Luke (Session 23) Chapter 23

okay we're going to hit the heavy stuff today the final week and uh as you know we have uh last time we were in last seder this time we are in luke 23 but that also encompasses matthew 27 mark 15 and john 19 the crucifixion of christ and no matter how many times we study it the more we probe scripture we just continually uncover other insights that impinge on this it's a it shouldn't surprise us because if if it is god's word it is inexhaustible you can never probe it all as you study elliptical offerings each gospel the crucifixion is linked with a different offering as found in leviticus the first five chapters matthew presents the the crucifixion as a trespass offering the trespass offering says forth the death of christ because the sins actually committed against god and men that's what it's paying for okay mark gives us christ as the sin offering that's a little different than a trespass offering the sin offering speaks of christ dying for what we are not only for what we have done a little different john takes up christ as the burnt offering these are each one is a different category of expression in leviticus the burnt offering speaks of christ dying to glorify god wow yeah as abraham told isaac god will provide himself a lamb wow and then of course luke brings him before us as the great peace offering the christ making peace between god and man by shedding his blood on the cross so these are all aspects of the crucifixion but they're really from four different vantage points that are modeled interestingly enough back in the book of leviticus and the peace offering speaks of the peace made by shed blood of the lamb of god of course luke 23 the climax of the contract between the father and the son they destruct this deal before the foundation of the world when did god first start thinking of you before the foundation of the world you were on his heart you're in his mind my name who knew you were and this is all for your benefit it's all for your benefit he was born in a manger so that he might go to the cross on our behalf wow a son a child is born that was in bethlehem a son is given that's a golgotha in luke 22 he followed jesus and his disciples from the upper room to the garden of gethsemane through his arrest and through three jewish trials that's where we were last time in luke 23 we're going to follow the roman connection to pilate he's going to try to get off the hook seven times seven actual gestures as an administrator anxious to get this off his his list until he finally had to yield there were six encounters leading to the crucifixion so we're in chapter 23 verse 1 of luke and the whole multitude of them arose and led him to pilate that must have taken some arrangement because that was arranged overnight because it was announced last night judas runs around they apparently made their arrangements because you didn't just show up to get to the personal representative of the rule of the world he served as governor to judea from 80 26 to 80 36 after which he apparently was recalled to rome and then passed out of official history you don't know what really happened to him there's a lot of legends two or three different ones it's interesting that the coptics in egypt believe that he came to faith that he became a believer i wouldn't be a bit surprised for a lot of different reasons but we don't know that we'll see but it wouldn't shock me if we'd run into in heaven god is like that so he was hated by the orthodox jews of course he once put up pagan banners in the jewish temple and back down from that finally he sent armed spies into the temple to silence the jewish protesters in chapter 13 they posed as there's a whole thing going on there but anyway verse two 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 see how they're twisting these things are obviously saying things that are technically true perhaps but they do it in such a way as be very misleading there are three charges here that he perverted the nation that he opposed paying the tax to caesar they're accusing him falsely because he said just the opposite and he claimed to be king see this blasphemy charge is worded so as to sound as if jesus was an insurrectionist which he is obviously not the roman mentality you understand how the romans said their report card was based on keeping the peace pox roma if you will pilot the roman forces in judea are there to assure what they call peace in other words the absence of uprisings and so forth the religious jews are therefore putting the situation in front of pilate in terms of the kind of concerns that rome would have they're not stupid they're packaging this whole deal in a way that they expect to get the support of the romans well pilate asked him saying art thou asked he turns to jesus art thou the king of the jews he answered him said thou sayest it then said pilate to the chief priests and to the people i find no fault in this man this is obviously a very abbreviated account but then it nets it out he says are you a king and jesus you said it but not you know of this world pilate said to the chief priests to the people i find no fault in this man that's a gutsy posture for him to take he's not ducking a thing he sees this guy as innocent he's going to say that a number of times jesus was pronounced innocent three times by the personal representative of the ruler of the known world as a matter of record important record we didn't grab here pilate would make seven different moves administrative moves to somehow find a loophole to get this thing off his plate and