The Real Reason for Jesus' Execution - Part 2

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          at the fire. Now the chief priests and the whole Council kept trying to obtain 

          testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, and they were not finding any. For 

          many were giving false testimony against Him, but their testimony was not 

          consistent. Some stood up and began to give false testimony against Him, saying, 

          “We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands, and in three days 

          I will build another made without hands.”’ Not even in this     respect was their                                     testimony consistent. The high priest stood up and came forward and questioned 

          Jesus, saying, “Do You not answer? What is it that these men are testifying against 

          You?” But He kept silent and did not answer. Again the high priest was questioning 

          Him, and saying to Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” 

          And Jesus said, “I am; and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand 

          of power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” Tearing his clothes, the high priest 

          said, “What further need do we have of witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy; 

          how does it seem to you?” And they all condemned Him to    be deserving of death. 

          Some began to spit at Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him with their fists, 

          and to say to Him, “Prophesy!” And the officers received Him with slaps in the face. 

The trial of Jesus Christ before the religious leaders in the account we have just read together is a gross miscarriage of justice. But it also accomplished two great realities. First, it proved His innocence and secondly it established His real identity. Here in Mark’s record of Jesus’ trial  before the Jewish Sanhedrin we discover four crucial insights that prove His innocence and establish His real identity. We began to study this text last week. Let me just remind you of what we learned. Last week we considered first of all the legal process behind Jesus’ crucifixion. I reminded you that there were six legal proceedings that took place early Friday morning. 

First, there were three Jewish ecclesiastical trials. That began with an arraignment before Annas around 12:00 or 1:00 a.m.. John records that the Roman soldiers delivered Jesus first, to Annas at his home in the upper city where all the wealthy lived, where they caught the afternoon breezes off the Mediterranean. When Annas was done questioning Jesus he sent him immediately to the house of his son-in-law, Caiaphas, nearby maybe even across the courtyard. They may have shared a courtyard. There a second Jewish trial takes place.  A hearing before the Sanhedrin. This is described here in our text and took place somewhere around 2:00 a.m. on that Friday morning. We’ll come back to that one. But that was followed by a third Jewish trial that occurred at the break of light as Friday dawned. It was a formal session of the Sanhedrin. This third proceeding formalized the charge against Jesus and found Him guilty of blasphemy. Since the Sanhedrin lacked the power to carry out the death penalty in the first century the jurisdiction had to change from the Sanhedrin to the Romans and the charge had to change as well. So the three Jewish trials then were quickly followed by three Roman criminal trials. 

The first of those was before Pilate when Pilate learned that He was from Galilee, Herod Antipas who was over Galilee was there for the Passover and he immediately sends Him across the Praetorium courtyard to the palace where Herod Antipas was staying. And then the third trial Herod Antipas declared Him innocent, sent Him back to Pilate, and the third trial happens before Pilate. In the three Roman trials the Jewish leaders changed the charge to sedition, rebellion. And Pilate and Herod Antipas found Jesus completely innocent. So, the reason that’s important is this: Jesus was executed not because of what happened in the Roman trials but because of what happened in the Jewish trials. And it is the record in our text of the second Jewish trial that we discover the real reason that Jesus was crucified. Let’s study it together.

Verse 53. Look at it again. “They led Jesus away to the high priest; and all the chief priests and the elders and scribes gathered together.” This second Jewish trial is in the middle of the night in the home of Caiaphas where the Sanhedrin, the 71 members of Israel’s highest ruling body, had been hastily assembled. Peter and John were also there. Look at verse 54. “Peter had followed Him at a distance right into the courtyard of the high priest…” And the Gospel of John tells us that’s because John was also there and was known by the high priest. He was sitting with the officers and warming himself at the fire. As I described for you last time when you take a look at a model of a wealthy home in Jerusalem in the first century, there was an open courtyard and then there was a large upper room where meetings were held. Peter, according to the Scripture, was in that open courtyard watching events unfold there in the upper room. John was apparently either in the upper room or just outside of it, observing these events as well. So, there’s the legal process by which our Lord was found guilty and condemned to die. 

