The Night and Day After Christ's Last Passover

God mold us into who He wants us to be. Last night was a memorable night, as every Passover is. We should take them all very seriously. You know, as we were gathered together last night, where you were, you probably were reminded that as the sun set, just before Passover started, it was the 14th of Abib. The 14th of Abib is just an incredibly important date in human history. The most important day, probably ever, because of everything that happened on it. Certainly Jesus Christ was there with His disciples gathered on that last Passover when He was on earth. He introduced those symbols. He knew exactly what was going to happen the remainder of the 14th, the daytime portion of which we are in right now. For Him, it was a very different experience, that daytime portion of the 14th, than what you and I are experiencing today. That daytime portion for Him ended in His death after a night of unbelievable emotional turmoil, physical suffering, and physical pain. And even though we're on a different continent today, in a different time zone, just a few minutes ago, it was 3 o'clock on this 14th of Abib, and on that day in 31 AD, Christ died on this 14th of Abib, 1994 years ago.

For you and me, it was a pleasant, well, I won't say pleasant evening, it was a somber evening as we recognized and remembered what He had gone through for us, so that we would have eternal life. We who are worthy of nothing and who have no basis for asking anything of God, accept that Jesus Christ gave His life and gave His body and gave His suffering and gave it all that we might have the opportunity that we do. Do we take it seriously? Do we take that seriously? Or as we take the Passover and go through the time of examination year after year, does it just become another ritual that we go through? It shouldn't be. Every year, it should have deep meaning. So we have this unusual occasion here that on the 14th daytime portion of Abib, we're here together. Usually on the daytime portion of Abib 14, we're home finishing up the de-leavening of our homes, getting rid of the sin out of our lives, continuing in the examination because that should happen all the time of who we are. Are we really becoming like Christ? Are we really doing and understanding the symbols we took? But today, we're here together on the Sabbath day, and we have time to think about what happened to Him. We went home and went to sleep. We got up this morning in peace, had breakfast, came to church.

His day was nothing like that. But that day in His life had significant meaning for us. So let's talk about that a little bit today and rehearse what this day was, this 14th of Abib, that was so meaningful for you and me. Let's start off. It's a couple verses in the Gospels here. John 19. Again, just a few minutes ago, it was 3 p.m., and Jesus Christ breathed His last at that time, the Bible tells us. We rehearse. Remember, some of the words are recorded for us as His life ebbed after He had gone through a night of, like I said, torture, basically, emotionally and physically. And then He died, mercifully died, at 3 p.m. in John 19 and verse 28.

So it's after this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, He said, I thirst. Here He had been laying on that, hanging on that tree, stake, cross, whatever you want to call it, I thirst. And a reflection of what humanity did, do they give Him water to ease His thirst? No. They gave Him a sponge-fold with sour wine. He took it, and He said, it's finished. The reason I had come to earth, the mission that I had for coming to earth, was to die and suffer for all mankind so that their diseases could be healed, as you heard last night, so their sins could be forgiven, so that He would be our Savior. Back in Luke 23.

Luke 23 and verse 46.

Let's pick it up in verse 44. Luke 23, 44, if it was about the sixth hour, that would have been noon on that day, and there was darkness. Darkness over the earth until the ninth hour.

Darkness. A dark time in human history. The Savior of mankind, the Messiah who was sent for our benefit and for our salvation. Mankind, His own people, were about to put Him to death.

A dark, dark time in history.

There was darkness over the earth until the ninth hour. That would be 3 p.m. The sun was darkened. The veil of the temple was torn into. Oh, and Jesus is cried out with a loud voice, He said, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. And having said this, He breathes His last.

Matthew 27. Matthew 27. We'll pick it up in verse 46. Verse 46. You can see again, it talks about darkness over the earth for the three hours from the sixth hour.

On and about the ninth hour, verse 46, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachdani. That is my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

He was bearing the sins of mankind. For the first time in His life, He felt distant from God. The same thing that happens to us when we sin. And we feel that separation from God because it is iniquity that separates us from God. And He was feeling that. Where is God? He knew God was going to heal him. He had absolute trust. But there was that feeling of being apart from God that was foreign to Him. Maybe not so foreign for us, but we know when we repent, when we recognize and acknowledge our sins, faults, weaknesses, attitudes, whatever they are, we can grow close to God again. And of course, if you keep your finger there in Matthew 27, we can go back to Psalm 22.

