WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:03.600 John 18's where we're going to be today, John 18 this morning. 00:00:04.960 --> 00:00:12.100 This text description that we're going to dive into today, I want to preface it this way, because this is an interesting passage, 00:00:12.180 --> 00:00:18.740 and quite honestly, it's a little bit difficult to teach, because there's two storylines intertwined together. 00:00:18.740 --> 00:00:25.820 And oftentimes, when people approach this text, they kind of segment it out, and divide it into two different messages, because 00:00:25.820 --> 00:00:32.860 you'll see, starting in verse 12, you'll see how Jesus is carried off by religious leaders and he's put 00:00:32.860 --> 00:00:37.540 on trial, and then intermixed with this, is this interaction with Peter. 00:00:37.580 --> 00:00:44.600 Verses 15-17, and verses 25-27, Peter kind of peppers this story, so people look at it, and they can't really determine 00:00:44.600 --> 00:00:47.600 what to do with two different stories, and how they're intersecting. 00:00:47.940 --> 00:00:49.580 But I think I've figured it out. 00:00:49.600 --> 00:00:52.730 This is what we're going to do this morning, we're going to talk about how these stories intersect. 00:00:53.240 --> 00:00:57.640 And what makes this story a little bit challenging is, it's a polarizing story. 00:00:57.660 --> 00:01:04.780 I find when people read this, the common demeanor that we walk away with is, a good guys versus bad 00:01:04.780 --> 00:01:05.140 guys. 00:01:05.540 --> 00:01:12.700 It's kind of like, "Here's the bad guys and what they did with Jesus, and I'm team Jesus, and so I'm the good guy, and we don't like those bad guys." To the point that 00:01:12.700 --> 00:01:19.740 some people have read a passage like this, and they walk away with, kind of a anti-Semitic flavor in 00:01:19.740 --> 00:01:25.600 their attitude, that they have such disdain for the way people behaved towards Jesus. 00:01:25.640 --> 00:01:33.080 And I don't think that, that's God's intentions or God's goal for us in this passage and scripture, rather what I find is, there's this internal challenge 00:01:33.080 --> 00:01:39.500 with us to pursue God in the midst of adversary that we face. 00:01:39.520 --> 00:01:46.560 When I say it like that, there comes times in our lives where we can be put in a position of compromise, and what 00:01:46.560 --> 00:01:52.920 we choose to follow is oftentimes determined by the foundation that we have built our lives upon. 00:01:53.380 --> 00:01:56.260 That's really where you find Peter in this story. 00:01:56.880 --> 00:02:01.710 He's in this moment that's putting this pressure on him, and Peter actually makes a poor choice at the end of it. 00:02:02.040 --> 00:02:09.479 But I'm going to approach this text, not as if we're here to make an enemy of anybody, I really want to talk about our 00:02:09.479 --> 00:02:16.760 own vulnerabilities as human beings, that leave us susceptible towards bad decisions and walking 00:02:16.760 --> 00:02:18.800 down the wrong road in life. 00:02:19.300 --> 00:02:22.310 That's what we're going to title it here, is, The Wrong Road or the Right Path, how do we... 00:02:22.760 --> 00:02:27.080 Rather than go down the wrong road, how do we find the right path? 00:02:27.180 --> 00:02:33.350 And this is what we start to see in the life of Peter, as he is presented with this same challenge. 00:02:33.380 --> 00:02:40.600 There is this mob of people going down the wrong road, and Peter's being influenced to take that road with them. 00:02:41.900 --> 00:02:48.940 It leaves me to think, when you get a group of people together, you can oftentimes see a lot of great things happening, with a group of 00:02:48.940 --> 00:02:52.260 people, as long as their scope is healthy, right? 00:02:52.260 --> 00:02:59.520 The trajectory that they're on, as long as it's pointed in the right direction, a lot of great things can happen, but if you take another group 00:02:59.520 --> 00:03:04.050 of the same size and you put them down an unhealthy path, it can become very destructive. 00:03:04.900 --> 00:03:07.240 That's what we see in this story. 00:03:07.300 --> 00:03:14.500 So I'm going to talk about this morning, three ways where we have a tendency to be influenced toward the wrong road, and then we're going to talk about 00:03:14.500 --> 00:03:19.940 three ways to break free of that, as we see the struggle that unfolds in this passage or scripture. 00:03:20.600 --> 00:03:27.840 In verse 12, begins for us the section that says, "So the Roman cohort, and the commanders and the officers of the Jews, 00:03:27.900 --> 00:03:35.880 arrested Jesus and bound him, and led him to Annas, first, for he was father-in-law 00:03:35.880 --> 00:03:42.900 of Caiaphas, who was the high priest that year." If you picked up the notes this morning, the 00:03:42.900 --> 00:03:49.980 first part of your blank, starts to highlight the first way in which this group of people is being influenced to 00:03:49.980 --> 00:03:50.460 the wrong road. 00:03:50.540 --> 00:03:51.940 Let me just say this, before I give you the blank. 00:03:53.200 --> 00:03:58.620 What you see, these individuals, they've gone towards Jesus, and we looked at this last week. 00:03:58.860 --> 00:04:06.120 They went to the garden to arrest Jesus, and they came with hundreds of people angry at Christ, and they've 00:04:06.120 --> 00:04:07.520 come to arrest Christ. 00:04:07.740 --> 00:04:11.700 The question I'm going to ask is, what's motivating this group? 00:04:11.800 --> 00:04:18.920 Why is there such a disdain for Jesus, that they're choosing this moment to bind him and lead him 00:04:21.100 --> 00:04:24.160 and themselves, down this wrong road. 00:04:26.540 --> 00:04:29.320 I think the answer, very simple... 00:04:29.540 --> 00:04:36.700 And it could be masked under another word, but let me just give you the blank here; it's 00:04:36.700 --> 00:04:37.040 fear. 00:04:39.950 --> 00:04:47.040 I think when you start to look at these passages or scriptures, and you see how these individuals are behaving as a group, the thing that's motivating 00:04:47.040 --> 00:04:50.240 their decision is, a lot of it's driven by fear. 00:04:50.600 --> 00:04:56.280 And we could maybe say, and also a little bit of pride, but the pride honestly, is lending itself into fear. 00:04:57.720 --> 00:05:01.420 We, as people, make a lot of dumb decisions when we're afraid. 