Lesson 1.29: The King Is The Suffering Servant (Part 2)

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LESSON 1.29: THE KING IS THE SUFFERING SERVANT (PART 2)

Jesus Is Judged Guilty By Jewish Leaders

Loved one, the men who arrested Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane led Him to the house of Caiaphas the high priest. The teachers of the law and the older Jewish leaders were gathered there. All through the night the leading priests and the High Council, the Sanhedrin, tried to find something against Jesus so they could kill Him.

Finally, the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, "Tell us, are you the Christ, the Son of God?"

Jesus answered, "Yes, that's right. But I tell you, in the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of God. You will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven."

When the high priest heard this, he tore his clothes in anger. He said, "This man has said things that insult God! We don't need any more witnesses. You all heard his insulting words. What do you think?"

The Jewish leaders answered, "He is guilty, and he must die."

Then, some of the people there spat in Jesus' face and hit Him with their fists. Others slapped Him and said, "Show us that you are a prophet, Christ! Tell us who hit you!" Jesus said nothing.

When Judas learned that Jesus had been sentenced to death, he was sorry for what he had done. He took the 30 coins back to the priests and threw them into the temple. Then he went out and hanged himself.

Jesus Is Judged Innocent By Pilate

Early the next morning, all the leading priests and older leaders of the people tied Jesus up, led Him away, and handed Him over to Pilate, the governor. Then, they accused Him of many things.

Jesus was standing before Pilate the governor when Pilate asked Him, "Are you the king of the Jews?"

Jesus answered, "My kingdom does not belong to this world. If it did, my servants would fight so that I would not be given to the Jewish leaders. No, my kingdom is not an earthly one."

Pilate said, "So you are a king!"

Jesus answered, "You are right to say that I am a king. I was born for this: to tell people about the truth. That is why I came into the world, and everyone who belongs to the truth listens to me."

Pilate said, "What is truth?" Then he went out to the Jewish leaders again and said to them, "I can find nothing against this man."

While Pilate was sitting in the place for judging, his wife sent a message to him. It said, "Don't do anything with that man. He is not guilty. Last night, I had a dream about him, and it troubled me greatly."

Pilate tried again to set Jesus free. Three times Pilate said, "I find nothing against this man." But the Jewish leaders yelled, "Crucify him! Kill him on a cross!"

Finally Pilate took some water and washed his hands in front of them all. He said, "I am not guilty of this man's death. You are the ones who are doing it!"

Then Pilate told some soldiers to beat Jesus with whips. And Pilate gave Jesus to the soldiers to be killed on a cross.

Pilate's Soldiers Mock Jesus

Pilate's soldiers took Jesus into the governor's palace. All the soldiers gathered around Him. Then they made a crown of thorny branches and put it on His head, and they put a stick in His right hand. They bowed before Him, making fun of Him. Then they took His stick and kept hitting Him on the head with it. After they finished making fun of Him, the soldiers took off the robe and put His own clothes on Him again. Then they led Him away to be killed on a cross.

Jesus Is Nailed To A Cross

There were also two criminals who were led out with Jesus to be crucified. They were led to a place called, "The Skull." It was nine o'clock in the morning when they nailed Jesus to His cross. They also nailed the criminals to crosses beside Him, one on the right, and the other on the left.

While Jesus was hanging there, He prayed for the people who were killing Him. Jesus said, "Father, forgive them. They don't know what they are doing."

Then the soldiers threw dice to divide Jesus' clothes between them. The people stood there watching everything.

The Jewish leaders laughed at Jesus and said, "He saved other people, but he can't save himself! If he is the king, he should come down from the cross. Then we will believe in him. He trusted God so let God save him now, if God really wants him. He himself said, 'I am the Son of God.'"

One of the criminals hanging there began to shout insults at Jesus. He said, "Aren't you the Christ? Then save yourself, and save us too!"

But the other criminal stopped him. He said, "You should fear God. All of us will die soon. You and I are guilty. We deserve to die because we did wrong, but this man has done nothing wrong!" Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you begin ruling as a king!"

Jesus said to him, "I promise you; today you will be with me in Paradise!"

Jesus' mother stood near the cross. Jesus saw her standing by one of His followers. Jesus said to His mother, "Dear woman, here is your son." Then He said to His follower, "Here is your mother."

