Live Free with Josh Howerton - Holy Week: A Dark Courtyard | Ep. 44 | Thursday April 6, 2023

Episode Date: April 6, 2023

Jesus is in custody and sent to trial. He is wrongly accused and condemned to death. Today’s episode continues to walk through the book of Matthew, where these powerful, world-changing events are recounted. Jesus, the Son of God, is about to give His life to save the lives of many. Tune in to hear about these days that led to the cross. For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive

Thanks for tuning in to today's daily drive with Lake Point Church, a daily dose of God's Word for your morning drive. When the word, not the world, becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change. This week's devotionals will walk us through Holy Week as Pastor Mike helps prepare our hearts for Easter. For more information on our special Easter weekend services this coming weekend, visit lakepoint. and church slash Easter. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Hey, welcome to the podcast. We are tracing the final steps of Jesus as we walk toward Easter.

I guess final steps is not really accurate, but what we are doing is walking with him on the road toward the cross this week that is known as Passion Week. And we're just taking a little more time than we normally do each day. So thanks for hanging with us for extended time this week. Today we're going to see a striking contrast between real and fake, between authentic and phony, genuine and counterfeit as we join Jesus in a dark courtyard. Let me ask you, are you an artificial Christmas tree person or a real tree person?

I used to be a diehard real tree guy, but I got tired of sweeping up needles, so we got a fake one. But man, it looks so real. I mean, you really can't tell the difference. In fact, there's a lot of fake things these days that really do look real, whether it's faux flowers or fruit or non-prescriptive, you know, fashion lenses or toupee or eyelashes or virtual reality green screens. I mean, it's hard to tell. Is it real?

Is it not? It's especially hard with people. Now, of course, none of us are 100% the genuine article. None of us perfectly practice what we preach, right? We all fail to live up to expectations. We all occasionally blow it. And we all occasionally try to fake it. to some extent, everyone can be hypocritical.

There was a time of my life where I basically lived two lives. And man, that is so hard. It's exhausting trying to remember what you said with where you were and who you were with. And the more you try to fake it, the more creative your lives have to become. It was killing me. I mean, living one life is hard enough, right? Living two. Yeah, it's brutal.

And I'm learning that a lack of authenticity just sucks the life out of your life. The word hypocrite comes from the ancient Greek theater world, which means a stage actor, someone who pretends. It was customary for Greek and Roman actors to wear these large masks that had the vices that would enhance and project their voice, so neither the face nor the voice was consistent with who that person really was. They were simply acting, playing a role. They were pretending. This word is found only in the Gospels and used only by Jesus, 15 times. in the book of Matthew.

You might remember we were in Matthew chapter 21 a few days ago unpacking that account of Jesus ride into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. And then we've been in Matthew 26 the past couple of days in an upper room a lonely garden, the arrest of Jesus. And if you will read the chapters in between those,

you will see Jesus kind of going off on the hypocrisy of the religious leaders. In Matthew chapter 23, he begins by telling the crowd of people, he says, listen, don't do what these guys do. It's all for show. They take the best seats to be seen as important. They wear all this religious stuff to appear righteous. They pray on the street corners in order to be seen and heard by people.

They crush people with their religious demands. What they do has nothing to do with the true kingdom of God. And then he turns to them and kind of starts throwing down. By the way, it's interesting. The only people Jesus was ever harsh with was these religious people. He calls them out, tells them they are blind guides, calls them, Snakes, hypocrites, pretenders? Matthew 23 says,

What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees? Hypocrats, for you're so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy, full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee. First, wash the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside will become clean too. What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and Pharisees? hypocrites. Fear like whitewashed tombs, beautiful on the outside of it, filled on the inside

with dead men's bones and all sorts of impurity. Outwardly, you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness. You project this image to the watching world, but your hearts are so far from God. You're just actors, pretenders, hypocrites, fake. Can you see why they wanted to get rid of Jesus? Well, their hearts are on full display the night of his arrest. Temple soldiers led by Judas come at night to the olive groves where Jesus had gone to pray

and they arrest him, bind him, and take him to two quote-unquote trials. Now, when you examine all the Gospels, you'll see that before his crucifixion, Jesus was actually shuttled back and forth between six of these so-called trials. He was finally condemned by Pilate, the Roman governor, who alone

had the authority to pronounce a death sentence. But on this night, he stands on trial before Anas, who was the high priest emeritus, and the other child was before Caiaphas, the son-in-law of Annas, and the one who was recognized by the Roman government as the official high priest of the Jewish people. Matthew's gospel focuses on the trial before Caiapus, and it's a place where Jesus rode would intersect at the crossroad of authenticity and hypocrisy, real and fake. Here we go, chapter 26, verse 57.