00:05:02.040 --> 00:05:08.460 Probably, we could say, some of the worst decisions we could make in life, happen out of a response to fear. 00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:11.540 And I would say the same thing for these individuals. 00:05:12.680 --> 00:05:20.620 They come together, this group, with this disdain towards Jesus, and a lot of what's motivating their behavior, is driven by fear. 00:05:22.160 --> 00:05:29.440 I got to say it like this, one of the reason's they're so concerned about Jesus, is that Jesus is bringing this tension 00:05:29.440 --> 00:05:31.760 into their way of life, and they don't like it. 00:05:32.040 --> 00:05:39.100 It's creating this divide between the peace that they have built with Rome, and Jesus is changing things from what they're accustomed 00:05:39.100 --> 00:05:41.390 to, and they're not comfortable with the change. 00:05:42.080 --> 00:05:49.400 Jesus is coming at the Old Testament, and he's highlighting certain things that are different than what they've been practicing within 00:05:49.400 --> 00:05:56.040 their own culture, and honestly, some of the things they're practicing are contrary to what God intends, and they don't like it, and they're afraid of losing it. 00:05:56.040 --> 00:05:57.800 And out of fear, they respond to Christ. 00:06:00.520 --> 00:06:07.700 And maybe motivated by their pride, not wanting to lose the identity they have, and therefore they cling to fear, over the idea 00:06:07.700 --> 00:06:12.000 of loss, and it leads them down this road. 00:06:14.320 --> 00:06:21.380 Number two, the thing that you see a little further from this, in verse 14 is, "Now Caiaphas was the one 00:06:21.380 --> 00:06:28.620 who had advised the Jews that it was expedient for one man to die on behalf 00:06:28.620 --> 00:06:35.660 of the people." Number two, the thing that motivated them down the wrong road, in addition to fear, is this idea 00:06:35.660 --> 00:06:36.680 of acceptance. 00:06:38.320 --> 00:06:41.680 Verse 14, you see it here when Caiaphas steps in. 00:06:41.760 --> 00:06:47.170 Caiaphas being the high priest, he's the leader of the Jewish people, he's the one that they would look to for answers. 00:06:48.070 --> 00:06:55.620 When they think of godliness, this picture of Caiaphas is what comes to mind, and after all, he's the priest of priests, for the Jewish people. 00:06:55.900 --> 00:07:00.120 Caiaphas gives this comment about his response to Jesus. 00:07:00.160 --> 00:07:00.520 He says... 00:07:00.960 --> 00:07:07.430 Now Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was expedient for a man to die on behalf of the people. 00:07:07.480 --> 00:07:13.100 Here's what he's saying; "If you disagree with what I'm saying, it's because you're not Jewish enough. 00:07:13.400 --> 00:07:14.400 You're not one of us. 00:07:16.100 --> 00:07:21.510 And if you want to be one of us, you need to get in line and listen to what all of us are about, otherwise, you don't belong. 00:07:25.020 --> 00:07:33.200 You're not Jewish enough." And when it comes to us 00:07:33.200 --> 00:07:40.400 as people, we all have that desire to want to fit in, to feel 00:07:40.400 --> 00:07:42.020 like we belong. 00:07:43.660 --> 00:07:50.960 When we talk about acceptance, I know when we consider having a conversation with our teenagers or our children about being 00:07:50.960 --> 00:07:56.600 accepted and finding the right crowd, we start talking about peer pressure, right? 00:07:56.600 --> 00:07:57.450 "Don't give into peer pressure. 00:07:58.710 --> 00:08:05.780 Let's not bow to peer pressure." It's unhealthy to do things because of peer pressure, but when we talk about us adults, we're too 00:08:05.780 --> 00:08:06.800 good for peer pressure. 00:08:07.420 --> 00:08:14.640 We don't use words like "peer pressure," we start to say things like, "It's not great for my reputation." A more honorable 00:08:14.640 --> 00:08:15.540 word, isn't it? 00:08:15.860 --> 00:08:19.880 We're grown up now, we're no longer giving in to peer pressure, we're all about our reputation. 00:08:20.780 --> 00:08:27.900 We need to think about our reputation, but what you see in this passage is, Caiaphas is challenging 00:08:27.900 --> 00:08:31.480 the Jewish identity. 00:08:32.700 --> 00:08:39.919 In a minute, you're going to see that Peter even struggles in his identity 00:08:39.919 --> 00:08:47.120 with the Jewish people when the pressure is put on him; "Where are you going to belong to, who are you going to side with," and Peter starts to worry 00:08:47.120 --> 00:08:49.290 about his reputation. 00:08:51.860 --> 00:08:58.900 In Israel, the leadership here, they're using their fear of Jesus and their 00:08:58.900 --> 00:09:06.020 pride toward their national identity, as a way to fuel the people to embrace the 00:09:06.020 --> 00:09:09.780 group, over godliness. 00:09:14.130 --> 00:09:21.670 We could even maybe taut it like this, "You aren't American, if you don't," right? 00:09:21.830 --> 00:09:28.890 Try to stiff arm and strong arm people into a certain decision, to follow after the group, even though what the 00:09:28.890 --> 00:09:30.950 group may or may not be doing, is godly. 00:09:34.770 --> 00:09:42.170 The group's influence by fear, driven by trying to be accepted... 00:09:44.170 --> 00:09:53.110 You look at a verse like verse 14, and it just reminds us, it's far more important to know who God says you are, than 00:09:53.130 --> 00:10:00.970 to strive to be who others want you to become; to choose Jesus over 00:10:00.970 --> 00:10:02.070 groups. 00:10:02.170 --> 00:10:04.410 The third is this, in verse 19... 00:10:04.410 --> 00:10:11.670 I'm going to skip a little bit ahead, and we're going to come back to the other two verses in a minute, but the third way that the group is driven down the wrong road, verse 19; 00:10:11.670 --> 00:10:16.090 "The high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples, and about his teaching. 00:10:17.530 --> 00:10:20.590 And Jesus answered him, 'I have spoken openly to the world. 00:10:21.470 --> 00:10:28.530 I always taught you in synagogues and in temple area, where all the Jews congregate, and I said nothing 00:10:28.550 --> 00:10:29.450 in secret. 00:10:30.170 --> 00:10:34.830 Why are you asking me, are those who have heard what I spoke to them... 00:10:34.830 --> 00:10:42.150 Look, these people know what I have said.'" But when he said this, one of the officers who was standing nearby, struck 00:10:42.150 --> 00:10:46.590 Jesus, saying, "Is that the way you answer the high priest". 