Jesus Dies On The Cross

At noon the whole country became dark. This darkness continued for three hours because the sun stopped shining. About three o'clock in the afternoon, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "My God, my God, why have you left me alone?"

A little later, Jesus said, "I am thirsty." Then He said, "It is finished." After that Jesus cried out with a loud voice and said, "Father, I put my life in your hands." Then He bowed His head and died. All these things happened so that everything written about Him might be fulfilled.

God Shakes The Earth

When Jesus died, the curtain in the temple in Jerusalem was torn into two pieces. This curtain was more than nine meters high. The tear started at the top and tore all the way to the bottom.

At the same time, the earth shook and rocks were broken. All the graves nearby were opened, and many of God's people who had died were raised from death. After Jesus was raised from death, those people came out of their graves and were seen in Jerusalem by many people.

The army officer and the soldiers guarding Jesus saw this earthquake and everything that happened and were afraid. The officer said, "This man really was the Son of God!"

Points To Think About

1. Jesus was the Suffering Servant about whom Isaiah the prophet had written. When Jesus died on the cross, He fulfilled all of Isaiah's prophecies about the Suffering Servant (Read Isaiah chapter 53).

Jesus came to suffer and die for others. Most of us think about ourselves. God thinks about others. Jesus said, "The Son of Man came to find lost people and to save them." He said, "The Son of Man did not come to be served by other people. The Son of Man came to serve others and to give his life to save many people."

2. God's New Covenant went into effect when Jesus died. God's agreement with the Israelites is called "the Old Covenant." The Old Covenant was an agreement of law and punishment. God's agreement with His people today is called the New Covenant or New Testament. The New Covenant is an agreement of grace and mercy. When Jesus died on the cross, the curtain in the temple was torn from top to bottom by the unseen hand of God. Under the Old Covenant, this curtain kept people from coming into God's presence. Jesus' death opened the way to God. Now we can live in the presence of God every day.

3. The New Testament is the Word of God. Jesus made a promise to His apostles that He has made to no one else. He promised that the Holy Spirit would lead them to all truth. By the power of the Holy Spirit, they would preach, teach, and write the very words of God. When we open the New Testament today and read the writings of the apostles, we are reading truths that came from God Himself.

4. God turns defeat into victory. Jesus said to the people who arrested Him, "This is your time - the time when darkness rules." To Jesus' followers, it seemed that Satan had defeated Jesus. Satan himself probably thought he had finally won a victory. But God is full of surprises. God has a way of turning things around. The forces of evil seemed to be winning when Jesus died on the cross. It often appears that evil is winning, and that Satan is ruling the world. Yet God is in control. God is greater than Satan. At the cross, Satan suffered his greatest defeat. God used death to bring life.

We human beings are guilty of sin. We have said, thought, and done things that are wrong, and we deserve to be punished. Jesus never sinned. Jesus did no wrong to anyone. He never told a lie. Jesus didn't deserve to die, but these things happened to Him for our sake.

People made fun of Jesus, and even His friends left Him. Like them, many Christians today, treat Jesus like someone of no importance. The fact is it was our sufferings that He took on Himself. He bore our sins as He suffered and died on the cross between two criminals. He was crushed because of our guilt. He was buried in the tomb of a rich man, Joseph of Arimathea. He took the punishment we deserved, and this brought us peace. We were healed because of His pain. Justice and mercy met at the cross.

5. Jesus gives us victory over death. The followers of Jesus were sad when they learned that Jesus was going to die. They loved Him. They needed Him. They knew that life would be empty and lonely without Him. That is how we feel when we learn that a loved one is going to die. We grieve. We weep. We pray. Our hearts are filled with sadness.

But Jesus spoke words of comfort to His apostles. He promised that He was going to prepare a place for them in heaven and that He would come again to take them home. These promises were very comforting to the apostles. They are still comforting to followers of Jesus today.

Jesus became like us and died in order to destroy the one who had the power of death, that is, the devil. Jesus died, was buried, and rose from death on the third day, to make us free from the fear of death. Followers of Jesus can now face death with confidence and hope.