Then the people who had rested Jesus led him to the home of Caiaphas, the high priest, where the teachers of religious law and the elders had gathered. Caiaphas was supposed to be the spiritual leader of the Jewish nation. He was the high priest, the only one allowed to enter into the place of the temple called the Holy of Holies.

The Holy of Holies was this inner sanctum. It was this heavily curtained area that was symbolic of the dwelling place of God. The Ark of the Covenant and other sacred symbols were kept in that most holy space, and any man except the high priest who entered the holy of holies wasn't coming out alive. Once a year at Passover, the high priest would enter with fear and trembling

and would sprinkle lamb's blood on the altar and offer up a prayer for the sins of the people and just listen for a message from God. I mean, this was such a sacred and intimidating assignment that it said that the priest would not allow himself to go to sleep the night before, and I quote, lest he contaminate himself with evil dreams. No one would go.

into the Holy of Holies. No one would dare that. That was a dwelling place of the living God. Only one had access. And the day before the trial of Jesus, that one, Caiaphas, would have entered the Holy of Holies, offering up a blood sacrifice on behalf of the people, going through the motions of being the mediator between God and man. And now just a few hours later, he presides over the most corrupt trial in the history of trials.

Caiaphas and his father-in-law had a personal vendetta against Jesus. They didn't like him for the things he said or the way he interacted with quote-unquote sinners. They couldn't stand the claims that he made. They were intimidated by the way people seemed to hang on his every word. When he rode in the town just a few days prior to the cheers and hosanas of the people, they knew this was getting out of hand. Jesus posed a genuine threat to the religious and political establishment in Jerusalem. But the real deal breaker was that they wrote.

raked in millions from the religious market and money-changing system in the temple. And ever since Jesus had upset their temple business, turned over their tables, and drove out the clerks, they were determined to do him in. Now, if you were watching this trial unfold on an episode of Dateline or 2020, you'd be outraged by the injustice. By the lack of any evidence, the total bias, the way they completely try to stack the deck. I mean, if the trial of Jesus were appealed in a modern court, the verdict, would not only be overturned, but Caiaphas would have been stripped of all of his responsibilities and title, and he himself would have been prosecuted to the full extent. There are all kinds of violations of justice that happened on this night.

Let's just quickly walk through. And first of all, Caiapus orders an improper arrest. A group of soldiers, along with some of the elders, leaders, and religious thugs, are sent at night to Gassimini that Olive Grove or Jesus was praying. Judas knew that's where Jesus and the guys were headed. When they arrive, it says of Matthew 26, then Jesus said to the crowd, am I some dangerous revolutionary? That you come with swords and clubs to arrest me? Why didn't you arrest me in the temple?

I was there teaching every day, like in broad daylight. But this is happening to fulfill the words of the prophets that's recorded in the scriptures. At that point, all the disciples deserted him and fled. The Jewish law specified that any arrest for a capital crime must be made in the day. light hours. Jesus was arrested under the cover of night. The second thing Caiapus does, he presides over an illegal meeting. No Jewish trial was to take place between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. By 6 a.m., Jesus had been arrested and tried before both Annas and Caiapus. And just to appear technically legal, they wait until dawn to pronounce the verdict. If a man was tried for a capital offense,

the Talmud specified that there was to be at least three presiding judges to avoid prejudice. Caiaphas presides alone. In a capital offense, the members were not allowed to enter an immediate verdict. They were required to return to their home for two days, eat and drink lightly, sleep well, and then return for the final testimony. But the Sanhedron, the group of elders, listened to the hurry testimony and passed a hasty verdict before dawn, thus conveniently throwing their own rules of law out the window. The third thing Caiaphas does, he encourages false testimony.

It says this in Matthew, chapter 26, verse 59. Inside, the leading priest and the entire High Council were trying to find witnesses who would lie about Jesus so they could put him to death. But even though they found many who agreed to give false witness, they couldn't use anyone's testimony. See, according to Deuteronomy, a person could not be convicted unless two or more witnesses gave consistent testimony. These false witnesses were permitted

to give testimony about Jesus, but apparently they were so contradictory that even the phony court dismisses these guys. Then verse 60, finally, two men came forward and declared, this man said, I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.

