due to Me is with the LORD, And My reward with My God.” That is what Jesus was thinking. Do you see the pattern? Jesus has a doubt, He expresses it, and then He gets a revelation of God. Here, Holy Spirit tells Jesus No, it is not in vain. You are the One; I have called You. How do we know that? Because the next verse tells us what the Father [through Holy Spirit] says to Jesus: 5 And now says the LORD who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, Jesus needs reassuring, so the Father reassures Him: To bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel might be gathered to Him(For I am honored in the sight of the LORD, and My God is My strength), That was to be Jesus’ first priority: To Bring The Kingdom To Israel. Question: Do you see what obviously happened? Jesus said I have done all this in vain; I have toiled in vain. As soon as Jesus expresses His doubt, He gets the revelation-God the Father says No! I formed You from the womb to be My Servant. You are going to bring Israel back to Me. I am Your strength. The Father wanted Jesus to verbalize His doubts so that Jesus could receive God’s revelation. Illustration: That was also the pattern King David had when he was angry and when he had doubts: he would doubt God, he would express it, and then he would have a 180-degree turn around [as we see in the many of the Psalms]-all of a sudden David would praise the Lord! What worries me is how little we do that. If Jesus-the sinless, incarnate Son of God-had to express His doubts before He got revelation, then how much more us? If He could not have survived as a human being without expressing His doubts, then why do we think we can? I think we believe we are being holy by not telling God I do not believe this. That is simply not true! Many times David said to the Lord God You have abandoned me. You have broken My covenant and You have profaned it. You have kicked me in the dust. You have thrown away my crown. Was what David was saying true? No! [I think we tend to think everything that is written in the Psalms is always correct thinking. Read carefully.] God told David I am going to raise up a Descendant from you; from your loins Messiah will come; your Son will rule. I have an eternal covenant with you. Over and over David says You have broken My covenant, but before the Psalm is over, David says No, You have not! This is a lesson we are learning from the Son of God Himself. LEARNING THE PURPOSE OF DELAYS In the first part of His life, Jesus experiences a pattern of delays: As a young Child, Jesus learns about Himself through the Scriptures and through God’s Holy Spirit. Years go by, but nothing happens. At some point before eleven years of age, the Father breaks in and speaks directly to Jesus. More than one year goes by, but nothing happens. At some time between the ages of eleven and twelve, there is a flurry of communication from the Father to the Son; and the Son, no question, knows who He is: the Messiah. Years go by, but nothing happens. Another eight or nine years go by, and around twenty years of age, Jesus asks Now what? I am twenty years old. The Father jumps back in You are the One; You are My Servant; I formed You in the womb. Another ten years go by, but nothing happens. Jesus is learning why delays happen. 6 He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant, To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; God says That would be a small thing. It does not sound small to me, but God says That is nothing! I will also make You a light of the nations so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” Do you see what the Father is telling His Son? He says I can make You the Messiah right now; I can restore Israel to You; I can make You the King of Israel. That is no problem. So Jesus says I am twenty years old, so let Us go for it. However, God says Let Us wait, because I have a bigger plan in mind-I am going to use You to be the Savior of the whole world. I think that is when Jesus learns about the purpose of delays: God has something better in mind. Question: Does God Make Us Wait To Test Our Faith? I think sometimes we misunderstand what God’s delays are for. Frankly, I do not really like it when people say God makes you wait to test your faith. That sounds a bit cruel to me. Does it to you? Be honest. God makes you wait to test your faith. God does not need to test my faith; God knows my faith is minimal; God does not need my faith proved to Him. Illustration: That is like when people say You better be careful what you ask for; God might give it to you. [Our request:] Lord, please give me a pig; I mean, give me peace. [God responds:] No, you said pig; no take backs. [Oink-oink!] God would not do that because that would be cruel of Him! I do not think that God makes us wait just to test our faith. I think the pattern is: God lets us wait because He has something much better in mind. That is what the Father is telling His Son. He is not making Jesus wait all those years to test His faith, because Jesus was sinless. The Father had Jesus wait because He had something much bigger and better in mind. Application: Maybe if we are in the position where something looks delayed and we are praying Lord, do this; please change this; maybe we ought to say Lord, You work this out. You must have something better in mind than what I have. And I understand that it might take time for something better to come out. Thank You for working it all out. Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.Ephesians 3:20-21 Presented In The Gospels: That is a lesson Jesus learned that was valuable in His ministry. Consider the story of Lazarus when Jesus delayed. During His three years of ministry [primarily] in Galilee, Jesus made at least three trips down to Jerusalem; this occurs in what was to be His last trip down. Mary, Martha and Lazarus-siblings-are very close friends of Jesus, and their home is in Bethany, the closest place Jesus would have called home. Martha and Mary send a message to Jesus that His friend Lazarus is sick-he is about to die. However, Jesus waits two days after receiving word about Lazarus before He sets out with His disciples for Bethany, a two-day trip from where they are in Perea. In the meantime, Mary and Martha anticipate Jesus’ arrival, knowing that He can heal Lazarus. Now, however, in their minds it is too late because Lazarus dies. When Jesus arrives, He meets Martha first [and Mary later] away from the tomb where Lazarus is buried. Martha says: “Lord if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”John 11:21 Jesus grieves. And He asks where Lazarus is laid. When Jesus gets to the tomb, He raises Lazarus from the dead: Jesus said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me.” When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.” The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said, “Unbind him, and let him go.”John 11:39-44 I do not believe that Jesus was delaying to test the faith of Mary and Martha, because they were close friends and He would not have done that to them. The reason He delayed was to do something better. Do You See The Pattern? The delay is not to test our faith; the delay is to produce something better! If Jesus had gone right away, He would have healed a sick man. However, Jesus’ delay meant the people standing around saw the glory of God-He resurrected a dead man to life! Application: As you conduct an exercise like this, you just sense that you are getting to know Jesus better. That is the value and the benefit of doing this: charting His thoughts, watching Him grow up, and having a better understanding of what the writer of Hebrews meant when he said: He was in all respects tested as we are. Jesus was tested with delays; He was tested with confusion; He was tested with not understanding what was happening. Then the writer says: We do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with us.Hebrews 4:15 Jesus knows what it is like to be disappointed, to not understand, to have delays - He knows! Father, we thank You for Your written word, and for these hidden jewels in Your word. We thank You that You have lifted aside the veil and let us glimpse into that sacred area of communication between You and Your Son, Jesus, when He was a Child, a young Man, and a grown Man. We ask You to continue to bless us, to reward us, as we learn more about Jesus, and as we learn about Him, that the mind of Christ becomes ours just by us learning about Him. Father, above all, we thank You for sending Your Son to earth, and that He willingly took our sins at Gethsemane and He died for our sins on the Cross, giving us freedom, forgiveness, redemption, wholeness, purity, and righteousness in You. We thank You for Jesus. And it is in His name that we pray these things. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 4: 05. THE UP SLOPE ======================================================================== The Up Slope: Jesus Knows He Is Going To Be King Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us this opportunity to study Your word. I pray that You will actively work in the midst of all our needs, burdens and challenges, so we can clear our minds of things involving the world, we can rest in You, and we can focus on Your Son, Jesus Christ, during this time with You. Father, as we enter the sacred grounds of communication between You and Your Son, we pray that You would let us look behind that veil and open the eyes of our spirit. And as we read today’s passages from Your word, would You speak in a special way to us and would You illuminate these verses for us? Father, open our eyes; we want to see Jesus. We ask these things in Jesus’ name. Amen. After all this time (Jesus is almost thirty years of age): hope - dashed hope - questions - answers - years of not much communication, things finally start to move again. Jesus’ cousin, John (the Baptizer, Immerser), is preaching out in Judea and word gets back to Jesus. [Messenger:] Your cousin John is out in Judea preaching. [Jesus:] What is he saying? [Messenger:] He says that the Spirit of God spoke to him, and He said that John was coming in the spirit of-the power of-Elijah (the one who was to come) to announce the Messiah, who he says is You. Jesus must have been glad to hear that John, who has spent years in the desert [possibly at a community called Qumran (where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found)], is preaching the Kingdom is coming, and he is preaching about Him. So Jesus thinks Finally, things are starting to move. Jesus goes out to where His cousin is preaching and John baptizes Jesus, not for His sake, but for ours-Jesus is identifying with us! [See our Matthew 3:13-17, “Messiah Arrives” study.] So Jesus begins His public ministry, and the first thing that happens is that His cousin baptizes Him. What a day that was for Jesus! Let Us Think About This: For thirty years, Jesus-a perfect Man-has learned who He is through studying the Scriptures - through the illumination of Holy Spirit - through occasional interventions from the Father speaking directly to Jesus’ consciousness. However, there has been no public confirmation of this; that had to make Jesus wonder. Presented In The Gospels: In Matthew 3:1-17, Jesus comes to be baptized (immersed) by John: Then Jesus arrives from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him. But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have needs to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” But Jesus answering said to him, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he permitted Him. Again, there had been no public confirmation of who Jesus is…until now. As soon as He is baptized, the whole crowd sees a dove coming down from heaven: And after being baptized, Jesus went up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon Him, And then the whole crowd hears a voice from heaven: and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”Matthew 3:13-17 What a confirmation for Jesus that would have been! Finally, the Father lets other people see and hear; He says This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Do you think the Father is delighted in His Son? Of course He is! And from His Son’s perspective, finally, after all of these years, there is public confirmation from the Father. So Jesus begins His public ministry. And when He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age.Luke 3:23 Keep In Mind: Jesus always acts on the knowledge He has at the time. We tend to think that early in His ministry, Jesus knew everything that He knew at the end, but He did not. What knowledge does He have early in His ministry? Jesus knows the following: He is a special Person. He is called for a purpose. He is the Messiah. He is going to be identified with Israel. He is going to be the King. That explains why the majority of Jesus’ ministry was up in Galilee-called The Great Galilean Ministry-and that is summarized in Matthew 9:1-38 : Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.Matthew 9:35 Jesus has been told You are going to be the King; therefore, based on what Jesus knows at this point, He teaches openly about the Kingdom: The Kingdom Is Coming Repent, I am bringing the Kingdom to Israel. Sermons about Kingdom life (for example, see the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:1-48 to Matthew 1:1-25). Jesus goes through Galilee preaching in the synagogues and healing all people-believers, unbelievers, Jews, Gentiles-who asked to be healed. [In fact, there is never any record of Him refusing to heal somebody.] Jesus must have been confused at first, because some people respond favorably to Him, while others respond hatefully. Presented In The Gospels: One of the key miracles of Jesus’ early ministry that is recorded by all four of the gospel writers (see Matthew 14:15-21; Mark 6:35-44; Luke 9:12-17; John 6:4-13) is: the feeding of the five thousand men-and with the additional women and children, about a total of 10,000-15,000 people-with the five pieces of bread and two fish: And the day began to decline, and the twelve came and said to Him, “Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging and get something to eat; for here we are in a desolate place.” But He said to them, “You give them something to eat!” And they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless perhaps we go and buy food for all these people.” (For there were about five thousand men.) And He said to His disciples, “Have them recline to eat in groups of about fifty each.” And they did so, and had them all recline. And he took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed them, and broke them, and kept giving them to the disciples to set before the multitude. And they all ate and were satisfied; and the broken pieces which they had left over were picked up, twelve baskets full.Luke 9:12-17 The significance of this miracle is, not so much what Jesus did, but what happened after that miracle: Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”John 6:14 The crowd is amazed, and Jesus must have been thinking Is this the time? Remember, Jesus knew that He was going to be the King, and the crowd is saying Let us make Him King. Certainly, He would have thought that it was the time! However, here is where, I believe, Holy Spirit steps in. HOLY SPIRIT STEPPING IN During His ministry, Jesus often went to the mountains or the woods to pray by Himself when He was seeking specific guidance from the Father; however, there were times that Jesus would not know what to pray. Jesus did not know what was going to come up from behind, because He did not use His omniscience. In those cases, Holy Spirit would cover Jesus’ back (step in). Do you see the picture? Jesus always prayed before He did things. For example, He prayed before He chose the apostles- And it was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God. And when day came, He called His disciples to Him; and chose twelve of them, whom He also named apostles.Luke 6:12-13 -and He prayed at night Lord God, lead Me, guide Me. However, it was Holy Spirit who would step in to cover Jesus’ back. [I believe-] Jesus is thinking Yes, I am going to be the King, and they are crying out for Me to be the King. Okay, I will do this. However, Holy Spirit steps in-to cover Jesus’ back-and says No, do not do it! Presented In The Gospels: We know Holy Spirit works like that. From the book of Mark, we see that Holy Spirit was the One who compelled Jesus into the wilderness immediately after Jesus was baptized: And immediately the Spirit compelled Him to go out into the wilderness. And He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan.Mark 1:12-13 Jesus did not want to go into the wilderness-who would want to go to a place that was dangerous with wild animals, arid, hot, lonely, and lacking food and water? So Holy Spirit steps in and compels Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan: And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. And the tempter came and said to Him, “Since You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.Matthew 4:2-3 Knowing that he has the perfect opportunity to tempt Jesus because He is weak, Satan comes to Jesus and says You have not eaten for forty days and forty nights. Why not take that rock and turn it into bread since You are the Son of God? Jesus could have easily turned the rock into bread; however, He does not do it because Satan is really questioning Jesus Are You really identifying Yourself with sinners? Jesus does not do it because Satan is questioning Are You really identifying Yourself with sinners? Therefore Jesus does not turn the rock into bread [because we cannot]-He is identifying with us. So early in Jesus’ ministry, Holy Spirit steps in and compels Jesus, who is an Adult (He is not a Child anymore), into the wilderness. [See our Matthew 4:1-11, “Tempted In His Humanity, Yet Without Sin” study.] And like always, Jesus followed Holy Spirit’s directive. Jesus says I am the King; I am the Messiah; it must be time. And Holy Spirit says Do not do it; do not listen to them. Why do I think it is God’s Holy Spirit? John 6:1-71 says: So Jesus, perceiving How did Jesus perceive? Through the power of Holy Spirit. that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, Do you see that? withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone.John 6:15 The crowd is saying We will make You king; we want to make You king. In fact, they were going to do it by force. Jesus hears Holy Spirit telling Him Do not do it; therefore, Jesus retreats to the mountains. Jesus listened to the prompting of Holy Spirit, so He did not accept the Galileans offer for Him to be King. Jesus understands what it is like for born again believers to make choices. [I believe-] Jesus questioned some of the choices Holy Spirit prompted Him to make; He questioned some of the decisions that God the Father told Him. However, even though Jesus might have questioned some of the choices (decisions), we know that He always did what the Father - what Holy Spirit - told Him. [The Human Being] Jesus is in a dilemma, because He knows He is destined to be the King, and here is a group-of hot and cold Galileans-that wants to make Him King. However, He does not accept their offer because Holy Spirit says Do not do it. Jesus must have been meditating, praying, Did I do the right thing? I came to be King; My Father told Me that I would be King; and they are offering to make Me King. Why did Holy Spirit tell Me not to accept their offer? How will I know when to accept the offer to become King? In Isaiah 49:1-26, God the Father tells Jesus the answer: Isaiah 49 7Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel and its Holy One, To the despised One, To the One abhorred by the nation, To the Servant of rulers, Jesus was despised and abhorred. Look at what the Father says: “Kings will see and arise, Princes will also bow down, Because of the LORD who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You.” How will Jesus know when to accept the offer to become King? When the rulers-kings and princes-extend the offer to Him. There are always going to be common people willing to make Jesus the King; however, Holy Spirit says Do not take the throne unless the rulers of the nation extend the offer to You. And Jesus accepts that. For the rest of His ministry, Jesus is looking for that opportunity. Whenever He sees the Pharisees - the scribes - the Sadducees, He is looking. Whenever He goes to a village, He is looking. Every time He goes to Jerusalem, He is looking. For what is He looking? He is looking to see if the rulers are extending the offer to make Him King. However, Jesus would have been disappointed over and over again, because these leaders always confront Him, but they do not accept Him. Presented In The Gospels: That explains a very intriguing verse about Jesus’ Triumphal (royal) Entry into Jerusalem on March 30, 31 A.D. [See our Daniel 9:20-25, “Daniel’s Prayer Answered-Jesus’ Triumphal Entry” study.] Jesus mounts a donkey’s colt at Bethany near the Mount of Olives, and He rides down the Kidron Valley and up into Jerusalem. Along the way, the crowds from Galilee are spreading their coats and throwing palm branches in front of Him, and those following Him are crying out: Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David; Hosanna in the highest! Once again, the crowds are ready to make Him king. However, in verse 11: Jesus entered Jerusalem and came into the temple; and after looking around intently, For what is Jesus looking? He is looking to see if any of these people accompanying Him are rulers. Were they? No, they were not, because it says: He departed for Bethany.Mark 11:9-11 Why did Jesus depart for Bethany after looking around intently? Those in authority were not extending the offer to make Him the King; it was not going to happen. IS ANYBODY ELSE GETTING THIS MESSAGE? At least once a year during His official public ministry, Jesus goes down to Jerusalem and to the Temple (for example, at Passover). Whenever He is in the Temple area, He is looking around intently in the crowd for kings - princes - rulers - leaders to accept Him as King, but there is still no acceptance. He is always rejected in Jerusalem, so He goes back to Galilee where, generally, the common people accept Him. After three years in ministry, Jesus is looking at this group of people and thinking After three years, is this what I have accomplished? Jesus [in His humanity] must have been wondering Is this real? Is the Voice that I hear really the Father, or am I making this up? Is what My mother and father taught Me real? Is what I am sensing to be the truth about Me from the Scriptures really true? Is anybody realizing this? The rulers and leaders do not. The people in Galilee just think I am somebody who heals them and gives them food. And after three years, I only have this rag-tag bunch of people who do not even seem to know who I am. I wonder if words from Psalms 14:1-7 - The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there are any who understandPsalms 14:2 -came to Jesus’ mind There is no one who understands; there is no one who knows. Jesus had to doubt. At this point, Jesus starts calling Himself Son of Man to draw out from His disciples who they think He is. Note: The Son of Man had become a code word for Messiah to the Jews. Son of Man was taken from a famous passage about one of Daniel’s visions- I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like aSon of Manwas coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.Daniel 7:13-14 It never worked-the disciples are not very bright-so Jesus decides to confront the situation directly. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 5: 06. THE DOWN SLOPE ======================================================================== The Down Slope: Jesus Learns He Is Going To The Cross Presented In The Gospels: Jesus wants to get to the bottom of this issue, so He takes the disciples away from everybody else to Caesarea Philippi, which is located north of Galilee. There in Caesarea Philippi, Jesus has the privacy of the mountains. In Matthew 16:13-16, we read: Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, The tense of the verb means He kept asking them over and over and over. It is stressing how many times Jesus asked His disciples-apparently, He had been asking His disciples for months- “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, The tense of the verb means they kept saying. Every time Jesus asks His disciples, they always give Him the same answer: “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” Again, the tenses indicate that this exchange between Jesus and the disciples happened over and over; Jesus is trying to get them to say something correctly. Finally, Jesus determines I am going to confront the issue directly; He sees He is not going to get the right answer by hinting: He said to them, That is a different verb tense; it is called the eras tense, meaning finally, He stepped in and said to them-literally: “You, who do you say that I am?” Note:You is at the beginning of the sentence, not the word but. Asking this question to His disciples was a risk, because, maybe, Jesus did not want to hear their answer. Let Us Think About This: If they do not know who Jesus is, then what is He going to do? The scenario would be: not only are those in authority not making Him King, but even His own people do not know Him! Jesus would be devastated if He did not get a good answer. So Jesus holds His breath and asks this question You, who do you say that I am? A Turning Point Of Jesus’ Life-finally: Simon Peter answered… “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Note: That is one of the most profound statements made in the history of the world! Jesus went into joy; He was overjoyed. Why? Because Peter confirmed all of those messages Jesus had been getting; somebody else was hearing the same thing He was. Let Us Think About This: From Childhood, Jesus gradually learned about Himself through reading and studying the Scriptures - through the leading of Holy Spirit - and in some cases, through God the Father stepping in and speaking directly to Jesus You are the Messiah; You are going to be the King of Israel. Here, Jesus is almost 33 years of age, but there has been almost no evidence that what He has heard is true. He is thinking Am I just some weird cult up here in Caesarea Philippi with these twelve yo-yos? Is this what it has come to? And people ask- [People:] How do You know that You are going to be the King? [Jesus:] My Father told Me. [People:] Oh, He told You. How? [Jesus:] Inside I can hear Him. Also, it is written about Me in this scroll (book); see, that is Me right here. [People:] Oh, that is You. How do You know? [Jesus:] My Father told Me. [People:] I thought Your father was dead. [Jesus:] No, not Joseph; My heavenly Fa… Jesus realized that He had staked His whole life on voices. Jesus had risked His whole ministry on the presumption that the voice He was hearing was the voice of God, the Creator of the Universe, who was claiming to be His Father. Finally, however, one other person gets the same message that Jesus has been getting. Do you see how Jesus would have been filled with joy? Peter heard the same thing. And Peter did not get that message from the Bible; Peter did not get that message from Jesus; Peter did not get that message from other people. So where did Peter get that message from?- And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona (son of Jona), because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.”Matthew 16:13-17 All those years of messages Jesus heard from heaven were true, because the Voice from heaven telling Jesus You are the Messiah; You are My Son is the same Voice telling Peter This is the Christ (Messiah), the Son of the living God. Do you see why Jesus is filled with such joy? At last, there is a confirmation! Notice: Of all people, Peter-not the sharpest guy in the bunch-hears the voice of God the Father! Question: Why does Peter say the living God? [It would have been enough for him to say You are the Christ, the Son of God.] Because Peter was telling Jesus that God is alive and active and speaking internally to him. The Bible is not just a record of God; it is not just the record left by Somebody who existed in the past. And Jesus was saying the reason Peter thinks He is the living God is that God is speaking to Peter. This is a very significant event in the life of Jesus. He needed to know that the Father is telling somebody else the same thing that He is hearing. Jesus had to know it; and now, it is all confirmed. Also, for the first time, Jesus calls God the Father My Father. Remember: When Jesus prayed the “Disciples’ Prayer”- Our Fatherwho art in heaven, Hallowed be Your nameMatthew 6:9 -He did not say My Father. Why not? Jesus did not dare. However, after Peter says You are the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus realizes I can say, “My Father” now, because I know for a fact that it is true-this man just heard the same thing I have been hearing. Jesus is overjoyed because if just one person catches on, that is enough. Kings and rulers can wait; one person caught on, and now Jesus knows it is really going to happen: the Kingdom is really going to come- “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”Matthew 16:18 Jesus says I tell you, your name is Petras, and upon this Petra I will build My church. In Greek, the word Petra-Jesus is making a play on words-means what you said. The original readers of the New Testament would have heard the following: I say to you that you are Petras-Peter-and based on what you said-Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God-I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. What a spiritual high this would have been for Jesus: confirmation of all those years of listening and all those years of messages-and it is not a coincidence. Jesus had to be overjoyed; and, of course, He prays to His Father Thank You! In Isaiah 49:1-26, we see the Father’s response to Jesus: [Isaiah 49:1-26, continued] 8 Thus says the LORD, In a favorable time I have answered You, How? Through Peter’s confirmation. And in the day of salvation I have helped You; And I will keep You and give You for a covenant of the people, To restore the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritages; Again, from childhood, Jesus was hearing these words, and now Peter confirms them. The Irony Of It All: About 700 years before He is born on earth, the Eternal Word looks ahead and sees what He is going to be thinking in His humanity. Now, the Human Being Jesus, who has studied the Scriptures and who knows this passage, is reflecting on this very passage. Jesus is on a spiritual high, and as He meditates on this long passage, it is wonderful to Him. But then, Jesus reflects on Isaiah 52:1-15. Isaiah 52:1-15 The Father continues speaking to Jesus: 13 Behold, My Servant will prosper, He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted. At this point, Jesus would have thought of that as positive, because of what the Father is saying high - lifted up - greatly exalted. Question: In what sense was Jesus going to be high - lifted up - greatly exalted? Is He going to be greatly exalted when He is high and lifted up on a throne? 14 Just as many were astonished at you, My people, So His appearance was marred more than any man. And His form more than the sons of men. The Father tells Jesus You are going to suffer. How do you think Jesus felt when He heard that in His spirit? Think of His shock! It was thehigh point of Jesus’ life, -and then immediately- It was thelow point of Jesus’ life. Jesus has the greatest high and the lowest low of His life at the same place: Caesarea Philippi. It is there that all those messages from His childhood are confirmed because Peter got the same message: Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. However, it is also at Caesarea Philippi that Jesus learns: He will not be high - lifted up - greatly exalted on a throne. He will be high - lifted up - greatly exalted on a Cross. Presented In The Gospels: A Turning Point Of Jesus’ Life-in Matthew 16:1-28 : From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.Matthew 16:21 From that time, Jesus begins to show His disciples that He is going to go to the Cross. Question: Do you see how this corresponds to what Jesus was thinking as we saw in the book of Isaiah? Matthew 16:1-28 is the peak of Jesus’ ministry, when Peter proclaims Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Then, just after the wonderful experience at Caesarea Philippi with Peter, suddenly Jesus knows the specifics of what is going to happen I am going to Jerusalem; they are going to beat Me and kill Me. Before leaving the area of Caesarea Philippi, God does something for Jesus’ benefit-The Transfiguration: And some eight days after these sayings, it came about that He took along Peter and John and James, and went up to the mountain to pray. And while He was praying, the appearance of His face became white and gleaming. And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were Moses and Elijah, who, appearing in glory, were speaking of His departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions had been overcome with sleep; but when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men standing with Him.Luke 9:28-32 We tend to think of Jesus’ transfiguration was for the disciples’ benefit; however, it was for Jesus’ benefit-telling Him You are going to die, but You will survive it. Yes, He is going to die, but Jesus Himself has seen what He is going to be like after that. This would have greatly encouraged Jesus. From Caesarea Philippi on, Jesus never again has doubt about who He is. During the first part of His ministry [that lasts about three and one half years]-the up slope-Jesus knows He is going to be the King, so in His ministry Jesus preaches about the Kingdom. Now, in the last part of His ministry [that is very brief]-the down slope-Jesus knows He is going to the Cross, so there is a significant shift in His ministry: Jesus teaches in parables. When one of His disciples asks Jesus Why are preaching in parables? He gives a surprising answer: And He said, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, in order that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.”Luke 8:10 He starts preaching in parables so they would not understand! Why? For three years, Jesus had a bunch of people hanging around Him who wanted to be fed and healed, who wanted to see miracles, and who felt that being around Him was the in place to be spiritually. Now Jesus knows that the nation of Israel is going to reject Him, and since He does not want to have pretenders hanging on, He begins to teach in parables. Those individuals who are not interested (who are not being convicted by Holy Spirit) will not want to stay around (they will leave), and those who want to understand more will ask Will You explain that parable to me? What did You mean by that parable? And Jesus would explain it. TRIUMPHAL ENTRY Speculation: For a time, I believe, Jesus wondered if His death would be like the sacrificial death of Isaac. In the Bible, it always says Abraham sacrificed his son, Isaac; it does NOT say Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son Isaac, nor does it say Abraham started to sacrifice Isaac, but he was interrupted. It always says Abraham sacrificed his son. So maybe Jesus thought His own sacrifice would be that way: a substitutionary death. His Father told Him You can accept the offer to become King when the offer comes from the rulers, and Jesus is wondering Am I going to be the reigning or the suffering Messiah? Therefore, I believe, Jesus entertained that possibility [of a substitutionary death] until the final revelation, which came at His Triumphal Entry. In Luke 9:1-62, we read: He was determined to go to Jerusalem.Luke 9:51 That means Jesus resolved in His Spirit I can handle this; I am going to Jerusalem. Once again, Jesus goes to Jerusalem. Although He probably realizes that the rulers are not going to accept Him at this time, He makes sure no one will ever say that He had not come to offer the Kingdom. So He makes His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, as follows: People from Galilee are following Him. Jesus mounts a colt on the top of the Mount of Olives. Jesus rides the colt into Jerusalem. People are throwing palm leaves in front of Him. People in Jerusalem join people from Galilee. Jesus thinks Maybe this is it? Jesus enters the City through the gate. The text says He looked around intently. For what was Jesus looking? Who are these people? Jesus saw it was not the rulers; that was the last blow. Jesus is officially rejected by the nation of Israel, and now He knows, no question, His death is not going to be like Isaac’s was-He is going to the Cross. Then in Matthew, we see one of the saddest verses in the Bible: And leaving there He departed and went to Bethany.Matthew 21:17 That does not sound like much of a verse, however, it is a very sad verse. Why? Jesus was not supposed to depart Jerusalem and go to Bethany after the Triumphal Entry-He was supposed to stay in Jerusalem and rule as King. JOY and DEPRESSION In His last days of ministry, Jesus goes through cycles of joy and depression. Why depression? He is looking at going to the Cross and being nailed on it, something that would surely depress anyone. Application: We know it is not wrong for Christians to be depressed, because Jesus was. Although Jesus prepared for it, the last days of His life had to be emotionally wrenching and discouraging for Him; however, Jesus had a couple of respites, as follows: He spent time with His friends Lazarus, Martha and Mary in Bethany. [The best respite He had during that last week-] He partook the Passover Seder (meal) with His twelve disciples. It Is Amazing: Jesus is fully God, but as a human being, He does not use His divine privileges. To Him, it is very important to be around His friends during His final days. Dear heavenly Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for showing us the news behind the news-the rest of the story. Father, we have this clear picture of Jesus’ ministry, however, You have also given us a little background of His thoughts and His doubts and His struggles-we only have to dig for these treasures! Father, thank You for using these passages to make Jesus seem more real to us, to make our Messiah, our Redeemer, come alive to us. I pray that we would know Him and the fellowship of His sufferings, and we would reach for the upward call-the highest prize available in this life-knowing Him. It is in Jesus’ name that we pray. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 6: 07. JESUS IS GRANTED FULL KNOWLEDGE OF WHO HE IS ======================================================================== Jesus Is Granted Full Knowledge Of Who He Is After the Triumphal Entry there is no question that Jesus is going to the Cross, and that He is going to die. It is at this point that God the Father gives Jesus more knowledge than He (Jesus) has ever had. We have been studying how Jesus gradually learned about who He was - about how Jesus gradually learned the direction of His ministry - about how Jesus gradually learned what His fate would be - about how Jesus gradually learned about the Cross. However, things have changed. Now, Jesus is facing the Cross, however, there is something we can never forget: The Cross Was Always Jesus’ Choice Note: Even as a Human Being, the Cross was always Jesus’ choice. He could have declined going to the Cross. Why? Because, even as a Human Being, Jesus was equal with God. Though He did not exercise His divine prerogative (in His humanity, He did not have the knowledge of God), He was equal with God. And God the Father never let Jesus forget that. At the end of Jesus’ life, the Cross is looming and God the Father wants Jesus to make the choice about the Cross; and for Jesus to make that choice, God the Father has to give Jesus knowledge. Therefore, I believe, during the last week of His life, God the Father floods Jesus with full consciousness of who He is. Presented In The Gospels: In John 14:1-31, we read an account of the Passover Seder (meal), which Jesus shared with His disciples in the Upper Room. Listen to what He says: In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.John 14:22 Prior to this, Jesus did not know from where He came; however, here at the end, He knows everything. Jesus says: I am the way, the truth, and the life.John 14:6 That is a triple hendiadys (expressing one complex idea). Again, Jesus is fully conscious of who He is. In John 16:1-33, Jesus says: I came forth from the Father, and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again, and I am going to the Father.John 16:28 In this one sentence, Jesus summarized it all! God has granted Jesus the knowledge of where He (Jesus) is in Eternity, which is outside of time: He is with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. The second Person of the Godhead (the Son of God) was the One designated from the beginning: Who would enter time, Who would come into the world, Who would take upon Himself a human form, and Who would take our sin and die. Now Jesus knows all of that, and He says: Now Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.John 17:5 Here in the Upper Room, Jesus is fully majestic and He knows everything, because God the Father has given Him full knowledge. Why?