Luke #51: Jesus Before His Judges (22:63-23:25)

It’s been a great morning of praise and worship, and it’s a joy to be able to share in this experience together. If you’re visiting with us this morning, thanks for being here. We’d really like to be able to connect with you to thank you for joining us for worship. If you could take a second during my message and fill out a communication card, which you’ll find in the back of the pew in front of you, we would really appreciate it. You can return that to us one of two ways: First, you can bring it down to me at the end of the service, because I’d like to meet you and give you a small gift as a token of our gratitude for your visit today. If you don’t have time for that this morning, you can drop the Welcome card in the boxes by the doors as you leave after the service ends. If you’d rather fill out something online, you can head to ehbc.org or download our church app (EHBC Albuquerque) and fill out the contact form at the bottom of the “I’m New” link.

If you are a female in the church, know that you are invited to our Women’s Ministry events. I didn’t announce it this morning, but the next one is the Ladies’ Tea the first Sunday of February. Anyway, I’d like to say thanks this morning to all of the ladies who serve on the Women’s Ministry Council, as well as our current director, Monica Seiler, for the work that they are doing to connect the ladies to one another.

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Opening

Last week, we looked at the path to failure that Peter took between his stalwart declaration of his loyalty to Jesus and his three-fold denial of even knowing Jesus later that night. And we saw that while we may forge a path of spiritual failure through misplaced confidence in the strength and solutions of man, God provides a path of reconciliation if we will trust in Christ and surrender to Him. We all need Jesus.

This morning, as we continue our look at the story of the king in the book of Luke, we will read about the legal trials that Jesus faced in the early hours of what we now refer to as Good Friday, as we consider Jesus Before His Judges. So please open your Bibles or your Bible apps to the end of Luke 22. Our focal passage is again a little long this week, so feel free to remain seated if you need to while I read it. Otherwise, please stand in honor of the declaration of the Word of God as I read Luke 22:63 through 23:25:

Luke 22:63–23:25 CSB

63 The men who were holding Jesus started mocking and beating him. 64 After blindfolding him, they kept asking, “Prophesy! Who was it that hit you?” 65 And they were saying many other blasphemous things to him. 66 When daylight came, the elders of the people, both the chief priests and the scribes, convened and brought him before their Sanhedrin. 67 They said, “If you are the Messiah, tell us.” But he said to them, “If I do tell you, you will not believe. 68 And if I ask you, you will not answer. 69 But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” 70 They all asked, “Are you, then, the Son of God?” And he said to them, “You say that I am.” 71 “Why do we need any more testimony,” they said, “since we’ve heard it ourselves from his mouth?” 1 Then their whole assembly rose up and brought him before Pilate. 2 They began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation, opposing payment of taxes to Caesar, and saying that he himself is the Messiah, a king.” 3 So Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” He answered him, “You say so.” 4 Pilate then told the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no grounds for charging this man.” 5 But they kept insisting, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee where he started even to here.” 6 When Pilate heard this, he asked if the man was a Galilean. 7 Finding that he was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem during those days. 8 Herod was very glad to see Jesus; for a long time he had wanted to see him because he had heard about him and was hoping to see some miracle performed by him. 9 So he kept asking him questions, but Jesus did not answer him. 10 The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. 11 Then Herod, with his soldiers, treated him with contempt, mocked him, dressed him in bright clothing, and sent him back to Pilate. 12 That very day Herod and Pilate became friends. Previously, they had been enemies. 13 Pilate called together the chief priests, the leaders, and the people, 14 and said to them, “You have brought me this man as one who misleads the people. But in fact, after examining him in your presence, I have found no grounds to charge this man with those things you accuse him of. 15 Neither has Herod, because he sent him back to us. Clearly, he has done nothing to deserve death. 16 Therefore, I will have him whipped and then release him.” 18 Then they all cried out together, “Take this man away! Release Barabbas to us!” 19 (He had been thrown into prison for a rebellion that had taken place in the city, and for murder.) 20 Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate addressed them again, 21 but they kept shouting, “Crucify! Crucify him!” 22 A third time he said to them, “Why? What has this man done wrong? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore, I will have him whipped and then release him.” 23 But they kept up the pressure, demanding with loud voices that he be crucified, and their voices won out. 24 So Pilate decided to grant their demand 25 and released the one they were asking for, who had been thrown into prison for rebellion and murder. But he handed Jesus over to their will.