Last Sunday we also discovered a second insight and that is the real purpose of Jesus’ trial. Verse 55. “Now the chief priests and the whole Council kept trying to obtain testimony against Jesus to put Him to death…” Here’s the real purpose. This is not a fair trial. It’s clear from the beginning that this was a kangaroo court. The charge has not yet been decided but the verdict has already been decided. It’s a mock court set up in violation of established Jewish law tainted by corruption, a deliberate miscarriage of justice. Jesus was going to die with or without due process. That was the real purpose behind this trial. 

We also discovered a third insight last week and that was the total absence of valid evidence. Verse 55 continues, now they were “… trying to obtain testimony against Jesus…” but notice “…they were not finding any.” A foundational principle of Jewish law was that for someone to be put to death there must be two witnesses. And if their testimony differed in even the smallest detail then their testimony was thrown out. Declared inadmissible. They couldn’t find two witnesses who agreed. Even among those bringing false accusations. Verse 56 gives us one example: 

          For many were giving false testimony against Him but their testimony was not 

          consistent. Some stood up and began to give false testimony against Him saying, 

          “We heard Him say I will destroy this temple made      with hands and in three days I 

          will build another made without hands.”

They quote something Jesus said three years before, they misquote it, and turn it into an accusation without any grounds whatsoever. The main point you need to get is that the leaders had investigated Jesus for three years, looking for anything that would incriminate Him but this was the best case they could build against Jesus. The ridiculous misrepresentation of something He’d said three years earlier. There were no legitimate witnesses and even the false witnesses couldn’t come up with a consistent story. The point is the Jewish leaders who wanted Jesus dead couldn’t even buy evidence against Him. This is a profound testimony to Jesus’ innocence.

Now that brings us to where we left off last time. And it brings us to a fourth important insight that we discover in our text. Really the key one is this: the legal certification of Jesus’ claims. The legal certification of Jesus’ remarkable claims. Notice how verse 60 begins. “The high priest…” I introduced him to you last time. The full name of this high priest was Joseph Caiaphas according to Josephus and he was Annas’ son-in-law. Caiaphas, the high priest at this time, was an extraordinarily powerful man. The average term for the high priest in the first century was four years. Caiaphas, by the time this trial takes place, has already served for 12 years and he would serve for seven more. History tells us that he was a powerful politician. He was pragmatic, he was devious, he was dishonest, he was ruthless. This was the man who presided over the trial of our Lord. And he’s the same one who had decided two months earlier in February of that year that Jesus had to die. In John 11 we have a record of a private proceeding, a secret meeting of the Sanhedrin, in which Caiaphas says exactly that. And two days earlier before this trial they’d come to the same conclusion. Look back at chapter 14, verse 1. “Now the Passover and Unleavened Bread were two days away; and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to seize Him by stealth and kill Him.” 

This is the man who is over the trial of our Lord. So with no valid evidence having been found anywhere against Jesus, no testimony that sticks, no consistent witness testimony, Caiaphas decides to take matters into his own hands. Verse 60 says, “The high priest stood up and came forward…” To this point, he’s given the appearance of an impartial presiding judge just hearing the witnesses against Jesus. But now he takes the role of a prosecuting attorney. The Greek text tells us that having stood up he stood in the middle, certainly in the middle of the Sanhedrin. But the picture is more likely that he is now standing in that upper room face to face with Jesus Christ. Verse 60 says, “The high priest stood up and came forward and questioned Jesus, saying, ‘Do You not answer? What is it that these men are testifying against You?’” Caiaphas asked Jesus two questions. Number one, why do You refuse to speak in Your own defense? And number two, what is Your response to these accusations that have been brought against You? Caiaphas wanted Jesus to speak in hopes that He would incriminate Himself. Verse 61 says, “But He kept silent and did not answer.” Throughout His legal ordeal Jesus remained completely silent refusing to answer the false charges against Him. Don’t misunderstand. Jesus wasn’t “taking the 5th.” His silence was not evidence of His guilt but rather of His integrity. He knew that the goal of this trial wasn’t justice. So He just remained quiet. He knew the verdict had been decided two months before. This had been prophesied of the Messiah 700 years earlier by Isaiah. Isaiah 53:7, “He was oppressed and He was afflicted yet He did not open His mouth. Like a lamb that is led to slaughter. And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers so He did not open His mouth.” But Jesus’ silence has another effect. It increasingly frustrates Caiaphas. Why? Because it threatened to derail Caiaphas’ plan to put Jesus to death. There was no witness and Jesus won’t speak and incriminate Himself. 