- Jesus has a choice to make about the Cross that is coming up in just a few hours. [Since God the Father knows Jesus will choose Yes-] Jesus has something to endure, and it is not the Cross. Note: I am not saying that Jesus is looking forward to the Cross; I am saying that at this point in His life, Jesus is facing something that really is worse than the Cross. I am not making light of the Cross, however, there were many people who went to the cross who were not sweating blood at Gethsemane and who approached death with calm. Illustration: That is like today when many people who are facing execution approach their deaths with calm. In the 1960s, a fellow in the USA was facing death by firing squad for capital punishment. As he was being readied for the firing squad, he was asked Do you have one last request? To which the fellow answered Why yes, a bulletproof vest! Some people face death with calm. Jesus is facing something at the end of His life that to Him is worse than the Cross. What He is dreading is not the Cross-although again, He certainly is not looking forward to the Cross-there is something worse. As His days get shorter, Jesus spends more and more time with His disciples; as we have just seen, at the end of His life, Jesus brought His disciples with Him to the Upper Room. Why? To prepare His disciples. For Jesus’ comfort, because He knows what it is that He is facing. Now, Jesus knows the end is near; He knows that He is going to the Cross (it is not going to be an Isaac-type situation). Though Jesus is not looking forward to the Cross, He is in ordeal mentally because He knows something is about to happen that is: Going to involve the relationship between He and His Father. Going to involve our sins. Going to be the crisis of His life. [In fact, the Gethsemane scene is pictured as being much more agonizing to Him than the Cross.] Therefore, Jesus wants to have that moment at a place where He feels comfortable-the Garden of Gethsemane. Presented In The Gospels: In Luke 22:1-71, we have a brief account of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane: And He came out Jesus is leaving the Upper Room. and proceeded as was His custom to the Mount of Olives; Why does Jesus choose to go to the Mount of Olives? Because He is about to face something that He knows what it is, but He does not know what it will be like. So Jesus goes to a place where He is comfortable, a place where He has prayed many times before: the Garden of Gethsemane. Since it is an ordeal He is facing, Jesus wants to be with people who are closest to Him: and the disciples also followed Him. Luke 22:39 Toward the end of His life, Jesus withdrew from the crowds more and more, and focused more and more on His disciples. Here He takes His twelve disciples with Him to Gethsemane to help Him face what is coming. Jesus wants the disciples near Him, however, what is about to happen is a very private transaction between Jesus and His Father. Although He wants the disciples close, now He must pull away from them: And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, saying, “Father, Something Very Interesting: This is the last time Jesus calls Him Father. Why? Because our sins are about to come on Jesus, and when they do, He is going to be cursed; and when Jesus is cursed, He cannot call Him Father anymore. if You are willing, remove this cup form Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.”Luke 22:41-42 What is Jesus praying? He is praying that He will not die at this moment. Traditional Interpretation: Jesus is saying If possible, let Me not go to the Cross-the cup meaning “the Cross.” No! In His humanity, Jesus was not praying that the Cross would be removed; He knew with certainty that the Cross was coming- Jesus knew there was a sin problem in the world that He had to face. Jesus knew very well that the authorities were not going to accept Him. After the Upper Room discourse, Jesus knows that He is going to the Cross, and that He has willingly identified with us. To Be Saved From Death: In Hebrews 5:1-14, the writer says: In the days of His flesh, Speaking of Jesus. He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, Obviously, this is at Gethsemane. Look at what He says: and He was heard because of His piety.Hebrews 5:7 The writer of Hebrews says that the prayer, which Jesus prayed at Gethsemane, was heard because He was the Son; Jesus’ prayer-to be saved from death-was answered Yes! Illustration: Foxe’s Book of Martyrs is an excellent book that presents historical accounts of the early church age martyrs and the tortures and cruelties they endured. The book does not get too graphic, but it does give enough information for you to know that people were nailed to poles, placed in fires, and up until their last breath, they continued singing hymns, praying for their tormentors, and praising God. Consider the apostle John who escaped a violent death and lived to be about 100 years old. His persecutors kept trying to kill him, but they could not; they put John in boiling oil [that was great for his skin], but he did not die! “Being at Ephesus, he was ordered by the emperor Domitian to be sent bound to Rome, where he was condemned to be cast into a caldron of boiling oil. But here a miracle was wrought in his favor; the oil did him no injury; and Domitian, not being able to put him to death, banished him to Patmos to labor in the mines, A.D. 73.” (Theodore Alois Buckley, M.A., Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, London, George Routledge & Sons, Limited) There were martyrs who were tortured, frankly, more than Jesus, and they were not in agony like Him. Again, it was not the physical Cross Jesus was dreading [although He was not looking forward to it]; it was: The Separation From His Father It is obvious that Jesus was asking Let this cup pass, because He felt like He was going to die right there at the Garden of Gethsemane: And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became drops of blood falling down upon the ground…Luke 22:44 In the original Greek text, clearly it says He was sweating drops of blood. Note: It does not say that Jesus’ sweat became like blood-the word like means Jesus was bleeding through His pores so much that it was pouring out of His skin like sweat, but it was blood! Medical Condition: Blood pouring out of the skin is known to have happened. Under great stress, the heart muscle actually gives out, and every organ functions below what it is supposed to function. Sometimes the organs freeze up, or sometimes they overreact, but they will do one or the other in relation to stress. It makes the blood pressure so high that the heart, literally, cannot take it, and it starts to collapse. And when that happens, it forces the blood out, because under stress the pores on the skin also enlarge, and all of those fine capillaries at the surface of the skin start to break. Where does that blood go? Out of the pores. THE REASON FOR JESUS’ AGONY What is happening to Jesus at this moment? All of our sins were being put on Him. And when our sins were put on Jesus, He felt something He had never felt before; He experienced something He had never experienced before; He experienced something He did not know what it would be like-death. What is death? Romans 6:1-23 tells us: The wages of sin is death. Romans 6:23 Here, death means spiritual death-separation from the Father. So what is Jesus dreading right now? Separation from His Father-something Jesus cannot anticipate what it is going to be like. We sin so much that we are hardened to our sin; however… Jesus was an innocent Person, a sinless Person: Who did not know what sin felt like. Who did not know what separation from His Father felt like. What is a separated man from God? Sin. But Jesus did not have any sin; He never sinned. Through all His doubt, through all His disappointments, through all of His depressions, Jesus never knew what it was like to be separated from His Father. But now Jesus is thinking What will it be like when I am separated from My Father? Jesus dreaded separation from His Father. As the sins of the world start coming down on Him physically, He almost cannot take it. Living On Forever: Again, we are so hardened to sin that we have lost the connection with Sin being death. That is what it is: Sin is death; and the only kind of death [there is] is separation from God, not ceasing consciousness. As far as we know, everybody’s consciousness lives on forever. Even the unbeliever is going to live forever in a sense, although it is such a horrible place that you cannot really call it living. It is called death-though it is conscious-and that is separation from God. The unbeliever is not conscious here on this earth; however, his consciousness lives on in Hades, and that we know from the rich man (an unbeliever) and the poor man, Lazarus (a believer)- “Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over form here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.”Luke 16:22-26 The rich man (an unbeliever) died and went to Hades; his consciousness lives on. We tend to think that when our sins were placed on Jesus’ account, it was just a legal maneuver. In another words, legally, our sins were put on His account (ledger); therefore, legally, He had to pay the judicial penalty, which is death. That is not the way it is at all. Our sins were literally put on Jesus. He felt them; He almost died from them; and He knew what they were. In Psalms 40:1-17 w:1-17 : For evils beyond number have surrounded Me; My iniquities have overtaken Me, so that I am not able to see.Psalms 40:12 hew:12 hew:12 Jesus made an amazing choice of words-My iniquities means iniquities that are Mine, but I did not do them. When our sins were on Jesus, He felt them and He was very aware they were coming on Him, because they were physically put on Him. Good News For Born Again Believers: That means that our sins were not just dealt with judicially (legally); our sins were literally (physically) put on Jesus. In fact, the reason we know that is our sins almost killed Him. And He is praying there at Gethsemane Do not let Me die here; Let this cup pass; I am feeling like I am dying here with all of these sins dumped on Me; Let this cup pass. OUR SINS WERE KILLED When Jesus died on the Cross-when His body was killed on the Cross-our sins that were in His body were killed [not just erased]. In 2 Corinthians, Paul says: He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us.2 Corinthians 5:21 Paul could have just said He made Him who never sinned to be sin for us, but he said He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us. Jesus’ identification with us is not just something theoretical; it is our salvation. If Jesus was not really identified with us, then our sin is still on us. If He did not identify with us, then where is our sin? It is still on us. Our sins were really put on Him; and that explains Gethsemane. Question: Do you see what Jesus was going through? He knew that the wages of sin was death. He knew that the unrighteous people go to Hades-to Hell. He knew He was about to become unrighteousness for our sake. He knew the sins would be dumped on Him. He knew, in some sense, He was going to go to Hades. Even not knowing, and even dreading it, Jesus did it anyway. Just A Thought: That may also be why Jesus was not judgmental toward sinners during His ministry. If Jesus were here today, we would be scandalized at what He did and where He went-because Jesus was not judgmental about sin. And part of the answer is: Sin was a foreign concept to Jesus; He did not understand sin, but He was willingly to identify with us. [And, of course, there is no question that He is also very forgiving and merciful.] Father, as the rain comes down from heaven and makes the plants grow, even without their participation, would You take this knowledge You have given us: our sins were literally put on Jesus. And when our sins were put on Him, His 100 percent obedience to the Law was placed on us. And just as our sins were really placed on Jesus, Your righteousness is really placed on us. We thank You, although it does not seem possible, and evidence seems totally to the contrary, that those of us who at some point looked at Jesus and said I believe that You paid the penalty for my sins we are 100 percent righteous. Father, we thank You for that righteousness, and we ask that You would continue to bless our study of the Hidden Life of Jesus. We pray in His name. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 7: 08. JESUS MAKES THE CHOICE ======================================================================== Jesus Makes The Choice MESSIANIC PSALMS In Psalms 40:1-17 w:1-17 we have an account of what Jesus was thinking and praying at the Garden of Gethsemane. How do we know that? Psalms 40:1-17 w:1-17 is one of the many Psalms called Messianic Psalms (Psalms about the Messiah), and David wrote many of them. So when you read these Psalms penned by David, you think This is David and he is describing his own experiences, but then you come to a verse that does not seem to apply to David anymore-What?!? For example, in Psalms 22:1-31, David is talking about how his enemies have mistreated him: A band of evildoers have encompasses me; And then he says: They pierced my hands and my feet. Psalms 22:16 What does that mean? David asked that same question, which is why we want to consider the following passage in 1 Peter 1:1-25 : As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you Who are the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you? They are the Old Testament prophets, including David. made careful searches and inquiries, What were they looking for? seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Messiah within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Messiah and the glories to follow. When David was writing his Psalms, he was conscious that Holy Spirit was directing Him. Do you see that? He says They were seeking to know what person or timethe Spirit of Messiah within them was indicating. [David is writing this (Psalms 22:1-31) and Holy Spirit is prompting him:] Tell them about the time that your enemies encompassed you. [So David writes:] And my enemies abandon me; evildoers have encompassed me. [And Holy Spirit says:] Write, “They pierced my hands and my feet.” [So David writes it.] It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, Who is You? The ungrammatical is: Us. in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven-things into which angels long to look.1 Peter 1:10-12 [David asks:] What do you mean they pierced my hands and my feet? I never got my hands and feet pierced. [And Holy Spirit says:] This is not for you, David. This is about the Messiah, and it is for those who will come later. That is what we see in Psalms 40:1-17 w:1-17 which appears to be a Psalm of David and the things that happened to David; however, as we see in verse 7 [and with other clues in the passage], it is really not about David. Let us see who it is: When I said, “Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me.”Psalms 40:7 thew:7 thew:7 The Old Testament points to the Messiah. So we know that Psalm is really about Messiah Jesus, and upon a closer look at the Psalms, I think, we see that it is clearly Jesus’ thoughts at the Garden of Gethsemane. Psalms 40 11:1-255I waited patiently for the LORD; It was a long, agonizing wait while Jesus is praying for help and praying to be delivered from death at Gethsemane. Notice: Jesus is not calling Him Father anymore. God answered: And He inclined to Me and heard My cry. Jesus was weak and at the point of death when God rescued Him. 2 He brought Me up out of the pit of destruction, Meaning out of death. out of the miry clay, And He set My feet upon a rock making My footsteps firm. 3 He put a new song in My mouth, a song of praise to our God; Many will see and fear And will trust in the LORD. Here, Jesus is looking toward the Cross, and He is saying Thank You for putting this song in My mouth; and no matter what happens to Me at the Cross, I am going to keep testifying in You; and many will trust in the LORD. By The Way: Did that happen? Yes. For example, both the Roman centurion and the thief on the cross trusted in Jesus as their Savior. 4 How blessed is the man who has made the LORD his trust, Here, at the end of His life and at the end of the relationship with His Father and the way He knew Him, Jesus says I could have been King, but I made the right choice by trusting in You. Remember: Jesus was brought up under the Law. From the time Jesus was a baby-when His parents brought the birds to Jerusalem-through the times as an adult He went to Jerusalem, He saw the sheep lined up for sacrifice. Apparently, these animals were sacrificed on a large rock that contained a drainage hole leading to the Kidron Valley that literally flowed with the blood of animals. During Jesus’ life, He gradually understood the picture-which He saw with the blood of animals flowing down the Kidron Valley-was a picture of Him. And here at Gethsemane that is to what He is referring: And has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood. 5 Many, O LORD my God, Are the wonders which You have done, And Your thoughts toward us; This is an amazing passage, because Jesus is just now aware that our sins (all the sins of each individual who trust in Jesus as their Savior) are about to be dumped on Him (put on Him), but He does not resent it. He says And Your thoughts toward us. Even at this point, Jesus is still identifying Himself with us! Again, Jesus was brought up under the Law and He saw the sacrifices constantly. That is why, in verse 6, He says something rather remarkable: 6 Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired; Yes, God did desire that; in fact, He required sacrifices and offerings. My ears You have opened; What does He mean by that? Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required. How were people under the Old Covenant-under the Law-redeemed (saved)? People under the Old Covenant were saved by trusting in the coming Messiah [Jesus]; they just did not know His name. In the Old Testament, regardless of the Law, somebody who did not bring any sacrifices or who did not do any of the offerings-the burnt offering - the sin offering - the grain offering - the waive offering-but who trusted in the Messiah was saved. For example, Job was saved. How do we know that? In Job 19:1-29 : As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives. And in the last He will take His stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God.Job 19:25 Why was Job redeemed? Because he knew that his Redeemer lived and that in the last He will stand upon the earth. Who was Job talking about? The Redeemer, Messiah-Jesus. Here, at the end of His life, Jesus is talking to His Father and saying Father, I recognize that all of those animals I have seen all of those years were really just a picture of Me. And that is why in verse 7 He says: 7 Then I said, “Behold I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of Me.” Jesus has full knowledge now. As presented throughout the Old Testament (the book), people were looking for the Redeemer who lives and who is to come: Messiah. Starting with Adam and Eve, God said to Satan There is going to be a Descendant of Eve’s to come, and He is going to fight against you; you will bruise Him on the heal, but He will crush you on the head. (See Genesis 3:15.) Also, throughout the centuries of the Old Testament, there were all the pictures of the animals. Jesus has full knowledge You really were not looking for sacrificed animals; You were looking for a Person, and that Person is Me. And now, His body-there in Gethsemane, crouched in agony-is the Ultimate Body. The reason that God the Father granted Jesus this full knowledge right at the end is that Jesus is going to make a choice about whether He will take on our sins, or not. Jesus had the choice. It seems to me that before God would put all of our sins on a totally righteous, innocent Person, He would have to have that Person’s permission, or it would have been unjust. Correct? In fact, when the soldiers came for Jesus at Gethsemane, He said: “Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?”Matthew 26:53 Question:What would have happened if Jesus had decidednotto take on our sins and if He would have appealed to His Father? Let Us Think About This: Whether Israel accepted Him or not, Jesus came to die for the sins of His people. How would that have worked? Really, we are all operating under Plan B anyway; Plan A was that the nation of Israel would accept Him. However, there is still a problem, because Messiah was to reign forever, and Jesus has a mortal body. How would that have worked out? Just before the Triumphal Entry-the determining point: the definitive rejection of Jesus by the nation of Israel and by the leadership-was the Transfiguration of Jesus, Moses, and Elijah who all appeared in glorified bodies. In the End Times, two witnesses in glorified bodies-[I believe-] Moses and Elijah-will prophesy for three and one half years in Jerusalem (see Revelation 11:1-14). That tells me that if the nation of Israel had accepted Jesus as the King at His Triumphal Entry, then God the Father would have glorified His body right then. So Jesus could have rejected this imposition of our sin on Him. He is fully equal to the Father, so if He had rejected our sins to be put on Him, then God would have worked it out. Furthermore, if the nation of Israel had accepted Jesus as the Messiah, as the King-Plan A-then God would have worked something out. At the end, Jesus has a choice, and that is why He says: 8 I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart.” Jesus is saying that the Law, including the sacrifices-the substitutionary system (the worshipper would bring in a lamb, place his hands on the lamb, and his sins would be symbolically transferred to that lamb, so that when the lamb was killed, his sins were killed too in a picture format)-is within My heart, which means: My desire to be the Ultimate Lamb, to be the Substitute for all sinners, is within My heart. In verses 9 and 10, Jesus is looking back over His life: 9 I have proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great congregation; Behold, I will not restrain my lips, O LORD, You know. 10 I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great congregation. And in verse 11, Jesus expresses confidence even though He knows that He is going to die: 11 You, O LORD, will not withhold Your compassion from me; your lovingkindness and Your truth will continually preserve me. I look at Gethsemane as the time when Jesus, the Son, is saying Goodbye to His Father. When I Was Growing Up: I used to hear God the Father gave up His Son - He turned Him over - He lost Him, and it really used to puzzle me. I never asked about it, because I did not want to sound irreverent Did God the Father really give up His Son? -or- Was it just for the weekend? The Scriptures clearly say that God the Father gave up His Son - He lost His Son. So then, you think Jesus died and then the Father got Him back three days later. No, He did not. The Bible makes it clear that God the Father lost His Son. The second Person of the Godhead (the Eternal Word) never stopped functioning; however, what happened to that Human Being, Jesus, who had full fellowship with His Father, who was sinless, and who God the Father delighted in as His only begotten Son? He is gone. God the Father lost Someone; God the Father does not have that Person around anymore. The relationship is gone, is changed, because of our sin. And here at Gethsemane, Jesus is looking back on His life-how sweet the fellowship has been-because He knows it is ending. Then something happens-clearly, there is a break in action: 12 Now evils beyond number have surrounded me; What are we seeing here? We are looking in on the very moment when our sins start to come on Jesus. Then He says: My iniquities have overtaken me, The word My is where I want to stop for a moment. In the English language, a possessive pronoun-what My is-is used to mean two different things, but a distinction is not made between the two (both are said the same way). In the Greek language, there are two different ways to say My. The Greek word Jesus uses here for My iniquities have overtaken me means iniquities that did not originate with Him but are now associated with Him. Did You See? Jesus does not mind claiming our sins! This always amazes me: He says My iniquities have overtaken Me. Do you know what Jesus is talking about? He is talking about our sin, but He calls them Mine. Jesus considers the sin problem, not as our problem, but His. I love it when the author of Hebrews says: He is not ashamed to call them His brethren. Hebrews 2:11 Jesus is not ashamed to call us His brother; He identifies with us so fully that our sin became His. Application: I think if we ever fully understood how much Jesus identified with us, our lives would be totally different. And look, He says: so that I am not able to see; This was a Man who was righteous - holy - innocent (He never sinned), and now, our sin is dumped on Him. [I think-] It affects His body so much that He, literally, cannot see for a while. Jesus says He felt it. They are more numerous than the hairs of my head, and my heart has failed me. Our sins being placed on Jesus was: An accounting procedure-our sin was placed on His account (ledger). A legal procedure-our sins were placed on Him, He was declared guilty, and He paid the death penalty for it. A physical procedure-our sins were, literally, put on Him in a physical sense, and He was aware of it. Here, Jesus is aware the sins were coming on Him-He felt it-and there were physical consequences to it. [Before it happened, He never knew what having sin on Him felt like.] And His response to our sins being put on Him: 13 Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me; Make haste, O LORD, to help me. [I think-] That is when Jesus prays Let this cup pass (Luke 22:42). Speculation: Jesus had full knowledge here at the end, and He knows the sins are coming on Him; and then Jesus says Now evils beyond number have surrounded Me. He can almost see them; in fact, I am wondering if Jesus could see them. In John 13:1-38 : He loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. John 13:1 I am wondering if John is talking about more than just Jesus’ disciples, if he is talking about us (individuals who believe Jesus is their Savior). I think that Jesus, at the Garden of Gethsemane, not only got our sins placed on Him, but also, He got a divine revelation of each one of us. It would make sense that He would know for whom He was dying; to me, it does not make sense to say that Jesus loved the church in some unified sense, or that He loved the church in a global, impersonal sense. I believe Jesus loved every single person in the church body, and I believe, at the end of His life, He had a divine revelation of each one of us. If He loved us, then that means He loved us. If He took our sin, He did not take the collective sins of the world; He took all of my sins, knowing they were my sins, and He took all of your sins, knowing they were your sins. Question: How does it help us to know that Jesus was consciously aware that our sins were going on Him and He felt the force (physical impact) of our sins being placed upon Him? It frees us! It is one thing for us to believe that our sins were placed on Him-if you believe that and trust in Him, then that is enough for salvation-but how much more benefit it is to us to see the moment when our sins were placed on Him, to see Jesus acknowledging My iniquities have overwhelmed Me; they are surrounding Me; I am over My head with all My sin. How does this benefit us? We know that our sins were really put on Him and that He fully agonized over our sins at Gethsemane; therefore, we do not have to agonize over our sins-ever! Note: Jesus describes the sins coming on Him as if it is something from outside. He takes responsibility for our sins, but He describes them, not as coming from within, but as coming from without For evils beyond number have surrounded Me. They are more numerous than the hairs on My head. That is how Jesus Christ and God the Father see our sin. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 8: 09.JESUS PRAYS THAT HE WILL NOT DIE AT THIS MOMENT ======================================================================== Jesus Prays That He Will Not Die At This Moment ACCEPTING OUR NEW IDENTITY In one sense, God does not see our sin-He sees us as totally perfect from the time we trusted in Jesus as Savior. And in another sense, God is omniscient (all knowing). So how could He not see our sin? God does not see our sin as originating from within us. He sees the sin of born again believers as His problem: Do not worry; I will take care of that problem. We tend to think that because we have sin in us, that we are sinners, but we are not. Picture: When I get a splinter, I do not think I am a totem pole; I think that I am a person with a splinter. The splinter is not part of me; it is alien to me; it is external to me. God says to reject who you think you are: you are not a sinner; you are a new person. The sin is not part of you; it is alien to you; it is external to you. God looks at Sin in our lives as something that plagues us, as something that He feels sorry for; He considers it His problem, not ours. So yes, God sees the Sin, and He sees it as something that is external to us and as something that His Son has already taken care of. That is why in Romans 8:1-39, Paul says: There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Because through Christ Jesus: For what the Law was powerless to do Is there anything wrong with the Law? No, the Law is perfect. What could the Law not do? The Law could not make people righteous. in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God’s Law was never going to save anybody. Why not? Nobody could do it (fulfill the Law). We tend to look at God’s Law as a way of salvation, and Paul says clearly The Law was a ministry of condemnation. However, one Person stepped forward-Behold…In the scroll of the book it is written of Me-and said I will do it (Psalms 40:7 thew:7 thew:7). And do you know what? Jesus did it! God did by sending His own Son in the likeness Meaning the exact representation. of sinful man to be a sin offering, And here is one of my favorite verses in the New Testament: He condemned sin in a Man full of sin, Did you catch that? He-God the Father-condemned sin in a Man full of sin. Who is He talking about? Jesus was a Man full of sin. But He was full of sin: ours! Why did He do that?- in order that the righteous requirements of the Law might be fully Did you see that word fully? That is a technical term that means fully. met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.Romans 8:1-4 Here is the benefit of seeing the picture of Jesus at Gethsemane: Jesus saying: Hey, there are [insert your name]’s sins coming on Me; they are surrounding Me; all these evils beyond number have surrounded Me; My heart has failed Me; I am not able to see! (See Psalms 40:12 hew:12 hew:12). Question:Why do we want to know that? We see our sins were really put on Jesus. Question:Why does it matter that our sins were really put on Him? He says For everybody whose sins were put on Jesus, the righteous requirements of the Law would be fully met in us. What we are seeing at Gethsemane is our sins - literally, physically - being put on Jesus. And at the same time, we are seeing the 100 percent perfection, required by the Law, put on us. Isaiah 50:1-11 Isaiah 50:1-11 is one of those remarkable Bible passages that was written 700 years before Jesus was born, but is one that clearly depicts Him. Isaiah was one of the prophets, who were writing things they did not understand-see 1 Peter 1:10-12 [The prophets asked Holy Spirit directly:] Who is this? [Holy Spirit said:] You are writing for the benefit of people who come later. [I think-] In Isaiah 50:1-11, clearly, Jesus is pictured after our sins were being placed on Him at Gethsemane. At that time, Jesus prays: Father, let this cup pass, if it be Your will.Luke 22:42 Jesus feels like He is about to die-He is very near death from the physical shock of our sins on Him-so He is praying that He will not die at this moment. Note: Consider the sins of King David-one of the most exalted characters of all time- adultery throughout his life and first-degree, premeditated murder. All of David’s sins were physically placed on Jesus, along with all the sins of all the saints of all time. Yes, I am sure it almost killed Jesus; in fact, blood came out of His pores, indicating that He nearly died. And, I believe, Jesus was dozing in and out because He was about to die. So when Jesus prays Let this cup pass, He was asking Do not let Me die here on this mountain; let Me die on the Cross. And Hebrews 5:7 tells us because Jesus was the Son, His prayer was answered. Did Jesus die at the Gethsemane? No, He woke up: 4 He awakens Me morning by morning, Literally, He woke Me in the morning just like He did the other mornings. Jesus is relieved to wake up: He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple. Jesus is saying that He woke up that night at Gethsemane ready to go ahead, because He knows what is coming. Presented In The Gospels: About one year before this, Jesus told His disciples that the Son of Man is about to be delivered over to the Gentiles, who will mock Him, curse Him, and beat Him; and He will die on the Cross: And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.Mark 8:31 Now, at the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus is prepared to undergo suffering of many things, including: rejection - death - Hades - resurrection. Remember: It is Jesus’ choice. The reason He is willing to be our Substitute is because that is the only way sinners can be redeemed (saved)-every sinner has a debt that cannot be worked out, traded, or bartered; the debt must be paid in blood-and that is what Jesus is about to do [for us]. As Jesus is facing (looking toward) the Cross, He says: 5 The Lord GOD has opened My ear; Why does Jesus say Lord GOD (Adonai Elohim-Adonai meaning Lord, master; Elohim meaning God of the universe) and not My Father? The relationship between God the Father and His Son, Jesus, has changed. Why? Jesus became a cursed Human Being when the sins of the world were placed on Him and the holy wrath of God the Father (the Righteous Judge) was upon them. As we will see, Jesus knew, intellectually, the relationship with His Father would change when He took on our sins at Gethsemane. At this point, Jesus-in His humanity-does not understand the ramifications of that; He does not know that in a little while He will pray to His Father and there will be no answer. Jesus says: And I was not disobedient, Nor did I turn back. We Can Never Forget: In His humanity, Jesus is in a weakened condition and He is somewhat confused; however, this is always His choice. Nor did I turn back means He could stop the whole process and say No! However, Jesus says I am willing. Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for this word that You have given us, and for Your Holy Spirit who wrote it. Above all, we thank You for lifting the veil and letting us see those hidden thoughts (communication) between You and Your Son, Jesus. Thank You for letting us see His thoughts so we can understand, remarkably, how much like us that He was with the doubts - the confusion - even, the dread. Thank You, Father, that You gave Him the choice, so that when He chose to die for us it was willingly and it was based on full knowledge. We thank You that those sins of ours-the ones that seem small to us and the ones that seem big to us-were all put on His body, so that when Jesus went to the Cross and died, our sins were literally killed. And in Your mind, our sins do not even exist anymore. Father, above all, we thank You for Him, for Jesus. And it is in His name that we pray. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 9: 10. JESUS IS IN CONTROL AND LETTING IT HAPPEN ======================================================================== Jesus Is In Control And Letting It Happen At the Garden of Gethsemane, our sins were placed on Jesus. Not only was this an accounting matter (all of our sins were put on His account) and a legal matter (our sins were put on Him, He was declared guilty, and He paid the death penalty for it), it was also a physical matter (our sins were physically put on Him) Sins have surrounded Me; My iniquities have overwhelmed Me-Jesus saw our sins being placed on Him and He felt the impact of it. Jesus does not realize it yet, but the relationship with His Father is broken; Jesus had become Sin at Gethsemane and His Father could not fellowship with Him. Why not? The Father cannot fellowship with Sin. Presented In The Gospels: In the middle of the night, Judas led about 200 temple police and 200 dispatched Roman soldiers, the commander, the chief priests, and the Pharisees to the place where he knew Jesus would be: the Garden of Gethsemane. Judas proceeded to betray his Friend with signal kisses-the lowest act ever done in the history of the world. In John 18:1-40 : So the Roman cohort and the commander, and the officers of the Jews, arrested Jesus and bound Him, The armed troops laid hands on Jesus, seized and bound Him, and dragged Him off to trial. RELIGIOUS TRIALS Before Annas Jesus’ first preliminary trial is before Annas. Actually, I say trial, however, it is not a trial; it is a plot to kill Jesus because He has exposed them as frauds. and led Him to Annas first; for he was father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year.John 18:12-13 Annas was probably a descendant of Aaron; and, according to Jewish law, he probably had the legal right to be the high priest, who served for life. However, Annas withdrew from his post after Rome suggested he let others serve. In the people’s minds, Annas was always the real leader; however, others legally served, thus satisfying Rome. The high priest then questioned Jesus about His disciples, and about His teaching. The questions Annas asks Jesus are illegal. Why? According to Jewish law: (1) an individual could not incriminate himself-all evidence brought forth at a trial had to be based on witnesses-and (2) an individual was innocent until proven guilty. So Jesus’ response is based on the fact that Annas’ questioning is illegal: Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world; I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews come together; and I spoke nothing in secret. Why do you question Me? Question those who have heard what I spoke to them; these know what I said.” Jesus says I taught openly everywhere. And then He is asking Annas Where are your witnesses? Jesus does not expect a legal trial, but He is going to expose them for the frauds that they are. Of course, one did not do that to this high priest: When He had said this, one of the officers standing nearby struck Jesus, saying, “Is that the way You answer the high priest?” What an outrage! However, Jesus is calm, He is in control, and He responds with no anger or vengeance: Jesus answered him, “If I have spoken wrongly, testify the wrong; but if rightly, why do you strike Me?” In another words I just asked for witnesses; is that wrong? Annas is very frustrated, because he cannot find any incriminating evidence with which to indict Jesus. So Annas sent Him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.John 18:19-24 While Annas is talking to Jesus-it is around two o’clock in the morning-Caiaphas (Annas’ son-in-law), the legal high priest, is rounding up at least a quorum of the Sanhedrin for a trial. Before Caiaphas Annas sends Jesus to the court of the high priest, Caiaphas, for the second part of His trial, in Matthew 26:1-75 : And those who had seized Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were gathered together. But Peter also was following Him at a distance as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and entered in, and sat down with the officers to see the outcome. Now the chief priests, the elders, and the whole council sought false testimony against Jesus, that they might put Him to death; and they found none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But at last two false witnesses came forward and said, “This man said ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.’” In this trial, the Sanhedrin drag up witnesses to unveil something that Jesus has done, but what they present is nothing This Man says He is going to destroy the Temple and build it in three day. Of course, that does not go anywhere. So finally: And the high priest stood up, and said to Him, “Have you no answer? What is this that these testify against you?” You would think that Jesus would defend Himself since He is innocent, however, He does not: But Jesus kept silent. When the high priest asks What about these charges? Jesus is silent. Finally, Caiaphas turns to Jesus: The high priest answered Him, “I adjure you by the living God, that you tell us whether you are the Messiah, the Son of God.” And: Jesus said to him, “You have said it. You said it meaning Yes! [Jesus is not being equivocal; it was not a figure of speech.] Jesus confirms I am the Messiah, the Son of God. Note: When Jesus is asked about the charges against Him, He does not say anything, but when Jesus is asked if He is the Messiah, He answers Yes. Nevertheless, I tell you, henceforth you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of the sky.” It is obvious that Caiaphas knew all that because Oh, and all of a sudden, he is outraged at this [so-called] blasphemy. So Caiaphas tears his clothes and decrees that Jesus must be killed: Then the high priest tore his robes, saying, “He has blasphemed! What further need do we have of witnesses? Behold, you have now heard the blasphemy; What do you think?” They answered, “He is deserving of death!” Note: A man condemns God of blasphemy! Then Jesus is physically abused: Then they spat in His face and beat Him with their fists; and others slapped Him, and said, “Prophesy to us, You Christ; who is the one who hit You?”Matthew 26:57-68 The guards of the high priest mock Jesus - spit on Jesus - beat on Jesus. What is Jesus thinking at this time? We know from Isaiah 50:1-11. Isaiah 50 6I gave My back to those who strike Me, And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard; I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting. Jesus could easily retaliate-He could not turn His back to them or He could at least cover His face-but He does not, which proves two things: Jesus is in control. Jesus is letting it happen. Who deserves that spitting - those slaps - getting their hair pulled out? We do! Why does Jesus let them do that to Him? That is what Jesus is accomplishing- He is suffering everything we would have to suffer, so we do not have to! Application Question: Why do we choose to suffer so many things in our lives that Jesus has already suffered for us? Presented In The Gospels: Since the trial before the high priest is conducted illegally-it takes place in the middle of the night-the Sanhedrin council ratify their decision to put Jesus to death at a second trial: And when it was day, the Council of elders of the people assembled, both chief priests and scribes, and they led Him away to their council, saying, “If You are the Christ, tell us.” But He said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe; and if I ask a question, you will not answer. But from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” And they all said, “Are You the Son of God, then?” And He said to them, “Yes, I am.” And they said, “What further need do we have of testimony? For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth.” When Jesus is asked if He is the Son of God, He answer Yes, I am. Now the Sanhedrin face another problem: Rome allows the Jews to decree the death sentence, but not to execute it. So the Jews need Rome’s approval for Jesus to be crucified; He must be sent over to Pilate (Roman governor). And they bound Him, and led Him away, and delivered Him up to Pilate the governor.Matthew 27:1-2 CIVIL TRIALS Before Pilate We pick up in Matthew 27:1-66, where Jesus goes before Pilate at the Praetorium in Jerusalem: Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor questioned Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?” Is Jesus going to be silent?- And Jesus said to him, “It is as you say.” Jesus answers Pilate Yes. But then the chief priests and elders make charges against Jesus: And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He made no answer. Jesus is silent. Then Pilate said to Him, “Do You not hear now many things they testify against You?” And He did not answer him with regard to even a single charge, so that the governor was quite amazed.Matthew 27:11-14 Jesus remains silent about the charges. What is Jesus thinking? [Isaiah 50:1-11, continued] 7 For the Lord GOD helps Me, Therefore, I am not disgraced; Therefore, I have set My face like flint, And I know that I will not be ashamed. In Isaiah 53:1-12, we get another picture: He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Again, we are talking about Jesus’ trials. Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth.Isaiah 53:7 Jesus does not open His mouth; He does not answer. Why not? Let Us Think About This: At His trials, Jesus is asked a lot of questions that He responds to with words, or with silence. When Annas asks What about Your teaching? Jesus says I taught openly everywhere. When Caiaphas asks What about these charges? Jesus is silent. When Caiaphas asks Are You the Messiah, the Son of God? Jesus says Yes, I am. When Pilate asks Are You the King of the Jews? Jesus answers Yes. When Pilate asks What about these charges against You? Jesus is silent. It seems as though the issue is the charges; Jesus is being selective- When they bring up charges against Jesus, He does not answer; however, Jesus answers everything else. We have been seeing the depths to which Jesus identified with us, including: At the Temptation (Satan’s unsuccessful assault on Jesus-see our Matthew 4:1-11 study): Jesus makes it clear that He is our Representative and He identifies with us. Jesus lives a sinless life; Jesus never sinned. At the Garden of Gethsemane: All of our sins are dumped on Jesus My iniquities have overwhelmed Me. He did not commit those iniquities (sins), but He [willingly] bore our sins. And here- At the Trials: Jesus is asked a lot of questions that He answers; however, when He is asked about specific sins, He becomes silent- Are You the Messiah? Jesus says Yes! Are You the Son of God? Jesus says Yes! What about these charges? Jesus is silent. Are You the King of the Jews? Jesus says Yes! What about these charges? Jesus is silent. Why is Jesus silent? Anytime Annas - Caiaphas - Pilate ask What about these charges against You; are these charges true?