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[0:00] Well, good morning.

[0:13] It's good to be out Sunday morning. See that you figured out the clock thing. You didn't do it the wrong way. I did that once. I think it had to be in the fall. And I sprang my clock forward.

[0:26] I was a single guy. I think that was what it was. And I was working at the time. Actually, I hesitate to call myself a bus captain.

[0:41] But I was technically the bus captain of a bus that the captain quit when I was the helper. And I just picked it up. And I remember showing up to church.

[0:52] And I'm like, where is everybody? Nobody was there. I was there two hours early. Whatever happened, I just was pretty messed up. And so then I just drove back to the house and didn't know what to do.

[1:04] It was a weird day. So I always get this just little fear. Every time the daylight savings time comes, I'm going to mess it up. But that spring forward, fall backward thing has really helped me a lot.

[1:16] So whoever came up with that, that's great. All right. Let's get into Matthew chapter 27. You know, it's all good from here on out. This is the only thing we have to deal with is losing an hour of sleep if we even lost one.

[1:28] Now we get to enjoy an hour of daylight. Praise the Lord. It's like we're coming out of the dungeon. I really hate the short days as far as the darkness when it's 430 and it's already getting dark.

[1:45] So that's over with. Hallelujah. We can have some life again. Matthew 27. We finished the chapter 26 when St. Peter going out and weeping bitterly.

[2:01] And we're in the stages leading up to the cross. And it's not defined specifically in just this Gospel of Matthew.

[2:13] All the back and forth of this night and into the next morning of where they drug Christ from council to pilot to high priest to those.

[2:25] It's not all laid out in detailed order in this book. And we're not going to flip through all the pages to kind of get that. But understand this was hours that went from place to place dragging him, walking him maybe in shackles or tied up from one scene to another scene where he stood before this person.

[2:48] And all of it was illegal. None of it was according to the law. Even before pilot, I believe there's just some things with the whole setup that wasn't quite right.

[2:58] But at any rate, we'll begin in verse number one. When the morning was come. So this night before, he met with his disciples in an upper room. They went out.

[3:10] He doesn't get any rest. They took some rest there in the Garden of Gethsemane. But he doesn't get any rest. You know what it's like to go through a night with no rest? I mean, the whole night. He spends time praying.

[3:20] He spends time with his disciples, teaching them, walking from the place in town out to that, through the valley and up to that other side. And to that garden.

[3:31] And then to be apprehended by the soldiers and be taken to, as we read back in chapter 26, to the high priest and to the council and assembled there in the middle of the night when everybody's sleeping and it's dark out.

[3:46] And now they're going to take him to pilot here. And the mornings come. A lot of people, I don't understand this for the life of me. A lot of people have this as Friday morning.

[4:01] Which absolutely makes no sense with the word of God. None at all. To call this Good Friday and to say Jesus Christ was crucified on Friday. You can't. It's a big problem when you try to take the scripture literal and he says three days and three nights will I be in the heart of the earth.

[4:19] And I think that's chapter 12 of Matthew. And so you don't get three days and three nights. And one of the things they try to do is count Sunday, the first day of the week, as a day. But when you read your Bible, it says as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, he's gone.

[4:35] He's not in that tomb anymore. He's not in the heart of the earth. So we can't count that as a day. And if we do the math and do it three days and three nights, we end up the best thing we can do here is put this as Wednesday morning.

[4:48] And when the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. And when they had bound him, they led him away and delivered him to Pontius Pilate, the governor.

[5:00] So their ultimate plan here of executing this man and just eliminating him from the scene, all their problems are going to go away. And they can go back to being in charge and people submitting to them.

[5:13] It's going off pretty well now. They've got the accusation they wanted. Back in chapter 26, verse 66, they answered and said, he's guilty of death. They're all in agreement.

[5:24] We've got him where we want him. Now we just got to get Pilate to sign off. And I don't think they felt like this was a big deal. Look at chapter 28. I mean, I don't think they're stepping into a situation that they're thinking this may backfire on us.