Okay, now they got something to go on. Two witnesses had agreed. They heard Jesus make some sort of blasphemous state against the Holy Temple of God. Now, of course, those words were taken completely out of context. Jesus had made that kind of statement, but he was referring to his own body that they would have crucified. He said, it destroyed this temple of my body, and I'll rebuild it in three days. Jesus was predicting his resurrection.

Well, with that, Caiaphas turns up the heat. And then he personally forces incriminating testimony. Now, the presiding judge was to be neutral. He was the one responsible for the accused getting a fair trial. But Caiapha's own animosity toward Jesus was so intense that he could not restrain himself. I mean, like a prosecuting attorney going for the juggler, this judge gets in Jesus' face and screams, well, aren't you going to answer these charges? What do you have to say for yourself?

And I love what it says in verse 63, but Jesus remained silent, which really jacks Caiaphas up. The high priest says to him, I charge you under oath by the living God. if you are the Messiah, the son of God. And when he says that, Caiaphas doesn't realize that the living God was standing right in front of him. It's kind of like Jesus having to say in a court of law, I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth,

and nothing but the truth. So help me, me. But when the high priest used this phrase, I charge you under oath by the living God, Jesus was legally obliged to reply. So Jesus does reply. He says, well, you have said it. And in the future,

you will see the son of man seated in the place of power at God's right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven. Jesus says, you guys are the ones who keep calling me that. And someday you're going to see for yourself whether or not I am the one you keep saying I am, the one I know that I am. You know, you can read through the Gospels and you can see how careful Jesus was not to proclaim the Messiah is here. He didn't walk around with a Jesus saves T-shirt on. He shunned the attempts of the crowd to make him king to anoint him as the promised one. He even would tell some of the people that he healed and those

who witnessed the healing, hey, listen, don't tell anybody about this. Because he wanted his miracles and his words, the way he loved people to simply shine a floodlight on his father. Jesus wasn't just another religious radical trying to build a crowd. He was from God.

He was God in the flesh. And he was ushering in the kingdom of unfailing love. And those with open hearts could clearly see that. So here's Jesus. The long-awaited, going to overthrow Rome kind of savior, tied up, bound surrounded by guards, helpless like a lamb of slaughter, the least Messiah-looking figure in the whole city. But he stands before an outrage Caiaphas and says, you're right in what you say about me. The fifth thing Caiaphas does, he manipulates a guilty

verdict. The charge had been made. Okay, he claims to be the Messiah. The next an appropriate judicial procedure would be to determine the validity of the claim. Now, of course, the real evidence would have been overwhelming. For instance, over 300 messianic prophecies that Jesus fulfilled. During his baptism, the affirmation from heaven, the transfiguration of Jesus, all these unexplainable miracles, the blind could see, the deaf could hear, the lame could walk, demons fled at his words. He raised his Lazarus from the dead.

But all of this was inimissible in this court. They weren't interested in the truth. With his hate and ego fueling his rage, Caiaphas makes this big, grandstanding, melodramatic move. It says in verse 65 by Matthew 26. Then the high priest tore his clothing to show his horror and said, blasphemy. Why do we need other witnesses?

You have all heard this blasphemy. What is your verdict? Guilty, they shouted. He deserves to die. In the Old Testament, tearing your clothes was a sign of righteous indignation or extreme anguish its sin. So in mock horror, this pretender rips its clothes as an attempt to manipulate the verdict. And no one says, Your Honor, you are out of order.

Caiaphas also tolerates the abuse of power. Now, we get repulsed, and rightly so. When we see video of people abusing their power by using excessive force, even when it's someone who's totally guilty. But here's an innocent man. Sinless, compassionate, kind, good, who was bound and beaten.

