You can take your Bibles and turn over to the Gospel of Luke chapter 23. The Gospel of Luke chapter 23. I want to read the first 12 verses here. And we're going to take the time. We've come to the last chapter in our study of the Gospel of Luke. Now, it's not the last chapter in the Gospel of Luke. We've got one more. Chapter 24 is a concluding chapter of the resurrection and the appearance of our Savior post-resurrection. But over the last couple of years, we've already dealt with that chapter on Easter. And sometime after that, we may do some concluding comments at the end of the chapter. and the conclusion of our Gospel of Luke. But we have come in our study together to the last chapter. And this is probably, we have been in the climax of the Gospels. The climax of the Gospels, all four Gospels come to this point. And this is the reason that Jesus has come into this world. This is the reason He was born in Luke chapter 1 and 2. This is the reason the angels proclaimed. This goes all the way back to Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15. At the beginning of a Bible in history of mankind to come to this point for the redemption of man through this promised seed, the Messiah Jesus Christ. And now He comes face to face with the Roman leaders in Luke 23. And then Luke will record for us in 56 verses the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ, of these final hours. In Luke 23, the Bible says, And the whole multitude of them arose and led him unto Pilate. And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ a king. And Pilate answered or asked him, saying, Are you the king of the Jews? And he answered him and said, Thou sayest it. Then said Pilate to the chief priests and to the people, I find no fault in this man. And they were the more fierce, saying, He stirs up the people, teaching throughout Judea, beginning from Galilee even to this place. And when Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. And as soon as he knew that he belonged under Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who himself was also in Jerusalem at that time for the Passover. When Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad, for he was desirous to see him for a long season, because he had heard many things of him, and he hoped to see some miracle done by him. Then he questioned him with many words, and he answered, that's Jesus, answered him nothing. And the chief priests and scribes stood vehemently accusing him or accused him. This would be the Sanhedrin that followed. And Herod with his men of war, his soldiers, set him at naught and mocked him and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe and sent him again to Pilate. And the same day Pilate and Herod were made friends together. For before they were at enmity between themselves. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father, I pray in the next moments that we have as we look at the scripture, that you would encourage our hearts as we look to the truth. You told us that your word is truth. And it is through the Holy Spirit's power and the truth of God's word that we are guided to exactly in the words of scripture to what you want us to hear. These are your words. And Lord, I pray that this truth that we read about with Jesus would bring to a knowledge of us that would set us free. Thank you for the sacrifice of Christ. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. What is in your closet this morning? If you were to go back home and you'd open up the closet, as you probably did this morning, and you'd open the door, you stepped in, what's there? I'm talking about your clothes. What do you have? You got a daily outfit for each day this week. I'm sure you have many different colors of garments and outfits for different occasions. You have some that don't fit anymore, right? Or some that you don't use anymore that should be bagged up and taken to the goodwill or given to someone. Are your winter stuff still in your closet? Because you've not changed out your wardrobe quite yet. I mean, you've got clothes and hats and shoes and day wear and night wear and swimwear and it all goes on. We have all kinds of clothes and garments in our closet. I use that as an introduction today. to open the door to the wardrobe of the Lord Jesus Christ. What is in Jesus' closet? If you open the door to the Savior's closet, what kind of garments are there? What colors? There are four garments mentioned in the four gospels during the crucifixion of Jesus Christ that he wears. may not be aware of these four different garments. But the Gospels in a harmony together will tell us there are four different garments that come up in the crucifixion of Christ. Even in my study, I was not aware of the differences until I began to study and work out. And just as an introduction to the verses that we read, because it was addressed in the text that we read this morning, what are those four garments? Well, the first of the garments