Are you truly a follower of Jesus? That question can only be answered correctly by consulting the word of God, the Bible. As you have already studied in Lesson 1.18, we desire to again stress the fact (in more detail) that to become a TRUE FOLLOWER of Jesus one must take five Holy Spirit divinely inspired steps:

1. YOU MUST HEAR THE TRUTH OF GOD'S WORD.

The word is the truth (John 17:17), because it is the word of God (1 Thessalonians 2:13). The Bible was written and is profitable for our learning and doctrine. It will reprove, correct, and instruct us in righteousness and every good work (Romans 15:4; 2 Timothy 3:16-17).

What Will Happen If You Hear The Word? Hearing the word will give you faith in Jesus as the only begotten Son of God (Romans 10:17; John 20:30-31). Hearing the word will make you free (John 8:32, 36), because it is the perfect law of freedom (James 1:25). The word will bless you (Luke 11:28), make you wise (2 Timothy 3:15), and save your soul (James 1:21).

BEWARE: even if you refuse to hear the word, it will judge you in the last day (John 12:48).

2. YOU MUST BELIEVE THE TRUTH THAT YOU HEAR.

You must BELIEVE: the gospel (Mark 1:15; John 2:22), in God and Jesus who God sent (John 14:1; 17:1, 21), in the light (John 12:36), there is only one God (James 2:19), that God sent the Holy Spirit to teach us with the word (John 14:26), that Jesus Christ is the Son of God (John 6:69), that Jesus was put to death on a tree/cross (Acts 10:39), that Jesus died and rose again (1 Thessalonians 4:14), that Jesus' blood cleanses and keeps on cleansings us from all sin (1 John 1:7).

If you believe these things you will be blessed (John 20:29), and all things will be possible (Mark 9:23).

BEWARE: if you don't believe you will be damned (Mark 16:16); i.e., you will die in your sins (John 8:24).

3. YOU MUST REPENT OF YOUR SIN (turn from sin to God).

Jesus and the Father Commands mankind to repent (Matthew 4:17; Acts 17:30) of our wickedness (Acts 8:22; cf. Isaiah 59:2). Joy will be in heaven when you repent (Luke 15:7).

BEWARE: if you don't repent you will perish (Luke 13:3, 5; cf. 2 Peter 3:9).

4. YOU MUST CONFESS JESUS.

No one today is commanded to confess their sins to man to be saved. God already knows your sins. Man has no need to know. With your mouth (Matthew 10:32) you simply must tell somebody that you believe Jesus is Lord (Romans 10:9-10), the Son of God (Matthew 16:15-16; John 11:27; 1 John 4:15). If you will humble yourself and make this confession, Jesus will confess you before God and His angels (Luke 12:8).

BEWARE: if you deny Jesus, He will deny you before God and His angels (Matthew 10:33; Luke 12:9). Christ will deny you (1 Timothy 2:12) and you will NOT have the Father (1 John 2:23).

5. YOU MUST BE BAPTIZED.

You MUST be BAPTIZED: to wash away your sins by the blood of Jesus (Acts 22:16; Revelation 1:5), to be born again into newness of life (John 3:3-5; Romans 6:4), to be saved and added to the church built by Jesus (1 Peter 3:21; Acts 2:41, 47; Matthew 16:18).

The ONE Bible baptism commanded by Jesus after His resurrection (Ephesians 4:5; Matthew 28:18-19) is a burial or immersion in water (Colossians 2:12; Acts 8:38-39). Since salvation is in Christ (2 Timothy 2:10), one MUST be baptized to get into Christ and be saved in His body or church (Romans 6:3-4; Galatians 3:26-27; 1 Corinthians 12:13).

BEWARE: your sins have NOT been forgiven... you have NOT received the gift of the Holy Spirit... if from your heart (proper understanding – Roman 6:17) you have not obeyed God through belief, repentance, confession, and water baptism (Acts 2:38; 5:32; 10:47-48).

SUMMARY: A lost person must hear the word, believe the word, and confess Jesus to be God's Son, repent of sins, and be baptized in water to be saved.

Jesus asked, "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" (Luke 6:46). Jesus will save only those that obey His will (Hebrews 5:9; Matthew 7:21-23). Have you obeyed Jesus? If not, why not? Won't you please trust and commit your life to Him who can save you? (Acts 4:12). Please contact a congregation of the churches of Christ in your area (Romans 16:16). They will gladly assist you in obeying the Lord and becoming "Just A Christian" (Acts 11:26; 26:28; 1 Peter 4:16). We love you with the love of the Lord. Samuel