Participants: Pastor Stephen Bohr
Series Code: CGC
Program Code: CGC000033
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01:11 The title of our study in this lecture is
01:16 Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me? 01:20 And I would like to begin our study at the gospel of 01:24 John 1:1-3, John 1:1-3. 01:34 However, before we do get into our study together, 01:38 we want to ask the Lord's guidance. 01:40 And so I invite you to bow your heads with me as we pray. 01:44 Father in heaven, as we open Your Holy Word, 01:47 we ask for the guidance of Your Holy Spirit. 01:50 Help us to understand the purpose and the meaning of 01:56 the sufferings of Your Son, Jesus, and what it means to us. 02:00 We pray this in the precious name of Jesus our Savior, Amen. 02:07 John 1:1-3 speak about the Creator at the very beginning. 02:17 It says there: 02:39 Now there are three elements in this passage 02:43 that I want to underline: 1. the expression, in the beginning. 02:48 2. The word God. 02:52 And 3. Created heavens and earth. 02:57 Now it's interesting to notice that in Genesis 1:1 you have the 03:03 very same elements that you have in John 1:1-3, 03:07 because in Genesis 1:1 you have, In the beginning God created 03:15 heavens and earth. 03:16 In John 1 you have, In the beginning, the Word, who is God, 03:22 created all things. 03:24 And so, obviously, the Creator of the book of Genesis was 03:30 none other than Jesus Christ. 03:32 Now even though Jesus was the Creator, He placed on this earth 03:39 as His ruler, or as His king, the original man who was placed 03:47 on this planet: Adam. 03:49 Let's turn in our Bibles to Psalm 8, 03:53 where we find this clearly revealed. 03:56 Psalm 8, and we're going to read verses 3-5, Psalm 8:3-5. 04:04 Here David says: 04:14 By the way, the word man there is adam, the word Adam. 04:36 Was Adam crowned? Yes. 04:39 Who is crowned? kings. 04:42 Now what was his realm of dominion? 04:44 What was his territory? 04:46 Let's continue reading. Verse 6. 05:11 Heavens, earth, sea, was the realm of dominion 05:16 of this new king, Adam. 05:19 But then, of course, came the tragic story of the inception of 05:25 sin into the world, and another being took over the throne. 05:30 He deposed Adam, so to speak, and he sat on the throne, 05:35 and took over the territory that originally was given to Adam. 05:40 And, of course, we know who that was. It was Satan. 05:45 Turn with me in your Bibles to the gospel of Matthew, 05:49 actually the gospel of Luke. 05:51 It's also told in Matthew, but let's read Luke's story about 05:55 this: Luke 4:5-7, Luke 4:5-7. It says there: 06:13 Notice, the devil is showing Jesus all of the kingdoms 06:15 of the world. Verse 6: 06:37 Now the question is, who delivered the kingdoms 06:41 of the world to Satan? 06:43 Why could Satan offer the kingdoms of the world to Jesus? 06:48 It's because Satan had taken over dominion of this world. 06:53 In other words, Adam had become the slave; he had become the 06:58 servant, and Satan had become the master, the king. 07:03 He sat on the throne, and he took over the planet. 07:07 The sad thing is that as we examine the history of the human 07:12 race, there is not one single person in the world that has not 07:18 become a slave of Satan. 07:21 In Romans 3:10 we find these words: 07:42 In other words, not only did Adam fall, not only did Adam 07:47 become a slave, not only did Adam lose his territory, 07:52 but every descendent of Adam also is born into this world 07:58 a slave, or a servant; is born into this world 08:03 with Satan as the ruler. 08:07 So there was no one within the human race who could recover 08:12 that which was lost. 08:14 The human race needed a Redeemer; needed someone to come 08:20 and take away from Satan what Satan had taken away from Adam. 08:24 The human race needed someone to come 08:28 and to do battle with Satan; to remove him from the throne 08:32 so that Adam could be placed on it again, and so that Adam could 08:36 have this world again, along with all of his descendents. 08:42 My favorite verse in the Bible, of course you all know this, 08:48 is Genesis 3:15. God promised that He was going to send 08:54 someone to this world to do battle with Satan, 08:58 and He was going to defeat Satan, and return to Adam 09:02 and his descendents what Adam had lost. 09:06 Notice Genesis 3:15. 09:10 God is speaking here to the serpent, and He says: 09:19 That is between the serpent and the woman. 09:24 That is the serpent's seed, or followers. 09:28 But notice, that's not the real enmity. 09:31 The enmity is not primarily between the serpent 09:34 and the woman; the serpent's seed and the woman's seed. 09:37 Notice the last part of the verse: 09:39 He, that is the seed of the woman. 09:51 A better translation would be: He shall crush your head, 09:55 and you shall bruise his heel. 09:58 God is saying to Satan, I'm going to send a Seed 10:01 to planet Earth. That Seed is going to do battle with you. 10:05 In the process of the battle you're going to hurt him. 10:08 You're going to wound his heel, but in the process of wounding 10:13 his heel, he is going to crush your head. 10:18 He's going to remove the kingdom from you, and he's going to 10:22 give it back to Adam and his descendents. 