Lesson 39

All right, Luke chapter 22. So last week we left off with Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. Remember Jesus prayed, "Father, if it's possible, let this cup pass from me." That's where we were at last week. In other words, if there's any way that these people can be saved, apart from me having to die on this cross, then let this bitter cup pass from me. We then remembered that at the Passover that he had with his disciples, he had them drink the cup of his blood, the sweet juice of the vine. But the only way they could do that was that he drank the bitter cup of their punishment on their behalf. And now in Luke chapter 22, Jesus is still in the Garden of Gethsemane. He is still praying to the Father about the crucifixion that's about to take place in the betrayal. Let's look here now in verse 44, Luke 22, 44, "And being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground." I'm not sure if you've ever experienced that before when you're in agony and you're sweating, and the sweat is not just beating up on your face but is pouring off like big blood drops pouring out of you. Some people think that Jesus sweat blood, but that's not what the Scripture says. And in fact, they'll fight over it, but it's not what the Scripture says. But it says what it says, that his sweat was as it were, which we would say like, a great drops of blood falling down to the ground. Verse 45, "And when he rose up from prayer and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow. And said unto them, Why sleep? He rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. And while he yet spake, behold a multitude. And he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them, he was leading the way, and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him." This is quite phenomenal that Judas is betraying his Lord with a kiss, a symbol of love and affection to tip off the representatives of the priests, the enforcers, that this is the man you want to arrest right here. In law enforcement, we called this the bus signal. That's what we'd call it, the bus signal. And so it says in verse 48, "But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss, when they which were about him saw what would follow or what was about to happen. They said unto him, Lord, shall we smite with a sword? So his other eleven disciples are saying, Lord, shall we fight with a sword? Shall we start getting these guys with a sword?" Verse 50, "And one of them smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear." He's probably going for his head, and I imagine he bobbed or whatever, and he cut his ear off. And Jesus answered and said, Suffer, you thus far. In other words, there he is, Anna Marie, he just showed up. He didn't sit out in the parking lot. He came in. "Tattle-Tale." He said, "Tattle-Tale." Oh, we love you. We're glad to see you here. We're in Luke 22, Brother Eddie, and we are in verse 51, Luke 22, 51. And so Jesus said, "Suffer, you thus far," which means, "Suffer" means allow. In other words, it's okay. Just allow it to happen right now. And he touched his ear and healed him. So here's a man coming to arrest Jesus. And Jesus exercises love and grace, and he puts his ear back on, and he heals his ear after it's been cut off. You know, for me, I would have a hard time arresting someone after they healed my ear, you know? I mean, I would think, why are we arresting this man? Now, let's look and see what happened now. Verse 52, "Then Jesus said unto the chief priests and captains of the temple, and the elders which were come to him, Be ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves, and a staves or clubs." So you've got swords and clubs, and you're coming out against me like a thief. But notice who Jesus is talking to here. This is important. He's talking to the chief priests, captains of the temple, and the elders. That is, the elders of the Jews. They were the ones that came to arrest him. And so what we see here is this. This is the decision of the religious Jews against their Savior Christ. A lot of times we say, you know, what if, you know, everyone says there's a God. Well, if there's a God, why doesn't he just come down and prove himself to us? Have you ever heard anyone say that before? I've heard it a lot of times. If there's a God, why doesn't he just come down and speak to us? Why doesn't he just perform some kind of miracle? Why doesn't he prove that he is who he says he is? And if we'd see him, we'd believe him. When Jesus came, that's exactly what God did. Adam and Eve knew God personally in the Garden of Eden. They still rebelled against him. Satan knew God in heaven. He and a third of the angels still rebelled against him. God came down and the person of Christ performed those very miracles. Here Jesus is healing a man's ear, putting it back on his head, and they're still arresting him. So God did come down. God did prove himself to be who he was. God did do all the miracles. God even raised