What happens next is really quite shocking, legally. We don’t know if Caiaphas had reserved this last question in case all else failed. Maybe in his conniving politician ways he had already structured in his mind, if everything else failed this is what he would do. Or maybe it just occurred to him in the moment. But regardless, in one last act of desperation he decides to make a full frontal assault on Jesus of Nazareth. He’s going to ask a question that puts Jesus on the spot. But before he asks Jesus his last question, Matthew tells us that Caiaphas did something else that’s very important. Caiaphas officially, formally, put Jesus under oath. This is Matthew chapter 26 verse 63: “… the high priest said to Him, ‘I adjure You by the living God…’” In first century parlance that’s when we say, I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God. He puts Jesus under oath and having put Jesus under oath, [Mark 14] verse 61 says, “Again the high priest was questioning Him and saying to Him, ‘Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One’”? The emphasis in the Greek text is on the pronoun “You.” We could translate it like this: Are You, Yourself, the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One? Is that what You’re claiming? 

Again there are two separate questions. The first question: Do you claim to be the Christ? In Greek, the “Christos”, the Anointed One. In Hebrew, “HaMashiach,” the Messiah. Are you claiming to be the Messiah that the Old Testament Scriptures, the Hebrew Scriptures, prophesied? Is that Your claim? And there’s a second question: Do You in fact claim to be the Son of the Blessed One? Are You saying You are the Son of God? That You are divine? That You are deity? That You are equal to God Himself? Don’t miss this the drama of this moment. The entire Gospel of Mark has been building to this one crucial moment. Think about what’s happening here. The high priest, the highest government official in Israel, in front of the entire Sanhedrin, the highest governing body of Israel, puts these two key questions to Jesus under oath. To make it comparable to our day it would be like Jesus has been sworn in before the Supreme Court. That’s what’s happening here. This is the climax of Mark’s gospel. Caiaphas thinks he’s painted Jesus into a corner. But in God’s amazing providence he has actually created the best possible stage. The greatest platform that he could ever imagine for Jesus to officially, legally, certify His real identity. Are You the Messiah? The Son of God. Verse 62, “And Jesus said, ‘I am…’” In Greek, His answer is even more unequivocal. "Ego eimi.” It’s the very words in the Septuagint in Exodus chapter 3 when Moses said, who shall I say has sent me? And God says, “I AM.” Jesus says it here in answer to this question But in John’s gospel it resonates with even a greater background. I AM. We could translate like this, again, in English “ego eimi” I Myself, AM. 

Now, readers of Mark’s gospel knew this from the very beginning. If you look back at chapter 1 of Mark and verse 1 this is how it begins. “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God.” And there are many places throughout this gospel where those great truths are affirmed about Jesus. And the Sanhedrin already knew that this is what Jesus claimed. That’s why Caiaphas is asking these questions. But to ensure that there was no way for Him to be misunderstood Jesus added, verse 62, “… and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” What is Jesus doing here? He combined the two greatest Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah. He combines them in this brief statement. The first comes from Psalm 110 verse 1 where David says, “[Yahweh] The LORD, [the true God], says to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.’” That prophecy is quoted most frequently in the book of Acts in the sermons of the apostles to prove the deity of Jesus Christ.

The second text comes from Daniel chapter 7 verses 13 and 14 where Daniel writes this: 

          I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven One like 

          a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was 

          presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that 

          all the peoples, nations and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion 

          is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one which 

          will not be destroyed. 

Both of those passages clearly teach that the Messiah would be both fully human and fully divine. In Psalm 110, if we had time to study that we would learn that the Messiah would be David’s descendent, the offspring of David. But he would also be David’s Lord. In Daniel 7, He’s the Son of Man but He’s also to be worshipped and given glory that belong solely to God. So Jesus makes it very clear. He says, I AM. And then He quotes the two greatest Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah both of which communicate the reality that He is human and divine and He says that is Me. 

