Good to see you this morning on this cold Christmas. Amen. Amen. You may be seated. Please turn in your Bibles to Luke chapter number 22 as Brother Doug leads us as we follow along Luke chapter number 22. This evening at 6 o'clock we'll have a message nowhere near Luke or John. It will be out of the book of Acts. And it is because of the unusual nature of this morning's passage. So if you can and will, please come back tonight for another worship service at 6 p.m. Brother Doug, will you read for us, beginning at 2266, chapter 22 of Luke. As soon as it was day, the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, came together and led him into their council, saying, If you are the Christ, tell us. But he said to them, if I tell you, you will by no means believe. And if I also ask you, you will by no means answer me or let me go. Hereafter, the Son of Man will sit on the right hand of the power of God. Then they all said, are you then the Son of God? So he said to them, you rightly say that I am. And they said, what further testimony do we need? For we have heard it ourselves from his own mouth. Then the whole multitude of them arose and led him to Pilate. And they began to accuse him, saying, we found this fellow perverting the nation and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ, a king. Then Pilate asked him, saying, are you the king of the Jews? He answered and said, It is as you say. So Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowd, I find no fault in this man. But they were the more fierce, saying, he stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee to this place. When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked if the man were a Galilean. And as soon as he knew that he belonged to Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod. who was also in Jerusalem at the time. Now when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad, for he had desired for a long time to see him, because he had heard many things about him and had hoped to see some miracle done by him. Then he questioned him with many words, but he answered him nothing. And the chief priests and the scribes stood and vehemently accused him. Then Herod, with his men of war, treated him with contempt and mocked him, arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and sent him back to Pilate. That very day Pilate and Herod became friends with each other, for previously they had been at enmity with each other." Thank you, Brother Doug. That is the word of the Lord, and it's perfect. Heavenly Father, would you bless your people with your word? Here we are doing systematic things, weekly things. There we are back again, so many of us, two Sundays in a row, three Sundays in a row, because it's what we've decided is the right thing to do. Here we are, because we're able, we're here. I pray that you would bless us through common things. Help me to expect both eternal effects, because that's what you do, and slow-moving fruit. Help me to remember that I should never expect heaven and glory to come down with one sermon and make all things right. No, Lord, you are continually washing us with your word until we're done, until the race is complete. Yet not I, but Christ in me. Help us, Lord, to hear your voice, Thank you for what you've done in bringing this congregation together. We will never be exactly like we are right now. So in this holy moment, accomplish eternal things, fantastic things, and slow-moving, important things. And we'll thank you. In the name of the one who has defeated death, Amen. So here we are. Lots of great things in this passage. Why are we doing Luke 22? Well, it's really deep. Because we left off at Luke 22 the last time we were in Luke. That's it. And we are so impressed with simple method. We believe God uses common things to dispense His grace. And sometimes those things are just disciplined regularity. That's it. And here we are giving God His time. Why is this passage in the Bible? The reason this passage is in the Bible is because it's in the Gospel of Luke where it belongs because the writer eventually wants you to look back through the cross to this moment. So this will culminate in this next chapter with Jesus dying for crimes. Crimes that he did not commit. Crimes rather that you and I committed. Crimes that people would commit, but he did not commit. Terrible, godless crimes. If that ever grips you, then what we sang about today will not ever get old to you. This is an awful offense that God has had against him, and here we are just seeing a little bit of it. Believing that every word is pure. and that it is exactly where it ought to be, and therefore, we are reading the very words of God this morning. Now, having said that, it would really be a better idea for me to remind you that just a few hours before this, because you'll notice verse 66, as soon as it was day, that means, Now you and I, 2020 Hickory, North Carolina, this doesn't get super obvious to us, but in judicial jurisprudence, it was illegal to try anyone under darkness. Here, they're finally having a legal trial. They have been whipping Jesus all night. Jesus has been going without sleep. All night, Jesus has been beaten. We've talked about it in that message where we talk about