Living on the Edge

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:11):
He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for
our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed. On this Good
Friday edition of Living on the Edge, we'll unpack the
most heartbreaking yet pivotal moment in human history that the
prophet Isaiah predicted centuries before. I'm Dave Drewy, and we're

(00:33):
nearing the end of our study in the Gospel of Mark,
as the journey we've been on together has brought us
to the foothills of Calvary. Today, our Bible teacher Chip
Ingram will be in chapters fourteen and fifteen of Mark,
describing Christ's unfair trial and brutal cruiser fixion. There's a
lot to get to, so grab your bible and notes
as we settle in for Chip's message, Divine Love on display.

Speaker 2 (00:58):
Welcome to day fifteen, keen of our gospel study of
the Book of Mark. And we actually started in verse
one of chapter one, and we've gone all the way through,
and we're actually going to cover end of chapter fourteen
and most of chapter fifteen, and today's kind of a paradox.
And I wrote down just for sort of context to
ponder as you think about how you celebrate this good Friday.

(01:23):
This Friday, the innocent are found guilty. The lawkeepers, those
religious leaders that were so upset about Jesus breaking their traditions,
well they break the law. The crowd who cheered, hey,
you know, now they're jeering, crucify him. The healer is wounded.

(01:45):
The powerful people who could make a difference stand silent.
The week shout, The giver of life is in a tomb,
the loyal flee, the sinless becomes sin on our behalf,
and the instrument of death, the cross, becomes the springboard

(02:06):
of life. It really is a paradox, isn't it. We
pick it up where there's a trial beginning in verse
fifty three of chapter fourteen. There's an illegal trial that
literally is a charade. So let me give you sort
of what's really going on, and then we'll read the text,

(02:28):
so hopefully the lights will come on and you get, oh,
this is what's going on. So first of all, there's
what I would call like a preliminary hearing, and we're
gonna learn it's Annas's house and he's a former high priest,
and the thing got super political. So he's a former
high priest. He's a power broker. So they're taking Jesus
to him because whether he's the actual high priest. Think

(02:50):
of some countries where maybe dictators have been ousted and
they're not the actual dictator, but what they do is
they point a prime minister or a leader. This is Annus,
he's a real power broker. And then there's Caiaphas and
son in law. You know, it's about probably about one

(03:11):
am by the time all these things are happening. Picture
in your mind, Jesus has been through this time with
the disciples emotionally, you know, you can still smell some
of the perfume, but they're sweat that has come out.
He's been emotionally exhausted. He's now watched people run for
their lives that are HER's loyal friends. And hub would

(03:33):
remind all of us just knowing something is going to
happen is not the same as it happens. Right. You
might know they're going to flee, but it's a little
different emotional experience. When you're being taken away and they
flee and the reality of that happens, then it's post
dawned a little bit later, they're going to reconvene the

(03:54):
Sanhedron about seventy one members, and after this mock trial
false evidence, these seventy one members will confirm a sentence.
In fact, listen verse fifty three. They took Jesus to
the High Priest, and all the chief priest, elders, and
teachers of the law came together. Peter followed him at

(04:15):
a distance, riding into the courtyard of the High Priest.
There he sat with the guards and warmed himself at
the fire. The Chief Priest and the whole Sanhedrin that's
that council, were looking for evidence against Jesus so they
could put him to death, but they didn't find any.
It was innocent. Many testified falsely against him, but their

(04:35):
statements didn't agree. Then some stood up and gave this
false testimony against him. We heard him say I will
destroy this man made temple, and in three days we'll
build another not made by man. Yet even then their
testimony did not agree. Then the High Priest stood up
before them and asked, Jesus, are you not going to answer?

(04:58):
What is this testimony these men are bringing against you?
But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer. Again, the
High Priest asked him, are you the Christ, the son
of the Blessed One? Answer? I am, and you will
see the son of Man sitting at the right hand
of the Mighty One, coming on the clouds of heaven.

(05:20):
The High Priest tore his clothes. Why do we need
any more evidence, he asked, you have heard the blasphemy?
What do you think? They all condemned him as worthy
of death. Then some began to think of this spit
at him, and they blindfolded him, and they struck him
with their fists, and they said prophesy, and the guards

(05:41):
took him and they beat him. How many of their
own laws? How much of everything they've taught other people?
What is it about the fear inside of people losing control?
This demand, this fear as he brought the truth to
their life. This is the response. This trial was a

(06:06):
complete manufactured charade. Now, if that wasn't challenging enough, I
want you to picture what Jesus is experiencing. These are
priests spitting at him. This is vile behavior. They're mocking him.
And then he's going to have an experience with I

