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Exploring the Dynamics of Jesus' First Trial and Peter's Denial

Dive into Jesus' trial and Peter's denial. Explore the unfair proceedings and the emotional turmoil that marked this crucial moment in history.

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If you’re looking for a church in Smyrna, TN that is focused on Loving Big, Living Truth, and Healthy Family, we’d love to connect with you. We are home to a vibrant children’s ministry, powerful middle school and youth ministries, and incredible ministries for men and women of all ages. Our local and global outreaches include partnerships with missionaries in the US and abroad, Isaiah 117 House, local retirement communities, and more. 

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Springhouse Church
14119 Old Nashville Highway
Smyrna TN 37167

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Transcript
Speaker:

- Well, good morning, everybody.

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Am I hot?

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Cool.

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Am I good, can you hear me?

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Okay, cool.

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All right, so I am super excited to see

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what the Lord has saved for us this morning,

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and I appreciate, Will, thank you for opening us up.

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So we're gonna continue the journey through John.

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So what we're gonna see today are some events

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that transpired before Jesus finds himself

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in front of Caiaphas.

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So today we're gonna see Peter's first denial.

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We're gonna see also Jesus' first trial.

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So let's jump right in.

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Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander

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and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus.

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They bound him and brought him in first to Annas,

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who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas,

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the high priest that year.

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Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jewish leaders

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that it would be good if one man died for the people.

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Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus.

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Because this disciple was known to the high priest,

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he went with Jesus into the high priest's courtyard,

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but Peter had to wait outside at the door.

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The other disciple, who was known to the high priest,

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came back, spoke to the servant girl on duty there,

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and brought Peter in.

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"You aren't one of this man's disciples too, are you?"

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she asked Peter.

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He replied, "I am not."

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It was cold, and the servants and officials stood

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around a fire they had made to keep warm.

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Peter also was standing with them, warming himself.

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Meanwhile, the high priests questioned Jesus

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about his disciples and his teaching.

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"I have spoken openly to the world," Jesus replied.

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"I always taught in synagogues or at the temple,

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where all the Jews come together.

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I said nothing in secret.

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Why question me?

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Ask those who heard me.

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Surely they would know what I said."

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When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby

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slapped him in the face.

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"Is this the way you answer the high priest?" he demanded.

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If I said something wrong, Jesus replied,

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"Testify as to what is wrong.

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But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?"

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Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas, the high priest.

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So there's a lot going on there, right?

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So we're gonna talk first.

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So this command, so obviously we see quite the outfit

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coming after Jesus, right?

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So that the commander was the officer in charge,

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the executive of the Roman garrison.

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And so they're in Jerusalem.

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So there's a number of other cross references

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that use this same term commander.

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So this was serious and strengthens the impression

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that the Romans supported the action of the Jewish hierarchy.

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His bounding, as we read,

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his bounding also shows that they regarded him

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dangerous enough to send many soldiers after him.

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So in custody, when they bound Jesus,

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they treated him as an absolute threat.

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So I don't believe, as we read,

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I don't believe he surrendered to them.

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I don't believe that Jesus did surrender to them.

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I believe in this moment,

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he was surrendering to his Father's will.

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That's what he was surrendering to.

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The hands that had healed the sick,

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the hands that had raised the dead,

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surely could have broken some ropes, right?

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That he was bound with.

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So this was him, this was Jesus.

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Submitting to his Father's will.

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And he remained bound.

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He didn't try to break the ropes.

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He didn't try anything.

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He remained bound.

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So what I thought interesting too,

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as I was reading through John's gospel here,

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is that Judas was not mentioned.

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And so I thought, why wasn't Judas mentioned?

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To me, that seems like an awful important part, right?

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It was part of, to me, the image when I closed my eyes

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and I kind of walked through what was happening.

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The Judas coming up and the Judas kiss

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was always this thing to me.

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So I wondered why.

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And the other gospels obviously

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all talk about Judas' role.

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They talk about the kiss.

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In researching, I'm just curious of what others

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take might've been on that.

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And so there's a few takes on why

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perhaps John didn't mention Judas.