00:10:50.130 --> 00:10:57.270 I'm just going to go out on a limb and say this, that, in whatever decision in your life, and whatever path you choose to follow, 00:10:57.490 --> 00:11:03.280 if your path includes binding Jesus, killing Jesus or hitting Jesus, it's the wrong path. 00:11:03.370 --> 00:11:03.790 Right? 00:11:04.890 --> 00:11:12.090 They're in the middle of the story, but the third way that we know that these individuals are walking down the wrong road, and the third way we're often influenced towards 00:11:12.090 --> 00:11:16.270 the wrong road, is that we are emotionally driven. 00:11:17.490 --> 00:11:21.410 You see this in the life of the individuals that arrested Jesus here. 00:11:21.530 --> 00:11:27.800 Jesus is talking to them reasonably, and their response in verse 22, is to turn around and smack Jesus. 00:11:27.990 --> 00:11:31.710 They were very much driven by their emotions and their decisions here. 00:11:31.710 --> 00:11:38.990 But here's the catch 22, when you think about the misleading of our emotions and how oftentimes we buy into our emotions, and it's 00:11:38.990 --> 00:11:44.160 usually not until after the fact, that you realize how much you've given into your emotion, and then you regret it. 00:11:44.270 --> 00:11:48.790 Nobody in the midst of their emotions would describe themselves as being overly emotional. 00:11:48.790 --> 00:11:51.350 Everything thinks that their emotions are justified, right? 00:11:51.630 --> 00:11:58.890 "I can give you 100 reasons why I'm so angry right now, and everything with my anger is, 'Okay to be angry.'" Until 00:11:58.890 --> 00:11:59.650 after the fact. 00:11:59.990 --> 00:12:07.430 But how do we know that our emotions have gotten the best of us? 00:12:09.030 --> 00:12:12.190 I don't think there's anything in and of itself that's wrong with emotion. 00:12:13.650 --> 00:12:18.850 I don't think necessarily, there's nothing specifically wrong with the idea of fear and acceptance. 00:12:19.010 --> 00:12:26.070 All those things can be used in a godly way or for godly purposes, if they're honed the right way, but it's not intended to 00:12:26.070 --> 00:12:28.350 be the primary guide to our life. 00:12:28.520 --> 00:12:32.700 Emotions aren't intended to be the driving force for the basis of your decisions. 00:12:33.370 --> 00:12:40.690 Emotions are a great part of life, and I want to enjoy life, and I want to do it with great excitement and rejoicing, all of 00:12:40.690 --> 00:12:41.050 that. 00:12:41.050 --> 00:12:42.610 God made emotions. 00:12:42.650 --> 00:12:44.250 He's the maker of emotions, right? 00:12:44.450 --> 00:12:48.710 There's reasons that God wants us to go through life, and delight with things. 00:12:48.710 --> 00:12:50.230 He tells us to walk with Thanksgiving. 00:12:50.870 --> 00:12:55.610 Emotions can be a good thing, even bad emotions, or maybe I should say, more negative emotions. 00:12:55.790 --> 00:13:02.630 There's the warning signs that God has given us in life, when we walk down the wrong path, that just indicate, maybe this is the wrong path. 00:13:02.690 --> 00:13:09.770 But how do we know that our emotions are tending 00:13:09.770 --> 00:13:12.450 to lead us more than what Christ desires? 00:13:12.530 --> 00:13:17.710 How do we know it's our emotions, and not the spirit? 00:13:19.130 --> 00:13:22.270 I found a lot of people confuse the idea of emotion with spirit. 00:13:24.670 --> 00:13:31.890 I mean, God is certainly a God of joy, but how do we know we're not giving into emotion, rather than 00:13:31.890 --> 00:13:32.670 the spirit of God? 00:13:32.670 --> 00:13:34.540 Let me just give you a few thoughts. 00:13:35.710 --> 00:13:40.330 When you think about the fruit of the spirit, the Bible says, "the fruit of the spirit," right? 00:13:40.750 --> 00:13:45.050 Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness. 00:13:47.410 --> 00:13:48.490 Just a couple of thoughts. 00:13:48.510 --> 00:13:56.710 Maybe you're justifying, or maybe we tend to justify our response, in 00:13:56.710 --> 00:13:57.590 an emotional way. 00:14:00.990 --> 00:14:08.150 And the way that we find that we discover in ourselves that we're doing that is, the fruit of the spirit is 00:14:08.150 --> 00:14:08.450 patience. 00:14:11.330 --> 00:14:18.510 And when I'm driven by impatience, maybe it's an indicator to me that maybe God 00:14:18.510 --> 00:14:23.290 is for what I'm about, but the way that I'm about it... 00:14:24.490 --> 00:14:31.490 Or maybe I feel justified in my actions, and rather than lead with kindness, what's starting to come out in my life, because I'm 00:14:31.490 --> 00:14:35.510 so inpatient about what I'm seeing, is unkindness. 00:14:39.010 --> 00:14:46.170 I can look at probably the Jews in this story, and they probably feel completely justified in what they're doing, because they're afraid of what they might lose. 00:14:48.470 --> 00:14:55.590 And so in being justified in their fear of what they might lose, and their stand against Jesus, what you can see very plainly 00:14:55.590 --> 00:15:02.790 in verse 22, no matter how justified they have felt, where they're going is leading 00:15:02.790 --> 00:15:09.210 them to a place of being unkind, and not exercising patience. 00:15:11.510 --> 00:15:16.190 Perhaps this is a great place to have some warning bells that they're walking the wrong road. 00:15:19.210 --> 00:15:26.370 So in our lives, when fear drives us, when our longing to be accepted by others more 00:15:26.370 --> 00:15:33.530 than Christ, is guiding us and we're all caught up in our emotions, how 00:15:33.530 --> 00:15:33.980 do we respond? 00:15:35.210 --> 00:15:42.490 I don't know if any of you has ever seen this diagram before, of like, when we're emotionally 00:15:42.490 --> 00:15:50.270 led, there's a way that we tend to think religiously, that 00:15:50.270 --> 00:15:53.030 is unhealthy towards our relationship with God. 00:15:53.030 --> 00:16:00.870 Meaning, we tend to, if we led by our emotions, tend to sometimes stop thinking rationally, 00:16:00.890 --> 00:16:07.990 but for some reason within the idea of belief or faith, we have allowed emotion to dictate 00:16:08.130 --> 00:16:11.980 decision, over what's right or what's true. 00:16:12.770 --> 00:16:15.590 And religious groups will tend to taut this. 00:16:16.050 --> 00:16:17.200 This is how it happens in our lives. 00:16:17.930 --> 00:16:23.960 A great leading down the wrong road, is to base your faith off of how you feel, to base your faith off of emotion. 