[5:40] I think they're fully confident they can handle this and that they're going to get their way. When the situation with the soldiers and the empty tomb comes about, I'm sure you know this area here.

[5:52] Verse 12, it says, When they were assembled with the elders and taking counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, saying, Say ye, his disciples came by night and stole them away while he slept.

[6:03] And if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him and secure you. So they took the money and did as they were taught. And so these Jews, these bigwigs, these aren't no just common people by any means.

[6:18] They're politically connected. They're powerful men. And now they're going to go to the Pilate, now the governor, and just finish the deal here and get him to sign off and make sure that he, you know, they've got no worry about anything.

[6:32] They can get him to do what they want. So they feel. So verse number 2 says, They delivered him to Pontius Pilate, the governor. Verse number 3, Then Judas, which had betrayed him when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I have sinned and that I have betrayed the innocent blood.

[6:54] And they said, What is that to us? See thou to that. That's on you, man. We don't care. And he distraught.

[7:05] He cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, just tossed that in their feet and took off. And notice verse 5 says, He departed and went and hanged himself. So this is blood money.

[7:17] And nobody wants to touch it. Nobody wants to be guilty of blood. Isn't that funny? You feel like touching the money makes you guilty of blood, does it? Is that what really makes you guilty?

[7:29] Is it if you take the money? And I want to know this. Where did the money come from in the first place? It came out of the treasury, I would assume, that these priests have access to it.

[7:40] They pay this man off, all part of their plot, so that he would betray him, so that they could take him, so that they could find false witnesses and accusations against him.

[7:50] And, you know, they want to kill the man. And it starts by costing him 30 pieces of silver. They didn't have a problem paying it then. Now they're going to pretend that they're holy. Now they're going to pretend that they can't touch it.

[8:03] And so he casts it down. Judas doesn't want it anymore either. Nobody wants to touch it. It's a guilty association with that money. I don't know about Judas, what he's thinking here.

[8:14] It's hard to really understand. Because we know in John, I mean, we know he's a bad character. He's got some things going against him. And in John, it says that Satan entered into him.

[8:25] And Jesus Christ says, what thou doest, do quickly. And so Judas takes off, and he does what he was planned. But when he saw that he was condemned, that means when he realized he's the guilty party here, he repented himself.

[8:46] And he's guilty, and he feels it, and he doesn't like it. And he's not happy with the money anymore. He doesn't want 30 pieces of silver in his hands anymore. And he goes and tries to make it right.

[8:59] And those men had nothing to do with him. They said, get lost. That's your problem, buddy. Get out of here. And so he doesn't just turn and run. He throws the money at him, takes off.

[9:10] And he's just messed up in his head. And so I don't know what's going through his mind here. It says he repented himself. I mean, he's sorry. He's trying to make it right, and he can't with those men.

[9:23] Maybe he thought, this is just a maybe. Maybe he thought that after all those years of preaching about a kingdom, that the Lord Jesus Christ, like there's no way these men can actually take him.

[9:35] There's no way that they can. I mean, I've seen the miracles he does. I saw earlier this night that he said, I am he, and they fell on their back. I know that this thing's okay. I'm just going to play these men and get some money out of them.

[9:47] I mean, that could be. That's kind of an angle that a deceitful money lover would take and then see, like, you know, Christ is the king. He's the king of the Jews.

[9:57] He's God's son. I've seen. I know who he is. And this thing isn't going to happen. They're the fools. I'm going to play them. I don't know if that was an angle that he took. It doesn't say that. It's just a thought. But I don't know if he actually believed that it would work, that the innocent would be condemned, that they'd ever be able to actually condemn him.

[10:16] Maybe he just thought, you know, you want him? Well, big deal. I'll deliver him to you for money. You give me the money and then you'll see where this runs out. But I doubt you're going to have any way with him.

[10:27] He's perfect. Every time they've tried to corner him, he'd say the word and they don't know how to answer him. Everything they came at him with, so far, he's just flipped it on him and he's flawless.