Jesus turning and looking at Peter. That was the last message we had in Luke. And so here we are now, we're talking about the fulfillment of what Jesus said earlier in the chapter when he held up the bread and said, this is my body broken for you. Held up the cup, this is my blood shed for you. Now begins the breaking of his body and the shedding of his blood. Why? For you. For you. I'd say for me, but this isn't about me in particular, this is about us and all of the us's, all of the we's, all of the me's in this congregation this morning. I just want to extend to whoever in here is not yet saved, why will you not believe on Christ? Has he ever over-promised anything to you and under-delivered? I testify to you that I have found His grace to be everything that I was hoping, everything that He promised. There's no need for anyone today to leave without knowing their sins are forgiven. You can believe on Christ today and be forgiven. In this very congregation, there is no doubt someone who might call themselves Christian only because that is what we do. I'm not Buddhist. I'm not Hindu. I'm not Muslim. I'm not Jewish by religion. I'm therefore by default. No, there is no default Christianity. There are only those who have been saved because they have had their sins forgiven, and you are among the candidates today for forgiveness of sins. You see, you get a clean conscience when your sins are forgiven. You don't have to carry the load of resentment or shame if you will be forgiven. It's available to you today. If you die without it, you die without everything. But if you leave today with Jesus, come what may, flood, hurricane, wildfire, or anything, you have everything. So that is the context of this passage. And you might notice some progression. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit does not allow me to preach the same message twice on Sunday morning. The flow of this passage is really striking because Jesus is being charged basically with saying four things. First, the Christ, verse 67. If you are the Christ, tell us. The Christ is a New Testament equivalent to the Old Testament word, what am I about to say? Messiah, that's right. That is something you should pick up your first trip in church. There's nothing deep about that. If you are not getting smarter at whipping things off and you've been in church for 10 years, just go to the mirror and thank the person you see for being an ignoramus about the Bible. There are some things we ought to know right off. And one of them is that Jesus Christ is not a full name. Christ isn't his last name, like his mom was Mary Christ or something. That's not what we're saying. We're saying that it's Jesus the Messiah. And therefore, there were understandings and implications that came with him being called the Messiah. And that is that he would soon come and crush Crush the oppressors. And we have it in our songs. Think about O Holy Night, that second verse. He comes to crush the oppressor. In sorrow he's our friend. Christ is the Lord. I'm so ready for Christmas. I love those songs, it's a shame that we've called them Christmas songs, because we can't sing about once. And okay, I see I'm too loud, is that what it is? Am I too loud for Brooklyn? Well, I'll bring her back just as soon as she's not upset with me anymore, if that will happen. It is a little early for me to offend her, but anyway, but who knows? So anyway, he's asked if he's being called to Christ in verse 67. And look at Jesus' response in verse 68. He's at the end of verse 67. Jesus said to them, if I tell you, you will by no means believe me. And if I also ask you, you will by no means answer me or let me go. So Jesus doesn't say, no, I'm not the Christ. No, Jesus doesn't say that. Jesus says, if I tell you I am, you won't believe me. In other words, yeah, you got it right, but even if I said I was, so Jesus here in a way says, I am the Christ. And then you'll notice it goes further. Jesus continues to answer, and if I also ask you, you will by no means answer me or let me go. Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the right hand of the power of God. All right, so get this please. First he says that he's the Christ, and he says so by his response. Then he says that he's the son of man. Now get this, if you would, when he says he's the son of man, we could preach an entire sermon on what it means for Jesus to be the Christ. But I already did that a year ago in September. Then we could preach an entire sermon on what it means for him to be the son of man, but I did that two years ago, this coming November. But what you need to do is come away, and I can get you those notes or the recording, but what you need is to come away with the understanding that they understood Jesus to mean much more than, I'm a human being. I am struck with people that spend four out of five Sundays away from their church chasing quartets and don't know doctrine from the Bible. I am absolutely dumbfounded. I don't get it. Because when you hear people write songs that son of man means human being, I could just about choke a horse when I hear that. It does not mean that. It means much more. And how do I know that it means much more than that? Because they come back with a reply. Look at their