The Psalm of David, where those very same words are used, we'll read that Psalm 22, verse 1. Psalm of David written centuries before. It actually, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Verse 1 says, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me and from the words of my groaning?

My God, I cry in the daytime, but you don't hear. And in the night season, I am not silent. And He goes on and says, But you are holy. I trust in you. I understand that all things happen for a reason, and all things are of you. You are holy and throw the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in you. They trusted and you delivered them. They cried to you and were delivered. They trusted in you and were not ashamed.

Trust in God. Always trust in God, even when it doesn't make sense, even when it seems there should be more to the story. Matthew 27, let's go back there and continue on as Christ feels this. And as He is talking about this, as we go back to 46, you see that some are saying, Oh, He's calling for someone to come and save Him. Let's see if someone comes and saves Him, as they kind of thinking, Well, if He is of God, certainly God will save Him. But that wasn't the purpose at that time. His purpose was to die, to commit the commission, complete the commission that He had.

So let's drop down to verse 50. Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, yielded up His Spirit, and then miraculous things happened. Miraculous things happened. The veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. A few weeks ago, you heard about that veil of the temple. Mr. Cook talked about it. It wasn't just a little drape like we might have behind us. It was huge. It was heavy.

It was two inches thick. Who knows how much it weighed? Miraculous that God ripped apart that veil, signifying that now with the death of Jesus Christ, we had access to the throne of God. Everyone could enter into that most holy place. Significant. Maybe we take it for granted, but significant that we can come before God. His death did that. His life, His perfection, with the Spirit, the same Spirit He puts in us. The veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

The earth quaked. Look at all the things that were happening at that time when the Son of Man died. And as people were watching what was going on who were there that day, the earth quaked. The rocks were split. Graves were opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. And coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went in to the holy city and appeared to many.

Darkness covered the earth for those three hours leading up to His death. Sign after sign after sign. When the centurions saw it, they knew this was the Son of God. This was the Son of God. How could you deny it when you saw what was going on? But the Pharisees did. The Pharisees denied it. Their hearts truly were hardened, as we heard in the sermonette. They didn't see those signs.

They were dead set against Jesus Christ as Messiah. And they were not going to accept anything, apparently, that God would do to open their minds. But this was the greatest event in history. If we go back to Revelation 5, we see that in heaven where the angels, the 24 elders, are there. There is praise on earth. Jesus Christ was the only one who could open that scroll that had those seven seals on it. No man on earth was able to open that scroll, but Jesus Christ did.

It gave us the opportunity to have our sins forgiven, which we all need on an ongoing basis. Not just once in life, but an ongoing basis. That's why we observe Passover and go through the self-examination every year. It's a life of continuing repentance, a life of continuing getting closer to God and acknowledging our faults and the things that keep us apart from God that are different than what Jesus Christ was like.

So in verse 8 of Revelation 5, let's look at the praise given in heaven for what Jesus Christ did. When He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song saying, You, you are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals. For you were slain and you have redeemed them.

That's you and me and everyone who answers the call, repents, genuinely prints, turns to God and lives that life of repentance, ever looking to God through His Spirit to help us become more and more like Him. You have redeemed them to God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation. And you have made them kings and priests to our God and they shall reign on the earth. Verse 11. Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, the elders, and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, Worthy, worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.

And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea and all that are in them, I heard saying blessing and honor and glory and power be to him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever. And the four living creatures said, Amen. And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.

