The Suffering That Saves: Beholding the King in John 19

Hey, if you brought your Bible, get it out right now and hold it in the air like you care. Come on, hold it up in the air like you care. Somebody, on the count of three, I want all of us to shout word. Every single one of us. Here we go. One, two, three. Word. We're getting into God's word. So, God's word gets into us. And I believe that God has a word for you. I couldn't come up with a title for today's sermon. It was going to be the king's journey to the cross. But really, I I I I if I could give it a title, the more I've wrestled with it, even walking up on the stage today, I would just say, "The suffering that saves." So, if you're taking notes, you can write that down right now. The suffering that saves. It's the one thing all of us will encounter in our lives is suffering. It's the ultimate human question that when you suffer, at some point, you're going to ask to yourself rhetorically or out loud to God or to

others. Why suffering? you're you're going to ask uh others, why would God let me go through this? Why would God let me suffer? In fact, I think we've been so duped by the devil. We think this earth is our home. And so, somehow we we've tried to make this place heaven. But that is a mistake because in this world, you will suffer. In this world, you're going to go through some heartaches. In this world, you're going to have pain. And if you don't understand the answer to why suffering, you won't understand or find God in the midst of a suffering. And what we'll find in today's text, if you brought a Bible, you can prepare yourself by going to John 19 is where we're going to pick up in today's text. We've been looking at the life of Jesus and John. We find here and it's just here's a even a warning. The text today is not for the

faint of heart. This is not a safe, clean, easy story to read. Th this is a a bloody, brutal story of someone who's beaten up badly, quite honestly, more than anyone else before. As we come to this text today, the the challenge I want to ask you and and your heart that you've got to be able to answer is who is Jesus to you? Who is who is Jesus to you? It demands a verdict because Jesus is unlike any other human in history. He's not just a religious figure. More songs have been sung about Jesus than any other person. More books have been written about Jesus. More art has been depicted Jesus. That there's been more said about Jesus than any other man in history.

And yet he is the only man whose name is used so frequently as a curse word in our culture. So why is this name cursed? And yet we just sang about it today. Who is this Jesus? And how should you respond to Jesus? Because you can't just keep living the same when you really see him for who he is, the King of Kings. You you've got to actually examine in your heart, do I surrender to him and obey everything he has to say, or do I reject him and choose to do things my own ways? And too many people call themselves Christians and they continue to live their way when in reality Jesus is wanting us to obey him. He is the one whom Paul writes about in Philippians and says, "Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name

that is above every name." So that at the name of Jesus, someone shout Jesus. Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth. So today, I want you to examine your heart, your mind, and your life and say, "Who is Jesus?" It's a question that cannot just linger. You You've got to actually look at what you're doing with your life. Because if there's one thing that will stop you from going allin for Jesus, here's the one thing that will stop you. Fear. F. Fear is incredible because you can't live by faith and still live by fear at the same time. In fact, fear is such a good liar.

Fear is what makes strong men weak. Fear will will make truth negotiable. There are many people who who say they believe one thing and then later on they do the opposite. Why is that? Fear will make you choose comfort over calling. See, the Bible says that we ought to walk by faith, not by sight. But that means you're going to do things God's ways and not your way. And sometimes that could be a little scary. So, if you've ever been afraid, this is a text for you today. As we come to the 19th chapter of John, we're going to see that it was fear that motivated the death of Jesus. But we're going to see the opportunity in our lives today, not to live by fear, but to live by faith.

If you would stand for the reading of God's word, I'm going to read to you today John chapter 19:es 1-16. It's quite a bit of text. So, I want you in your mind to work with me and then we'll break this down to see the seriousness of suffering and how it actually does not just leave us the same. This is a suffering that saves. John 19:es 1-16. Then Pilate took Jesus and fgged him. And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. They came up to him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews," and struck him with their hands. Pilate went out again and said to them, "See, I am bringing him out so that you may know that I find no guilt in him."

So Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, "Behold the man." When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Take him for yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him." The Jews answered him, "We have a law according to the law. He ought to die because he has made himself the son of God." When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, "Where are you from?" But Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate said to him, "You will not speak to me. Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?"