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So there's focus.

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So John was maybe focusing more on the themes

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than the specific details of that event.

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There was an audience element to this.

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So John may have been writing to those

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that were already aware or that already familiar

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with the story from the other gospels.

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And then there's perspective.

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So John may have been presenting the scene

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from the bystanders' point of view

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who may have not known the reason for the arrest.

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So I think one thing we, whoops,

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one thing we can appreciate is what the text says

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and what it doesn't say.

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So we don't have to imply anything

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that the text just doesn't mention it.

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And that's, and I think this was something actually

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that Wayne was, we were talking about

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the last time I was up here is,

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just because it doesn't say it,

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you just have to accept that it just doesn't say it.

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And that's okay.

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And so I just thought it was, there again,

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just an interesting, why didn't John mention that?

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So we see him brought first to Annas,

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just like the Judas omission.

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John is also the only gospel scene that mentions this,

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that mentions this interaction with Annas at all.

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So the other gospels do not mention that.

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So I asked myself, why?

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Why is that?

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The best explanation that I found was that perhaps,

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John did have access to additional details about the event,

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about what was happening.

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And he was focusing on maybe a specific aspect

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of this trial process.

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So then that caused me to kind of ask myself the question,

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so who is Annas?

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So Annas was the former high priest.

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Obviously, as we read there,

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he's the father-in-law of Caiaphas.

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So he was the high priest that was not only

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the religious leader, but also a political figure,

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often interacting with Roman authorities.

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You see that the bullet point here on the patriarch,

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so he was a patriarch of a priestly dynasty,

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in addition to being the leading benefactor

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of the scheme for temple tax and sacrificial sales,

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he was notorious for being a skilled slanderer

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and a seasoned accuser.

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So he was not a nice guy.

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Several of his sons also served as high priests,

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indicating that the family's substantial control

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over the religious leaders.

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But at any rate, the Lord was led to Annas first.

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And I feel sure that there was a motive there for that act.

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If you read, if you dig into a little bit more about Annas,

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you get the sense that he had some priority

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within the peer group that was against Jesus.

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Some of the other words used to describe him

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was malignant and cruel and unfair,

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that he was premier amongst the ministry

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of persecutors of Jesus.

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The Talmud, which is the central text

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of the rabbinic Judaism and the primary source

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of Jewish law, there's a passage there that says

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"Woe to the house of Annas, woe to their serpents' hiss.

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They are high priests, their sons are keepers

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of the treasury, their sons-in-law are guardians

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of the temple, and their servants beat the people

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with staves, Annas and his household were notorious."

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So we're dealing with some not good people here.

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So there's some, this guy was not good.

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And a little bit about Caiaphas.

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So Caiaphas was the current high priest.

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He had previously suggested that Jesus's death

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was necessary for the survival of the nation.

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And we see that in John 45 through 53,

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which I'll read here for us.

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"Therefore, many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary

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had seen what Jesus did, believed in him,

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but some of them went to the Pharisees

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and told what Jesus had done.

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Then the chief priests and the Pharisees

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called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.

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'What are we accomplishing?' they asked.

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'Here is this man performing many signs.

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If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him.

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And then the Romans will come and they will take away

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both our temple and our nation.'

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Then one of them named Caiaphas,

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who was the high priest that year, spoke up.

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'You know nothing at all.

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You do not realize that it is better for you

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that one man die for the people

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than the whole nation perish.'

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He did not say this on his own,

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but as high priest that year,

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he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation,

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and not only for the nation,

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but also for the scattered children of God,

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to bring them together and to make them one.

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So from that day, they plotted to take his life."

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(chuckles)

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So Caiaphas, as I just read,

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so Caiaphas did not say,

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let him be silenced or imprisoned or banished.

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Those would all have been appropriate,

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I guess you could say punishments,

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or it's kind of sufficient to restrain someone.

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But no, they thought dangerous enough that he said,

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no, it doesn't need to be those things, he must die.

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And so he went there.

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In that unknowing prophecy that Caiaphas spoke,

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he did speak it logically,

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that the good of many outweigh the good of one.