reply. Verse number 70. Then they all said, are you then the son of God? The word then makes no sense at all if they're not connecting the name son of God with son of man. Do you get this? All right, that means that even though we're not preaching a full sermon on what son of man means, it means much more than he's got a human daddy. It means much more than that. It means much more than he's got a human mama. Much more than that. Son of man, if you want a backdrop, you can look at Daniel 7, but we've already talked about that. So they connect his claim of being the son of man with his claim of being the son of God. The only difference is he doesn't say, I'm the son of God just yet. They infer that from him saying, I'm the son of man. So again, you're not going to come away this morning saying, now I get it. Now I get it. Son of man. Now I understand. No. But you will come away from this passage hopefully knowing it means much more than Mary was a human being. Much more. Because they come back with saying, okay, so you're saying you're the Son of God then. Do you see that? So you have three titles so far, Christ, Son of Man, Son of God. And he replies, you rightly say that I am. In other words, yep, you got it right. So twice he's been asked about his title. Christ, he admits that he is. Son of God, he says that he is. Then we go forward into verse number three, after they accused Jesus before Pilate, Pilate asked him saying, are you the King of the Jews? He answered him and said, it is as you say. So, three things Jesus says that he is. He says that he is the Christ, the Son of Man, rather four things, Christ, the Son of Man, the Son of God, and the King of the Jews. What you have to decide is, do you believe Jesus? Do you believe church Sandy Ridge Baptist Church? Do you believe that what Luke recorded is an accurate record of the words of Jesus? Did Jesus really say these things? You have to decide that you have to decide that this morning Somebody in this room right now May not be back That means that you could actually, we could lose someone to the age to come, the world that is yet to come. You must deal with this. Why? Why must you deal with this? You must deal with this for a couple of reasons, friend. You must deal with it because it really matters, not just in death, but in life. You see, if we don't come to grips with the idea that Jesus is who he says he is, we die unforgiven and we waste our lives serving a phony master. So this has to be settled. Decisions will be made in your life. Apparently, my glasses are inadequate because, and if you think I'm wearing a monocle this morning, this isn't an old comedy film, I'm not wearing a monocle. Great thing I have x-ray vision, huh? So, Nikki Sturm, what did you just say? and I can hear very well as low. Maybe not, maybe not. If you're gonna repeat it, church it up, okay? All right. So we have Jesus admitting things, then three, thankfully I have a spare pair in my truck. No, don't run after him, I'll be all right. So we have three, and don't try to leave. I'll see you, I've got eyes like a hawk. All right, so some of you think I can see like Mr. Magoo. I can see really well, all right? So four titles, Christ, Son of God, Son of Man, and King of the Jews, and Jesus says that he is all of them. And you have to decide whether you believe it or not. Don't waste your life following a false Christ. Don't waste your life just to please mom and dad. Well, when my mom calls later, she's gonna ask how church was, and I wanna be able to tell her it was great. It's more important than that. So you have those four things. And then why do we have this thing, this enmity, verse 12, between Herod and Pilate? Well, as we've discussed recently, this is, The council that verse 66 happens in, this is the temple, and we're gonna zoom in. Right here is where the trial, verse 66, takes place, and it is part of the temple complex. It takes place here on this corner. This is where the Sanhedrin would try Jesus. Here's a picture way back. I think Thomas took this with his Instamatic. I can't remember. But there it is right there. There is the Sanhedrin's trial with Jesus. Okay, no, that's just a model, there were no cameras in the first century. All right, so here is Galilee, here's Judea. So Herod is the governor of Galilee and Pilate is the governor of Judea. And so if you want to know why they weren't buddies before, it's because they were both failures. They stunk at being governors. Herod was there because he was awful at it. He was the appointee of Caesar and he was related to Caesar's household. What do you do with someone that's related to you and you don't want to work with them but you really have to be concerned that sister-in-law doesn't come home or brother-in-law doesn't come back and stay with you in the palace in Rome? Hire them and put them as far out in the business as you can. And Pilate was in the same situation. Pilate married Caesar, someone in Caesar's household. They're both related by marriage then to Caesar. And they have a real issue with each other. Why do they have an issue with each other? We don't know. We're not told why they have enmity one with the other. But one thing is true. The story ends and they're buddies. BFFs, if you