Jesus answered him, "You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore, he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin." From then on, Pilate sought to release him. But the Jews cried out, "If you release this man, you're not Caesar's friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar." So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat of a place called the stone pavement and Aramaic Gabbatha. Now it was the day of preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, "Behold your king." And they cried out, "Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "shall I crucify your king?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but

Caesar." So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. This is the word of the Lord. You may be seated. John 19 is not what you might expect from the son of God, the savior of the world. If Jesus really is Messiah, if he's the anointed one of God, then the Messiah ought to have some power, he ought to be able to rule and to reign. But here we have Jesus, the lion of Judah, and he's not roaring. He's like a lamb that's going to the slaughter. He's silent. He could have called forth an army of angels to save save him, but instead he's silent. He's brutally beaten. He's bloody. He's mocked.

He's suffering here in John 19. A crown of thorns instead of a crown of gold thrust upon his head. A king who refuses to save himself so that he can save you. And John wants you to see something deeper here. He's not just telling you the historical account of Jesus life that he he suffered just for suffering's sake here. He wants you to see what true authority is. That Jesus is the king above all kings. He is the one who rules and he reigns. But he also is the one that we read about that is the suffering servant. So that you understand that when you suffer in your life, your suffering is not wasted. It is not in vain. It could have a purpose. And you could find that

your suffering is just a part of God's plan. And the opening verse today, it's incredibly difficult. You don't want to race through John 19:1. Then Pilate, if you're new to this story, he's the governor over the region of Judea. So, he oversees quite a few people, including all of the Jewish people. So, he's a Roman governor working for the Roman Empire. Then, Pilate, we're told, took Jesus and flogged him. He would not have been the one that fgged him. He would have actually called out the command for Jesus to be flogged. We know what Pilate thinks of Jesus. He's called him innocent over and over. Yet, Pilate calls for Jesus to be flogged. And we're going to look more at that in just a moment. But why would he call Jesus to be flogged if he found him

to be innocent? He's hoping to please the crowd. He's hoping that the crowd would see his body so bloodied and punished up that this would be enough that they're going to temper down what we heard in the former chapter when the crowds were calling out, "Crucify him." So he calls Jesus to be flogged. We want to understand the historical reality of what's happening here. Some translations call this a scorgging. It's a it's a brutal systematic and intentional way of humiliating someone. They would be stripped naked. And there's several reasons why someone would be flogged. One is to extract a confession that you would hurt someone so much that you want to get information out of them. Or the second is is just a standalone punishment. They've done something wrong and so you're trying to

teach the world a lesson through this one person being so brutally punished. Or the third is the preparation for crucifixion that they're hurting and humiliated before they even go to the cross. As we better understand what flogging is, it comes from the name flaggroom, which is a tool that would be used. It had a a wooden handle with leather straps that would come out and at the end of those leather straps would be lead balls and and broken pieces of of bone and even glass. It was used for the purpose of whipping someone over and over. A person would be stripped naked. Their body would be put over a post to expose their back with one soldier on either side. They would take their turns.

In the Jewish flogging, they would do 40 lashes minus one. So they would do 39, believing that the 40th lash would actually kill someone. So they would count each one and stop at 39. But in the Roman flogging, there there was no numeric count. There was no value. It was whatever was commanded. It was whatever however long their their arms could whip. It was how however long the uh the the the the process or the person uh would endure it, sometimes often ending in death. Many prisoners did not survive the Roman flogging. It was carried out in a way that was absolutely awful. They would not just whip the back and the sides,

but often it would hit the chest and the legs. There was no attempt to avoid any vital areas, no numerical count. Jesus was flogged over and over and over again. Historians, ancient writers like Ucibius and Josephus described victims of their day who were laid bare and whose intrails were visible. See, not only would the metal balls, these these lead balls cause deep bruising and internal bleeding, the bone fragments would tear open the flesh, causing skin to hang off like ribbons.

This is why we understand scripture speaks forward of the Messiah in such a way some 700 years before Jesus was ever born. Isaiah the prophet spoke and said in chapter 52:14, "His appearance was so marred beyond human semblance and his form beyond that of the children of mankind. Many scholars believe that his flogging was so serious. This is why, as Luke accounts, he could not even carry his cross to Galatha. He was close to death, which is why when he was hung on the cross, he died quicker than many would die. Oftent times they would die through suffocation.