that are mentioned on this last day of Jesus is in Matthew chapter 27 and verse 28. If you want to read that verse, you can turn over there in Matthew 27, during the occasion of Jesus being brought back to Pilate. When Jesus is scourged, and we won't get to that this morning necessarily, but when Jesus is scourged and brought back from Herod, back to Pilate, there He is crucified. Matthew tells us in Matthew 27 in verse 28, the Bible says, and they stripped Him, they took off His old clothes, and put on Him a scarlet robe. The word scarlet here that is used comes from the color of red that comes from a specific dye of an insect that they would use to dye clothes and it would have a red scarlet color. The word garment that Matthew uses in verse 28 of this is a Roman robe that was used for a governor or a politician or a military general. It was a robe signifying power and achievement. It was given to a governor or a politician, probably a robe similar to what Pilate would wear. Or maybe one of the generals of the centurions who had achieved a victory. This robe was given to the Romans after, this was given to Jesus by the Romans after he had been scourged. The verse before that in verse 27 says that the soldiers took him and scourged him and brought him back and made jest with him and took a scarlet robe and put it on him to make fun of him. It was used to mock him for being weak, for being bloodied, for being beaten. You claim to be a Messiah. You claim to have an army. You claim to lead the Jews. You don't look so much like a mighty champion now. So they put on a scarlet robe. Turn over to Mark chapter 15. That's the first garment that Jesus wears on his crucifixion. Mark chapter 15 tells us another garment that he wears. Mark 15 in verse 17. Mark 15 and verse 17. In verse 16, previous verse, and the soldiers led him away into the hall called the praetorium and they called together the whole band and they clothed him with a, what's the word? Purple. And plated a crown of thorns and put it about his head and began to salute him and say, hail, king of the Jews. Mark records for us that the Romans gave him a purple robe. At some point in the mocking, another garment was brought to Jesus. Mark uses a different word for the word garment here with a completely different color. There is a scarlet color and there is a purple color. The purple in the Greek, the color here comes from a different type of dye that the Romans would use to dye things that turned a purple color. Matthew records that a scarlet robe, but this is not the robe that Mark records. This was a robe and a garment that was worn by a king. A purple garment, this garment was used for royalty, different than the scarlet robe. but a purple robe. Oftentimes, the secular and liberal scholars have said, use this different color and this different garment to say, see, the gospel writers didn't get the story correct. They didn't know which kind of garment or what color it was. And so that shows that there's some inconsistencies in the gospel records and they don't know what they're talking about. Others have come and said, well, the gospel records were gospel writers, Matthew and Mark, were colorblind and they didn't know what color it was. Like that changing color dress that, you know, depending on how you look at it, it comes a different way. But you can't help but the different words that the writers used. So the explanation is they were different robes. Meant to make fun of Jesus in different ways. One was Scarlet to make fun of him in his weakness and in his power or lack thereof in their mind. The other was to make fun of him as they somehow took the purple robe or put the purple robe on top of the Scarlet robe or they took the Scarlet robe off and put the purple robe on. Whatever the occasion, however it is done, each gospel writer is recording a little different emphasis on the accusation and the mockery of Jesus. They probably stripped the scarlet robe from off his back after being beaten and whipped. and took that purple robe and draped it over his open flesh, took a crown of thorns and wove it together and pressed it upon his head and gave him a reed and said, Hail, King of the Jews, as they bowed before him and made fun of him. This is the Romans doing this. Two garments that we have seen. You see, the Romans were masters in both physical and mental torture. The scourging and the trials of Jesus were not something just physical. It was also psychological. And this plays in the part of the Romans, these Gentiles towards this Jew who is now going to be executed. And they make fun of him and they take the physical pain and they inflict an emotional and mental and psychological pain as well as they make fun of their victim. Now Luke, go back to Luke chapter 23 in the passage we read. Luke introduced to us a third garment, different than the scarlet robe that the Romans use, different than the purple robe that the Romans use. Before the scourging, before