those are all recorded in john 18 and 19 in detail three other witnesses by the way proclaimed him not guilty king herod does the same thing one of the malefactors on the cross said the same thing and the roman centurion certifies the same thing that's all going to unravel here in this in this chapter and they were the more fierce that is the accusers were more fierce saying he stirth up the people teaching throughout all jewry beginning from galilee to this place when pilate heard of galilee he asked whether the man were a galilean pilot's groping for some way to get put this on somebody else's desk as soon as he knew that he belonged to herod's jurisdiction he sent him to herod who himself was also at jerusalem at that time it's the passover so anybody pilate himself isn't normally in jerusalem he's in caesarea but he's there because of the celebration and herod himself is down from the gate they're all there of course because of the high day and when herod saw jesus he was exceeding glad for he was desired to see him of a long season because he had heard many things of him and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by him and he questioned with him in many words but jesus answered him nothing he had no words for herod herod had silenced the voice of god by murdering john the baptist and it was not herod that was judging jesus it was jesus who was judging herod the chief priest and scribe stood vehemently and accused him and herod with his men of war set him at night and mocked him and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe and sent him again to pilate and uh see they set him at not i think they stripped him and they inherited put on a fancy got a royal robe for him so to speak and uh son we're getting back to pilate this is your nightmare not mine and the same day pilate and herod were made friends together for for before they were at enmity among themselves that's kind of interesting and pilate when he had called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people now this is not a random crowd it represents the enemies of jesus that are assembled here and so described in all four gospels said unto them ye have brought this man unto me as one that perverteth the people and behold i having examined him before you have found no fault in this man touching those things whereof ye accuse him boy that's a pretty detailed stressed uh uh it's not like it's not a casual comment you brought him here as one pervert of the people but i and he's in the toilet he knows what he's doing having examined him before you have found no fault in this man touching those things whereof ye accuse him that and so see again now pilate's pronouncing him innocent no nor yet herod for i sent you to him and lo nothing worthy of death is done unto him i will therefore chastise him and release him luke just makes a passing comment here but to explain for necessity you must release one of them at the feast we know from the other accounts that it was a custom that had been established that they would release one prisoner as a as a token gesture at the feast day and so pilate figures this is no problem i'll use that excuse to let this we'll slap around a little bit and let them out of here they cried out all at once saying away with this man and release unto us barabbas who for a certain sedition made in the city and for murder he was cast into prison barabbas is a bad apple he's a murderer he actually apparently was caught in a sedition and an uprising against rome so he's in bad shape we need to understand barabbas because we're in his shoes you see we are guilty jesus isn't barabbas was guilty we are guilty so we're in barabbas's shoes barabbas is going to be released and declared innocent and jesus will be put in his shoes that's exactly what jesus done with us we've traded places barabbas was a robber a murderer and an insurrectionist apparently from john 18. and he aimed me further he may have been a leader within the zealots who were working for the overthrow of rum this was a group that were pretty pretty aggressive therefore willing to release jesus spake again unto them but they again they cried crucify him crucify him he's trying to use that holiday thing to get out from under don't work these people have been bribed they're scraped there the mob is screaming and he said unto them the third time why what evil hath he done i have found no cause of death in him i will therefore chastise him and let it go he says that a second time and they were instant with loud voices requiring that he might be crucified and the voices of them and of the chief priests prevailed and uh you know there's they're crying they're screaming that if he doesn't crucify him he's not faithful to caesar that's a dangerous thing to say to a roman so paul gave the sentence that it should be as they required shame on you pilate in matthew's account pilate formally washed his hands affirming his innocence in other words he literally goes through a procedure to separate himself from the decision he released it unto them him that for sedition and murder was cast into prison namely barabbas whom they had desired but he delivered jesus to their will big mistake barabbas and jesus changed places the condemned was set free and the innocent incurred the punishment that summarize that summarizes jesus and summarizes us we are condemned but we're set free and are the innocent christ incurred our punishment now the crucifixion of course is amply described all through the scripture but particularly in the in matthew 27 mark 50 and john 19. crucifixion