And the Romans would break the legs so that a person couldn't stand up on the on the nails. And Jesus did not have to have his legs broken as the scripture tells us. He had no bones broken. But he could not be recognized. He didn't look human. He was so ripped apart. His flesh was so ripped apart that the scriptures say he didn't even look like a man. And it's important to understand that this prophecy written of old has been fulfilled through the promise of this person Jesus. And John notes next in verse two, the soldiers then twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. Remember he's naked.

His flesh is now exposed. They came up to him saying, "Hail, King of the Jews." And they struck him. He was beaten with fists, with slaps. One scripture says they they ripped the hair out of his beard. So here we have a coronation, but like the devil does so often, it's twisted. There is a crown, but not of gold. There is a robe, but they're not treating him with royalty. Instead, they're humiliating him instead of giving him honor. John is intentional because he wants you to see the irony. Here is the king of all kings and they're missing it. They do not recognize what's right in front of them. You see, Jesus wasn't being beaten because he was weak. This is intentional submission.

There are times that you will go through suffering not because you're doing the wrong thing, but because you're doing the right thing. This is a purpose purposeful submission to God. He has said this over and over. Jesus does not fight the crown of thorns like so many of us would do because of what this crown represents. The first man that was that ever lived on earth was Adam. Adam had a a great responsibility. He was given dominion over all the earth. He was he was given the birds of the air and the the beasts of the field. He he was given all of the garden. It was so good. He had a right relationship with a woman. Come on, somebody.

Everything was good until chapter three of the whole Bible. Till Adam didn't do what was right. He didn't lead his wife well. Till Adam, he caved in and gave into sin. He didn't do what God wanted. He did what he wanted. And as a result, the Bible tells us that the curse of sin entered the world. Not just into man, but also into the earth. Listen to Genesis 3:1 17 to 18. Cursed is the ground because of you. In pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you. So creation was cursed with thorns because of sin.

And now this curse is being pressed into the brow of what Paul describes Jesus as the second Adam. You see, the first Adam, which means man, was created in the image of God. There was no sin until he took his free will and rebelled against God. And from that moment forward, every single human has been born in sin. The Bible tells us we've all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. until Jesus. He's the only man that's ever lived that did not sin. So the way Paul describes him, the the writer of the New Testament, he calls him the second Adam. And this second Adam who had no sin takes on the curse of sin.

The king is crowned with the consequences not of his sin, but our sin. Here they are mocking what they don't recognize. And there are some of you here today who do not fully recognize Jesus as the king supreme over all. So with our lives, we we make a mockery of Jesus. With our lives, we're still living in the curse of sin. With our lives, we're not letting Jesus rule and reign. Instead, we're dictating our future. Jesus is right in front of him. He's real. And they didn't surrender to the reality of who he is. Some of you think today that if my circumstances just changed, I would change. If I lived in Jesus day and I could touch Jesus, then then I would surrender my all to Jesus. But let me just tell you, that's not the truth.

The Bible shows us over and over and over again. People were right there. They had the opportunity to do the right thing and instead they rebelled. This is a fulfillment of all the prophetic promises of Jesus. Isaiah 53 points us to Jesus. And it's not just some vague poetry that we're just reading from an author, an a an old author, this ancient text. Listen to Isaiah 53 really clearly. This is fulfilled through Jesus. He was despised and rejected by men. a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, and as one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows. Yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. And upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace. And with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. The punishment that brings you peace was on Jesus here in this text today. It is by his wounds that we are healed. Jesus steps forward and does what no man has ever done before. He He suffered not because he had done anything wrong. He's not reaping the consequences of his decisions or his

sin. Instead, he's taking on your consequences. He's taking on your sin. And he did all this so that you could be set free. Hallelujah. This why we read this text and say it's not for the faint of heart, but it is for those who have faith. Because if you believe it, you receive it and you recognize the greatness of your God. That he is the suffering servant to set you free. Look at Pilate. He's trying so hard to do things his own way. He went out again and said to them, "See, I'm bringing him out to you that you may know. I find no guilt in him. He's innocent. He's not being punished because he's done something wrong." So Jesus came out

wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said, "Behold the man. Behold the man. Could you just say those three words with me? Behold the man. The phrase is completely loaded. He's bloodied. He's bruised. He's beaten. And Pilate wants to say the man, not just any man. Because Pilate knows this is not an ordinary man. This is the man, the creator that's come and is now in the flesh. The fullness of grace and truth is right there. This is the man. Where Adam rebelled, Jesus obeyed.