the Romans give him these two robes, Luke records that they gave him someone different. Herod gave him another robe. Luke records in verse 13, verse, let's see, what verse? Verse 11. And Herod with his men of war set him at naught and mocked him and arrayed him. That means they put on him a gorgeous robe. Not scarlet, not purple, but gorgeous. The King James translates this word gorgeous. The Greek word translated gorgeous means brilliant or luxurious. It actually can be translated white. The color white. You see, this was done by Herod to make fun of Jesus. laughing and making fun of Jesus before the Jews. And this robe was put on him, not by the Romans, before the purple and scarlet robe. Those were two separate events at a different time, once he's brought back to Pilate and whipped. But before his scourging, before he receives the other two robes, the Jews under Herod the king put on him a gorgeous robe. Can I mention a fourth garment? Luke chapter 23 in verse 34. You all know about this one, because all four gospel writers record this one, even though there's differences in the other three, the gospel writers record for us in verse 34, the Bible says, and Jesus said, this is while he is on the cross, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do, and they parted his Raymond and Caslotz. They parted as Raymond and Caslotz. This garment was not the white robe given to him by Herod. This was not the purple robe or the scarlet robe given to him by the Romans. This garment was his single woven everyday rabbi robe that he had been wearing. At some point previous to that, they stripped him of it, beat him, then gave it back to him, and then while on the cross, took it away from him, and the soldiers were down there gambling with it. This was a robe given to him by someone special, not Herod, not Pilate, not the Romans, not his disciples necessarily, but some believe that this may have been the robe that was given to him by his mother. or someone who cherished Jesus as a rabbi that he would have worn. Matthew says that this was done in order to fulfill a prophecy of Luke 22 in verse 18. When the scripture prophesied, they parted my garments and my vesture. I bring and mention these robes to draw your attention to the very real historical events of Jesus' final hours. Even his garments at his death play an important role in the gospels and what Jesus has done. It's not a fairy tale, but a real event in history and the death and the part of both the physical and the psychological torture and torment that Jesus went through in this crucifixion. Jesus has been arrested and betrayed, He's been denied by Peter. He's been brought before Annas, the Godfather of the temple, one of the previous high priests. We read that he was slapped in the face and rebuked by the high priests and the guards for saying what was simply true. And Annas couldn't convict him because Jesus kept his mouth shut in those moments. Then he's taken and he's brought before Caiaphas. When that conviction before Annas didn't work, he's brought to the current high priest and his home. Witnesses are brought together against Jesus, but none of them can agree until two, finally two of them agree on the story and they bring them in and they tell about how Jesus said something about this temple that would be destroyed and in three days it would rise again. But in the examination of those two witnesses, the gospel writers record they do not even agree themselves between the meaning and the events of that. Their testimony is found inconsistent and frustrated. Caiaphas demands Jesus to answer for himself, of which doing so would be illegal. Jesus does not defend himself directly. Jesus was not allowed to have an advocate to stand for him. and standing there all alone by himself being forsaken by his disciples, he says nothing. At this point, Jesus is mocked and beaten and slapped again. Finally, as the sun is coming up, Jesus is taken before the Sanhedrin court. His third Jewish trial, which we read about in the previous chapter, at the end of that chapter, the record. As he stands before these 70 and 71, counting the high priests, supreme court justices, if you want to say it that way, Jesus is brought in as the sun is coming up. They must have a conviction so they can put him to death. they ask him two questions, are you the Christ? Jesus now under oath must answer and he does so. And he does so by alluding to two Old Testament passages of scripture, Daniel chapter seven, the son of man will come in the clouds of glory and Psalm 110, he will be seated on the right hand of the father above and he will bring judgment. And he says, you will see me. They all know his claim. And in anger, the second question is asked to him, are you the son of God? And Jesus responds, you have said. You see, Jesus accepts what they say about him. He is the son of God, but he does not accept how they are using it to claim that he's lying or to claim that he's making a