10:25 Now you notice that the first result of Adam and Eve's sin was 10:30 that the Bible says they were left naked. 10:32 Before that they were covered with the glory of God; 10:35 with a glorious robe of light. 10:37 But when they sinned they were left naked, 10:40 and they tried to cover their nakedness with fig leaves. 10:43 And even though they had covered themselves with fig leaves, 10:47 they still felt naked after this, because they were hiding 10:51 in the midst of the garden. 10:52 And when God went to find Adam, Adam said, I hid in the midst 10:56 of the garden, because I was naked. 10:58 Well, he wasn't naked anymore. 10:59 He had covered himself with fig leaves. 11:01 Obviously, the fig leaves did not cover his nakedness. 11:06 It was more nakedness of soul than nakedness of body. 11:10 In other words, man in order to be restored to his position, 11:15 had to be clothed. 11:16 His nakedness, his spiritual nakedness had to be clothed, 11:21 and fig leaves would not do it. 11:24 Our own works would not do it. 11:26 Notice Genesis 3:21, how the nakedness 11:31 was going to be covered. Genesis 3:21: 11:48 Who made the coats of skins? God did. 11:52 Who clothed them? God did. 11:55 And, of course, the coats, we noticed, were made of skins. 12:00 Now what do you have to do with an animal 12:03 in order to get his skin? 12:04 You have to kill the animal. 12:07 In other words, God was saying to Adam and Eve, Because of your 12:11 sin, I'm going to send a seed to the world, and that seed 12:17 is going to be what? is going to be sacrificed. 12:22 And because of His sacrifice, your nakedness will be covered. 12:28 In other words, God was not only revealing that the seed 12:32 of the woman would crush the serpents head, 12:34 but he was revealing how this was going to happen. 12:37 It was going to happen by covering the nakedness of 12:40 man by the death of a lamb, and thus the nakedness 12:45 would be covered. 12:49 For 4,000 years in the Old Testament we find God preparing 12:54 the world for the introduction of the seed, the promised seed. 12:58 The seed that would come and crush the head of the serpent, 13:04 and restore Adam to his throne, and all of his descendents 13:07 to their original condition. 13:09 I like to imagine what it must have been like when Jesus 13:15 gathered the heavenly host together and He said, folks, 13:19 the moment has arrived. 13:22 I'm going to leave, and I'm going to be gone for 33 years. 13:27 I'm going down to the planet of the enemy, 13:31 where Satan has taken over the throne. 13:35 I'm going to his turf, to his territory, and I'm going to do 13:40 battle with him, and I'm going to fulfill Genesis 3:15. 13:44 I'm not going to allow him to beat me. 13:47 I'm going to crush his head, and I'm going to restore man 13:52 to his original position. 13:54 And then Jesus bid farewell to the heavenly beings, 14:00 and He was transplanted to this world, into the womb of Mary, 14:08 to do battle with the enemy. 14:12 Now Jesus came to this world for two purposes. 14:16 The first purpose for which Jesus came to this world 14:22 was in order to live a life without sin, because His life 14:29 had to stand in place of our sinful lives. 14:32 The Father demands perfection. 14:34 We don't have it. 14:35 And so Jesus had to develop a perfect life that He could 14:40 give me as a gift, so that I could appear before the Father 14:44 in the righteousness of Christ. 14:46 But the second reason why Jesus came to this world was so that 14:51 He could die for sin; live a life without sin, 14:55 and die for sin. 14:57 By the way, notice Exodus 12:5, Exodus 12:5. 15:07 This is speaking about the institution of the Passover. 15:11 This is very, very interesting. 15:14 Exodus 12:5. Notice the characteristic 15:18 of the sacrificial lamb. It says: 15:20 Your lamb shall be without what? without blemish; 15:27 a male of the first year. 15:30 Ye shall take it out from the sheep or from the goats. 15:34 In other words the lamb, before it was sacrificed, had to live 15:40 for a whole year, and could not have one single blemish. 15:44 It had to be a perfect lamb. 15:46 This represents the fact that Jesus had to live 15:49 a perfect life before He died. 15:51 And then, of course, we know what was done 15:54 with the sacrificial lamb. 15:55 It was actually slain, which pointed to the death of Jesus. 16:00 So Jesus came to this world for two reasons: 16:02 Reason 1. To live a life without sin, so that His life 16:09 could stand in place of my life. 16:10 And 2. So that He could die for sin, 16:14 so that I don't have to die. 16:17 That was the mission of Jesus: live a perfect life, 16:23 and then die, and, of course, the devil knew it. 16:28 Notice 1 Peter 1:18-20, on this mission of Jesus as revealed 16:37 in the sacrifice of the lamb. 16:40 1 Peter 1:18-20. It says here: 16:48 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed 16:51 with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain 16:55 conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 16:57 but with the precious blood of Christ,... 17:01 Did you see that? redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. 17:05 ...as of a lamb... 17:08 What kind of lamb? 17:10 ...without blemish and without spot:... 17:13 Remember Exodus 12:5? 17:16 And then it continues saying here in verse 20: 17:19 Who verily was foreordained before the 17:22 foundation of the world. 