00:16:24.070 --> 00:16:25.510 Let me just give you an example why. 00:16:27.090 --> 00:16:31.310 Lots of different religions in this world, and let's say I present three of them to you this morning. 00:16:31.610 --> 00:16:38.790 Let's say we have a Muslim, we have a Hindu, and we have a Buddhist that come forward, and we ask them all the same question; how do you know what's 00:16:38.790 --> 00:16:38.890 true. 00:16:40.890 --> 00:16:47.930 And this is not to be disrespectful to religious beliefs, but let's just say we present those three in front of us this morning, and we ask them, "How 00:16:47.930 --> 00:16:55.050 do you know what's true," and the response to justify their faith is, "I know what I believe is 00:16:55.050 --> 00:17:02.070 true, because of the way it makes me feel." And if you just listen to what I have to say, and you pray about what I'm telling you, 00:17:02.070 --> 00:17:07.650 if you feel good about it, then what you hear from me is true, and that's how you know it's true, because of the way you feel. 00:17:09.310 --> 00:17:14.930 The problem with that is, if all three religions say the same thing, all three religions can't be true. 00:17:16.790 --> 00:17:23.190 And the reason they can't be true, is because all three religions teach a different religious system, and a different God that they base their belief systems on. 00:17:24.010 --> 00:17:25.030 They can't all be true. 00:17:25.349 --> 00:17:29.610 They can all be wrong, but they can't all be true, because all of them are talking about a different God. 00:17:29.610 --> 00:17:31.750 Yet, all of them claim to have positive feelings. 00:17:34.710 --> 00:17:41.710 There's a saying I like to say, that, "Faith is more important than just to base your pursuit of God on feeling," 00:17:42.030 --> 00:17:48.890 because there are some things about God that you may feel make war with your soul, but are completely true. 00:17:50.090 --> 00:17:53.550 And when you read that story about the Jews in this passage and scripture, that's exactly where they are. 00:17:54.450 --> 00:17:58.180 Given over to their feeling, driven by fear, want to be accepted by their people. 00:18:00.590 --> 00:18:08.730 And because of that, rather than walking in patience to what Christ is saying, rather than being kind and considerate, they 00:18:08.730 --> 00:18:09.170 attack him. 00:18:10.630 --> 00:18:17.730 And this is generally how it goes; we have a positive spiritual feeling, which brings to us a spiritual witness that it might be 00:18:17.730 --> 00:18:24.170 true, which then we confirm is the Holy Spirit, which then we determine, must be a spiritual truth, which gives us spiritual feelings again. 00:18:24.230 --> 00:18:26.170 And it becomes nothing but circular reasoning. 00:18:26.550 --> 00:18:33.800 There is no basis for factual data or physical proof, but I want you to know that, when it comes to the Christian faith, 00:18:34.670 --> 00:18:38.930 our faith is far more important than just simply basing your life off of some sort of feeling. 00:18:39.730 --> 00:18:41.890 You're talking about your identity. 00:18:41.890 --> 00:18:43.350 You're talking about your eternity. 00:18:43.350 --> 00:18:46.890 You're talking about why you exist, like, how you live your life. 00:18:46.930 --> 00:18:49.240 The pursuit of forever, that's what we're talking about. 00:18:49.470 --> 00:18:53.670 This is a significant thought, and more important than just simply, to base it off feelings. 00:18:53.670 --> 00:18:55.690 Because here's what happens with feelings, eventually, they leave. 00:18:57.790 --> 00:19:01.640 Eventually, like Peter will see in just a moment, eventually you're going to be put in a hard place. 00:19:05.790 --> 00:19:12.690 And in that moment when there are no positive feelings, or it's difficult in those feelings, and those feelings flee, where do you go? 00:19:15.010 --> 00:19:15.990 You crumple. 00:19:19.370 --> 00:19:26.290 That's one of the most beautiful things that I love about the Christian faith, is to recognize that God created us; body, soul, spirit, mind. 00:19:27.710 --> 00:19:31.850 And when God gave us a mind, God gave us a mind for the purpose of thinking. 00:19:34.870 --> 00:19:42.490 Faith should not be driven by feeling, though feelings can be an important part, faith should be driven by fact, by truth. 00:19:45.370 --> 00:19:52.710 And so three wrong ways that we walk down this road, but let me talk about then, three ways that we can break free. 00:19:53.410 --> 00:20:00.810 By the way, one of the worst times to talk to somebody about their feelings, is when they're all caught up in their feelings, right? 00:20:00.910 --> 00:20:05.610 When we're all in an emotional state, you don't look to someone and say, "You know what you need to do? 00:20:05.610 --> 00:20:10.070 You need to calm down," that's like the worst thing that you can do when someone's all... 00:20:10.130 --> 00:20:14.350 "I feel like you're too into your feelings right now." That's only going to flame the discussion. 00:20:15.130 --> 00:20:18.650 Recognize that sometimes we can become creatures of feeling, and we can be given over to our feeling. 00:20:19.490 --> 00:20:23.270 It's more important to lay the foundation of life, before those feelings come. 00:20:23.290 --> 00:20:27.710 That way, when those feelings come, you can undergird it with what is right, what is true, what is honorable. 00:20:28.270 --> 00:20:35.510 So three ways then, that we can break free from those toxic paths in life, that can lead us down the wrong road. 00:20:35.690 --> 00:20:39.850 The away from fear, and the need for other people acceptance, and emotionally driven. 00:20:41.500 --> 00:20:46.930 Chapter 18, verse nine, let me tell you the answer first, before we get into it. 00:20:46.970 --> 00:20:48.190 Three ways to break free, number one. 00:20:48.570 --> 00:20:49.540 Number one is, humble truth. 00:20:52.550 --> 00:20:55.950 Number one is humble truth. 00:20:58.470 --> 00:21:05.230 When I say "humble truth," I want to be clear in recognizing, I don't mean weak truth. 00:21:07.570 --> 00:21:14.930 Sometimes when we think about the word "humble," we think, "spineless, coward, wimp." I don't think that's the biblical word 00:21:14.930 --> 00:21:15.630 of humble. 00:21:15.710 --> 00:21:18.090 The biblical word of humble, is really all about confidence. 00:21:19.690 --> 00:21:25.330 It's someone that need not prove themselves, that can take the position of a servant, because they're completely secure in their own identity. 