Day is special and it’s it’s actually predicted in scripture but this morning we’re going to do something a little bit strange but before we get started I want to make sure everybody has a Bible who needs one if you came and you accidentally forgot your Bible at home
We understand uh but if you raise up your hand somebody at the back will see and we can put a Bible into your hands so you can follow along this will be a lot better if you’re in the scriptures with me because that’s where the authority is anybody need a Bible all
Right good there’s a couple people that do that’s wonderful um yeah want to make sure you’re in the scriptures today we’re going to be taking a look at a passage um don’t want to mention it to you just yet because I have this this strange thing going on with me I
Actually want to preach two sermons we just got time for one but the the one is on Palm Sunday because you can’t really ignore the day can you so uh we’re going to be look you know if you know my preaching I usually preach on Sunday
Nights uh 6:00 and by the way you’re all welcome we’re between books we just finished Leviticus so tonight we’re going to be taking a look at a way to memorize the Book of John the Gospel of John conceptually and how to use it in uh in scripture um Ministry so if you’re
Interested in memorizing large chunks of scripture come on out tonight but tonight uh today is going to be kind of the opposite of how fast we go at night um we’re going to be really looking at just one verse of scripture and you know there’s different kinds of sermons sometimes there’s like you’re
Going through a book of the Bible sometimes you do a a theological uh sermon sometimes you do an Evangelistic sermon uh this is a Bible exposition of one verse it’s just going to be one verse in the sermon proper um but there’s three things and the thing
That’s interesting to me is it’s kind of something I discovered I’ve looked around for different Bible commentaries on this and I don’t see anybody unpacking this uh it’s kind of been a treasure in my heart for a number of years but the last time I actually preached it was at Harvest Chapel
Uh probably about 15 years ago at Judy’s catering and I’ll tell you more about some of the eruptions that happened during that service but uh before before we get there I just want to let you know the guy that we’re studying he we don’t know his name I call him Mr Anonymous or
Mr no name so we’re going to do a character on somebody we don’t know his name he’s anonymous and he’s just mentioned in one verse in the Bible so I hope you’re going to stay tuned for that but before we get to that I want to mention a little bit about Palm Sunday
Uh Palm Sunday is really interesting did you bring your palms today well you got them right here they’re right here anyway never mind you can wave them to the Lord some of you already doing that in worship uh Palm Sunday is really interesting um some of the things that
We know about it from scripture is Jesus rode into to Jerusalem on a donkey and people shouted out hosana hosana and they’re all shouting for Joy because they think they’re going to have a savior who’s going to to bring them polit oh nice Palms that’s cool nice
Visual there uh they think they’re going to have a savior that’s going to deliver them from Rome and Roman power and oppression but they got the wrong idea so while they’re all joyful about that Jesus is weeping over Jerusalem and saying how I would long to gather you as
A hen gathers her chicks but you’re not willing therefore you won’t see me again until you say blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord and Friends that’ll be in the future cuz he’s talking to mainstream uh Jewish faith which he came
To his own his own received him not and we got grafted in we’re Gentiles were’re believing in the Messiah and uh that the days will come when they will believe in large numbers there will be 144,000 Jews for Jesus I think we’re standing right on the edge of it we’re seeing
Indications of that even now a lot of Messianic Jews coming to faith in Christ but as we think about Palm Sunday one of the things that when everybody’s crying out hosana the religious leaders say to Jesus why are they saying that well we know that um Jesus had a response for
That and what part of his response was if they didn’t say it even the stones would cry out are you familiar with that verse it’s pretty cool and so I’ve got some Stones some pictures of some Stones crying out I think you might enjoy this Stone cries out where is that located
That’s in Saudi Arabia near the Mount of Musa and I I believe that’s the stone that Moses hit and rock uh and water poured out and provide um hydration for a million Jews coming out of of Egypt you see that guy in the white down there
At the bottom look at the size of that stone compared to that it’s very close and then another Stone we’ll flip over that yeah that is where I believe Mount Si is Mount Musa also in Saudi Arabia not the one in Israel that is granite that’s the top of Mount Si it’s charred