But go back to our text. Did you notice the most frightening part of Jesus’ comment to these men? Notice the middle of verse 62, “And you will see.” Those are sobering words. YOU will see. Jesus told these men that there is a day coming when they will have no doubt about the truthfulness of His claims. In fact, the roles that night will be reversed. The ones who sat as His judges will be the judged. Jesus intended His statement here, the two citations of Old Testament text to be both a proof of who He was; to be a warning of what’s coming for them and I think also to be a genuine call to repentance. One commentator, Edwards, writes this: 

          Mark’s trial scene is profoundly ironic. The Sanhedrin stands on the law and Jesus 

          sits in the dock. But in reality the Sanhedrin breaks the law    and Jesus upholds it. 

          The testimony that the Sanhedrin seeks against Jesus is in the end not provided 

          by the false witnesses but by Jesus Himself in His claim to be God’s Son. Jesus stands 

          on trial before the Sanhedrin but the Sanhedrin will stand trial before the Son of God                       when He returns in His glory. And above all it is the high priest, not Jesus, 

          who blasphemes because Jesus is God’s Son.

This is what Jesus claimed. By the way it’s what He claimed in the third phase of the Jewish trial. That formal session of the Sanhedrin in their official chambers at daybreak on that Friday morning. They asked Jesus this same question again. Luke 22:70. “They all said, ‘Are You the Son of God, then?’ And He said to them, ‘Yes, I am.’” 

This is so important. Because I often hear people say things to me like this: “Well, you know, Jesus was a great man, a great teacher. But He never really claimed to be God.” Anyone who says that has never read the New Testament. Nothing could be further from the truth. Here the high priest put Jesus under oath in front of the highest ruling body of Israel and asked Him if He claimed to be Israel’s Messiah. And the Son of God. And Jesus’ response was, “I AM.” Listen, friend, you can believe Jesus’ claims or you can reject them. But don’t let anyone deceive you with the ridiculous nonsense that He never claimed to be the Son of God. Jesus legally certified His claims under oath. Because these are His claims it leads you and me with only three options, three possible conclusions. This has often been called the “Trilemma.” There are only these three options. These are Jesus’ claims. So number one you could conclude that Jesus is a liar. That’s what the Sanhedrin concluded. He blasphemes. A second conclusion is you could say, “No, He wasn’t a liar. He was just confused. He was a lunatic; a troubled, self-deceived man." And there have been a few through history who’ve landed there. The only other option left to you is that He is in fact who He claimed. He is the LORD. He is the Messiah, the Son of God. Every human being who hears about Jesus Christ really is forced to make the same kind of decision that Caiaphas made. You have to come to a verdict about Jesus Christ. 

So, let me ask you, if you’ve never come to that verdict let me ask you, what is it you believe? Do you believe that Jesus was a liar and a fraud? Does that really match the majestic character on the pages of the gospels? Do you believe Jesus was out of His mind like His family did until after the resurrection? Or will you acknowledge His claims and bow before Him like Thomas saying, “My Lord, and my God!”? Those are your three options. And by the way, you can’t just not come to a verdict. By not coming to a verdict, you’ve come to one. And YOU will stand before Him just as He promised the Sanhedrin would. 

Tragically, Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin, they weren’t even willing to consider this last option. Look at verse 63, “Tearing his clothes the high priest said, ‘What further need do we have of witnesses?’” Inwardly of course Caiaphas was absolutely delighted with what had just happened. This was exactly what he had hoped for. But in further evidence of his great hypocrisy, he tore his clothes as an outward show of grief and sorrow. And he argued there was no longer need for witnesses. Verse 64, “You have heard the blasphemy.” And then Caiaphas calls for a vote. The language in the Greek text is the formal language used for an official vote of the Sanhedrin. “You have heard the blasphemy; how does it seem to you?” And the result of the vote, “And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death.” 