(06:26):
think his closest disciple, I mean even later on, when
he's resurrected, he tells the women go tell the disciples
and Peter. He knows Peter is really struggling after he'll
betray And here we find Jesus actually witnesses Peter betraying.
While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the

(06:48):
servant girls that the high priest came by. When she
saw Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him. You
also were with the Nazarene Jesus, she said, but he
denied it. Number one. I don't know or understand what
you're talking about, he said, and he went out into
the entryway. When the servant girl saw him there, she

(07:10):
said again to those standing around, this fellow is one
of them, and again he denied it. To now number two.
After a little while, those standing near said to Peter,
surely you are one of them. For your galilean He
began to call down curses, and he swore to them,
I don't know this man you're talking about. Immediately the

(07:35):
rooster crowed the second time, and then Peter remembered the
word Jesus had spoken to him before. The rooster crows twice.
You will just own me three times, and he broke
down and he wept. The spirit is willing, but the

(07:55):
flesh is weak. You have at work, had a conver
station with the coworker and one of those controversial topics
that's going on right now about sexual lifestyles or political
issues or all kinds of things that are happening. And
someone brings something up, and it's very clear you're one
of those Christians, right, aren't you? And well, or you're silent,

(08:20):
you know the door opens, there's a window, you're prompted
by the spirit. It's clear you're supposed to step up.
Here's the moment, and you just I've been on airplanes
with people and you all think, just because I'm a
pastor that you know I have some super p on
my chest that when anyone asked me about Jesus, I'm
just I'm bold as a lion. I always come through,

(08:43):
praise God. I've had a number of kind of neat experiences,
but I will tell you I've had times where I've
sat next to someone and they're very powerful or very rich,
or very powerful and rich and very intelligent, and they
start talking in a certain way, and I feel like
God wants me to say something and out, I mean,
and those are just words. It wasn't like they're going

(09:03):
to throw me off the plane. Wasn't like someone was
going to hurt me. I in that moment, in that window,
I betrayed Christ as we all do. Notice now what happens.
They can't legally kill him, and so what they have
to do is they've got to come up with an
arrangement with a corrupt Roman official and they've got to

(09:25):
play their cards just right to get this corrupt Roman
official to kill Jesus. What they know is that criminal
trials pilot. This was his pattern. Criminal trials that could
end in terms of capital offense were done at dawn,
basically because it's mostly criminals. It was mostly slaves. At

(09:47):
one point in time, If you want to know a
little history, one of the emperors actually had thirty thousand
slaves crucified. And another time, the Appian Way is kind
of a main road that went into Rome. It was
lined with crosses and just hundreds of people crucified and
they would leave them on the crosses to hang and

(10:08):
even let the body decay. As a warning to others,
you need to remember that Rome was a really, really
cruel place and so this trial is going to be
a mockery. But it's one trial, but it has about
three parts. The charges will come before Pilot and they're
going to range from he's a subversive to the nation.
They're going to tell him, you know, hey doesn't pay

(10:30):
taxes to Caesar, which is a lie. He's the king
of the Jews, so you know this is treason. He's
saying that he's a king, and what we know is
we all worship Caesar. And then the charges come before Pilot.
Then Pilot sort of in a political move, sends him
to Herod. He knows Herod always wanted to meet Jesus,
and the other gospel writers tell us a little bit

(10:50):
more about that. Then he comes back to Pilot, and
then Pilot gets a warning. He gets a warning from
his wife, I had a dream about this man. Don't
go there, Pilot. I'm just telling you be careful with this.
And all those things are happening in the background. And so,
as a hypocrite, what he knows the Jews have an agenda.
He knows they're jealous. He wants to appease them. One

(11:14):
of the scripture writers tell us that he inherited were
at odds until this event. So he's saving face, saving
political career, and he doesn't really care what happens. But
he makes a show. But part of the show that
is important legally. He washes his hands and says, I
find no evidence, which really matters. He still flogs him,

(11:38):
He still gives in, but he tries to flip in
and says, what do you want me to do with him?
In other words, the culpability isn't mine. The culpability is
going to be yours. And of course the crowds, instigated
by the religious leaders, crucify him, crucify him, crucify him well.
Fifteen verse one, Very early in the morning, the chief Priests,

(12:00):
with the elders, the teachers of the law, and the
whole Sanhedrin reach a decision. Hey, it's unanimous. They bound Jesus,
led him away and handed him over to Pilot. Pilot
starts to interrogate. Are you the king of the Jews?
Asked Pilot. Yes, it's as you say, Jesus replied. The
Chief Priest accused him of many things, So again Pilot