Where Pilate is just grasping for power, Jesus doesn't use his power. He releases it. Jesus is humanity the way God intended us to be. He does not need to use force and power or manipulation. But what we see in this text is what if we really examine our own hearts and we really see this reality in the world we're living in right now. Fear will make you reject the truth that's right in front of you. Fear will make you reject the truth that's right in front of you. Let me tell you, people have done some dumb things out of fear. I see it all the time. And fear is an emotion that that is real. And let me just say, if you are afraid of the uncertainty of the future

or you're afraid of what you're going through or you have fear for any reason, that feeling is real. And I'm not here to unvalidate your emotions. But what I am trying to say is do not make decisions based on your feelings. You need the fact and reality that Jesus is sovereign. Jesus is supreme overall. He is the king of all kings. So you make your decisions based on faith and the fact of who God is, not your feelings. You see, the religious feared Jesus, so they wanted him dead. Pilate feared the crowd, so he didn't follow his convictions. The crowd's operating in fear. One day they're shouting, "Save us." The other day they're shouting, "Crucify him." Fear will make the crowds loud.

Fears make lies popular. fears make makes evil sound reasonable. It's the best option. When the chief priests and the officers saw Jesus, they they saw him in the robe with the crown of thorns. They saw his body ripped open. They shouted, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" There's an important truth that we see throughout history, and we still need to preach it to ourselves today. The loudest voice isn't always God's voice. The loudest voice isn't always God's voice. Today, we have more voices shouting out us than ever before. You've got the voice of Tik Tok, Instagram, Facebook. You've got all the news media outlets. You've got your friends, your families, your co-workers. We've got those in our own community trying to

tell us what is the truth. And we've got all these voices shouting out us. But let me just tell you, the loudest voice isn't always God's voice. Because sometimes God whispers. Sometimes he's silent. So don't don't neglect the silence as if God isn't trying to communicate something to you. And just because the crowds are saying one thing, we've got to recognize today we don't seek for their approval. We don't seek to the crowds for the truth. We go to God's word. We want to hear what God says. Pilate is arguing on Jesus behalf. And he says in verse six, I find no guilt in him. But when you have fear, it just doesn't care about the facts anymore. We talked about this last week with Peter. Fear

makes cowards of the confident. Remember Peter who so quickly said, "I'll lay down my life for you, Jesus." And Jesus like, "Oh, will you?" And remember that rooster crowed because Peter became a coward in the moment when he wasn't ready with the conviction that that I'm going to do this not because it's easy or convenient. I'm going to do this because it's right. So here you got this tension happening. Who's really in charge? Are are the politicians in charge or are the religious in charge? We could ask the same thing today, my friends. Who's really in charge? Is Pilate in charge? Are the are the priests in charge? The religious leaders think they're in charge. But here, Jesus, beaten, standing before them all, is the one really in charge.

Fear makes you forget who's in charge. Fear will make you make your own decisions instead of seeking God's will. Fear will never fix your problem. Let that speak to you today. The Jews answered Pilate when he said, 'I find no guilt in you.' They said, 'We have a law. According to that law, he ought to die because he's made himself the son of God. He's made himself equal with God. If anyone ever tries to tell you that Jesus never said he was God, no, he did repeatedly. We have one God and three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And Jesus regularly, regularly received the reality that he is the son of God. He spoke of God the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God in three persons. And they declare this as heresy according to the Torah. According

to what you read in the law of God in the ancient text, the Torah, a person would be put to death for heresy. Anytime someone would mistreat the name of God, could you imagine that today? Someone says the name of Jesus, we put them to death. It' be a lot of dead people. Uh so they're arguing saying this is according to the law. But when when Pilate heard this, we better understand what's happening in his life. He was even more afraid. He was already operating in fear. And we don't know. Is this an awe of God or is this a I'm out of control? And the religious are taking over moment. Pilate senses something terrifying. Something's happening right in front of him. Jesus cannot be controlled. So he enters once again to Jesus, verse 9, and