the dead in front of people. And still they rejected him. So don't tell me that if only God would do this, Chris said he used to say that. If God would only do this, then we'd believe. No, this has already happened and happened and happened, and we've had the same result time and time again. There are going to be some who accept the obvious truth that we were created and accept the record that God has given us. There's going to be some no matter what the evidence they're going to reject it. And the reason they're rejecting Jesus here is the same reason Satan rejected God. It's because he wanted to take God's place in heaven. The chief priest, all of these Jews, the captains of the temple, they're wanting to keep their place. So they have to have Jesus put out of the picture. They're afraid Jesus will take their place, which he would in some sense. Because he is the sacrifice. He is the high priest. He is the temple. He's all of that. So their ministry would have changed. And they're going to hang on to their jobs and their benefits and their respect to the people and crucify the Savior they were supposed to be teaching people about. They're like the devil. They knew he was God and they crucified him anyway. They weren't interested in truth. Good morning, Rapunz. Let's look here now in verse 53. "When I was daily with you in the temple, you stretched forth no hands against me. But this is your hour and the power of darkness." And what he's saying is, "You could have gotten me before, but you didn't. But now it's at night. There's no people around to see you. You're going to try to sneak this in and get rid of me. And this is your time. God has given this into your hands. And this is the power of darkness. It's what it is. This is evil." Verse 54, "Then took they him and led him and brought him into the high priest's house. And Peter followed afar off." Let's skip now down to verse 63. "And the men that held Jesus mocked him and smote him. They were making fun of him. They struck him. They hit him. And when they had blindfolded him, they struck him on the face and asked him, saying, 'Prophesy, who is it that smote thee?' So they put a blindfold on him and said, 'Well, you're a prophet. Prophesy, which one of us hit you?' Well, he knew who hit him. He created them. And as soon as it was day, the elders of the people and the chief priests and the scribes came together and led him into their counsel, saying, 'Art thou the Christ?'" This is a kangaroo court. They're trying to make it look like... How do we know it's a kangaroo court? You never, ever beat. You never torment the prisoner before he's found guilty of something. This was a sham. They've been beating him all night long. They bring him in and the chief priests and scribes are in there together in their little Sanhedrin counsel. They say, 'Are you the Christ? Tell us.' And he said unto them, 'If I tell you, you will not believe. And if I also ask you, you will not answer me nor let me.'" In other words, what's the point in all this dialogue? It's all fake anyway. And you know it. That's basically what Jesus was saying. Verse 69, "Hereafter," in other words, after this trial, "shall the Son of Man sit on the right hand of the power of God." Remember in the Garden of Gethsemane, he said, "This is your hour and the power of darkness." Now he's telling the same people, "After this hour that belongs to you and after this power of darkness, this authority of darkness that you're exercising, you're going to see me sitting on the right hand of God." He said, "I'll be on the right hand of the power of God. So you're sitting in judgment of me now in the power of evil. After this, I'll be sitting in judgment of you in the power of Almighty God." You better watch your judgment here, right? Verse 70, "Then said they all, 'Aren't thou then the Son of God? Is that what you're saying?' And he said unto them, 'Ye say that I am.'" In other words, "as you said." And they said, "What need we any further witness for we ourselves have heard of his own mouth?" In other words, "Ha ha, that's exactly what we wanted. Him to say he's the Son of God. Then we'll charge him with blasphemy. He'll say he's the Christ we'll charge him with blasphemy. We've got him on something here." He's speaking the truth. This was the one their own Scripture said would come. They said the Son of God would come. They said the Christ would come. The Scriptures have now been fulfilled and they're rejecting them in the name of blasphemy. It was blasphemous for them to reject God's Word. Look now in chapter 23, Luke 23 verse 1, "And the whole multitude of them arose and led him unto Pilate." Now here's what's happening. In the counsel that he just left, that's the Jews having their trial of Jesus. And they found him guilty and they wanted him put to death. That was their sentence. Now we have to remember at this time the Jewish nation, Israel, was under the authority of Rome. Okay, they had been captured. We remember