00:21:26.790 --> 00:21:33.950 They are completely resting upon a truth claim, that is not going to rock their world, when someone else comes along and makes a different 00:21:33.950 --> 00:21:36.570 statement, that's contrary to it. 00:21:36.810 --> 00:21:38.250 Confident people are humble people. 00:21:39.250 --> 00:21:46.250 And it's not confidence in us, it's confidence in Him, and everything that he has created and proclaimed for 00:21:46.250 --> 00:21:47.130 us, and about us. 00:21:49.010 --> 00:21:56.230 The reason I want to just highlight that idea of humble truth not being a weak truth, is just look in verse 19, at Jesus's response here. 00:21:56.230 --> 00:21:59.920 If you imagine, in the middle of this moment, Jesus is being attacked by his own people. 00:22:00.290 --> 00:22:07.390 They're making a "Jesus or Jewish, which are you," so the world is turning against Christ, and even Rome is coming against him at this point. 00:22:07.590 --> 00:22:14.610 And in verse 19, look at this, "The high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples." The high priest wants to start pulling in the disciples with it, 00:22:14.630 --> 00:22:15.550 and take them down, right? 00:22:15.550 --> 00:22:16.690 He's coming after Jesus. 00:22:16.690 --> 00:22:23.990 He's saying, "Let's now talk about, not just you and what you taught, but let's talk about your disciples too." And in verse 20, Jesus answered 00:22:23.990 --> 00:22:31.110 him, "I have spoken openly to the world, and I always taught in synagogues, and in the temple area, and where all 00:22:31.170 --> 00:22:31.940 the Jews congregate. 00:22:33.030 --> 00:22:35.410 And I said nothing in secret. 00:22:35.490 --> 00:22:36.610 Why are you asking me? 00:22:36.850 --> 00:22:44.010 As those who have heard what I have spoken to them, look, these people know what I have said." But when he said this, one of the officers 00:22:44.010 --> 00:22:48.230 who was standing nearby, struck Jesus, saying, "Is that the way you answer the high priest". 00:22:50.250 --> 00:22:54.490 Jesus here, responds in humble truth, but humble truth is not weak. 00:22:56.050 --> 00:22:57.510 Jesus is not like, "Oh, you're right. 00:22:57.530 --> 00:22:58.230 They were in it too. 00:22:58.830 --> 00:23:06.770 Take the attention off me, and let's get these others in here." Jesus stands boldly, and 00:23:06.770 --> 00:23:07.810 puts it all on him. 00:23:09.190 --> 00:23:10.000 "You want to talk about disciples? 00:23:10.210 --> 00:23:11.970 Let's not make it about more than what it is. 00:23:11.990 --> 00:23:13.010 This is about what I said. 00:23:14.210 --> 00:23:15.470 This is about who I am. 00:23:16.450 --> 00:23:23.450 This is about the truth that I proclaimed." The way to break free from 00:23:23.450 --> 00:23:26.210 walking the wrong road, is humble truth. 00:23:28.270 --> 00:23:31.400 And Jesus, in these moments, he does it boldly. 00:23:32.490 --> 00:23:36.210 And then in verse 21, what he's pointing them back to, is the way to discover the truth. 00:23:38.770 --> 00:23:45.810 The Jews that have come to arrest him, they're making all these accusations of Jesus, they're walking in the fear, they're trying to find their acceptance among 00:23:45.810 --> 00:23:47.370 their group, not among God. 00:23:47.750 --> 00:23:54.950 "You're not Jewish if you don't do this." Caught up in their emotions, and Jesus 00:23:54.950 --> 00:23:58.420 says, "Why are you asking me? 00:23:59.370 --> 00:24:01.650 Ask those who have heard what I have spoken to them. 00:24:01.650 --> 00:24:08.690 Look, these people know what I've said." But when he said this, the officer who was standing by, struck Jesus, saying, "Is this the way you 00:24:08.690 --> 00:24:09.690 answer the high priest". 00:24:09.730 --> 00:24:14.170 Then verse 23, "And Jesus answered him, 'If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong. 00:24:14.550 --> 00:24:16.990 But if rightly, why do you strike me". 00:24:19.590 --> 00:24:22.560 What Jesus is actually doing, is he's pointing back to the Jewish law. 00:24:24.750 --> 00:24:32.120 Jesus knows that there's certain rights and laws, in Jewish practice, when someone is brought on trial, that need to be observed. 00:24:33.210 --> 00:24:40.750 And those laws include that if someone's making an accusation against him that person making the accusation, needs to bring forth witnesses, 00:24:41.990 --> 00:24:46.250 that truthfully accuse them of the wrongfulness that they've done. 00:24:48.010 --> 00:24:50.350 And Jesus is saying, "Look, obey your own laws. 00:24:50.350 --> 00:24:57.470 You're caught up so much in this, that you're not even observing what you're told to do, what is true to do, what is right to do. 00:24:57.890 --> 00:25:03.470 You need to walk through this in the right way, to listen to what other people have said about what I have taught. 00:25:05.050 --> 00:25:07.250 Stop in your emotions and use your mind. 00:25:07.250 --> 00:25:08.650 Just consider. 00:25:08.710 --> 00:25:13.510 Don't worry about just trying to necessarily identify with people, but listen to what's been told to you. 00:25:15.410 --> 00:25:16.090 Listen to what God's spoken. 00:25:18.050 --> 00:25:23.110 Humble truth." Jesus, in the story, points them back to the truth. 00:25:24.710 --> 00:25:26.340 There's a reason there is a process. 00:25:28.390 --> 00:25:33.210 They don't want to just put people against one another, the world's had enough of that. 00:25:35.110 --> 00:25:36.870 Your side versus the other side. 00:25:39.350 --> 00:25:45.710 Let's walk with kindness and patience, and humble truth. 00:25:46.150 --> 00:25:53.370 Not only is it important to see that Jesus is pointing them to the truth, but in verse 23, Jesus is also 00:25:53.370 --> 00:25:55.310 doing this graciously. 00:25:57.530 --> 00:25:59.290 He points to this truth, graciously. 00:26:00.850 --> 00:26:04.230 Jesus doesn't respond to their emotion with emotion. 00:26:04.390 --> 00:26:10.450 Jesus doesn't respond to their, "Might makes right," by flexing his muscle back. 00:26:10.650 --> 00:26:16.370 Jesus doesn't scream, Jesus doesn't create a scene, or Jesus doesn't make enemies. 00:26:17.250 --> 00:26:18.210 He's loving, and he's truthful. 00:26:20.710 --> 00:26:28.050 You guys know, no one's ever gotten in the middle of an argument and started in a shouting match and one person looked at the other and said, "Oh, thank you so 00:26:28.050 --> 00:26:28.490 much. 00:26:28.570 --> 00:26:31.390 I wasn't understanding, until you yelled even louder. 