he says, "Where are you from?" Because in the previous chapter, if you remember, Jesus says, "My kingdom is not from this world. It is for you. It's for every one of you today." He said, "For this purpose, I was born to be the king of this kingdom." And now Pilate is trying to get down to the bottom of this. Where is this kingdom from? Where did you come from? I want to know who you actually are and why this is actually playing out before me. But Jesus, it says, gave no answer. Because sometimes silence is weightier than words. He doesn't need to respond to him. And Pilate pulls a power move. This is what happens when you lose control. You pull out your power. You try to manipulate with power. And so he says to Jesus, "Do you not understand the power and the

authority I have? I could either set you free or I could crucify you." And Jesus so calmly answers, "You would have no authority over me at all." Someone shout at all. At all. Do you understand? You're not even breathing at all unless God said you can breathe. Everything you have is because God has entrusted you with this. And he says, "The only reason you have authority is because God, my father, has given it to you." This word is for somebody today. You see, Pilate thinks he's in charge. The religious think they're they're in charge. But in reality, Jesus does not deny that Pilate has authority. He doesn't say, "Well, you're not the real

governor. God's the real governor." He doesn't say, "You don't have real authority. God has" No, he doesn't deny the authority of Pilate. He just completely redefineses it. It's important that you understand that whatever you've been through, God's allowed you to go through it. He doesn't deny it. He just wants to use your life. He wants you to be a good steward of your life. He wants you to take what God's given you and to use it for his glory. Jesus put it this way in Luke 16:10. One who is faithful in very little is also faithful in much. One who is dishonest with very little is also dishonest in much. Whatever you have in your life, my friends, is an opportunity for God to get the glory. You might say, "Well, pastor, I've suffered much. You don't know what I've been through." I don't know what you've been through, but I know what Jesus has been through, and

I know his suffering wasn't in vain, and I know that he can take everything you've been through, and it's not wasted with God. So, it was with with Joseph, who was betrayed by his own brothers. And when his brothers tried to come before him, it was Joseph who said, "What you intended for evil, God used for good." And so we look into our lives today and we better understand the principles of God. When you surrender to the King of Kings, it's not the absence of suffering, but we see salvation in suffering. We look forward and long for a greater world. That this world is not my home. This is not heaven. I want heaven to come to earth. I want God's kingdom to come to earth, but I'm not going to settle down here and say somehow I get to control it like I'm God. There's one God. Jesus is not a victim of history. He is the author of

it. And as he heads to the cross, this is not plan B. It's exactly what he determined. He's not losing control. He's actually exercising all authority. He has all authority and he willingly laid down his life. Jesus warns us and I pray you take his word seriously today. He said, "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?" Amen. See, no matter who you are, no matter where you've been, no matter where you are, you can have health, you can have wealth and come to the end of your life and have nothing.

You are created with a soul by God to know him, to be loved by him. So, what good is it to try to control the things of this world and actually not realize that you're missing the surrender of your soul to the savior that made you? See, this was true then and is true now. And you got to say it to yourself when you watch the news. God is still in control. God is still in control. It doesn't matter what politician is in power. It doesn't matter what Congress legislates. Let me tell you, God is in control. This is important because fear will always shrink God. Fear will put God in a box and you will think that there's no way God can work through this. But faith magnifies him. Faith says, "I believe revival could happen in my generation."

Faith believes that cancer must bow down at the name of Jesus. Faith says that your suffering is not in vain, so I surrender you to the all authority of the King of the most high, Jesus. That if he suffered, then we say our suffering is not in vain. It's going to be used for God's glory. The Bible says in Proverbs 9:10, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight." You need to understand this truth. It's a fact. The only thing you should fear in this world is God. That's it. You don't need to fear economy. You don't need to fear politics. You don't need to fear your parents. You don't need to fear what's happening with your kids. You don't need to fear what's going to happen with your future. You don't need to fear what's going to happen with your health. The only thing you should fear is God.