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But obviously there was a moral,

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it was not morally, his prophecy was not moral either,

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'cause it was wrong,

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and it was wrong to put an innocent man

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in this case, the Messiah to death.

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So Caiaphas was definitely a cynical politician.

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So I was wondering,

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it's kind of stumbled upon this question in research,

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was it malice against Jesus

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or was it an absolute desire for stability?

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So there's a few mix of motives kind of going on here.

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There's a threat of authority,

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the political concerns, religious disagreement.

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So I thought I'd kind of read through some of these

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that I stumbled upon here.

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From an authority perspective,

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Jesus' focus on direct relationship with God

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and his criticism of religious hypocrisy

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could have been seen as undermining the authority

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of the temple establishment.

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Caiaphas as the high priest

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might have felt his own power and influence,

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challenged and viewed Jesus as an instigator.

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So, oops.

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So Jesus challenged the hierarchies interpretation

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of Sabbath laws.

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And we obviously know that he drove the merchants

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and the money changers out of the temple,

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declaring that they had made it into a cave of robbers.

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We saw that in Luke.

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Some historians believe that those temple markets

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were owned by the house of Annas.

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So perhaps, another reason why Caiaphas

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is trying to protect that,

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trying to silence Jesus in this situation.

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Political concerns.

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So obviously the growing crowds around Jesus

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worried the Jewish leaders.

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So they feared the Roman intervention, right?

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They feared Jesus,

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perceived him as a political rebel.

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Caiaphas concerned about maintaining stability

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might have viewed Jesus's elimination

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as a way of appeasing the Romans.

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Like there's too much noise going on,

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but I got to get rid of this guy, this rebel rouser.

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Then there's the religious disagreement.

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So beyond political considerations,

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Caiaphas might've genuinely disagreed

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with Jesus's teaching, the Sadducees,

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the priestly class to which Caiaphas likely belong.

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They differed from the Pharisees

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and interpretations of some scriptures and the afterlife.

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So we're gonna shift gears.

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So let's check in on Peter and John.

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So I'll read this section of scripture again.

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So Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus.

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Because this disciple was known to the high priest,

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he went with Jesus into the high priest's courtyard,

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but Peter had to wait outside at the door.

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The other disciple who was known to the high priest

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came back, spoke to the servant girl on duty there

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and brought Peter in.

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So Peter did embarrass himself in the garden.

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He had the sword,

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he lopped off the ear of the high priest servant.

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So Peter, hoping for a second chance to show his loyalty,

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follows Jesus to where he was being held.

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Now, most believe that this second disciple,

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this other disciple was John himself,

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who had previous connections to the high priest

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and his household.

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John's connection there to the high priest and his servants

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explains how Peter and John had any access whatsoever

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to the courtyard on this night, on such a night.

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'Cause obviously we've got all this going on.

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We've got Jesus now being brought in.

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This is kind of a secret trial happening at night,

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which we'll get to here in a minute.

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But John's connection, we can kind of say that

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that's probably the only reason

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that while they were even allowed into the courtyard.

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So Peter's denial, "You aren't one of this man's disciples

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too, are you?" she asked Peter.

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He replied, "I am not."

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It was cold and the servants and officials stood around

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a fire they had made to keep warm.

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Peter also was standing with them warming himself.

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So we see this as mentioned in this translation,

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a simple, simple servant girl who minded the door

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to the courtyard of the high priest's house,

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kind of questioning Peter.

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So on the surface, this could seem like a super easy test

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for Peter, right?

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You've got this simple servant girl,

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a simple test for his loyalty.

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He could have answered nothing.

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He could have mumbled something.

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He could have said, "I am not," but he didn't.

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But he didn't.

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And then you see this, the two here,

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in other translations, the word also is used.

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It means that if John was the other disciple,

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that John was already known to her as a disciple of Jesus.

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The servant girl, presumably knowing that the other disciple

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to be a follower of Jesus.

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And when she saw him bringing in Peter,

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she can kind of say, "Oh no, kind of not another one, right?

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So here comes another one."

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Following Jesus.

