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[Music] good morning everyone just a few announcements before we begin worship this morning first off the South Surrey Bible study will be this upcoming Tuesday 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific in so for anybody who's out that way and able to attend that's again the South Surrey Bible study now it's every Tuesday and unless we notify otherwise but this upcoming Tuesday 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific in also our own Wednesday night Bible study here will be this upcoming Wednesday at 7:30 additionally there on the calendar you might have noticed that that says there's a fellowship luncheon on August 20th there is no fellowship luncheon on August 20th but we will reconvene with the beginning of the sort of the school year calendar so we'll notify you when the next one will be a beginning in September well let's begin our worship then if you'll turn in your Bibles with me to Psalm 2 as Psalm 2 will be our call to worship this Lord's Day morning wonderful Psalm speaking concerning the glory of the risen and ascended Christ and his rule over the nation's Psalm 2 beginning in verse 1 this is the word of the living and true God why do the nation's rage and the people plot a vain thing the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed saying let us break their bonds in pieces and cast away their cords from us he who sits in the heavens shall laugh the Lord shall hold them in derision then he shall speak to them in his wrath and distress them in his deep displeasure yet I have set my king on my holy hill of Zion I will declare the decree the Lord has said to me you are my son today I have begotten you ask of me and I will give you the nation's for your inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession you shall break them with a rod of iron you shall dash them to pieces like a Potter's vessel now therefore be wise o Kings be instructed you judges of the earth serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling kiss the son lest he be angry and you perish in the way when his wrath is kindled but a little blessed are all those who put their trust in him amen well let's stand and sing together our first Tim if you'll turn with me in your red Trinity Salter we're going to sing Psalm 24 to a familiar tune let's stand and sing Psalm 24 together [Music] [Applause] [Music] let us pray Heavenly Father we thank you now that we can gather together in the name of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ for the worship of Father Son and Holy Spirit the one and only living and true God we do pray that you would help us now to hallow your name we do pray once again Lord God that from the lips of your gathered assembly would flow those proper praises and and that proper honor that is most do your high name would you pray that you'd help us to be focused to be attentive and worship to rejoice in you the living and true God and to rejoice in Jesus Christ whom you did send we do pray that now is we have gathered together in the name of our Savior that we would as we pray reflect upon the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ and the the glorious condescension of the Son of God to come into this lower world to assume our humanity yet without sin to live a perfect life in obedience to your law in our stead to die upon Calvary's cross wear wear wear on he took upon himself your wrath that was do unto us for the transgression of your law we thank you that upon Calvary's tree he bore in his own body the sins of his elect upon that cross that he might bring us that perfect forgiveness of sins and everlasting life and we rejoice that he rose again the third day we thank you for that blessed resurrection where he arose in great power and in great victory and we rejoice in that testimony that he was seen by many that he was seen by the twelve that he was seen by over five hundred brethren at once that he gave instruction and many infallible proofs and that he ascended to your right hand where he now lives to make intercession for his people where he does rule and reign over his enemies and from where he does subdue the hearts of his elect we do pray that you'd cause us to rejoice in the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ and Lord God that we would reflect with great joy upon your grace and your mercy or eternal loving-kindness that your that in your appointed and your accepted time you made us alive in Christ Jesus and by grace we have been saved by virtue of that perfect work of the Lord Jesus Christ we do pray that you would help us to be joyful to be earnest in worship and that we would be marked by that proper reverential law before the triune majesty of heaven and earth we do pray Lord God that you'd be with those who are struggling with illness as we pray this morning in the prayer hour we bring these things before you in summary that for all those that we prayed for who are struggling with sickness with illness with disease with upcoming surgeries or perhaps recovering from surgery those who are pregnant Lord God and those recently born that you'd watch over all of your all of your people and that you'd watch over these young ones and we pray Lord God that you would strengthen your struggling Saints that you would heal that you would grant to those who are afflicted reprieves from pains discomforts and and all of those things associated with disease and sickness do richly bless your people Lord God and whether they're with us this morning or unable to join us those physically afflicted God we pray in the midst of that affliction you would that caused them to rejoice in their God and caused them to rejoice that or to know with with certainty that the God of heaven and earth does right by his saints and for his own glory sake we do pray that you would help any and all who are struggling spiritually those perhaps who have stumbled away from that right path we do pray that you would restore your saints that you would return unto your struggling and weary saints the joy of their salvation Lord God that each and every one of us that you would cause us having been saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ Jesus alone that you would cause us by that same grace and for your glory to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ that we might in this lower world not cause any to bring reproach upon the Word of God and that we might by what we do and by what we say in this lower world adorn the gospel of Jesus Christ our Savior we do pray God that you'd be with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ around the world in those countries in those places Lord where there is much persecution we enjoy a measure of freedom and liberty here having even now been able to gather in Liberty unmolested by the government or those of our own nation that we can gather freely here with full Bibles in our hands and and this is not the case in many nations throughout the world and we do just pray that you bless our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ that are in the midst of hot persecution and that suffer under the the oppressive hands of government in their own people we do just pray that you'd strengthen them that you would now be near to them Lord God that they would know that the God of all comfort is with them and we do pray Lord that you would cause them in the midst of their afflictions and in persecutions that they would endure that they would lay hold of the hope of their calling without wavering with that full knowledge that the triune God is faithful to his people we do pray God once again that you would judge those who would seek to bring tyranny upon your people and we pray that you would bring temporal judgment upon them you would cause governments to rule and to reign and to exercise justice righteously and we pray Lord God that you would cause those who bring violence against your people to stumble like drunken men that they may not bring violence and we do pray even for the gospel of Jesus Christ to be