17:23 That's why you have the sacrifice in Genesis. 17:26 The sacrifice represented the fact that Jesus was foreordained 17:30 to come and die, and so it says, Who verily was foreordained 17:34 before the foundation of the world, but was manifest 17:38 in these last days for you. 17:41 In other words, the plan was made in eternity, 17:47 but it was manifested when Jesus actually came to this world. 17:53 Now when Jesus came the devil knew that He had come, 18:00 and the devil said, I know what His mission is. 18:04 His mission is to live a life without sin. 18:09 Do you think the devil knew about why the lamb 18:11 was supposed to be without blemish? 18:13 Of course he did. 18:15 He's going to live a life without sin, 18:16 and He's going to die for sin. 18:19 And so Satan says, I am not going to allow Him 18:24 to fulfill His mission. 18:25 I'm going to infect Him with sin, and I'm going to try 18:30 and keep Him from going to the cross. 18:32 Now I'd like to share with you, as I've examined the gospels, 18:38 that the devil used three methods to try and keep Jesus 18:45 from being successful in His mission. 18:46 1. Satan tried to kill Jesus before Jesus got to the cross. 18:55 We have many, many instances of this in scripture, 19:01 in the gospels. You have, for example, Revelation 12:4. 19:08 Let's go there for a moment: Revelation 12:4. 19:11 This is speaking about the birth of Christ. 19:15 We've read it many, many times. 19:18 Revelation 12:4 says: And his tail drew the third part of the 19:24 stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth:... 19:27 And here comes the part that I want to emphasize. 19:30 ...and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be 19:33 delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. 19:40 Do you know what the devil is doing? 19:41 He's saying, I'm going to nip this in the bud. 19:43 Before He lives a perfect life, before He gets to the cross, 19:48 I'm going to kill Him. 19:50 And so from the time that Jesus was born, 19:53 the devil tried to destroy Him. 19:56 But do you know that there are other instances in the gospels 20:00 where Satan tried to kill Jesus before He offered His life? 20:02 You say, well, if the devil killed Jesus, then that would be 20:05 a sacrifice for sin. 20:07 Jesus died for sin. 20:08 Not so, because the death for sin needed to be an offering 20:14 on the part of Jesus. 20:15 The devil could not take His life. 20:17 That wouldn't count. 20:18 Jesus had to offer His life as a sacrifice for sin. 20:22 And the devil knew that, so he says, if I can kill Him before 20:26 He offers His life, then my head is not going to be crushed. 20:31 Now let me mention two or three other instances in the gospels. 20:35 We have once a terrible storm in the Sea of Galilee. 20:42 Actually, there was more than one occasion when there was 20:46 a storm, but this one was particularly bad. 20:48 The disciples were bailing water out of the boat. 20:51 They were afraid that they were going to perish. 20:54 And Jesus was sleeping in the boat. 20:56 Do you know that this was a storm out of season? 20:59 Because there were other boats out on the lake, 21:03 and boats don't go out on the lake in the rainy season. 21:08 They just don't. 21:09 And yet all of the boats were out there. 21:12 This storm was a supernatural storm. 21:15 Who do you suppose knew that Jesus was sleeping in the boat? 21:18 Satan knew it. He says, I'll drown Him. 21:22 On another occasion Jesus said some very unpopular things 21:27 in the synagogue at Nazareth. 21:29 He said, you know, who did God benefit in the days of Naaman? 21:34 It says He benefited a Syrian general, and He ignored Israel. 21:38 Who did He benefit in the days of Elijah? 21:41 Oh, it was a widow woman, a Gentile, 21:43 while He bypassed Israel. 21:45 Of course they were very nationalistic, and they got 21:48 furious at Jesus, and it says there in Luke 4:28-30 21:54 that they started pushing Jesus outside the city. 21:58 And they took Him to a cliff, to a precipice, and they were 22:01 going to push Him over. 22:03 But the Bible tells us that Jesus walked through 22:07 the midst of them. 22:08 They couldn't see Him. 22:10 Who do you suppose had that idea of throwing Jesus over a cliff? 22:15 Satan. And then we have several instances in the gospels 22:20 where people wanted to stone Jesus. 22:22 They would pick up stones, and they would be ready to kill Him. 22:26 And the Bible says, you can read this in the last few verses of 22:30 John 8, that Jesus would walk in the midst of them, 22:33 and they wouldn't be able to see Him. 22:36 In other words, the devil's first strategy is: 22:39 if I can kill Him before He fulfills His mission, 22:42 my head is not going to get crushed, 22:44 Genesis 3:15 is not going to be fulfilled. 22:47 And so the devil, all throughout the ministry of Jesus, 22:50 tries to kill Jesus before Jesus can offer His life, 22:55 a perfect life, a sacrifice for sin. 22:58 But the devil had a second strategy. 23:02 He said, I need to keep Him from going to the cross, 23:05 but he said, I also need to infect Him 23:10 with the virus of sin. 23:12 Because if I can infect Him with sin, His death won't count 23:16 anyway, because it will be an imperfect sacrifice. 