That's it. Everything outside of that is a sin. For we take on the rights of God. We actually think God can't work in those things. We think that somehow God won't work in those things. But the beginning of wisdom is declaring, "Oh, I know my God. He's greater than what I can see. He's greater than what I'm going through. He's greater than what I can control. So therefore, if I fear the Lord, I'm going to obey the Lord because if I don't fear the Lord, I'm actually doing my own thing. And here's what it really comes down to. I have the fear of man. I want the world's approval, not God's approval. And there comes a point that all of us have to really wrestle with this. All of us.

Whether you're in the military or you're in school, whether you own your own business or you work for someone else in a business, you have to say, "Do I fear God or do I fear man?" And and trust me in this, it's not easy to truly come to a conviction in your heart that I will fear God more than I fear man. John did not write this right after Jesus died and rose from the grave. He actually wrote this book at the end of his life. So undoubtedly he had witnessed some crazy stuff. All of his brothers dying because of their faith in Jesus. He's he's witnessed what happens when you stand for King Jesus.

The the the kingdom of this world doesn't like it. But yet he writes this for us still out of conviction to say it's worth it. He is worthy of it all. We just sang the words, "Praise the Lord, oh my soul." That those that's not just meant to be a song. It's meant to be the reality. I want to praise the Lord, oh my soul. Few years ago, I had to have this conviction in my own heart. Do I do I fear God or do I fear man? And let me tell you, as a pastor, I like to be liked. But as a pastor, at some point you have to have a conviction that I could please some of the people all the time, but I'm not going to please all the people all the time. So, so I have I have to determine that when I make a decision, am I doing this so that you like me or am I doing this because I know it's the right thing?

It's integrity. It's righteous. This is what the word of God says. And sometimes that's confused. Sometimes that's misunderstood. Sometimes people only have a part of the story, but they come to a completely different conclusion. Just like what we see in the world today, Pilate here in this story is a pagan trying to convince the religious that Jesus is Messiah, the king. He he says in verse 14, "Behold your king." He's called him the man. He's now called him your king. And they cried out, "Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!" The crowd chooses the wrong king. Away with him. Now, here's what happens when we operate in fear instead of operating in the truth is we want to get rid of the truth when we don't like it.

[laughter] Get rid of it. Get rid of it. I I don't want to deal with this any longer. Get it out of my sight. Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your king?" And the chief priests answered, "We have oo no king but Caesar." Here's the tragedy. When faced with the king of all kings, humanity still says today, no matter what continent you live on, no matter what your governmental system is, humanity still says we have no king but Caesar. What we really want deep inside is political power because we think political loyalty will come into some type of spiritual freedom. But as we looked at last week, what we really need is spiritual liberty. We need spiritual freedom. And what we really see behind

every decision not to surrender to Jesus as king is spiritual rebellion. The same thing is happening today. We've got a great nation full of great opportunities. But it won't happen when we all live like everyone else. We cannot choose convenience over conviction or the fear of man over the fear of God. We cannot choose politics over the prince of peace. We see daily that we're living in a world where everyone thinks that they can be a critic of what's right when there's only one righteous. And if the crowd in the days of old miss the suffering servant, the King of Kings in front of them, who are we to actually say that we get it today? How often do we do the same? When obedience just costs too much, we don't do it. When surrender feels unsafe? When Jesus just

doesn't fit our expectations, we say, "Away with away with him. Give us something else. G just give me something else." Pilate wants to release Jesus. He said he's innocent, but the crowd says, "If you release this man, you're not Caesar's friend." And that's the breaking point. He doesn't want to lose his position. He doesn't want to lose his power. So verse 16, he gives a verdict. Go ahead, then crucify him. Fear will always cost something. There will be a consequence. I've had to wrestle with this my entire life and I myself have made some really dumb decisions in fear. And if I get

really vulnerable enough, I I've said some really dumb things in fear. In sobriety, clarity, a few cups of coffee on a Sunday morning, I could look like I got my life together. But you just wait until the end of the day. You just wait until someone's betrayed you. you you just wait until someone stripped you naked and now you're vulnerable or you've been beaten just a few times or you just get the crown of thorns thrust upon your head and that's when I realize I'm not a very good savior. We're we're on level playing field here. There's two kinds of fear that still exists to this day. There's the fear of the world or there's the fear of the Lord. There's the fear of what other people will think. There's the fear of what could happen or will happen or there's just the fear of God. And what we see with Jesus, he doesn't fear Pilate. He doesn't fear the religious