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But we see Peter respond to her negative statement

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with a negative of his own.

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So instead of being loyal to Jesus,

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he denied being his disciple.

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This all kind of seems to have happened at the door,

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perhaps a quick exchange.

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Maybe Peter was caught off guard.

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Maybe it was just a quick response.

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But even so, it was yet a quick and obvious denial

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of association with Jesus.

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There's a sense that, well, we see Peter

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and kind of going to warm himself.

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The sense is that Peter was there by the fire,

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not only because it was cold and he wanted warmth,

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but he also, at this point, kind of wanted to blend in

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and not stand out.

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He didn't want to be noticed.

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Because of everything that was transpiring

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and it was about to transpire,

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it would have been dangerous to kind of be noticed, right?

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So he was a disciple of the man that was being arrested

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and in serious trouble.

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But through this denial,

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Peter had just distanced himself spiritually from the Lord.

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But we see him turn to an earthly means to warm himself.

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And so, as well as he's taken now in the presence

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of those associated with the high priest,

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but the physical coldness of this scene

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reflects Peter's spiritual struggle, right?

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So there's an absolute relatability there for us

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that in this world facing struggles

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and being distanced from the Lord,

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that some do turn to those earthly vices

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to bring warmth and to bring comfort.

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So Peter was now distancing himself from the Lord

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where he had warmth and comfort.

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He denied him.

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Now we find Peter by the fire, right?

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But as we know, all those earthly things

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are subject to elements

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and their comforts will not last.

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This courtyard is also an interesting setting

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for this story.

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It represents a place of his faith being tested,

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a place of judgment and power.

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This location, it definitely provides a dramatic backdrop

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for Peter's denial.

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It emphasizes the gravity of the situation.

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Only those that had connections could enter.

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The high priest's residence was well guarded.

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It was a well guarded complex.

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And it was a place where legal and religious matters

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often were discussed and decided.

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But Jesus being brought here,

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kind of symbolizes the beginning of his trials

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and leading to and well,

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and also the religious leaders' active role

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leading up to Jesus' crucifixion.

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In this tense scene,

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we see Peter go from a declaration of loyalty

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that we heard in John 13, 37,

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where Peter was asked, or Peter asked,

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"Lord, why can't I follow you now?

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I will lay down my life for you."

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And then from that to now in this denial,

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while Jesus is standing strong

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in the face of unjust accusations,

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we see Peter falter here.

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And so I think it's also interesting

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that these kind of two narratives,

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Peter and Jesus, really highlight

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Jesus' fulfillment of his mission

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and then Peter's human frailty, right?

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But as we know,

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there is also a redemption story being constructed here.

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Peter will go on to deny Jesus three times.

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Jesus will go on to be crucified,

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but God is merciful.

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And he's using this dark moment in Peter's life

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to teach him forgiveness,

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to teach him humility.

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It was the Father's compassion

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that showed Peter how to be compassionate

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and the Lord's faithfulness to him,

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even when he was unfaithful,

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that demonstrated him to how to show true faith to others.

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The other gospels go into a little bit more,

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I guess you can say, detail about Peter's emotional

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and psychological state

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in the pressure that he was facing.

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So in Mark, Mark provides additional details

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about the trial, Peter's denial,

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emphasizing that emotional turmoil

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that Peter was experiencing.

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Matthew similarly describes the setting and the events,

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focusing on Peter's fear

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and the weeping after realizing his denial.

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Luke highlights the moment that Jesus turns to Peter

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after his third denial and just, there again,

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closing my eyes and looking,

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just kind of picturing that Jesus,

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after the third denial,

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Jesus literally turning him and looking at Peter.

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And that's when, that's that powerful moment

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that the realization and the remorse

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that Peter felt in that moment.

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So I think we can all relate to those experiences

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of in this situation with Peter,

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not standing up for his faith,

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and going through that, going through denial.

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Meanwhile, the high priest questioned Jesus

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about his disciples and his teaching.

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"I have spoken openly to the world," Jesus replied.

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"I always taught in synagogues or at the temple

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where all the Jews come together.

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I said nothing in secret.