PRAYER

Something that I believe is generally true—again, not always true—is that when we come to the narrative portions of Scripture, we tend to see ourselves as the perceived heroes in whatever passage we’re considering. We are Caleb and Joshua, declaring, “Let’s go up now and take possession of the Promised Land because we can certainly conquer it!” (Num 13:30) We are the shepherd boy with a sling and five smooth stones, facing down a giant (1Sam 17:40). We are Peter, when he said to Jesus, “Lord, if it’s You, command me to come to You on the water,” and then jumping out of the boat when Jesus said, “Come.” (Matt 14:28-29) These are great figures to aspire to be like.

However, this also means that we tend to look in judgment upon those in the narratives who aren’t what we would call the “heroes.” We frown at the fickleness of the nation of Israel, who complained, “Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to die by the sword?” (Num 14:3) We shake our heads at the weakness and fear of King Saul when he refused to go out and face Goliath, even though it was his job as king, and he was one of the only Israelites with a sword and armor (1Sam 17:11). We wonder why Peter looked away from Jesus at the wind and the waves, so that he began to sink, after he had just walked on water. (Matt 14:30)

But as it turns out, our perspective of these “heroes” is skewed. Joshua, David, and Peter were each great in their best moments, but still mere men. They didn’t do these amazing things on their own. There’s actually only one hero of every biblical story: our triune God Almighty, who sovereignly reigns over all things as Father, dies for our sins as Son, and brings regeneration and inspiration as the Spirit.

Joshua would not have been so strong and courageous if he had not experienced the incredible might of God in the defeat of the Amalekites (Exo 17). David would not have had either the confidence nor skill to face Goliath apart from God’s work in his life as a shepherd (1 Sam 17:37). Peter would not have walked on the water if Jesus had not done so first, and then commanded and enabled Peter to do so by faith.

So when we come to today’s passage, it’s not hard to see who the hero is: Jesus. He’s literally the only “good guy” in the whole thing. However, who are we more likely to be if WE are in the story: Jesus, or one of the “villains” sitting in judgment on Him? Would we be unjust because of selfishness, like the Jewish leaders? Would we be unserious, just hoping for a show from Jesus, like Herod Antipas? Would we be unstable, giving in to the whims of the crowd even though we know what is right and true, like Pontius Pilate? See, this is the problem: sometimes we’re the villains.

First, we consider:

1: The Jewish Leaders: The Unjust Judges

We pick up the thread at a strange place. Last week, our focal passage ended with Peter’s denial of knowing Jesus. What we need to understand is that the narrative of verses 55-62 is happening simultaneously with 63-71. Peter was out warming himself by the fire in the courtyard while Jesus was before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council. By telling the Peter part first, Luke simplifies the flow of his Gospel, because he can keep the focus on the events surrounding Jesus really without break from this point until His burial at the end of chapter 23. The Scripture tells us:

Luke 22:63–66 CSB

Luke’s record of Jesus’s experience before the Sanhedrin is shorter than the record of Mark, Matthew, and John. Luke condenses all of the events up to the transfer to Pontius Pilate into one nine-verse account, beginning with the beating that Jesus received at the hands of the temple police. This beating was possibly administered in order to “soften up” the accused, so that they would confess their crimes against the Jewish Law before even getting to a formal trial. However, it appears that the temple guards in this case saw it as a bit of sport, as they took the opportunity to mock Jesus’s reputation as a prophet through playing their own version of “Blind Man’s Bluff,” demanding that Jesus identify who hit Him while He was blindfolded.

It is sad to note that the temple police were staffed with members of the priestly tribe, the Levites, and that these were the people who were committing this beating of Israel’s Messiah. It shows just how far away from God the Jewish leaders were.

The fact is that as they beat and mocked Jesus, they were actually proving His identity, because Jesus had predicted in Luke 18:

Luke 18:32–33 CSB

32 For he will be handed over to the Gentiles, and he will be mocked, insulted, spit on; 33 and after they flog him, they will kill him, and he will rise on the third day.”