will. They love each other. They're following each other on Instagram by the end of today's story. They are checking each other out in their little family outings at the beach on the Mediterranean. They are loving life together, and the story doesn't begin that way. You should ask yourself, why was it that they were just fine uniting around Jesus? We'll come back to that. Now, what else do we find in this passage that should cause you to go, hmm? How about the diminishing responses from Jesus? You see, if you have a red letter edition, look at page, look at chapter 22, verses 67, 68, and 69. Take a look at that. Take a look at the red letters. They are many. Now take a look at 70 in his answer to their question. You see diminishing red print. Then you see Jesus answer to Caesar, to Pilate rather, in 23.3, and you have even shorter answer. Then when Herod asks him in verse number eight, verse number nine, Jesus answers him nothing. Paragraph, sentence, line, nothing. Why is Jesus answering less and less? The big answer, as you know, is because he is about to suffer for our sins. And behind the book of Luke lies, among other things, the prophet Isaiah. The prophet Isaiah, according to chapter 53 in verse number six, all we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone toward his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He was led as a lamb before the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. Our Lord Jesus Christ is fulfilling prophecy right in front of Pilate and Herod with his reduced answers, who are you? And Jesus answers less and less. Does Jesus have a death wish? No, Jesus has a perfect, submissive heart to his heavenly Father who has deemed him as the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world. Blessed be his name. So the reason Jesus answers less and less is because if he defends himself, he will most certainly get off this trial. Have you noticed the trial? Have you noticed the charges? I mentioned in the first service O.J. Simpson. Some of you remember the great man O.J. Simpson. Don't roll your eyes at me, I know what you're thinking. Don't look at me in that tone of voice. You know he was found not guilty in a criminal law of murder, you know. but he was found not guilty in a criminal law, but he was found guilty in civic court. He had to pay civil losses, civil charges for something he was found not guilty of in a criminal court. Why? Two different sets of charges, two different kinds of court. That's why Judge Judy never tries a murder trial. Okay? That's just because she is in civil court, she's not in capital or criminal court. And it's different by state. But here, same situation. There's only one party that can kill people legally in Jerusalem at this time. Who is it? The Romans, the Jews had no authority to kill anybody. Now they might have lynched someone here and there with stoning, but they did not have the authority to put anyone to death, especially during a festival where everyone would see them do it. So they had to get Pilate to do it. Now when we get into John, there's more understanding of why Pilate has to kill Jesus. But in Luke, you just need to know this. There's a reason why after finding Jesus guilty, the last verse of chapter 22, they then take him to Pilate. Why didn't they just kill him? He's guilty of blasphemy in their books. He's guilty of all kinds of things but primarily blasphemy. Well the problem is blasphemy is not something that Rome will crucify a person for. So, what do you do? He claims to be the son of God, whoop-dee-doo. Rome will just say that he's crazy. He claims to be the son of man, who cares? Rome doesn't even know what that means. He claims to be the Messiah, so what? The Jews have been expecting a Messiah for decades, we're not gonna stir up any trouble killing a hero because he claims to be something many have before him. Now, he claims to be a king, that has us concerned. Because you can't have a rival king, can you? So Pilate answers in verse number three, are you the king of the Jews? Because remember, Herod's the king of the Jews. Pilate's a governor over the Jews. There's all kinds of political problems here. And so we need an answer. Jesus, are you a king? Jesus says, I am. So at this point, Pilate should be bothered. But Pilate is not bothered. Pilate is not threatened. There's nothing in Pilate that says, good gracious, he's a king. No. Pilate looks at a man that is bruised up and swollen and beaten from the trials overnight, tired and weary, no followers, no one to coronate him, no one to fill his cabinet. This man, claiming to be a king, there's a lot of things we don't know about him, but he's no king. Well, then why the trumped-up charges? Which are strange. I mean, you'll see in verse number 1, in chapter 23, verse 1, they accuse him of perverting the nation. Strange. I don't hear Jesus preaching against Rome at all. Then they say he forbids to pay taxes. Strange. Chapter 20, he actually goes out of his way and says, give to Caesar what belongs to him. And then they say he's also saying that he himself is a king. That's the only thing they could get him on. But they're not being entirely honest because they heard Jesus in chapter 17 say, my kingdom is invisible. It's not of this