[10:38] He's innocent. He walks away and they can't put a hand on him. How's this going to change anything? At any rate, when he saw that he was condemned, like, oh, no, now I'm guilty.

[10:50] And now this thing's going through and they've taken him to Pilate, the governor, and I bet you he knows how this is going to turn out. They've got Pilate in their back pocket.

[11:02] He's getting nervous now. And so he tries to repent of this thing. He tries to get it right and it's not received. And he doesn't go and pray and he doesn't fall on his face.

[11:14] He doesn't do anything but take off and kill himself. He hanged himself. That's what a guilty person does when they feel like there's no way out. They just find, they look for the easiest possible way to resolve this.

[11:31] And this wasn't the right way, but it's what he chose to do. And I think it's something satanic about that thought of taking your own life. And I can make the case with the Bible saying that Satan entered into him.

[11:44] I can make the case showing you that he's a guilty man. And I can tell you this much, it's never ever the Holy Spirit of God that suggests to somebody that they end their life.

[11:55] It's not God's way and it's never been God's doing to try to lead somebody to just solve all your problems and end it right here. That's a devil move. That's devilish stuff.

[12:07] Kill yourself. Just put an end to it. And that's what Judas did. And that's something that's been going on all over this world. And there's people that preach against it for right cause, but sometimes they take it too far and they say that, well, if you're saved, you can't, you wouldn't do that.

[12:22] Or if you do that, you've lost your salvation. There's no Bible proof for that, by the way. It's just a, I guess, a feeling that just makes sense to some preachers that you really wouldn't do that if you had Jesus Christ in you.

[12:37] And that's not a Bible teaching. We don't even need to really deal with that. But it's something satanic or satanic involvement with that temptation and that, you read about that guy in Mark 5, that devil.

[12:50] What was he doing? He was cutting himself. That's another sign of somebody with a devil involved. I don't want to say they're possessed. I don't mind saying it, but there's definitely devil involvement and unclean spirits when you see people that are, they're led to cut their flesh and do things that are detrimental to their personal health for sake of feeling bad or guilt.

[13:16] And in this case, he took it all the way and took his own life. Anyway, let's get on with this. Chapter 27, verse number 6. The chief priest took the silver pieces and said, oh, look at this.

[13:30] It's not lawful. You know what, guys? We better not violate the law by touching this money and doing and keeping it. We're holier than that.

[13:42] We've got our robes on right now. We're the chief priests. We're sitting in this temple room here, wherever exactly they are. They decided it's not lawful.

[13:52] Now they're caring about the law, are they? I mean, arresting and apprehending this man in the night, which is against their law, and then bringing people that they know are false witnesses just trying to build a case against them against their law.

[14:07] But now they're going to worry about the law. They're such hypocrites. Their hypocrisy knows no bounds. In verse number 6, the chief priest took the silver pieces and said, it's not lawful for to put them into the treasury because it's the price of blood.

[14:23] So they admit that much. And they took counsel and they took counsel and bought with them the potter's field to bury strangers therein. Wherefore, that field was called the field of blood unto this day.

[14:36] Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, and they took the 30 pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value, and gave them for the potter's field as the Lord had appointed me.

[14:51] So how pious these men are that I'm believing, assuming they took the money out of the treasury to have this man be apprehended.

[15:02] And then when that money comes back to them, oh, it's not lawful for us to put it back into the treasury. They're just hypocrites. Notice in verse number 9, this is something that's worthy of pointing out.

[15:16] The prophecy that many, some people think there's a mistake in your Bible because it says that this, then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, and then the quote.

[15:27] And many know that this is, that this is very quickly associated with Zechariah chapter 11. And if you look, Zechariah 11 verses 11 or 12 and 13 are the verses that these match best in our Old Testament.

[15:45] And so some people say, oh, look, there's a mistake in the Bible. That's got it wrong. It should say Zechariah the prophet. And it's so much of a problem for some, even the scholars, even one that is a pretty bright man, C.I. Schofield, in his Bible.

[16:01] He puts a note here to help me out. And he says, the allusion is to Jeremiah 18. And that's where I went by the field of the, or to the potter's house.