For Luke, the entire narrative of the trials that Jesus faced comes down to one question: Christology. Is Jesus the Messiah, or not? The dialogue that Luke recorded reveals the hearts of the leaders of the Jews in this regard. While they demanded that Jesus tell them if He is, in fact, the Messiah, Jesus knew that they would not believe Him if He told them the truth, and that they wouldn’t answer any questions that He might ask them in order to prove it. So Jesus ends with this statement saying that “the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God,” in verse 69.

This mention is a double reference—one to His identification with the Son of Man from Daniel, and the other to Psalm 110.

In Daniel 7:13-14, we read:

Daniel 7:13–14 CSB

13 I continued watching in the night visions, and suddenly one like a son of man was coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was escorted before him. 14 He was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, so that those of every people, nation, and language should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will not be destroyed.

And in Psalm 110, the psalmist writes:

Psalm 110:1 CSB

1 This is the declaration of the Lord to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.”

Jesus was clearly saying that He is the promised Messiah. Just to clarify that, they ask Him one more question: “Are you, then, the Son of God?” They know the Scriptures as well, and while Psalm 110 is a Messianic psalm, so is Psalm 2. And verses 7 and 8 of that psalm tell us:

Psalm 2:7–8 CSB

7 I will declare the Lord’s decree. He said to me, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance and the ends of the earth your possession.

And Jesus’s answer, “You say that I am,” while seemingly unclear to us, is taken by them to be an absolute admission, condemning Him of blasphemy (if He’s not the Messiah, which He is). However, they prove Jesus exactly right: He said that they wouldn’t believe it if He told them, and they don’t believe Him when He does.

Robert Stein summarized this moment really well in his commentary on Luke. He wrote:

For Luke the main point involved, “Who is Jesus?” (22:67). The answer came from Jesus’ own lips. Jesus is the Christ. His answer in 22:70 is understood as a clear affirmation by the Sanhedrin, as both the condemnation (22:71) and the charge (23:2) reveal. What was foretold in 1:32–33, came about by a virgin birth (2:11), received a divine commissioning at the baptism (3:21–22), was proclaimed in Jesus’ first sermon (4:18–19), was confessed by the disciples (9:20–21) was now openly confessed to Israel’s leaders (22:67–70) and would become more and more apparent in the subsequent events. Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ. Yet he is also more. He is the Son of Man who will soon share the divine rule (22:69). And he is even more. He is the Son of God. What had been known to Luke’s readers was now made known to the Jewish leadership. And Jesus’ glorification does not await the future parousia but has already begun with his ascension to God’s right hand (22:69).

— Robert H. Stein, New American Commentary Series: Luke

One thing that we need to consider again is “why.” Why did the Jewish leaders go through all of this trouble to condemn Jesus? It’s because of their selfishness. His ministry was a threat to their position, and it threatened the status quo:

John 11:48 CSB

48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”

While they seem to claim that their fear was national (that everyone following Jesus would lead to an anti-Roman rebellion which must be crushed by Caesar), the reality is that they feared losing their own position, their own power, because of Jesus’s popularity.

It didn’t really matter to them whether Jesus was actually the Messiah or not: He was in their way. They didn’t care about what was right or just. They only cared about themselves.

But remember that we’re not the hero in this story: we aren’t Jesus. In fact, we often act more like the villains—the Jewish leaders. So we have to ask ourselves this question: How do I treat Jesus unjustly? Don’t get me wrong—I’m a follower of Christ—but sometimes I treat Him very poorly. I might actually plan to sin, knowing ahead of time that Jesus died for me and that I’ll be forgiven, so I presume upon His grace. Maybe I try to steal some of the glory that belongs only to Him for myself, instead of turning it all to Jesus where it belongs. Or I say that I know that Jesus’s sacrifice is sufficient for my salvation, but I act as if it’s not quite enough, and that I need to finish the rest of it by my own good works in my own strength.

But the truth is that if we could save ourselves, then Jesus didn’t need to die at all:

Galatians 2:21 CSB

21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.