proclaimed to those who are presently your enemies the spirit would attend with great power that proclamation and that Lord God those who are now presently your enemies would be saved by Amazing Grace and brought into the fold and to be found among those whom they formerly persecuted we do just pray now that you would be with us in worship we would ask once again God that you would strengthen pastor Butler as he comes into this pulpit to proclaim the Word of God we do pray that you bring him much strength and much aid we know as we acknowledge each and every Lord's Day that the your ministers of your gospel do not rest upon their own strength but they do rely upon the strength of Father Son and Holy Spirit so we do pray that you'd bring much aid and Lord God that he would know your presence and your help in this pulpit that he would be able to speak with great courage and with great conviction and with great clarity the things of your revelations of the sons of men we do pray God that you'd help us in the pews to be attentive to be focused to hear and to take in word of the living and true God we pray for all of your people here this morning that we would be edified that we would be strengthened that we would receive the good food of your scriptures and that we would be able to leave this place rejoicing in our Christ and seeking to live in a manner worthy of our calling we do pray once again god that the proclamation of the word would be attended by the spirit this morning so that those outside of Christ those who entered in these two doors in unbelief would by your grace and for your glory leave having been saved singing along with all these saints hallelujah what a savior we do just pray that you would be honored that you would be praised that our risen and exalted Christ would be exalted upon the praises of this gathered assembly Lord God that you would receive the honor that is due your name that you would strengthen your people and Lord God that a multitude of sinners around the world today would sing the praises of Jesus Christ our Savior and it's in his name that we pray amen let's stand and sing again as a church this time we're going to sing 369 in the larger hymnal if you'll turn with me to 369 let's stand as a church and sing together [Music] turning your Bibles with me to mark 11 our new testament scripture reading this morning is mark 11 will read all of the chapter mark 11 beginning in verse 1 once again the Word of God now when they drew near Jerusalem to Bethpage in Bethany at the Mount of Olives he sent two of his disciples and he said to them go into the village opposite you and as soon as you have entered it you will find a Colt tied on which no one has sat loose it and bring it and if anyone says to you why are you doing this say the Lord has need of it and immediately he will send it here so they went their way and found the colt tied by the door outside on the street and they loosed it but some of those who stood there said to them what are you doing loosing the Colt and they spoke to them just as Jesus had commanded so they let them go then they brought the Colt to Jesus and through their clothes on it and he sat on it and many spread their clothes on the road and others cut down leafy branches from the trees and spread them on the road then those who went before and those who followed cried out saying Hosanna blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord blessed is the kingdom of our Father David that comes in the name of the Lord hosanna hosanna in the highest and Jesus went into Jerusalem and into the temple so when he had looked around at all things as the hour was already late he went out to Bethany with the twelve now the next day when they had come out from Bethany he was hungry and seen from afar a fig tree having leaves he went to see if perhaps he would find something on it when he came to it he found nothing but leaves for it was not the season for figs in response jesus said to it let no one eat fruit from you ever again and his disciples heard it so they came to Jerusalem then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who brought who bought and sold in the temple and overturned the tables of the moneychangers in the seats of those who sold doves and he would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple then he taught saying to them is it not written my house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations but you have made it a den of thieves and the scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy him for they feared him because all the people were astonished at his teaching when evening had come he went out of the city now in the morning as they passed by they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots and Peter remembering said to him rabbi look the fig tree which you cursed has withered away so jesus answered and said to them have faith in God for assuredly I say to you whoever says to this mountain be removed and be cast into the sea and duck and does not doubt in his heart but believes that those things he says will be done he will have whatever he says therefore I say to you whatever things you ask when you pray believe that you receive them and you will have them and whenever you stand praying if you have anything against anyone forgive him that your father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses but if you do not forgive neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses then they came again to Jerusalem and as he was walking in the temple the chief priests the scribes and the elders came to him and they said to him by what authority are you doing these things and who gave you this authority to do these things but jesus answered and said to them I also will ask you one question then answer me and I will tell you by what authority I do these things the baptism of John was it from heaven or from men answer me and they reasoned among themselves saying if we say from heaven he will say why then did you not believe him but if we say from men they feared the people for all count - John to have been a prophet indeed so they answered and said to Jesus we do not know and jesus answered and said to them neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things amen let us pray Heavenly Father we thank you for this time we thank you for the reading of the Holy Scriptures again we thank you that we can hold full Bibles in our hands we thank you that we can read this inspired account of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ and we thank you for his words we do pray that you would help us always as we read the scriptures to appreciate what we are reading we are not just reading a a dusty tome of antiquated things but we are reading the the very word of God and we do pray that you would always bless us as we read the Holy Scriptures especially as a gathered at a corporate body and we do pray that we would gain much from a reading of your word that we would rejoice in the Savior to whom your word points and that we would give you honor and glory for revealing yourselves and your will and your gospel to the sons of men and we just rejoice in these things and ask that you'd continue to be with us in worship we pray again for the South Surrey Bible study that you would watch over those who are gathering there watch over Mike as he instructs and as he brings the word to bear upon that audience and we do pray that you would richly bless that work that once again in due time we would see a church planted in that area and we do pray for our own studies here that you would be with Pastor Butler as he brings the teaching on Wednesday nights we do pray that you'd bless every one that gathers that we would gain an appreciation of the word of your word to us that we would learn of you that we would learn of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ that we would grow in the Grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ whenever we gather for these things and so we now pray again coming back to this gathering that you'd bless us as we continue in