leaders. And he doesn't even fear the cross because Jesus knew that his suffering was going to lead to salvation. I love how the writer of Hebrews reminds us for the joy. Everybody shout joy. The joy that was set before him. He endured the cross. Could that help your suffering just a little bit? That what you're going through is not wasted. Something greater is coming on the other side. You're not going to get a resurrection without the death. You're not going to get the healing with without the sickness. We want the miracle. We just don't want the big old mess. But to get the miracle, you got to have a reason for a miracle. And then you have to have the faith, not the fear. So if we shrink back and say, "I don't think God's going to do it. I don't know if God's going to do it." Let me tell you, history says otherwise.

We don't need just somebody else in some other place to experience it. This is yours in Jesus name. Central Oregon shall be saved. Jesus is still the King of Kings. He can be your savior today. He still is the greatest man in history. And I just tell you today, behold the man. Behold your king. He does not need servants. He is the master. He does not need medicine. He is the healer. He does not need to force anyone to follow him. He is the king of kings. He committed no crimes. Yet, he was crucified. And he did this for you. And today, I tell you, if you don't know Jesus, you can right now. You don't have

to have it all figured out. You don't need to go clean your life up first to follow him. You don't need to go stop the things you're doing so that you can start following him. You start following him and then surrender it all. It's a journey. That's what it's like with Jesus. You're never too young to say fully yes, surrender to to Jesus. Never too young. And you're never too old to go allin for Jesus. Come on, somebody. Do you know the greatest stories in the Bible are the oldest people in the Bible? But God's just waiting for some young people like David to go against the giants of our age. when the whole crowd is shrinking back in fear. He's just looking for some. He's looking for the young. He's looking for the old. He's just looking for someone to go all in and say yes. And someone needs to do that today for the

first time. So, someone has drifted away from Jesus being the king of your life and you've been making your same dumb decisions and now you're reaping your consequences. We got a God of grace today. I love what the Bible says in Lamentations. His mercies are new every morning. God's not going to look at what you did last night or yesterday. He's looking at right now. Don't let the devil deceive you and think that somehow you are the dumb things you've done. You are who God says you are. Receive the grace of God today. It's forgiveness. It's identity. It's righteousness. It's yours in Jesus. You receive the power of the Holy Spirit to quit doing things on your own and now do what Jesus did. Do hard things. do them.

I've never met anyone that's regretted going allin for Jesus. It's usually people that say, "Well, I tried to do the Jesus thing and the world's thing." That's when it doesn't work. So today, if you [music] just close your eyes where you are, if that's you and you want to say yes to Jesus, just throw your hand up right now and just in full surrender, maybe one or two hands, [music] just say that's that's your yes to Jesus. Praise be to God. Yes. This is your act outwardly of saying what's in your heart. Because the Bible says in Romans 10 that all those who have believed in Jesus that he died on the cross for your sins. And if you confess it with your mouth that's on the outside that he rose from the grave, you will be saved. You're born again. You have a new start.

This is yours in Jesus. Anyone else today just raise your hand up. You say, "From this day forward, Jesus is my king. I'm tired of being king." Maybe you've drifted away and you said [music] yes a long time ago, but this is going to be your year of yes. Your year of obedience. Anybody [music] else? You're tired of rebellion. You're tired of doing your own thing. You're tired. He brings rest to the weary. He sets the captives free. Don't [music] waste this moment. If that's you, too, just raise your hand up high. Praise God. You can put your hands down. I want to pray with you today.

I want to celebrate that today is the day of [music] salvation in your life. You've got to start preaching to yourself. And remember, when you suffer, it's not over. Jesus is still Lord. You keep coming back to the promises of God. So, I want us all to pray the same [music] prayer out loud. Lord Jesus, I believe in you. Forgive me of [music] my sins. I receive your grace. You are good. I receive the Holy Spirit. Lead me and guide me. I obey you because you're always good. [music] You are the king. In Jesus name. Amen. and [music] a math.