This sermon delves into the pivotal events surrounding Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection, emphasizing the profound implications of his claims to be the Son of God. It challenges listeners to consider whether Jesus was a lunatic, a liar, or indeed the Lord he claimed to be, highlighting the sacrificial love and compassion displayed on the cross and the undeniable truth of his resurrection.

John 18 and it's no surprise why we're all here today, right? I mean, it's Resurrection Day, we celebrate the empty tomb. I titled the message, if you have your bulletins there, I am he, I am he. If I could throw in a subtitle, it would be this, it's probably not going to be one that you would think of. You might wonder where I'm going with this, but trust me, I'm going somewhere. I would subtitle this, I am he, lunatic, liar, or Lord? That's the question we have to answer, and actually C.S. Lewis threw out that question 50-60 years ago. That Jesus Christ is either who he says he is, or he's a lunatic, or he's a liar. You can't throw in there, oh, but wasn't he a good teacher? No, he was not a good teacher if he wasn't the Lord. He's either a lunatic, a liar, or he's the Lord Jesus Christ. And when he said, I am he, and we have to sit up and say, okay, is he really who he says he is? And that's what I want to talk about tonight with John 18. We're going to get through quite a bit of text, and stopping along the way to get to that final destination of the empty tomb. But John 18, when Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples over the brook, the brook of Kidron, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. And Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples. And Judas, having received a detachment of troops and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons. Jesus, therefore, knowing all things that would come upon him, went forward and said to them, who are you seeking? They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said to them, I am he. And Judas, who betrayed him, also stood with them. Now, when he asked to them, I am he, they drew back and fell to the ground. Then he asked them again, who are you seeking? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. And Jesus said, I told you that I am he. Now, this is an interesting setting here. You've got a group of, a garrison, you've got a group of guards coming to get Jesus, and they say, we're looking for him. He says, I am he, and they draw back. Almost to say, they're caught off guard, they can't, this is him? And it's almost a picture of fear there, is you're going to somebody, you hear something, you step back. He said, I am he. And they drew back from him. Now, on this question, though, it does beg the question, why were they looking for him? Many of you know, some of you don't, but here's why they were looking for him. John 19, seven, sheds light. The Jews answered him, we have a law, and according to that law, he must die, because he made himself out to be the son of God. That's why they're coming here, that's why they want to take him. So when we answer this question, lunatic, liar, or Lord, and he says, I am he, here's why they wanted to kill him. John 14, six, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, but by me. John 6, four, I tell you the truth. He who believes in me has everlasting life. So, see, just those two statements right there, you remove the aspect of good teacher. Jesus wasn't just a good teacher. That's one of the aspects, many of you are seeing Bill O'Reilly's movie out and different things. He thought he was a good teacher. He didn't believe in the deity of Christ and the inerrancy of Scripture. So he says, I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the life. No man comes to the Father except through me. That's not a good teacher. That's a liar, or a lunatic, or he's telling the truth. The next verse, I tell you the truth. He who believes in me has everlasting life. Lunatic, liar, or he's telling the truth. And that's why the Pharisees were upset. The religious leaders of his day said, we've got to execute this man. We've got to remove this man, the whole world. The whole world is turning upside down. We've got to get rid of him. So false accusations. And that's why he finds himself in the garden with the detachment of troops saying, I am he. And these bold statements actually cost him his life. And I thought about this this week. A liar would have ran for fear. A lunatic would have been mentally ill. But only the Lord Jesus Christ could stand there and say, I am he, and cause people to fall back. If he was a lunatic, they would have just grabbed him and said, okay, come on, he's out of his mind. There was a fear there. There was a reverence of who this person was. So much so that on the day he died, the Roman soldier, probably the one that helped to beat the nail into his wrist, not the palm of his hand, his wrist, said, surely, clearly, this was the Son of God. The man who executed them, one of the men who executed him said, surely, clearly, this was the Son of God. And then let's fast forward to verse 19. Jesus now is taken, he's being questioned. The high priest then asked Jesus about his disciples and his doctrine. Jesus answered him, I spoke openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple where the Jews always meet. And in secret, I have said nothing. Why do you ask me about those who have heard me? Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard what I said to them. Indeed, they know what I said. And when he had said these things, one of the officers who stood by Jesus, he struck him with the palm of his hand. Did Jesus turn the other cheek? That's what he taught. But here's what he said. Do you answer the high priest like that? And Jesus answered him, if I've spoken evil, bear witness of the evil. But if I've spoken well, why do you strike me? See, that's interesting. Even Jesus didn't turn the other cheek. Just as a brief lesson on this topic, when he talked about turning the other cheek, he was talking about personal assaults and affronts and being criticized and just turn the other cheek, walk away. But there does come a time and a place when you can defend what is right. And you say, that is not right, that is wrong, and I will stand for that. And that's probably why the church is in the position it's in today, that they have backed away from conflict and they have turned the other cheek in everything and allowed society just to trample what God calls holy and good and righteous. There comes a time and a place where we can speak the truth in love. That's one of the points, actually, as I've said many times before, that's one of the reasons God uses a pulpit, is to speak the truth so that change can take place and not just turn the other cheek. Then Anna sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest. And I thought on this point as well, I am he who will not be shaken. He will not be shaken like we just sang, like a lamb led to the slaughter. And I've found that many men don't follow Christ because of perception. Many men do not follow Christ because of perception. As a result, they're living in deception. What I mean by that is they have this view of Jesus as this turn-the-other-cheek, soft, gentle, not upset, not this manly man, but this Jesus epitomized manlihood. No man can be slapped and say, why did you slap me? He goes and stands in front of you as executioner. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. Ironically, he didn't have to do this. But he prayed, Lord, not my will, but your will be done. And so he is the epitome of a man. He is in the ebody of everything that manhood stands for. So man, oh, Jesus, some weak guy, no, he's not. You better read your Bible. You better read your Bible. No man in this room would stand before his executioner when his executioner's gonna question him and he's gonna stand in silence and he says, why don't you answer me? And Jesus says, you would have no authority if it wasn't given to you from above. You have no authority over me. That's weak. As a lamb led to the slaughter. See, here's the part we get caught up on. The Bible talks about him coming as a lamb, but they forget he's also the lion of the tribe of Judah. He comes as a subject, but he's a king. He comes as a servant, but he will be a conqueror. And he comes as a savior, but don't forget that he's also a judge. You guys know that quote I love to quote from A.W. Tozer that says, I love him because he's my savior, but I fear him because he is my judge. It's a very healthy balance to see Jesus in all of the light that the Bible paints, not just these little shadows that we like. And then here's where Peter denies him twice more. Verse 25, now Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. Therefore they said to him, you are not also one of his disciples, are you? And he denied it and said, I am not. One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of him whose ear Peter cut off, said, did I not see you in the garden with him? And Peter then denied him again, and immediately a rooster crowed. And on this aspect, Jesus says, I am he. He says, I am he who will never leave nor forsake you, even though you forsake me. Isn't that a wonderful thing? I mean, I thought about this this week as well. Jesus, I will never leave nor forsake you. Even though you forsake me, or you will forsake me, or you've denied me. And that verse, it just rips my heart out every time that while I was a sinner, Christ died for me. Do you see the profound truth in all of this? He never leaves, he never forsakes. Even while we're sinning, Christ died for us. That's somebody who sticks closer than a brother, somebody who sticks closer than a friend. He will never leave nor forsake. God showed his love for us, and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And you know, I've talked to people about this before, and you know what I often hear? I don't believe that. Well, let me remind you that it doesn't matter what you believe, it matters what is true. And what you believe better line up with what is true. And people say that a lot. I don't believe that, like they're off the hook. Listen, I can say, I don't believe in those yellow lines on the road, I'm gonna drive wherever I want on the way home, I will not make it home. You can be sincerely wrong. So this is vitally important that while we were sinners, Christ died for us. And then now we go into Pilate's court, we fast forward to verse 28 in Pilate's court. Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the praetorium, and it was early morning, but they themselves did not go into the praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover. Pilate then went out to them and said, what accusation do you bring against this man? They answered and said to him, if he were not an evildoer, would we not have delivered him up to you? This is absolutely amazing. I don't know if you realize this, but Jesus never sinned. What are these guys talking about, an evildoer? There's nothing, there's false witnesses. They're doing this in the dark. There's nothing worthy of even the slightest punishment. And I think it goes along with I am, he. I am the light of the world. Jesus said, I am the light of the world, and the world will hate you because it hates me. He didn't do anything wrong. The world by its nature, the culture by its nature, will hate us. Do you realize if I, okay, you guys are okay here, right? But if I go down Sierra Highway or Beach Avenue or down to LA and I start talking about this, it's not gonna, I'm not gonna win a popularity contest. They will hate the words I'm saying. Same thing with Jesus. He's an evildoer, why? Because he bared witness to the truth, and the truth convicted their heart, and they said, get him out of here. Same thing happens today. The word of God convicts the heart. I don't like what it's saying, and then we twist what is good becomes evil, and what is evil becomes good. We twist the truth. Well, then Pilate said to him, you take him and judge him according to your law. Therefore, the Jews said to him, it is not lawful for us to put anyone to death. They lost the ability when Rome overtook the Jews. They lost the ability to put people to death, capital punishment. So they wanted the Romans to do it. So they said, it's not lawful for us to put anyone to death that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spoke, signifying by what death he would die. Now, this is interesting, too. A lunatic and a liar cannot predict their exact death and fulfill it. Even 700 years ago, the prophet Isaiah talked about a suffering servant who would die for his people. Not one bone would be broken. He talked about the crucifixion before the crucifixion was even a form of torture. All these things, he said, I'm gonna rise on the third day. Here's what's gonna happen. I'm fulfilling Isaiah that spoke 700 years ago, and he's leading it all up to here. That's not a liar. That's not a lunatic. That's the Lord Jesus Christ predicting his own death and resurrection. That's truth. And these guys had the truth right in their face, and they still rejected it. Not uncommon today either, is it? You can show people the clearest truth. I mean, I've talked to atheists, and you just lay it out. And they come up with the most bizarre thing. I think a four-year-old would say it. The cosmos, the inner self, and conjecture theory, and they're like, what are you even talking about? I want you to tell me how a man came from premortal ooze and somehow a female came from premortal ooze, and somehow the reproductive systems met just right, and then they procreated, and now there's a child with all the right, all that just happens is absolutely irridiculous. Creation screams creator, but they reject the truth. If you look at the facts of atheism and the facts of Christianity, they don't even, there's no facts. How humans could create themselves from, they call it premortal ooze, planets hit, you take billions of years, enough time, and things will happen, it's impossible. It's absolutely impossible that the right, so it was a little baby when they formed, and they helped the baby take care of itself, and the right oxygen and nitrogen levels, and the balance, and the PA system, and you know the body, and the chemical, the liver, the heart, that, please, let's stop. It takes more facts to believe that there's no God than it takes to believe that there is a God. Here's why they say, I don't want there to be a Lord Jesus Christ, because Lord denotes kingship, and that means I'm a servant, and I wanna do what I want, when I want, how I want, to who I want, and I don't want there to be a Lord Jesus Christ. That's the whole reason why they deny the deity of Christ and this whole idea. Verse 36, we'll fast forward again. Jesus answered, my kingdom, again, he's standing in front of his executioner. Imagine ISIS has you, has me. Here's the sword, your head's coming off pretty soon. Is this what you would do? And he was weak, oh, poor G, weak. He's standing in front of his executioner. He's going to the cross. Well, we know why he didn't defend himself, because he was a lamb led to the slaughter. He cried out in the garden, Father, if there's any other way. Can you imagine a son asking a father, Daddy, is there any other way? He said, no, son, there's no other way. You've gotta go to that cross. That's why he went, because of our obedience to the will of God. So he answered his executioner, my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from here. Pilate, therefore, said to him, are you a king then? Jesus answered, you say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone of the truth hears my voice. Pilate said to him, what is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and said to them, I find no fault in this man. So back to the sermon title, I am he who bears witness of the truth. Jesus said, I am he who bears witness of the truth. You understand that the only true gauge that humanity has