23:20 And so the devil said, if I can infect Him with sin, 23:23 He's not going to crush my head. 23:25 And so the devil all throughout the ministry of Jesus, 23:28 was after Christ to get Him to sin, at least even once. 23:34 You know, we usually think of the temptations of Christ 23:37 as being the three temptations in the wilderness. 23:40 That was only the tip of the iceberg. 23:42 The devil knew who Jesus was, and he was going to try 23:47 and defeat Jesus at all costs. 23:50 Can you imagine what the life of Jesus must have been like? 23:54 The devil after Him 24-hours a day, 7 days a week, 24:00 365 days a year, for 33 years? 24:06 It's unimaginable. 24:09 And we can't really fully comprehend how Jesus 24:13 was able to live a life for 33 years with the devil's onslaught 24:20 against Him, and all of the evil angels, and He never sinned 24:25 even once! Let's notice what the Bible has to say about this. 24:30 Matthew 4:10, Matthew 4:10. 24:35 Of course, this is what happens on the mount of temptation. 24:40 Matthew 4:10, Then Jesus said unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: 24:50 In other words, get behind Me, Satan. 24:52 ...for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, 24:56 and him only shalt thou serve. 25:00 Every time the devil came after Jesus, Jesus answered, 25:05 It is written. By the way, there are several texts in the 25:11 New Testament that speak about the perfect 25:13 sinlessness of Christ. 25:16 Notice, for example, Hebrews 4: 15, Hebrews 4:15. 25:22 Here we find a text that describes the perfect 25:25 sinlessness of Christ, in spite of the onslaughts of Satan 25:29 against Him. It says there, in Hebrews 4:15 the following: 25:37 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the 25:42 feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like 25:50 as Adam was. What does it say? 25:56 ...tempted as we are, yet without sin. 26:03 How was Jesus tempted? 26:05 He was tempted as we are, and yet He never what? 26:09 He never sinned. Incredible! 26:14 And the devil did not leave Him alone. 26:16 By the way, the demons knew who Jesus was. 26:19 You can read it in Mark 1:23, 24. 26:22 You know, Jesus was walking along with the disciples, 26:25 and suddenly there was this demon possessed man that came up 26:29 to where Jesus was. 26:30 I'll bet those demons were just anxious to tear Jesus apart. 26:33 But they could come no closer than a short distance 26:36 from Christ, and the voice was heard, Don't torment us, 26:41 You Son of God. We know who you are; You're the Holy One of God. 26:45 And then they expressed their deepest fear. 26:47 They said, Have you come to destroy us? 26:51 They knew what Jesus had come for. 26:54 They knew that Jesus had come to undo, and to destroy 26:58 the works of the devil, according to 1 John 3:8. 27:04 Notice also 1 John 3:5 on the victory of Jesus over sin. 27:09 1 John 3:5, we find the same idea once again. 27:15 It says: And ye know that he was manifested to take away 27:21 our sins; and in him is no sin. 27:27 The New Testament cannot be any clearer to express the fact 27:34 that Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life, 27:39 and He was a lamb without blemish. 27:42 The devil was not able to infect Him with sin. 27:45 The devil was not able to kill Him before He got to the cross. 27:50 But the devil had a third strategy to lead Jesus 27:55 to fail in His mission. 27:56 Because let's face it, the devil knew that if Jesus beat him, 28:01 he would lose his throne, he would lose his kingdom, 28:06 and he would ultimately lose his very existence. 28:09 His head would be crushed. 28:11 So this is a struggle for his life; for his very existence. 28:17 So when he goes after Jesus, he says, if I don't defeat Him, 28:21 I am lost! I'm finished! 28:25 So he's not able to infect Him. 28:27 He's not able to kill Him. 28:30 So the devil says, perhaps I might be able to detract Him 28:37 from going to the cross. 28:39 This was the biggest temptation of Satan against Christ. 28:43 He says, if I can't infect Him, if I can't kill Him 28:47 before He gets to the cross, maybe I can convince Him 28:51 to take a detour from going to the cross. 28:55 And we have several examples of this in the gospels. 28:59 You have, for example, in the mount of temptation, 29:01 you find it in Matthew 4:8, 9. 29:05 The devil takes Jesus to a very high mountain and he says 29:08 to Jesus, You see all these kingdoms of the world? 29:11 All of these kingdoms of the world I will give you 29:14 if You just bow and worship me for an instant. 29:19 Do you know what the devil's real temptation is there? 29:22 Jesus knew He was going to have to go to the cross. 29:26 Jesus knew He was going to have to suffer. 29:28 Jesus knew about the nails. 29:31 Jesus knew about the crown of thorns. 29:33 He could read Bible prophecy. 29:35 He knew that He would have to suffer to get the kingdom back. 29:38 So the devil is really telling Jesus, hey, You think You have 29:43 to go and suffer on the cross to get the throne back, 29:46 and get the kingdom back? 29:47 No, I'll give you an easier way. 29:49 All You have to do is just bow for an instant, worship me, 29:53 and I'll give it to You free of charge. 29:55 The idea was to keep Jesus from going to the cross. 