blasphemous statement. This statement gives them all the evidence they need, and at the end of chapter 22, they stand up together and they say, what need have we for more witnesses? He has said it with his own mouth. And with his own statement, he has now brought his own verdict. They have their claim. It's probably at this point, in the first three trials of Jesus, that then again, he is beaten, slapped, spit upon, and his beard is plucked out. You see the high priest tearing of his garment and the ultimate anger. It surprises me that Jesus was not killed on spot. You remember a story in the book of Acts when Stephen is preaching and teaching before the same religious leaders and they cannot help it. They're so angry that the Bible says they lash on him with their teeth and they put up stones and they kill him right there. Not a surprise that they don't do this in Caiaphas's court here, that they're so angry. But somebody, probably the high priest at that moment says, wait, we've got to make a verdict. Someone wake up Pilate. And that's where we come to our text this morning in Luke chapter 23. Someone no doubt ran and sent word to Pilate, the Roman governor across town, to wake up and tell him that there's a problem on this Passover. Can you imagine your door knocking, somebody knocking at your door at 6 a.m. in the morning on July 4th? Saying, get up, there's work to be done. Hold on a second, it's a holiday. The Passover is a holiday and this is a Passover celebration. Pilate is there only to observe the events of the day, but this is vacation time. You don't wake me up on vacation time. In fact, it was forbidden for the Jewish people to hold any kind of accusation or punishment on the Jewish holiday of Passover itself. They are in a rush and a hurry to put Jesus to death and they need Pilate and the Romans to do it. So here in the verses that we read, and as quick as we can, we want to look over some of these verses and see. Notice in chapter 23, the first two verses, we see the official accusation of him before Pilate. The whole group, all 70 of these men, approach along with probably many others, the guards and everyone else has taken part in this illegal trial in the middle of the night, and now the sun is coming up, and they show up at Pilate's door, and they knock on the door. Pilate, probably wiping sleep out of his eyes, comes out before them, and there is Jesus bound, and all of the Sanhedrin, and the high priest, and many other people standing on his front porch. And they began to accuse him, saying, we found this fellow perverting the nation, forbidding to pay tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ the King. Three accusations that are brought to Pilate. Number one, he is perverting the nation. In other words, he's spreading division. He's spreading perversion. This word perversion means to be crooked or misleading. The claim is he is leading the nation to crookedness and perversion. Number two, they make the accusation that he is forbidding people to pay tribute to Caesar, which is a flat-out lie. Jesus never did do that. And then number three, they say he claims to be Christ, a king. Not the king, but he claims to be a king. Do you see what they did with Jesus' statements? Did you see what they did with the trial and the information that they've been gathering over the last few hours in the early hours of the morning? They knew that Pilate would not be impressed with Jesus's claim to be son of God. They don't make mention at all Jesus's statement that they want put him to death. Are you the son of God? I am. Well, they know that Pilate could care less about that. I mean, there's a lot of gods in the Roman pantheon. The Caesar himself claims to be a God divine. Big deal to Pilate. They know that. Pilate doesn't care about religious prophecy or sacrifices or the interpretation of the Old Testament. None of that matters to Rome. So they somehow twist the truth and spin the news about Jesus against Rome. So they flat-out lie about him, saying that he's stirring up riots, telling people not to pay their taxes, and Jesus is a direct threat to Caesar. Pilate, don't miss this. He said he's a king. That's bad. You've got a problem on your hand. What are you going to do? How are you going to deal with this? The accusation, the lies, the cheating, the stirring up confusion, taking gossip, causing trouble. You see, this is the devil's tool. And he has been using it for thousands of years. And he uses it against the Son of Man. Twisting the words, taking the trial, turning it around and flat out lying about it. You see, wicked men do wicked things. for wicked gain. And the human heart at its worst is being displayed here to get what it wants. And I want you to take heed because the Bible says, oh, what a great matter a little fire can kindle. The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. So is the tongue among our members that it defiles the whole body and sets