worship as we pray and sing and engage in preaching we pray once again that you would be honored and glorified that we would be strengthened and edified and that all that we do this morning and this evening Lord God would be done unto the praise of your most glorious name and we pray in the name of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ amen let's stand and sing together our last him before the preaching is him 2:54 to a familiar tune that's him number 254 [Music] [Music] well please turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 26 Matthew chapter 26 were still considering Christ before the Sanhedrin specifically this morning our focus will be vs. 65 to 68 I do however want to begin reading in Matthew 26 at verse 47 and while he was still speaking behold Judas one of the twelve with a great multitude with swords and clubs came from the chief priests and elders of the people now his betrayer had given them a sign saying whomever I kiss he is the one seized him immediately he went up to Jesus and said greetings rabbi and kissed him but jesus said to him friend why have you come then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took him and suddenly one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear but jesus said to him put your sword in its place for all who take the sword will perish by the sword or do you or do you think that I cannot now pray to my father and he will provide me with more than twelve legions of angels how then could the Scriptures be fulfilled that it must happen thus in that hour jesus said to the multitudes have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to take me i sat daily with you teaching in the temple and you did not seize me but all this was done that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled then all the disciples forsook him and fled and those who had laid hold of Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest where the scribes and the elders were assembled but Peter followed him at a distance to the high priests courtyard and he went in and sat with the servants to see the end now the chief priests the elders and all the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put him to death but found none even though many false witnesses came forward they found none but at last two witnesses came forward and said this fellow said I am able to destroy the temple of and to build it in three days the high priest arose and said to him do you answer nothing what is it these men testify against you but Jesus kept silent and the high priest answered and said to him I put you under oath by the Living God tell us if you are the Christ the Son of God jesus said to him it is as you said nevertheless I say to you from now on you will see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of the power and coming on the clouds of heaven then the high priest tore his clothes saying he has spoken blasphemy what further need do we have of witnesses look now you have heard his blasphemy what do you think they answered and said he is deserving of death then they spat in his face and beat him and other struck him with the palms of their hands saying prophesy to us Christ who is the one who struck you amen will let us pray our Father in Heaven we come to this passage of Scripture and it's a sobering look if the wickedness and the depravity of men and yet it is a heart cheering look at the commitment of our Savior to go through such things for us men and for our salvation we rejoice in Christ we rejoice in the gospel we rejoice in your goodness and in your mercy and in your graciousness displayed to us that this one this champion this one prophesied in the Old Testament came in the fullness of the times born of a woman born under the law to redeem those under the law we praise you Most High God for your sovereign grace and your lacking love we praise you Most High God for the redeeming power of the Lord Jesus Christ and we praise you for the holy spirit and we would ask even now that the Spirit of God would be at work in our hearts that we would appreciate afresh the love of our Savior for us that we would see what he went through and that we would see our our own sinfulness in the passage like this and God in heaven for any and all who have come here this morning outside of Christ may they see this Christ as the one who is altogether lovely and chief among ten thousand this one in whom there is forgiveness even redemption through his precious blood be merciful to us forgive us now for our sins and cause your spirit to be at work in our minds and hearts and we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well as I've said we've been in this for two previous messages and we have considered in the first place the setting of the hearing in verses 57 and 58 verse 57 essentially introduces what we find in verses 59 to 67 Christ's trial or hearing before the Sanhedrin and then verse 58 with reference to Peter sets the stage or introduces what will see God willing next week in terms of his denial of Christ in the courtyard we also considered the testimony of the witnesses in verses 59 to 61 remember that the Sanhedrin is building their case they do not have the power to execute a criminal offender they are subject to the Roman Empire therefore they have to build a case against the Lord Jesus and send him to Pilate so that Pilate can give the kill order with reference to our beloved Savior so they have to amass witnesses they can't just say we don't like Jesus put him to death though in essence or the at the root of it that's essentially what's happening with these men plotting and wanting to destroy Jesus even in his earthly ministry so these two witnesses come along and they say we have heard this fellow say that I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days now we saw last week that that was a misquote Jesus and John John 2 doesn't say I am going to destroy but he says destroy this temple he's making a comment and observation and then they misinterpret his words he's not speaking as a terrorist he's not speaking as a revolutionary he's not speaking as one is going to walk into the temple precincts with c4 and send everybody the other side it was theological in nature John interprets for us in John 2:19 2:22 that he was speaking about the temple of his body he was speaking about his own death in his resurrection when he says it in three days I will raise it up it is obvious shorthand for what would happen in terms of the cross and crucifixion and then his resurrection so this was false representation but as far as the high priest is concerned this seals the case this makes the case we have two witnesses now we can send and forth in order to be tried at the hands of Pilate so he asks Christ what do you say and respond to this and Jesus is silent remember look at verses 54 and 56 for just a moment in the arrest and 54 Jesus says how then could the Scriptures be fulfilled that it must happen thus and then in verse 56 but all this was done that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled this passage before us this morning pacifically verses 57 to 67 is a place where so many prophetic scriptures are fulfilled in the life in the ministry of Christ his silence is consistent with Isaiah the prophet chapter 53 verse 7 he is led like a lamb to its slaughter and he keeps his mouth shut he doesn't offer up this sort of testimony or defense of himself and that angers the high priest so then the high priest puts him under an oath I adjure you by the Living God tell us if you are the Christ the Son of God Christ does answer here he must indeed affirm who he is because that's the whole essence of this gospel narrative so he says it is as you said nevertheless or indeed I say to you from now on you will see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of the power and coming on the clouds of heaven remember this is an amazing statement by our Savior the Lord Jesus not only affirms that he is the Christ that he is the Messiah but he also affirms that he is the one enthroned to the right hand of