If you would please turn to Luke chapter 22. Actually, we're more willing going to enter another chapter today. It's been sort of unusual that we're in this part of Luke and we're a little bit off. off kilter in terms of we're behind in the events of this week, but that's not to worry. Next Sunday we'll celebrate Easter and everything will be well, but today we're going to lawyer up. Today, we're going to get into some trials and tribulations, and it's fascinating and a bit confusing, actually, when you look at all four of the Gospels, which we will do in order to supplement what we see here in Luke. But remember, where we are always in this section, regardless of what Jesus is, what particular challenges are, they are the ultimate challenges that he came to earth incarnate to Bethlehem in order to suffer and to conquer, but we're in the final stages of this Passover week. It's concluding. Jesus has already been victorious in one of, most people would argue, the two prime challenges of this week for Jesus, the Garden of Gethsemane, of course, the cross, the ultimate. He's come out of it, but he's come out of it wounded. He's come out of it bloodied, literally. And as we concluded last week, we saw him being abused, beaten, a bit of physical as well as psychological abuse. And that's how he enters the trial phase. It's fairly easy to sit back and think of Jesus going into these trials as if he is Well, he is not. He's going in battered, beaten, which is not a good, strong way to start. But we're going through over the next two times, two classes, we'll go through five different trials. And some of them Luke emphasizes, some he does not. This first one he does not, and that's a trial before a man named Annas. A-N-N-A-S. If you look at Luke chapter three, this is the only time in Luke that he mentions this man. Luke chapter three begins this way, in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip, tetrarch of the region of Aetoria, and Treconitis, and Lysanias, tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas. The word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. It's the only time this man is mentioned in Luke. He's not found at all in Matthew or Mark. He is fairly extensively found in John. So this is the first trial. What apparently has gone on here, and no one knows for certain, but An appointment to the high priesthood is an appointment for life. So Annas is high priest. Now Caiaphas is also high priest, that's his son-in-law. But he was appointed high priest by the Romans. So we're going to deal with both of these men. And if you would turn to John chapter 18, that's where we find this trial alluded to in the Gospels. John chapter 18. Verses 12, 13, and 14 of John 18 say, so the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound him. First, they led him to Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. It was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it would be expedient that one man should die for the people. Now that's important, that reference. If you go back to John chapter 11, you'll get an insight into Caiaphas and why the Romans might have wanted this man as high priest. The assumption being that Annas The father-in-law is an older individual and perhaps not, well, who knows? There's no sense even speculating. But if you go to John 11, verse 45, here's what you'll read there. Many of the Jews, therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. This was after Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council, that's the Sanhedrin, and said, what are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation. But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, you know nothing at all, nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish. He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. So from that day on, they made plans to put him to death. That's a fascinating passage. We're not studying John, but if we were, we would see Caiaphas has been made, if it were to prophesy, he thinks he's going to manipulate, which indeed he is. but he has said something very, very profound beyond his understanding. If you go back now to the 18th chapter of John, Jesus is brought before Annas first because he's the high priest. So you've got two high priests going on here. The Roman occupiers really want Caiaphas in charge. They don't mind apparently that Annas is the first to have this trial. And if you see, we're gonna read verses 19 to 24. Now, this is John's coverage of the trial. And what we'll see here is that Annas doesn't really go after Jesus. He's not... I've got so many names I'm tempted to discuss here relative to what you and I have seen over the last six months. I will try to avoid that. But you and I have seen trials exactly like what is happening here. in our own culture, attempts to put somebody away. But in John chapter 18, beginning in verse 19, it says, the high priest, this is Annas now, then questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. Jesus answered him, I've spoken openly to the world. I've always taught in synagogues and in the temple where all Jews come together. I've said nothing in secret. Why do you ask me? Ask those who've heard me what I said to them. They know what I said. When he said