on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire of hell. James chapter three. You be careful of your tongue. Your human heart and your desire to get what you want will take any information, any conversation, any kind of gossip and twist it and turn it to flat out lie to get an advantage in the situation. That's our human tendency. And we're down on Caiaphas and we're down on the Sanhedrin and we can see the lies and the twisted and the turning and the spinning of the news to fit their agenda and to fit their heart and their want and get their result in front of Pilate to turn him all about and say what is not true about Jesus so that they can get it done. And we're hard on them, but we do the same thing. We need to be careful. That is the devil's tool in using our tongue and the power of the tongue. Notice Pilate's response of this accusation in verse three down to verse five. And Pilate asked him saying, are you the king of the Jews? I mean, he asked him a question. Is this true? The Greek sentence question actually begins with the word you. Reading you, are a king? There may be a little mockery in Pilate's usage of this word. Remember, his beard has been plucked out, his face has been beaten, he's been made fun of, he's got black eyes, and he's looking before them and he says, you are the king of the Jews? You gotta be kidding me. Herod's across town and you, you, You can't even deal with your own Supreme Court. I think in this, Pilate is not duped by them. He knows this is all fake. He knows that Pilate is a smart man and he knows what's going on, but the pressure at this point, in fact, to take a harmony of the gospel, John records for us a conversation that Pilate has with Jesus at this point. Turn over to John chapter 18. John tells us that Pilate actually takes Jesus aside and asks Him this question. Luke doesn't go through those details. But in John chapter 18, in verse 33, and Pilate entered into the judgment hall again and called Jesus and said unto Him, Are you the King of the Jews? Notice Jesus responds, Saying thou this thing for yourself? Or did others tell you this about me? Pilate answered and said, Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you to me. What have you done? And Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight? that I should not be delivered to the Jews, but now is my kingdom not from here. And Pilate therefore said unto him, Are you a king then? Jesus answered, said, Thou sayest that I am a king? And to this end I was born. Here is the reason. It is for this cause that I came into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone that is of the truth hears my voice. And Pilate said unto him, What is truth? Now that is a topic we should be talking about, Pilate says. I'm not interested in this king. Obviously, you're not what they're claiming you to be. You don't seem to be any threat to Caesar. You don't even have an army. And now you've just told me your kingdom is not of this world. It's from somewhere else. You're no threat to the Romans. You're no threat to me. But the topic of truth, you bring up a very good point. I've been wanting to know what is true. Pilate in this indication, he carries on this conversation. Pilate finds a man I believe he admires. He realizes he's had problems with Caiaphas before. He's had problems with the Jews before. He has run. He has had some run ins with the Sanhedrin plenty of times. And he will have a few more in later part of his career. But at this point, Jesus and Pilate are facing one another, and Pilate is engaging in a conversation, and Jesus is baiting him on to bring him to the truth. Pilate is not duped, but there is something spiritual that is going on. And Pilate understands the political pull of the Jewish people, and he understands that everything that they just accused Jesus of is completely false. And He has all right to go out there and shut it all down. But there's something more than physical and legal and governmental that's going on right here. There is a spiritual battle and a spiritual fight. Going back to Luke chapter 23 in verse 3, Jesus answers, I am a king, you've said. And here is Pilate's conclusion in verse 4 after that conversation. Then said Pilate to the chief priests and to the people, I find no fault in this man. Not guilty. He's harmless. Three times this day, Pilate will pronounce publicly as the judicial judge of the trial, Jesus is innocent. Verse 4, verse 14, verse 22. Three times Pilate will say, I have found no fault with him. Luke will go out of his way to tell us these events. In fact, he will show us six times in this chapter that Jesus is not guilty. Six trials, six verdicts, and all six agree not guilty. Three of them by Pilate, three of them by observers. Chapter 23 and verse 15 says, Pilate said, I find no fault in him and neither does Herod. What was the conclusion? When he showed up at Herod's palace and he left Herod's palace, Herod said, he's innocent. I can't do anything with