God most high he occupies that position of preeminence and absolute authority in accordance with psalm 110:1 but he's also that daniel 7:13 and 14 son of man that one who comes for the Ancient of Days that one who has given a king by your way that one who has given rule and authority in Dominion and power and so he says this to the high priests and now we come finally to the formal charge of blasphemy and I want to look at three things here this morning first the indictment of the high priest secondly the verdict of the Sanhedrin and then thirdly the mistreatment of the Son of Man but note the indictment of the high priest and verse 65 then the high priest tore his clothes saying he has spoken blasphemy what further need do we have of witnesses look now you have heard his blasphemy so this outrage is appropriate if Jesus is a fake in other words outrage like this would be consistent if you were in in the presence of a false prophet if you were in the presence of a blasphemer if you remember Paul and Barnabas on their missionary journey the the pagans they bow down to them and they want to offer sacrifices to that and so Paul and Barnabas ripped their garments and say don't do that we are men of like nature with you in the presence of blasphemy the rending of garments is a very consistent response but the unfortunate reality of the sinful of wretched reality is that in this man's charge of blasphemy against Christ it is he that is blaspheming it is he that is misaligning it is he that is misrepresenting the holy son of God now note the specific indictment he says he has spoken blasphemy this is an assertion of guilt here not based on witness testimony but on the self incriminating evidence of the Son of God they tried to do this in Matthew chapter 22 notice in verse 15 in Matthew 22 interesting what they come to him initially with this will come up later in his trial before the Romans but notice in Matthew chapter 22 verse 15 then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle him in his talk you see this has always been their desire to have him make some sort of subversives statement to make some sort of of incriminating statement that will give them legitimacy to sue out and to ultimately prosecute him for violent crimes or for vile crimes and here specifically it's tax evasion do you forbid the paying of taxes to Caesar this is going to come up when they make their case to Pilate Pilate probably wasn't as concerned about a charge of blasphemy but when Pilate hears that this man is teaching tax evasion Pilate says we got to get rid of him we can't have a menace like that in society we don't let that sort of thing flourish in the Empire we don't want persons to have a great following and tell them not to pay their taxes try that in Canada and see how it goes with you you will have great pressure Canada revenue or revenue Canada will be knocking at your door and they will indeed try to silence you that is precisely one of the means by which they try and get Jesus we see very similarly what's happening in the parallel accounts before the Sanhedrin and then again before the Romans before the Sanhedrin he is a blasphemer because he has asserted himself as this one having authority in a position and preeminence and when he gets before the Romans it's because he asserts that he is the king of the Jews well here specifically as far as Caiaphas is concerned they have the evidence that is necessary the conclusion of this preliminary hearing has calm he says he has spoken blasphemy what further need do we have of witnesses look now you have heard his blasphemy what do you think now this has troubled some persons in terms of what was written later concerning the Sanhedrin in other words if a man was going to be charged with blasphemy he would have at least had to utter the name of God and if you notice in verse 64 Jesus doesn't do that Jesus says from now on you will see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of the power he doesn't mention God he doesn't mention father so son taking that document that came about 200 years later said well this is wrong they shouldn't have charged him with blasphemy because he never uttered the sacred name but research and commentators and scholarship has shown that that blasphemy was probably broader than just a misuse of the name of God and blasphemy most likely included Christ's setting himself against the temple so when Jesus again I'm not suggesting that he did but in light of the false witness testimony that it was Jesus that was going to destroy this temple that would have been an affirmation of blasphemy to suggest that one was superior to the temple to suggest that one was going to destroy the temple would certainly mark that man as a blasphemer but as well blasphemy would have included a speaking against the high priest a speaking against the Sanhedrin in Exodus chapter 22 this is utilized in Paul Paul's ministry against him as well in Exodus 22 verse 28 it says you shall not revile God nor curse a ruler of your people so some suggest that blasphemy blasphemy law would have included that as well for Christ to speak as he did in verse 64 nevertheless indeed I say to you you up from now on you will see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power coming on the clouds of heaven what's the implication there the tables are gonna be turned Caiaphas I may presently be on trial before you but there is a day coming when you will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven and he will render judgment upon you and upon this kangaroo court so this could be considered blasphemy as well but then also in terms of verse 64 Christ asserted a position of proximity to and shared authority with God you see brethren as I mentioned last week verse 65 shouldn't surprise us in light of verse 64 any more than John 8 should surprise us when they take up stones to cast at Jesus when Jesus says before Abraham was I am before Abraham was I am it shouldn't surprise those of us familiar with Exodus 3:14 and those of us familiar with the prophet Isaiah how that I am is used of Yahweh several times specifically in chapters 41 to 43 it shouldn't surprise us that godless unbelieving wicked men would take up stones to throw it in well on the heels of verse 64 if you don't have faith this is going to be a response if you don't have faith that the one speaking verse 64 is indeed true then verse 65 naturally follows you see this sort of thing today don't you we go out and we preach price the son of God we preach Christ is the one who has absolute authority we preach Christ as the judge of the living and the dead and what do people say if they're in false religions like Judaism or they're in false religions like Islam they accuse us a blasphemy how dare you arrogate to this man Jesus the authority and the power and the judgment of God himself that's blasphemy as far as these false religions are concerned but in terms of paganism or unbelievers we assert the lordship of Christ we assert the fact that he's enthroned at the right hand of the Father on high we assert that he is coming on the clouds of heaven not in terms of the second coming immediately but is his ascension on high to the right hand of the Father but he is coming in judgment again one day what do they say it's also much foolishness to them isn't it I mean they may not rip their garments and say you blasphemer but they say what not what loony-tunes you're crazy you absent you actually think that this man in Nazareth was indeed the Son of God that he was indeed the second person of the Trinity the one who assumed our humanity with all of the essential properties and common infirmities thereof yet without sin you actually believe that yes we most certainly believe that what do we meet with we we meet with Caiaphas like responses from unbelievers they tear their garments and they say you're nuts remember Paul before fastest much learning is driving you mad Festus says to Paul I love Paul's response there I am not mad most noble Festus but I speak the words of truth and reason what's Paul's