00:26:31.430 --> 00:26:38.730 And now that you've yelled louder at me, I am more convinced that you are true." That's not what our arguments 00:26:38.730 --> 00:26:40.330 are helpful in. 00:26:40.330 --> 00:26:42.190 They don't help anybody, right? 00:26:42.190 --> 00:26:50.410 And Jesus, in these moments, rather than raise his voice in response back, he 00:26:50.510 --> 00:26:55.690 walks in humility, with truth. 00:26:58.830 --> 00:27:07.410 Guys, when we share truth with people, but we lack humility, we 00:27:07.470 --> 00:27:08.350 become just like them. 00:27:10.530 --> 00:27:17.570 Like, if you know someone's plainly wrong, in something they're doing or saying, and you come at them like a force 00:27:17.570 --> 00:27:27.510 with truth, matching their power with your power, and you lack humility, you 00:27:27.510 --> 00:27:30.520 become just like them. 00:27:31.550 --> 00:27:36.940 I love the way that Jesus, he's touching us through modeling here, in this moment. 00:27:37.990 --> 00:27:45.170 When I think about the beauty of this moment, and historically, how God's people have stood throughout history, one of the most 00:27:45.170 --> 00:27:52.210 famous interactions, Martin Luther, who I'm glad, if there's one fad that did not continue, was Martin Luther's 00:27:52.210 --> 00:27:53.170 haircut here. 00:27:53.360 --> 00:28:00.500 He was certainly led down the wrong road when it came to his barber, but this is a picture of Martin Luther, and this is in... 00:28:01.330 --> 00:28:08.880 Martin Luther, if you know anything historically about him, he led the Protestant Reformation, and he did so, on October 31, 00:28:09.580 --> 00:28:10.130 1517. 00:28:10.850 --> 00:28:18.630 Five hundred and four years ago, to this day, Martin Luther took a stand for truth, and he took a stand that was contrary to how 00:28:18.630 --> 00:28:22.230 the rest of the world was really going, in a lot of ways. 00:28:22.270 --> 00:28:26.150 He was a minority, I should say it like that, for truth. 00:28:26.650 --> 00:28:34.130 It was on October 31, 1517, that he tacked the 95 thesis to the door in Wittenberg, to the castle in Wittenberg, 00:28:34.490 --> 00:28:40.230 for a debate over things that he recognized, just people were not walking in accordance to God's word. 00:28:40.870 --> 00:28:48.010 But then it was in, April 19th, of 1521, 500 years ago, that Martin Luther was 00:28:48.010 --> 00:28:55.090 brought before Charles V, and laid out before Martin Luther, was all of the works that he had 00:28:55.130 --> 00:28:58.030 written about the truth of God's word. 00:28:59.610 --> 00:29:07.290 And it was and this moment that Martin Luther gave a statement that I find to be the statement, that I feel has 00:29:07.290 --> 00:29:09.590 really provoked what has became the Protestant Reformation. 00:29:11.010 --> 00:29:18.150 And the reason I think that this statement became so memorialized in this condition, is because of the way Martin 00:29:18.150 --> 00:29:20.010 Luther composed himself in these moments. 00:29:21.290 --> 00:29:22.810 Martin Luther, before... 00:29:22.810 --> 00:29:26.190 He's got religious leaders around him, he's got the king in front of him. 00:29:26.190 --> 00:29:33.250 Martin Luther, in this moment, could have very easily had his head cut off right after this, but I think that he walked into this 00:29:33.250 --> 00:29:40.790 moment with the grace of God behind him in such a way, that he was able to at least articulate a thought that 00:29:40.790 --> 00:29:47.790 really fueled, I think, what the Protestant Reformation became, and he said this, he said, "Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the scriptures, 00:29:48.690 --> 00:29:54.970 or by clear reason, I am bound by the scriptures I have quoted, and my conscience is captive to the word of God. 00:29:56.010 --> 00:30:02.760 I can not and will not recant anything, since it is neither safe, nor right, to go against conscience. 00:30:03.150 --> 00:30:04.690 May God help me. 00:30:04.690 --> 00:30:08.840 Amen." You know what you see in this [inaudible 00:30:08]? 00:30:09.750 --> 00:30:13.570 Humble truth. 00:30:14.130 --> 00:30:14.650 It's humble truth. 00:30:17.110 --> 00:30:20.690 Martin Luther could have gone in this room and been like, "You're wrong, and you're wrong and you're... 00:30:20.990 --> 00:30:21.970 " He could have called out names. 00:30:21.990 --> 00:30:23.030 He could have done all that, right? 00:30:24.330 --> 00:30:24.690 But he didn't. 00:30:26.010 --> 00:30:31.330 He's saying, "Look, this is how I discovered where I'm at, and this is how you can discover where I'm at. 00:30:33.330 --> 00:30:39.820 And unless I can be convinced logically, of where I'm at, being wrong, I don't want to walk that road. 00:30:41.330 --> 00:30:44.510 Cause at the end of the day, what I have to deal with, is my conscience. 00:30:46.650 --> 00:30:53.930 And therefore, what I must stand on, is truth." That's a beautiful phrase that just brings together, in a 00:30:54.010 --> 00:30:56.910 glorious way, humility and truth. 00:30:59.450 --> 00:31:01.510 How do we break free from the wrong road? 00:31:01.770 --> 00:31:03.470 It's humility and truth. 00:31:05.490 --> 00:31:06.850 Feelings can be misleading. 00:31:08.010 --> 00:31:15.690 There is a prison not too far from here, full of people, who felt really good about the decision they were making at the time, driven 00:31:15.690 --> 00:31:16.570 by their emotions. 00:31:19.230 --> 00:31:24.570 Emotions are a God given thing, but emotions aren't given to us to determine what's true. 00:31:24.970 --> 00:31:26.730 Truth transcends us. 00:31:28.790 --> 00:31:35.810 Truth, God is the creator of, and finding truth in Him, is far more important 00:31:35.810 --> 00:31:38.160 than the emotions that guide us as people. 00:31:38.570 --> 00:31:40.230 Humble, humble, truth. 00:31:40.630 --> 00:31:47.410 Number two is fear over faith. 00:31:47.450 --> 00:31:48.500 I'm going to show you this real quick. 00:31:49.930 --> 00:31:53.780 In verse 15, Simon Peter was following Jesus, and so was another disciple. 00:31:54.390 --> 00:32:01.240 Now the disciple was known to the high priest, and he entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, but Peter was standing at the door outside. 