30:00 To take an easier road. 30:02 In John 6:15 we find the multitudes trying to force Jesus 30:09 to become king; the kind of king that they wanted, 30:12 the king of the Jews, so to speak. 30:14 Do you know who was the ring leader that led the multitudes 30:20 to want to place Jesus as king? 30:21 It was Judas' Iscariot, who wanted an earthly kingdom. 30:26 But Jesus knew that there could be no earthly kingdom without 30:31 living a perfect life, and dying for man. 30:35 And so He says, I will not take the position as king. 30:38 And it says there in John 6, that when they wanted to force 30:41 Him to become king, He went to the other side of the lake 30:45 to a secret place where they couldn't find Him. 30:48 It was the devil's idea that Jesus should occupy the throne 30:52 before He suffered. 30:54 We all know the experience of Peter, as it's mentioned 30:57 in Matthew 16:23. Jesus says, I need to go to Jerusalem, 31:01 and I must die. I'm going to be mistreated, 31:05 and I'll resurrect the third day. 31:06 And Peter takes Jesus by the arm, and aside, and he says, 31:10 what's this about dying? 31:13 Messiah doesn't die. 31:15 Messiah sits on the throne in Jerusalem, and rules the world. 31:21 What did Jesus say? 31:23 He said, Get thou behind me Satan. 31:27 Was He speaking to Peter primarily? 31:30 No, He was speaking to Satan. 31:32 What was Satan trying to do? 31:34 He was trying to tell Jesus, You don't have to go where? 31:38 You don't have to go to the cross. 31:41 You don't have to die. 31:43 Messiah doesn't die, Messiah sits on the throne. 31:46 You know, Peter didn't learn his lesson, because just a few 31:50 verses later, in Matthew 17:4, after Jesus is transfigured 31:55 on that mountain, Peter says to Jesus, You know, by the way, 32:01 this time Jesus, with His disciples, were already making 32:05 their last journey to Jerusalem, where Jesus had said 32:08 He was going to die. 32:09 And so, you know, Peter says, Lord, it is good for us 32:14 to stay here. In other words, let's not go to Jerusalem. 32:19 Let's build three tabernacles here at the top of this mount, 32:22 and stay here. Once again the temptation: 32:26 don't go to the cross. 32:28 Take a detour, take an easier road, because the devil knew 32:33 that if Jesus died, his kingdom was finished. 32:36 And then, of course, towards the end of the life of Christ, 32:40 you have some Greeks that come to Jesus. 32:44 And those Greeks want Jesus to go and preach the gospel 32:47 in Greece. They say there's a lot of believers over there 32:50 that are hungry and thirsting for Your message. 32:52 Why don't you come over to Greece and preach the gospel? 32:55 And Jesus appears to ignore them. 32:58 In fact, in John 12:20-24, He says, The time has come for the 33:05 Son of man to be glorified. 33:08 In other words, the time is not now for me to go over and preach 33:11 the gospel in Greece. 33:12 He says the time has come for Me to be glorified; 33:16 that is to go to the cross and die. 33:18 He says, If a seed falls into the ground and dies, 33:24 it will sprout and produce much fruit. 33:26 But if it doesn't fall into the ground and die, 33:29 there will be no fruit. 33:30 And so Jesus is saying, I must die in order 33:35 to recover the kingdom. 33:38 Now we need to take a look at the closing scenes 33:42 of the life of Christ, because this is where the devil's 33:48 strategy of trying to detract Jesus from the cross, 33:53 to keep Him from going to the cross, is the clearest, 33:57 his strategy is the clearest. 33:59 Go with me to the gospel of John 13, the gospel of John 13. 34:06 Did the devil want Jesus to die on the cross? 34:09 You know, some people say, of course he did. 34:13 Look what he did to Him, you know. 34:15 He brutalized Him. 34:17 So the devil, he actually wanted to kill Jesus. 34:20 Not so! Notice what we find in John 13, John 13:1-3. 34:29 Speaking about Judas, it says here: Now before the feast 34:35 of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he 34:39 should depart out of this world unto the Father, 34:41 having loved his own which were in the world, 34:43 he loved them unto the end. 34:45 And supper being ended, the devil having now put into 34:50 the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him;... 34:55 Why did Judas betray Jesus? 34:57 Satan was the one who led him to betray Jesus. 35:03 Do you know why Judas betrayed Christ? 35:05 It was not his purpose for Jesus to be delivered unto death. 35:11 What Judas wanted to do was force the hand of Jesus, 35:16 force Jesus into fighting against those who arrested him, 35:20 and taking over the throne. 35:23 You say, How do you know that? 35:25 For the simple reason that Judas, when he saw that his plan 35:31 backfired, and Jesus did not deliver Himself, and He did not 35:36 take the throne like Judas expected, the Bible says, 35:41 that Judas went out. 35:43 First of all he threw the money. 35:46 He said, I've delivered to you innocent blood. 35:49 And then, of course, he went out and he committed suicide. 35:54 The devil wanted to force the hand of Jesus into claiming 36:00 the throne, the kingdom, and that's why he used Judas 36:05 to accomplish this purpose. 36:08 And then, of course, you have the sufferings of Christ. 36:11 You know, you notice, for example, in Matthew 26; 36:15 Go with me to Matthew 26. 36:17 We're going to be in there for a few minutes now. 36:20 Matthew 26, and I'd like to read verse 38. 