{"sermon_section": "When he said, "My God, my God, why have thou why hast thou forsaken me immediately it triggered in their minds exactly this psalm." And every Jew had it memorized. And right before their eyes, they literally saw this psalm being fulfilled. And they had one of two choices. to either accept him as the suffering Messiah who was crucified to pay for their sins or to reject him which would mean rejecting God's method of salvation. How many of you have seen the movie Mission Impossible? Yeah, wonderful movie. Well, there are actually six Mission Impossible movies. The first was released in 1996 and of course the title was Mission Impossible. The second was released in 2000 and the title was Mission Impossible 2. The third was released in 2006 and the title was Mission Impossible 3. Do you see a pattern here? Well, it changes. The fourth was released in 2011 and the title was Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol. The fifth was released in 2015 and the title was Mission Impossible Rogue Nation. And the last was released in 2019 and was titled Mission Impossible Fallout. Uh my son-in-law told me that they're supposed to put out a new Mission Impossible this July. I hope he's not lying to me because I'm looking forward to it. Now, if you didn't see the first one, I think that you missed out. The reason I think you missed out is because of my personal opinion, my humble opinion, it was the best. But there's a couple of things that you need to know in in order to understand the movie. Tom Cruz plays a character known as Ethan Hunt, who's a knock operative who works for the IMF, which is a branch of the C of the CIA. Knock is an acronym NOOCC that stands for nonofficial cover. In other words, he's a CIA operative with no official ties to the CIA or to the US for that matter. That's why when they get their instructions for the mission, it always says, "Should you get caught, the Secretary of State will disavow all knowledge of you in your mission." In other words, you're on your own. If you get caught, you have no official cover. Even though you might work for the CIA in the US, there are no official ties to the CIA or to the United States. If you get caught, we're going to disavow you and disavow the mission. The IMF is an acronym that stands for impossible missions force. They are the best of the best. They do things that are impossible for a normal person to do. In fact, every time I watch a Mission Impossible movie and he slams into something 100 miles hour and then he is dazed just for a second and gets up and runs, I'm thinking, "No way. I would be dead." and most of us would be dead. But I have to remember he works for the impossible missions force. And so they do the possible when it's impossible for other people. Well, in the first movie, Tom Cruz is part of a team that's led by John Voit who plays Jim Phelps. Jim is the leader of the team and he's a traitor to his country and he ends up betraying his own team. But you don't find that out until much later on in the movie. Now, the CIA knows that there is a mole inside the IMF who's selling top secret uh information to enemies of the United States, and they also know that the mole is a part of Tom Cruz's team. They just don't know who it is. So, they send the team on a mission to root out the mole. In other words, the mission isn't real. It's a setup. They think it's real, but it's not. Its whole purpose is to find out who the mole is and who the traitor is. And of course, Jim Phelps, the team leader, is the mole. And he ends up betraying the team by faking his own death and his wife's death and killing everyone else on the team with one exception, Tom Cruz. And Tom is the one that he frames. So the CIA thinks that Tim Jim Phelps is dead. And Tom Cruz is the mole. He's the traitor. So, he has to go on the run in order to clear his name and to find the real traitor. Now, you're probably asking, why am I going into all this detail? Because this is what I do when I watch those type of movies with my wife. We get through that part. I pause and say, "Do you understand what's going on?" And she says, "No idea." And so, I explain everything. I don't know. Is it a man thing? Women, is that a man thing? Well, now that's probably mansplaining, but anyways, the whole storyline is about the mole who's a traitor and who betrayed the team for his own personal gain. The truth of the matter is he's a Judas. He betrayed his country and his team for money. And that's what we're going to look at this morning. We're going to look at the traitor on Jesus' team. Jesus said in John chapter 6 verse number 7, I chose the 12 of you, but one is a devil. That one was Judas. So we're going to look at the Easter story from Judas perspective. The person who betrayed Jesus and his 12 disciple or his team of disciples actually would have been 11 because he's the traitor for 30 pieces of silver. But before we jump into the sermon, let me give you a little bit of background information about Judas. Judas, of course, was one of the 12 disciples. Now, for those of you who grew up in church, you know that shortly before Jesus preached the sermon on the mount, he chose 12 disciples. All of the disciples were from the area of Galilee with the exception of one. Who was the one? Judas. Judas was from the town of Kariott which is near Hebron in Judea. That's why he is known as Judas Escariat. Escariat is a corrupted translation of Kiot. You see, in Christ's day, you usually refer to someone by their name and where they were from or whose son they were. Let me give you a couple of examples to explain what I'm talking about or to illustrate what I'm saying. Mary Magdalene was Mary from the town of Magdala. Magdalene was not her last name. It was the town she was from. Simon Barjonah was Simon son of Jonah. Jonah was not his last name. It was his father's name. Bar is the Hebrew word for son. So Simon Barjonah is Simon, son of Jonah. Judas's Scariot was Judas from the town of Kariott. Now the name Judas is a form of Judah. So he was named after the tribe he was from which was Judah. Now of course we know that Jesus was from what tribe? Judah. What in the world was he doing up at Nazareth? Well, that's a whole another sermon. But there was a group of people called Davidites that left when Antichas Epiphanies came in and they started all of the u persecution of the Jews that led of course to a revolt and you probably know the history. If you don't, I'll teach on that sometime. But as a result of that, a group of people from the the tribe of Judah, they traveled up to Galilee. And that's why Jesus was from Galilee even though he was from the tribe of Judah. Judas was from the tribe of Jesus. He's the only one that was the tribe from the tribe of Judas or Judah. Anyways, I'm getting off. I don't need to be talking about that. But here's what's interesting. Whenever the disciples are listed in the New Testament, Simon Peter is always mentioned first and Judas is always mentioned last. Peter is always listed first because he was the most prominent disciple and he was part of Jesus' inner circle. What most people don't know is that Jesus spent more time with three of his disciples than anyone else. They were part of his inner circle, his besties, his running buddies. Those three were Peter, James, and John. In fact, I'll go a little bit deeper. Jesus actually chose 70 disciples, but he spent more time with the 12. We refer to them as apostles. There's a reason for that. Won't go into the reason, but anyways, he spent more time with the 12 than he did the 70. He spent more time with four of his disciples than he did the rest of the 12 or all of the 12. Who were the four? Simon, his brother Andrew, James, and John. He spent more time with the three than he did the four. Simon, James, and John. He spent more time with one than he did the inner circle, the three. Who was the one he spent the most time with? That's right. The disciple whom Jesus loved, which was John. John was probably about 14 to 17 years old when he started following Jesus. And Jesus loved him dearly. We get a little bit of that taste when we read his epistles. But anyways, um you just need to know that that Jesus spent more time with three. In fact, many times he would go off to do something he was, I'm only going to take and he would call forward the ones that he wanted. And it normally ended up being the three. Anyways, the reason that Judas is always mentioned last on the list is because he betrayed the Lord and another took his place. Mthias is the person the disciples chose to take his place, but he wasn't God's choice. Paul was. And history bears that out. That's why Paul had such a hard time trying to convince everyone that he was an apostle because they had chose one to take Judah's place, but it wasn't God's choice. God's choice was Paul. Now, let me show you a list of the disciples and note the order in which they're