Verse 67, then they began to spit in Jesus' face and beat him with their fist. And some slapped him jeering, prophesied to us, you Messiah, who hit you that time? And gang, these are the religious leaders of the day, the ones who were supposed to set the example of what it means

to walk with God. But Kaiiard. Fas was a pretender, as were many of the men in that room. Oh, there was an appearance of righteousness, careful to play their part, careful to keep the mask on in public, but in this dark of night, the real them comes out. And like Jesus said, they were hypocrites, pretenders, whitewashed tombs full of dead men's bones. And that's why Jesus said to a group of people gathered on the hillside one day, and to a group of people listening to a podcast. He said in Matthew 5, for I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law,

you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. You see, when you spend your life pretending, when you refuse to get real, when you refuse to drop all the image management junk and all the play-acting junk, your heart can never really connect with the heart of God. That's why Jesus said, blessed are those who are pure in heart, the sincere, the genuine, for they will see God. Gang, it's really hard to see God. when you're always wearing a mask.

Honesty and authenticity are as crucial for our spirit as oxygen and blood flow are for our bodies. Jesus said it, he modeled it, you can't get caught up and play in games and really know God. Now again, we are all inconsistent at times. Even though I gave up my attempts at duplicity, I know I can still struggle. But when you're trying to manage two different lives,

it's spiritual death. You're so consumed with keeping up the facade that you can never really connect with other people or with God on a deep soul level. And if you don't already know, trying to fake God out, man, that's absolutely futile. It says in Hebrews chapter 4 verse 13, nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. It says in Isaiah chapter 29, what sorrow awaits those who try to hide. hide their plans from the Lord, who do their evil deeds in the dark.

The Lord can't see us, they say. He doesn't know what's going on. How foolish can you be? Proverbs chapter 10, verse 9 says, whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out. The reason? Because it gets too hard to cover your tracks on a crooked path. Plus, it messes with and steals your identity.

You don't even know who you really are anymore. You know, some actors have said they got so immersed in the role that it messed them up. They never fully recovered. I know a guy who was an undercover DEA agent, and his life and his family eventually crashed and burned. And he said, listen, I played the role for so long. And then the role played me. When you're always pretending, it's just been my experience, man. You get real defensive.

You're always trying to justify yourself and you're so self-focused that you're not able to genuinely love other people. When we are hypocritical, it hurts our example. We say one thing at home, but our behavior sends a really confusing message to our kids. I heard a comedian say one time, he said, growing up, my dad told me to stay out of strip clubs. He said, son, you will see things there you should not see. I got older and ventured in one day, and sure enough, I saw something I should not have seen, my dad in the front row. When our words and actions don't match up, when we fake it, when we pretend, when we are hypocritical,

it can be confusing, even repulsive to other people. I find hypocrisy a bit repulsive, don't you? And you know when I'm the most repulsed by hypocrisy? So when I see it in me, when I see it in me. Again, not talking about perfection. We all need God's grace. But I pray all the time. God, just help me be real.

I want to be the same guy on stage as I am off stage. I want to be the same guy at home as I am at church. God, keep me off the pedestal, help me to be honest with my struggles and my temptations, help me to be vulnerable and transparent, not only with my struggles, but also with my failures. God, I just want to be real. Well, Jesus' best friends, John wrote this in 1 John chapter 2. He said, anyone who claims to be intimate with God ought to live the same kind of life Jesus lived. And I want to live that kind of real life, don't you?

I got a good friend who's a pastor. They agreed to allow an AA group to meet and a real life. room in the basement of their church building. And he told me, I started praying that what happened in our sanctuary would somehow trickle down to the basement. And then I sat in on a meeting. And I began to pray that what was happening in the basement would trickle up to the sanctuary. The honesty, the vulnerability, the brokenness, the humility, the realness was so refreshing.

And so I pray that every church would be real, not pretending to be better than we are, or worse than we are, just real, a place where real screw-up. can just drop the mask and get real with their sin and find the real love and real forgiveness of Jesus. And the good news is there is forgiveness for all of us hypocrites, all of us pretenders at the cross. And we'll be there tomorrow on this podcast. But you need to know today that Jesus died for Caiaphas

and all the guys who slapped him around. He died for Judas. He died for me. He died for you. so maybe today's a good day to drop the mask or any image management and just get real with the one who loves you and begin to experience the joy of living a life of complete honesty. I'm praying for you today and I'll meet you tomorrow at the cross of Jesus. For more biblical teaching and worship,

join us for our Easter weekend services this coming Saturday and Sunday either in person or online. You can find all the information about our Easter services. at lakepoint.church slash Easter. Also, if this podcast was helpful to you, would you be sure to rate, review, and share this podcast to help get the word out? For more information about all digital ministries of Lake Point, visit lakepoint.compt.combe.

combe.com slash daily drive.