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Why question me?

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Ask those who heard me.

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Surely they know what I said."

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So Annas wanted to know about Jesus' disciples,

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perhaps because of fear or jealousy,

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but then he also wanted to know about his doctrine.

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He wanted to know what Jesus might have,

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what Jesus taught that might be of concern,

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kind of to the religious establishment.

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So Annas basically brought the prisoner in and asked him,

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"Tell us what you're guilty of

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and everyone who is with you."

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So that's what basically Annas is doing in this situation.

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So in his reply, Jesus did not mention his disciples at all.

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He protected them in every way possible.

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So Jesus in this exchange here politely explained to Annas

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that he had nothing to hide.

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The things he said, he had spoken openly to the world.

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None of his teachings were in secret.

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The things he taught were always in public,

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such as the synagogues and the temple.

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Jesus was not in this situation here.

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He was not obligated to respond.

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He was not obligated to respond

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to his interrogators' questions,

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but he respectfully answered them anyways.

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Instead of taking the bait, Jesus answered,

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"I have spoken openly to the world.

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I always taught in synagogues and in the temple

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where all the Jews come together

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as I spoke nothing in secret."

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So why are you asking me?

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So in saying this, and obviously he says

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in this particular translation, "Why question me?"

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So in saying this, Jesus wasn't being uncooperative.

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He was only asserting his legal right.

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He knew the rules, he knew the laws.

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There was to be no formal charge against the accused

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until witnesses had been heard

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and had been found to have truth.

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So this was not a fair trial for multitude of reasons,

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which we'll get to here in a second.

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It was the high priest's duty to call forth witnesses.

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There were proceedings that they were supposed

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to be following, beginning with those for the defense,

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in this case, Jesus.

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These basic legal protections for the accused

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under the Jewish law were not observed in the trial.

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Jesus therefore was claiming that

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if the teaching was in question,

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evidence should be heard in a normal way, right?

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So all the rules were broken in regards

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to a fair trial in this situation.

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And I've put up a few of those rules here,

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and I think there's a link in the sheet there

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that explains all the rules.

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I forget how many there were, 15 or 20,

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but I've put up just a few here.

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But the primary, it's clear that they provided

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some examples, but the other thing is Jesus

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was civilly exercising his rights

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in according to this Jewish law.

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Jesus was requesting Annas to provide witnesses

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and present evidence, and he was legally required

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to do that before arresting and interrogating him.

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But throughout his religious trial,

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the Bible gives no indication that anyone ever came

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to the defense of Jesus.

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In fact, it suggests in Mark 14, 64 here,

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it suggests that they were all against him.

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So the high priest tore his clothes,

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which is also another rule that was broken.

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The high priests were not supposed to tear their clothes.

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Why do you need any more witnesses, he asked.

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You have heard the blasphemy.

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What do you think?

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They all condemned him as worthy of death.

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So they already had all made up their minds.

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This was, he was guilty.

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When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby

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slapped him in the face.

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Is this the way you answer the high priest, he demanded?

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If I said something wrong, Jesus replied,

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testify as to what is wrong.

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But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?

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Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas, the high priest.

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So it was definitely, and this is another rule,

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I forget if it was on that previous page or not,

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but it was definitely inappropriate for one of the officers

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to strike a prisoner for speaking wrongly.

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According to Jewish law, the prisoners were to be treated

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fairly and humanely by those who judged him.

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This anonymous official here began the physical abuse

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of Jesus that would obviously end in his crucifixion.

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In his deity, Jesus knew this man's name,

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the striker that is.

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But as the one of the, but this man that struck Jesus

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as one of those who did not know

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what they did against the Messiah,

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his name was graciously not recorded

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in this particular scripture.

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However, his crime was, just as we just read,

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so this blow was a signal for the indignities

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that were about to occur.

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This subordinate or attendant of the former high priest

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that struck Jesus on behalf of,

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on the high priest's behalf,

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despite Jesus' respectful response,

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the officer offended that a humble prisoner like Jesus

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would have the audacity to request someone as revered

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as Annas to follow the rules, right?