listed. Turn to Matthew 10:es 2-4. These are the names of the twel apostles. First Simon who is called Peter and his brother Andrew. So the first four are the four that he spent the most time with. Then there's three. But let's go further. James son of Zebedee and his brother John. And then you have Philip and Bartholomew. Thomas and Matthew the tax collector. James son of Alfus and Thaddius. Simon the Zealot and Judas's Scariot who betrayed him. Judas was also a zealot. But as we read verse number four, he wasn't the only one. Simon, not Simon, Peter, the other Simon, was also a zealot. Now, does everyone know what a zealot was? That's very important. A zealot was a member of a fanatical religious political party whose ultimate goal was to drive Rome out and restore the kingdom of Israel. Their motto was, "We have no Lord or Master but God." That's very important. Remember that. I'll bring that up a little bit later on in the sermon. So, make sure that you remember that. But the Zealots were responsible for the rebellion against Rome, which led to the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. So, Simon and Judas were zealots. Now, I want you to think about this. Matthew had been a tax collector, and he had the most coveted spot in all of Israel. Yeah, he was the tax collector at Capernaum. And the reason that was the most covenant spot is because when you study the spice route and the silk route, it actually went through Capernaum before you went to Cesaria Maritina and sailed off. Most people don't know this, but on Marco Polo's journey, he sailed to Israel, landed in Cesaria. Yeah. went to Capernaum. And if you ever travel to e Israel, it's Capernaam, village of Naam. It's not mentioned in the Old Testament because it didn't exist at the time of the Old Testament. It's a New Testament city, but that was the most covenant spot because it took more money in than any other spot in in uh Israel. And Israel was actually the spot that everything crossed. Africa, India, China, going all the way to Europe. It's all going to cross at one little spot and that's Israel. That's why it's such a covenant piece of property. But anyways, Matthew ran that. He was the tax collector in that spot. But anyways, the most interesting thing about it is is that Matthew had been a tax collector. And though everyone hated the IRS at that time, the Zealots took it a step further. They saw publicans as traitors because the taxes they collected supported the Roman military which oppressed Israel. Now, the most qualified person to actually handle the disciples finances would have been Matthew. In fact, he was the only one who had any experience as an accountant, but he wasn't the group's treasurer. Judas was. And I can tell you why Judas was and Matthew wasn't. It's because of the two zealots in the group. They didn't trust a publican to handle the finances. But what's funny is that we find out later that Judas was stealing from the money back. So the guy that can't be trusted doesn't trust Matthew. Isn't that how it usually is? It's kind of interesting, but I think every one of us has outlaws in our family. How many of you have outlaws in your family? You have in-laws, but you also have outlaws. Well, I promise you, if you go back far enough in your family tree, you will see that every family has outlaws. And there's an outlaw on my family tree. And I can tell you this, he was a thief and he would steal. But the most interesting thing is if anyone stole from him, he was extremely angry. And he was always protective of his stuff. And it was interesting to me that the person you couldn't trust didn't trust anyone else. Yeah, that was Judas. You couldn't trust him, but he didn't trust Matthew. But people, that gives you a pretty good picture of who Judas was. So, now that you know a little bit about Judas, let's talk about what you really want to know. What do you really want to know about Judas? Judas, be honest. If you could go to hell for 15 minutes without the pain and torment and you could ask one person one question, who would that person be? And what question would you ask them? Well, for me, that person would be Judas and the qu question that I would ask him is why why did you betray Jesus? What made you do it? 30 pieces of you sat underneath him for three years. You traveled with him. You saw him raise the dead. You saw him heal cripples and give sight to the blind. You saw these miraculous things. And you saw right before your eyes the messianic prophecies being fulfilled. And yet you betrayed him. Why? Why did you do that? Now, there are a lot of theories as to why Judas betrayed Jesus. One theory is that he was trying to force Jesus' hand. In other words, he believed that if the authorities tried to arrest Jesus, Jesus would be forced to use his divine powers to defend himself and to defend his disciples. And this would lead to a national uprising against Rome. And of course, Israel would be victorious and the Messianic Kingdom would be established. Now, that's an interesting theory, but personally, I don't believe it. And the reason I don't believe it is because the Bible doesn't give even the slightest indication that Judas did it for that reason. And if he had, I think the Bible would be fair and it would have said so. But it doesn't say it. The second theory is that Judas did it for the money. And scholars point to the 30 pieces of silver that Judas received as proof. Turn to Matthew 26 14-15. Then Judas's Scariot, one of the 12 disciples, went to the leading priest, and he asked, "How much will you pay me to betray Jesus to you, and they gave him 30 pieces of silver?" Now, we don't know for sure how much 30 pieces of silver was worth. And let me explain why we don't know. All coins a daenarius and above were minted in silver at that time in Israel. So it could have been 30 daeri which is a month's salary. A daenerius is one day's wages or it could have been the next coin higher which would have made it about four months salary. But either way it's a large sum of money. Think about it. It's a month's salary or it's four months salary. So it's a pretty good piece of of chunk of change. Now personally I don't think Judas did it for the money. And let me tell you why. First of all, we know for a fact that Judas had been pilfering for the money bag. In other words, he was embezzling from G from Jesus. Turn to John 12:es 4-7. But Judas's Scariot, the disciple who would soon betray him, said that perfume was worth the year's wages. Now, we look at that and think, "My gosh, were people giving that much to Jesus?" Yes. In fact, as you go through the New Testament, what most people don't realize is he had several women from people who were very high up and very wealthy that believed in Jesus, followed Jesus, and supported his ministry. I know you've all been taught this, that Jesus disciples were just poor people. But people, that's not true. That's spoken by pastors who don't do their studying and don't do research. John whom Jesus loved, his family was very familiar with the high priest which meant that they held a very high position and had money. Matthew was the tax collector at the best spot in Israel. And you had to have money to do that because you paid off Rome first. You bought those spots and then whatever you raised above that was yours. Matthew was filthy rich. What you've been taught is a lie. So Judas had been stealing from the money back. Let's keep reading. Judas is upset about this. Is that perfume was worth a year's wages and should have been sold in the money given to the poor. Not that he cared for the poor. He was a thief. And since he was in charge of the disciples money, he often stole some for himself. Jesus replied, "Leave her alone." She did this in preparation for my burial. Now people, you don't kill the golden goose that's laying the golden eggs. No, you see, Judas had been stealing from the bag for quite some time. And Jesus, as I said, had some pretty wealthy people supporting his ministry. Now, verse number six says that he stole from the bag often. Often. You know what that means in the Greek? Often. Not once or twice, but often. So Judas had a good thing going. Why would you stop that people? You wouldn't do that. And secondly, everything Judas did indicates that it was personal. You know how we say it's not personal, it's business. Well, when you look at what Judas did and how he did it, people, it wasn't business, it was personal. And let me tell you why I say that. The truth is Judas could have simply told the Jewish authorities where to find Jesus. He was going to the Garden of Gethsemane. All his disciples knew where Jesus was going. He did that often. That was his favorite place to pray. He knew the person who owned the vineyard. He knew who owned the press. And they allowed him to use that. So he would retreat there many times. Judas knew exactly where he was going to be. So he could have