Amen. All glory goes to God. All glory goes to Jesus Christ. Everything we talk about, look what He did. It's good for us to remember what He did so we can appreciate what He did and maybe feel in ourselves the commitment, the real commitment to become like Him that we recommitted to God or committed to God last night we would be. So let's go back. Let's go back. Last night we read through John 17, that prayer, and then Jesus Christ departed into the Gethsemane and with His disciples and the rest of the 14th of Abib began. So let's go back and look at that and see what He endured here on this 14th of Abib all for you and me and everyone else on earth because He died for all of mankind. Let's go back to Luke or let's go to Luke 22 because as He sat with His disciples and you read last night it was with fervent desire. He desired He that Passover even though He knew what the rest of the 14th of Abib was going to bring to Him. He wanted that. It was part of His mission. He died and was willing to do that because of the agape that He had for all of us and all of mankind. In Luke 22, we will begin in verse 42.

He goes out with His disciples and in verse 42 He's praying and He says, Father, if it's Your will, take this cup away from Me. Nevertheless, not My will, but Yours be done. He was human, just like you and me. He knew what the prophecy said. He was there when the plan was formed before the foundation of the world. He knew that pain that He was going to suffer. The physical pain, the emotional pain, everything that was going to go along with it. And there is a human as he was looking at the rest of the 14th of Abib, is there any way we can do this a different way? The answer was no. This is the plan.

And He was willing to go through it again for us. Verse 43, an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in agony, being in agony, He prayed more earnestly.

Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

I've never sweated like that. I've been in some tense times. As you have, never sweated blood, but it is a medical condition that some people have when they are under extreme stress.

Christ was going to live the most agonizing rest of the 14th of Abib that you could imagine.

Isaiah 52.14 says He was marred more than any man. He was despised more than any man.

As He looked at that and He knew, He was physical. He knew the pain He was going to go through. And look at the agony He was in. As He just thought about that, praying to God and looking to Him to give Him the strength.

It wasn't an easy thing. He felt it all, and He was willing to do it, willing to do it out of Agape.

You don't need to turn to Hebrews 5, 7, and 8. Which notes a verse that always strikes me when it says there that Jesus Christ learned obedience through the things that He suffered.

Learned obedience. He was completely obedient to God. He needed to learn more obedience to God by the things He suffered. That was the plan. He was made perfect, it says, through sufferings.

Made perfect through sufferings. He was already perfect. But He came our Savior, and He became perfect through those things that He did because He learned something even in His perfect state as a human being. Completely trust in God and follow the plan. Keep your focus on Him and let Him work His will. So we drop down a little bit here. Let's drop down to verse 47. And as He was praying and He got up, you know, one of the things that had to be an emotional hurt to Him, He knew what was going to happen. But when things happen and they really do happen, they sting. And that happened in verse 47. While He was still speaking, it says, Behold a multitude. And he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them and drew near to Jesus to kiss Him. And Jesus said, Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?

Are you betraying Him? Don't know if you've ever been betrayed. Maybe you have.

It's a hurtful thing. God doesn't hold it in high regard. It struck me last night as we read through the Passover service, you know, the night of betrayal, the same night He was betrayed.

Christ was sitting down for that Passover. But that betrayal was there. Keep your finger there. Let's go back to Psalm 41 for a moment. Because you know, David, a man after God's own heart, he experienced the same thing. In Psalm 41 and verse 4, I'm sure a prophetic Psalm as well, but David experienced a lot of things and felt the same sting that Jesus Christ later did.

Psalm 41, verse 4, we'll read down through verse 9. He says, I said, Lord, be merciful to me. Heal my soul, for I have sinned against you. And then he goes on. My enemies speak evil of me. When will he die? When will his name perish? And if he comes to see me, he speaks lies. His father, his heart gathers iniquity to itself. When he goes out, he tells it. All who hate me whisper together against me. Against me, they devise my hurt. An evil disease, they say, clings to him. And now that he lies down, he will rise up no more. Even my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me. That's what Jesus Christ was feeling. He was there at that Passover supper. He was there. And when Christ said, Judas, what you're doing or what you do, do quickly, he had an opportunity to say, no, I'm not doing that.

But he did it anyway. Hardened his heart against the Son of Man. And paid a tough price. But Jesus wasn't happy with that. He wasn't happy to see his demise, what he would have wanted his sin to repent and go back to do the things that he had done. But it's a human thing. And he had to suffer that on that night. And so, as you go back to Luke 22, you see that his disciples who were with him there, they're ready to move into action. Peter pulls out his sword, cuts off Malchus' ear. They're ready to fight. No, you're not going to arrest this man. And Christ said in verse 51 of that chapter 22, permit this. Permit this. He touched his ear, Malchus' ear, and healed him.