36:24 Here we find a description of the agony of Jesus 36:26 in the garden of Gethsemane. 36:28 It says there, Matthew 26:38: Then sayeth he unto them, 36:38 My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, 36:45 and watch with me. 36:48 Can you hear the agony of Jesus? 36:50 My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death. 36:57 And then, of course, verse 42, actually verse 39, 42, and 44. 37:04 We find Jesus speaking about a mysterious cup 37:08 that He has in His hand. 37:09 Notice Matthew 26:39. 37:14 And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, 37:23 and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup 37:29 pass from me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt. 37:36 Jesus has a cup in His hand. 37:38 He says Father, may this cup pass from me: nevertheless, 37:44 not my will be done, but yours. 37:46 And this happened three times. 37:48 Notice what we find in verse 42. 37:51 He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, 37:53 O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, 37:57 except I drink it, thy will be done. 38:00 And verse 44 says: And he left them, and went away again, 38:04 and prayed the third time, saying the same words. 38:07 And, by the way, every time that He comes back, 38:09 He finds the disciples what? sleeping. 38:13 Who do you suppose put them to sleep? 38:15 Why would the devil put them to sleep? 38:17 Because he knew that Jesus loved His disciples. 38:21 He wanted them to sympathize with Him. 38:24 He wanted them to pray. 38:25 He wanted them to be with Him. 38:28 But a supernatural slumber fell upon them to discourage Christ. 38:33 The devil is saying, look, not even your own disciples 38:37 are with You, or even care what You're doing. 38:40 What's the use of going through with this? 38:43 It's no use; give it up. 38:47 By the way, who gave that cup to Jesus to drink? 38:55 In John 18:11 we are told the Father gave that cup to Christ. 39:07 What did the cup contain? 39:09 What do the cups contain in Revelation 16? 39:14 The very same Greek word, cups. 39:18 The cups contain the wrath of God. 39:22 So what was Jesus going to drink? 39:26 He was going to drink the wrath of God. 39:30 In fact, do you know that His agony was so great 39:33 that we're told in Luke 22:44 that He sweated 39:40 great drops of blood? 39:43 How much anxiety must you have in order to sweat blood 39:50 instead of sweating sweat? 39:52 I mean His agony was excruciating. 39:56 And, by the way, many of you probably have seen Mel Gibson's 40:00 movie, The Passion of the Christ, you know, where Jesus 40:05 is brutalized? But do you know the greatest agony of Jesus 40:09 did not start when they started whipping Him. 40:13 His agony started in the garden of Gethsemane before anyone 40:16 layed one finger on Him. 40:17 He sweated drops of blood before anyone even touched Him. 40:21 He agonized before His Father, because He had in His hand 40:28 the cup that belongs to you, and belongs to me; 40:31 the cup that we should drink, because we're sinners. 40:34 Jesus took that cup in His hand and He says, I am willing 40:39 to drink it in place of sinful man. 40:43 You know in the book of Hebrews we find a description 40:46 of the feelings of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. 40:48 Hebrews 5:7, Hebrews 5:7. 40:52 Listen to this. It says, Who in the days of his flesh, 40:59 when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong 41:05 crying, listen to this, with strong crying and tears unto him 41:10 that was able to save him from death, and was heard 41:15 in that he feared;... 41:16 Notice the terminology: prayers, supplications, strong crying, 41:21 and tears. This describes what He went through in the garden 41:25 of Gethsemane. Do you know what the devil was 41:29 whispering in His ear? 41:30 The devil was saying, listen, what You're doing is useless. 41:35 One of Your disciples has betrayed You. 41:40 The other disciples, You've asked then to pray, 41:43 and to watch with You, and they're sleeping. 41:46 I mean, if even Your very own don't care about what You're 41:53 doing, what makes You think that the rest of the human race 41:56 is going to be interested? 41:57 What You're doing is in vain. 42:02 Go back to heaven where You're appreciated. 42:04 In fact, in that classic book, The Desire of Ages, Ellen White 42:11 says that the devil whispered in the ear of Jesus, Listen, if You 42:16 go through with this You will never see Your Father again. 42:20 Because sin is so offensive; it creates such a barrier between 42:28 You, between God and man, that if You go through with 42:31 this, if you bear the sin of man, if You drink the cup, 42:35 the separation between you and Your Father will be forever. 42:38 And she even goes so far as to say that the salvation 42:43 of the human race hung as if by a thread. 42:49 Because Jesus could pick up and leave, if He had wanted to, 42:54 and the devil knew it. 42:55 But the agony of Jesus did not end there. 42:58 You see, the devil, this is the final onslaught 43:01 of the devil against Christ. 43:02 The devil and all of his angels are involved here 43:05 in this last stage. 43:07 Notice Luke 22:53, Luke 22:53. 43:13 We find here a very interesting remark of Christ as 43:20 the multitude came to arrest Him. 43:22 Once again, the gospel of Luke 22:53. 