With fire who started the fire you got to read the the Old Testament find out God it was a consuming fire and there’s another one at the foot of that mount of people that were carving uh calves because they had a moment of backsliding where they worshiped a golden calf that
Aaron Hill but the rocks are crying out in archaeological discoveries are telling us Jesus is Lord this is Elijah’s cave when he was running away from Jezebel after his victory over the prophets of Baal and this cave overlooks that Valley where that water would roll
The rocks are are crying out and then I like this one of course the rock of the stone being rolled away from the tomb Easter’s coming right it’s coming this next Sunday we’re in Holy Week now but you know we serve a Risen Savior and the empty tomb certainly cries out I like
This one I don’t know who did this made that little rock collection maybe you’ve seen that little piece of art can you see the words the stones will cry out in there some of you towards the back probably see it closer than the ones at the front take it back to the original
One then if you can br see you see that the stones will cry out isn’t that amazing um and they do and they will and they are right now so I wanted to share with you a chart because I want to read with from you a passage with a Bible
Prophecy significance see Palm Sunday was actually predicted in the Old Testament to the day uh Jesus said you should have known the day of your visitation and it’s in Daniel chapter 9 it’s a prophecy called the weeks of years so you have a week of years that’s
Seven years one week is seven years seven days week of years you’ll see it when we read here Daniel chapter 9 UM verse 24 70 weeks have been decreed for your people 70 weeks that’s how we know it’s 70 years because God told the Jewish people they would be in captivity
In Babylon and captivity me Persian 70 years and then they’ll come back to the land so 70 weeks 70 weeks of years um have been decreed for your people for the holy city to finish the transgression to make an end of sin end of sin to make atonement for iniquity
Atonement the end of sin to bring in Everlasting righteousness to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy Place verse 25 so you are to know and discern that from the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem which happens under Nehemiah
He gets the edict he gets permission to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild until Messiah the prince there will be seven weeks and 62 weeks what’s seven weeks plus 62 69 there’s a missing week where’s that 7 hang in there but you can see on my chart the seven weeks the end
Of the Old Testament writing prophets and then the 62 weeks brings its right to 32 ad when Messiah the prince walks into Jerusalem or rides in on that donkey this day in history was predicted hundreds of years before Jesus came you want the picture of the chart you should
Take it and look at this prophecy it says Messiah the prince um so what happens there uh well there will be 70 weeks and 62 weeks and it will be built again uh with Plaza and moat even in times of distress so they’re going to build the temple
Going to build the temple happens during time of Nehemiah then verse 26 after the 62 weeks the Messiah will be cut off hello did my Bible just say in the Old Testament Messiah will be cut off yes it did we’re familiar with it in Isaiah 53
That all we like sheep have gone astray we’ve turned everyone to his own way but the lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all we’re not so familiar with Daniel and the prophecy here that the Messiah will be cut off in the exact time after
The triumphal entry after uh Palm Sunday and have nothing the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary wait a minute our temples have been destroyed during the time of Daniel
But it’s going to get rebuilt but Messiah is going to come on bomb Sunday and then the people of the prince that’s the Romans are going to come and destroy the sanctuary again and the end will come with the flood even to the end there will be Wars and desolations are to be
Determined uh verse 27 and he will make a firm Covenant with the many for one week oh that’s where that last week came from 69 weeks and now we know where the last missing uh week comes in um we believe that the church the book of Ephesians teaches was a mystery in the
Old Testament uh there’s no mention in the Old Testament that there will be spiritual gifts from the in the church and Jews and Gentiles will be worship piing together and it won’t be any U the church was a mystery and what happens is we have been grafted in to the vine the
True Branch the Jewish folks large scale lots of Messianic Jews are out right now temporarily till the time of the Gentiles are complete Romans 11 tells us there’s a time when the time of the Gentiles is complete and the Jews get grafted back into the Vine look what
Happens here so the church age is not prophesied in Daniel there’s a gap between the 69th and the 70th week so what happens during that 70th week it says uh after the wars and the desolations to be determined and he will make a firm Covenant with the many for