just told them, "You'll find him in the garden of Gethsemane along with the other 11 disciples, and he'll be wearing, of course, the rabbi garments, so he'll be easy to pick out." But no, Jesus didn't do that. He wanted to take them there personally. He wanted to see Jesus arrested. And once they got to the Garden of Gethsemane, he could have simply pointed him out and said, "Yeah, that that's Jesus. He's the one with the rabbi apparel. But oh no, he had to walk up to Jesus and kiss him. Now think about it. Only a person who wants revenge would want to look a person in the eye and then kiss them as part of the betrayal process. So it definitely wasn't business people. It was personal. And Judas wanted Jesus to know that. You know what it reminds me of? How many of you remember? I think it's the second godfather. Do you remember when Michael Corleó is betrayed by his brother and they're in Cuba and the rebels are coming in the city and they realize they're going to overtake the city and they all have to flee. It's at that moment that Michael grabs him by the cheeks, pulls him close and he kisses him and he says, "I know it was you. I know it was you." And boy, he takes off running. You see, Michael wanted to look him in the eyes. He wanted to kiss him and say, "I know." And that was Judas. Judas wanted to look Jesus in the eyes and he wanted to kiss him when he betrayed him. Now, Allan, I think you're just kind of making this up. Well, notice what Jesus said to Judas when he kissed him. Turn to Luke 22:es 47-48. But even as Jesus said this, a crowd approached led by Judas, one of his 12 disciples. Oh, he's not hiding behind them. He's leading the group. Judas walked over to Jesus to greet him with a kiss. But Jesus said, "Judas, you would betray the son of man with a kiss." Now, let me see if I can explain what Jesus was saying in today's language. Jesus was saying, "Come on, Judas. You're betraying me, but you're going to walk up to me and kiss me. Really, tell me, what have I ever done to you to make you hate me so much?" People, that's what Jesus meant when he said, "You would betray the son of man with a kiss." He was saying, "You hate me so much. Why? What have I ever done to you?" So, let me ask you a question. What did Jesus Jesus do that caused Judas to be so vindictive towards him? Had Jesus done something to offend Judas? Huh? You betcha. Yeah. Turn turn to John chapter 6 verse 64, and I'll show you what it was. But some of you do not believe me. For Jesus knew from the beginning which ones and in the original Greek that's plural. So it wasn't just Judas. Now personally and I can't prove this. I believe it was Thomas. I think Thomas wanted to believe in Jesus but he was just doubting Thomas because even after the resurrection I will not believe until. And I think he was always willing to go because he had such hope, but he just wasn't sure. If you remember when Jesus uh he he knows that they want to kill him and he says, "Let's go to Jerusalem." And what does Thomas say? He's an Eeyore. Remember Eeyore and Winnie the Pooh? Let us go to Jerusalem so that we all might die. Yeah. Yeah. But it says, "For Jesus knew from the beginning which ones didn't believe and he also knew who would betray." Now the way this is written in the original Greek means that Jesus knew two things from the very beginning of his ministry. One he knew which of his disciples didn't believe and two he knew who would betray him. He knew those two things from the very beginning of his ministry. Now look at John chapter 6 68-71. Simon Peter replied,"Lord, to whom would we go?" Because he's asked this question. Are you going to leave me also? He's taught some really heavy things. People are starting to uh leave Jesus. You know, he's not doing the things that they want him to do, which is to set them free from Rome and set up the messianic kingdom. So he he says these things that are really tough and some of his disciples even leave. Not of the 12 but some of the others. And he says, "Will you leave me also?" And Simon Peter replies, "Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe and we know you are the holy one of God." Then Jesus said, "I chose the 12 of you, but one is a devil." He was speaking of Judas, son of Simon, a Scariot, one of the 12 who would later betray him. Now, from that time on, every time Jesus looked at Judas, Judas knew that Jesus knew what was in his heart. Judas knew that Jesus knew that he was a wolf in sheep's clothing. Judas could fool everyone else. But Judas could not fool Jesus. And people, that irritated Judas. It offended him. It made him angry. And you can see it in all the little things that Judas does towards Jesus. In fact, let me give you two examples that illustrate what I'm saying. First, Judas never called Jesus Lord, Master, or even Christ. All of the other disciples did, but not Judas. Even the other zealot, Simon, called Jesus Lord and Master. Now remember what the the Zealot's motto was. The Zealot's motto was there is no Lord or Master but God. So when Simon the Zealot refers to Jesus as Lord and Master, you know what that tells me? Simon's come to the conclusion, you're God in the flesh. But every one of the disciples either called Jesus Lord, Master, or at least Christ, which is a title for the Messiah, Christos, the anointed one. But not Judas. Judas never referred to Jesus as Lord, Master of Christ. He only referred to him as Rabbi, which means teacher. People, that's a dig. If you've ever earned a title and someone doesn't call you by that title when everyone else does, you know they have a problem with you. You know, I I'm Allan. If you want to call me Allan, feel free. My family calls me Allan. My family does not call me pastor. Randall, one of my best friends, calls me Allan. He doesn't call me pastor. But, you know, just about everyone calls me pastor. And I appreciate that. That's a term of respect. I appreciate that. Even people who don't go to our church, I see them downtown, they'll say, "Well, hi, Pastor Allan." And we'll have a little conversation. But you know what's interesting? That's a term of respect. We just do that. Someone has their doctorate. What do we do? We we refer to them as Dr. Miller or, you know, Dr. so and so because we respect what they went through to get that doctor, what they had to do to earn it. Now, here's what's interesting. Judas was never going to give Jesus that respect. I recognize you as a rabbi, but I'll never call you Lord, Master, or Christ. Secondly, Judas was always being critical and trying to make Jesus look bad. Yeah. Look back at John 12:es 4-7. But Judas's scareth, the disciple who would soon betray him, said that perfume was worth the year's wages. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor. Not that he cared for the poor. He was a thief. And since he was in charge of the disciples money, he often stole some for himself. Jesus replied, "Leave her alone." She did this in preparation for my burial. Let me tell you what he did. He tried to sew distrust in Jesus. Let me tell you the thing that'll kill a ministry more than anything is an accusation of financial impropriy. Someone's not using the finances right. You know, there's a there a lot of big names and maybe they get it to buy a personal jet or they build a huge mansion or, you know, they're driving Porsches or whatever. And some of them they've written books and the books have made them quite a bit of money. That doesn't bother me. They earn that money. Others they're taking that money and you know they're using it for personal. And let me tell you when people hear that that's just the way it is. People think that way. And it doesn't matter whether you're in politics. It doesn't matter whether you're in the ministry. when someone makes an accusation that you're not using the money the way you ought to. And that's what Judas was doing. He didn't say we could have. He said we should have. This should have been sold and given to the poor like he cared for the poor. No, he wanted to make Jesus look bad. You know what I love about Jesus? because it's a it was the proper preparation because he's getting ready, of course, to go to the cross. So, she's preparing for his death. But I love it. Jesus just turned it on him. No, no, no, no, no. She loves me. She's preparing for my death. What you don't know is on Sunday I'm coming out. Now, here's what's interesting. Though Jesus knew what was in Judah's heart, he never pointed him out to the other disciples. Yes, he made references to the one who would betray him, but he never let on. He never gave the slightest hint as to who the one was. Not until the very end. And then he only revealed it to John. And the only reason he revealed it to John is because John asked. John, of course, is right next to Jesus. He's the disciple whom Jesus loved. He's the youngest of the disciples. Of course, Jesus loves him. He's got such a pure heart. He