43:28 Notice this remark of Christ. 43:31 It says there, Jesus speaking, When I was daily with you 43:36 in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: 43:41 but this is your hour, and the power of darkness. 43:48 What did Jesus say when they came to arrest Him? 43:51 This is your hour, and the hour of darkness; 43:55 the power of darkness. 43:57 Who is the prince of darkness? Satan. 44:00 This was the hour of Satan. 44:02 And what did the disciples do when Jesus was arrested? 44:10 They all hung in there with Him, right? No. 44:14 You read Matthew 26:56, it says in harmony with the 44:19 prophecy in Zechariah, that all of His disciples forsook Him. 44:23 Who do you suppose led the disciples to do that? Satan. 44:29 Why? He's trying to discourage Christ. 44:32 Say, look at Your disciples: they sleep! 44:34 One of Your disciples betrays You. 44:38 Now they all forsake You. 44:41 If even Your disciples aren't going to benefit 44:43 from what You're doing, what's the use? 44:44 And then, of course, we all know what Peter did: 44:48 Matthew 26:73, 74. 44:52 You know you can look it up. 44:55 It says there that Peter denied Jesus three times, 44:58 and the last time that Peter denied Christ, 45:00 it was in fisherman's language. 45:05 It says that he used profanity to deny Christ. 45:10 Who do you suppose led Peter to do that? 45:14 This is the hour of the power of darkness. 45:18 It's the devil who is trying to discourage Christ. 45:21 And then, of course, comes the brutalizing of Jesus. 45:26 Notice Mark 14:65, Mark 14:65. 45:33 I mean the physical sufferings of Jesus were savage, 45:38 and yet that was not the greatest agony of Christ. 45:42 The greatest agony of Christ was spiritual agony. 45:44 Notice Mark 14:65. 45:49 It's speaking about when Jesus is before Pilate, And some began 45:55 to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to buffet him, 46:01 and to say unto him, Prophesy: and the servants did strike him 46:06 with the palms of their hands. 46:07 What is the devil trying to do here with Christ? 46:10 He's trying to get Jesus to retaliate, to manifest anger. 46:16 In this way he'll infect Him with sin. 46:18 That's at best, or at worst his plan is for Jesus to get so 46:24 discouraged by the fact that those He came to save are 46:28 doing this to Him; that He came to His own, 46:31 and His own received Him not, that He would pick up the 46:34 pieces, and He would leave the human race to perish. 46:37 Notice chapter 15, and verse 16, speaking about the soldiers. 46:47 The soldiers led him away into the hall, called Praetorium; 46:51 and they called together the whole band. 46:53 And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown 46:57 of thorns, and put it about his head, and began to salute him, 47:01 Hail, King of the Jews! 47:04 And they smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon 47:08 him, and bowing their knees worshiped him. 47:11 And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple from 47:15 him, and put his own clothes on him, and led him 47:19 away to be crucified. 47:20 Is the devil doing everything possible to discourage Jesus, 47:26 and to keep Him from giving His life on the cross? 47:30 As a matter of fact he is. 47:33 Even while Jesus was on the cross, and you know this. 47:39 It's found in Matthew 27:41-43. 47:45 Actually, let's read that, because it's very, 47:47 very important. Matthew 27: 41-43. 47:52 As Jesus is hanging on the cross those that are at the foot of 47:56 the cross are pronouncing some very interesting words. 48:00 Matthew 27:41-43: Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, 48:11 with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others; 48:15 himself he cannot save. 48:18 If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down 48:23 from the cross, and we will believe him. 48:25 Whose voice is that? come down from the cross? 48:28 Who wanted Him to come down from the cross before He died? 48:34 It was not the intention of the devil to kill Jesus. 48:37 His intention was to push Jesus just far enough so that He would 48:44 retaliate, or He would leave. 48:47 But Jesus drank the cup fully, to the very bottom of the cup, 48:58 scraped the bottom of it. 49:01 He drank the fullness of the wrath of God. 49:05 The devil was not able to kill Him. 49:08 The devil was not able to infect Him. 49:11 The devil was not able to discourage Him. 49:13 The devil was not able to detract Him from the cross. 49:17 The devil was not able to get Him to leave. 49:20 He went all the way. 49:22 And then, of course, we reach the final moments. 49:27 Notice John 8:29, John 8:29. 49:34 This is during the ministry of Christ, and I find it very 49:38 interesting that Jesus would say this. 49:41 John 8:29, and then He would say something so radically 49:45 opposite as He's on the cross. 49:47 Notice John 8:29. Here Jesus says: And he that sent me 49:53 is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; 49:58 for I do always those things that please him. 50:04 Did you notice that, the father has not left me alone? 