these things, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, is that how you answer the high priest? Jesus answered him, if what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong, but if what I said is right, why do you strike me? Annas then sent him bound to Caiaphas, the high priest, to his son-in-law. And that's all we have of this initial tribunal before a high priest. And again, Annas, he's not a major. This initial trial is not one of the really get down with it kinds of trials. He doesn't go after Jesus as Jesus. He goes a little bit into his disciples. You get the sense that this man, Annas, has not been maybe privy to all of the insider desires to kill Jesus the way his son-in-law certainly has. The whole interrogation seems a little tentative, incomplete, but you do have another abuse of Jesus, a court officer who strikes Jesus with his hands, and then Anna sends him over to Caiaphas, the high priest. Now, the interlude, apparently, it's hard to know exactly chronologically when this happens. Now, go back to Luke. I'm sorry to be taking you all over the place, but you don't get the full picture without looking at all four of the gospels. But go back to Luke 22. This is where we concluded last week in verses 63, 4, and 5. After the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus is taken, he's arrested and taken to the high priest's home and Peter is outside and you have the betrayal, the three denials of Peter. And then in these three verses, now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking him as they beat him. They also blindfolded him and kept asking him, prophesy, who is it that struck you? They're playing games with him, in other words, very cruel and painful games. And they said many other things against him, blaspheming him. Now this interlude, most people think it's somewhere between what we read about Annas and before we get to Caiaphas, who's going to be with the Sanhedrin. So, but however long it took to get through that night, Jesus was abused throughout that evening. Now this is, if you go back and we're not going to turn there now, but if you go back and read Isaiah 52 and 53, You remember those two very, very famous chapters from the Old Testament that discuss the abuse that Jesus is going to take, and he is taking quite a bit of it already. And remember, he enters this abuse period having just come through Gethsemane. But here is the first of many glitches in this whole trial phase. Neither Annas nor Caiaphas has any legal authority. Israel is a country that is occupied by Rome. Rome is the only power in Israel. So Annas and Caiaphas are trying to, again, they're, especially Caiaphas, what they're trying to do is get Jesus killed, but they can't kill him. They're not the ones that can do that. Only Rome can do that. So these trials that we see from Annas, from Caiaphas, and all of these things, are interesting in that they have no legal authority. They know they have no legal authority. The Sanhedrin, for instance, is the only body of the Jewish religious authority that has the right to have a trial, but the trial could only be in the daytime. It was forbidden for the Sanhedrin to have a trial at night. which may be why you get verses 63, 4, and 5. Maybe they're waiting for the sun to come up, and in the meantime, Jesus is incarcerated by some very, very vile human beings who are beating him and torturing him, which also, by the way, was against the Jewish legal, you couldn't abuse a prisoner. But at any rate, Jesus has been abused and they're waiting apparently for the sunrise and then enter Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin. This is the most important of the five trials from the Jewish perspective. What they're trying to accomplish is to come out with some sort of declaration of charge against Jesus that will lead the Roman authorities to put him to death. This is not going to be easy for them to do. But beginning in verse 66, And going through verse 71, rather, we see this in Luke. Here's what it says, beginning in 66. When day came, the assembly of the elders of the people gathered together, both chief priests and scribes. and they led him away to their council. This is the Sanhedrin, 70 people. Now, one of the fascinating questions, impossible to answer, is where was Nicodemus in all of this? If you remember the beginning of John, Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night. Nicodemus is a member of the Sanhedrin. Was he present during this? Be interesting to know, but we'll have to wait to heaven to ask him. The chief priests, scribes, all the elders of the people, Sanhedrin, they meet and they said, verse 67, if you are the Christ, tell us. But he said to them, if I tell you, you will not believe, and if I ask you, you will not answer. But from now on, the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God. So they all said, are you the Son of God then? And he said to them, you say that I am. Then they said, what further testimony do we need? We've heard it ourselves from his own lips. So they think they've accomplished their mission here in these few verses. We'll unpack them just a bit. Verse 66, daylight comes and the trial can begin before the Sanhedrin. Now there's an important text from Matthew that