ever had, the only true gauge of truth has been in Christ. The only true gauge. We can look at another human being and say, that is the gauge of truth. That is truth. And he could say, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except through me. And again, it doesn't matter what you believe, it matters what is true. The truth. And he also said here, I am he who will reign and rule forever, ever. Basically, he's telling Pilate, I'm not of this world. Let's get this over with. Because even you, Pilate, will stand before me. Have you thought about that? Pilate, stand before Jesus Christ. Talk about role reversal. Philippians says, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Come on, Shane, it's gotta be, no, every knee, every tongue will confess that Christ is Lord. And then he goes on to say, my sheep hear my voice as stranger. They will not follow. So that's why I wanted to ask you, do you follow his voice or the voice of the crowd? Do you follow the voice of truth or the voice of the crowd? Because you cannot follow the voice of truth. I know we get in trouble again, but here we go. You cannot follow the voice of truth and the voice of the culture. You cannot serve two gods. You cannot serve two masters. Either you'll love the one and despise the other, or hate the one and love the other. You cannot serve two masters. So stop trying. And here's what happens. The one who serves this master, the master of the world, thinks they're serving this one, too. And they're not. You cannot serve both. One or the other will prevail. One or the other is Lord of your life. When Christ is Lord of my life, this master has to submit. He doesn't, there's struggles, yes, but there's not a love for the world. The Bible actually says those who love the world do not have the love of the Father in them. And those who have the love of the Father truly in them hate the world. Now, let me clarify the world's mindset. In the Greek language, they use the word cosmos. It means the world's mindset, the way the world thinks. The way the world thinks is garbage, it's perverted, and it makes us sick many times. There's a difference. And then verse 39, this is a very interesting part. Pilate said, but you have a custom, he's talking to Jews, but you have a custom that I should release someone to you at the Passover. Pilate's really trying to get out of this, isn't he? Not in this text, but in a different text. His wife actually had a dream, and she said, you better have nothing to do with that just man. And Pilate sees there's nothing wrong with this guy. But because of pressure, political pressure, where he could actually lose his job or lose his life if there's another uproar there in the city. He's making certain decisions that he knows aren't right, but he has to make them. But you have a custom that I should release someone to you at the Passover. Do you therefore want me to release to you the King of the Jews? Then they all cried again, saying, not this man, but Barabbas. Not this man, but Barabbas. And the Bible says Barabbas was a robber. He was a murderer. And back to the sermon title, I am he who took the place of a robber. I am he who took the place of a thief, of an adulterer, of a homosexual, a fornicator, drunkard, an addict. I took the place for you. Don't you see the truth in all of this? He took the place, the parallels, he took the place of a murderer. And instead of him being released, instead of Jesus being released, he was, the murderer was released, the robber was released, and Jesus took his place. You can see through that. He took the place, he took your place, whatever you were. If I listed that thing, if you've repented of your sin, he's taken your place. But you have to acknowledge that he's done that. Romans five, again, God showed his love for us while we were still sinners. Christ died for us. First Peter 2.24, by whose stripes you were healed. There's no other name that will save. You realize that? There's no other name that will save. And it's interesting, during worship we see this a lot here when I speak different places. There's people who sing, they sing the song Amazing Grace. How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I was blind, but now I see. I was dead, now I'm born again. And some people sing that flippantly, and some people sing that passionately. What's the difference? Think about it, what's the difference? Amazing grace, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, oh yeah, whatever, let's just get through this. You think God's really changed your heart? But when you can say, I was blind, I will see, but now I see, I was blind, I was wretched, and he saved me. You have to worship him, you have to sing that passionately. So don't make fun of that person again just because they're getting a little excited at worship. He might have taken them off of crystal meth and cocaine and homosexuality and perversion, pornography. Don't get mad at them, they're just worshiping the God who saved them and who opened the blind eyes. That's something to worship about. Your favorite team wins, you're jumping up and down. I just walked in here at 345, came straight from a farm ball, little league team that I was coaching. We are sure excited about baseball who everybody forgets tomorrow. But there's a king on the cross who died for you, and yet you have the