What a horrific injustice this would be for us to think! But the problem here is that all of us treat Jesus in ways that are unjust. He is the Savior, and we treat Him like He’s a killjoy. He is the Creator, and we try and squash Him into our ideas of what life should be. He is the Lord, and we attempt to inform Him of what He may or may not have access to in our hearts. When we try to make Jesus anything other than exactly who He is, then we treat Him unjustly and unfairly. We must repent of this perspective.

In the narrative of our focal passage, the next thing that happens is that Jesus is taken to Pontius Pilate. We’re going to come back to him. First, we we’re going to look at Jesus’s trial before Herod Antipas.

2: Herod Antipas: The Unserious Judge

We’re skipping a little because it makes more sense to me to keep the Pilate narrative all together. Pilate was informed that Jesus’s ministry started in Galilee, and so he sent Jesus to see Herod Antipas, because Herod was the tetrarch over the province of Galilee, and he happened to be in Jerusalem:

Luke 23:7–11 CSB

7 Finding that he was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem during those days. 8 Herod was very glad to see Jesus; for a long time he had wanted to see him because he had heard about him and was hoping to see some miracle performed by him. 9 So he kept asking him questions, but Jesus did not answer him. 10 The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. 11 Then Herod, with his soldiers, treated him with contempt, mocked him, dressed him in bright clothing, and sent him back to Pilate.

Let’s consider the reasoning of sending Jesus to Herod for a moment here. I think that the worst you might be able to say is that Pilate was passing the buck—that he didn’t want to make a decision about Jesus, and so he sent him to Herod, hoping that Herod would do something. This is certainly possible. But I think that we can be more gracious than that to Pilate in this part of the narrative. Herod was likely more versed in Jewish ways than Pilate was, so perhaps he wanted clarity on exactly what Jesus was being accused of. Not only that, but it was possible that Pilate just wanted a second opinion, as he had already declared that he found no grounds for charging Jesus with anything, but the Jewish leaders persisted in arguing their case. (v5)

Keep in mind that Herod Antipas was not a nice guy. He’s the same Herod who had John the Baptist beheaded on the whim of his second wife, Herodias (too long a story there). But we saw back in Luke 9 that Herod wanted to see Jesus because of the things he heard that Jesus was doing.

Luke 9:7–9 CSB

7 Herod the tetrarch heard about everything that was going on. He was perplexed, because some said that John had been raised from the dead, 8 some that Elijah had appeared, and others that one of the ancient prophets had risen. 9 “I beheaded John,” Herod said, “but who is this I hear such things about?” And he wanted to see him.

Herod’s perspective on Jesus appears to be that he really wanted to see Jesus do something miraculous. The priests and the scribes had followed Jesus to Herod’s, and there continued to accuse Him of things. But Herod genuinely doesn’t seem to care about the case against Him. He plied Jesus with questions, perhaps not even about the accusations themselves, but Jesus never answered him. In this way, Jesus was fulfilling what had been prophesied about Messiah by Isaiah:

Isaiah 53:7 CSB

7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughter and like a sheep silent before her shearers, he did not open his mouth.

Yes, Herod asked Him questions, and Herod and his soldiers mocked Him, but when he didn’t get anything from Jesus, he just sent him back to Pilate, probably disappointed that Jesus didn’t do anything special. He didn’t take Jesus seriously at all. His interest was just seeing Jesus do something cool, and when Jesus didn’t do that, he had a little insulting fun at Jesus’s expense, and gave up. His interest was frivolous.

Again, we have to ask ourselves: how are we like Herod? How do we approach Jesus unseriously, flippantly, or frivolously? I’m sure that we all have experienced times when we’ve prayed just because we were supposed to, or perhaps have done so thinking that it in some way obligated God to bless us in the way we wanted to be blessed. When we come in prayer, do we realize to Whom we are praying? When we say His name, do we realize that it is the name above every other name? How much weight does Jesus have in our lives in the day-to-day? Is He a convenient add-on for when we need Him, an app that we download onto the home screen of our lives, ready to be used when we want, but not very important otherwise? Are we just wanting Jesus to do miraculous things FOR us, or do we want Jesus to walk WITH us?

In contrast with Herod, Pontius Pilate actually took Jesus seriously. Unfortunately, he had his own issue—with stability.