we need to consult. Matthew chapter 26. And again, if you don't want to turn there, I'll be reading them to you. But Matthew 26, beginning in verse 57. This is the trial, the same trial as described by Matthew rather than Luke. Verse 57, then those who had seized Jesus led him to Caiaphas the high priest where the scribes and the elders had gathered. And Peter was following him at a distance as far as the courtyard of the high priest. And going inside, he sat with the guards to see the end. That's Peter, what can I say? 59, now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus. That should strike everybody rather oddly. They're seeking false testimony that they might put him to death, but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last, two came forward and said, This man said, I am able to destroy the temple of God and to rebuild it in three days. And the high priest stood up and said, have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you? But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the son of God. Now that's an important statement. Verse 63 there, that's called the oath of testimony among the Sanhedrin. In other words, that's, Give me the bottom line. Verse 64, Jesus answers. Jesus said to him, you have said so, but I tell you from now on, you will see the son of man seated at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest tore his robes and said, he has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. What is your judgment? They answered, he deserves death. Then they spit in his face and struck him and some slapped him saying, prophesy to us you Christ, who is it that struck you? So you get a little bit more of the terrible spirit of the highest court of the Jewish religious leadership at this point of what they're doing. Interestingly enough, Mark, weighs in at Mark chapter 14, he has something interesting to say about these false witnesses that they've clamored so to find. Mark 14, verse 56, It says, for many bore false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree. Duh. So they were seeking false testimony, but they didn't care whether the testimony agreed or not. They weren't that insistent on following protocol. Back to Luke now, Luke, back to Luke 22. In verse 67, a frustrated Caiaphas is now playing his trump card. If you are the Christ, tell us. And for Matthew, we read Matthew 26, 63, where in Matthew it says, and the high priest said to him, I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the son of God. That's the master stroke of Caiaphas. That is what he is trying to achieve from his trial with Jesus. He demands on the basis of the solemn oath whether Jesus was the Messiah, who is God. If he is, he's guilty of blasphemy in the eyes of Caiaphas and the Jewish Sanhedrin. And you see that, again, tangential response from Jesus. In Luke 22, 67, he says, if I tell you, you're not gonna believe me. And in 68, if I ask you, you won't answer. But in 69, from now on, the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God. And then in verse 70, here in Luke, So they all said, are you the son of God then? And he, Jesus said to them, you say that I am. So Jesus is a very, very good witness here, and he's not giving them directly what they want. Interestingly, Leon Morris, that statement in verse 70 where Jesus says, you say that I am, Leon Morris says that's, he paraphrases that to try to get the nuance of it. And he says, it's like Jesus had said, I wouldn't put it like that, but since you have, I cannot deny it. And Morris goes on to say that, in this case, Jesus, yes, but I have much, much fuller understanding of these terms, Son of God, Son of Man, Messiah, than you do, Caiaphas. So Jesus is saying, okay, yeah, if you wanna put it that way, you can put it that way. It's inaccurate and certainly incomplete. But at the very least, indeed, it is blasphemy. in the eyes of the Sanhedrin. And that's the first real point of these trials that I think comes home to roost to us. It's not Jesus who's on trial here, it's you and I who are on trial here. We have the same issue that the Sanhedrin has. It's not for Caiaphas of the Sanhedrin to answer that, but it's you and me. What are we gonna do with Jesus? Is Jesus the Son of God? Is Jesus the Son of Man? Is Jesus the Messiah? That is the point that Caiaphas is trying to get Jesus to say in the eyes of Caiaphas, that would be utter blasphemy. But the only important question is, what is it in your eyes? If Jesus claims to be the Son of God and indeed the Messiah, what do we think of that statement? In Mark, don't turn there, just one verse, Mark 14, 64, it says this, quote, you have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision? And they all, the Sanhedrin, condemned him as deserving death. But here comes another legal hurdle they've got to deal with. Israel's an occupied country, as I mentioned. The Jews, even the Sanhedrin, were not permitted to execute anybody. To kill Jesus, these religious leaders are gonna need help. They're gonna need to find some sort of vacillating, weak, shameful, lost, scurrilous Roman politician, and they're gonna find not one, but two of them. One of them's named Pontius Pilate. He's the governor there, the Roman governor, a purebred career politician. Another