[16:15] And he brought a work on the wheels, if you recall that passage. And even in chapter 19, mentions the potter's house again. So he says, the allusion is to Jeremiah 18 and Jeremiah 19.

[16:27] But more distinctly, to Zechariah 11. And I'd say no. It's a whole lot easier than that. Mr. Schofield and others. Matthew's not alluding to anything.

[16:40] He said this, then was fulfilled. This is a fulfillment of a prophecy. It's not an allusion to something that is kind of vague about Jeremiah going down to the potter's house and watching him brought a work and God saying that I can do with the house of Israel what I'm doing with this potter and the clay and, you know, it's marred in his hand.

[17:01] It has nothing to do with this at all. This is about buying a field with money. And here's the solution. If it sounds like it's a problem, verse number 9 in your King James Bible says, then was fulfilled that which was, what's the next word?

[17:14] Thank you. It's not that hard. It doesn't say that which was written by Jeremy the prophet. It says that which was spoken. My Bible says in 2 Peter 1 that holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

[17:28] It doesn't say they wrote as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. And even though Jeremiah is a large book, 52 chapters, one of the biggest in this Bible, that doesn't contain everything that came out of his mouth as he ministered for the Lord.

[17:42] If you think it does, then I guess you have to assume that the only time Obadiah ever had anything was just one. I guess that also means that Jonah only preached eight words because that's all we have recorded.

[17:57] Eight words. So that's, of course that's not the only message Jonah preached. It's just the glimpse of scripture we've been given. And the same is true for all those prophets.

[18:08] Nowhere is it defined as this is the only revelation or the only inspired words preached by these men. It's not even close to that.

[18:20] As a matter of fact, God is speaking through men all through the Old Testament times. And only certain of them are recorded and retained in this canon as scripture, as written.

[18:31] If it's scripture, it's script. It's written. And all scripture is given by inspiration of God. And so is the preaching that was done by these men. And obviously, Jeremiah, as well as Zechariah, both got the same message about this and spoke that.

[18:49] So there's no problem. And if you don't like that way, if you think, oh, you're just trying to make the Bible okay, and it's obviously a glaring error, if you really want to say that, I can't help you much.

[19:04] What I can say is you can't prove that that's an error because it does say spoken. And when it's all said and done, there has never been, and there never will be, but there has never been to date an error proven in the text of this Bible.

[19:22] A proven error that you can prove it's wrong. And that's why. Right there, that one says spoken, not written. So it's definitely not an error. I can prove errors in the other versions, though.

[19:34] That's not a hard thing to do. I mean, we could just flip a page or two to Mark chapter 1 in most of the new versions and find a problem they have identifying prophecies in which prophet preached it and didn't preach it.

[19:45] And that's for another time. Okay. Matthew chapter 27, and we got to verse number 9. Verse number 10, they gave them for the potter's field as the Lord appointed me.

[19:59] In verse 11, then, and Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the king of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest. And he's just affirming the statement.

[20:13] And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. And then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? And he answered him to never a word, insomuch that the governor marveled greatly.

[20:31] So our Bible tells us that as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened on his mouth. And this perplexes the governor. He marveled, he cannot understand how a man that is, he's not even fighting for his life.

[20:47] They want to kill him. And he said, do you not hear how many things, one after another, after another? I mean, the one guy gets up and says, Pilate, this man is, he's guilty of an insurrection.

[21:01] He's trying to, he says he's a king. And Pilate's like, oh, really? I mean, they've had this stuff happen before. For instance, even Barabbas, that's going to be the next character in this story, he was guilty of being part of an insurrection.

[21:17] He's called a robber. He's called a, he said he committed murder in the insurrection. There's been uprisings coming, and they have to be squashed by the Roman government. And Pilate doesn't want to allow another one to pop up under his jurisdiction, for sure.

[21:31] That looks bad on him. He's not the king. He's not Caesar. I mean, he's just the governor overlooking this spot. And this guy's claiming to be a king, is he?