One week for seven years who is that that my friends is the Antichrist we don’t know who he is I don’t believe we will know um because he will be revealed I believe after the Rapture but it says he will make a firm Covenant with the
Many for one week and in the middle of the week he will put a stop to the sacrifice and the grain offerings on the wings of the Abomination will come one who makes desolate excuse me we’re in the future in the tribulation period Antichrist makes a covenant for one week seven
Years breaks the Covenant in the middle of it and cuts off the sacrifice there’s going to be another Temple folks there’s going to be another temple in Israel know um it’s going to be the Antichrist house and he’s going to defile it just like Antiochus of epiphanies did and just like the troops
Of Titus did people say well no Titus did this in 70 AD no it prophesies the destruction of the temple but Titus never went into that Temple uh but Antichrist will go into this one and he will do the abomination of desolation Jesus mentions Matthew 24 Luke 21 in
Mark 13 even until a complete destruction one that is decreed is poured out on the one who makes desolate in other words the end of the Antichrist and the starting of the millennial Kingdom so take a picture of the chart if you want it compare it back to this
Later happy Palm Sunday it was predicted to the day in the scriptures by Daniel in Exile and sometimes God does amazing things while we are in captivity and while we are in suffering and where we’re going through pain and we don’t know what’s going on God is Sovereign
And he gives us Divine appointments and one Divine appointment He’s already given is that you’re here today listening to the word of God now we’re going to start our character study on Mr Anonymous so turn in your Bible to our primary text and that’s John chapter 18
And hopefully you can enjoy this little bible nugget that I have been thrilled about for a long long time U it’s just so so cool and here it is it’s in verse 26 of John chapter 18 all right you there yet no matter where I cross reference to this morning keep your
Finger right here in John chapter 18 verse 26 because this is our text this is everything we know about Mr Anonymous who doesn’t even have a name we know that he knows somebody that’s only mentioned in one verse in the Bible and that person does have a name his name is
Malcus but we’ll get to that in a second let’s read the word of God here John chapter 18 verse 26 that’s our verse one of the slaves of the high priest being a relative of the one whose ear Peter cut off said did I not see you with him in the
Garden this is absolutely amazing you know I think the reason people don’t really take this text apart is because they all get obsessed with Peter oh Peter failed oh Peter this is last denial you know he denied Christ and this is the third time what’s the rooster doing the rooster what is Mr
Anonymous doing that’s what I want to know what is what is where has this guy been what has he seen that’s our character to study and I think if you look at the verse go ahead and look at you’re going to find three things we know about this unnamed individual here
They are in verse 26 the first is he’s a slave of the high priest that means he’s a slave of Caiaphas and he’s a relative of the guy that got his ear chopped off and that he was present in the garden because he said didn’t I see you with
Him in the garden so those our three points and that’s what we’re going to develop today and we will start with his being the relative of the high priest Caiaphas can I tell you this morning Caiaphas was a creep he was he was an AB
He was a he was religious he had power he had connections with Rome and uh and he was the one that goes into the temple for but he was a creeper and so was Annis the high priest for him and they cut from the same cloth they were
Politically corrupt and we are going to know that they would bribe they would do bribery they would steal they would even plot an unjust trial performed illegally for the purpose of leading to a torturous murder of an innocent man in order to keep their precious power sound familiar moving right along
Uh forget that never mind for for now there’s there’s a lot of creepy things going on it’s part of the reason why God tells us to pray for those in authority over us I think they have a special um problems in some ways the next thing we
Know about Caiaphas is in uh Matthew chap chapter 26: 3-5 keep your finger in John 18 if you want to turn to it but you might be thrilled to discover more things about Caiaphas the creep than what I’ve already told you so if a guy would do anything they can to keep their
Power and they know Rome and they’re they’re trying to control everything how do you suppose they treat their servants I’m guessing Mr anonymous had had it up to here with old Caiaphas uh I don’t know but he had more than one servant Matthew 6 26: 3 through
5 tells us and in verse 14 of the same chapter he tells us about the pieace of of silver uh for the bribery now you know Judas was bribed right he got the what so many pieces of silver to betray the Son of God they’ve added up what the silver was worth today