And Jesus said to the chief priests, captains of the temple, and the elders who had come to him, have you come out against a robber with swords and clubs? What have I done? He said, have I stolen from you? Have I beaten you with clubs? When I was with you daily in the temple, you didn't try to seize me. But this is your hour. And the power of darkness, the power of darkness, it had come over on that 14th of Abib. And as those last three hours that Jesus Christ was alive, darkness, darkness covered the earth. Darkness covered the earth.

And so, in verse 54, they arrested him. They arrested him. And as we go on, you see that Peter was there watching what was going on. Peter, who was loyal, but in the face of that, in the face of everything that was going on, he really did deny Jesus three times. Everyone fled from Christ. He was alone and left alone. Even Peter denied him, but he learned a lesson. Don't be afraid to stand up for what's right. Don't be afraid to stand up for God. Always trust in Him. Always stand in the gap with what He is having you do. Let's go back to Mark's account. Jesus Christ is arrested there in Luke 22 over in Mark 14. This was happening during the night. He didn't go home and go to sleep like you and I did last night. His day was just beginning after he had the Passover meal, after he spoke those encouraging and inspiring words to his disciples and that prayer that he gave in John 17. But he was arrested in Mark 15, verse 1. Following up what we read in Luke 22, he was arrested and then in the morning he was brought to Pilate, chapter 15 and verse 1. Immediately in the morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the scribes and the whole council, the elders and scribes and the whole council, and they bound Jesus, led him away, and delivered him to Pilate. Pilate asked him, Are you the king of the Jews? He answered and said to him, It is as you say. Let's drop down to verse 53. Verse, I mean Mark 14. Yeah, Mark 14, 53.

Oops, I read Mark 15. Sorry about that. I got ahead of myself. Let's go to Mark 14, 53. He's taken, he's arrested, and he's taken to the Sanhedrin. The morning comes a little later, 53.

They led Jesus away to the high priest and with him were assembled all the chief priests, the elders and the scribes. But Peter followed him in a distance. Follow him in a distance. Verse 55, the chief priests and all the council sought testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none. You remember that. It's like we have to find some reason to kill him, and we have to do it quickly because the Holy Days are coming, and we need to get it done. You remember the Pharisee said, We've got to get it done before the Holy Time. What can we find? What can we find on him? And so it's very interesting and instructive in human nature when you look at what happened here. They sought testimony against him, but they didn't find any. Many bore false witness against him, but their testimonies didn't agree. Oh, something's not right here. Everything isn't lined up. If it's truth, it should be 100% truth. Everyone should agree.

Then some rose up and bore false witness against him, saying, We heard him say, I'll destroy this temple made with hands, and with three days I will build another made without hands. But not even then did their testimony agree. Not even then.

Isn't that interesting? Here they were. They had one accord. How do we get rid of him? We don't want him around anymore, but how do we what do we come up with? As all these accusations are being found flying around Jesus Christ, they say to him, or are you answering nothing? Verse 61, he kept silent and answered nothing. And again, the high priest asked him, saying, Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? And he said, I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the power coming with the clouds of heaven. Well, that's all they needed to hear.

He told the truth, but now they were ready. Now they were ready to accuse him, have him condemned, and have him turned over to Pilate. And then in this verse, in this chapter is where we see Peter and I Christ three times. He saw what was happening. They turned against Christ. Their mission really is to kill the Messiah, the Son of God. And he had to learn the strength.