[21:44] Are you a king? Are you a king? Crickets. And so, Pilate, if I may.

[21:58] And they come with another accusation. You know, just a little bit ago, when we were trying to sort this out, he has people following him. You know how many people he has following him? You got people following you?

[22:09] One of them pulled a sword out just a few hours ago and took a swing at one of us. Really? Violence? No answer.

[22:20] You got people following you with swords, taking swings at people? Nothing.

[22:33] Pilate's just, what is up with this guy? Why is he in my courtroom? Why is he standing before me in the morning, early morning?

[22:44] Why are they so angry about this man? They want to kill him. They want him dead. And I can't find anything wrong with him. So much so that if you read these gospels, he says it over and over and over again.

[22:56] I find no fault in him at all. I find in this, or find in him, I find in him. They hate words. But it's given a few different cases.

[23:08] All right. So he answered him never a word. And what a thing just to be mute in front of his accusers. Verse 15. Now that feast, the governor was wont to release unto the people a prisoner whom they would.

[23:22] That word want means it's a usual, a customary thing. You can look at, in John's gospel, and he even uses that word, there was a custom. And Pilate says that.

[23:33] So if you come across a word, you say, I don't use that word. I don't know that word. All you got to do is read your Bible. Study your Bible. And this book defines itself. And it gives you light all over the place.

[23:45] It never leaves you stuck. If you want to learn it, you just keep reading it. So now at the feast, the governor was wont to release unto the people a prisoner whom they would. And they had then a notable prisoner called Barabbas.

[24:01] Barabbas, as I mentioned already, is guilty of sedition and murder. He's trying to be part of an insurrection, overthrowing the government. And he says in another place, now Barabbas was a robber.

[24:13] He's just a bad man. I mean, he's got a rap sheet. He's a total criminal. And he's being locked up for good reason. And Pilate's thinking, okay, I mean, a notable prisoner.

[24:26] He didn't just get a slap on the wrist and, you know, not pay his child support or something. The guy has got some guilt associated with him.

[24:37] And everybody knows it. In verse number 17, therefore, when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto him, whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas?

[24:49] I know they won't take this guy. Or Jesus, who's called Christ. For he knew that for envy they had delivered him.

[24:59] Now there's something about this that we'll just take a minute here this morning and look at. Isn't that an interesting way to phrase that? An interesting point to bring out in the scripture.

[25:12] Pilate knew that for envy they had delivered him. It wasn't because of what they say. It wasn't because he's really causing a stir.

[25:26] He knew that. It wasn't because Peter was swinging his sword at somebody. It wasn't because he had people following him. It wasn't because he called himself a king or others believed him to be the king of the Jews.

[25:39] Or the Christ, as he just said with his mouth. Jesus, which is called Christ, the anointed one. He knew that for envy these pompous, hypocritical, pious, and powerful men brought him before me.

[25:58] It's because they envy him. And he hasn't answered me a word. He's just as quiet as a church mouse. And these men are angry. I mean, Pilate's got some discernment here.

[26:11] He sees right through them. But there's something about envy that we need to watch out for. Look back at the Proverbs. Come back to Proverbs 27. Envy is something dangerous.

[26:28] It's deadly. And that's the right word to use there. Proverbs 27. Notice verse number 4.

[26:48] I'll back up to verse 3. A stone is heavy and the sand weighty. But a fool's wrath is heavier than them both. You don't want to be around a fool and his wrath, do you?

[27:00] Wrath is cruel. Anger is outrageous. So that's some bad stuff, huh? But compare that to envy, verse 4.

[27:13] But who is able to stand before envy? Wrath? Sure. You can put up with somebody's wrath. Somebody explodes and goes off in a rant. Somebody just lays into you in rage.

[27:28] A fool's wrath? That's heavy. Anger? That can cause some trouble, yeah. But who's able to stand before envy? You take a look in your Bible and find out a few things about envy.

[27:40] You're going to find out back with Joseph. It was envy, it says, that his brothers delivered him off. They wanted to kill him. They hated him. You find here with Jesus Christ, it was envy.