- Jesus cannot say Yes, I am guilty because He is not; He did not commit any sins. Jesus cannot say No, I did not do it because He is, literally, in our place; He is willingly taking on our sins. Technically, He is guilty because He has our sins on Him. Basically, Jesus pleads no contest. And that is why I love the following verse: He is not ashamed to call us His brothers.Hebrews 2:11 When Jesus took on our sin, He did not do it with a martyr-type attitude; He did it with an attitude of We are all in this together; I am identifying with My brothers and sisters. Therefore, at His trials, Jesus does not answer His accusers for our sake; He willingly takes the blame. Presented In The Gospels: Before Herod Antipas Pilate learns that Jesus is a Galilean, and since Herod (governor of Galilee) is in Jerusalem for the Passover, Pilate decides to pass off Jesus to Herod. Why? Pilate does not want to make a decision about Jesus; he wants to get rid of Him. And Herod is his answer, or so he thinks: But when Pilate heard it, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. And when he learned that He belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent Him to Herod, who himself also was in Jerusalem at that time. Now Herod was very glad when he saw Jesus; for he had wanted to see Him for a long time, because he had been hearing about Him and was hoping to see some sign performed by Him. And he questioned Him at some length; but He answered him nothing. And the chief priests and the scribes were standing there, accusing Him vehemently. And Herod with his soldiers, after treating Him with contempt and mocking Him, dressed Him in a gorgeous robe and sent Him back to Pilate.Luke 23:6-11 Jesus does not say anything at all because of His utter disdain for Herod, so after this brief trial, Herod sends Jesus back to Pilate. Before Pilate Pilate responds to the weight of the matter on his shoulders: Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves, and crucify Him, for I find no guilt in Him.”John 19:6 As we have seen, Jesus’ bitterest enemies could not find anything on Him; and now, here is a neutral observer (a Roman) who cannot find anything Jesus has done wrong either. Pilate wants to get rid of Jesus; he wants to avoid sending Jesus to the Cross; and, he wants to avoid the Jews complaining to Tiberius about him. In what ways does Pilate try to get rid of Jesus during the course of events? He tells the Jews Judge Him on your own Law. That does not work-the Jews want Jesus put to death, but they had lost the right We are not permitted to put anyone to death. He sends Jesus to Herod for a short trial. That does not work-Herod sends Jesus back to Pilate. He applies the Passover prisoner release program. That does not work-the Jews ask to have a vicious murderer, Barabbas, go free instead of Jesus. He has Jesus scourged with a whip that had pieces of bone, metal, and glass on it. That does not work-the Jews are not satisfied with this brutality Crucify, crucify! He tells the Jews Take Him and crucify Him, for I find no guilt in Him. Does that work? Note: I think we can say that God is forcing Pilate to make a decision about Jesus. The Jews want Jesus dead, and they want Pilate to take all the responsibility: The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and by that law He ought to die because He made Himself out to be the Son of God.” About what law are the Jews talking? Blasphemy, which was, according to Jewish law, a capital offense that called for the death penalty. From Pilate’s perspective, Son of God would have rung a bell with him: (1) he thinks on the Roman tradition in which the gods would come down to earth and live like human beings; (2) he reflects on his wife’s message to not deal with that righteous Man because He troubled her in a dream; (3) he asks himself Did I just flog a god? So Pilate questions Jesus again: Therefore when Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid; and he entered into the Praetorium again and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” Pilate knows Jesus is from Nazareth; he is asking Him Are You from the earth or are you from where the gods live? But Jesus gave him no answer.John 19:7-9 Jesus is silent. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 10: 11. JESUS HAS NO FELLOWSHIP WITH THE FATHER ======================================================================== Jesus Has No Fellowship With The Father As the courts question Jesus, He is silent; however, Jesus is thinking. [Isaiah 50:1-11, continued] 8 He who vindicates Me is near; Jesus is about to find out that this is not exactly right. Picture: In a way, Jesus is like Samson, who had his hair shaved off when he though he had his power but he did not (see Judges 16:1-12, Judges 16:13-24, Judges 16:25-31). The Human Being, Jesus-in a very tragic situation-thinks Help is near, but it is not. Jesus is still thinking: Who will contend with Me? Let us stand up to each other; Who has a case against Me? Let him draw near to Me. Jesus cannot say Yes and He cannot say No when the courts ask Him about Sin. However, in His mind, Jesus knows that He will be ultimately vindicated. 9 Behold, the Lord GOD helps Me; Jesus is saying Adonai (Lord) Yahweh (God in the sense of Protector of Israel). Who is he who condemns Me? Did you notice that Jesus’ thinking is different than what we have seen? [And it is going to get more obvious.] When Jesus was young, He learned through the teaching of His parents and by reading the Scriptures with emphasis on the passages Holy Spirit illuminated. As Jesus got older, He learned through direct communication with His Father. Now, however, that relationship with His Father is gone and Jesus is thinking on His own. Clearly, there is no sin in Jesus’ thinking, because He never sinned. The thinking we are seeing does not even sound like Jesus because He is thinking just as a Human Being. For example, let us get a glimpse of what Jesus is thinking about the people who are trying Him: Behold, they will all wear out like a garment; The moth will eat them. Does that sound like the Jesus we know? To me, it does not. All of His life Jesus has steered clear of judging people, though He had every right to judge them. Even during His ministry, Jesus said: For God did not send the Son into the world to judge.John 3:17 Here, at the end of His life, Jesus is starting to judge people with a righteous judgment. [Again, it is not sin.] During His trials, Jesus saw all of the people accusing Him. Here in the courtyard of the high priest, Jesus looks through the cold night air and He sees a group sitting around a fire, which they had kindled in the middle of that courtyard. What is Jesus thinking when He sees this going on? 11 Behold, all you who kindle a fire, Who encircle yourselves with firebrands, Walk in the light of your fire And among the brands you have set ablaze. This you will have from My hand: You will lie down in torment. Jesus is looking at His enemies and thinking You will lie down in torment; You will be burned at My hands. All of His thinking is on His own, and He is judging. We have never heard Jesus pronounce judgment. What is the difference between the Jesus we know and the Jesus who is thinking this? Jesus’ human side is totally directing His thinking. Remember: The relationship with the Father is gone, because Jesus is a cursed Man. [I believe-] He is getting no direction from His Father - no direction from Holy Spirit. Intellectually, Jesus knows the following: He is cursed. Our sin is on Him. His relationship with the Father is different, though He does not understand the depth to which that relationship is severed. At this point, Jesus’ mind must be numb from what has been happening. And the next time He prays, He is going to be shocked. Presented In The Gospels: Pilate convicts Jesus - He is beaten again - He is condemned to the Cross: Then he released Barabbas for them; but after having Jesus scourged, he delivered Him to be crucified.Matthew 27:26 Jesus carries His Cross for a while through the streets of Jerusalem: They took Jesus therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross.John 19:17 Jesus cannot carry the Cross anymore; and an African man, Simon, receives His Cross and carries it for Him: And as they were coming out, they found a man of Cyrene named Simon, whom they pressed into service to bear His cross.Matthew 27:32 They come to a place called Golgotha meaning Place of a Skull, and they crucify Jesus: And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, which means Place of a Skull, they gave Him wine to drink mingled with gall; and after tasting it, He was unwilling to drink. And when they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments among themselves, casting lots; and sitting down, they began to keep watch over Him there.Matthew 27:35-36 The Crucifixion Process: Crucifixes had many different shapes: sometimes there was a pole with no crossbeam-the reason the Cross is called the tree-and sometimes there was a pole with a crossbeam. The soldiers would lay the Cross down on the ground and then lay the victim’s back onto the Cross. The victim’s wrists would be nailed to the horizontal crossbeam, and, normally, his ankles would be nailed to the vertical pole. At the bottom of the cross, there was a peg for his feet to rest on [which was not there for mercy]. The victim is in great agony from this whole procedure, but it gets worse. The soldiers lift up the cross and then drop it into a pre-dug hole. When that happens, the victim’s body is jarred and his collarbone separates so he cannot lift his arms anymore. There are no recorded thoughts of Jesus during the crucifixion process, which took hours. On the way to Golgotha, Jesus did speak to some women who were mourning and lamenting Him: “Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ For if they do these things in the green tree, what will happen in the dry?”Luke 23:28-31 However, when Jesus gets to Golgotha, He is not talking anymore. There are no words; there are no thoughts; there is only a long period of silence. Why? Jesus’ mind must be numb-just think about what Jesus, the Man, has gone through: He is literally numb. What Jesus does not know is that for the first time in His life, He is about to cry out [to His Father] for help, but He will not get any. Presented In The Gospels: It is recorded that Jesus says seven things on the Cross, as follows: [To those who crucified Him] But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”Luke 23:34 [To the criminal who hanged beside Jesus and who said Jesus, remember me when You come in Your Kingdom!] And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”Luke 23:43 When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved (John) standing nearby, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!”John 19:26-27 [After three hours of darkness over all the land and the sun being obscured] And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, Lama Sabachtani?” that is My God, My God, why have You Forsaken Me?”Matthew 27:47 After this, Jesus knowing that all things had already been accomplished, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I am thirsty.”John 19:28 And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Thy hands I commit My spirit!”Luke 23:46 He said, “It is finished!”John 19:30 Note: Think of the Gospels- “My God, My God, Why have You forsaken Me?”Matthew 27:47 and at the end- “It is finished!”John 19:30 as being the tip of an iceberg; and Isaiah and Psalms as being the bottom of the iceberg. Remarkably, we find in Isaiah and Psalms, the thoughts behind those things that Jesus is saying. Psalms 22:1-31 Note:Psalms 22:1-31 is called A Psalm of David. Actually, it is a psalm written by David, but it is certainly not about him. Psalms 22:1-31 pictures a man who is caught in the hand of his enemies and who is tortured and beaten; however, David was never caught by his enemies. It also pictures a man who dies a violent death at the hands of his enemies, but David died an old man, comfortably in his own bed. This is another instance where an Old Testament saint wrote something and then asked Holy Spirit About what am I writing? Holy Spirit said You are writing for the benefit of those who come later. So, Thank you David because here we have Jesus’ thoughts as He hung on the Cross: 1 My God, My God, Why have You forsaken Me? In Aramaic, Jesus says Eloi, Eloi, which is the equivalent of the Hebrew Elohim, Elohim. There were three ways in which the Hebrews said God, as follows: Elohim-meaning the generic name for Creator God. [What the Jews expected the Gentiles to call Him.] Adonai-meaning the Personal Relationship God, the Lord. Yahweh-meaning the God of the Jews who has a special covenant with Israel. However, Jesus calls God Eloi, Eloi; He does not call Him Yahweh, Yahweh - Father, Father. Why not? Because the Father-Son relationship is broken, and at that moment, Jesus is not His Son, and God is not Jesus’ Father. Why not? Because Jesus is cursed-legally, He was the worst sinner of all time, because He had more sin on Him than any person who has ever lived-and God cannot have a Son who is cursed. Do You See What Happened? As the Cross is lowered into that hole, Jesus’ body is jarred, He is shocked, and He cries out to His Father. What does Jesus hear? Nothing. God the Father has turned His back on Jesus; He has forsaken Him. And thank God that He did, because the reason the Father forsook Jesus was that our sin was on Jesus. If the Father had continued to accept Jesus, then that would have meant our sins were not [really] put on Jesus. It is not a cry of bitterness-Jesus does not understand why God the Father does not answer Him. Why else would He have asked Why have You forsaken Me? In Jesus’ human condition-a weakened condition where He is numb and His thinking is not clear at all-He does not know why God does not answer Him. He is shocked. Why? Jesus knew that the sin would cause a separation, but He really did not realize that when He prayed, His Father would not answer. Now it is worse; Jesus knows that no answer is coming. And He says: Far from My deliverance are the words of My groaning. Meaning I am going to groan here as long as I want, because I know My deliverance is not here. Picture: Sometimes when we pray, we feel there is no answer; however, we expect there will be one at some point. We know there are silences; we know there are delays; and we fully expect there is a time in which God will answer us. Or, if there is a silence, we might say Maybe the Lord is speaking, but I am not hearing. This is not the case of Jesus; He knows there is no answer coming and that is why He is groaning. Note: There is no groaning from the other two people who were hanged there on crosses; in fact, one of them is being sarcastic to Jesus Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us! (Luke 23:39) But Jesus is groaning and moaning. Why? Not because of the physical torture-which was horrible beyond our imaginings-but because of the spiritual separation from His Father that is unbearable to Jesus. 2 O My God, I cry by day, but You do not answer; For three hours, Jesus hung on the Cross at midday-from 9:00 A.M. to 12:00 noon-with the sun shining directly on Him. Jesus’ thirst would have been unbearable, not to mention His many other physical agonies. Presented In The Gospels: For three hours, Jesus is in daylight and then what happens? Darkness comes upon that part of the world: And when the sixth hour had come, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour.Mark 15:33 The loss of fellowship between the Father and Son affects all of creation, causing the sun to go dark. And let us not forget: it is our sin that did that! A Question To Ask: Pagan writers try to explain away this darkness, which was a miracle, as an eclipse. Why do you think they try to explain it away? Jesus is thinking: And by night, but I have no rest. In His weakened state, Jesus does not understand that a miracle is happening; in His mind It is night. At this point: There is no human being-no person before or after Jesus-acceptable to God. God breaks fellowship with the whole world because there is nobody righteous and the Sin Bearer is still being punished. Darkness is over the whole land because God has turned His back on the world for three hours. Jesus is struggling in His weakened condition: He gets some glimpses of insight; He is in and out; He is still struggling to understand why His Father does not answer Him. The answer to His question-Why did You forsake Me?-is in the next verse. 3 Yet You are holy, O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel. 4 In You our fathers trusted; They trusted and You delivered them. 5 To You they cried out and were delivered; In You they trusted and were not disappointed. Jesus is looking at history-remember, there is no relationship, so He is relying only on His memory-and He is asking What about Your children in the wilderness? What about all of the centuries when You guided them, they kept falling into horrible sin, but when they cried out to You, You rescued them? Looking Back To Israel: In the book of Exodus, the sons of Israel were in Egypt, they were living in horrible sin, and every time they cried out, God rescued them. Also, in the book of Judges, Israel kept lapsing into sin, and every time they did, they would cry out for help, and God would deliver them. Did God wait for them to get better first? No! The Point Jesus Is Making: Why did You rescue them-sinners-however, I did not do anything wrong, but when I cry out, You do not answer Me? Then Jesus realizes why: 6 But I am a worm and not a man, A reproach of men and despised by the people. Jesus is sensing that He is a worm-the lowest of the low (the worst)-because He has no communication with His Father anymore, He has sin on Him that He cannot understand, and He feels different than He ever has. Again, let me make it clear: He is the lowest of the low because He willingly took the sins of the world on Himself. Jesus is thinking that God kept helping the Israelites just because they were His own. He is thinking back to Israel One of the characteristics of God is that He just helps people. You answered their prayers, but not mind-I am subhuman. Note: Human beings were created to be in an exalted state; in fact, as far as closeness to God and love and tenderness with God, we are a little bit above the angels. After the Fall, the status of human beings fell and we became orphans. At the funeral of Lazarus, Jesus cried because He saw what the exalted state of the human race had become: death - despair - sorrow - crying - grief: People are worms spiritually! ======================================================================== CHAPTER 11: 12. JESUS SUFFERS THE FULL PENALTY ======================================================================== Jesus Suffers The Full Penalty Presented In The Gospels: People around Jesus mocked Him and condemned Him: And those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads, and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself? If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking Him, and saying, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we shall believe in Him, He trusts in God; let Him deliver Him now, if He takes pleasure in Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” And the robbers also who had been crucified with Him were casting the same insult at Him.Matthew 27:39-44 As Jesus is seeing all of these people around Him, He realizes that He is a lower status than they are. Why? He has more sins on Him than they do. 7 All who see me sneer at me; They separate with the lip, What kind of faces do we make at people? We stick out our tongue. They separate with the lip meaning nanny-nanny boo-boo. they wag the head, saying, And they shake their head. 8 “Commit yourself to the LORD; let Him deliver him; Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him.” Jesus’ enemies are mocking Him and saying All those years, You said, “Trust in Him,” now look at what has happened to You. Jesus is aware of it. He is still asking why: 9 Yet You are He who brought me forth from the womb; Jesus does not quote Scripture, does He? At twelve years of age, Jesus was in the Temple teaching the wise men of the Scriptures (the rabbis). At the Temptation, Jesus was quoting obscure passages in Deuteronomy. However, here at the Cross, all Jesus can do is vaguely remember. Why does He not quote Hosea? Why does He not quote Exodus? He cannot remember them; He is numb. Jesus does remember: You made me trust when upon My mother’s breasts. 