Don't go into it with the crowd. He learned it later. He was willing to give his life later, just as we learn strength as we go through life. Trust in God. Whatever comes his way, that will be what God's will is. Now we're in Mark 15, verse 1. So we have all this going on during the nighttime hours because by the end of the 14th was when the Jews were going to have their holy time, when they were going to be observing Passover, and they needed to get it done, all done, on that 14th of Abib, the very same day in God's calendar that we're on now. So immediately in the morning, chapter 15, verse 1, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. And they bound Jesus, led him away, and delivered him to Pilate. And Pilate asked him, Are you the king of the Jews? He answered and said to him, It is as you say. It is as you say. Now that's the morning. Let's go over to Matthew 27 now and pick up Matthew's account from that very time because he gives even more details into what went on that day. You can see already there's been so much which of us could have endured all of what Jesus Christ did already and still be standing in the morning. The emotions that went on, the things that he had to endure, everything that he had been through that night, the entire night, knowing what people needed to do, seeing the betrayal of Judas and now facing what he knew was going to happen in the daytime portion of this time. In chapter 27, you see in verse 1 there, where the morning is, and they delivered him to Pontius Pilate. We drop it down to verse 11. And Jesus stood before the governor. There he is before Pilate. He had done nothing wrong. All he did was what God had given him to do. He was full of agape. He was teaching the truth. He healed all who were brought to him. You can see the love that he had everywhere, and yet here he is standing before the governor with a group of people who just didn't want him. He stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, saying, are you the king of the Jews? And Jesus said, it is. It is as you say. And while he was being accused by the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. You know, through the thing here, you see this word accused. This word accused. And when you look up the word accused in the Greek, it talks about just making, well, accusations, objections. And when you look it up and see it's Strong's number 2793, I think, it's never used in a positive sense. It's never used in a positive sense. Accuse, accuse, accuse. It reminds you of Revelation 1210. Who is the accuser?

The accuser of our brethren. And so we see what's going on here, what's going on, and we know that. We know that as we have gone through these things before. But here's Jesus Christ. He's seeing all these things that he's accused of, and there's no way he can even answer. So he just doesn't answer because that's what's going on. And so Pilate marvels, it says in verse 13 and 14, why don't you answer these accusations? It was a notable thing that he did. But he answered him not one word. So the governor marveled greatly. And at that feast, he thought, he had a thought. Well, you know, Jesus Christ, I don't see, I don't see the fault in him.

You know what I'll do? I'll offer them a murderer and say, I can either release a murderer to you or I can release Jesus. Certainly they're going to find, just release Jesus. That'll be how we get out of this predicament that he finds himself in. But that isn't what happened. They preferred the governor or, I mean, the murderer. If we go downtown, if we go downtown, if we go to verse 16, go down the chapter. If we go down the chapter to verse 16, talks about, they had this notorious prisoner called Barabbas. And when he said, which one do you want me to release?

They chose Barabbas in verse 18, for he knew that they had handed him over because of envy.

Because of envy. The Pharisees, his own people, that's what the whole basis of it was.

The whole basis of it. Nothing else. Wasn't that Jesus Christ did anything wrong? He was doing what God had done. It was different than what the Jews of that time were doing. They were doing they weren't living the religion that God had put in the Bible. They had put their own spin on it. And Christ came, and he knew Pilate, just like the centurions. This was the son of God. Pilate knew it was because of envy. But he caved. But he caved as you go down through the chapter here, and you see that he handed him over. Verse 24, well, verse 23, he tries to say, the governor said, why? What evil has he done? But they cried out the more saying, crucify him. Can you imagine the emotions that Jesus Christ was dealing with? This is what's going to happen to me. This is really happening. Crucify him. And crucifixion, we know that word. If we lived in Roman times, and someone said to you or me, crucify him, you would know. You would know what that was about, and the pain that was going to be involved in that. When Pilate saw, verse 24, that he couldn't prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water. He took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I'm innocent. I'm innocent of the blood of this just person. Just go ahead and do it. He had to. The mob ruled. They had stirred up the crowds that tell us back in the other and the earlier in the chapter. They did all that to our Savior, to our Savior. A painful day, a painful day for us to even think about that and think, that's the same nature that I have in me if I let myself run wild. It's the same thing we could do if we don't watch what we're doing. If we are not committed to God's way and looking what he is doing.

You know, I think as Matthew wrote this, and as David looked at himself and saw who he was and the aftermath of the sin with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, and he saw, look at the nature that's in me. Look at the nature that's in me. How did I let it get to that point?

He repented. And we have that, you know, that Psalm 51 that should ring in all of our hearts.