[27:53] And were they going to stop? They wanted him dead. You come into Acts chapter 7, you see the same word in them killing Stephen. There's something about envy that it doesn't have an end.

[28:07] It has to go and go and go until you're out of the picture. Come back to a little earlier in the Proverbs, I don't know if I have it marked. 14, yeah.

[28:19] Proverbs 14. Notice verse number 30.

[28:37] You'll see in verse 29 the mention of wrath and being slow to wrath. But then in verse 30, a sound heart is a life of the flesh.

[28:51] But envy, envy is the rottenness of the bones because it's on the inside. It's the cancer that eats the container that it dwells in.

[29:03] Come to James chapter 4, I think it's 4. Yeah, James chapter 4. Envy dwells on the inside.

[29:15] Envy is what I believe is a sin of the spirit. In 2 Corinthians chapter 7, the Bible tells us to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit.

[29:30] And James chapter 4, envy is one of those things that's a filthiness of your spirit. In James 4, here's the verse, verse 5.

[29:41] It associates envy with the spirit inside of you. Do you think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? Envy is rottenness.

[29:53] It's on the inside. In the Bible, it's associated always with violence and murder. You don't want to be guilty of envy.

[30:07] You don't want that to grow inside of you, where you start to hate and to despise somebody else over what they have going for them, or maybe their success. The Jews wanted that power that Christ had, and they wanted that wisdom that Christ had.

[30:22] It was obvious he was, I mean, even as a 12-year-old in the temple, he's dealing with them in the way that they blew them away. I mean, they could not shake the fact that this guy knew the scriptures, he applied the scriptures, he spoke scriptures to us that we've heard and known, but we never, I mean, we'd read it in Matthew 22, that God's not the God of the dead, but of the living.

[30:44] He said to Jacob, or he said to Abraham, I'm the God of Abraham, to Moses, I'm the God of Abraham, they never one time in their life thought that would be applicable. This guy, where does he have this wisdom?

[30:57] They envied him. He was always right, by the way. He was a sincere threat to their position. And Pilate looked at that, and he said, I know what's going on here.

[31:09] I know why you're in my house this morning. It's because you envy this man. He's 33 years old. You guys are probably 60 and 70, and maybe even up.

[31:22] And you can't stand this young man. And you're telling me all this stuff that's wrong with him, and I'm not, and none of it's making any sense. Why are we here, boys?

[31:32] What are we doing? Pilate knew that for envy, but the problem was they wouldn't relent. And that's envy for you. It's not going to back down. It's the rottenness in their bones.

[31:45] It's destroyed them through and through. They are not backing down for anybody. And they're going to see this thing through all the way. In Matthew 27, come to verse number 19, when he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him.

[32:03] Oh, she has a message for him, huh? Isn't that interesting? Pilate's wife is going to try to get a message to her husband in this early morning while he's seated on the judgment seat.

[32:14] I don't think that's common practice for the wife to have to, I want to tell you something. I mean, she doesn't sound like she says, honey, you come over here and let's talk. No, she sends a message to him saying, have thou nothing to do with that just man?

[32:28] Why? For I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him. Isn't that interesting? Pilate here gets a warning from his wife as he's seated in the judgment seat about to pronounce judgment upon the Lord Jesus Christ.

[32:46] And he has the authority to dismiss him or to condemn him. And before anything goes, before he makes a decision, his wife says, don't mess with that man.

[32:57] I've had some suffered, she says, many things this day in a dream because of him. Now, that's not the only one. Earlier in this passage, verse number four, Judas said it, I have betrayed the innocent blood.

[33:13] Pilate's wife said that he was a just man. Pilate himself, later that night says, or look at verse 23, 23, the governor said, why?

[33:24] What evil hath he done? They haven't pinned anything on the man yet. He's innocent. He's just. Haven't pinned any evil upon him.

[33:36] Yet Pilate, just like any of us, just went forward with it, didn't have the guts to stand up against it, and delivered him to be crucified, as we all well know.