It’d be worth a lot of money you can’t even get a solid silver silver dollar it’s it’s probably going to be worth more than 20 bucks but you know the the all the silver he was given you know what his spending power added up to to today’s currency about
$20 $20 to betray the Priceless Son of God and Caiaphas is in on it and I believe Mr Anonymous was aware of the plot why do I say that keep reading on in that account in Matthew chapter 26 and you’re going to see he was aware of
That bribe and the reason he was is because he was a part of the special enforcement Squad sent to do Caiaphas is Dirty Work illegally and that’s what people who crave power do they have other people do their dirty work for them so they have plausible deniability or whatever it is or or
Legal covering or whatever else so he Mr Anonymous is going to be part of the group that’s sent to the Garden to um to arrest Jesus so he’s aware that uh Judas is in on the game and what the what the bribe was and so forth now in Luke
Chapter 22 and you might want to flip over to that one as well uh Lucas well maybe not well just in verse three in Luke 22:3 we are to there’s a timeline that’s interesting look at that that’s a QR code well anyway I don’t know if that has to do
Anything don’t take a picture of it yeah I don’t even know it’s Oh okay that’s cool thank you that’s the timeline of the the Daniel prior we’re being helped we’re being helped so in Luke 22:3 it tells us that Satan possessed Judas you know what happened right at the uh the Last Supper
Jesus inaugurates the last supper at the Passover feast and it says Satan entered into him now have you heard the scriptures say that the eyes are the window to the soul the eyes are the windows to the soul have you ever looked at someone they’re they’re a good person they’ve
Got good character they’re empowering people they’re they love the unlovable and you look at them in the eyes and you go man this person is alive there’s there’s Lifey I wonder if they’re a Believer I think I see Jesus in them I’m going to ask them are you a Christian
And a lot of times you find out they they actually are and the eyes of the window to have you ever seen somebody that was freaky scary freaky scary shark eyes you go boy I wonder who’s going to he’s going to do me in I I better be careful well I’ve
Never seen somebody that I believe was Satan possessed and I’ve seen people I believe were demon possessed but I’ve never seen anybody believe was Satan possessed Judas was Satan possessed and he’s uh cavorting and colluding with Caiaphas because Mr anonymous is working for Caiaphas and I believe he saw Judas
In his Satan possessed uh status and that’s going to make sense to you later in the garden arrest when Jesus mentions whose side are you on so I think that and he definitely saw Judas in the garden because he was part of the squad right and they had they’re going to see
What the signal is and the signal is a kiss well can you imagine such a thing this is so evil it’s unbelievable all right so next thing we know about Mr Anonymous being a slave of the high priest what he was aware of what his background is what his experience is
With Caiaphas is we see that Caiaphas in John 18 and you can look here because I told you to keep your finger in the text in John 18:14 now Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was expedient for one man to die on behalf of the
People why well because he wanted to keep his power and he didn’t want Rome to come and mess with stuff in fact whenever H Caiaphas heard the name Jesus he thought it was the end of the world as we know it and you want to know something when you come face to face
With the Lord Jesus Christ and you recognize who he is it is the end of the world as we know it he has all power and all authority and every knee will bow and every tongue will confess him as Lord to the glory of God the father but
Caiaphas he thinks he’s in competition he’s not even in the right League here so the Apostle said the guy prophesied about Jesus dying for the nation um but that was not his intent to honor God and to talk about the salvation that Jesus it was his intent to say look we got to
Murder this guy otherwise we’re going to lose our power right so this is Caiaphas and I believe Mr Anonymous was privy to this and I believe that’s is why we know about these things because Mr Anonymous was there and that doesn’t seem to make sense but I think it will as we unpack
The text some more he was so obsessed with power and envious of Jesus that you might say he had a bad case of Jesus derangement Syndrome have you ever heard of Jesus derangement syndrome you know seriously you know you can talk about the higher power you can talk about the
Spirit you can talk about oh the the great high power or whatever else but you say the JW and you’re going to see that people have Jesus derangement syndrome they do not like that name you get interviewed you write a letter to the editor you say Jesus more than once