going through all of this by Babylon, by Syria, by Persia, by Greece, and now Rome conquers Greece and now Rome's in charge. They have dominion and Israel is still not free. They still can't exercise their own authority. The owl, they have their little kangaroo court here, but they can't kill anybody. They don't have the authority to put them to death. So the counsel is now delivering Jesus to Pilate. Pilate is a representative of the Roman authority. All right, the Roman authority was that of the Gentiles, and they're the only ones that can put them to death. But what's happening here is this, with this trial, this double trial of Jesus, God is allowing both Jews and Gentiles to have their time with Jesus to examine him and decide what they're going to do with him. And we're going to see in a minute, both Jew and Gentile, the world, decided to put him away, put him to death. Quite remarkable. So let's look here now. They led him to Pilate, verse two, and they began to accuse him, saying, "We found this fellow perverting the nation." Oh yeah, he's been perverting the nation, healing people, teaching them to do good, teaching them to follow the law, perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar. Ah, now this is the ammunition they're giving him here. This is how he's perverting the nation. He's telling people to not pay taxes to Caesar. No, that's true. Jesus actually paid taxes. There's a record of him paying taxes, and he said, "We don't want to offend, so we're going to pay taxes. We're going to pay tribute." So none of that's true, but the thing is, they were trying to say, "This man is trying to tell people not to pay taxes to Caesar, to the Roman government." So this was their ammunition to try to get Jesus put to death by saying, "Hey, look, we're all about paying taxes to Caesar." Listen, they should have never been paying taxes to any Gentile nation. They should have been the ones in charge of their own nation. The reason they're not in charge of their own nation is because they were a bunch of rebels to begin with, and God allowed them to be taken over by other nations. So this is what they're saying here. Now, let's look. We found this fellow perverting the nation, forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ a king. So they're trying to get him for sedition here, you see? And Pilate asked him, saying, "Art thou the king of the Jews?" And he answered him and said, "Thou sayest it." In other words, as you said, "I am the king of the Jews." But just not the way that Pilate understood it, because his kingdom was not of this world. Then said Pilate to the chief priests and to the people, "I find no fault in this man." What's he doing? He hasn't hurt anybody. Verse 5, "And they were the more fierce, saying, 'He stirreth up the people teaching throughout all Jewry, beginning from Galilee to this place.' When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked whether the man were Galilean. And as soon as he knew that he belonged into Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who himself also was at Jerusalem at that time." And when Herod saw Jesus, you see what Pilate's doing? Passing the buck. That's exactly what he's doing. Yeah, when I was on the highway patrol, if someone called us to an accident, we realized it was on the, past our county line, which is called Smith County. That's called the Smith County troopers. That's their wreck to work, not ours. And they'd do us the same way. But he's passing the buck. And so he sends him to Herod here, verse 8, "And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad, for he was desirous to see him of a long season." In other words, he'd been wanting to see Jesus for a long time, because he had heard many things of him, and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by him. Then he questioned him with many words, questioned with him in many words, but he answered him nothing. Jesus wasn't defending himself. Jesus wasn't trying to get out of it. Jesus wasn't saying, "As we would." Now, let me explain, sir. Let me explain, please. Don't do anything rash. Jesus isn't doing any of that. Jesus knows exactly what's going to take place. And he's not playing any games with these people. Verse 10, "And the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused him." They're putting political pressure on. Verse 11, "And Herod, with his men of war, set him at naught and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and sent him again to Pilate." In other words, Herod talked to him. Herod couldn't get anything out of him. Herod couldn't go anywhere. So, you know, let's have a little fun with him. He's supposed to be a king. Let's put a gorgeous robe on him. Let's mock him, and we'll send him back to Pilate and say, "Man, this is your guy. You deal with this, not us." Verse 12, "And the same day Pilate and Herod were made friends together, for before they were at enmity between themselves and Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests and the rulers of the people, said unto them, Ye have brought this man unto me, as one that perverted the people. And behold, I, having examined him before you, have found no fault in this man, touching or concerning those things, whereof you accuse him." I don't see anything wrong with this man. He's saying, verse 15, "No, nor yet Herod. For I sent you to him, and lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him." You're wanting him to die. We don't see he's done anything worthy of killing him. Verse 16, "So this was Pilate's decision. I will therefore chastise him and release him." That was, "We'll whip him and let him go." Verse 17, "For of necessity he must release one unto them at the feast." It was a tradition that at one of the Jewish feasts, they would release someone who was condemned to death. He thought, "That's what we'll do. We'll just beat them. We'll let them go." Verse 18, "And they cried out all at once, saying, 'Away with this man, and releasing unto us Barabbas, who for a certain sedition made in the city in for murder, was cast into prison.'" So they wanted a murderer to be released back into the public, rather than Jesus, who had been healing people. That's how sick this world was, and that's how sick this world is. It's still this way. Verse 20, "Pilate, therefore, willing to release Jesus, spake again to them. But they cried, saying, 'Crucify him! Crucify him!' And he said unto them the third time, 'Why, what evil hath he done? I have found no cause of death in him. I will therefore chastise him and let him go.' And they were instant or immediate with loud voices, requiring that he might be crucified." Again, political pressure. Do you know what's happening here? It's just like we've seen in our own nation, where the squeaky will gets the grease, where they want to make sure and keep peace. The people who've been the most peaceful, the most obedient to the law, they're hated by the folks that are unpeaceful. And to keep peace in our city, we kill the peaceful to keep the rioters hushed. That's exactly what's happening here. The same mentality we've seen with the riots in recent past here in our nation, and the innocent folks that get surrounded by folks in their car and they're scared to death and they run over somebody, "Well, we're not going to get the people blocking the street and surrounding the cars and scaring the women and their children. We're going to get the people that try to get out of there and run over the people who were in their way blocking them." It's just what they're doing. And so he says, verse 24, "And Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required." Pilate gave in. He didn't have to. But again, the squeaky will got the grease. He went in and said, "Oh, I will kill them." Verse 25, "And he released unto them him that for sedition and murder was cast into prison, whom they had desired, but he delivered Jesus to their will. And as they led him away, they lay hold upon one man, Simon of Cyrenion, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus. So now we see the council made up of Jews condemned Jesus to death, and now Rome, made up of Gentiles, also now has condemned Jesus to death." Don't ever say, "Well, the Jews are the ones that crucified Jesus." That's been commonly said, but it's not true. Both Jew and Gentile, their representatives, their leaders, their authorities crucified Jesus. The whole world made the decision to reject Christ as a whole, the fallen world that is. And in that world, there were people who truly believed in him and accepted him. So let's look here now, if you would, in verse 27. So now Simon is carrying Jesus' cross because after being beaten and everything like he was, he was unable to bear it. Verse 27, "There followed him a great company of people and of women, which also bewelled and lamented him." And so now there's a big crowd of people and they're crying, they're feeling sorry for Jesus, and they're following him up the hill as he's going to be crucified on that cross. Verse 28, "But Jesus, turning into them, said, 'Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. I'm not the one you should be crying for. You shouldn't be feeling sorry for me. You need to be filled with sorry for yourself and for the descendants who come after you. You're the ones who are in real trouble.' Verse 29, "For behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, 'Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bear, and the paps which never gave suck.'" In other words, it's going to come a time to where when women before were celebrating that they have a baby and they're showing their sonogram pictures on Facebook and they're showing their baby bumps, which sometimes is disgusting, by the way, women that have their little thin t-shirts and their belly button sticks out, I can't stand saying that. Anyway, bring back the old-fashioned maternity clothes. But anyway, he says they're going to come a