takes Jesus' own mother as his mother. And no, you won't find she wasn't buried at Mary's grotto across from the Garden of Gethsemane. If you travel to Israel, go see it. It's great. But she was buried in Ephesus because she went with John and John took care of Jesus' mother. But that's not what I want you to see here. John's next to Jesus. Peter says, "Hey, you're tight with him. Ask who's going to betray him." And John said, "Jesus, who's going to betray?" Yeah. But you know why Jesus never even gave the slightest hint as to who was going to betray him? It's because he loved Judas. And his hope was that Judas would eventually repent. That after he betrayed him, he would come to the truth, come to a saving knowledge of who he truly was, and that he would be saved. Now, knowing all of this gives us great insight into what happened at the last supper. Now most of us when we think of the last supper we have this mental picture of something like Leon Leonardo da Vinci's painting of the last supper. Look at the picture on the back wall. This is not Leonardo da Vinci's painting. Actually this is Salvador Dolly's picture of the painting. It's a heretical picture. Did does anyone know that? It's my favorite picture. In fact I actually have a print of this. I've got it framed. I I hung it up in my office for years. I just don't have any room for it anymore. But if I ever get a new office and get a little bit more room, it will go back up there. But when people come in and they look at it and I tell them, "Yeah, that's Salvador Dollies. It's the Last Supper. It's his painting." And I'll tell them it's a heretical painting. And they'll say, "How's it a heretical painting?" Can anyone see why it's a heretical painting? Anyone have a guess? It's because, well, take a notice that you can see through Jesus. Anyone notice that? Now, if you don't know, you just go, "Oh, that's so cool. You can see through Jesus because he's God." No, no, no, no. It's heretical picture because it's depicting dosetism. Doetism is the belief that only Jesus or Jesus only seemed to have a physical body. In reality, his body was ethereal. You see, dosatists believe that matter was inherently evil. So Jesus didn't have a physical body. His body was an ethereal body. It was a phantom body. Now dosetism was actually a part ofnosticism. And John has to actually refute this later on in his epistles because he'll talk about Jesus whom we've seen with our own eyes, whom we've touched with our own hands, who we've handled. And we don't understand why he's writing that. He's writing that because at the time he's writing it, you have what's called incipientnosticism. Incipient means just the beginning. So,nosticism is beginning. And one of the heresies is that Jesus didn't really have a physical body. You could see it, but it was ethereal. If you'd put your hand out to him, you'd have gone right through him. Because if Jesus is truly um holy and pure, then he can't have a physical body because all matter is evil. That was a doctrine ofnosticism. But anyways, I love the painting. Forget all that. But notice in this painting that you've got one big long table and Jesus is sitting at the middle of the table and you got six disciples on one side. Well, one's on the opposite. It's not Leonardo da Vinci. He's got a couple others. And then you have six on the other side. That's in Leonardo da Vinci. But that's not how things were done back then. The table would have been in the shape of a U. And the disciples would have been all on one side of the table on the outside. And there was a purpose for this. The purpose was to allow the people who were serving access to everyone without having to reach over them. You see, if they were all on one side of the table, then they could come into the middle of this table and they could actually just serve all the way around. Does that make sense? The guest of honor would have sat in the middle of the table so that everyone could see him and he could see everyone. Now, if the host was there, the host who's hosting this, he sat at the end. And the reason why is the people serving would take nods from him or they would come if they had a question and ask him and so he would be at the end of the table. So you have different uh theologians saying no Jesus wouldn't have sat in the middle. He would have sat in the end because he was the host. I think he was the guest of honor. So I believe he was in the middle. But anyways let's look at what happened at the last supper. Turn to John chapter 13 21-31. Now Jesus was deeply troubled and he exclaimed, "I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me." Disciples looked at each other, wondering whom he could meet. The disciple Jesus loved was sitting next to Jesus at the table. Who's that? John. Simon Peter motioned to him to ask, "Who's he talking about? Ask Jesus. Ask Jesus." Yeah. He's emotion to him. All right. So that disciple leaned over to Jesus and asked,"Lord, who is it?" Jesus responded, "It is the one to whom I give the bread I dip in the bowl." And when he had dipped it, he gave it to Judas, son of Simon Scariot. He's son of Simon, but we don't want to say that because there's already two other Simons. So he's known as instead of Judas Bars Simon, he's Judas Escariat from Kariot. When Judas had eaten the bread, Satan entered him. Then Jesus told him, "Hurry and do what you're going to do." None of the others at the table knew what Jesus meant since Judas was their treasure. Some thought Jesus was telling him to go out and pay for the food or to give some money to the poor. So Judas left at once, going out in the night. As soon as Judas left the room, Jesus said, "The time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory." and God will be glorified because of him. Now, most of us know how the story ended. Once Jesus was condemned to die, Judas realized he'd made the biggest mistake of his life. He'd not only betrayed an innocent man, he'd betrayed the Christ, the son of the living God. Turn to Matthew 27:es 1-5. Very early in the morning, the leading priests and the elders met again to lay plans for putting Jesus to death. Then they bound him, led him away, and took him to Pilate, the Roman governor. When Judas, who had betrayed him, realized that Jesus had been condemned to die, he was filled with remorse, the guilt overcame him. So he took the 30 pieces of silver back to the leading priest and the elders. I have sinned, he declared, for I betrayed an innocent man. What do we care? They retorted. That's your problem. Then Judas threw the silver coins down in the temple and he went out and he hanged himself. So, as you can see, because of his guilt and remorse, he went out and hung himself. Now, if the truth be known, Judah's greatest mistake wasn't that he betrayed the Lord. Judas's greatest mistake is that he didn't seek forgiveness from Jesus at the foot of the cross. You see, Judas could have been forgiven. Second Peter chapter 3 verse number 9 says, "The Lord's not willing that any should perish, but for all to come to repentance." And in Greek, it means any and all. You see, Judas could have been forgiven because any and all includes Judas. Romans chapter 8 verse number 38 tells us that nothing can separate us from the love of God. And I mean nothing. Even betraying the son of God can't separate you from his love. Had Judas sought forgiveness from Jesus instead of hanging himself, I guarantee you he would be in heaven today. Jesus would have forgiven him just as he forgave Peter for denying him three times. He would have forever been the one that betrayed him. But let me tell you he here's what Jesus would have told you Judas. Judas you just tell Peter when he gives you a hard time that he denied me three times. You just tell the other disciples when they struck me you struck the shepherd the sheep scattered and they were all into hiding except for John. You just tell them that Judas don't you worry about it. I love you. Jesus would have forgiven him people just as he forgave everyone. Now to be honest with you, I can relate to Judas and the remorse he felt. You see, many years ago, I did something that no one will ever know except God. And every time I think about what I did, it feels just like I betrayed God because I knew it was wrong when I did it. And I have to admit for a while I wrestled with can I be forgiven of this? And then one day it dawned on me I was acting like Judas. You see I felt so guilty for what I done and I had such remorse that I had re I had allowed myself to believe that I couldn't be forgiven. And people, that's not true. I had allowed myself to believe that what I done was so bad, I couldn't and wouldn't be forgiven. And people, that's a lie straight from the devil. The same lie that devil the devil told Judas. Listen to me. It doesn't matter what you've done, you can be forgiven. Don't buy the lie of the devil. In fact, I'm going to do something