Or twice that’s done that’s edited out people do not like the name but he’s the only name that saves the only one that can save the only one that ever could save and just though just thinking about Jesus drove caiaphus uh nearly crazy so he’s making his own prophecy for his own
Selfish reasons he thinks to save his world to save his Temple to save his power but the Romans are going to come and they’re going to destroy that Temple anyway in 70 AD we saw it prophesied in Daniel 9 at the same day as Palm Sunday and by the way today is
Palm it’s Holy Week Easter’s coming there’s Providence in all this the prophecy conference this text Book of John we’re in John we’re going through John on Sunday morning so all right second thing Mr Anonymous here uh Mr noname was actually present at the arrest of Jesus in The Garden of Gethsemane
Think about that think what what do you know about the arrest of Jesus in The Garden of his if you’d like to refresh your mind keep your finger in John 1826 but flip over to Luke 22: 45-55 and it’ll tell you a few things about what went on at the arrest in the
Garden scene that Mr Anonymous was present for did I not see you with him in the garden here’s a few things that he would have seen and heard and personally experienced first of all he would have seen the Sleepy disciples we’re told in the text that
Jesus asked them to pray with him for one hour he went to the inner three three different times every time he went to them they were sleeping he said couldn’t you wait for for one hour on the third time he said the betrayer is at hands he saw the Sleepy disciples but
Guess what give them credit at least they were at the prayer meeting you know a lot of churches don’t even have a prayer meeting and a lot of Christians are afraid to pray out loud you know I’m glad the thief on the cross wasn’t afraid to pray out loud remember
Me when you come into your kingom we need to be prayed for we need to pray we need to hear us ourselves pray we need to hear other people pray for us take advantage of opportunities to go to Perman if you can’t go to our Perman on
Wednesday night go to another one but be in prayer with other people we’ve been shut down and people say oh you can’t go to church because there’s a and now there we need to press in to God we need to press in to know him more and more so
That’s the first thing he saw the Sleepy disciples second he saw the 100 to 200 Temple guard with clubs and Roman soldiers with swords and he was one of the crowd we’re told that this little contingency that went to arrest Jesus was Overkill Overkill going to get a
Bunch of fishermen with 100 to 200 people with clubs and swords the Greek word for the club there is the Greek word culan by the way if you’d ever like me to preach a sermon on that one word that word is so amazing it is absolutely unbelievable but culan is one of the
Words for the cross it shows up in Genesis in the septu agent shows up again in the the New Jerusalem in Revelation and it is the Crux of it is the cross anyway so they show up with the clubs and they show up with the swords we believe that the guards at the
Temple were probably the ones with the billy clubs and the Roman soldiers that were part of this mobike cont inent were the ones with the swords and and maybe the servants didn’t get one I don’t know but anyway he saw that he saw saw part of this Overkill nighttime arrest thing
That’s going on he saw the Betrayal signal with the kiss you got to see Judas the Satan possessed kissing the Son of God as a signal of betrayal for this whole criminal Enterprise and you know what one of the passages on the arrest scene I think it’s in Matthew uh
Tells us that Jesus said to him when Judas uh approaches him friend do you betray me with a kiss he heard Jesus refer to mortal enemy as friend well he had just washed Jesus’s feet in the upper room discourse Jesus had just washed judas’s feet and now he hears him
Saying a friend to his betrayer and he heard his participation with the legal mobster militia referred to as the power of Darkness I think he knew that he was on the power of Darkness team I think he knew that because he worked for Caiaphas I think he knew this act was illegal I
Think he knew that the bribery was illegal he think I think the whole thing was a criminal Enterprise that was absolutely off the hook Wicked and he’s a and he’s a part of it he’s on the wrong side of the team Mr Anonymous is seeing and experiences these things
Firsthand now in John chapter 18 uh same chapter you got your finger on the text in verse 4 through 7 there’s some interesting words stated here uh during this arrest scene so Jesus knowing all things that were coming upon him went forth and said to them whom do you
Seek they answered him Jesus the Nazarene he said to him I am he and Judas also who was betraying him was standing with him and when he said I am he they drew back and fell to the ground therefore they asked him a second time
Whom do you seek and and they said Jesus of Nazareth and Jesus told you said answer them I told you that I am he so if you seek me let these go their way do you know that the Bible has a lot of understatement in it this is like power