audacity to sit here and sing as if it doesn't matter. What's the difference? Passion, passion, I have to tell people about Christ because he saved me. I have to worship him, I have to go to prayer meetings. No, my flesh hates it, but it's tagging along because it's not gonna win. That's the difference, because I can sing that song. I've told you before, I'm half German and half Irish. That means you like to drink a lot of beer and get in lots of fights. I should be dead, I should be dead. I should be buried in Lancaster or in the homeless shelter on my sixth marriage, hung over today, I should. I shouldn't have little kids and a wife, I shouldn't. But he saved me. And I don't know what to tell you. If that doesn't resonate with you, it might because there's no relationship there. Listen, there's religion and there's relationship. Big difference, big difference. Religion, you're going to hell. Relationship, you're going to heaven. You don't go through the motions. Christ didn't die for you to go through the motions. Christ didn't die for me to be good enough. I can't be good enough. He died because he is the only way, the only truth, the only life, nobody can come through the Father except through him. So stop fighting him tonight, stop. Number one, it's a losing battle. Number two, it's miserable. Number three, think of the other options. We know we need a Savior. We know we need, we feel that, we know we're not right with God. And actually, that's why people get upset at what I'm saying right now. What's our famous saying? If you don't like what I'm saying, it's because you need to hear what I'm saying. So if you're about ready to get up and say, I'm never coming back there again, you need to hear this. You think I just work all this up to get everybody upset? No, I'm trying to pierce your heart. I'm trying to get to the heart because that's where change takes place. The soldiers mocked Jesus. Do you know nothing has changed? Nothing has changed. Those terrorists before they killed 150 Christians in Africa this week, oh, we're just trying to make your weekend celebration much more enjoyable as they wait in line to be shot. I'm, sometimes I just think, Lord, what in the world is wrong with us? You just, 150 Christians just got killed in line. Bam, bam, bam, bam. Here's a phone, call your mom before we kill you. That's why I don't watch the news very often. It's drive you crazy. But then everybody's worried about all these superficial things. Trust me, it's not gonna stay way far away forever. Closer, closer, closer, closer. So the soldiers are mocking Jesus. This is nothing new. They're slapping him, they're hitting him, the crown of thorns pushed on his head. He just stood there. He could have called down a legion of angels and wiped them out. Said, one, two, three, that's enough. So you look, so next time you think of Jesus as this mild, meek, almost just, I don't know how to explain it, this passive, you know, just, man, this guy, this guy was a manly man. This guy could go through more things than any of us could. Chapter 19, verse one, so then Pilate took Jesus and scourged him, and the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on his head. And they put it on his, on a purple robe. They put him on a purple robe all over him. Then they said, hail, king of the Jews. And they struck him with their hands. And Pilate went out again and said to them, behold, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no fault in him. And I wanna throw that question out again. Truly examine the life of Christ and you will find no fault. You will not find error. One thing is a misconception is Christians don't check our brains at the door. You think, oh, I just believe, I guess, whatever. I've looked at this scientifically. I've looked at this prophetically. I've looked at this archeologically. I've looked at this historically. I've looked at the Bible. I mean, it's just, it's absolute truth. It's unbelievable if you take it with a non-biased heart and you go into it saying, Lord, I want you to speak to me. Verse five, then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, behold, the man. Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw him, they cried out saying, crucify him, crucify him. Pilate said to them, you take him and crucify him for I find no fault in him. He's sure trying to get out of this. Verse seven, the Jews answered him. Here it goes. Can you imagine this? This is what Pilate, if he wasn't scared then, he's about to be very scared. The Jews answered him, we have a law and according to our law, he ought to die because he made himself out to be the son of God. And I can picture Pilate going, wait a minute. Hold on, this is not part of the equation. What did you say? What was that? Because he's already in awe. Why didn't this guy answer me? What's wrong with it? There's nothing wrong with him. He can tell the Jews handed him over for jealousy. This man was the truth confronting Pilate and Pilate, nothing to say. So they said, hey, by the way, he said he's the son of God. So Pilate, therefore Pilate, when he heard that saying, he was more afraid. I bet he was. And he went again back into the praetorium and said to Jesus, where are you from? That's not a, if he was a lunatic or a liar, Pilate would have said, get this guy out of here, away with him. But Pilate now