Now, we know that the “all” means the vast majority of them because at least one member was absent or abstained or perhaps objected. Luke 23 tells us there was a man named Joseph from Arimethea who was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, who had not consented to their plan and action. In fact, he had become a secret disciple of Jesus Christ himself. And after Jesus’ death he summoned his courage, went and actually claimed the body of Jesus and buried Jesus’ body in his own new tomb, just close to where Jesus had been crucified. Otherwise, however, the vote was unanimous. They all agreed Jesus was guilty of blasphemy. According to the Old Testament law that was a capital crime. Leviticus 24:16, “…the one who blasphemes the name of [Yahweh] the LORD shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him. The alien as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.” The Sanhedrin unanimously convicted Jesus of that crime. Don’t miss Mark’s main point. THAT was the real reason Jesus was crucified. Because He said, I AM the Messiah, I AM the Son of God. 

Sadly, the Sanhedrin’s guilty verdict was followed by sanctioned physical abuse of Jesus. Look at verse 65. Notice what happened in their presence. “Some began to spit at Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him with their fists, and to say to Him, ‘Prophesy!’” It’s unclear whether these are members of the Sanhedrin or the officers. But the language seems to imply that some members of the Sanhedrin participated in this. “And then the officers received Him with slaps in the face.” Now, be careful here. It’s easy to have contempt for Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin. That makes sense in many ways. But sadly some who claim Christ have even become anti-semitic because of the shameful actions of these Jewish leaders. But folks, that misses the whole point. THEIR response is OUR response to the real Jesus. You see, the Jewish leaders and the Roman officials and the Roman soldiers and the crowd that called for Jesus’ death, they were our representatives. In their place like them we, too, would have rejected Jesus. In fact for some of us many years of our lives, we did. And we did so for the same reason. Because we love our sin. Jesus’ conviction was quickly followed by His execution. By 9:00 a.m. that morning He had already been crucified. Look at chapter 15 verse 25, “It was the third hour [9 a.m.] when they crucified Him.” After His crucifixion, during the hours of light that followed from nine to noon, members of the Sanhedrin actually stayed and mocked Jesus because of His claims. Matthew records in Matthew 27 verses 41-43 that, “… the chief priests also along with the scribes and elders, were mocking Him.” They are at the foot of the cross and they are mocking Jesus. How? Listen they are mocking Him with His claims. They said, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself.  He is the King of Israel.” That is, He’s the Messiah! “Let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him. HE TRUSTS IN GOD; LET GOD RESCUE Him now, IF HE DELIGHTS IN HIM; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

At 12:00 p.m., darkness falls over the whole land. Something far more sobering and serious than the eclipse that is coming. And then at 3:00 p.m., after six hours of unimaginable suffering, Jesus laid down His life and died. But you know what’s amazing to me? In God’s grace at least five people at the foot of the cross, at least five people heard Jesus’ claims that day. How? Through the taunts of His enemies. They heard Jesus’ claims and they came to trust in Him. One of the thieves on the cross next to Jesus and the centurion and the other three soldiers who crucified Jesus together. So, this text tells us that in the early morning hours of Friday the Sanhedrin found Jesus guilty of blasphemy. After sunrise Pilate agreed to crucify Jesus for His claims. 

But many Christians don’t know this. Jesus’ conviction that morning was appealed to a higher court. And Sunday morning the “Supreme Court” rendered its verdict. Turn to Romans chapter 1 in verse 4. Jesus “… was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord.” He was declared by whom? By God. How? By raising Him from the dead. On Friday the Sanhedrin declared Jesus guilty and Pilate put Him to death. On Sunday, God the Father declared Him innocent of the charge and raised Him from the dead. Christian, this is your great hope! This is your hope. By raising Him from the dead the Father made it clear that Jesus’ claims were true. That your faith has a solid foundation. He’s everything He claimed to be including under oath before the Sanhedrin. And by raising Him from the dead, the Father made it clear that He had accepted Jesus’ death as the full and final payment for the debt of your sin. When Jesus said, “It is finished” on Friday, the Father said, it is finished, on Sunday morning when He raised Him from the dead. And today as you sit here there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. But not everyone benefits from Jesus’ life and death. 