00:32:01.750 --> 00:32:07.270 So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the doorkeeper and brought Peter in. 00:32:07.670 --> 00:32:16.150 Then the slave woman, who was the doorkeeper, said to Peter, "You are not also 00:32:16.150 --> 00:32:23.630 one of this man's disciples, are you?" And he said, "I am not." In verse 25, now Simon Peter was still standing and warming himself, 00:32:23.890 --> 00:32:30.950 so they said to him, "You are not one of his disciples as well, are you," and he denied it and said, "I am not." 00:32:31.230 --> 00:32:38.510 And one of the slaves of the high priest, who was related to one whose ear Peter cut off, said, "Did I not see you in the garden with him," 00:32:38.510 --> 00:32:40.110 and Peter then, denied it again. 00:32:43.350 --> 00:32:44.090 Fear over faith. 00:32:44.190 --> 00:32:51.670 Now I know, when you read this story, you're like, "Okay, if your point is faith over fear, this is definitely fear 00:32:51.670 --> 00:32:56.830 over faith." We want to have faith over fear, not Peter, in this moment, is having fear over faith. 00:32:56.990 --> 00:33:02.460 And so when you understand the truth of what God calls us to, we certainly want to have fear over faith, but Peter is doing the exact opposite. 00:33:02.850 --> 00:33:08.970 So how do we take the story of Peter doing the exact opposite, and encourage us to not do what Peter's done, right? 00:33:10.230 --> 00:33:13.050 When I read this, I want to give Peter just a little bit of credit. 00:33:14.790 --> 00:33:19.790 When you read this story, you realize, all the other disciples have long since disappeared, except for two. 00:33:19.790 --> 00:33:24.250 There's one that's named, which is most likely John, who wrote the Gospel of John, and then there's Peter. 00:33:25.470 --> 00:33:27.110 And at least Peter's willing to show up. 00:33:28.590 --> 00:33:36.910 At least Peter's willing to put himself out there, and he knows that there's risks involved, but Peter falls, 00:33:36.950 --> 00:33:37.930 and Peter falls hard. 00:33:39.890 --> 00:33:41.810 He denies God three times. 00:33:43.510 --> 00:33:50.770 And when you read a story like this, cause I think if Peter, whom Jesus called the rock, is able to fall and to do it three times, I'm mean, we're capable 00:33:50.770 --> 00:33:52.030 of the same thing. 00:33:52.510 --> 00:33:58.160 We can get all puffy in our position, and the next thing you know, when you think that we're something special, we can fall as well. 00:33:58.350 --> 00:34:03.810 And not just once, like once you repeat a cynic, it becomes easier to do it, two, three times. 00:34:03.810 --> 00:34:04.550 And that's what Peter does. 00:34:04.590 --> 00:34:07.630 He starts just spitting off at the mouth and denying Jesus, right? 00:34:07.630 --> 00:34:09.540 One, two, three times, he denies Christ. 00:34:10.210 --> 00:34:14.889 That's why Proverbs 4:23 tells us to guard your heart, because from it, the well springs of life. 00:34:17.770 --> 00:34:24.940 Sin can destroy us, and for Peter, Peter falls here, because the cost was too much. 00:34:26.230 --> 00:34:26.949 He gave into fear. 00:34:28.250 --> 00:34:31.770 We think, just a little bit ago, Peter was taking out a sword to fight 600 plus people. 00:34:33.810 --> 00:34:35.770 Now all of a sudden, he cowers at the slave girl. 00:34:37.870 --> 00:34:42.010 Peter's afraid because the cost was too much. 00:34:43.270 --> 00:34:50.440 And actually, chapter five, verse 29, we see a little bit later that Peter, in the very near future, finds himself before religious leaders. 00:34:50.469 --> 00:34:55.550 And Peter says, in chapter five, verse 29, "Shall we not obey God, rather than man". 00:34:57.570 --> 00:35:04.690 Peter finds a place to stand for the Lord, but I want to remind you, in 2 Timothy 1:7, guys, it says, "God does not give you a spirit 00:35:04.690 --> 00:35:12.670 of fear, but of power and of love, and of sound mind." 00:35:12.670 --> 00:35:19.730 If you're reacting out of fear, most likely, you're not being led by faith. 00:35:23.070 --> 00:35:31.290 God's interest is not in pulling you from things that you need to run from, but rather drawing you into things that you're 00:35:31.290 --> 00:35:34.930 to live your life for, things to pursue in him. 00:35:36.490 --> 00:35:41.100 God doesn't give you a spirit of fear, but of power and love, and of sound mind. 00:35:41.790 --> 00:35:43.970 And here's where Peter finds the right road. 00:35:45.370 --> 00:35:48.910 In verse 27, Peter then denied it again. 00:35:49.990 --> 00:35:52.910 And immediately, a rooster crowed. 00:35:54.930 --> 00:36:02.330 Who would have thought a rooster crowing would have been a marker of God intervening 00:36:02.330 --> 00:36:05.100 in our life, but this is what happens for Peter. 00:36:05.250 --> 00:36:12.290 He comes to this moment and he's giving into fear, rather than faith, and then all of a sudden, a 00:36:12.330 --> 00:36:12.730 rooster crows. 00:36:13.750 --> 00:36:18.570 In Luke chapter 22, verses 61 to 62, this is, I think, written wrong at the bottom of your notes. 00:36:18.830 --> 00:36:21.850 I think it's written as John, but it's in Luke, chapter 22. 00:36:21.850 --> 00:36:22.510 There's no John 22. 00:36:23.530 --> 00:36:31.230 In Luke 22, verses 61 and 62, it tells us, "In that moment, when the rooster crows, Jesus actually looks at Peter, and 00:36:31.310 --> 00:36:32.870 Peter realizes what happened. 00:36:34.730 --> 00:36:41.330 And he runs out, weeping." And in John chapter 13, verse 38, Peter was told this by Jesus. 00:36:42.010 --> 00:36:49.290 Jesus comes to Peter and the rest of the disciples, and he said, "Guys, I'm about to die," and Peter's response to Jesus was, "Over my dead body that's going to happen, 00:36:49.370 --> 00:36:51.610 Jesus." If you're going down, we're all going down, right? 00:36:51.790 --> 00:36:55.290 And Jesus says to him, the very last verse of chapter 13, he says, "No, Peter. 00:36:55.370 --> 00:37:02.890 I need you to know that before this night's over, you're going to deny me three times before the rooster crows." 00:37:04.850 --> 00:37:08.960 And all of a sudden, this rooster crows, and Peter realized what he's done. 00:37:09.090 --> 00:37:12.470 And Jesus looks at Peter, Peter runs out, weeping. 00:37:13.530 --> 00:37:19.010 But I want you to know, this is a very gracious moment by God. 00:37:19.770 --> 00:37:27.610 When Jesus looks at Peter, he's not coming at Peter to realize, "Peter, you're a failure." He 00:37:27.610 --> 00:37:34.810 foretells to Peter that Peter's going to turn his back on Jesus, so that when the moment happens, Peter realizes that even 00:37:34.810 --> 00:37:41.850 knowing that Peter's going to deny Jesus, that Jesus did nothing in that night, other than just continue to love Peter. 