Embracing the Power of Resurrection and Redemption

"To have a complete understanding, to have an understanding of Sunday morning, of Sunday and what happened, we need to have a good understanding of Friday and Saturday. And so, I'm going to push into this for just a few minutes. And guys, it's not an easy story. It's actually been a heavy week. It really has. It's been going through this day after day. But I feel it's important that we be reminded of the price that was paid. All these benefits we talk about, about who we are in Christ, we got to remember the price that was paid." [00:58:11] (36 seconds)



"We know that during these trials, we know that Jesus was blindfolded. We know he was spat upon. They put a crown of thorns on his head. They put a purple robe on his back. They hit him. They struck him with their fists. They would say, who hit you? Because he was blindfolded. They're like, prophesy. They yanked the beard out of his face. He was beaten, we know for sure, by Pilate's soldiers, by Herod's soldiers, and by the Jewish soldiers. We just don't know how many times by the Jewish soldiers it occurred. But by this time, he has been beaten at least three times. He's probably in pretty rough shape. And remember, he hasn't slept." [01:09:41] (32 seconds)



"Romans were professionals at scourging. There were soldiers in Latin, they were called lictors. And that was their job, to bring the scourging. They took delight in the fact that they were the very best at punishing victims with this brutal act. Once the victim was harnessed to the post, the soldier, Roman soldier, began to put him through the most unimaginable torture. One writer of the day, he's quoting a Roman historian, documents that are found from back in that time. And one writer that day notes that the mere anticipation of the first blow caused the victim's body to grow rigid, his muscles to knot in his stomach, the color to drain from his cheeks, and his lice to grow. And he said, his lips to draw in tightly against his teeth as he waited for the first sadistic blow that would begin tearing his body open." [01:16:05] (47 seconds)



"Most often, two soldiers would carry out the punishment, simultaneously lashing the victim from both sides. Each time the torturer struck, the straps of leather attached to the handle would cause multiple lashes as the pieces of metal, glass, wire, and bone sank into his flesh and raked across his body. The soldier would then jerk back the scourge, pulling hard in order to pull off whole pieces of flesh from the body. The victim's back, legs, stomach, upper chest, and face would soon be disfigured by the slashing blows of the whip. Historical records of the day describe one victim's back being so mutilated after Roman scourging that his spine was exposed." [01:17:54] (40 seconds)



"After the scourging Jesus experienced at the hands of the Romans, it's entirely possible that when the soldier pulled out the whip, very possible Jesus received more than 39 lashes. We have no way of knowing. But I'll tell you this, whether it was 10 or whether it was 39, that's horrific. Horrific. Horrific. And that's what Jesus experienced for us. The Bible does not tell us what Jesus looked like. The New Testament does not tell us what Jesus looked like after the scourging. But there are 53 messianic prophecies, prophecies about the Messiah that were written up to a thousand years earlier." [01:20:01] (38 seconds)



"Guys, the burial of Jesus is very important. And we see that because, you know, according to scripture, burial represents baptism. Or maybe it's the other way around. Baptism represents the burial, right? Baptism is something that we do today. Something we do to this day is as a public profession of our faith. We're water baptized. We're put underwater, identifying with the death and the burial of Jesus and his resurrection as we come out. You may have been baptized as a child. You may have been baptized as a child. You may have been baptized as a child. or you may have been sprinkled. You know, I don't know what it was for you." [01:34:47] (31 seconds)



"The Bible is very clear that our sin and our rebellion separated us from a holy God. It's not your mama's fault. It's not your daddy's fault because you weren't raised right. It's not the fault of people who did something mean to you. Each one of us, it's our fault. We're to blame. It's our sin. It's our rebellion. We were created to be loved by God. We were created to have fellowship with Him. We were created to know Him and make Him new, and we blew it. We blew it." [01:41:38] (33 seconds)



"Men have been hiding behind the locked doors of fear and insecurity and excuses and busyness. And men, I would say there is a leader in you. It's time to rise up and be who God's called you to be. There's people watching you. If anything, your family, if anything, your children are watching you. And whether they want to or not, they're probably going to turn out just like you." [01:49:27] (28 seconds)