was invented by the persians a century earlier but it became it was widely adopted by by the romans it was the common execution method for people that were to be publicly shamed it's probably the cruelest form of execution imaginable people who've studied it find it hard to think of anything worse very painful death sometime taking many days and a nine up to nine days for a person to die we go into some of this in our briefing pack called the agony of love it was reserved for the worst criminals as part of the ceremony the criminal would carry his crossbar through town to the crucifixion site bearing his guilt is the concept verse 26 as they led him away they laid hold upon one simon a cyrenian coming out of the country and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after jesus there are two simons in this picture simon peter promised to go to prison and death yet he denied his under pressure samus irene had come some 800 miles from africa to celebrate the passover there are many pilgrims that had gone a long way to celebrate this high day he may have been converted by the way in the process of carrying the cross that's speculation we don't know he was the father of alexander and rufus which are mentioned elsewhere in the scripture these are two men that mark probably assumed we would know who they were as roman readers would apparently a christian named rufus was greeted by paul in romans 16. so there may be some connections here that we tend to overlook but in any case there followed him a great company of people and of women which also be bewailed and lamented him it's interesting that as far as the gospel records are concerned no woman was ever the enemy of jesus that's interesting his teachings of redemption have done much to dignify and elevate women of course the news of this birth was shared by a woman the resurrection of was it was announced first to a woman but jesus turning unto them said daughters of jerusalem not for me but we for yourselves and for your children see it is the nation that they should be concerned over and a judgment that was fully justified and jesus talked about that back in chapter 19 and behold the days are coming into which they shall say blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bear and the paps which never gave suck see the lord's intercession postponed god's judgment on the nation for 38 years giving them additional opportunities to be saved that's what acts 3 17 did peter's sermon deals with and then shall they begin to say to the mountains fall on us and do the hills cover us for if they do these things on a green tree what shall be done in the dry see israel was the green tree during the years that jesus was on the earth was there opportunity a time of fruitfulness a time of blessing and opportunity but now the nation had become like a dry tree good only for fire to be burned and there were also two other male factors led with him to be put to death the word malefactors is a prophetic fulfillment by the way because in isaiah 53 it says he would be numbered among the transgressors and indeed he was the word robbers is used in matthew the greek word there is lest this which implies a brigand one who uses violence to rob openly that's what a bringing really means and so that apparently is what these other characters were and and when they were come to the place which is called calvary where they crucified him and the male factors one on the right hand and the other on the left the place of the skull is what it's actually called in the latin it's calvaria or a skull in ukrainian in the greek and gologatha in the aramaic the one that we generally associate with it and uh if you've seen if you've been there and you see the outcropping you can begin to understand how it probably looked back then that literally did have a skull-like appearance and it was it was known that way and if you look at topography and this is very useful map because the city of david near the bottom down here is at 600 meters above sea level but the mariah it's a ridge which rises when you get to the temple area about 741 meters above sea level but that's not the peak that's a saddleback that's where that's where the thrashing floor was where the temple spoon but the ridge actually continues to a peak of 777 meters a place called golgotha and so we need to understand mariah has a ridge system and the mount zion is to the west and the tropium valley is between it and the city of david then there's the kidron valley and the mount of olives so you've really got um the hinnom valley to the south and uh the three valleys make a hebrew shin by the way but uh we'll keep moving here salem or the city of david is also called o'fall down here the thrashing floor of aruna is in the saddleback area and uh that's that's what the angel told david to buy for the where the temple is built it's at the peak that that we believe abram offered isaac there's a jewish legend that he offered where the temple is but that's a jewish legend the facts would seem to indicate slight slight difference there and so the fashion flow when you blow this up a little you'll see that the peak of that is the place called golgotha and all burnt offerings and sin offerings were to be on the north side of the camp according leviticus 1 and 6. that's where they are the north side and outside the wall that's where the ultimate offerings were made and on the north side the burn offering scored leviticus 1 the center offerings of leviticus 6 outside the camp according to leviticus 4 and without the gate in other words outside the