world and it will come without observation. Lots of charges, lots of politics. We'll talk more about that this evening, how strange, seemingly common politics turns out to accomplish the will of God. You see, Herod had put up hundreds of people to death. Pilate had served hundreds of people their deaths. Yet, both of them come out the other side of the trial saying, I found no issues with Jesus. Did you see it? Why did they find no issues with Jesus? Just a common criminal looking for a podium. He's not even worth our time. We'll come back to that. I have two life lessons for you before we wrap this thing up. Number one, Jesus as a life lesson teaches us that when someone is continually asking you questions and berating you, and they're not seeking for truth, they're seeking for fault, you don't have to keep entertaining their questions. Some of you have people in your life, they're toxic. They don't edify you. They don't help you. They don't claim to love your Jesus. They suck up hours of your time, filling you with negativity. And then when they have questions because they doubt your integrity, they're not asking to seek truth, they're asking to find fault. I want to ask you, should you put up with more than Jesus did? Life lesson number two. According to chapter 23 and verse number eight, when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad for he had desired a long time to see him because he had heard many things about him and he hoped to see a miracle done by him. I've been waiting on the circus. Herod is looking for a thrill. Herod is looking for someone who will do a trick. Jesus, do a trick. I love tricks. Entertain me. Herod loves a good trick. Friends, brothers and sisters, sometimes you have to decide that Jesus is not supposed to be your homeboy. He's supposed to be your Lord. You know, Herod, I guess he was what you might call a groupie. Maybe, as we like to say, a diesel sniffer. He was at every concert Jesus had. He loved the t-shirts. He had hashtag JesusIsMyHomeboy on his Twitter. He loved Jesus. He loved being entertained by Jesus. He loved hearing messages preached by Jesus. Oh, how he loved Jesus. And then when Jesus quit delivering on what he thought Jesus should deliver on, it didn't take long for Herod to actually stop loving Christ. Do you see what happens here? Just as soon as Jesus does no miracle, just as soon as Jesus answers no questions, in verse number 10, he starts, verse number 11, he starts treating Jesus with contempt. Hey friends, how many saved people have you known? I'm saying they said they were saved. They loved Christ, they came to church most every time they could. Now that Jesus doesn't provide near a thrill, near as much of a thrill as the speedboat, the bass boat, the tree stand, they're not all that much entertained with Jesus. Are you with me? Amen or oh me, it's one of the two. The reality is, if Jesus were a favorite kind of shoes, Herod would say, Jesus are my Berks. He's a fan boy. If Jesus were a health food store, Herod would say, I got my Trader Joe's. If Jesus were made kind of like an educator, they would say, yeah, Jesus, yeah, he's my charter school. If Jesus were a TV, Herod would say, I got my 64 LED. If Jesus were a car, Herod would say, I got me a hybrid. Herod loved being a groupie. He loved all of the entertainment, all of the fun. And I'll tell you how this works for us. Are you ready? Say please. Thank you. Here's what happens. We think Jesus is pretty cool too. If we're pretty sure what ticket he'll vote, we'll vote that way. If we're pretty sure what he likes, we'll like it too. We'll read the latest books. In fact, when someone tells us you should be careful about sex trafficking, we're like totally sure that that, yes, you should never, never take part in anything that merchandises young ladies, ever, ever, ever. But then when you say, hey, be careful that Netflix show that's coming out called Cuties, then people start sucking air and saying, you shouldn't be meddling. What I put on in my house is what my business, and that's that. Y'all with me? As long as Jesus doesn't come in your house and tell you what to watch, man, you love it when he's around. Y'all with me? When we say things as a, when I try to say things, when I get out from behind the pulpit and I try to be pastoral, when I'm aware of the time and I know, I know, I know the proverb, no sermon is so great as as long people can endure it. Yeah, I get it, I get it, I'm with you. But when I tell you something out of concern, when I say that it is hypocritical to talk about how you're concerned about sexifying your young ladies and then all of a sudden I can't, the preacher can't say nothing, no one can say anything, no books can say anything, no one on Christian radio can say anything to you about how it's really disenfranchising, really disheartening for someone who loves you and is jealous for your sanctification to just peruse every now and then past your social media and see that basically we have what amounts to just a little bit more than a pair of undies on the beach. Friends, friends, come here a minute. Jesus is always our hero until he starts telling us how to behave. That's been a long time since I've said something I thought might upset you. And