time where instead of celebrating for having babies, they're going to say the most happy women are those that can have children, because when things get so bad on the earth, you're going to be glad you didn't have a child that you had to take care of, that you had to watch you go through this. I've heard people say before that, "Man, I feel sorry for the children being brought up in the world as it is right now." That's the way Jesus is talking about. And what we see going on in our world right now is going to get worse and worse and much worse than it is now. And so verse 30, "Then shall they begin to say to the mountains," in other words, in the time I'm talking about that, it gets really bad. Jesus said, "They'll begin to say to the mountains, 'Fall on us, and to the hills, cover us.'" That's explained in greater detail in the book of the Revelation, but basically what's happening is this. In the end, instead, because what we're seeing here, Jew and Gentile, we're seeing the world condemn the Son of God to death. In the end, we're going to see the Son of God condemn the world to death. You see? That's why Jesus is saying, "Don't wait for me." I mean, he knows he's going to be raised from the dead in three days. He knows he's going to do just what he told the chief priest. Next time it's going to be me sitting on the right hand of the power of God. This is your time now. Next time I'll be judging you. He knows this is going to take place. He says, "You're the ones who need to be sad and crying for yourselves." And at that time when Jesus ends up judging the world and condemning them to death, the world's going to be saying, "To the mountains, fall on us and cover us. Hide us from the face of the land that sits upon the throne," as the book of the Revelation puts it. Hide us, and there won't be enough dirt, there won't be big enough mountains in the world to hide people from Jesus. The long arm of God's holy law is going to reach to wherever they are, both living and dead. And he will judge them in righteousness. Verse 31, "For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?" The green tree, Jesus was there. Their God was there. The grace and love of God had come to them, and they still crucified him. And if they will be that wicked when the grace of God is there, what's going to happen when Jesus is gone, and what's going to happen when the world becomes more and more evil, and Satan has more and more influence? If they can burn a tree when it's green, what's going to happen when that tree becomes like tender? It's going to be far, far worse. You're going to see the world get much, much more violent, much, much more wicked. Look here now, if you would, in verse 32, "And there were also two other male factors led with him to be put to death." Male factor means criminal. Jesus wasn't the only one being put to death that day. There were two other criminals. Or two criminals, rather, not two other criminals that were going to be put to death, verse 33, "And when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the male factors, one on the right hand and the other on the left." So now Jesus is on the cross. He's been nailed to the cross. He's in the middle, and there's a criminal on his right hand and on his left hand. This fulfilled the scriptures in the book of Isaiah that said he was numbered with the transgressors. This is just a fulfillment of scripture. And so now they're all being crucified here. The only difference is Jesus is not guilty. He's crucified there in our place. Now let's look at Jesus' attitude when this is taking place. Most people would be very angry. Most people would be so mad, "I'll get you the last thing I do," or what have you. Verse 34, "Then said Jesus, 'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.'" Isn't that amazing? "He heals the man who arrests him. He prays for forgiveness for those who kill him." And they parted his arraignment and cast lots. They took that beautiful robe off, and they gambled over it. And that was also prophesied in the book of Psalms that they would do that. Verse 35, "When the people stood beholding," and everyone's just watching him there. "He becomes a spectacle, and the ruler is also with them derided him." It wasn't enough that he was being crucified. Now they continue to mock him as he's dying. Such ungracious men, such cruel men, no sympathy for anyone but themselves. So it says here, "And the people stood beholding, and the ruler is also with them derided him, saying, 'He saved others.' Let him save himself if he be Christ, the chosen of God." Ah, look at him now. "We watched him save other people. He saved sick people. He saved demon-possessed people. He raised people from the dead. If he's the true Christ, then let him save himself." They didn't get it. That's what Brother Shepherd would call a false premise. The whole thing was, he wasn't there to save himself. He was on that cross to save them. That's why they're mocking a man who was up