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So the irony here is that in this violent reaction,

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that the officer just struck the,

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he had just struck the high priest as the Messiah.

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Jesus was supreme high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

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The officer unwittingly fulfilled the prophecy

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that Isaiah wrote.

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"We ourselves esteemed him stricken,

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smitten of God and afflicted."

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You see Jesus here, kind of looking for justification.

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Jesus asked both the unnamed official and Annas

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to justify this physical abuse.

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Jesus exposed the shameful truth

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that they did not follow their own standards,

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their own rules, their own practices of judgment,

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but he did, but he mercifully did not respond in kind

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according to this officer's actions.

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Instead of punishing him, probably as he deserved,

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for striking a person of God, the man of God,

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Jesus offered a gentle rebuke.

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So Annas wanted to know what Jesus' teaching was,

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and he definitely got a beautiful front row seat,

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front row display of that teaching

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through Jesus' merciful response to this officer.

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But Annas was not interested in such things,

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especially at this late hour.

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The former high priest only wanted really to discover

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something about Jesus that he could twist

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into an accusation that would be sufficient to murder him.

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So Annas' attempt was absolutely unsuccessful.

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So Jesus had responded correctly to this tense situation.

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He did so with the utmost patience and respect

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and love for Annas and his officer,

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both of whom bore his divine image, as it says in Genesis,

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and were his personal creations, although fearfully,

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and they were fearfully and wonderfully made, Psalm 139, 14.

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It was apparent that Annas and his officers hated Jesus,

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and they were looking there again.

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They were looking for something to twist.

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They were looking for a reaction out of Jesus.

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They regarded him as their enemy,

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but Jesus' merciful response to their hatred

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was an application of his teachings to his disciples,

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and a few of those kind of listed here.

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Do not resist an evil person.

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Turn the other cheek.

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He was slapped.

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He did not respond physically.

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Loving your enemies, as Matthew and Luke note,

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and then being merciful, just as your father is merciful.

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And so what we see at the end here is unable to find

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anything sufficient during this dark purpose.

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Annas decided it was time to move Jesus along

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and concluded this preliminary trial.

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I also went back and looked, and there was no mention

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of Jesus ever being unbound throughout this entire ordeal.

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So all the way from his arrest, all the way through this,

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Jesus was never, it was never said that he was unbound.

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So he remained completely restrained physically,

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and according to his father's will

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during this whole exchange here.

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And at the end, so Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas,

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the high priest, for his second religious trial,

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which we will hear more about,

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and that's where Pastor Allen will pick it up next week.

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So I should have told you all in the beginning,

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I was trying to get done around about 945

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'cause I had a flight to get to,

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so I didn't mean to rush us along.

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I see 944 back there, and I did not think

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it was that well planned,

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but the Lord helped with execution today.

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But I've got a few minutes.

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I'm happy to have some dialogue.

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If I do have an answer key up here, like I said,

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I know I was going a little bit fast,

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and after I printed these out this morning,

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I realized that the font point is a little small

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for writing, not everybody writes small,

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so I apologize if it was a little difficult

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to keep track this morning, but thank you.

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Will?

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- At the beginning, you mentioned that,

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I think I know what you meant by Judas

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was not being, what's not mentioned.

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You're mentioning in that passage, Judas is mentioned,

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but the thing-- - The kiss.

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Yeah, that's probably more precise.

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Yeah, the kiss.

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- The story of Judas' betrayal.

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- Yeah, in John.

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Yeah, not that moment.

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Yeah, that's what I meant, really,

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just not that moment, which to me is,

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I don't know, like I said,

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I've always just kind of pictured that happening

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and Judas walking up, and that's the one, the one I kiss,

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and so, yeah, I just thought it was,

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yeah, that's what I meant.

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All right.

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Well, thank you.

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Like I said, I was trying to end early,

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so I guess you have a few more minutes now

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to meander about, to grab a coffee,

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or what have you before Second Service,

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so thank you guys for sticking with me this morning.

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Thank you guys for being an awesome kind of group

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to be in front of, so I appreciate it.

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- Thank you.

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[ Applause ]