00:37:45.050 --> 00:37:52.490 Knowing Peter was going to reject Jesus, Jesus still loved Peter. 00:37:53.670 --> 00:38:00.710 Guys, when I think about our journey in this world, I realize that 00:38:00.790 --> 00:38:01.790 we're not going to live life perfectly. 00:38:02.430 --> 00:38:03.410 When I think about... 00:38:04.010 --> 00:38:11.190 Sometimes we can be given into our emotions, and we are unkind, and we can be impatient, and we do want the crowd's acceptance over 00:38:11.190 --> 00:38:12.150 God. 00:38:12.170 --> 00:38:14.690 And we let fear led us, rather than faith. 00:38:16.950 --> 00:38:24.090 I want us to realize, when we look at the story of Peter and this rooster crowing, that it's not 00:38:24.090 --> 00:38:27.330 just a story for Peter, that it's a story for us too. 00:38:27.350 --> 00:38:33.460 That all of us have our own chicken, and I want you to see, the place that I got this chicken actually. 00:38:34.430 --> 00:38:34.890 There you go. 00:38:35.490 --> 00:38:42.030 Been looking for a way to work this in for a while, but you never know when your rooster moment's going to happen. 00:38:42.730 --> 00:38:50.350 It could be in the middle of Nowhere, Africa, all of a sudden someone comes to you, and they're like, "We want to give you a gift, and here's a rooster." I'll 00:38:50.350 --> 00:38:55.590 be honest, when I was almost 40 years old, this is the first rooster that's ever been given to me. 00:38:55.590 --> 00:39:02.810 And when you're in the middle of a jungle and you're around a village of people, and they come to you with a rooster, you 00:39:02.810 --> 00:39:04.490 want to pretend like you've been there, right? 00:39:04.950 --> 00:39:07.250 And they come up to me and they want to give me a gift. 00:39:07.250 --> 00:39:11.990 I didn't know they wanted to give me this gift, but all of a sudden, they just scoop up this rooster and they hand it to me like it's a gift. 00:39:11.990 --> 00:39:19.130 I want to pretend like I've been there, so I just grab the rooster like I have held a rooster before, but this is the first 00:39:19.130 --> 00:39:21.010 time I've ever held a rooster. 00:39:21.030 --> 00:39:28.290 And so, I'm holding the rooster like they handed it to me, and I'm looking all confident in picture one like, "Yeah, here's my rooster." And then you look at picture two, and 00:39:28.290 --> 00:39:31.290 then the rooster tucks its head, that little devil bird... 00:39:31.430 --> 00:39:38.530 I didn't know that roosters could turn so well, but he takes a glance down at my midsection, I'm like, "Man, I'm in the middle of a jungle, 00:39:38.570 --> 00:39:44.790 about to take a woo, on a rooster." You never know when your rooster moment's going to happen, right? 00:39:44.850 --> 00:39:46.230 And I think then the same thing with Peter. 00:39:47.130 --> 00:39:47.850 Same thing with Peter. 00:39:52.770 --> 00:39:54.330 Peter braved, just a few minutes before. 00:39:55.830 --> 00:40:02.330 And then all of a sudden, he is before a slave girl, and all of a sudden, his bravery is gone. 00:40:04.650 --> 00:40:12.170 Guys, when I look at this story with Jesus looking at Peter when this rooster crows, 00:40:12.810 --> 00:40:15.170 I think it's very easy to tie this story to us. 00:40:15.210 --> 00:40:16.010 Let me just tell you why. 00:40:16.330 --> 00:40:24.870 Quite honestly, I know it's funny to look at the pastor getting pecked by a rooster here, but the rooster isn't 00:40:24.870 --> 00:40:26.730 actually a real rooster. 00:40:28.390 --> 00:40:36.770 And what I mean is, in the Jewish temple, there was a position called the temple crier, and 00:40:36.910 --> 00:40:39.390 often he was referred to as the crower or the rooster. 00:40:42.030 --> 00:40:46.310 His job was to sound a horn when different positions were being taken in the temple. 00:40:48.790 --> 00:40:53.130 He would sound the horn at times when the alter was to be cleared of the sacrifice. 00:40:54.830 --> 00:41:00.030 He would sound the horn when the priests were supposed to come to the temple for the day, to start the worship. 00:41:01.710 --> 00:41:06.120 He would sound the horn when people were cleared to gather in the temple for sacrifice. 00:41:08.610 --> 00:41:15.610 On this particular night, not only is the rooster recognizing when Peter failed, but it's also 00:41:15.610 --> 00:41:19.280 a cry that's supposed to recognize when the worship is supposed to begin in the temple. 00:41:21.870 --> 00:41:25.370 Because if you think about the significance of the moment, this is Passover. 00:41:27.630 --> 00:41:33.010 This is when the priest is supposed to be walking to the temple to receive the lambs for sacrifice. 00:41:35.490 --> 00:41:41.870 This is the moment that they're supposed to be clearing the alter for the lambs, for this great festivity. 00:41:43.690 --> 00:41:51.050 But on this night, what you see in this passage of scriptures, rather than the high priest going to the temple for the busyness 00:41:51.050 --> 00:41:59.110 of one of the most important holidays that the Jews celebrate, rather than go there to receive the lambs, the 00:41:59.110 --> 00:42:02.090 high priest is about to receive the lamb. 00:42:04.390 --> 00:42:05.530 His name is Jesus. 00:42:07.750 --> 00:42:11.390 Caiaphas is about to have delivered to him, the lamb. 00:42:13.070 --> 00:42:15.750 That rooster becomes the mark for our lives. 00:42:17.610 --> 00:42:25.190 That when we think about the roads that we can walk in this world, there are many temptations that can lead us down the wrong road; fear, wanting 00:42:25.190 --> 00:42:28.720 to be accepted by others, caught up in our emotions. 00:42:31.230 --> 00:42:38.470 But then there are things that God gives us for the right road; humble truth, faith, 00:42:40.510 --> 00:42:42.210 and even these moments in these roosters. 00:42:44.590 --> 00:42:47.270 And the rooster represents for us, really a place of repentance. 00:42:49.370 --> 00:42:56.630 A place of recognizing that in Christ, because of his grace that never stops loving, we always 00:42:56.630 --> 00:42:58.060 have a place to turn. 00:42:59.490 --> 00:43:05.810 Because in Jesus, we always have that rooster moment, where God is completely aware of our failures. 00:43:06.890 --> 00:43:14.340 He sees us, but he never stops loving us, so that we can find ourselves in him, 00:43:15.170 --> 00:43:17.070 walking in the freedom for which he brings. 00:43:17.170 --> 00:43:18.630 Pursuing the right path.