him. Pilate, and the indication from this statement is the fact that Herod had sent word back to Pilate basically with his conclusion, he is innocent. Pilate makes the statement, Herod makes the statement. Two other individuals in the Gospel of Luke that record this. Luke chapter 23 and verse 41. Do you remember this story? While Jesus is hanging on the cross, two others are hanging on the cross with Him. And in verse 41, in the railing and accusation, one of the thieves on the cross says, We indeed justly, for we received the due reward of our deeds, but this man has done nothing. The thief pronounces while Jesus is on the cross, he is innocent, not guilty. We receive justly what we are receiving, the judgment. But this man has done nothing amiss. It's not the last time, Luke. Six times, remember? Three by Pilate, one by Herod, one by a thief on the cross, and then at the end when Jesus dies, Luke records, Luke's the only one that records this, in Luke chapter 23 in verse 47. Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God saying this, certainly this man was a what? Righteous. You know what it means to be righteous? Right. Innocent. Justified. Not guilty. This is a Roman. When Jesus is on the cross, he's watched this whole scene take place. He's heard the accusations of religious leaders. He probably took part in the crucifixion and the scourging in the previous verses. And now he sees the conclusion. He sees the love of Jesus upon the cross, seeking forgiveness for those who know not what they do. And in crying out of the events of the death of Christ, he says, he's an innocent man. He's a righteous man. He has died for something that he did not do. So six times in this chapter, Luke goes out of his way to help us to understand what happens to Jesus. There is a clear indication both by the witnesses and by the judicial leadership, Jesus is not guilty. Now look what happens when Pilate says that in verse 5. There's an uproar. And they were more fierce, saying, He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all of Juri, beginning with Galilee and to this place. Pilate's not working out for them. It didn't end up the way they thought it would end up and Pilate would put him to death. Now he comes back out and says, not guilty. So what's the solution? Scream louder. Yell. Shake things up. Make more noise. Bring out the bullhorns. Get more people involved. Start throwing things. That's the answer. That's exactly what the scripture says here. More vehemently. Louder. Screaming. And the more we cause an uproar, we'll possibly change the verdict, right? This is a ploy that's been used. And here it is. Make more noise. Say he's causing problems in Galilee and Jere or Judea. He's stirring up the people. Phillips states that this word stir up means to shake up things. He's turning the world upside down. He's messing everything up. He's stirring the Jewish pilot. Maybe they say things like, you know, we had a bunch of sick people in Capernaum and he came in and cleared out the hospitals. Can you believe it? We were having a funeral one day and he had the gall to walk up and to touch the coffin and the man woke up and he messed the funeral up. Can you believe it? There was a man in the cemetery not bothering anybody and Jesus put him in his right mind and put clothes on him. Can you believe that he stirred up the pot? We had some tax collectors cheating and stealing from the people and he had the audacity to call them out of the tree and forgive them and go home and their sins are forgiven. Jesus was accused for so much trouble in the villages that people actually are starting to obey the Ten Commandments and believe that God is going to bring priests on the earth. Can you imagine? People are starting to do what's right, and lives are being changed, and the prostitutes are no longer in the streets, and the bars are closing down. People's lives are being changed. He's stirring up and causing a mess. You see, Jesus sure has a way of stirring things up. And Pilate says, yeah, you know, I just put my opinion. I see your point. I mean, compared with your 600 additional laws and rules and your Sabbath keeping and you can't walk more than a mile and all of this stuff like that. See my opinion, but I believe Pilate thinks this is a joke. Give Pilate credit here. You got me up. Early this morning on this holiday for this. You see, something catches Pilate's ears. Remember, he's a weak man and is always looking for a way out. In their statement, they said something about Galilee. And it just so happened to be that Pilate knows that Herod, who is in charge of Galilee, is in town. And so Herod, or Pilate, decides, hey, I'm gonna pass on and find someone else to make this hard decision. Pilate is a shrewd politician, and he knows this is a tight spot, and he's got a situation where the man in front of him is innocent, but the crowd is crying out for his crucifixion and crying out for me to put him to death. I'm not gonna