Understatement just reread those three verses this is incredible this is probably the most fascinating thing that Mr an us experiences so what does he experience in the garden arrest scene well here’s what he discovers they say when Jesus asked who they sought and he said I am he he found himself falling
Back and flat on his back on the ground with a 100 to 200 other people who fell back and crashed down to the ground as well apparently none of them fell on their swords but this is power this is power uh I am he bam they go down I
Mean why hasn’t this ever been a Hollywood movie I mean this is so incredible somebody speaks a word like that the word incarnate Jesus Christ speaks the word and they fall down a hundred of them maybe as many as 200 and Mr Anonymous is one of them he’s there
At the gardener as scene he heard him say I am he and the next thing he’s doing he’s looking up at the stars on his back with everybody else I’m guessing he had some questions he had some questions about this one who’s got this kind of
Authority and in verse eight you saw it said Jesus says let these go referring to his 11 disciples he is caring for his own disciples while they are in the process of running away that’s some kind of guy that doesn’t sound like like K what’s something Caiaphas would do let them go
He said this because he protected those he loved who were overwhelmed by rational fear and were in the very process of succumbing to cowardice now we know from Mark chap 14 and verse 51 you want that reference if you’re taking notes Mark 14:51 that there was a
Streaker I don’t know if you remember streaking streaking used to be a big event in the USA people would run around naked yeah don’t ask me I crazed but Purdue kind of was famous for streaking they had this thing called Cary quad it’s an all male dorm and on the coldest
Day of the year uh the men some of the men not all a few crazies would get naked and go run around on the inside of the quad outside in the in the freezing day of the year so um but in this case we we know who the guy was at the street
It was John Mark and apparently when they did try to arrest Jesus they also grabbed hold of some of his followers and one of them was John Martin they grabbed a hold of his cloak and he said I’m out of here and he took off and left
His cloak in the hands of the guy was grabbing him so he ran off naked it even says he was naked so we see this and and Jesus love for these ragtag fishermen in the midst of this most critical hour after they failed the prayer meeting
Test is just a contrast to the Mob and and what Mr Anonymous is a part of it’s crazy let’s go to the third point from uh chapter 18: 26 one of those slaves of the high priest um he was present in the garden um was a servant of the
Um it was a relative of the guy that got his ear chopped off you know there’s more here in the garden but I I just want to mention one thing to you it’s chapter 18:1 that tells us that the relatives name was malcus see verse 10 chapter 18 Simon Peter then having a
Sword drew it and struck the high priest slave and cut off his right ear and the slave’s name was malus the only other time I think I preached this passage as I said again was the Judy’s catering and I left you with a bit of a cliffhanger about some
Of the hoop and hollering that happened at that time I’m telling you there was a lot of hooping and hollering at this time mentioning about this ear this bloody chopped off ear and it turns out there was a guy in church that had a tattoo of a bloody FL flying ear on his
Arm and he was just so excited that there was a sermon about the bloody flying ear only at Harvest Chapel I love this church I love this church I talked to him afterwards he was excited about some other stuff too but that was the controlling narrative if I remember at
That time so we know it’s malcus who gets his ear chopped off and Mr Anonymous is his relative maybe a cousin we don’t know exactly which but he heard Jesus say to Peter those who live by the sword will die by the sword put your sword away I’m not sure that that word
Really stood out to him as much as something else it happened and he heard Jesus say that he could have called 10,000 12 Legions of angels to destroy the world and to set him free there’s a hymn about this he could have called 10,000 angels to destroy the world and
To set him free he could have called 10,000 angels but he died alone for you for me whoa I’m telling you this is a mighty Savior and this is an incredible text of scripture and he heard this he heard these words he was part of that
That mob illegal ban and he heard these words that he could have called 12 Legions you know what one a one two angels did with Sodom and gor right excuse me 12 Legions 10,000 angels hello oh he was given to hyperbole no he wasn’t he was given to understatement
Jesus is incredible in Luke 22 we find out a little bit more about the ear and you can look at it in verse 50 of that chapter but it’s it’s right here in this chapter as well about the ear cutting off it’s off the ear is off it’s not a