is saying, where are you from? Are you the son of God? What is truth? Now the person asking the questions becomes subjective to Christ. Now Christ has got the upper hand. If he wanted, of course, he has to go to the process of the cross and go Gotham, Calvary and be crucified. But now Pilate's saying, where are you from? What have you done? But Jesus gave him no answer. And then Pilate said, are you not speaking to me? Do you not know that I have the power to crucify you? I have the power to crucify you and I have the power to release you. And what did Jesus say? No, you would have no power over me at all unless it was given to you from above. Can you imagine that scene? They just said, this is the son of God. He said, hold on, let's go back here in this room. What's wrong? What's going on here? Why aren't you answering me? And then he goes, you'd have no power. You're not in charge. Pilate's probably going, oh my Lord, what did I get myself into? He doesn't know what to do. So that's why he, hey guys, I'm having no part in this. I'm washing it clean. You go do what you need to do. So that's the option with Jesus, lunatic, liar, or Lord. Pilate would clearly know if he was a liar and clearly know if he was a lunatic. He has the Lord Jesus Christ standing in front of him and he says, I wash my hands of this. Verse 12, from then on, Pilate sought to release him. You bet he did. But the Jews cried out saying, if you let this man go, you are not Caesar's friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and set him in the judgment seat in a place that is called the pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha, or Gabbatha. Now it was the preparation day of the Passover in about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, behold your king. And they cried out, away with him, away with him. Crucify him. Pilate said, shall I crucify your king? The chief priest answered and said, we have no king but Caesar. Then he delivered him to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus and led him away. And then we get to the part, the king on the cross. Verse 17, and he bearing his cross went to a place called the place of the skull, which is called in Hebrew, Gogatha, where they crucified him and two others with him, one on either side and Jesus in the center. Now Pilate wrote, king above his head, Jesus of Nazareth, king of the Jews. And then now we fast forward. He's been on the cross, verse 25. Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother and his mother's sister Mary, the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdalene. And when Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing by, he said to his mother, woman, behold your son. And then he said to the disciple, behold your mother. And then from that hour, the disciple took her to his own home. And I thought of, I am he, I am he who has compassion on the weak and the fatherless. This whole scene is just, every time I read this, it's hard to grasp. Can you imagine the mother looking up and your son's on a cross? She's thinking back at three months old, holding the baby. Three years watching him run in the front. 13, making wood. 23, his own carpenter. And now here we are. There's debates on 33, Herod's death in 4 BC or 1 BC and puts Jesus at 33, 35, 36, 37. The Bible says he was about 30 years of age when he began his ministry. You've got three Passovers. I think 33's a pretty good number if you do some of the research. But now he's at 33, he's on the cross. He's beaten beyond recognition. Blood, he's been whipped, he's been scourged, and now you've got your mother sitting there looking at you. And he says, disciple, behold your mother. Mother, behold your son. He provided for his mom. He helped her and he had that heart of compassion, even on the cross. And now I want to fast forward to Matthew, actually. Matthew chapter 27. You don't have to turn your Bibles, I'll just read it. This is a little bit more of the story that John doesn't talk about. Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour, there was darkness over all the land. So Jesus now is on the cross. And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, Lama Zabatchini, that is my God, my God, why have you done this? Why have you forsaken me? Lunatic, liar, or Lord? Jesus is crying out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why have you forsaken me? Why did God forsake him? Because they say that point in history is when the Father allowed the Son to suffer the judgment of the world. And a holy, righteous God cannot be part of sin. And as Christ died on the cross, laying there, Eli, Eli, Lama Zabatchini, my God, where are you? You're forsaken. The wrath of God was satisfied on the cross. And that's why after that, he can say, it is finished. The Bible says, she gave up his ghost, it's finished, King James, it's over. Why was it over? Because that separation occurred, he absorbed the wrath of God. And here we go again, people say, I don't like that. I don't like it either, but there's nothing you can do about it. The penalty of sin is death. A holy, righteous God cannot dwell with sin. It's like if you try to mix those different atoms, how they invent the atomic bomb, how they do that, splitting atoms, you can't mix, it's not possible. So Christ became that gap, bridged that gap, absorbed the wrath of