10 Upon You I was cast from birth; You have been my God from my mother’s womb. Then why was He forsaken? The answer is in Isaiah 53:1-12. Isaiah 53 3He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face That is why people were mocking Jesus-He looked so horrible after all the beatings. He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. Isaiah is identifying with the onlookers of the Cross; and in a bigger picture, with all the people of all time who look at Jesus and say He must have done something wrong if He was crucified. Then Isaiah makes it clear in the following verse: 5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastisement for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. This is a very critical passage. FOUR THINGS THAT HAPPENED TO OUR SIN AT THE CROSS First: He Was Pierced Through For Our Transgressions What happens when somebody is pierced? The person bleeds-piercing refers to blood-meaning Jesus bled for our transgressions. That is why He had to be pierced: there is no forgiveness of sins without the shedding of blood. “For the life of the flesh is in the blood…for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.”Leviticus 17:11 And according to the Law…without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.Hebrews 9:22 At the Temple in Jerusalem, the high priest put the blood of the sacrificed animals on the Mercy Seat. So the blood of animals was brought in, sprinkled on the Mercy Seat, and they were accepted. In fact, in 1 John 4:1-21 : In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.1 John 4:10 The word propitiation is really Mercy Seat; therefore Jesus was the Mercy Seat for our sins. In Hebrews 9:1-28, we learn that the Temple in Jerusalem was a copy of the Temple in heaven, and in the actual Temple in heaven there was a Mercy Seat. When Jesus ascended to heaven, He brought His blood with Him, He spilled His blood on that Mercy Seat in heaven, and when He did, that bloody Mercy Seat changed. Why? There is no blood in heaven. Do you know what happened? That bloody Mercy Seat became a beautiful crystal lake in front of the Throne of God (see Revelation 4:6). Why? Because God says Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin-our sins would not have been forgiven unless Jesus was pierced through for our transgressions. Pierced through means the penalty was paid, which is the basis for our forgiveness. Second: He Was Crushed For Our Iniquities This is referring to Jesus’ body. Our sins not only required the shedding of blood; our sins required death: The wages of sin is death.Romans 6:23 To die you need a body. So when Isaiah says He was crushed for our iniquities, he is not referring specifically to Jesus’ blood; he is referring specifically to the body Jesus had. Our sins required the death penalty; therefore, God produced a Body, the Body was killed, and the penalty was paid. Third: The Chastisement For Our Well Being Fell Upon Him This is a critical one. In the original language, the phrase well being refers to a harmonious relationship. This is talking about the chastisement that leads to our [unbroken] fellowship with God. And that is why we do not have to confess our sins and ask for forgiveness to maintain fellowship with God; we always have a harmonious relationship with God, because He never withdraws fellowship. Note: People who teach If you sin then God breaks fellowship with you; therefore, you must confess that sin and be forgiven to restore fellowship are really saying that sin is a rare thing: Oh, I sinned this afternoon. What a surprise! Get real: we are full of sin because we are flesh. If we really fell out of fellowship every time we sinned, then we would never be in fellowship. Jesus took more than the penalty for our sins; He suffered the total loss of fellowship that accompanies sin. If Jesus had not done that, then we would have eternal salvation, but we would not have fellowship with Him on earth. Why not? Because we could never keep up with our sins enough to confess them for fellowship with Him. All the agonizing loss of fellowship that Jesus suffered on the Cross was for us; our fellowship with God is guaranteed, whether we confess our sins, or not. Fourth: By His Scourging We Are Healed This verse is used by many people who believe in automatic healing Since the forgiveness of sins was automatic, then healing of the body is too. The problem with that [wrong] thinking is the word healed does not mean, “bodily healing.” It means healing of the relationship. Application: We no longer need to suffer emotional burdens, unwarranted anxieties, clouded thinking, or guilty feelings due to our sin. Why not? Because we were forgiven 2,000 years ago at the Cross when Jesus took on the effects of our sin, including the emotional, mental, spiritual and physical consequences of our sins. So when we are tempted to feel emotionally - mentally - spiritually - physically burdened from our sins I am worried about what I did and how it is going to affect me, then we can know that Jesus has already dealt with that. Taking On God’s Perspective:God’s Forgiveness Of Sins Happened At The Cross, And It Is Complete! Specifically- Jesus’ blood was spilled on the Mercy Seat; therefore, our sins are totally, completely forgiven. Jesus’ body was offered up as the victim for the death penalty; therefore, the penalty for our sins is paid for in full. Jesus suffered a complete loss of fellowship with the Father; therefore, when we sin, we are still forgiven and God does not withdraw fellowship from us. Jesus took all of the emotional - mental - spiritual consequences of our sins; therefore, there is a healing of our sin. Application:How Do We Access These Things? How do we access the forgiveness of sins? Through faith. How do we access the guarantee of fellowship, no matter what? Through faith. How do we access the promise of emotional, mental, spiritual healing of our sin? Through faith. A Note About Confession: It really worries me when believers go through so many ordeals about their sin, which Jesus already suffered at the Cross. For example, if we could ever get it into our conscience that there is never any loss of fellowship with the Lord our God, then our lives would be transformed-we would no long stop communicating with Him! It is important to confess our sins, but not for God’s sake, it is for our sake. Confession removes the guilt from a believer’s conscience- How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from sin to serve the living God?Hebrews 9:14 It does not say cleanse you from sin; it says cleanse your conscience from sin. The problem we have is not our sin-it was dealt with at the Cross-the problem we have is our consciousness of sin, which is why we want to confess our sins: to cleanse our conscience from sin. Psalms 22:1-31 The people around Jesus are described in the next verse: 11 Be not far from me, for trouble is near; For there is none to help. Again, Jesus is in a weakened state. He sees them as bullies: 12 Many bulls have surrounded me; Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me. He sees them as lions: 13 They open wide their mouth at me, As a ravening and a roaring lion. In the next verse, all of a sudden Jesus starts to feel the physical effects, which, I think, He was not really aware of to a point: 14 I am poured out like water, For a crucifixion victim, all bodily fluids would pour out simultaneously. And all my bones are out of joint; When did that occur? When they placed the Cross down in the hole. As Jesus continued to hang, all of His weight would have been coming down on Him so that His bones would have slipped out of joint and His ligaments would have stretched until, ultimately, they snapped. My heart is like wax; It is melted within me. By far, the main cause of death at a crucifixion would have been asphyxiation. The victim could not breathe because the lungs would be pushed down and out of shape. The diaphragm, which supports the lungs, would be crushed and the victim could not breathe because of the hanging. So the soldiers inserted a peg on the bottom portion of the Cross so the victim would rest his feet on it and then lift himself up to breathe-the body’s involuntary response to keep alive-by using the peg to raise himself up to breathe. Once Jesus did that, there was more agonizing pain, and He would sink back down. Eventually, His heart actually ruptured. And, of course, His deep thirst: 15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, And my tongue cleaves to my jaws; And You lay me in the dust of death. Again, Jesus looks at the crowd: 16 For dogs have surrounded me; Who are dogs? The Gentiles. A band of evildoers has encompassed me; Now He feels something: They pierced my hands and my feet. Again, why did the soldiers put the peg there? It was to extend the torture, not for mercy. Many times, crucifixion victims could stay on the cross for days. And they gave them water to prolong their time on the cross. In fact, I have read of people who hung on the cross for 12 to 13 days. 17 I can count all my bones. They look, they stare at me; That is vivid; Jesus hung there and His bones were visible. 18 They divide my garments among them, And for my clothing they cast lots. Note: We know the executioners got the clothes of the victim; they divided among themselves the outer garments (probably, sandals, head covering, belt, and cloak), and they cast lots for the inner tunic (the most valuable piece of clothing that was woven in one piece). Jesus still continues to pray: 19 But You, O LORD, be not far off; O You my help, hasten to my assistance. 20 Deliver my soul from the sword, My only life from the power of the dog. 21 Save me from the lion’s mouth; From the horns of the wild oxen. You answer me. You can see that Jesus is speaking in short gasps, in very short sentences. He is confused; He is in and out; His mind is numb; He is gasping. In verse 22, the whole thing changes; it smoothes out, and He is speaking fluid again: 22 I will tell of Your name to my brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will praise You. 23 You who fear the LORD, praise Him; All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him, And stand in awe of Him, all you descendants of Israel. In the original text it is very clear: He changes His entire tone. Look at verse 24: 24 For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Nor has He hidden His face from him; But when he cried to Him for help, He heard. 25 From You comes my praise in the great assembly; I shall pay my vows before those who fear Him. 26 The afflicted will eat and be satisfied; Those who seek Him will praise the LORD. Let your heart live forever! And in verse 27: 27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, And all the families of the nations will worship before You. 28 For the kingdom is the LORD’S And He rules over the nations. What happened? Let us look at verse 31 to find out: 31 They will come and will declare His righteousness to a people who will be born, that it is finished. Why did Jesus change His tone? The Father answered Him all of a sudden! Can you imagine how Jesus felt? After all of this darkness, the Father answered Him! Why? It Is Finished:The Penalty Was Paid Presented In The Gospels: It is finished corresponds to what we read in John 19:1-42, as follows: When Jesus therefore had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head, and gave up His spirit. (John 19:30) In the original, it is finished is one word-one word that was spoken 2,000 years ago that is probably the most important word in our lives. It is a very common word in business, in commerce, from that period. In fact, it is a word that appeared on the bottom of invoices (bills) when they had been paid. When an invoice goes out and it was paid, they would stamp It is finished on it, meaning paid in full. Jesus paid the penalty. Let Us Close With The Following Verse: For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.2 Corinthians 1:5 What does For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance mean? We deserve everything Jesus got. We get benefit from everything Jesus suffered: He suffered and was penalized for our sin. What do we get? We get forgiveness of sins. He suffered loss of fellowship. What do we get? Guaranteed, no loss of fellowship. He suffered emotional, spiritual, and psychological turmoil as a result of our sins. What do we get? Freedom from the emotional, spiritual and psychological consequences of our sin. Question:What is the purpose of knowing this? So we will know that this Human Being actually took our sins at Gethsemane. We have seen the results of what happened at Gethsemane. When Jesus is on the Cross, we are seeing the results of our sin. It was not some play-acting; it was not just a judicial maneuver; our sins were physically put on Him, and at that point, He became the lowest of the low. Why? Because our sin was imputed to Him. Why is that important to know? Because that means Jesus took all of our sins down to the death, so we get 100 percent of the fullness of His righteousness. How? It is accessible to us by faith. Heavenly Father, thank You that at the Cross, not only did You provide the penalty for our sins, You amazingly even decided that You would deal with the loss of fellowship, the oppression, and the mental and spiritual consequences of our sin, at the Cross. Although we do not fully understand that, would You help us to, day by day, understand all that You did for us at the Cross: You put all of the penalty, the anguish, the guilt and the depression, which accompanies our sin, along with our sins on Jesus, so that His sufferings are ours in abundance. We thank You for Jesus’ namesake. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 12: 13. JESUS ANTICIPATES GOING TO HADES ======================================================================== Jesus Anticipates Going To Hades Jesus voluntarily went to the Cross, in full knowledge of what was going to happen, and He controlled when His heart would rupture-He did not let it happen before He absorbed all the penalty for our sins. Once the penalty was paid, the Father, all of a sudden, answered Jesus, so that He would know: “It is finished!”Psalms 22:31 What happened next? Presented In The Gospels: And He bowed His head, and gave up His spirit. John 19:30 Jesus of Nazareth dies. How do we know this to be true? Let us look in on what the witnesses saw. To the Jews it was important that the crucified individuals did not stay on the Cross on the Sabbath holy day, so they asked that the victims’ deaths be hastened and then their bodies could be removed from the crucifixes. The soldiers therefore came, and broke the legs of the first man, and of the other man who was crucified with Him; but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs;John 19:32-33 The soldiers saw that Jesus was dead. However, Pilate is shocked when he hears that Jesus is already dead, because it had just been a few hours, and, generally, crucifixion victims survived much longer than that: And Pilate wondered if He was dead by this time, and summoning the centurion, he questioned him as to whether He was already dead. And ascertaining this from the centurion…Mark 15:44-45 Pilate called the centurion (leader of this detachment of Roman soldiers), who also certifies that Jesus is dead. However, just in case they are all wrong-even though it is very unlikely-one of the soldiers says that he will check it out: but one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, To assure that a crucifixion victim was dead, a soldier would stick a spear in the victim’s side, so if he were still alive, he would respond; otherwise, he was already dead. In Jesus’ case, not only did He not respond since He was already dead, but something very unusual happened after this thrust with the spear: and immediately there came out blood and water. And he who has seen has borne witness, and his witness is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe.John 19:34 When the spear went into His side, out came blood and water, showing: Jesus was really dead - Jesus was a real Person - Jesus had already died from His heart rupturing. These hardened, trained soldiers who had conducted many crucifixions said that Jesus was dead; the centurion who was also hardened, trained, and had led many crucifixions said Jesus was dead; the soldiers and His disciple John saw the blood and water come out of Jesus’ side. This proves that Jesus was really dead. Jesus is removed from the Cross, prepared for burial, and put into a nearby tomb. Father, as we open Your word, we ask for Your special blessings upon us. We ask for a special anointing and outpouring of Your Holy Spirit upon us. Please give us wisdom and insight as we read the words that miraculously describe the thoughts of our Savior, Jesus Christ, in the tomb. And as we learn of His journey from within part of the earth back to the tomb, would You bless us, give us understanding, and speak to each one of us in the power of Your Holy Spirit. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen. In Psalms 16:1-11, we read the thoughts of Jesus in the tomb. Note: Though this is another [so-called] Psalm of David; verse 10 says: You will not abandon My soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.Psalms 16:10 And Peter tells us in Acts 2:1-47 that David’s body decayed: David both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Acts 2:29 So we know that Psalms 16:1-11 is not about David. Psalms 16:1-11 Even in the tomb, Jesus is thinking: 1 Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in You. Jesus is lying in the tomb, and, I think, in a way Jesus knows where He is going next-Hades-because He knows He has something to finish. A Friend’s Insight: The reason Jesus had to go to Hades was to cancel our reservation! Jesus knows He is going to Hades, because that is where people went when they died, and Jesus is dead. However, He does not know what it is going to be like. How could ?Hebrews 2:1-18I said to the LORD, “You are my LORD; I have no good besides You.” Jesus does not know what is going to happen, so He is trusting in the LORD God. Beginning here, notice how much we are, amazingly, on Jesus’ mind through it all: 3 As for the saints who are of the earth, Who are the saints who are of the earth? Redeemed individuals who believe Messiah, Jesus, is their Redeemer/Savior. Presented In The Gospels: John said: He loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.John 13:1 He is talking about His own, about us! In the tomb, Jesus is not just passively receiving the punishment for our sins; He is actively involved in it; He is aware of it. Remember: At any time, Jesus could have stopped the process, but He did not because He loved us to the end. Jesus is thinking about His Father, He is asking for help, He knows where He has to go, and He is always thinking of us: They are the majestic ones in whom is all My delight. There Jesus is-His body in a tomb in the Middle East-and He thinks of believers with love They are the majestic ones; He is putting us above Himself. Jesus is in the tomb, however, we are the majestic ones! In whom is all My delightis not just a figure of speech; He means 100 percent of the joy He is experiencing while He is in the tomb is because of us. Even now, however, Jesus is starting to sense that there are two groups of people: One: Those who have accepted Messiah [Jesus] as their Redeemer/Savior and who are going to Heaven. Two: Those who have rejected Messiah [Jesus] as their Redeemer/Savior and who are going to Hades/ultimately, to Hell. Jesus thinks of the second group, and He says: 4 The sorrows of those who have bartered for another god will be multiplied; I will not pour out their drink offerings of blood, Wow! Jesus is about to go to heaven and spill His blood on the Mercy Seat, but He will not spill His blood for unbelievers. Nor will I take their names upon My lips. In the tomb, Jesus makes the decision not to take the names of unbelievers with Him to heaven. These are the thoughts of Jesus while He is in the tomb: He is thinking of us, and then, again, He thinks of His Father: 7 I will bless the LORD who has counseled me; Jesus might not have known that He could start calling the LORD Father again. Jesus is in darkness, but He says: Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night. [I believe-] This is that little window of time when Jesus is in the tomb-before He makes His journey-and His mind is racing. Jesus is in darkness, He knows He has to go to Hades, and He does not know what to expect; however, look what He says: 9 Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will dwell securely. It is dawning on Jesus-Holy Spirit is telling Him-clearly He knows where He is going. Look at what Jesus says: 10 For You will not abandon My soul in Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay. I can understand why Jesus says You will not abandon My soul in Sheol (Hades), because God the Father is going to pull Jesus’ spirit out of Hades. But why does He say You will not allow Your Holy One to undergo decay? Presented In The Gospels: During the three-day interim, there is danger of the Body starting to decay. I think that is why the gospel writers make a special case of the burial spices and the wrappings that were put on Jesus’ body. What happened to His body? In John 19:1-42 : After these things Joseph of Arimathea…asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate granted permission. So he came and took away His body. Nicodemus…also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. Therefore because of the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.John 19:38-40 This unusually large amount of spices-myrrh and aloes-would have been very expensive. Myrrh came from the resin of a tree in Arabia and it was a gummy, sticky substance; aloes came from a tree in Arabia and it was a very fragrant, aromatic wood that was pulverized to a powdery consistency. So the myrrh was sticky and the aloes was powdery. According to Jewish custom, they would take the linen wrappings and separately wrap each limb (each leg, each arm) and separately wrap the trunk. Between each wrap, they would sprinkle some of the powder and some of the gum-wrap, sprinkle; wrap, sprinkle; wrap, sprinkle-which would make the linen wrappings, in a relatively short time, as hard as cement. Why would they do this? This was not an embalming process, because the Jews did not embalm like the Egyptians did. The Jews anointed the body- As a sign of devotion, a sign of respect. To delay the decay process for a short period of time. Joseph and Nicodemus hurried their anointing of Jesus’ body to beat the Sabbath, because Jews did not work on the Sabbath. Speculation: God is overruling His Son’s anointing-delaying the decay process of His body-to fulfill His prophecy You will not allow Your Holy One to undergo decay. Jesus is anticipating going to Hades, and the reason He can endure what is coming is that He is looking through it: 11 You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever. Where is Jesus going to sit when this is all over? At His Father’s right hand. Again, I believe this is just a small interlude when Jesus is in the tomb, and He is preparing Himself for the journey He is about to make: He talks to His Father. He thinks of us. He looks through this event to see Himself at the right hand of God the Father. Presented In The Gospels: At His trial before the Sanhedrin, Jesus says: But from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God. Luke 22:69 Then something happens. It has been still and quiet, but now Jesus moves and His spirit goes somewhere. We pick that up in Psalms 18:1-50. Psalms 18 4The cords of death encompassed me, and the torrents of ungodliness terrified me. Now you see that it is not that Jesus took our sins in just an accounting manner-our sins were placed on His ledger and His righteousness was placed on our ledger-or in just a legal manner-our sins were placed on Him, He was declared guilty, and He paid the death penalty for it-it was more than that. This was real: Jesus literally, consciously, went to Hades. Look what He says: 4 The cords of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me. Obviously, the place where Jesus went had not been redeemed yet. Question:Did Jesus Go To Hell? The problem is: that is not the best way to phrase the question. Literally, Jesus did not go to Hell, because Hell did not exist then. Where did Jesus go? He went to the same general place where everybody (all believers and all unbelievers) who died before