camp is emphasized in the scripture and so jesus was crucified about nine in the morning and remained on the cross until about three in the afternoon and from noon to three pm there's darkness over all the land that must have shook them up that would make the casual observer realize that something special was going on here down to verse 20 uh chapter 23 verse 34 then said jesus father forgive them for they know not what they do wow and they parted his arraignment and cast lots all of that was predicted by the way we'll get a summary here in a minute jesus first sort of events he arrives at golgotha he refused the offer of wine vinegar and myrrh we see recorded in both matthew and mark then he's nailed the cross between the two thieves and that's recorded in all four gospels the first cry from the cross is father forgive them for they know not what they do and the garments are allocated and they cast lots for the seamless robe the jews mocked jesus as was predicted in the psalms we'll look at that in a minute he is conversed with the two thieves or they did with each other i really should say and in the second cry you will be with me in paradise the third cry woman behold your son and says behold your mother that's where he consigns mary to john not to his brother but to the apostle john woman behold your son and he's introducing her to john as her to be her son and he tells john to treat her as his mother and it's very profound and that's why john writes a letter to her which we know is second john in the bible and so in darkness from noon to 3 p.m and then the 4th cry my god my god why hast thou forsaken me interesting phrase the only time in eternity that jesus didn't call him father my god my god why hast thou forsaken me why does he declare it that way because he's in our shoes he's in our shoes the fifth cry i am thirsty then he drank wine vinegar the sixth cry it to tell us die it is finished paid in full and then the seventh cry final one father into your hands i command my spirit and then he dismisses his spirit it's his initiative he's in control of every detail temple curtain is torn from top to bottom roman soldiers themselves declared surely he was the son of god and that's recording both matthew and mark okay seven cries from the cross father forgive them for they know not what they do today thou shalt be with me in paradise woman behold thy son behold thy mother my god my god why hast thou forsaken me i thirst it is finished to tell us die painful in other words and father into thy hands these seven cries from the cross i'm fascinated by salvador dali's modernistic it startled me to discover that salvador dali was mathematically sophisticated because he's using a hidden cube there that's a four-dimensional cube unraveled in three dimensions and his command of hyperspace has surprised me so that's corpus christi it's the only place i know of a four-dimensional cube being actually used in some practical way anyway moving on verse 35 and the people stood beholding and the rulers also with them derided them saying he saved others let him save himself if he be christ the chosen of god they're taunting him those taunts are mentioned in the old testament by the way in psalm 22 i think it's worth our while to pause and just take a quick look at psalm 22. my god my god why hast thou forsaken me there is that proclamation of christ himself why aren't thou so far from helping me and from the words of my roaring oh my god i cry in the daytime but thou will hear us not and the night season i'm not silent but thou art holy oh thou that inhabits the praises of israel wow my god my god the only time in eternity didn't call him father our fathers trusted me and they trusted and doubted his deliverance they cried unto thee and were delivered they trusted and they were not confounded i am a worm and no man a reproach of men and despise of the people i'm going to come back to this worm in a minute it's a subtle thing i want to give you a glimpse of how much is hidden in the in the nooks and crannies of the text we'll come back to that in a moment all that see me laughed me to score and they shoot out the lips and they shake that saying he trusted in the lord that he'd deliver him let him deliver him saying he delighted him that's in psalm 22 written 700 years before the event but thou art he that took me out of the womb and does make me hope when i was upon my mother's breasts i was cast upon thee from the womb thou art my god from my mother's belly be not far from me for trouble is near for there's none to help many bulls have compassed me strong bolds of bashan have beset me round and i don't think those are the cattle that bashan is known for i think those are demons but we'll go on they gaped up on me with their mouths as a ravening revving and roaring lion i am poured out like water all my bones are out of joint my heart is like wax it is meld in the midst of my bowels my strength is dried up like a potsherd my tongue cleaveth to my jaws and thou has brought me into the dust of death there are articles in the american medical journal that analyze the cause of death from the details of this psalm for dogs have compassed me in the assembly of the wicked enclosed me they pierced my hands and my feet what a remarkable thing to find in the psalms when stoning was the official form of execution in israel piercing hands and feet was invented by the romans some six centuries later in practice of course by the romans in this case here i may tell all my bones they look and stare upon me they part my garments among them and they