50:08 And yet when Jesus hung on the cross, drinking the cup of the 50:14 wrath of God, that famous verse in Matthew 27:46, 50:19 which we don't even have to look up, because you know it. 50:22 Jesus says, by the way, it caused such a great impact 50:28 on Matthew, that he actually wrote it in the language 50:36 in which Jesus spoke it. 50:37 And, of course, the words were Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? 50:45 My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? 50:49 Hadn't He already said, in John chapter 8, The Father 50:52 doesn't leave me alone? 50:53 He's always with me. 50:55 Now suddenly He says, My God, my God, 50:56 why hast thou forsaken me? 50:58 Why did He feel like His Father was forsaking Him? 51:02 Because Jesus felt the way that you and I should feel. 51:06 He was separated from His Father by our sins, not by His. 51:13 Then, of course, Jesus, the next to the last words that He 51:20 pronounces as He's on the cross. 51:22 They're found in John 19:30. 51:26 He says, It is finished! 51:31 Do you know who He was speaking to? 51:34 He was speaking to His Father. 51:38 We'll notice that in our next lecture. 51:41 It is finished, Father. 51:44 I have lived a sinless life, and I will now die for sinners, 51:51 so that all of My people can recover the position 51:56 which was originally lost by Adam. 51:59 And then, of course, the very last words that Jesus 52:03 pronounces on the cross. 52:04 You know, He says, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? 52:08 He feels forsaken. 52:11 How could He hang in there? 52:12 How could He put up with the depression of being separated 52:17 from the Father that He loved? 52:19 His feelings told Him that His Father was not with Him. 52:25 And yet Jesus, the last words that He pronounces on the cross 52:29 is, Father into Your hands I commend My Spirit. 52:39 Do you know what Jesus is saying there? 52:41 We've studied about the Spirit in other lectures 52:45 that we've done here on the state of the dead. 52:49 We had a whole study on what the spirit is. 52:52 It's really the self identity. 52:54 It's the individuality of the person that God preserves 52:59 in His heavenly records. 53:00 So Jesus is saying to His Father, Father into Your hands 53:05 I commend My Spirit. 53:06 In other words, Keep My Spirit in safe keeping up there, 53:11 because You have promised that if I live a life without sin, 53:16 and I die for sin, that You will raise Me from the dead 53:19 on the third day. Jesus did not go by His feelings. 53:24 He lived by the Word of God. 53:27 If He had gone by feelings, He would have failed, 53:32 because He would have said, even My Father has forsaken Me. 53:36 What's the use? I might as well give up. 53:38 But He did not go by feelings, He went and trusted 53:41 in the promises of His Father. 53:43 His Father said, I will resurrect You. 53:46 And so when Jesus dies, He says, Into Your hands 53:49 I commend My Spirit. 53:51 Father, You're going to have to give it back to Me. 53:57 And that's exactly what happened, 53:58 early the first day of the week. 54:02 Of course, the devil, he had done everything he could 54:07 to keep Jesus in the tomb. 54:09 A great big stone rolled in front of the tomb, 54:12 a Roman guard, plus the devil had his choicest fallen angels, 54:21 demons there outside, because he knew, the devil knew, 54:26 that scripture prophesied the resurrection of Christ. 54:30 And so the devil thinks that he can keep the Prince of Life 54:33 in the tomb with a little pebble, with a few soldiers. 54:40 All of the demons on planet Earth could not have kept Jesus 54:45 in the tomb. In fact, a powerful angel comes down from heaven. 54:50 You can read this in Matthew 28: 1-6. 54:53 A powerful angel comes down from heaven, removes the stone, 54:58 and then pronounces those words, O thou Son of God, 55:05 thy Father calleth thee. 55:08 Suddenly from the entrance of the tomb comes forth this man, 55:19 who drank the cup of the wrath of God. 55:22 He pronounces the words, I am the resurrection and the life. 55:33 And what He is saying is, because I live, 55:35 you shall live also. 55:39 I've won! I've gotten the throne back. 55:43 I've gotten the world back. 55:46 Satan's head has been crushed. 55:49 And someday I'm going to bring my people home. 55:54 One final verse. Jesus did not resurrect alone. 56:01 Notice Matthew 27:51-53, Matthew 27:51-53. 56:14 Here we find the description of the moment of the death 56:18 of Christ. It says there: And, behold, the veil of the temple 56:23 was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; 56:25 and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; and the graves 56:30 were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, 56:34 and came out of the graves after his resurrection, 56:38 and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. 56:41 Have you ever wondered what happened to all of those saints 56:45 who resurrected? Don't miss the next exciting episode. 56:51 Let us pray, Father in heaven, we thank You for being willing 56:55 to send Jesus. We thank You because through Your power, 56:59 power that we can have as well, He lived a life without sin, 57:04 and died for sin. Father help us to appreciate Jesus 57:09 more every day. Help our hearts to be filled with love for Him. 57:13 Father we want to be saved in Your kingdom, so we can live 57:17 with You, and with Your Son Jesus forever, and ever. 57:20 We thank You for hearing our prayer, 57:23 for we ask it in Jesus' name, Amen. |
Revised 2014-12-17