Pentecostal here. I want you to turn to the person next to you and I want you to say, "Don't buy the lie of the devil." Do that. Listen to me. You can be forgiven and restored to a right relationship with God. I can't tell you the number of women that have come to me and they said, "I've had an abortion. I don't feel like I can ever be forgiven." And I tell them, don't buy the lie of the devil. Not only can you be forgiven, you are forgiven. I've had people who have had affairs run their whole family. Kids won't even talk to them. They come to me and said, "Boy, did I screw up. I not only broke up my marriage, I broke up our family. I just don't think God can ever forgive me." And I tell them, don't buy the lie of the devil. You not only can be forgiven, you are forgiven. If you've hurt others, even ruined other people's lives, listen to me. There's nothing you can do to separate yourself from the love of God. Romans 8:38. God is not willing that any, including you, should perish, but that we all come into repentance. That's why Jesus Christ died on the cross and went to hell for three days and three nights to pay for our sin. People, you can be forgiven. Don't think that it's impossible for you to be forgiven because Jesus has made it possible. That's why the theme of of this morning's Easter service is mission impossible. Jesus has taken what you thought was impossible and he's made it possible through his death, burial, and resurrection. Anything can be forgiven and will be forgiven as long as you come to him and ask and believe it. You know, you might have done something past, but let me just say this. You're not finished yet. You're going to screw up. Hopefully, your screw-ups, the older you get, are not as bad as they were when you were young. But let me say this, you also know better the older you get. I hope I never do anything where I feel like this, but I have a sin nature. And if I ever do something that I think, Allan, you're a pastor. You've been a man of God for 40 years. Why in the world you I can't forget? Why did you do that? I'm going to have to ask myself, am I a Judas where I have remorse remorse? I have guilt, but I go out and hang myself. Maybe not physically, but spiritually. Some of you have hung yourself spiritually. Or am I a child of God who has remorse? And I realize that if I go to the foot of the cross, I'm going to be forgiven. There's two things we want to talk about this morning in the altar. Number one, if you're not saved, and maybe you're not saved because you think you can't be forgiven. Trust me, there's not a thing you can do that can separate yourself from the love of God, and you can't be forgiven unless you don't ask. And then I'm also going to talk to the people maybe that's already a Christian, but you just can't get over what you did in the past. You just feel like every time I can't be forgiven. Are you calling God a liar? Let me tell you, there's a reason Jesus died. And there's a reason why he went to hell and spent three days and three nights in shou not uh leave my soul in sh. So Jesus went to show and then he was resurrected. It was to show that everything has been paid for. Listen, if it wasn't paid for, Jesus would still be paying for it in shrection. You know what's interesting? There's a scripture that says he was raised for our justification. And we don't understand what that means. You got to read Greek to get that. But what it's saying is he was raised to prove you're justified. Hey, there it is. He was raised to prove I'm forgiven. If I wasn't, he'd still be there paying for it. But it's not still there because everything I've done is forgiven. Let's stand. Several years ago, I had a very vivid dream in which I was dying. It was so disturbing that it woke me up and I was unable to go back to sleep. Now, the fact that I was dying was not what troubled me. In fact, I'll be honest with you, the thought of dying doesn't really bother me. That freaks my girls out, freaks Lisa out, but it really doesn't bother me. What disturbed me about my dream was that I was dying all alone. In the dream, Lisa wasn't with me, and neither were my girls. Mike and Macy. And I knew that I wasn't going to be able to say goodbye to them. And I wasn't going to be able to tell them how much I loved them and how much joy and fulfillment they had given me. That dream had such an impact on me that I decided that I was going to write a letter to each one of them and I was going to place those letters within my living trust and have them read them after my funeral. Now, I've started these letters many times, and I've always ended up discarding them because I don't feel like they adequately describe what's really in my heart and what I want to tell them. But one of my goals this year is to make sure that I write these letters and I place them within my living trust because I want Lisa, Micah, and Macy to have what I consider to be my last words in writing. Now, I'm sure that if they're by my side when I die, and I'm hoping they'll be there, that I'll get a chance to tell them what a blessing they've been to me. But I also want to put in writing my last words so that I can adequately express to them my feelings in a way that does justice to what's really in my heart. And people, that's important to me. You see, the last words that we speak when we know that we're dying reveal how we really feel. They reveal what's in our heart and what we value and what's so important to us. And that's why it's important to actually be able to speak last words to those you love. So this morning, I want to look at the last words of Jesus as he was dying on the cross. And more specifically, what he said to his parents. I want to look at what he said to his mother, Mary. And I want to look at what he said to his heavenly father, God. Now, the reason Jesus didn't address Joseph was because he had died much earlier. In fact, let me explain a few things about Joseph. Joseph would have been much older than Mary. Traditionally, women married about 2 to three years after puberty. So, we're talking about between the ages of 14 to 16. So, Mary was very young when she married Joseph. Men, however, usually postponed marriage until their mid30s. There were several reasons for this, but the pri the primary one is because of a certain verse that says you're to build your business first and then your home. And the Jews took this to mean that you were supposed to be financially stable before you got married and that you were actually prospering a little bit because nothing was worse than a man that couldn't provide for his family. And so most men did not marry until they were in their mid or upper 30s. So suffice to say, Joseph was at least twice as old as Mary when they became engaged. In fact, tradition says that Joseph lived until he was 111 years old and he died when Jesus was 18. That tradition comes from the apocryphal book, The Story of Joseph the Carpenter. It claims that Jesus died or I'm sorry, Joseph died on July the 20th, 18 or 19 AD. But trust me, that tradition is not true. Joseph did not marry when he was 92 years old. So, we don't know exactly when Joseph died or how old he was when he married Mary. But based on clues within the Bible, most scholars believe that he was in his mid to late 30s when he married Mary. And he probably died when Jesus was around 18 to 20 years old. And as the eldest child, Jesus would have been responsible for his mother and his younger siblings after Joseph died, which is why he didn't go into public ministry until he was approximately 30 years old. He had to wait until his halfb brothers were old enough to be able to financially support the family. So the reason Jesus didn't have any last words for Joseph was because he had died about a decade earlier. However, even though Jesus' half-brothers were able to provide for the family, allowing him to go into his messianic ministry as the eldest son, Jesus still had the primary responsibility for Mary's care, well-being, and protection, which explains what he said to her while he was dying on the cross. So turn with me if you would to the book of John chapter 19 25- 27. And let's read his last words to Mary. This is what it says. Standing near the cross were Jesus' mother and his mother's sister, Mary, the wife of Clus, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, "Dear woman, here is your son." And he said to this disciple, "Here is your mother." And from then on, this disciple took her into his home. Now, the disciple that Jesus was referring to was John, which most scholars believe was Jesus first cousin. We're not 100% sure, but there are indications that Saleom, who was John's mother, was the sister to Mary, which might be the reason that they were so close. They were first cousins. Now, all of the disciples had fled and were in hiding when Jesus was crucified with the exception of John. He was at the foot of the cross with