cast lots upon my vesture i'm let's get back to this one verse i think it's interesting i'm a worm and no man the word there is tola it's a word that also in hebrew means a certain worm but it also means scarlet because that's where they get their scarlet die it's translated crimson 38 times in the bible scarlet die was made from a particular worm service of emilio and the service video pierces the thin bark of twigs to suck the sap from which it prepares a waxy scale to protect its soft body the red dye is in that scale when reproducing the female climbs a tree usually a homework and where it bears its eggs the larva hatch and feed on the body of the worm it gives its life then the crimson spot is left on the branch when the scarlet spot dries out in three days it changes to white and flakes off do you get the picture here okay in three days isaiah tells us come now let us reason together say the lord though your sins be a scarlet they shall be white of snow they shall be red like crimson but they shall be as wool and i think he had the tola worm in mind it shall be a scarlet white of snow crimson but like well let's get back to verse 35 and the people stood beholding and the rulers were also with them derided them saying he saved others let him save himself if he be christ the chosen of god and the soldiers also mocked him coming to him and offering him vinegar that's quoted in psalm 69 and saying if thou be the king of the jews save thyself this is where it gets fun in verse 38 it says a superscription also is written over him in letters of greek latin hebrew this is the king of the jews bear in mind now luke is taking this by testimony let's take a look let's see what it says from somebody was actually there let's see what john describes this he says pilate this interests me pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross now did he do it literally himself it wouldn't surprise me or i had an instruction in any case and the writing was jesus of nazareth the king of the jews this title then was read many of the jews for the place where jesus was crucified was nigh to the city it was written in hebrew in greek and latin interesting say hebrew of course because it's jewish he's the king of the jews greek because that was the common language throughout the known world latin that was emerging to be the major legal language for the roman empire pilate's epitaph this apparently is what it looked like in hebrew remember it goes right to left and the first word is the word yeshua we recognize and so this is jesus the nazarene the king of the jews and so it's interesting when we miss something the pharisees come to our rescue then said the chief priest of the jews to pilate right not the king of the jews but that he said i am the king of the jews pilate answered what i have written i have written i don't know why it is always picture yule brenner saying that anyway so let it be written so let me know i guess what it actually says is what i have written will always remain written so pilate knew he was rubbing their nose in something here what was he doing well because it turns out if you take the first if you make an acrostic of this as the jews are so fond of doing with psalms and other things you take the first letter of each of those four words and you get the tetragamaton the unpronounceable name of god now this doesn't mean that pilate knew he was the son of god but he knew that this would upset them and that's why he did it i believe now i've gotten some people say well that's an improper use of the valve because that's a conjunction not always that can also be an a positive that is the king that is king of the jews in other words and i had because i was challenged i had some correspondence where people said gee that doesn't work that doesn't necessarily play out dr welty who was the head of the isv foundation said if one were translating from latin or greek to hebrew which the soldier making sign would need to be doing there's a high likelihood that he would translate the greek definite article as the hebrew letter of or add a connective that isn't in the latin in intending that that context make the larger phrase translate into hebrew aramaic as jesus of nazareth that is king of the jews in other words the vow is used often as in a positive not not a connective of two things but an equivalence of two attributes together and if the sign said this in hebrew or america it would generate precisely the objections noted by the pharisees to amend the sign to read he said that he was king of the jews so we have doesn't mean we're right but it means we're you know it very well could be just that way so no problem let's move on verse 39 and one of the male factors which were hanged railed on him saying if thou be christ save thyself and us but the other answering rebuked him saying dust thou not fear god seeing that thou art in the same condemnation we indeed justly for we receive the dew reward of our deeds but this man hath done nothing of us then he said unto jesus lord remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom and jesus said unto him verily i say unto thee today thou shalt be with me in paradise wow that's it's going to be interesting to talk to him what hope in this witness the man was saved entirely by grace it was a gift of god he did not deserve it and could not earn it we're in the same shoes it was personal and it was secure guaranteed by the word of jesus christ what could be better than that that's exactly that what we are in possession of ourselves we don't deserve it we didn't earn it but