there to save them from their sin. Sure, he could have saved himself, but in so doing, he wouldn't have saved us. So let's look here now. In verse 36, "And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him and offering him vinegar." He's thirsty. They offer him vinegar. "And saying, 'If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself.'" And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek and Latin and Hebrew. This is the king of the Jews. In other words, that was the reason he was being crucified. That was the crime. Do you have a question to ask, Jonathan? Okay. That was the crime he was being charged with, with sedition being the king of the Jews. "And one of the male factors which were hanged reeled on him, saying, 'If thou be the Christ, save thyself and us.'" But the other, that is the other criminal answering, rebuked him, saying, "Dost not thou fear God, sing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly," in other words, man, we're here because we deserve it. "For we receive the due reward of our deeds, for this man hath done nothing amiss." Don't be speaking to him this way. We got here because of our own doings. This man hasn't done anything. Verse 42, "And he said unto Jesus, 'Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.' And Jesus said unto him, 'Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise.'" Now let's look at that just a moment. This criminal on the cross understood that he was the sinner. He said, "We're here because of our own doings." He knew he was wrong. He also believed the record of Jesus Christ. He believed he was the Christ. He believed that he would be raised from the dead. He believed that he would end up ruling, just like the Bible said. He believed. He said, "Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Now he's talking to a man who's dying on a cross. The only way he can be looking at a dying man knelt to a cross and saying, "Remember me when you come into your kingdom," is if he believes he'll be raised from the dead and then rule as king, as the Son of God. So he believes. He says, "Lord, remember me. I need you." And Jesus doesn't say, "Are you kidding me? You're a criminal. Look at you. You're disgusting." No, because that's the whole reason Jesus was on the cross. Jesus died on the cross for both of those criminals, but apparently only one of those criminals believed in him as Savior and Lord for who he really was. And so the criminal that did acknowledge his sin and believe on Jesus, Jesus said, "Verily, or truly, I say unto thee, today thou shalt be with me in paradise. You who are next to me on the cross, on another cross, you who are dying with me now on this cross, in this very day that we're speaking, you and I will be in paradise together." Paradise is heaven. If you'll remember, when we learn in the book of Genesis, there are three heavens in one, just like there are three gods. I'm sorry, there are three persons in the one God. There are three parts that make up one person. We are body, soul, and spirit. We make up one man. God is Father, Son, Holy Spirit, make up one God. Not three gods, but three persons that make up one God. In the same way, the heaven is made up of three heavens. The first heaven, where the clouds are and the birds fly. The second heaven, where the moon is. The third heaven, where gods manifest presence to well. All right? And so that third heaven, this is not how it is, but this is a good way to understand it. That third heaven is paradise, where God dwells. Okay? A lot of people get it completely backwards, and they think paradise was some compartment down here in the earth, where those who trusted God were held until Jesus died. So they think they were held in paradise down here because they couldn't go to heaven because Jesus hadn't died for their sins yet. All right? Oh, that's just a bunch of bunk. That's the Catholic doctrine that somehow slipped into regular churches, Baptist churches, all these other stuff. And so they said they were kept here. And so they say, well, after Jesus died, he then went down to paradise. Some think he actually went to hell. And then he brought them up here and took them to heaven. None of that's true. None of that's in scripture and any verses that seem to make people think that way, they totally, totally don't understand them. Paradise is up here, the third heaven, not down here, the lowest earth. Okay? And if you would, if you would, look here in, has anyone been taught that before about paradise? Nobody? Huh? Has anyone been taught that paradise was in the earth where people had to go? You have? You've heard it, but yet, wouldn't taught it. Okay. It's almost always someone here that has. Look here, if you would, and we got to hurry. Second Corinthians chapter 12. Second Corinthians chapter 12. Oops. Has anyone online ever been taught that before? I heard that before. Second Corinthians chapter 12. I was taught that. If you look in verse two, we don't have time. So