make this decision. I'm gonna pass it on. Hughes points out that Oral Rogers once said that there are two great errors in American history, the passing of the buffalo and the passing of the buck. And we are living in the era of the passing of the buck. Pass it on to someone else. That's exactly what Pilate says. Hey, it's not my it's not my job. I'm not going to make a decision on this. I am not going to make a decision on Jesus. I'll let somebody else do that. So he sends him to Herod. Now we'll close with this comment about Herod because this is the end of our passage here where we talk about when Herod comes together, the Bible says, and Herod was glad to see Jesus, verse eight. He wanted to meet Jesus for a long time. He had heard about Jesus all the way back in Luke chapter 9. Pilate had heard, or Herod had heard that Jesus was preaching and teaching in Galilee and causing a stir. And Herod thought that it was John the Baptist who had been raised from the dead. And so in Luke chapter 9 and verse 7, he asked, who is this Jesus of Nazareth? I want to see him. Bring him to me. Then in Luke chapter 13 and verse 31, the Pharisees came to Jesus after that time and said, Herod is looking for you. He wants to kill you. And Jesus told the Pharisees, you tell that old fox that I will be perfected on the third day. And they were like, what does that mean? Oh, he said Herod was a fox. I'm sure that got back to Herod. So Herod comes or he brings Jesus up before him And the Scripture says that he wants to hear Jesus. He wants to see a miracle that Jesus would do. He wants to know Jesus in all the wrong reasons in the wrong way. He's not concerned with truth. He doesn't care about Bible prophecy. All he wants to see is a good show. But Jesus doesn't answer him. The Scripture says in verse 9, And he questioned him with many words, but Jesus answered him nothing. You see, there are times when God can make a lot of noise. You know, the scripture talks about God sometimes in the way of thunder and lightning, the earth shaking and the mountains trembling. The scripture talks about the mighty acts of God from heaven, where he can send fire down from heaven, or he can open up the earth and swallow people whole. He can send judgment by water or by fire. The scriptures talk about the angels can be sent from the power of God as chariots of fire that can surround the enemy, that protects those who are his. You see, God has the ability to make a lot of noise. But what is remarkable in this text is when God remains silent. You know what surprises me and perplexes me more than God's activity is God's inactivity. Or maybe can I put it this way, if this is more accurate, God's silence. You see, in the face of the raging of the nations, the psalmist said, why do the heathen rage and the Lord remain silent? You see, Herod is making a lot of noise here. The Greek word here, he questioned him with many words, is in the imperfect tense, meaning that Herod went on and on and on and on. And he couldn't get Jesus to say anything. Interesting that Jesus answered Caiaphas. Interesting that Jesus carried a long conversation with Pilate. But when it came to Herod, Jesus said nothing. What do you do when God remains silent? Do you kick and scream? Do you get mad? Do you begin to mock? Do you send him away? Do you reject the silence of an almighty God as thinking that He doesn't care, or He's not powerful enough, or He is not able? Just because He's not speaking does not mean He is not in control. The Bible says He neither slumbers nor sleeps. You see, what is remarkable is that in the face of all of this noise, Jesus was completely calm. You know that they're talking about him, what they've made accusations for him, they're all lies. How does Jesus remain calm in the face of the storm? He is going to continue to keep his composure as things get worse. You know why? Because when everyone was out, was asleep, Jesus was on his face pleading with his heavenly father, not my will. but thine be done." You see, there's a time for everything under heaven. There's a time to speak and there's a time to be silent. And Jesus never gets the times wrong. You know somebody who did? Peter. Peter had a problem with speaking when it was time to be silent and when being silent when it was time to speak. You see how we get things all twisted when we're not in prayer and communion, depending upon the will of the Lord? Jesus is mocked. His men of war despise Him and mock Him and put a gorgeous, beautiful robe on Him, and they muck fun of Him, dressing Him up, and then send Him back to Pilate. Some lessons from Herod this morning as we close. You see, there was a time when Herod liked to hear John the Baptist. Mark chapter 6 in verse 20, the Bible says, and he was intrigued and was glad to talk with John. There was a time when Herod truly wanted to see Jesus. His curiosity was up. He wanted to see what he was saying, what he was doing. His curiosity was there. There was a