I guess I'll find out next week whether or not Jesus was your homeboy. But that's not all. Verse 12 is really scary, and then we're gonna close. Verse 12 is really scary. Say, I wish you wouldn't talk about things like that. You know, you're going way too far. Yeah, until you do the counseling around here, we'll let me do the preaching, okay? When you hear about homes being split up and children rebelling, When you hear about young ladies and young men having their secret Instagram accounts and you gotta deal with the fallout, when you gotta love on families that split up and now half of them come to church, when you love and slave over the ministry that God has given you because you take it that seriously, then we'll talk about how passionate I should get about this. But so long as I'm giving my life to feed this flock, every now and then I'm gonna get real with you. And so in verse number 12, we have what Jesus, we have Herod and Pilate surrounded, and they're uniting. And I just wanna say, I think you oughta ask this question, then we're gonna sing a song and be done. Think about your friends for a minute. Why do they like you? You see, in verse number 12, Pilate and Herod were enemies with each other, and now they're friends. Ask yourself, why do your friends like you? Ask yourself, why do you like the people that you hang out with? Do we know why? So, hmm. Mom and dad. If the only thing that you can unite around is getting a new car for your marriage to be better, you've got problems. You're just hair it and pile it. If the only thing you can get excited about, husband and a wife, is getting a new home, we need to have coffee. We need to get on my calendar so that we can talk. If the romance is gone, but you can find friendship around being angry about your kid's teacher, there needs to be more to your marriage. If the only thing you have in common with another man on your security team, let's just pick, there's 37 men that work on security, so don't take it personal. If the only thing you have in common with them is that you would both rather be outside than inside, we have a problem. That's a ministry. If the only thing you have in common with another teenager in your youth group is that you both have secret lives your parents don't know about, you're Herod and Pilate. If at the end of a discussion the only thing you have in common is that you love to embarrass Jesus through your lifestyle, you have an issue and it's not the pastor. If the only thing you have in common with another person is that you both like acting like... Okay, I don't need to say that. If the only thing you have in common with another person in the church is that you both think it's cold in the sanctuary, we need to talk about your spirituality a little bit more. If your relationship with someone is not edifying, it's not particularly Christian. I'd love to walk up on two or three of us before the service and hear people talking about the Lord. I'd love to find it, I'd find it encouraging if two or three Sandy Ragers became friends on Facebook because whether the politicians do what they want or not, they agree that God's will is done through both good and crooked politicians. I think it'd be splendid if instead of affinity groups that are just a church-flavored narcissism, we actually would look to the left and right on our pew, find someone older than us or younger than us, and we become their brother or sister in Christ. I think it would be splendid if two of us could become friends in small group instead of bursting out right away on Sunday morning. It would be great if three or four of us would become friends like Herod and Pilate around Jesus, just we're gonna do it positively. We're gonna find a way to unite around Jesus because we have teens in the same youth group. We're not gonna be these folks that say, see you when you get a youth pastor, I hope the search goes good. No, no, we unite around our need with Christ. It would be glorious if two or three mamas could gather around serving with one another in this thing that we have called a nursery. It would be crazy good if two or three could become friends because you like to sing about the same Christ and you purposefully go to choir together. It would be great if between Sundays we could continue to relish the presence of the Holy Spirit in our relationships and find each other in each other's homes between Sundays. You see, 2312 is scary because it tells us that some of our relationships are terribly shallow. If you get more worked up and you feel good getting worked up talking to someone, it is time to unfriend them. If you are a follower and a receiver and you walk away being more angry about your church, more critical about your small group, more vehemently discolored about your president or about your congressman or about your governor, say amen, governor or president, governor or Democrat or Republican. If you walk away soured constantly, you need new friends. May God help us. May we do the math. May God help us to be people that are changed through the word of God. And may we reunite with our brothers and sisters around Jesus Christ, our Lord. Will you stand with me? As we get ready for our closing song, may the Lord do his perfect work in our hearts.