Mary, Jesus' mother. But why wasn't he in hiding? Why was he at the cross? Well, it was because Jesus and John had a very close, intimate relationship. So, John was willing to take the risk when all the other disciples were not. In fact, John was known as the disciple that Jesus loved because it was evident to everyone that John was Jesus' favorite. And it was John that Jesus asked to watch over and provide for Mary after his death. But here's what I want you to notice about Jesus' last words to his mother, Mary. While he was on the cross and in cruci in excruciating pain, he wasn't thinking about himself. No, he was thinking about his mother and his responsibility as the eldest son and what he could do to fulfill that responsibility even after his death, which should tell us something about how important it is to provide for our family and especially our parents as they get older. In fact, the fifth commandment of the Ten Commandments says that we're supposed to honor our father and our mother. And let me tell you this can be a tough commandment to keep sometimes. Emory White says that children go through four stages with their parents. In the first stage, we idolize our parents. They can do nothing wrong. Dad is Superman. Mom is Wonder Woman. And that stage lasts about 7 to 8 years. In the second stage, we demonize our parents. They become the source of all of our misery. It's always their fault. Now, before they could do no wrong. Now, in this stage, they can do no right. This stage lasts until we get our driver's license. And then we need our parents. We need their money. We need their vehicle. And as a result of that, we enter into the third stage. So, the third stage is we utilize our parents. It's can I borrow the car? Can I have some money? Will you pay for camp? In this stage, parents become their child's means, mostly economically for transitioning into adulthood. They want to be an adult, but they can't do it financially. So, they need their parents' help. The fourth stage after we idolize them, demonize them, and utilize them is we humanize them. In this stage, we see them as fallible humans with strengths and weaknesses, good points and bad points. And it's when we begin recognizing our parents' weaknesses and bad points that we start having a hard time honoring them. So what happens is that sometimes we honor them and sometimes we don't depending upon how they act or react towards us. Are they acting honorably or dishonorably? But the command to honor our parents is not conditional. In fact, let me give you a principle. And if you're taking notes, I want you to write this down. The command to honor your parents has nothing to do with whether or not they're honorable. In other words, it has nothing to do with whether they deserve honor. We're to honor them. Period. And the most important way that we can honor our parents is to watch over them, protect them, and provide for them when they become old. Notice what 1 Timothy 5:es 4 and 8 says. Here's verse number four. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, so this widow is older, old enough to have children or grandchildren. Notice what it says. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents. For this is pleasing to God. Did you notice that word repaying? Our parents have raised us from the time we're born to usually around 18 to 20 years old. They have sacrificed for us. They have given us money. They have provided not only a home, but the food, everything that we have. They've gone through good years and bad years with us. And you know, when they get older, it's our turn to repay them for what they've done for us. And that's what this scripture is saying. Now let's look at verse number eight. Anyone who does not provide for their relatives and especially for their own household has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. In other words, if you don't watch over your parents, protecting them and providing for them when they become elderly, you're worse than an unbeliever. Now, why does Paul say that you're worse than an unbeliever? Why doesn't he just say you're just as bad as an unbeliever? Because he doesn't say that. He says, "You're worse than an unbeliever." Well, let me tell you why he says that. You're worse because even unbelievers take care of their parents when they get old. They might not know what the fifth commandment and the tenth commandments are, but they're actually doing it and you're not. Therefore, Paul says, "You're worse than an unbeliever." Listen to me. We have a wonderful opportunity to honor our elderly parents during this Corona virus crisis. We have the opportunity to fulfill the fifth commandment of the ten commandments during this social distancing period because our elderly parents fall into the most vulnerable category. The corona virus can be deadly to them. So you need to be checking on your elderly parents on the phone and dropping off their groceries and their medications on their porch. You have a responsibility to honor them by providing whatever they need. And you should see it as a privilege. You're repaying them for what they did for you. Now, let's look at what Jesus said to his father, God, while he was dying on the cross. And it's a little more interesting because it doesn't seem to reflect love, intimacy, or even affection. Instead, his words seem to reflect despair and feelings of abandonment. But they're probably the most iconic words that Jesus uttered on the cross. Notice what he said in Mark 15:es 33 and 34. Says, "At noon, darkness came over the whole land until 3:00 in the afternoon. And at 3:00 in the afternoon, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloy, Eloy, Lama, Sabak, sorry, Sabakanany," which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Now, hopefully you notice that they recorded what he originally said and then they translated it for us. He said, "Eloy, Eloy, Limma, Sabakan," which is Aramaic, Jesus' native tongue. Do you realize Hebrew was not Jesus' native tongue? Aramaic was because after the Babylonian exile and the Jews came back to Israel, they spoke Aramaic. In a sense, they lost their language. And the only ones who actually spoke Hebrew or read the Bible in Hebrew were those who studied the scriptures. Jesus also spoke Greek and he spoke Hebrew, but his native tongue was Aramaic. So when he cried out Eloy, Eloy lema sabakany, he was using the most personal, intimate language that he knew, his native tongue. Now at first glance, it seems as if Jesus is accusing God of abandoning him. It looks like he's accusing God of doing something wrong or letting him down, that maybe something was happening that Jesus hadn't planned on. But the truth is the crucifixion wasn't something that Jesus hadn't planned on or for. In fact, he had tried to prepare his disciples for what was going to happen to him. At three different times, Jesus told them exactly what was going to happen. Look at Matthew 16 verse number 21. From then on, Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day, he would be raised from the dead. So Jesus not only told them that they're going to crucify me, well didn't actually say crucifixion, but they're going to kill me and on the third day I'm going to be resurrected. Now let's go a little bit further. Now look at Matthew chapter 17 22 and 23. After they gathered again in Galilee, Jesus told them, "The son of man is going to be betrayed into the hands of the enemies. He will be killed, but on the third day he will be raised from the dead." and the disciples were filled with grief. And last but not least, look at Matthew chap 20 17-19. Now, I want you to notice these are three different incidents. In other words, he told them three different times all in the same book, the book of Matthew. Notice what it says. As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the 12 disciples aside privately and he told them what was going to happen to him. Listen, he said, "We're going up to Jerusalem where the son of man will be dis be betrayed to the leading priest and the teachers of religious law. They will sentence him to die. There's going to be a trial. Then they will hand him over to the Romans to be mocked, flogged with a whip, and crucified." Notice how specific he gets. But on the third day, he will be raised from the dead. Now, why do you think Jesus spoke in third person? Isn't that a little weird? Can you imagine me getting up here and speaking to you in third person? The pastor is going to preach a sermon this morning. He's going to tell you exactly what you need to hear. He's going to give it to you and he's going to end with the climax. You would think something's wrong with me. So, the question is, why in the world did Jesus speak in the third person? Well, he spoke in the third person to emphasize the fact that he was the Messiah. And as the Messiah, it was necessary for him to fulfill all of the messianic prophecies. And he wanted them to grasp the fact that he wasn't just their friend. He wasn't just a prophet from God. He was the Messiah. So, the truth is the cross wasn't unexpected. In fact, his whole life had been leading up to the sacrificial moment at the cross. So, this wasn't a surprise. No, not at all. Which means there's something more that's going on here. And do you know what it is? Well, I don't want to keep you in suspense any longer than I have to. So, let me explain what Jesus said and why he said it. First of all, Jesus wasn't spontaneously speaking personal, heartfelt words to God, his father. Now, I'm not saying that he didn't mean what he said, because he did. But he wasn't the first person to ever say those exact words. And the reason I say that is because Jesus was actually quoting the first verse from a very familiar psalm, a messianic psalm. Now, his intention was to quote it all, but he didn't have the strength to do that. In fact, he was just minutes away from dying when he said this. So, he spoke the first verse knowing that every Jew would recognize the passage of scripture that he was quoting and they would finish it in their mind. Now, do you know which psalm he was quoting? It was Psalm 22. So turn with me if you would to Psalm chapter 22 and notice the first part of verse one. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Now, let me explain a few things about Psalm 22 and messianic psalms in general. But first, let me explain what a messianic psalm is in case you don't know. A messianic psalm is a psalm that contains a messianic prophecy. In other words, they are psalms that have messianic prophecies within them. Now, there are two types of messianic prophecies or messianic psalms. There are messianic psalms that depict a suffering messiah and there are messianic psalms that depict a conquering Messiah. In fact, this applies to messianic prophecies in general. There are messianic prophecies that depict a suffering Messiah, such as Isaiah chapter 53. And there are messianic prophecies that depict a conquering Messiah such as you find in Psalms 2 7-9. Now, as you can imagine, this caused a lot of confusion because there are prophecies that predict a future Messiah who will suffer and die for us. And there are prophecies that predict a future Messiah that will come as a conqueror and he will set up his kingdom on this earth and he will rule over the entire world. And this has caused a lot of confusion. In fact, at the time of Jesus, the majority of rabbis actually believed that there were going to be two messiahs. A suffering messiah known as Messiach bin Ysef or what we would say the Messiah son of Joseph and a conquering Messiah known as Messiah bin Davided or as we would say the Messiah son of David. Now, as Christians, we know that there are not two messiahs. There's only one Messiah who would come twice. The first time he came, he suffered. He died on a cross. His soul descended into hell in order to pay the penalty for our sin. And after all of our sin was paid for, God raised him from the dead. The second time that he comes, he's going to be a conqueror and he's going to set up his kingdom upon this earth and he's going to rule over the entire world. He's going to rule over every nation with a rod of iron. So, now that you know about the two kinds of messianic prophecies, let's talk about Psalm 22 because it's a messianic psalm. But it's a psalm that depicts the suffering Messiah just like Isaiah chapter 53. In fact, this psalm is all about the cross. In other words, the crucifixion of the Messiah. And much like Isaiah chapter 53, it describes the Messiah's torment, rejection, and death. So turn with me if you would back to the book of Psalm chapter 22, and let's look at a few verses rather than all the verses in Psalm 22. We don't have enough time to do that. Trust me, that would be a very interesting study to go through Psalm 22 verse by verse. I'd love to be able to do that because many of the verses that you think don't have much to say have some deep meaning in them, but we don't have time to do that. So, I'm just going to look at two simple passages out of this chapter. So, first look with me if you would at verses 6 through8. Notice what it says. But I am a worm and not a man. I am scorned and despised by all. Everyone who sees me mocks me. They sneer and shake their heads, saying, "Is this the one who relies on the Lord? Then let the Lord save him." Now, I want you to underline that word say. That's an important word. That's going to be used in the book of Matthew. Notice what else it says. If the Lord loves him so much, let the Lord rescue him. I want you to underline that word, rescue. That's a very interesting word, a very important word. Now, these verses describe, using similar terms to those found in Isaiah 53, the scorn and derision towards Jesus by those who were standing around the cross at the time Jesus was dying. If you remember, those who were standing around the cross were mocking and shouting insults at Jesus. And they said the very things that's written in verse 8 and Psalm chapter 22. Look at Matthew chapter 27:es 42 and 43. He saved others. There's that word saved. They scoffed, but he can't save himself. So, he is the king of Israel, is he? Let him come down from the cross right now, and we will believe him. He trusted God, so let God rescue him. There's that word rescue. Now, I know this is Greek and that was written in Hebrew in Psalms chapter 22, but they're the same words just translated into different language, but it says, "He trusted God, so let God rescue him now if he wants him." People, that's almost word for word what Psalm 22:8 says. Now look at verses 13- 16 in Psalm 22. They gape at me with their mouths like a raging and roaring lion. I am poured out like water and all my bo bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax that is melted within me. My strength is dried up like a potsert and my tongue clings to my jaws. You have brought me to the dust of death for dogs have surrounded me. The congregation of the wicked has enclosed me. They pierced my hands and my feet. Now people, this is a perfect description of crucifixion. Sweat pours out like water. Your joints become dislocated. Your heart starts going into cardiac arrest. You lose all your strength and you're unable to hold yourself up in order to breathe. Your mouth becomes so dry that you can't swallow. And then finally, you suffocate and die. That's what dust of death means. You can't breathe. You can't get any air. It seems like the only thing that's there is dust and you can't suck in. You can't go out. And then you finally die. Now verse 16 predicted that the Messiah would be crucified. Look at verse 16 again. Says, "For dogs have surrounded me. The congregation of the wicked has enclosed me. They pierced my hands and my feet." In other words, they nailed him to the cross. That's what it means by they pierced his hands and feet. There's no other explanation for this. This was the method of execution. Now, what's interesting is this method of execution didn't exist when this was prophesied. Now, they would impel people at the time that this was prophesied, but they didn't nail anyone to a cross. So, this didn't make sense at the time that this was prophesied. But this isn't the only place where the Messiah's method of execution was prophesied. It was also prophesied that Jesus would be crucified in Zechariah 12. And it's implied in Isaiah chapter 53. Now, let me go back to the words that Jesus said on the cross. He said, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Now, those are the very first words in the very first verse of Psalm 22, a psalm that every Jew knew by heart. And as soon as he said those words, it triggered in their minds, in the minds of everyone who heard it, Psalm 22, which they all knew to be a messianic psalm that predicted the death of the suffering Messiah. And right before their eyes, they saw Psalm 22 fulfilled. Let me say that again. When he said, "My God, my God, why have thou why hast thou forsaken me?" Immediately it triggered in their minds exactly this psalm and every Jew had it memorized and right before their eyes they literally saw this psalm being fulfilled and they had one of two choices to either accept him as the suffering Messiah who was crucified to pay for their sins or to reject him which would mean rejecting God's method of salvation. Today you have the very same choice. You can either receive Jesus and receive salvation or you can reject Jesus and in doing so you reject God's method of salvation. If you're listening and watching this morning and you've never received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, let me tell you what you're saying to God. You're saying, "God, I don't need your means of salvation. I trust in myself. But I have news for you. You can't go to heaven without Jesus." Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and life. No man comes into the Father except through me." In other words, no one gets to heaven except through me because I am the only means to salvation. I died for your sins. My soul descended into hell in order to pay for your sin. And when all of your sin was paid for, God legally raised Jesus from the dead according to Leviticus 18:5. Now, if you don't receive Jesus, that means you've rejected him, but you've also rejected the only means for salvation because you're saying, "I'll save myself." And you don't have the ability to do that. The Bible says, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." That word sin comes from the Greek word or is translated from the Greek word hamardia and it means to miss the mark. What it's really saying is, you know, you might be a good person, but you're not perfect. It means that even though you tried to be the best person you could be, you still miss the mark. And because you miss the mark, you're separated from God. and therefore you can't go to heaven. Well, Pastor Anna, why are you going to heaven? Because Jesus paid the penalty for my sin. He's the one who took the punishment so I wouldn't have to. So this morning, if you've never received Jesus, I'm going to give you the opportunity to do that. Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to say a very simple prayer. And if you want to receive Jesus, all you have to do is repeat this prayer. This prayer is not magic. Just because you say the prayer doesn't mean you'll get to go to heaven. But if you believe what you're saying, if you put your trust in Jesus and you make him Lord of your life, your sins will be forgiven. That your sins, the penalty for your sins will be paid for. And when you die, you'll get to go to heaven. So if you want to receive Jesus, if you want to receive the free gift of salvation, just repeat this prayer after me. God, I know I'm a sinner and I know that my sin has separated me from you. But God, I believe you love me. And because you love me, you sent your son, Jesus, to die for my sin. And I believe that when Jesus died, his soul descended into hell to pay the penalty for my sin. But I also believe that when all my sin was paid for, you raised Jesus from the dead. Jesus, I receive you. I receive you as the suffering Messiah who paid the penalty for my sin and I put my trust in you and I want you to be Lord of my life. Thank you for saving me. Thank you for allowing me to go to heaven when I die. It is so good to see you all. I'm telling you, last e last Easter was held online. Let me tell you, Easter is the Super Bowl. It's the Super Bowl of church. And as a result of that, having to do it online, it just wasn't the same. So, I thank God that we're able to come back and and gather together and and share the word of God, especially on Easter. And I also want to thank those who are joining us online. One of the positive things that's happened uh as a result of CO is that we've had people join our church from all over the world and we just want you to know that we appreciate you tuning in. You might watch us a little bit later, but thank you so much for doing that. Well, this is going to be a little bit of a different service. How many of you have ever watched the Netflix original series Stranger Things? Well, even if you haven't, I'm sure you've heard about it. It premiered on Netflix in 2016 and Rotten Tomatoes gave the first season an approval rating of 97%. People, that's unheard of. In fact, by the third season, almost 41 million households watched it uh within 4 days of its release. Now, if you haven't heard about it, let me give you a brief synopsis of the story line. The main characters are children around the age of middle school and the story takes place in Hawkins, Indiana in 1983. Hawkins is a small town where everyone knows everyone, kind of like how Teloqua used to be. But just outside of town is a government facility where secret experiments are taking place. Well, a young boy by the name of Will Buyers goes missing near the top secret government laboratory. And on the same night, a strange girl appears at a diner on the outskirts of town. She has telekinetic powers and she's escaped from the laboratory. She's hiding from them. She was at the laboratory because they're researching supernatural phenomena. And in the process, they've unlocked a gateway to another dimension which unleashes supernatural forces upon the town. So you have all of these strange things happening, but because the story involves supernatural elements in another dimension, it's not just strange things that are happening. It's stranger things, hence the name stranger things. Well, believe it or not, the Easter story also involves supernatural elements and another dimension. So, you have some really strange things that happened, and that's what I'm going to talk about this morning. I'm going to talk about three strange things that happened on that first Easter Sunday. Now, I started off with five strange things, but when I reached 75 pages of notes, we scratched the fifth one. I got down to about 60 pages of notes, we scrapped the fourth one. So, we're down to three strange things that happen on that first Easter Sunday. Now, these are things that most pastors don't talk about because they do involve supernatural elements in another dimension. And let's be honest, most pastors aren't comfortable with that. So, most pastors just gloss over these things. Well, we're not going to gloss over them. In fact, we're going to do just the opposite. We're gonna focus on them because the stranger things that happened on that Netflix series were fictional, but the stranger things that happened on the day of Christ's resurrection are factual. So, let's look at the first strange thing that happened on that first Easter Sunday. The first strange thing that happened is that Jesus walked out of the tomb before the stone was rolled away. Yeah. The tomb was completely sealed. And while it was sealed, no way in, no way out, Jesus came out of it. Now, that's now that's not how it's depicted in most sermons or if you go to some type of passion play. Think about it. How is the resurrection usually depicted? It's early Sunday morning and the Roman soldiers are guarding the tomb and suddenly an angel appears and there's an earthquake. The Roman soldiers fall fall to the ground in fear as the angel rose the stone away. And as a bright light is shining out of the tomb, Jesus walks out. But he doesn't walk out until the stone is rolled away. But is that what the gospels really say? Is that how it really happened? I don't think so. Turn with me if you would to the book of Matthew, chapter 28. We're going to read verses 1-6. We're going to see what the gospels actually say. Here goes. Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb. Suddenly, there was a great earthquake. For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rode a beside the stone, and sat on it. His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was white as snow. The guard shook with fear when they saw him. Who's him? Jesus? No. If you know Greek, you understand that this pronoun him is referring to the angel. The guard shook with fear when they saw the angel and they fell into a dead faint. Then the angel spoke to the women, "Don't be afraid." He said, "I know you were looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here. He is risen from the dead just as he said it would happen. Come see where his body was laying." Now, according to Matthew, just as the women were arriving at the tomb, there was this great earthquake. But the earthquake was caused by the angel coming down from heaven and rolling the stone aside. Look back at verse two, and I'll show you how we know that. Notice what it says. Suddenly, there was a great earthquake. For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rode aside the stone, and sat on it. Now, do you see that word for? For is translated from the Greek word gar, and it's a causal conjunction. It's telling you what caused the earthquake. What caused it? The angel. Now, the angel's face was like a beam of light. That's what it means when it says his face shone like lightning. In fact, that word lightning is translated from the Greek word estrae. And it refers to a bright beam of light. So, his face was like an overpowering beam of light. Some of you are out spotlighting deer, you know. No. Yeah. an overparing beam of light and his clothes were as white as snow. Now, when the guards saw this angel, it says they shook with fear. The word shook is translated from the Greek word scio. Our English word seismic is transliterated from this Greek word. Seismic refers to the vibrations of the earth's crust. Now, the reason I mention that is because the Greek word scio literally means to vibrate. But we don't translate it as to vibrate because when we're referring to a person, a person [Processed]