Nick it’s not a scar it’s not dangling it’s not a hanging chad it is off the ear every gospel says why is that important if you don’t mind I just like to act this out this is the fisherman Peter trying to be Bruce Lee now some of
You are young you don’t remember Bruce Lee Enter the Dragon Asian karate expert and he is he’s going to be Bruce Lee so he fails the prayer meeting test here they are they’re here to arrest us grabs a sword they apparently had two maybe to kill animals we don’t know he runs after
Him he sees a Roman soldier I’m not getting that guy he sees another guy with a club I’m not getting that guy servant I’m getting that guy and here’s how you kill him you take your sword right down the middle of their helmet at the top splits the rivets in top and
Then he crushes her head and they you die but he missed but he didn’t totally Miss he got the ear and the ear got chopped off now where did it go when it got chopped off I don’t know I don’t know we don’t we don’t know but he Mr Anonymous heard his
Relative this was my this is family blood is thicker than water this guy chopped off my relatives ear he probably heard the guy Scream maybe curse don’t know maybe saw the blood coming out I I don’t know it’s a gross thing that happened here and it happened
At night and it’s it’s not a good situation when a fisherman tries to turn into Bruce Lee he saw the flying ear yes it flew it came off his head and it went somewhere I don’t know where it went just try to imagine just think
About where did the ear go it could have landed on his shoulder here right in which case you’re going to say well I hope when you wash your shirt you’re going get that blood out you know or it could have fallen down on the ground
Into the grass I don’t know what do they do they’re going to turn on their cell phone light and go down looking where did the ear go where they I got don’t know but the text tells us in Luke chap 22 verse 51 that Jesus touched the ear and restored it
Okay just just to go through the possibilities here what happened okay so let’s say he’s fishy around the grass to find the ear so did Jesus reach over bend down touch the ear and when he touched it zap it went back on his head and reattached and healed that’s one
Possibility but it says he touched the ear so if it was on the shoulder laying here because it got chopped off uh did Jesus touch the ear here and it went and attached and healed or did he touch the spot where the blood and the pain was
Coming here where the ear was and the ear got restored I don’t know but I know this Mr Anonymous saw a creative Miracle of the first order and it affected somebody he was connected with emotionally and it made a lasting impact on his life so Jesus healed the ear
Amazing so let’s just draw some of the contrast Again by summary Mr Anonymous was Caiaphas is slave he worked under Caiaphas and Annis the corrupt he was part of the mob the illegal Soldier gang uh he was part of the violent betrayers uh the corrupt corruptors the conspiracy colluders the torturous murderers the
Bribers the envious of power and those that are working for the power of Darkness that’s one and he gets to see Jesus and who is Jesus Jesus is one who loves his own he loves Judas and calls him friend he loves those that are running away from him and says don’t get
Them he loves the people that are are actually part of his execution the father forgive them they don’t not know what they do this is Jesus’s character he loves his enemies and here he is saying he has access to 12 Legions of angels and he’s a guy that touches a
Chopped off ear and it heals the ear on somebody’s head he’s the guy that was on said a word I am he and they’re all on their backside um wondering what hit them um this is a super duper zapper creative miracle and I’m guessing he’s saying what was that what was that he
Said what was that when he was on his backside he said what was that when his relative was healed he was asking an honest question I really believe he was asking an honest question he loves his enemies but he speaks the truth even hard truth and he’s wondering what
Manner of man is this and don’t we ask the same question what manner of man is this who is he now I got a little chart that shows a Continuum of of doubt and confidence there it is thanks Brad and certain things that we it says what do
You doubt and what don’t you doubt so let me just give you an illustration here um it might say do you think think the upcoming election will be fair all right where are you on the scale no way you got some doubts well maybe 50/50 it might be in Indiana don’t know National
You got doubts you got or you might be really confident here’s here’s another one doctrinally do you believe in the pre-trip Rapture well it might be tree or I might be mid I don’t know I’m kind of undecided but I’m going to lead towards pre because I believe he become
IM you got some doubts some questions on confidence but I want to tell you because Peter was confident he was absolutely sure not a doubt out in his mind that these people asking him these questions intended his harm he was afraid for his life he was reasoning