[33:47] There was more people that bore witness to that, his innocence that night, even all the way to the moment that he was crucified, when the centurion beheld the skies.

[33:59] He said, certainly this was a righteous man. They knew he was innocent. All right, verse number 20, but the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas and destroy Jesus.

[34:14] So it wasn't just the priests and elders. The multitude is going to chime in throughout this night, and it's here in this passage, it's in other gospels, but it shows us that these men persuaded them.

[34:25] You may not recall this, but it's when we first moved here, probably in that first summer, I guess it's going on two years now, we did a study in Sunday school on the power of persuasion. I think it went maybe just two or three weeks, and it was a study.

[34:40] I just found it super interesting because there were six tactics that I came across of business persuasion practices, how you can persuade someone to buy your product was basically the idea.

[34:55] And I went through and studied those out and showed from scripture how those things are real, how they're true, and I showed you with Bible examples the power of persuasion, and it can be used against you was the point, in spiritual realm.

[35:08] It's interesting, these men had the power of persuasion. They persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas and destroy Jesus. Did the multitude wake up that morning wanting to kill Jesus Christ?

[35:23] It was the chief priests and elders with envy of that man and his power and wisdom and innocence and all of it. I mean, it was this multitude that just a week ago was doing what?

[35:37] Laying down their garments, laying down, strolling the streets with the palm branches and lauding him and the children in the temple crying out, Hosanna to the son of David.

[35:50] A week ago, what were you doing a week ago? I mean, were you involved in something so spectacular and exciting and now you're just ready to kill that person? The people didn't wake up that morning with that in their hearts, but these elders persuaded them.

[36:07] I don't know how they did it. I don't know what they used. They're, if they threatened them, if they, as earlier, or maybe, I guess it was Wednesday night we saw, the, some have believed on Jesus Christ, but because they would be cast out of the temple, they were afraid to, they were ashamed of him, they were afraid to, what's the word, confess him because they'd be cast out of the synagogue.

[36:34] Maybe they were threatening them like that. I don't know what they were doing, but they stirred up the people and they persuaded them, they must have had some power, that they should ask Barabbas.

[36:46] Are you kidding me? How about this? If we had a situation similar and we came to a vote here and it was like obvious answer, obvious, you don't want to mess with this, this is the easy choice, this is, just makes sense on every level to choose this one, but I have this thing against that one and I want you all to choose this one.

[37:11] And so I go around and just work every one of you as best I can to not take that, you got to take this one. And to actually turn this crowd against the obvious choice to take something that is not good, that is Barabbas compared to Jesus Christ, that's impressive.

[37:32] That's real impressive. And they asked Barabbas not only to take Barabbas, but they also said, destroy Jesus. They're the ones crying out, crucify him.

[37:44] In verse number 21, the governor asked and said unto them, whether the twain will ye that I release unto you, they said Barabbas. Pilate said unto them, what shall I do then with Jesus, which is called Christ?

[37:56] And that's a great question. That's a question that not just Pilate put forth and had to answer, but that's a question that every soul has to answer. What shall I do then with Jesus, which is called Christ?

[38:11] I believe you're here today. You've received him. You've chosen Jesus Christ. You've taken him as your savior. But everybody needs to make that choice.

[38:23] And while we're here, let's just end with this. Some people need to be presented with that choice. They need to hear, there's a Jesus that you could choose.

[38:34] And if you don't choose him, you're defaulting to probably yourself and choosing yourself over Jesus Christ. And yourself, you're looking pretty much like Barabbas.

[38:46] If we started looking at your sins and stacking them up, the world needs to know that there's a Jesus Christ that'll die in their place. They need to know, they need to make a choice.

[38:58] And that's a great question. What shall I do then with Jesus? It's a great question if you can bring somebody to that point and you can ask them that very thing. I think there's been some tracks written with that little lie in there.

[39:09] What are you going to do with Jesus? What shall I do from that angle of pilot? We'll quit there and we'll pick it up Lord willing next week. So let's take 10 minutes and then come back at 10 o'clock. Thank you.

[39:20]  Thank you.