point Festus you're mad you see the revolutionary character of gospel preaching brethren we need to stand fast and never compromise the glory and the majesty and the power and the excellence of our Lord Jesus Christ in light of this claim concerning that he asserts a position of authority - and shared a thorax imita - and shared authority with God the high priest says he has spoken blasphemy France says by placing himself at the ED God's right hand he had overstepped the boundary of what might properly be claimed by any human being however exalted let alone a Galilean village preacher of questionable authority let that sink in for a moment remember that we are in Jerusalem now standing before the high priest in the highest Court in terms of Judaism both criminal hearings religious hearings ecclesiastical this is the Supreme Court and Jesus was a Galilean preacher and he's standing before Caiaphas and he says it is as you said I am the son of God I am the Messiah I am the one prophesied from of all indeed it is as you say and from now on you will see me and throne at the right hand of the Father psalm 110:1 Caiaphas knew that passage when he says coming on the clouds of heaven Caiaphas knew daniel 7:13 and 14 that's why Caiaphas wrens his garments and says it's blasphemy he's crazy there is absolutely no way we as the the Jewish leadership can have truck with this revolutionary davies and allison say the accusation of blasphemy is a response to Christology Jesus by claiming to be God son to have a heavenly throne and to be the exalted figure of Daniel 7:13 insults the majesty of God again he's not saying this is true but in terms of Caiaphas why he wrens His garment and why he says that this is blasphemy this is an insult to the majesty of God if you reject the Lord Jesus Christ as the son of David Spurgeon boils it all down in a way that I think is most helpful he says his hearers rightly understood understood him to claim to be divine and gladly do we acknowledge the Justice of his claim so that's where we're at in terms of the indictment of the high priest now notice secondly the verdict of the Sanhedrin the high priest moves them to a decision he moves them to a verdict notice in the beginning of verse 66 what do you think they answered and said he is deserving of death the answer indicates their agreement that he was guilty of blasphemy they don't say well you know we want to ponder this I knew this was already their plan 26 for they had already concocted this way back in Matthew 12 they wanted to destroy him they have found now the opportunity these false witness testimonies but even better the Lord Jesus has said to the high priest under direct question direct examination it is as you said but it's much more than what you've said because I'm the 110:1 man I'm the Daniel 7:13 14 man and I'm going to come in judgment over you man the the Sanhedrin jumps on the bandwagon and notice when they say he is deserving of death this is consistent with their law this is what the law recommends or demands rather for a blasphemy Leviticus chapter 20 24 16 says whoever blasphemes the name of Yahweh shall surely be put to death all the congregation shall certainly the stranger as well as him who was born in the land when he blasphemes the name of Yahweh he shall be put to death you see this was the little jet punishment this was a capital crime it wasn't like today where every other person you meet every other word from their lips is a blasphemous statement concerning our great and glorious God or his beloved son Jesus Christ it wasn't the case that in Old Covenant Israel when you hit your thumb with a hammer while you're building your house you blaspheme because if you did you would be executed and persons say wow that seems harsh that seems severe we dealt with something like this on on Wednesday night here's how man responds to the judgment of God specifically on Wednesday night though she bears that Elijah saw Maul 42 of the youths of Bethel that came out to mock and and try and drive away the very prophet of God Elijah pronounces a curse on those youths and what happens to she-bears come out kids that means female Bears and female Bears because they're even more vicious probably they were they were mothers and their cubs weren't with them their whelps weren't present and so they're vicious they come out lame all 42 of the youths we modern readers read that we go wow that's just so severe and so harsh that God would do something like that why don't we ever reflect upon the fact that 42 of them that means there were more than 42 and this more than 42 went out of the city of Bethel to find the Prophet and they say go up baldhead either like Elijah before you and get out of our hair or go up out of our city of Bethel because we don't want you here why isn't it that their sin is offensive and wretched to us and when we see the judgment of God calm we cry out amen why isn't it that way the same sort of thing in in a situation like this oh that's harsh that God would have some but he executed it for blaspheming his name no it's harsh that the creature would blaspheme the holy name of God we got it backwards it's like the Prophet says to Yahweh their God through Yahweh says to the people the children of your your people say the way of Yahweh is not fair God says but it's their way that's not fair you see we say oh how in the world could it ever be the case that God would have somebody executed for blasphemy rather than saying how could it ever be the case that a creature come from the hand of such a good creator with blasphemous name we wouldn't tolerate that we don't tolerate that in our home now I'm not suggesting we execute our children when they they curse us out or something like that but we certainly repudiate it don't we it certainly incenses us how in the world could you take my fair name and turn it into a blasphemous curse when I've given you everything life and health and food and shelter and clothing all this stuff and this is the way you repay me you see blasphemy should be executed blasphemers should be put to death now of course Christ is not a genuine blasphemer now remember what happens with reference to the Sanhedrin this was their intention all along look at 26 for 26 4 and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill him it's the same group a man according to verse 3 that are assembled here that Jesus is standing before then the chief priests the scribes and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest who was called Caiaphas so that was their desire they lacked authority to carry out capital punishment some suggest that no they did perhaps have it the definitive study by a man named Sherwin white says no they didn't have the authority when they executed Stephen and when they executed James those were unauthorized exceptions they shouldn't have done that when they drove Stephen out and they stoned him to death that was sin on their part it was rebellion and transgression perhaps the Roman magistrate really didn't care too much about such things but it nevertheless was wrong they know they lacked the authority according to John II 10:31 you can turn there it's to sort of see again what's happening in terms of the sanhedrin and why it's important that they build their case at this preliminary hearing John 1831 we'll just back up for a moment and see the sort to the sort of way that they deal with this situation verse 28 and they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the praetorium and it was early morning but they themselves did not go into the Praetorian lest they should be defiled but that they might eat the Passover anybody have a problem with that these guys are gonna commit capital murder on an innocent man but they don't want to defile themselves by entering into the praetorium you see the irony and these passion narratives on behalf of the lawless is just screams out I mean these guys are going to murder the Son of God but we can't go into the Praetorian because we'll be defiled and we want to eat the Passover isn't that just sinners we will