(12:20):
asked him, aren't you going to answer? See how many
things they're accusing you of? But Jesus still made no reply,
and Pilot was amazed. Now it was the custom at
the feast to release a prisoner whom the people requested.
A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists
who had committed murder in the uprising. The crowd came

(12:43):
up and asked Pilot to do for them what he
usually did. So he says, do you want me to
release to you the King of the Jews? Ask Pilot,
knowing it was out of envy the chief priest had
handed Jesus over to him. But the chief priest stirred
up the crowd to have Pilot release Barabbas instead. What
shall I do then, with the one you call the

(13:04):
King of the Jews? Pilot asks, crucify him? They shouted,
why what crime is he committed? Asked Pilot, But they
shouted all the louder, crucify him. Get this underline this.
Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilot released Barabbas to them.
He had Jesus logged and handed him over to be crucified. Boy,

(13:30):
this is you know the applications. I like to think
that I'm a disciple when I read the text, but
unfortunately sometimes I read it and realize there's a lot
of pilot in me. You know, I want to please everybody.
Sometimes we want to please people and we violate the truth.
Sometimes we are unwilling to step up because we want

(13:51):
to please people. And Pilot says, wanting to satisfy the crowd,
he made a show, he washed his hands, and so
he turns him out of the soldiers and notice to
be crucified, and he has him flogged. And you know,
if you've seen the Passion of the Christ, they accurately
depict what flogging was like. And it would be a

(14:11):
bar about this long, and then they would have various
length leather and tied into it would be balls of
steel or pieces of bone, and it would cause contusions
and it would wrap around the body and then they
would pull it out. It would rip the flesh. People
would be almost near death by the time they got crucified. Well,
what happens next is these soldiers are going to just

(14:35):
do to Jesus what they did to criminals. And they
know King of the Jews, Well, why don't we have
some fun with this. The soldiers led Jesus away in
the palace that is the praetorium, and called together the
whole company of soldiers. A company was about three to
six hundred soldiers, and others. Hey, hey, there's going to
be a show. You guys got to see this. They
put a purple robe on him, and they wove a

(14:57):
crown of thorns and set it upon him, and they
begin to call out to him, Hail, King of the Jews.
Again and again. They struck him on the head with
the staff, and they spit on him, falling on their knees.
They worshiped him, and when they had mocked him, they
took off the robe and put on his own clothes,

(15:18):
and they led him out to be crucified. Verse twenty one.
A certain man from Syene, the father of Alexander and Rufus,
was passing by on his way from the country, and
they forced him to carry the cross. Normally, when the
cross is carried, the vertical beam is already there, but
the horizontal beam, sometimes between six and nine feet long,

(15:41):
weighed probably thirty pounds, sometimes a little bit more. And
the criminal would carry that cross, and he would be
escorted by four soldiers in sort of a diamond formation.
They're coming through the crowds and unfortunately, like hangings in
the Old West, when people were being crucified, crowds came.
They brought Jesus to the place of Galgatta, which means

(16:03):
the place of the skull. Then they offered him wine
mixed with mrr but he did not take it, and
they crucified him, dividing up his clothes that cast lots
to see what each would get. It was the third
hour when they crucified him, that's about nine am. The
written notice of the charge against him read the King
of the Jews. They crucified two robbers with him, one

(16:26):
on his right and one on his left. Those who
hurled insults at him, shaking their heads, saying, so you're
going to destroy the temple and build it in three days,
come down from the cross and save yourself. In the
same way, the chief priest and the teachers of the
law mocked him among themselves. He saved others. They said,

(16:49):
he can't save himself. Let this Christ, this King of Israel,
come down now from the cross, that we may see
and believe. Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
We learned from other gospel writers that both of them
may have started with insults. But one of them had
a moment. He had a moment he realized I deserve this,

(17:12):
but not this man. And we see the incredible love
and compassion of God, which is what the Cross is
all about. Remember me, dependence, I don't deserve mercy. Just
remember me. He just brings his need before Jesus today. Today,

(17:34):
you'll be with me in Paradise. I meet people all
the time that because of what I've done, Jesus could
never forgive me. Jesus work on the Cross, and his
love is for everyone, whosoever would even come and say, oh,
I don't deserve it, Please forgive me, have mercy on me.