3: Pontius Pilate: The Unstable Judge

Oddly enough, the accusations that the Jews brought against Jesus to Pilate weren’t what they convicted Him of in their council. Instead, they trumped up a couple of charges to make it more attractive for Jesus to be put to death, and presented the real charge as a political half-truth. Look at their charges:

Luke 23:1–2 CSB

1 Then their whole assembly rose up and brought him before Pilate. 2 They began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation, opposing payment of taxes to Caesar, and saying that he himself is the Messiah, a king.”

The problem that the Jews had is that they weren’t allowed, under Roman law, to execute anyone without the permission of the governor. John 18:31 tells us this:

John 18:31 CSB

31 Pilate told them, “You take him and judge him according to your law.” “It’s not legal for us to put anyone to death,” the Jews declared.

The governor’s responsibility in such cases was to hear the accusations, interview the accused, and pronounce sentence. So they tweaked the charges that they brought to be primarily political: accusing Jesus of sedition, of opposition to taxation, and of claiming to be Messiah, who would be king of the Jews. The first two claims are completely bogus, and the last one is true, but not in the way that they were couching it. Jesus didn’t have political aspirations. He already had a throne. He didn’t need Rome’s.

Pilate wasn’t fooled by their chicanery. When Pilate asked Jesus about these charges, he only asked him about one of them:

Luke 23:3 CSB

3 So Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” He answered him, “You say so.”

He completely ignored the first two charges, and addressed only the last one. And as we saw with the Sanhedrin, Jesus’s answer doesn’t strike us as completely affirmative. But Pilate took it that way. The proof of this is shown by what he later put on the plaque on Jesus’s cross: “The King of the Jews.” I think a good way to take what Jesus said is to read it as something along the lines of, “Now you’re talking.” (my paraphrase)

Regardless, since Jesus hadn’t caused any riots or uprisings, this was no reason for Him to be crucified. So Pilate declared that he finds no grounds for a charge against Jesus. This should be the end of it. But Pilate didn’t stand by his finding. He let the Jews continue to argue. Then, after sending Jesus off to Herod and receiving him back, Pilate tried two more times to release Him.

Luke 23:13–22 CSB

13 Pilate called together the chief priests, the leaders, and the people, 14 and said to them, “You have brought me this man as one who misleads the people. But in fact, after examining him in your presence, I have found no grounds to charge this man with those things you accuse him of. 15 Neither has Herod, because he sent him back to us. Clearly, he has done nothing to deserve death. 16 Therefore, I will have him whipped and then release him.” 18 Then they all cried out together, “Take this man away! Release Barabbas to us!” 19 (He had been thrown into prison for a rebellion that had taken place in the city, and for murder.) 20 Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate addressed them again, 21 but they kept shouting, “Crucify! Crucify him!” 22 A third time he said to them, “Why? What has this man done wrong? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore, I will have him whipped and then release him.”

Pilate was willing to have Jesus whipped (not the scourging that He received before being crucified) and released. For him, this was likely a compromise: the Jews get a little of what they want (Jesus’s suffering, which hopefully will lower His esteem in the eyes of the people), and he gets what he wants—namely, not condemning an innocent man to die. But this wasn’t enough for the Jews.

Their response was to call for the release of Barabbas, a rebel and a murderer. Pilate had a custom of releasing to the people one prisoner at Passover, and in an incredible twist of irony, the Jews call for the release of a man who was actually guilty of doing the things that they were falsely accusing Jesus of, so that Jesus would die in his place. Peter would later explain it to the people:

Acts 3:13–14 CSB

13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and denied before Pilate, though he had decided to release him. 14 You denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer released to you.

And even though Pilate tried to change their minds, the Jews just yelled more and more: “Crucify! Crucify Him!” And the Scripture tells us that their voices “won out”:

Luke 23:23–25 CSB

23 But they kept up the pressure, demanding with loud voices that he be crucified, and their voices won out. 24 So Pilate decided to grant their demand 25 and released the one they were asking for, who had been thrown into prison for rebellion and murder. But he handed Jesus over to their will.

Pilate knew what was right. He knew the truth. He even had the authority to take action. But he didn’t do it. He was unstable. He was afraid of the people, and that fear tripped him up and led him into the sin of killing Jesus.