he's given to us personally and secure guaranteed by his word and he emphasized that in john's in his prayer to his father in john 17. it was about the sixth hour and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour and the sun was darkened and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst now they know that happened that's why it's being testified here there are some people that try to make the case that they could see that happen from the site of the crucifixion no reason to ascribe that but that's why some people try to place the crucifixion on the mount of olives so it lines up and all of that there's some i'm not it's not our view we have a different view we think is biblically different but clearly it was torn top to bottom because it was the three days of darkness preceded the first passover in egypt three hours preceded that passover too and this one also and the this completed the eternal transaction between him and the father jesus cried with a loud voice said father into thy hands i commend my spirit and having said this he gave up the ghost jesus the father by the way that was actually a jewish bedtime prayer and tells us how jesus died confidently willingly and victoriously those who know jesus as their savior may die with the same confidence and assurance and paul mentions that in his philippian letter in the second corinthian letter develops that the temple veil also ripped from top to bottom that didn't happen by human means god's presence was now open for all who would come to him by faith through jesus christ see that ended the temple system there and that's why in 90 a.d the council of yamnia had to redefine judaism because they had no temple no place to shed blood the torah says without the shedding of blood there's no remission they had a huge problem and they solved that by redefining judaism into what we call today talmudic judaism which is a very different than mosaic judaism but moving on to verse 47 now when the centurion saw what was done he glorified god saying certainly this was a righteous man he was impressed obviously by the darkness the earthquake we have a temptation to do that too i think and the man in which jesus suffered and died and all the people that came together to that site beholding the things which were done smote their breasts and returned and all his acquaintance and the women that followed him from galilee stood afar off beholding these things let's just quickly look at just a few of these prophecies that are all that are quoted in the bible and many more but the ones that are actually quoting the gospels a triumphal entry was obviously we talked a lot about that in luke 19. he was betrayed by a friend for 30 pieces of silver he would be like a smitten shepherd his sheep would be scattered he would be given vinegar and gall to drink he would they would cast lots for his garments the side would be pierced all these things are in the old testament and not a bone would be broken in exodus 12 numbers 9 and psalm 34 would die among the malefactors his dying words were foretold psalm 22 and 31 and elsewhere he would be buried by a rich man he would rise from the dead the third day that's all through the scripture and the resurrection would be followed by the destruction of jerusalem and indeed it was and so all this is there salvador dali again i enjoy his imagination he said speaking of jesus he was crucified on a cross of wood yet he made the hill on which it stood what held him to that cross anytime he could have said enough already i'm out of here no what held him to that cross wasn't the nails it was any time you could have said enough i'm out of here it was his love for you and me that held him through this whole ordeal can you imagine that and behold there was a man named joseph a counselor and he was a good man and just joseph and nicodemus were both members of the jewish council but they were not present during the vote against jesus obviously the same may not consent to the council indeed of them and he was of aramathia a city of the jews he also himself waited for the kingdom of god he's a righteous man this man went to pilate which means he was powerful he also probably implies he was the next of kin by the way he went to pilate and begged the body of jesus he must have been very powerful guy he obviously was a rich guy and this all fulfills isaiah 53 9. there is an unrecorded conversation by the way i'm told chuck smith mentioned this to us on on one occasion jose martha begs the body from pontius pilate pontius pilate of course was he had personal access to the to the procurator which is unusual uh he probably was the next of kin where he argued from legal issues pilate was shocked and surprised you're gonna you have this new tomb for your family and you're gonna use it for this criminal joseph explained it's just for the weekend and chuck actually did that from the pulpit one sunday easter sunday and it got us all by surprise anyway moving on the garden tomb i happen to be one of these that believe it's the authentic tomb they don't they don't oversell it there but if you do your study you can convince yourself pretty well golgoth is quite likely the suspected location nearby the guardian had a 250 000 gallon sister and implying the area was under a common owner there are no other graves there just the grave of the family of the owner there's evidence that the area was at one time a place of worship and it is empty but there's actually 18 details of the site and the scripture that match beautifully you've all been if you've been there you've been