(17:56):
The scripture says, God delights to extend mercy. At the
sixth hour, the darkness came over the whole earth. It's
noon until about the ninth hour three hour block. At
the ninth hour, Jesus cried out in a loud voice,
ELOI Lama sabachthani, which means, my God, My God, why

(18:17):
have you forsaken me. When some of those standing near
heard this, they said, listen, he's calling Elijah. One man
ran and filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it
on a stick, and offered it up to Jesus to drink.
Leave him alone. Now, let's see if Elijah comes to
take him down, he said, with a loud cry. Jesus
breathed his last. The curtain of the temple was torn

(18:38):
in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion
who stood there in front of Jesus heard his cry
and saw how he died, he said, surely this man
was the son of God. And some women were watching
from a distance, and among them were Mary Magdalen, the
one that he cast out seven demons, Marry, the mother

(19:00):
of James the younger, and of Joseph, and of Salomly
and Galilee. These women had followed him and cared for
his needs. And many other women who came up with
him to Jerusalem were also there. The disciples have fled
these supporting women from a distance. They have their hearts broken,
and Jesus chooses to die. He offers himself as a

(19:26):
sin offering. And the question we have to ask, and
we know the answer in terms of our story in
our theology, But why why a trial that's a joke,
Why a friend who's fickle, Why a governor who's a coward?
Why soldiers that were mindless beasts, and why across that

(19:49):
should be reserved only for criminals. And the answer is
for even the son of Man came not to be
administered unto, but to minister and give his life a
ransom for many. The writer of the Hebrews actually puts
it a bit more clearly, if you can say it
more clearly, as he described some of the inner workings

(20:12):
of Jesus at this moment. In Hebrews Chapter twelve, verse two,
it says, let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author,
literally the trailblazer and perfector of our faith, who, for
the joy set before him, endured the cross, joy scorning
its shame, and sat down at the right hand of

(20:34):
the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition
from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary
and lose heart. Jesus died in our place and paid
for our sin because he loves us. It was the
joy set before him of what could happen when he

(20:55):
died on the cross, and he atoned or covered for
our sin. For every single person who would turn repent
from our sin, recognize our need, and in the empty
hands of faith, receive the free gift of God his
work in our place to cover and forgive us as
many as received him Jesus. To them he gives the

(21:17):
right to become children of God, even to those who
believe on his name. This good Friday, could you appreciate
like never before how much Jesus loves you. For those
of you that have never received Jesus, I just encourage
you receive his forgiveness right now in your own words.

(21:37):
And for those of us that have Paul's words. Are
we no longer live for ourselves but for Him who
died and rose again on our behalf. This Friday, this
very good Friday for us, and very hard and bad
Friday for Jesus, is a day to remember that you

(22:00):
are loved more than you can possibly imagine. And God's
plan and heart and desire for you is that you
would turn and walk with Him and surrender and follow
his model the way he did with the Father, and
you will receive the life. It's really life.

Speaker 1 (22:22):
You're listening to, living on the edge with the chippingram.
I'm Dave Druy, and if you just prayed to receive Christ.
As the teaching ended, we'd like to put a free
resource in your hands. This tool will help you understand
what it means to trust in Jesus and what to
do next. Request this free resource by calling Triple eight
three three three six zero zero three or visiting Living

(22:44):
on theeedge dot org then clicking the new believer's button
that's Living on the Edge dot org. Or call Triple
eight three three three six zero zero three. Let us
help you get started in your faith journey. Chips back
with me in studio to share a powerful truth to
wrap up this Good Friday message.

Speaker 2 (23:05):
Thanks so much, Dave. You know, as we close today's program,
there's a number of you that feel a lot like Peter.
You've failed, or you've betrayed Christ, or maybe you betrayed
a mate, or you've done some things you feel like
God could never forgive you. Today's teaching from our Lord
wants to remind you that failures never final. During this

(23:30):
Easter season, come back home. He loves you. Peter betrayed
him and he became the leader of the church. Don't
let the enemy bombarde you with the lies that you're
too far gone, that what you've done is unforgivable. The
fact of the matter is you are deeply unconditionally loved,

(23:50):
and as you run back to the Father, his arms
are wide open. Can I encourage you today to text
or call the greatest Christian you know and just say
I need to get back to the Lord. Will you
help me? I think you'd be glad you did.

Speaker 1 (24:06):
Great wordship, and let me give some final encouragement to
those feeling unworthy right now. Read the story of the
prodigal son in Luke chapter fifteen. You might feel like
that rebellious son who wandered away. But God is that
good Father, who, like Chip said, is waiting with open
arms to welcome you back home. Read that parable and

(24:27):
embrace your heavenly Father's divine love for you. As we
wrap up, I can't encourage you strongly enough to join
us for our next broadcast. The story is not over
today maybe Friday, but Sunday is coming, so be sure
to listen to the exciting conclusion of this new series,
The Roade Dick Calvary. Until then, I'm Dave Druy. Have

(24:47):
a wonderful Easter weekend.