I have to say this, sadly, many attending Easter services like this one this morning don’t know Jesus Christ and have never had their sins forgiven. Even more tragic, I think, is that many who sit in Easter services like this one think they’re Christians and they’re not. They’re false Christians described by Jesus in the parable of the soils who have some sort of temporary response to the gospel. But it’s not real. It doesn’t take. It doesn’t change their lives. Jesus said this would happen. Matthew 7, He says, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, [of judgment] ‘Lord, Lord’…” In other words they’ll say wait a minute. Lord, we belong to You. We’re Christians. We went to Easter services. We wrote the date we prayed a prayer in the front of our Bibles. Lord, Lord. “Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’” Jesus said it this way in Luke 6:46, “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’…” and not do the things which I say? Jesus says you can know if you are a false Christian who’s going to be surprised at the Judgment by looking at your life. Is your life characterized primarily by lawlessness, that is disobedience to Christ? Or by obedience to Christ? You see no true Christian just acknowledges Jesus as Lord two days a year. At Christmas and Easter. So how can you truly know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord? 

Well, Jesus Himself explains it in the first chapter of this very gospel. The first sermon that Mark records of Jesus says this, “… Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” You must repent, you must acknowledge the guilt of your sin and you must be willing to turn from that sin to Christ. And Jesus says, you must “believe the gospel.” You must believe that there is one God who made all things and that we exist for Him. That we have all sinned against that God and have fallen short of His glory. And we’ve all earned spiritual and physical and eternal death. Separated from God. But God’s own Son added a full human nature to Himself and came into the world to save sinners as Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus lived a perfect life, a life that you were supposed to have lived. You were commanded to live. He loved God perfectly. He loved others perfectly and none of us have. And then He died for the sins of everyone who would ever believe in Him. He died to satisfy the justice of God. Someone had to die for your sin and mine. And He did so as a substitute for all who would ever believe in Him. And He was buried and on the third day He rose from the dead. You must believe those truths as fact. But, friend, that’s not enough. 

It’s not enough that you believe those facts. The demons believe those are facts. You must believe in Jesus to the extent that you’re willing to abandon your personal autonomy. That’s what real faith in Jesus is. Jesus put it this way, “If any many would come after Me, He must deny himself.” You have to come to the place in your life where you want Jesus badly enough that you’re willing to surrender your entire autonomy to Him and say, You are my God and my Lord. You must acknowledge Jesus as Savior AND your rightful Master and Lord. That’s exactly what Paul says. In Romans chapter 10 verse 9, he says, “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” 

It’s not that confessing and believing are two different things. It’s that real belief produces that confession. Real faith issues forth in that verbal confession and a heart confession that Jesus is my Lord. Listen, if you will come to God like that, if you will turn from your sins and rebellion, if you will deny yourself, if you will renounce your personal autonomy and trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord, if you will cry out to God for salvation not on your terms, but on His terms, He WILL save you from your sins even today. He will make you His child today. That’s the promise of the gospel. Romans 10:13, “For whoever will call on the name of the Lord…” like that, “…. will be saved.” Listen, on this day we celebrate the reality that the “Supreme Court” of the universe rendered its verdict in the appeal to Jesus’ sentence. And here was the verdict: Jesus was declared to be the Son of God with power by His resurrection from the dead. Let’s pray together. 

Our Father, we are truly overwhelmed by the grace You have shown in sending Your only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, that You sent Him to be the propitiation for our sins, the satisfaction of Your justice against our sins. Thank You that by raising Him from the dead You declared not only is He the Son of God but His redemptive work was finished. You accepted it for everyone who would ever believe in Him. Father, thank You that for many of us here this morning this is our great hope. He IS our Savior AND Lord. Father, fill our hearts with worship today, fill our hearts with praise, with gratitude. But Father, I pray for those who are with us this morning; who came in perhaps knowing they’re not believers. Or perhaps came in thinking they are because they made some profession in the past. Father, open their eyes to the reality of their condition. If they’re living a life of disobedience and lawlessness ignoring Christ’s right to rule them. If they still live under their personal autonomy help them to see that they’re not real Christians at all. And may this be the day, the day of His resurrection, when You bring their dead hearts to life. Lord, only You can do that. But we pray that You would do that through the simple gospel that they have heard this morning. We pray it in Jesus’ name. Amen.