indeed swallow camels and strain out gnats oh I can't do that because that'll really make me look bad but but you do this you're addicted to internet porn but you don't want to miss Wednesday night and study good don't miss Wednesday night study but Sunday night or Sunday morning you got a deal with this other stuff too you see we just like to parse out our lives and as long as we look okay as long as we have the ceremonial intact we could care 1 1 1 bit about that the moral verse 29 Paul Pilate then went out to them and said what what accusation do you bring against this man at least here pilots operating decently you can't just bring into me without some sort of a formal charge I'm just gonna you know rubber stamp your capital execution or your capital punishment I'm not going to just rubber stamp this whole effort now note how they respond then Pilate said I'm sorry verse 30 they answered and said to him if he were not an evildoer we would not have delivered him up to you again does anyone have any problems with that that's question Ben imagine if you were presented to the local court attorney sad or the prosecuting attorney said well if he wasn't a bad guy he wouldn't be here he'd say wait a minute what's that where's my due process where's the formal charges where's the evidence where's the DNA you don't just say well if it wasn't an evildoer we wouldn't bring him to you Pilate then with a good rejoinder again verse 31 you take him and judge him according to your law at least at this point Pilate seems bright enough to say I don't want any part of this this just ain't going well and then in verse 31 be there for the Jews said to him it is not lawful for us to put anyone to death that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled which he spoke signifying by what death he would die now when we see pilots statement in 1916 I don't believe that contradicts this I believe what Pilate is doing there the language of DA Carson it's a sarcastic taunt jeonse 19 6 therefore when the chief priests and officers saw him they cried out saying crucify him crucify him Pilate said to him you take him and crucify him for I find no fault in him again I don't think pilot is actually suggesting ok Jews we've changed things up here in the Roman Empire you now have lawful authority to go ahead and capital e capital e punish him so they had a problem so the meaning of the Sanhedrin was designed to build the case that they would ultimately back in Matthew's Gospel present to Pilate at dawn of that night it's early Friday morning they want to be able to have this deal done and present him to Pilate and that's what verses 1 and 2 in chapter 27 record when morning came all the chief priests and elders of the people plotted against Jesus to put him to death and when they had bound him they led him away and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor I've already suggested they also throw onto his his charge sheet or his rap sheet tax evasion you'll see that in Luke chapter 23 verses 1 & 2 and verse 5 and then ultimately the Jews prevail upon there is a bit of resistance on the part of Pilate you can see that there specifically in John's record and John's passion narrative you know Pilate at least in my mind seems to be going through some stuff I mean his wife says don't don't mess with this fellow all right I've had a dream about him Pilate just seems to want to get him off of his you know out of his jurisdiction probably what drives him to send him over to hear it then ultimately the Jews prevail upon Pilate he gives the order for execution so this in a human sense seals the fate of our Lord Jesus Christ what do you think the answered and said he is deserving of death now let's look thirdly and finally at the mistreatment of the son of man what happens when a man is arrested and a man is charged he's supposed to be protected is indeed again look at the due process in our situation if you run down to your local Walmart this afternoon and had a shootout with the security guards and stole a bunch of stuff once they arrested you they probably not beat you spit on you or treat you the way you might actually even deserve it's just part of our jurisprudence isn't it it was part of Israel's jurisprudence you know when the order was given to corporally punish a man in the book of Deuteronomy it was to be well-regulated again people say oh corporal punishment and in civil ethics what a terrible thoughts but if you read the text it's all very well organized and all very well regulated here there's no more regulation it's no more organization the parallel accounts Mark and Luke tend to ascribe these actions to others to the servants of the men of the Sanhedrin to others standing by not Matthew Matthew makes it known to us that it was the Sanhedrin themselves that taught a dealt with Jesus in this manner they spit on Christ verse 67 then they spat in his face da Carson says the messianic claims of the accused do not impress the Sanhedrin they're not impressed brethren they're not saying oh wow you are the psalm 110:1 man you are the Daniel like son of man you are what the prophets have foretold let's put a crown upon you and let's give you the keys to the kingdom no they're unimpressed Garson goes on to say and the indignities to which he is now subjected are probably meant to deride his false pretensions and then matthew henry comments on the act of spitting itself i think i mentioned last week growing up in a roman catholic context they get a lot of things wrong but those nuns threatened us within inches of our lives if we ever spat on another human being i mean i grew up just knowing you just don't do that i don't care how mad you get or how upset you get you just don't spit incidentally they taught us not to litter as well I think those are some good lessons that could be implicated in society again no spitting on one another and no littering but Matthew Henry points out the record or the instances where spitting is spoken of in the Old Testament he says it is an expression of the greatest contempt and indignation possible looking upon him as more despicable than the very ground they spit upon when Miriam was under the leprosy it was looked upon as a disgrace to her like that of her father spitting in her face numbers 12 14 he that refused to raise up seed to his brother was to undergo this dishonour you see it's a disgusting and a wretched way to treat another human being but don't forget the pressure at the arrest of verses 54 and 56 Jesus says all the Scriptures must be fulfilled all those scriptures must be confirmed they've tried to show that what we find here Jesus before the Sanhedrin so many scriptures are being fulfilled Psalm 110 he would be the Lord and throned at the right hand of Yahweh Daniel 7:13 and 14 he would be the son of man the the high priest Caiaphas says are you the Christ are you the Messiah are you the Anointed One are you the son of God so referred to as the son of David you see if you take the Old Testament and you look at it all the way through you will see it comes at setting before us the Lord Jesus Christ in a multi-faceted way he is the son of God he is the son of David he is the Messiah he is the Christ he is the the suffering servant of the prophet Isaiah and it's that aspect of the description that now comes to the fore because in the prophet Isaiah one of those servant songs specifically in chapter 50 highlights this Christ there says I gave my back to those who struck me and my cheeks to those who plucked out the beard I did not hide my face from shame and spitting you know the Greek translation reads this way I gave my back to those who struck me and my cheeks to blows I did not hide my face from shame and spitting so when we come to the cruel indignities of verse 67 when we come to the wretched display of these lawless men nevertheless God is working out the fulfillment of Scripture the Son of God knew that this would transpire and it's an intriguing thing something else the Bible refers to Jesus as well the New Testament refers to him as the last Adam so he's the