James 4:17 CSB

17 So it is sin to know the good and yet not do it.

Again, we come to the point of personal evaluation. What is our stability like? Do we stand on the solid rock of Christ, or have we built our lives on shifting sand? Do we waffle back and forth between two positions? Are we scared to be and do what Jesus calls us to be and do? Are we afraid to stand on our convictions because we might be disliked, rejected? Jesus is our only hope, and yet we often act as if our hope is in other things.

We should be convicted by this. The Scriptures actually reveal that we sometimes (perhaps often) are more like these people than we are like Jesus. We judge Jesus by our unjust, unserious, and unstable thoughts and actions. But the incredible thing is that even thought this is the case, He’s still the hero of our story, because ultimately, He is the upright Judge.

4: Jesus: The Upright Judge

Even though Jesus was judged by unjust, unserious, and unstable judges, that doesn’t mean that He was somehow weaker than them or that God’s plan had somehow failed. Jesus was in control for this entire time, even if it doesn’t feel like it. Jesus went through this not because these other judges were more powerful, but because it was necessary. Jesus chose this path because He chose to follow the will of the Father, who chose it because we needed a Savior, because He loves us and created us to be in a relationship with Him that brings glory to Him, and blessing to us.

Look at what Jesus said to Pontius Pilate, recorded by John, but not by Luke:

John 19:11 CSB

11 “You would have no authority over me at all,” Jesus answered him, “if it hadn’t been given you from above. This is why the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”

And later in Luke 24, Jesus will tell the two disciples on the road to Emmaus that His suffering was actually necessary:

Luke 24:26 CSB

26 Wasn’t it necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things and enter into his glory?”

This was the plan. It had always been the plan. Again I find Robert Stein helpful:

The passion took place because it was foretold in Scripture, and it was foretold in Scripture because it was the divine plan from the beginning.

—Robert H. Stein, The New American Commentary Series: Luke

Something stunning here is that Jesus is ultimately the One who will judge all of us, but He allowed Himself to be wrongly judged and killed by us, so that our sin would be atoned for by Him… so that He could free us from the judgment that we actually deserve from Him! That’s AMAZING!

Jesus died to take our place because of our sins. We deserve eternal separation from God because of our sin, but God in His rich mercy and amazing grace sent His son to bear our guilt, our shame, and our punishment, and to overcome death by rising again. If we will believe in His finished work on the cross for our forgiveness, trusting Him as Savior, and surrendering to Him as Lord, the we are saved, and are promised eternal life with Him through faith.

And just as Jesus said, He has ascended into heaven, and He sits at the right hand of the Father, both as advocate and as judge. He is the advocate for those who belong to Him by faith. He will be the righteous Judge for all those who do not.

Closing

Have you thought about where you are in the story of the Bible? I know that I often see myself as the hero in the biblical narrative, but I also know that I often act like the villains. The only right response to this revelation is confession, repentance, and submission, because it’s only through surrender to the true Hero that we can be conformed to His image. Are we willing to let Jesus, through the work of His Holy Spirit in our hearts, show us where we are “judges with evil thoughts?” as James says?

Brother or sister, where do you treat Jesus unjustly? How do you approach Him unseriously? In what areas of your life is your trust in Him unstable? Surrender those areas to the Lord in faith and repentance.

Are you here this morning thinking that you can somehow save yourself? You can’t. You need Jesus. Will you trust Him this morning, believing that He is the Son of God who died on the cross for your sins, and who rose again so that you can have eternal life? Surrender your life to Him as Savior and Lord this morning, even right now.

Baptism

Joining the church

Giving

PRAYER

Closing Remarks

Susan Donley Memorial this Friday at 3:30 pm

Bible reading (Gen 19, Mat 18, Neh 8, Acts 18)

No Pastor’s Study tonight: Business Meeting and then Wendy’s

Prayer Meeting this week, looking at the Divine Name El Shaddai

Instructions for guests

Benediction

1 Peter 4:14–17 CSB

14 If you are ridiculed for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 Let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or a meddler. 16 But if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed but let him glorify God in having that name. 17 For the time has come for judgment to begin with God’s household, and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God?

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