I want to do it quickly. And if you don't have time turned there, just write it down in your notes or you can come back and watch this again and refresh. The apostle Paul says, I knew a man in Christ above 14 years ago, whether in the body I cannot tell or whether out of the body I cannot tell God knoweth, such in one caught up to the third heaven. Now, look into verse four, how that he was caught up into paradise. So we see the third heaven and paradise are synonymous. He's using the words interchangeably. So paradise is third. It's heaven. It's heaven. The heaven where God dwells. So Jesus is telling him today, you will be with me in that third heaven in that paradise. Okay. Let's go ahead and look here. Yes, like the doctrine of purgatory. It's all just made up stuff. Very good, Michelle. All right. So let's look here if you would in verse 44 back in Luke chapter 23 verse 44. That is 23. Yeah. In verse 44, it says, and it was about the sixth hour and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour and the sun was darkened and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. All right. So what's happening now? Remember, there was that veil. It was a petition in the temple. There was the holy place and the most holy place here where the blood was placed on the mercy seat in this veil, this curtain divided so that no one but the high priest could enter in to where the mercy seat was. And that was only once a year to offer the sacrificial blood. As Jesus is dying on the cross, there's an earthquake. Then this veil is cut in two. And by doing so, God is showing that the way to God is now open through Christ. He's open the way. No more blockage here. He's open the way through his sacrifice. And there's no need anymore for any other sacrifice. The veils ripped in two. That was God's way of saying, okay, this temple here, I'm done with that. You know, that's all been fulfilled now. So let's go ahead and look here in verse 46. And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. So where did Jesus spirit go? It went to the heavenly father, not to hell, not to someplace in the earth. It went to God. And having said thus, he gave up the ghost and the words, his spirit left his body. Now, when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God saying, certainly this was a righteous man. So now there's one man saved there. That man changed his mind. The centurion was the one who was over a hundred soldiers. It's why it's centurion century kind of like, so he says, this was a righteous man here in all the people that came together to sit, I'm sorry, to that side, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts and returned and all his acquaintance and the women that followed him from Galilee stood afar off beholding these things. And behold, there was a man named Joseph, a counselor, and he was a good man and adjust. The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them. He was of Eremathea, a city of the Jews who also himself waited for the kingdom of God. He believed in Christ. He was one of the ruling Jews, but he didn't agree with what they did. He believed in Jesus was the Christ. Verse 52, this man went into Pilate and begged the body of Jesus. And he took it down and wrapped it in linen, laden in a sepulcher that was hewn in stone wherein every man before was laid. And that day was the preparation the Sabbath drew on. And the women also, which came after him from Galilee, followed after and beheld the sepulcher and how his body was laid and they returned prepared spices and ointments and rest of the Sabbath day according to the commandment. And so Joseph takes the body, not Joseph, Mary's husband, but Joseph Eremathea. He takes Jesus' body. He wraps it in grave clothes. He lays it in a tomb. And the ladies see where it's laid. They go prepare spices to put on his body later, but it's the Sabbath. So they're having arrests and there was actually two Sabbaths. The Sabbath wasn't just the seventh day. There were other Sabbaths in the Scriptures too. But anyway, they're going to rest, wait for the days of rest to be finished, and then they're going to come back, they think, to put the spices on Christ's body. When they get there though, it won't be in the tomb anymore. And so we'll pick up with the resurrection of Christ next week. All right. Amen. We can come boldly before his throne of grace. Chris Johnson says, "I was brought up finding my own way with no spiritual direction." Yeah, well that's sad. But you know, a lot of people who were given spiritual direction were given it falsely, like Michelle was through the Catholic Church. I was given a lot of false direction. So we're all brought up kind of that way. Some people are very fortunate to receive truth as children. But the good thing is, God loves you so much, Chris, that he sought you out to make sure you had the spiritual direction you needed. All right, well that will go ahead and stop. And Lord willing, we'll see you next door.