time when Herod was open. There was a time when Herod had a legitimate desire to know truth. But what happened? Well, because Herod was a man of passions. Herod was a man of the flesh. Herod was a man who loved his sin. And when Herod was brought to choice between his sin and truth, Herod chose sin and rejected the Savior. Can I give you a nugget of Bible knowledge here that's interesting? Herod is an Edomite. Who are the Edomites descendants of? Well, the answer is Esau. You know what the New Testament describes Esau as? Turned in Hebrews chapter 12, And listen to what the New Testament describes Esau as a man of the flesh. And the scripture says in Hebrews chapter 12 in verse 15 through 17 here, Looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness that spring up and trouble you and thereby you will be defiled. Lest there be any sexual sin or a purveying person just like Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For you know how the afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected. for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears." You know, the indication in the New Testament is that Esau was a man of the world, a man of sex and money and food and pleasure, more than a man of God. Like father, like son. And here Herod is face to face with the creator of the universe, the king of the Jews. And Herod would rather Reject Jesus, then admit he's a sinner. And Herod was a man crazed with the passions of this world, and his sin, though at one time bothered him, now it bothers him no more. And he could care less about Jesus. What about you this morning? What profit a man if he gained the whole world and loses his own soul? Can I ask you this question? What will you do with Jesus. With heads bowed and eyes closed, before we close the service, we will have just a song of invitation and a prayer and be dismissed. In the face of Jesus' control and silence, but yet His love and grace to be committed to the will of God And yet you have people like Pilate who pass the buck, and you have people like Herod who ignore his sins and just think Jesus is a show. Where are you? Do you take seriously your relationship with God? God does you. God does your sin. So much so that He's willing to bear the robes of mockery and the robes of sin and to be shouldered with the sins of the world, Isaiah 53, because of His love and to take your place. What will you do with Jesus? As a believer today, maybe you've seen the Lord Jesus Christ and you've seen the seriousness of your sin and His courage to stand before Pilate. Would you realize how much God loves you and cares for you? Maybe the silence of God, He's not answering you. What are you gonna do with that this morning? Are you going to get mad and bitter like Esau? Are you going to go back to the things of the world and brush Jesus aside? Or will you fall before Him and surrender to His will? Will you stand to your feet with heads bowed, eyes closed? I've asked Jessica if she would play a hymn of invitation. And as she plays, if God's worked in your heart this morning, you'd like to come forward or maybe pray there in your seats. We won't take a long time with the invitation. But if you don't know Jesus as your Savior, would you know that He took your sins on the cross? And He did that. He remained silent. He didn't defend Himself. Because it was for this reason that He came into this world. To suffer and die for sins. To be the Lamb of God who opened not His mouth. Lord, I pray this morning as we continue in this invitation that you would speak to our hearts, help us to have a spirit of worship and gratitude in the face of what we read and what Jesus does, the gossip and the lies and the attempt to destroy him and his testimony. And yet he stood there knowing the will of God, knowing the cross before him. He was willing. Lord, help us. to be surrendered and realize the seriousness of sin. Lord, help us to be in your will at all times. As she continues to play one more time before we close service, if you don't know Christ as your Savior, we'd love to talk to you, love to share with you how you can trust Christ, not by baptism as you saw this morning. That's only a step of obedience after salvation. you must reach out in faith, you must repent, choose Jesus over your sin, and come before him. Father, as we close our service, thank you for your word. Thank you for us being able to see Jesus, even though it is hard for us to watch him go through this. We know the end of the story. but it brings our attention to seriousness. And every human heart in its wickedness wants its own way and will reject the truth. Lord, we must have you, your work of grace and spirit and the word of God to soften our sinful heart and to bring us before our knees in your presence. Thank you for your love for us. We go out and we worship that we have a risen savior who has purchased our redemption and taken our sin for us. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.