one's a man named Herod Antipas. He's a half Jew puppet Tetrarch. We read about him when we read that opening verses of chapter three in Luke, where the only time in Luke he mentions the word Annas. We also looked and found that everything that Luke is talking about here was in the time when Herod Antipas was the Tetrarch of Galilee. More on him very shortly. Now Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin think they've got as much as they need to go before the Romans now. So we get next to the trial before Pilate. That begins chapter 23 of Luke. Luke 23, verses one through 12. This opens the trial with Pilate. This doesn't get to the end of it. First 12 verses of Luke 23. They think Jesus has committed blasphemy. So, then the whole company of them arose and brought him before Pilate. And they began to accuse him saying, we found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar and saying that he himself is Christ a king. And Pilate asked him, are you the king of the Jews? And he answered him, you said so. Then Pilate said to the chief priests and crowds, I find no guilt in this man. But they were urgent, saying, he stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea from Galilee, even to this place. Key word, Galilee, teaching in Galilee. Pilate, I have mentioned, Pilate's a career politician. He doesn't want to have anything, the fewer demonstrative words he will ever say in his life, the better for him. Always sitting there with his finger up in the air, trying to judge the direction of the wind. So Pilate is going to come in and interrogate, and we see in verse one there of Luke 23, all the religious leadership of Israel, who by the way, never agreed on anything. Here in this group, all of a sudden, you've got these people who are trying to act in We've got all of the Pharisees, the Sadducees, you've got the same people we've been seeing in the temple for the past week who are trying to unite in some way or other with one goal, and that's to kill Jesus Christ. They have all risen up together. They bring Jesus to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor. But again, they've got a problem. In Rome, blasphemy isn't even a crime, much less a crime from which you would take someone's life. So they've got to find a way to convince Pilate that this Jesus is a terrorist. Somebody, not only is he a blasphemer, but he's a political threat to Rome. Verse two, they bring three charges against Jesus. In verse two, interesting charges. They say he's misleading our nation. He's treason, he's committing treason, another word. They also say in verse two that he's forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, civil disobedience, which of course wasn't true. Thirdly, in that same second verse, he calls himself a king, a subversive charge to make. And as we know, of course, Jesus was not misleading anybody in Israel. In point of fact, he was bringing light and truth and life to Israel. Secondly, not only is he not forbidding taxation, he's encouraging people to render under Caesar the things that belong to Caesar. And thirdly, he's not claiming to be a king, he's claiming to be the king. He's not claiming political kingship, he's claiming something much, much more. Hearing all of this, it's fascinating. A lot of commentators say this is when Jesus enters the trial, enters the arena here before Pilate. And if you think about what they've just said about him, if in fact he hasn't been there yet, you think Pilate was probably thinking, oh my goodness, this person must be a really, really bad character, and then enter Jesus. who's not going to vaguely resemble any of these serious threats. But in verse three, Pilate asked Jesus, are you the king of the Jews? And again, evasively, you've said so. What Jesus is saying by that is I'm not what you think is a king. I'm not that kind of king, but Jesus is not going to get into it. And Pilate immediately in verse four, I find no guilt in this man. That should have ended everything. Pilate is in charge of everything that goes on in Jerusalem. Should have ended right there, but the Jewish leadership, of course, they're not going to allow it to end right there. So you move on to verse five, the Sanhedrin trying to get Jesus crucified. They add that he stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea from Galilee even to this place. Whether they were aware of that bellwether statement or not, nobody knows. But by mentioning Galilee, Pilate says, aha, I've got a chance to get this off of my plate. Because if he taught in Galilee, Galilee has a different leader. Galilee has this guy named Herod Antipas. And he happens to be in Jerusalem, it's Passover. He happens to be right next door or whatever. So under Roman law, of course, a person can't be tried or can be tried either in the place where he was accused, that is here in Jerusalem, or in his hometown, in his home region. So that's what Pilate is, that's the law that Pilate is going to pull out. And therefore, he asked Jesus if he's in fact a Galilean, verse six of Luke 23. When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. Verse seven, when he learned that he belonged to Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod. This is Herod