the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension went: Hades. And apparently, that place is literally in the center of the earth. Look at what Jesus says in Matthew 12:1-50 : For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.Matthew 12:40 Yes, He could be speaking figuratively, but it seems to me that Jesus is going out of His way to say that it is in the center of the earth. If we take the literal meaning, then there was a place called Hades where people went; and that is where Jesus went. Also, Peter says: For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison…1 Peter 3:18-19 Hades is the general place where everybody went; however, there were two compartments in Hades. How do we know that? In Luke 16:1-31, we read the story of Lazarus (the poor man) and the rich man. It could be a parable, but I do not think it is because Jesus gives names; I think it is a true story. Lazarus was a poor beggar who begged at the rich man’s gate; and they both died: “Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels Did the angels carry Lazarus away to heaven? No, he was taken to Hades. We know that unbelievers were taken to Hades, and here, Jesus clearly says that Lazarus was carried away to Abraham’s Bosom: to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. The rich man and Lazarus are in the same general place, because they can see each other. Also note that the rich man lifted up his eyes and he saw things around him-he was seeing physical, geographical things, so there must have been interim bodies. And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’ The rich man begs for mercy, but Abraham tells him No, you had your chance: But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’”Luke 16:22-26 Prior to the Cross, the Crucifixion and Resurrection, everybody went to the same place, but there were two compartments in this place, as follows: One: The believers were in a special section called Abraham’s Bosom that, apparently, was not an area of total bliss. All that we know is it was not an area of torment by any means; it was a special section of comfort for the believers. Two: The unbelievers were in Hades to a section of utter torment. When Jesus died, He went to Hades because, like all people who died, that is where everyone went. If Jesus did not really go to Hades, then He did not really die; therefore, believers would be in trouble because the wages for their sins were not paid for-their reservations would still be valid in Hades. Note: The reason some people argue that Jesus did not go to Hell-to Hades-is they are arguing the wrong thing. People think that we teach that Jesus went to Hades to give people a second chance. Certainly not! People also think that Jesus went to Hades just to say Nanny-nanny, boo-boo to Satan and the demons. That is a misunderstanding; Jesus would not have done it for that reason. Question:Why Did Jesus Go To Hades? One: TO FINISH PAYING THE PENALTY Our sins merited eternal separation from God; for believers to have eternal life with God, the debt had to be paid. Two: TO TRIUMPH OVER SATAN Satan must have been overjoyed at seeing Jesus’ spirit descending down to Hades; however, this was Jesus’ own doing-He was fulfilling what was promised thousands of years earlier; He was crushing the serpent. God told Adam and Eve there was to be a coming Descendant: the Seed of a woman-Jesus of Nazareth, born of a virgin (Mary)-and serpent will bruise you on the heel, and your Descendant will crush him on the head (Genesis 3:15). This is the crushing right here. At this punishment, Satan was crushedon the head, meaning he was knocked out of the heavens. The crushing of Satan’s head did not kill him; actually, in that sense, he will never die. And Satan is not completely impotent now; however, his power is severely restricted and he has no more access to heaven. Note: There is more punishment to come on Satan in the future. At the end of the Great Tribulation, he will be thrown down form the air to the earth and his powers will be even more restricted: And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.Revelation 12:9 He was thrown down to the earth, meaning Satan will have no supernatural powers anymore. In fact, the saints in heaven will ask Is that wormy creature the one who deceived all the nations? [I picture some sniveling, little snake saying Please do not hurt me.] At the end of the Millennium, Satan’s last step will be straight to the Lake of Fire: And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.Revelation 20:10 Good News For The Redeemed: Prior to the Cross, Satan had more authority and power than he does now. For example, with God’s permission, Satan touched Job. However, Satan can no longer do the things to believers that he did to Job. In 1 John 5:1-21, John states very clearly: The evil one does not touch him [who is born of God]. 1 John 5:18 The word touch means have any influence whatsoever. Obviously, something changed between Job’s days and ours. What is that? A little thing called the Cross: Jesus triumphed over Satan and Satan was crushed. Application: We give Satan w-a-y too much power in our minds. People make excuses for their own sin by saying Satan did it. Satan threw that idea into my mind. [Even comedian Cliff Wilson used to say, “The devil made me do it!”] In Mark 7:1-37, Jesus gives a long list of bad thoughts, which do not come from outside the world (from Satan): And He was saying, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.”Mark 7:20-23 How else could Jesus have said it? These thoughts all come, not from Satan, but from the heart of man - from our flesh. Three: TO RESCUE THE PEOPLE WHO WERE IN ABRAHAM’S BOSOM Jesus descended into Hades to introduce Himself Hello! I am your Redeemer. I am the Person you trusted in, believed in. Why did Jesus have to introduce Himself? The Old Testament saints were in Abraham’s Bosom because they were looking forward to the coming Messiah and they were trusting in the coming Messiah to pay the penalty for their sins. And though many of them had remarkable knowledge about the coming Redeemer, not all of them had a full understanding of who Messiah was. So Jesus introduces Himself I am the Messiah you have been waiting for; I am Jesus. What did Jesus do after greeting the saints? He took all of the saints up to heaven with Him, as we see in Ephesians 4:1-32 : Therefore it says, “When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, and He gave gifts to me.” (Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth?)Ephesians 4:8-9 From that point forward, any believer who dies goes immediately to be in the presence of the Lord, because Jesus got the keys of death and of Hades, as we know from Revelation 1:1-20 : I have the keys of death and of Hades.Revelation 1:18 How did Jesus get the keys of death and of Hades? He went down to Hades to get them. Does that mean that Satan was ruling over Hades? No! God, not Satan, has always been sovereign over Hades. Jesus went down to Hades primarily to rescue the people in Abraham’s Bosom. Since He did that, there is no longer a compartment in Hades called Abraham’s Bosom. Only unbelievers who die go to Hades-sort of a holding tank since there is no such place as Hell or the Lake of Fire yet-and are awaiting Hell. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 13: 14. JESUS-PRAYS-REFLECTS-PRAISES HIS FATHER ======================================================================== Jesus-Prays-Reflects-Praises His Father [Psalms 18:1-50, continued] Jesus is in Hades, and, remarkably, He is still thinking: 6 In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to My God for help; Why is Jesus in distress? Because He is in Hades. He heard my voice out of His temple, And My cry for help before Him came into His ears. Jesus had been in the tomb thinking; His spirit goes down to Hades; He releases the captives; now He is about to move again. Remember, He is a Human Being with no divine encroachment (He is a sinless human being, but He is a human being), so He cries to His Father Pull us up! And because Jesus is sinless, something starts moving again. 7 Then the earth shook and quaked; And the foundations of the mountains were trembling and were shaken, because He was angry. Why was the Father angry? Because an innocent Man-His Son-was in Hades. And no doubt, Satan and his demons were rejoicing at what must have seemed to be a fortuitous turn of events for them. Here was Jesus - Messiah - Son of God - the Person they knew well as the Eternal Word - the second Person of the Godhead - in Hades!! God the Father, however, seeing this dual spectacle of His innocent Son and His righteous saints in Hades, and the glee of Satan and the demons, reacts. And He reacts in holy, righteous wrath: 8 Smoke went up out of His nostrils, and fire form His mouth devoured; Coals were kindled by it. 9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down with thick darkness under His feet. There is something interesting in the next verse: 10 He rode upon a cherub and flew; Cherubs are guardian angels around the throne of God; and here, God chooses to ride on a Cherub. Note: It always intrigues me that Cherubs are God’s preferred form of transportation. Actually, God does not need transportation because He can zap Himself anywhere. In fact, He does not even need to zap Himself, because God is imminent (100 percent everywhere in the universe at the same time). However, He chooses to ride on Cherubs. So God the Father, His holy wrath aroused by the prospect of the demons attempt to trap His Son in Hades, mounts a cherub and flees to His Son’s rescue: And He sped upon the wings of the wind. Satan must have felt confident in his ability to trap Jesus and the Old Testament saints in Hades. Yes, here was the Eternal Word, but He was in a humbled state. The Word had come to earth as a human being, temporarily voluntarily waiving the use of His divine prerogatives. At this point, since Jesus has not ascended back to heaven yet, He has not been glorified yet. So, practically speaking, the Person in Hades is not the Eternal Word, but the Human Being, Jesus of Nazareth. Therefore, as Satan fully knows, Jesus is in a weakened position and therefore in a vulnerable condition. Satan’s confidence is misplaced, because of his misunderstanding of the fundamental nature of God. Satan must have thought that he was safe from the power of God. After all, Satan’s realm is the realm of darkness, while God lives in the realm of light. As in so many cases, Satan is half-right, but, fortunately for us and unfortunately for him, he is half-wrong. Although it is true that God dwells in unapproachable light, it is also true that God is sovereign over all phases of creation. Certainly God is sovereign over the realm of light, but He is equally sovereign over the kingdom of darkness. Therefore, Satan is not sovereign over Hades; God is sovereign over Hades! This knowledge of the ultimate sovereignty of God comforts Jesus. It is amazing that here in Hades, Jesus’ thoughts are comforted by the Scriptures He began to learn as a Boy under the nourishment of His father and mother. He knows that His being in Hades does not hinder the ability of His Father to rescue Him: 11 He made darkness His hiding place, His canopy around Him, Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies. 12 From the brightness before Him passed His thick clouds, Hailstones and coals of fire. Note: Hailstones and coals of fire gives us a clear picture of where Jesus Isaiah 13:1-22The LORD also thundered in the heavens, And the Most High uttered His voice, Hailstones and coals of fire. 14 He sent out His arrows, and scattered them, And lightening flashes in abundance, and routed them. 16 He sent from on high, He took Me; He drew Me out of many waters. 17 He delivered Me from My strong enemy, And from those who hated Me… 18 They confronted Me in the day of My calamity, But the LORD was My stay. Here the psalmist, under the direction of Holy Spirit, has lifted the veil separating the spiritual and physical realms and permitted us to witness a cosmic battle, which would put the “Star Wars®” battles to shame. Ultimate evil attacking ultimate good, and the battleground is Hades itself. Let Us Not Forget: The battle is not just for Jesus, but also for us! As Jesus waits in heaven for deliverance from His Father, His thoughts are not joys for Himself; He is consciously thinking of us. Likewise, Satan’s glee at having Jesus trapped in Hades-or so he thinks-must have been compounded by the knowledge that Jesus was identified with us. So Satan, in wicked joy, was probably overjoyed at the prospect of having Jesus and all of the Old Testament saints forever separated from God. For, through the power of Holy Spirit and the strength of Almighty Father God, the Human Being Jesus was raised from Hades, from where He returned to earth, and 40 days later He ascended to heaven in a glorified state: 19 He brought Me forth also into a broad place; He rescued Me, because He delighted in Me. This is describing the entry of Jesus into heaven. We Can Never Forget: We could not possibly enter into heaven on our own merits, because we are sinners and God cannot accept the presence of Sin in His presence. Our access to heaven is based solely on our identification with Jesus. The blood that He shed was the blood that should have been spilled for us. The righteous life that Jesus lived was then placed on our account. That is the basis for our entrance into heaven. Jesus of Nazareth was, and is, the only human being who has the right to enter into heaven on His own merits, being totally righteous. 20 The LORD has rewarded Me according to My righteousness; and totally sinless: According to the cleanness of My hands He has recompensed Me. 21 For I have kept the ways of the LORD, And have not wickedly departed from My God. 22 For all His ordinances were before Me, And I did not put away His statutes from Me. 23 I was also blameless with Him, And I kept Myself from My iniquity. 24 Therefore the LORD has recompensed Me according to My righteousness, According to the cleanness of My hands in His eyes. Now, upon Jesus entering into heaven, we are still privileged to overhear Jesus’ thoughts. As He enters He reflects on the ordeal He has just endured. He remembers that in His moment of greatest darkness, His Father was His light: 28 For You light My lamp; The LORD My God illumines My darkness. He remembers that when He was weak, His Father was His strength: 35 You have also given Me the shield of Your salvation, And Your right hand upholds Me; And Your gentleness makes Me great. He remembers that when He was attacked, His Father was His Defender and Avenger. 37 I pursued My enemies and overtook them, And I did not turn back until they were consumed. He remembers that when He was powerless, His Father empowered Him: 38 I shattered them, so that they were not able to rise; They fell under My feet. 39 For You have girded Me with strength for battle; You have subdued under Me those who rose up against Me. 40 You have also made My enemies turn their backs to Me, And I destroyed those who hated Me. 41 They cried for help, but there was none to save, Even to the LORD, but He did not answer them. 42 Then I beat them fine as the dust before the wind; I emptied them out as the mire of the streets. And Jesus Christ, fully God Himself, is now restored to His full glory. Even Jesus is consumed with gratitude for what God the Father has done for Him: 49 Therefore I will give thanks to You among the nations, O LORD, And I will sing praises to Your name. We have seen many times throughout this study of the thought life of Jesus that, during the ordeal beginning with Gethsemane and culminating in His ascension to heaven, no matter how severe the situation, His thoughts never left us. 50 He gives great deliverance to His king, And shows lovingkindness to His anointed, To David and his descendants forever. Here, at the moment of the Son’s exultation, He continues to identify with us! This means when Jesus was pulled up from Hades, we were simultaneously pulled out of the power of Satan. When Satan was defeated at the Battle of Hades, his defeat was our victory. If Satan had been able to keep Jesus in Hades He also would have been able to keep the Old Testament saints in Hades. He also would have prevented us from being justified. You see, our salvation was not complete until Jesus was raised from the dead. As Paul says: …and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.1 Corinthians 15:17 If Jesus had remained in Hades, the penalty for our sins would have been paid, but that remission of sins would not have meant much, because we still would have been shut out from heaven and we would not have access to God. Satan would have maintained control over the grave (death) and over Hades. That explains why Jesus considered it so important that we be rescued from Hades: The victory at the Battle of Hades not only permitted Jesus to ascend to heaven; it also guaranteed Jesus, our Representative, could open the gates of heaven for us. Application: Some of the great psychologists have told us that depression, anxiety and worry stem from fear. And there is really good evidence that the reason we have undefined fears (we are fearful but we cannot pinpoint what it is) or untraceable depression (we are depressed but we do not know why) is because of masked fear; we always feel like we deserve punishment for something we have done. So what is the remedy for those times when we have fearful driven depression - anxieties - worries? Think back on all of the things that we have seen Jesus of Nazareth go through, beginning with His death sentence. Then remember, whatever it is you did-think of the worst thing you did-how was that sin punished?- Jesus was beaten for that sin. Jesus’ blood was shed for that sin. A whip was thrown across Jesus’ body for that sin. Jesus paid the death penalty for that sin. The relationship between Jesus and His Father was broken for that sin. Jesus went to Hades for that sin. What else is there?- The debt for that sin was thoroughly paid for by Jesus. After this, Jesus’ spirit returns to the tomb and He is reunited with His body. Since He is still carrying blood, He goes to the Father and He spills His blood on the Mercy Seat, where His blood turns into crystal silver. Psalms 2:1-12 In Psalms 2:1-12, Jesus is speaking again after He has ascended back up into heaven: 7 I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: And His Father speaks: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. God the Father is welcoming His Son back into heaven! Jesus of Nazareth has been His Son, but there is a difference now. It is a brand new relationship, because the Eternal Word (the Son of God) has merged with that Human Being (Jesus of Nazareth) who ascended to heaven. Now He is a Son in a different sense. Picture: Some of the old hymns express good theology, and I thought about the following song’s chorus when I pondered this heavenly reunion: “Up from the grave He arose, With a mighty triumph o’er His foes; He arose a victor from the dark domain, And He lives forever with His saints to reign. He arose! He arose! Hallelujah Christ arose!” -From “Christ Arose!” by Robert Lowry (1826-1899) I close with a verse from Isaiah 51:1-23, which I saved. Do you remember that when Jesus was first placed in the tomb, there was a little window of time before His spirit descended to Hades? I believe it is during that time that God the Father says to His Son: Look to the rock from which You were hewn and to the quarry from which You were dug.Isaiah 51:1 Note: It Is Ironic- Jesus’ life began in a cave, and His life ended in a cave. Jesus’ life began in a cave that was carved out of the side of a mountain, and His life ended in a cave that was carved out of the side of a mountain. Jesus of Nazareth could bear Gethsemane and the Cross because He always had full assurance that after He died, He would be resurrected. However, I think that Jesus had one final moment of doubt in the cave (tomb)-and it is understandable-Wait a minute; I thought that there was going to be a resurrection! And this time the Father responds to His Son Look to the rock from which You were hewn and to the quarry from which You were dug. Application: Though most of us were not born in a cave, I think this is a promise that God gave to Jesus to us Look how far you have come from where you were born again (saved). What did you know when you were born? Just think of what we know now and of what we experience now in our relationship with the Father; and God tells us As far as you have come, from the time you were born until now, that is the same distance that I will take you before you die. Not a bad promise, is it? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 14: 15. LOOKING BACK AT OUT SUBSTITUTE'S THOUGHT LIFE ======================================================================== Looking Back At Out Substitute’s Thought Life The purpose of reading a record of Jesus of Nazareth’s thought life is to know about Him, to understand what He was thinking, to know how He thought, and to know what He was praying to His Father. Why? Something supernatural happens: we start becoming like Him! We have been looking at what I call The Hidden Life of Jesus, a unique picture of Jesus of Nazareth’s (our Substitute’s) thought life. Let us review what we have seen. Why do we want to find Jesus of Nazareth in the text and learn about Him? Our access to knowing God the Father is to know Jesus. When we learn about the mind of Jesus, in a miraculous way, His mind becomes accessible to us. When we seek to know Jesus Christ as our number one priority, fellowship just happens. Knowing Jesus is a magnet that draws us to heaven in this life. Where do we find Jesus of Nazareth in the Bible? 