God. In the New Testament, it's called propitiation. He absorbed the penalty that I should have. So don't you think worship sounds a little sweeter? It's not like 20 minutes, let's get through this, I'm hungry. In-N-Out Burger, McDonald's, Panda Express, come on. Let's hurry up. Well, if you understand that he just absorbed the wrath of God that was on me, on you, that will change your perspective. You might not be in a hurry. You might wanna stay and just soak a little bit into the powerful presence of God and worship and say, Lord, I don't feel like it, but would you change my heart? Change my heart so I wanna feel like it. That's what he did, that was the point of the cross. We forget that absorbed the wrath of God for me and for you, that was the point of it. That's why we worship, that's why we meet. It's not some fairy tale, it's not some nice little story. He took the place of a sinner because without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. Blood had to be shed, and that's the perfect sacrifice. That's why we get excited at Easter. No, don't say that word, say resurrection day. I already get emails from people. Because the holidays, they copy some things from the goddess Esther, Easter eggs, bunnies, got it, so don't use that word, Easter. But I think God can redeem Easter because we're here to celebrate the cross. The empty tomb, actually, is what we're celebrating. You can call it whatever because there's no pagan gods, there's no God Esther, there's one true and living God, and that's who we're here worshiping. Just that statement's gonna get me more emails, so let's get back on track. Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, they said, this man is calling for Elisha. But immediately, one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed, and offered it to him to drink. The rest said, no, let him alone. Let's see if Elisha will come to save him. And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. Then behold, the veil of the temple was torn from the top to the bottom. You have this big, thick veil that's in the temple. It separates the holy of holies, and only the priests can go in there. It separates, there's a separation there. Only the priests, only once a year, the people can go in there. Now this huge veil is ripped from the top to the bottom. Interesting thing. Many theologians say now we have access to God because Christ has removed that veil, and it's true. But I also heard an interesting thing on the radio. Some of you might have picked up from Steve Schell. He said also, it resembles earlier on, a few days earlier, when Jesus said, I am the Son of God, standing before the religious leaders. And the high priest said, blasphemy, and ripped his clothing. Said, blasphemy, you are not the Son of God. So when Christ died, God said, blasphemy. That's blasphemy, what you just did to the Son of God. So whatever way you wanna believe, they're both powerful. Ripping that veil allows us, now you can come straight to God. You don't need an intercessor. Lord knows you don't need a priest. You don't need this, you don't need that. You don't need Mother Mary. You need to come to Christ on your own. There's no mediator between God and man, except the man, Christ Jesus. That's the only way, the only truth, the only life. Yeah, I hope I can get through this. Verse 20, now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. Then she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciples. Where have they taken away his body? Where have they taken it? Peter therefore went out with the other disciples, and they were going to the tomb, so they both ran together. And the other disciple out ran Peter. Then Simon Peter came following him and went into the tomb, and he saw the linen clothes lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but folded together in a place by itself. Then the other disciple who came to the tomb first went in also, and he saw and believed, he saw and believed. For as yet they did not know the Scriptures, that he must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again to their homes. And that is the story in a nutshell. The empty tomb, now the early church starts. And in case some of you think this is a fairy tale, 11 of the 12 disciples were killed for their faith. Nobody's gonna die for a lie. Wait a minute, Shane, terrorists do. No, they believe it's the truth. Nobody's gonna die for something, oh, we hid his body, we're not gonna. 11 of the 12 disciples, think of this, this argument in and of itself is powerful. 11 of the 12 disciples were killed for their faith. They did not hide a body. Burned, cut in two, heads chopped off, hung upside down, doesn't sound very good. Why, because they died for their faith. They died for what they knew to be true. And like we just, I love that song, oh, death, where is your sting? Our resurrected king has rendered you defeated. So I'll close with that question. You have to answer that question tonight. You cannot live your life with a question mark here. You can't. Is he lunatic, liar, or Lord? Currently with 2.5 billion followers, I think, I think there's some truth in there. If this was a lie, it would have died when he died. You have to answer that question. You cannot live your life with a question mark here. It's the most dangerous spot to live, here with a question mark.