Antipas, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time. When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad. Why would that be? Let's pause a minute. He's going into another trial now. Trial in front of this guy named Herod Antipas. Who is that guy? He's here beginning in verse eight. Verse eight says, he's very glad to see Jesus, had long desired to see Jesus, had heard about Jesus, was hoping to see some sign done. That's always a red flag in the gospels whenever somebody comes in and what they really want out of Jesus is to see a sign. Things are not gonna go well from there. So he says, I hope to see something done here. This man, Herod Antipas, is the son of Herod the Great. He's the son of the guy that murdered all of the male babies around Bethlehem. When Jesus is born and word gets out to Herod the Great, the father of this man, Herod Antipas, so he comes from questionable stock to say the least. Herod Antipas' son is probably worse than his father. This is the guy that has John the Baptist beheaded. A lot of that in Mark chapter six, if you want to read about that episode, familiar in some cases, Mark six, verses 14 to 29, but you remember what happens. Again, Herod is, he's sort of passive. Vast important things are happening around him. His wife is manipulating him completely. And this daughter comes up, what do you want? Well, I want the head of John the Baptist. Her mother has told her to say that. I do want to look at one verse out of Mark chapter six in that episode about this man. Mark chapter six. Verse 26, in the middle of all of that negotiating that Herod Antipas is trying to have about John the Baptist. John the Baptist has been telling them, of course, about Jesus. Go back to verse 22, when Herodias' daughter, that's the wife, came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, ask me for whatever you wish and I will give it to you. And he vowed to her, whatever you ask me, I will give you up to half of my kingdom. And she went out and said to her mother, what should I ask? And she said, ask him for the head of John the Baptist. So verse 25, and she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter. And here is the moral fiber of this man. Herod Antipas, verse 26, the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests, he did not want to break his word to her. So he has John the Baptist beheaded. That's the man that Jesus is now going in front of. And that, the 26th verse, that man has a chance to repent. That man has a chance to wake up spiritually and seize the opportunity and say, no, we're not chopping the head off of John the Baptist, but he doesn't. He goes on through Spurgeon, by the way, calls him a man of dissolute habits, frivolous mind, a lover of pleasure, depraved, weak, and he goes on and on and on. He was an Edomite. Herod Antipas is an Edomite. If we flip that board over, you remember all the covenantal iterations. The covenant flows through Jacob, not Esau. The Edomites were descendants of Esau. Esau is the man in Romans 9 where God says, Jacob, I loved, Esau, I hated. I hate Esau. This man, Herod Antipas, is a descendant of Esau. So Teheran, who knows, maybe thinks this is John the Baptist come back to haunt him or something. There's no telling what's going on in his head, but he wants to see a sign. If you go back to Luke 11, you may recall the passage where Jesus says, a sign is not going to be given. So in verse nine, Herod begins his questioning, Luke 23, verse nine. So he questioned him at some length, but Jesus makes no answer. Now we've seen Jesus speaking with Caiaphas, we've seen Jesus speaking with Annas, we've seen Jesus, but he gets before this man, silence. The chief priests and the scribes, verse 10, stood by vehemently accusing him and Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. Then arraying him in splendid clothing, he sent him back to Pilate. Herod is questioning Jesus at some length. He reasoned with Caiaphas, he conversed with Pontius Pilate. In John 18, we're going to see a lot more conversing with Pontius Pilate, but he would say absolutely nothing. to this man, and most of the commentators and theologians think it's too late for this guy. There comes a point, this is another one of the humbling points of this trial sequence with Jesus, there comes a point where Jesus will no longer give anyone an opportunity. Herod was silenced, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, he cut off the voice of John the Baptist, so he was denied the word. And Jesus never refused to answer a beggar, but he would refuse to answer a king, especially. this man. And think again, this guy has been in Galilee. Jesus has been preaching, teaching, performing miracles, doing signs. If he wanted to see a sign, he could have had an opportunity to see any number of signs. But again, the lesson for us, not to waste gospel opportunities. All of us have gospel opportunities often, and especially from an evangelistic standpoint, as we talk to unbelievers, many of whom will think, well, I've got a long time to live. Maybe we get around to this Christianity stuff later. None of us know that. There may be a time when the opportunities cease, as they did certainly with this man. Verses 10 and 11, Sanhedrin stands up, vehemently accusing him. They