son of man he's the son of David he's the Messiah he's the Christ he's the the suffering servant but you know New Testament theology teaches us that he is the last Adam think of Isaiah 50 verse 6 what the last Adam says versus what the first Adam said in Genesis chapter 3 at verse 10 Adam has sinned against God and what does Adam do Adam hides himself from God Adam runs from God Adam can't thaw a stomach the thought of being in the presence of God he says specifically I hid myself now know what the second Adam does he doesn't hide himself from the spinning and the blows of men why because he is winning our salvation he is undoing the damage in the wreckage created by Adam the first Adam the first runs and hides from God Adam the second runs and embraces God's will even if that means the spittle of men and the slaps and the blows of men our Christ will not shrink back from it I gave my back to those who struck me my cheeks to blows and I did not hide my face from Shem a shame and spitting and then notice they beat Christ they beat him and struck him now this could be with the palms of the hands or with rods notice in verse 67 they spat in his face they beat him this is the isaiah 50:6 the suffering servant and then in verse 67 it says another struck him with the palms of their hands or it could be with rods now either one is just horrific to consider isn't it he's in custody he's not a threat the threat has been you know neutralized you just need to deliver him up to pile it at this point you see every step of the way these men are waving their fists in the presence of God most high every step of the way they're blaspheming every drop of spit that lands on the face of the Savior every blow that comes to him is their their their wicked rebellion against God Most High it's just a terrible terrible scene that we find here that our Lord Jesus goes through for us and then notice they mocked Christ and verse 68 matthew henry says they made sport of him as the philistines did with samson now when we get to this mockery the end of verse 67 okay I'm sorry verse 68 prophesied to us Christ who is the one who struck you this is no different from the way they've treated him throughout his earthly ministry they've always mocked in they've always ridiculed him they've always put him down this has always been a tactic of these so-called religious leaders now you know as well as I do the irony involved they're mocking hymns and prophesy to us Christ we have heard him on three occasions in Matthew 16 Matthew 17 and Matthew 20 described this very scene we have heard him over and over again as the great prophet of God tell us that he must go to Jerusalem he must be tried he must be delivered up to the Gentiles for those of us who have been rooted in the narrative we will remember that Christ predicted what's going to happen in the following section Peters going to deny Jesus brethren that's no surprise to us who have been with Jesus in this passion narrative because he's already told his disciples that they're going to deny him you see the great irony here they're mocking him they're slapping and they're spitting on him they're saying prophesy to us Christ tell us who hit you now probably behind this is another statement of the prophet Isaiah turn to chapter 11 in Isaiah the prophet Isaiah chapter 11 I should tell you or remind you that in the parallel accounts in Mark's Gospel and in Luke's Gospel at the passion narrative they've blindfolded Jesus they've blindfolded Jesus so what do we have here they're they're spitting on him they're smacking him and they're saying prophesy Christ who is the one who slapped you in other words show us your prophetic worth show us your prophetic ability not only because he's blindfolded and not able to see who's smacking them but because of the expectation of or the tradition associated with Messiah himself notice in Isaiah 11:1 there shall come forth a rod from the stem of Jesse and a branch shall grow out of his roots the spirit of Yahweh shall rest upon him the spirit of wisdom and understanding the spirit of counsel and might the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Yahweh his delight is in the fear of Yahweh and notice he shall not judge by the sight of his eyes nor decide by the hearing of his years you see the expectation concerning Messiah is that he won't have to be like other men relying upon his eyes relying upon his ears he is going to be a supernatural sort of a being that is able to penetratingly look into the hearts of men unaided by the physical eye so their expectation and tradition dictated that it wasn't necessary for Messiah to be able to see in order to prophesy so they blindfold and they spit on him and they smack him and they mock him and say who is it that struck you it's just flat-out mockery look I mentioned the first week we considered this trial before the Sanhedrin and the similarities with my ko Micaela the only man that's going to tell they have the truth my khaya the only man that's going to stand up and declare all that Yahweh says to me 400 false prophets say go into battle my going to battle and you will return victorious in fact the leader of the prophetic guilds a man by the name of Zedekiah he builds these these iron horns essentially the prophets all follow the horn whatever Zedekiah says a have you go my case says if you go you're not going to come back if you go Israel will be like sheep without a shepherd and they'll return home in peace I love that little comment they have when you're dead Israelites are going to return home in peace because they have you're not bringing peace so what happens a hub of course rejects this prophetic word Zedekiah functioning on behalf of a hab smacks mic here right on the face and then essentially says in a mockery a mocking way which way to the spirit depart from me and go to you Jesus is a new covenant Makia going through that mistreatment knocks Chamblin combines these two thoughts to Jesus enemies these actions doubtless confirmed that he is a messianic Pretender the true Messiah would not tolerate such treatment and he could identify his tormentors even while blind for then you see this is the backdrop this is where as I said many many streams of Biblical prophecy come to flow Christ has presented himself by his words and by his actions here as everything the Old Testament described every step of the way in this trial before the Sanhedrin we hear the echoes and the illusions of Scripture we see the son of David we see the Son of Man we see the Lord at the Yahweh's right hand we see the suffering servant in accordance with isaiah 53:7 in terms of his silence before his captors and we see him in terms of Isaiah 58 verse 6 spat on and smacked well in conclusion this is something that I don't think we can rehearse enough of but the sinfulness of man just going to sort of recap things mentioned last week and then add two more first the sinfulness of man is seen in there already agreed upon verdict when we get to the Sanhedrin here in chapter 26 at verse 59 it's already been decided they already know what they're going to do if this came out on CNN or Fox News or some other news channel yeah reports have confirmed that the decision was made up before the defendant ever got into the courtroom I mean at this point we're so desensitized we probably say oh yeah that's the way it always goes but at some point we would have said that's terrible you can't decide such things before they get to the courtroom that's a tragedy it's a travesty of the justice system well brother never forget 26 for when you get to 2659 this is a manifestation of the wickedness of man they pursue the highest religious political civil court Criminal Court in Israel pursues false testimony and it's bad enough that they pursue it but they get it as well if nebith is to be taken out there will be two sons of Belial to rise up and say that he's a blasphemer as well the fact that they indeed continue to prosecute the son of God and blaspheme him in the name of accusing him of blasphemy I think Calvin is correct when he says