From his brain stem but I want to tell you this third questioner I think he was asking an honest question I think he wants to know about who Jesus is who is the guy that healed my relatives ear and aren’t you the one that chopped It Off by the
Way but is this amazing I mean it’s it’s incredible I think that he wants to know who Jesus is and once we start doubting and once we start denying once we start dodging opportunities to witness an opportunity to pray for people an opportunity to be prayed for we get
Calloused in it so our first denial gets a little easier to deny the second time easier still to deny the third time and you get somebody that asks you a question the fourth time or third time and they’re just craving wanting to know Jesus and you’re going I don’t know him
And you start cussing to seal the deal that’s what it tells us I don’t think Mr Anonymous wanted people to know this that Peter was cussing on the SEC on the third denial but it comes out that Peter was he did not want to be asked any more
Questions but Peter learned a lesson through this and um and he writes about it in the scripture I’ll throw up on the wall here next to uh 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 15 Peter says but in your hearts reverence Christ as Lord and always be prepared PR to give an answer to
Everyone who asks you to give them the reason for the hope that you have but do so with gentleness and respect that’s the spirit filled Peter writing the Holy Spirit breathe scripture to us every one of us needs to be prepared to give a reason for the
Hope that we have in Christ with gentleness and respect not With cursing not with dodging not with avoiding not with Hardness of Heart but with speaking the truth in love because the Risen Savior is present he’s present here today he’s present in your life wherever you work he present
In your service he’s present with the Timothy tools he’s present and we need to call on the Lord and He will save us from ourselves from our sins From Hell from the powers of darkness and he will allow us to see what he’s doing even in
This Holy Week week so I just want to say there is a lot in this text today for Mr Anonymous I believe he was asking an honest question and I think a lot of times even people that appear to be angry they haven’t learned how to communicate their emotions and really
They’re just this far from sadness we used to do these uh uh Mission break spring break mission trips to uh Fort Lauderdale and week everybody wanted to go to Fort Lauder day was the week when the fraternities and sororities were down there because they want to be down
There with all the pretty people but they don’t want to be there during motorcycle week but you know when everybody gets saved motorcycle week why I I don’t God is preparing hearts in unusual places yes he can save an apostle Paul who’s got the whole old uh pentet memorized he’s a Pharisee he’s
Persecuting the church yes he can save people that are very brilliant but he can also save people like you and me he takes the foolishness of this world to confine confound the wise and you know we know in the scriptures believe it or not that John the writer of the Gospel
Of John was known by Caiaphas I don’t know about you but if I was living back then I would want Caiaphas to lose my name I wouldn’t want to I would not want to be known by him and that’s why John was able to get into to the the circle
There and he’s the one that lets Peter into the inside and I Think Jesus saved Mr Anonymous even though Peter had an epic fail and the reason I think he did is because we have all this information about kapas all this inside knowledge all this stuff going on from Mr
Anonymous and I think that when Luke compiled his gospel and he got different lines of testimony I think Mr Anonymous was one of them and I think the reason he’s anonymous in John is because he’s following the example of John I don’t know if you remember this story or not
But you maybe hear it next week for Easter I don’t know there’s so many wonderful accounts of the Easter message but Peter and John had a race to see who could get to the tomb first and I think I can’t remember who won the race it’s
It’s IMM material to me do you remember Jamie who won the race John won the race yeah but he said but he says the other disciple one he doesn’t refer to himself to take care of it right because he’s anonymous as well right and so so if they’re the ones Gathering the
Information are you going to be saying well yeah my name is get be sure to get that spelling right and uh yeah but be sure to refer to me as a squire or doctor no no he’s just T it’s about Jesus I once heard a person talk about
Introducing somebody to speak and they said the person that we want to hear from this morning who is here today has healed the sick he has raised the dead he has multiplied Fish and Loaves his name is Jesus and here to tell us about him today is this
Guy and you know what we should be happy didn’t John the Baptist say something like that he must increase I must decrease may that be our our mentality as we look at the opportunities that he gives us each and every day why don’t you stay
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