probably the high point of your visit actually i think that actually was the tomb by the way not just something that's representative and general charles gordon distinguished british general commissioned a second lieutenant in 1852 he discovered this area especially it's originally derisively called gordon's calvary but now it's known as the garden tomb in 1883. bring this out because it's interesting andrew bonar in his commentary in leviticus describes the tomb in amazing detail only from the torah text 43 years before he was his commentaries published 43 years before the discovery of the site under general garden i think that's interesting and he took it down that is the body took it down and wrapped it in linen and laid it in the sepulchre that was hewn in stone where never a man before was laid and that day was the preparation and the sabbath drew on now in greek there's a very important verse in matthew chapter 28 verse 1 and i'm the isv the international standard version people almost missed this that the sabbath it's plural the word sabbath is in the plural not singular what does that mean that means there was more than one sabbath between passover and that sunday morning there's a saturday the shabbat saturday there's also a high uh holiday namely the feast of unleavened bread so there were two sabbaths prior to sunday the sun the saturday sabbath and the feast of unleavened bread a high holy day which means by the way that we don't know for sure exactly when the crucifixion took place but it wasn't on friday it could some say thursday some wednesday there's subtleties there but the point is it clearly wasn't friday but let's move on here the women also which came with him from galilee followed after and beheld the sepulcher and how his body was laid and they returned and prepared spices at ointments and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment okay when after six days god finished the work of the creation he rested that's all in genesis chapter 2. after six hours the lord finished the work of the new creation and rested on the sabbath in joseph's tomb see the parallel there okay and every detail in the scripture points to jesus in some way let me take a very obscure example to make my point what about the cities of refuge you go through the tour and you discover that when the land is divided there these they have zones they pick 48 cities uh the levites get 48 cities rather than ownership of land six of those 48 cities are designated as cities of refuge and manslayers that somebody's accused of second-degree murder were pursued by the next of kin the avenger of blood in the case of manslaughter the slayer could he if he could find sanctuary in one of the cities of refuge from the adventure of blood and when the high priest died the slayer could then you see if he could get to the the city of refuge he couldn't leave the city he was he had sanctuary from the avenger blood if he left town the guy could nail him all this is static until the high priest died down in jerusalem when the high priest dies the guy's then free to go home strange set of laws what's going on here well what's the spiritual significance here you know paul tells us in romans 15 4 whatsoever things are written before time are written for our learning that we through the patients cover the scriptures might have hoped every detail in the bible is there deliberately for our instruction well what about the strange rules about the city of refuge jesus himself says lo i come and the volume of the book is written of me and uh interestingly enough so okay let's talk about jesus death was it premeditated murder or was it manslaughter from god's point of view it's premeditated okay but from man's point of view it's manslaughter how do i know that because he said father forgive them for they know not what they do that makes it manslaughter well that means we're qualified to flee to our city of refuge who is our city of refuge jesus is and how long does it stay that way until a high priest dies well our high priestess died and he's in a free so anyway you play with that and discover it's a very elegant description of our situation paul tells us in galatians 2 20 i'm crucified with christ nevertheless i lived yet not i but christ lived in me and the life which i now live in the flesh i live by the faith of the son of god who loved me and gave himself for me and in romans 8 2 the law of the spirit of life in christ jesus had made me free from the law of sin and death and the city of refuge is a model of those very those truths christ is our city of refuge his situation continues till the death of the high priest who's our high priest jesus is and so his death has freed us from any claims by the avenger of blood praise god for that anyway so there we are next time we have our final session of this gospel the resurrection of jesus christ i'm very proud of this photograph because it's a photograph taken in the middle of the night two thousand years ago before the when you once you play with photoshop you never trust any photograph anymore anyway moving on i want you for to study for next time luke chapter 24 of course the last chapter i want you to study the last chapter of matthew 28. i want you to study the last chapter of mark verse 16. and the last two chapters of john 20 21 as we tackle this astonishing demonstration of the reality of christ and with that let's stand for a closing word of prayer

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Length: 42min 44sec (2564 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 15 2020