treat him with contempt, mock him, put ridiculous clothing on Jesus, and then they send him back to Pilate. And look at verse 12. And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day. For before this they had been at enmity with each other." It is interesting how unbelief will unite people. It's the one thing that many unbelievers find very comforting, to have bedfellows that also are unbelievers. But says Herod and Pilate, they were formerly at enmity. but they became friends. What I had written there is that because misery and faithlessness love company. They both have something in common now and that's hatred for Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. That is a bad commonality to have and whether or not... whether or not it's something that we share with others is irrelevant. Again, the gospel comes, and you don't know how often it comes, and you don't know how much opportunity it comes down the line, if there will indeed ever be opportunity. So to seize gospel opportunity is a very wise way forward. John Stott, interestingly enough, at this point, says a person cannot drift into Christianity. And the way Stott unpacks all of that, that statement in particular, is that you don't fall into it. Yeah, maybe it's okay, maybe it's not. And it's a similar kind of attitude. You see outright hostility, from most of the folks in the Sanhedrin and indeed Herod Antipas by the time Jesus refuses to even defend himself or say a single word to this man, this vile, vile man. But oftentimes, you see people, they'll say, okay, well, I'll cover my bets. If all I have to do is sign this little piece of paper or pray this special prayer, sure, I'll do that. That's not, you don't, Christianity normally doesn't come at people that way. If you don't know and love Jesus as Lord and Savior and come to Him now, making your calling and election sure, That's why the further we get into the New Testament, Peter in particular has that statement about make certain that you're calling an election is sure and not only think you're a Christian, not only go back to something you may have said or some service where you felt a certain way and from maybe even years previously. That's not what this is about. Becoming a Christian is something that we need to pursue and constantly grow. That's why Paul will talk always, John will talk about this in his letters in the New Testament as well. Don't remain a child. as a Christian, grow as a Christian, mature as a Christian, get deeper and deeper into the Word, study more and more, worship, find good solid churches and so forth and so on. You see none of this kind of thing happening in the trials that we've been reading about. The beauty of it is this, regardless of what Jesus has done in these trials, this tangential process or indeed silence before Herod, one day you and I are going to stand before a similar tribunal and it's gonna be standing in front of God himself. And while Jesus was silent, in this trial with Herod, he's not gonna be silent on that day. He's going to stand up and he's going to show the signs of the nails through his hands and he's going to speak in your behalf and says, that person is mine. The thought of that is, should be a motivating, confidence, assurance, building reality in the life of every Christian. And I hope we all know that, especially as we go through this week. Every year we celebrate this week of Easter. Why? Because it's through that cross and that empty tomb that we're going to know that forever and ever a Christian is saved. Luke chapter 12, verse eight, the second half of that says this, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the son of man also will acknowledge before the angels of God. The Christian is declared innocent now, today, and forevermore. And our spokesman is Jesus himself. So I think as we go through these trials, the story to each of us is run. to Jesus, embrace him in faith and grow in that faith and appreciation of all of this suffering that he's doing for one reason only, to raise up a people who will bring glory to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Let's pray. Father, these trials are intriguing, they're fascinating, they're interesting but they're also completely tragic because none of these people from Annas to Caiaphas to the high priest to the Sanhedrin to Herod Antipas to Pontius Pilate, none of them, they had the king of kings in their midst and they couldn't deal with it at all. Father, I pray that no one in this room now is in a position where we're not certain or we haven't come there yet. I pray that if that's the case, you will lead us into a deeper truth and indeed show us, give us the faith to believe. And for those who have faith, Father, I pray that we will grow in our faith, that we will understand that because of this, this event of this week, especially this last 24 hours, whether it be that garden or the cross, with the glorious truth of resurrection Sunday. Father, if we believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we are saved today and forevermore, not because of us, but because of what Jesus has done for us. Father, we are humbled but grateful, and I pray excited to walk forward as your children. We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.