1. The New Testament Gospels present the life of Jesus of Nazareth, highlighting where He went, what He did, and what He taught during His public ministry years. Each of the four authors present us with a different aspect of Jesus of Nazareth (Matthew - King, Mark - Servant, Luke - the Perfect Man, and John - God), revealing that He fulfilled the Divine promises as Israel’s Messiah and the Savior of man. Interesting Note: Some of the enemies of Jesus seem to know Him very well. In their search for the historical Jesus, to prove Him to be different form the Messiah/Christ who appears in the Bible, they have gotten a profound picture of Jesus. Consider the following accounts of unredeemed individuals who carefully studied the life of Jesus of Nazareth: Napoleon Bonaparte (French emperor who, as far as we know, was not a born again believer [unless something happened on his deathbed]) - After reading the Gospels, Napoleon was so deeply impacted by what he read that he compared Jesus of Nazareth to famous conquerors, including Charlemagne, Alexander the Great, Caesar, and, of course, himself. Napoleon said, “All these men built empires by force; Jesus built his empire on love. All these were great men, however, Jesus was more than a man, he was a god. Jean Jacques Rousseau (French philosopher, agnostic, and radical - his thinking precipitated the events that led to the French Revolution) - Comparing Jesus to philosophers, Rousseau said, “If the life and death of Socrates is the life and death of a philosopher, then the life and death of Jesus is the life and death of a god.” Ernest Renan (French philosopher and skeptic) - Renan wrote The Life of Jesus, which he based on the Gospels, however, he excluded all of the miracles (supernatural aspects) because he did not believe in miracles. At the end of this work, Renan described Jesus on the cross with the inscription It is finished, meaning to Renan that Jesus’ life was over, not that sin was taken care of. Later someone asked Renan, “What is your verdict on the man Jesus?” to which the skeptic responded, “Jesus is the incomparable man, and history is incomprehensible without him.” David Strauss (author who dedicated his life to destroying Christianity through his articles and books, including A New Life of Jesus) - Strauss was asked, “What do you think about Jesus as a person?” Strauss answered, “He was moral perfection.” Sometimes unredeemed individuals read the Gospels and are struck by the character of Jesus of Nazareth. Unfortunately, however, many times born again believers are not. Oh, they know Him as their Redeemer/Savior and they may know a lot of facts about Jesus Christ-particularly from studying the Gospel accounts-but they do not appear to know Him intimately. Application: Jesus Christ certainly wants the great truths in the Gospels about Himself to be known. However the Lord God knows that if His children get to know Him intimately, then they will be more inclined to give themselves to a vital relationship with Him as a Person-something He very much desires! I believe that learning what Jesus of Nazareth thought, and what He communicated with God the Father, will only enhance a closer walk with Him. 2. The long section of Isaiah, Chapters 49-53, the Messianic Psalms, and other famous passages in the Old Testament Scriptures present the following: The entire thought life of Jesus of Nazareth-during His boyhood, His growing years, and His ministry years. The things His Father (God the Father) said to Jesus of Nazareth during His boyhood and His growing years. The communication between Jesus of Nazareth and His Father. We have been looking at Jesus of Nazareth’s thought life during the critical parts of His life. What have we seen? o How we know that the record is His thought life and His communication with God the Father. o How He had a divine nature and a human nature, and the two natures did not co-mingle (mix). Though He never lost His position as the second Person of the Godhead (the Eternal Word), He chose to live in His humanity (Jesus of Nazareth) without using His divine prerogatives, including His omniscience (having total knowledge); therefore, He had to learn who He was. o How He gradually came to be aware of who He was through His parents teaching Him the Scriptures, through His personal study of the Scriptures with Holy Spirit illuminating passages to Him, and through the occasional interventions of God the Father speaking directly to His consciousness. Since He did not have a sin nature, there was no blockage in His mind; therefore, when He read the Scriptures, He got more understanding than any other human. o How He learned He was a special Person who was called from the womb of His mother, He was named by God, and He was called for a purpose. o How He knew He was God’s Servant, He was a Representative of Israel, and He would have God’s glory shown through Him. o How He knew He would be the Messiah. o How He knew He would be the King. o How He learned to verbalize His doubts so He could receive God’s revelations: doubt - an expression of doubt - a specific revelation. o How He learned the purpose of delays: God has something better in mind. o How the high point of His life-a confirmation that He would be the Messiah, He would be identified with Israel, and He would be the King-was immediately followed by the low point of His life-He learned that He was going to die on the Cross. o At the end of His life, the Cross is looming and God the Father wants His Son to make the choice about going to the Cross, or not-the Cross was always His choice-so God the Father gives Him full knowledge of who He is. o Although He certainly dreaded going to the Cross-He certainly did not want to go to the Cross-what He dreaded the most was the break in fellowship with His Father. Even though He knew it would happen, He did not know what it would be like and He was not prepared for it; when the break in fellowship with His Father did happen, He was in shock. o At the Garden of Gethsemane, He willingly took our sins on Him, and He was cursed. This was not just an accounting procedure-our sins were placed on His account-this was not just a legal matter-our sins were placed on Him, He was declared guilty, and He paid the death penalty-this was also a physical matter-He saw our sins being put on Him and He felt those sins just as if He had done them, which is why He called them My iniquities. o He asked the Father Let this cup pass because He felt like He was going to die right there in the Garden of Gethsemane-He was sweating drops of blood from the physical shock of our sins on Him. His prayer-To be saved from death-was answered Yes! Through it all He continued expressing trust in His Father. o At this point, He did not realize that the relationship with His Father was broken, because He had become Sin for us, so God the Father could not fellowship with Him. Why not? God the Father cannot fellowship with Sin. o At the religious and civil trials, He was different because He was facing the trials on His own (without God the Father, without Holy Spirit). In the courtyard, He started thinking Judgment on those people; you will have judgment at My hand; it was not sin, but it was thoughts out of His humanity without any direction [from God the Father, from Holy Spirit], which we have never seen before. He was in a weakened condition, He had glimpses of insight, and He was in and out. o As He hung on the Cross, He had no fellowship with the Father because He was a cursed Man. We continue to follow His thoughts My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? He was shocked because for the first time in His life, He called out to His Father but His Father was silent. The Father had to turn His back on His Son, whose thoughts we read Far from My deliverance are the words of My groaning; O My God, I cry by day, but You do not answer. o Darkness came upon that part of the world; He cried out And by night, I have no rest. He struggled to understand why His Father did not answer, and then He realized why: But I am a worm and not a man. During the three hours of darkness, He absorbed the full wrath that was directed from God at sin; He suffered the penalty for us But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastisement for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. Question:If the wages of sin is death-eternal death (eternal separation from God)-then how did Jesus pay the price of eternal separation from God in only three hours? [When an unredeemed sinner (an individual who never trusts Jesus as Savior) dies with all of his sin on his account, the unredeemed sinner is going to consciously suffer eternal separation from God. Why doesn’t he serve just three hours like Jesus, who suffered an infinity of punishment in a few hours?] First, we want to understand the concept of time: time is a function of this creation. How do we know? In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.Genesis 1:1 Was creating the heavens and the earth the first thing God had ever done? No, that is when time started. Time is a function of this physical universe-you cannot even describe the math of the universe without putting time into it-if you go outside of this creation, then you are outside of time. When Jesus died, He stepped out of this space-time world, just like every human being who dies and who then steps out of the realm of time. So how did Jesus suffer an eternity in three hours? Eternity is not endless duration of time; eternity is the absence of time, the condition that always exists with no beginning and no end. We tend to think of Hell and Heaven as time rolling on with the calendar pages turning. No, there are no calendars flipping off the wall; there is no concept of the passage of time. When Jesus died, He stepped out of time (a function of this universe) into eternity (the absence of time). C.S. Lewis wrote, “The gates of hell are locked on the inside.” I read that years ago, however, the profoundness of what he said did not strike me until fairly recently: The unredeemed will not be monitoring time in Hell; and the redeemed will not be monitoring time in Heaven. God requires punishment for sin: The wages of sin is death. Romans 6:23 What is death? Death is separation from God. [Note: It does not say: the wages of sin is death and continued torment -and beatings -and eternal harassment from Satan -and forever being burned.] Once a sinner is separated from God, the debt is paid; therefore, the rest of a sinner’s punishment must be self-inflicted. Yes, God is going to condemn the unredeemed (individuals who have consciously rejected God by their own choice) to Hell because of their sins, however, the reason they stay in Hell is because they do not want any part of God-they hate God-and they do not want any part of redeemed individuals. Since the wages of sin is death (separation from God)-not death plus other things-then once someone goes to Hell, their debt is paid. Based on that, I think, theoretically, if someone in Hell were to repent, then God would pull him out since the debt would have been paid-justice would have been done. [The reason I say theoretically is that no one in Hell will repent; it is academic because everybody who is going to be in Hell will be there for eternity.] I think it shows the ultimate mercy of God, the love of God, and the justice of God being upheld. In fact, Hell shows the love of God, because the people who are going to be in Hell will be there because that is where they want to be. Please Do Not Misunderstand Me: Individuals who are in Hell will not enjoy where they are because it is miserable-Hell is suffering so bad that even Jesus could not describe it in human terms. It is unthinkably horrible, but given the choice of staying in Hell or going to be in the presence o the Lord [and with the redeemed], no question, the unredeemed will want to stay where they are. And based on the spiritual condition of the people who are there-they are furious (livid with rage) at God-Hell will be the perfect match for them. It is probably a fact that every human being has a will to live. The hatred of God can become so strong that it will conquer even their will to live. I think that is why C.S. Lewis is right when he says, “The gates of hell are locked from the inside out.” Again, let me make this clear: it is academic because no one is going to want to come out and because nobody is going to come out. And let me stress again: it is not pleasant. The sufferings of Hell are indescribably horrible. However, in a twisted way, the unredeemed would rather be in Hell than with the redeemed, who are in the presence of God. They spent their lives consciously rejecting God, and that will never change-for all eternity. We have a picture of the people that we love-that we do not want to see go to Hell-as they are right now. However, at death something happens: the unredeemed revert totally to flesh. Right now, even the unredeemed are not total flesh, because every human being alive still has the image of God within him. Also, every human being has the presence of the redeemed around. Every human being has the Spirit of God working on him, not from the inside, but from the outside. In John 1:1-51, we read: The true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.John 1:9 This is not just every born again believer, but every man. Therefore, even the unredeemed today have some vestige of the image of God, some influence of Holy Spirit on them. So we are not seeing these unredeemed individuals with total flesh, which is a good thing because total flesh is worse than diabolical (pure hatred). Think of every vice, every sin, and the flesh represents the totality of all that. Once an unredeemed individual dies, the image of God and the external working of Holy Spirit are gone. What is left? Pure flesh. Is there anything good in flesh? No. Is there any love in flesh? No. Are there any good qualities in flesh? No. That means that once an unredeemed individual dies, he is not the same person that we see right now on earth [in time]. C.S. Lewis also wrote, “As we look at [born again] believers today, we cannot imagine that some day they will look so much like a god that if we would see them now, we would fall down and worship him.” If we could see what redeemed individuals are going to look like when they are glorified, we would fall down and worship them right now! On the other hand, if we could see what the unredeemed individuals are going to look like in total flesh, we would scream and run from them. The people who will be in Hell are not the lovely, misguided people we see now; they will be monsters who hate us and who hate God. And God is righteous-He is not going to punish somebody beyond what they deserve, which is why God says The wages of sin is death-period. Once the unredeemed are out of His presence, God has no problem with them anymore. Why not? They will have paid their debt; God would get no pleasure out of stoking up the heat on them for eternity. And any additional suffering beyond separation from God must be self-inflicted, because if God inflicts them more, then He would be adding something more to the wages of sin. Note: Though I quoted C.S. Lewis today, let me say, I do not totally recommend his writings. Lewis was a born again believer and a brilliant writer, however, he had a lot of doctrine that was not orthodox. I recommend his work to unredeemed individuals for the apologetics (defense) of the faith, or to a born again believer who can read his work and know what is right and wrong doctrine. o After all of that darkness, the Father answered Him so He knows It is finished: the penalty was paid. o He gave up His spirit and He died-He really died; He did not fake His death; He did not respond when they touched His body. Like every human being who dies, although He was dead, His consciousness continued (He continued to think). o His body was taken to a nearby tomb. At this point, in some ways, He was like any other human being who dies, because He had a body and He died. However, in some ways, He is different from any other human being who dies, because the punishment is over, and now He is a sinless Person in that tomb: He talked to His Father, He thought of us, and He looked through that event to see Himself at the right hand of God the Father. o He made a double trip that started in the tomb: (1) His spirit left His body and descended to Hades [to finish paying the penalty, to triumph over Satan, and to rescue the Old Testament saints, who were in Abraham’s bosom]; and then His spirit came back to the tomb where His spirit was reunited with His body. (2) His body, soul, and spirit were resurrected to everlasting life. Throughout it all Jesus prayed, reflected, and praised His Father. o He ascended into heaven where He sprinkled blood on the Mercy Seat, and God the Father welcomed His Son back! However, there is a difference now: it is a brand new relationship because the Eternal Word of God (the Son of God) merged with that Human Being (Jesus of Nazareth), so He is a Son in a different sense. o He sat down at the right hand of God the Father. But He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.Hebrews 10:12-13 Looking at Jesus of Nazareth’s thought life gives us a unique picture of Him, one that enables us to know Him better, more intimately. Do you agree? By looking at some of the things Jesus thought, we see that even though He was sinless, Jesus had thoughts just like we do. We know that when Jesus identified with us, He really did-in all ways. The writer of Hebrews says: Since the children partake of flesh and blood, then He also partook of flesh and blood.Hebrews 2:14 When Jesus of Nazareth identified with us, He did not just go through the motions-He did not just do it externally-He allowed Himself to think like us, to suffer the doubts -the anxieties -the dreads that we do, although without sin. Presented In The Gospels: The Question: How Can I Be Redeemed/Saved? It is amazing how many times in the Bible people asked this question. Once again, let us refer to the Gospels: In Luke 3:1-38 [John the Baptist talked to crowds who were asking:] What can we do? In John 6:1-71 [Jesus had just fed the 5,000 men and rebuked them; their response was:] What do we do then? In Matthew 19:1-30 [A rich, young ruler asks Jesus:] What good thing shall I do? In Luke 10:1-42 [A lawyer comes to Jesus and asks:] What must I do to inherit the Kingdom of God? Did you ask: What must I do to be saved, to have eternal life-not death? The Answer: Believe in Jesus Christ. As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh, and tented among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.John 1:12-14 Just believe! Simply acknowledge the following in prayer: I confess I am a sinner and I deserve to go to Hell because of my sins. But I believe that when Jesus of Nazareth died on the Cross, He was paying the penalty for my sin. And that when He rose again, He rose to give me Eternal Life. What is really interesting to do after one of these studies is to read the Gospels (books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John). It will make Jesus of Nazareth’s life come alive, because when you read the events and what He says, you will remember His thoughts behind them. For example: when Jesus of Nazareth fed the 5,000 men and they tried to make Him King; now we know the rest of the story. And when He had to go up into the mountains because He had a struggle in His mind about what to do; now we understand the struggle He was having. Father, we thank You for this amazing picture of the hidden life of Jesus of Nazareth that You present to us in Your word. We ask You to take these words and to continue to impress them on us. When we read about His life in the Gospels, will You bring those to bear? Father, our prize of life is to know Him, the upward call of Christ. Paul’s desire was to know Him and the fellowship of His sufferings. Father, we thank You that we do not have to fellowship in His physical sufferings. We fellowship with the household of His sufferings in His life. Thank You for that love that ultimately came from You. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen ======================================================================== CHAPTER 15: 16. GETTING TO KNOW HIS SON, JESUS CHRIST ======================================================================== Getting To Know His Son, Jesus Christ INTRODUCTION We know that Jesus Christ existed before He was made incarnate in the flesh at Bethlehem. The writer of the book of Hebrews points out that Jesus was revealed in the Old Testament in different ways: In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by His Son. Hebrews 1:1-2 Sometimes the Old Testament prophecies of Jesus are obvious and straightforward. However, Jesus Himself pointed out that not all of the prophecies are obvious. Some require a special revelation: He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” Then He opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.Luke 24:44-45 EXAMPLE:Isaiah 49:1-26-Isaiah 53:1-12 Most Christians understand that Isaiah 53:1-12 is a prophecy of Jesus Christ, for example: But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.Isaiah 53:5 Some passages from this same chapter shed some light on the “silent years” of Jesus’ life: He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground.Isaiah 53:2 QUESTIONS Is it not apparent that Isaiah 49:1-26 is also a prophecy of Jesus? If so, is it possible that the entire passage from Isaiah 49:1-26throughIsaiah 53:1-12 represents an extended prophecy of Jesus? Since much of this passage appears to be a record of someone’s thoughts and internal dialogue, is it possible that here we are seeing glimpses of Jesus’ thoughts? Is it then possible that we are seeing a record of the life of Jesus, revealing some of His innermost thoughts, including thoughts he might have had during His childhood? Can you match the following New Testament passages with the corresponding passages from Isaiah 49:1-26throughIsaiah 53:1-12? Matthew 13:53-58 Luke 2:41-52 John 6:14-15 Matthew 16:13-17 Mark 15:1-5 If we compare the Isaiah passage with these New Testament passages, are we seeing what Jesus was thinking at these points in His life and ministry? Do the following Psalms chapters also provide us with a record of Jesus’ thoughts? Psalms 17:1-15 Psalms 22:1-31 Psalms 2:1-12 Psalms 18:1-50 APPLICATION What is the benefit to us of obtaining a deeper knowledge of Jesus? See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.1 John 3:1-3 ======================================================================== Source: https://sermonindex.net/books/hidden-life-of-jesus/ ========================================================================