thus amidst the darkness of their rage the innocence of the Son of God shone so brightly that the Devils themselves might know that he died innocent that's perceptive when you look at this account again if you weren't a believer you weren't a Christian if you just took this at the literary face value there's no way you would conclude oh yeah this man had it coming Julia no even the devil sent themselves would see his innocence and then as well we see the sinfulness in their consistent treatment of Jesus throughout his earthly ministry this mocking of Christ didn't just start here listen to JC Riley says falsehood and ridicule ridicule our old favourite weapons of the devil all through our Lord's earthly ministry we see these weapons continually employed against him he was called a glutton a wine-bibber and a friend of publicans and sinners he was held up to contempt as a Samaritan the closing scene of his life was only in keeping with all the past tenor of it Satan stirred up his enemies to add insult to injury no sooner was he pronounced guilty than every sort of mean and dignity was heaped upon him and then finally in terms of the sinfulness of man the sinfulness is seen in their cruel mistreatment of the Son of God here that's gonna get worse it's gonna get worse when he's enthroned not upon a throne but rather upon a cross and he's subject to that shame and to that ignominy and to that suffering into that torture but here specifically they spit on him they smack him either with rods or with open hands they beat him no doubt with closed fists but then that last clause in terms of either hitting him with the rod or with an open hand there's something very insulting about a man hitting another man with an open hand I mean it's one thing to deliver a blow in terms of pain this dispatch meant with a fist but there's something very insulting when a man strikes another man with an open hand I wouldn't doubt that's probably what was happening here Matthew Henry says here was an instance of the greatest depravity and degeneracy of the human nature that could be that could be to show that three that there was a need of a religion that should recover men to humanity we read that again here was an instance of the greatest depravity and degeneracy of the human nature that could be to show that there was need of a religion that should recover men to humanity by their very actions they are demonstrating the necessity of this Christ by their actions they are demonstrating why it is that the suffering servant had to go through these things for us men and for our salvation secondly we ought to consider the irony involved in the trial I've already mentioned one of the ironies they say prophesy and they are in the midst of a previous prophecy he spoken on three occasions but first they pass judgment on the one who will judge them verse 64 nevertheless indeed I am what you say but I'm a whole lot more you're gonna see the tables turn son of man is coming on the clouds of heaven sin America PI's a position and a proximity to the Father on the throne the Son of Man is going to come to judge you secondly they mock him or mock his claim to be the Davidic Messiah while their actions actually fulfill the suffering servant prophecies it's ironic isn't it every drop of spit that flew from their mouths was a fulfillment of Isaiah fifty verse six see how God overrules the wickedness of man if you read Psalm I think it's 76 it says even the wrath of man shall praise thee never contemplated that how does the wrath of men praise God it certainly does here because it's fulfilling God's plan to save his people from their sins thirdly they accuse him of blasphemy and thus commit blasphemy against the Son of God fourthly they accuse him of wanting to destroy the temple and do you realize that they are now participants in his plan to destroy the temple what's the theological meaning of John 2:19 2:22 destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up they say it's taking us 46 years to build this temple and are you gonna raise it up in three days John tells us he was speaking about the temple of his body so here he is on trial from making this statement and they ironically or unwittingly at least but knowns to them are fulfilling it by delivering up to him up to death he will be raised the third day and the temple of God will stand in the midst of men in the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ and then finally this passage sets forth Christ in his glory he is the Son of God he is the temple builder in light of the Davidic covenant in 2nd Samuel 7 he is the exalted king priest of psalm 110:1 he is the Daniel exam of man in accordance with Daniel 7:13 and 14 but he is the suffering servant of Isaiah 50 verse 6 and Isaiah 53 verse 7 now when we conclude our now as we conclude rather we ought to end on a high note concerning that passage in Isaiah 53 you know what it sets forth to us it sets forth this it's such a beautiful thing you could go Isaiah and some do Isaiah the Evangelist yes he was a prophet but he's sort of like a Matthew Mark Luke and John almost might be like there's there's five Gospels we got Matthew Mark Luke John and Isaiah because Isaiah saw Evangelic Oh Isaiah sets forth Christ specifically in chapter 53 he sets forth the humiliation of Christ in verses 1 to 3 he's a man of sorrows and he's acquainted with grief brethren I believe wholeheartedly that depression is a difficult thing I believe wholeheartedly that sorrow is a difficult thing but there are seasons and times in a believers life in a sin cursed world where you're going to be sorrowful where you're going to be vexed and in those instances and in those times you are very much like the Son of Man as well the suffering of Christ is set forth in Isaiah 53 verses 4 to 6 the death of Christ is then dealt with in verses 7 to 9 but then we see what we see in John to destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up how does Isaiah 53 end it ends on the triumph of Christ he shall see the travail of his soul and be satisfied he will indeed justify many he will indeed be their champion and their victor and their friend and their Redeemer you are here this morning and you are not a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ may I encourage you to come to passages like these and see what Christ went through for sinners see your own sin and confess it to the Lord God Most High cast yourself upon him through Christ the Bible is very clear crystal-clear believe in him and you will be saved you asked this morning you might say why would this guy get spit on why would anybody let himself be spat on especially as though this Authority and power and this glory it was the exercise of his power Authority and glory to take the spitting on his face his grace triumphs as a result of this shame and if you are not a believer may I say come believe look laughs well let us pray our Father we thank you for the Word of God we thank you for what our Savior went through on our behalf and may it be the case Most High that we would worship you that we would praise you that we would stand in awe that such a savior would go through such shame for such wretches like us how we thank you God in heaven for so great a salvation and how we pray that this gospel would be preached throughout the earth today that your word would run swiftly that it would be glorified that it would not return unto you void and may it even here God accomplished the purpose for which you sent it and may that be the salvation of sinners by grace through faith in Jesus Christ go with us now bring us together tonight may we engage in obedience to our Lord at the supper of the lord help us to honor you help us to serve you and help us to know your nearness and your presence among us in this local church and we ask these things through Christ Jesus our Lord amen well why don't we close by standing together and singing the doxology it's found in your Trinity hymnal on page Roman numeral 16 [Music] Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all amen please be seated