He turned to God. He asked in Psalm 139, verse 23, the question I'm sure we've all been asking, is there any wicked way in me? Show me if there's any wicked way in me that could be who I was before or who I could be if I could be have any of these Galatians 5 19 attributes and not even see what I'm doing because David didn't see what he was doing until he literally fell before God and asked, is there any wicked way in me? Am I doing your will or am I looking more at what my will is? Jesus Christ suffered all that and he was able to withstand it. If we look at John 19, John 19, John adds an element to this whole discourse with Pilate. In verse 10, in verse 10, as Pilate is questioning to him, Pilate said, it says, in verse 10, are you not speaking to me? Don't you know, Christ, that I have the power to crucify you and the power to release you? Jesus answered, you could have no power at all against me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore, the one who delivered me to you has the greater sin.

Ah, ah, so I'm telling things there that Jesus Christ said and some things that he did, but Pilate felt the pressure. Pilate yielded to the crowd. He gave in to the mob and he turned Jesus Christ over to be crucified. He had hoped that he would just scourge him, and that scourging would be enough because in Roman times to be scourged was almost to the point of death. They wouldn't allow it to go beyond 40 stripes because they knew if you went beyond that, that would be the death sentence. And usually, I read, that you aren't scourged and crucified. It's one or the other. Scourging is the punishment to make you admit that you were wrong, punish you for what you've been done. Crucifixion is the next step beyond that death. But Christ was scourged. He was mutilated, if you will. Close to death, all without sleep, all of this stuff going on that day, all the emotional stuff of the night before, all the physical stuff he was now going to endure during the daytime portion. That would have ended here for him 40 minutes ago at 3 p.m. if we look at the time that we're in right now. He was scourged. He was mocked. He was stripped.

Crown of thorns was put on him. He was crucified. And he suffered that all for you and me.

Powerful example of love, Agape. Again, if we go back to Psalm 22, he knew what was going to befall him and he was willing to do it.

We had to be a made aware. You know, the people back then didn't have God's Holy Spirit. You and I have God's Holy Spirit. And here in Psalm 22, you know, we read it earlier, the first few verses where he says, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? If we go down to verse 16, we can see what he must have been feeling as he watched what was going on. And he knew it was God who had allowed that to happen. It was part of the plan. He was going to learn something through it all. And you and I were going to learn something through it all. In verse 16, he says, for dogs, dogs have surrounded me. The congregation of the wicked has enclosed me. They pierced my hands.

They pierced my feet. I can count all my bones. They look. They stare at me. They divide my garments among them. And for my clothing, they cast lots. You know, once Pilate handed him over, extraordinary disrespect to Jesus. Absolutely not even humane what they did, if you go back and read what was going on. But through it all, verse 19, you, O Lord, don't be far from me. My strength, hasten to help me. Deliver me from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog. Save me from the lion's mouth and from the horns of the light, wild oxen. You have answered me.

And I will declare your name to my brethren. Never lost trust in God. Never lost trust and faith in the commission that he was brought to give or to accomplish. Let's go to Isaiah 53.

Isaiah 53, we read some of these verses last night. Maybe where you were, you read all of Isaiah 53, as we did. But sometimes we don't read it all. As you're turning there, let me just remind you of Isaiah 52, verse 13. The Lord says, Behold, my servant shall deal prudently. He shall be exalted and exulted and be very high. Just as many were astonished at you, so his visage was marred more than any man and his form more than the sons of men willing to suffer it all for you and me. On this 14th of Abib, a day we've been preparing for, asking God, show us who we are, preparing, preparing ourselves, examining ourselves, putting the leavening out, the sin out of our lives, ready for the days of unleavened bread where we put the unleavened bread back into our lives. Let's look at verses 4 through 9 here. In Isaiah 53, surely, surely he has borne our griefs, surely he has carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. That's what the Pharisees did back then. They blamed him. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement so that we could have peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. All we, like sheep, have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, he was afflicted, yet he didn't open his mouth, and he was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before his shearers is silent, he opened not his mouth. It was the way it needed to be for whatever purpose, while we know the purpose that God had in mind. So he was crucified.

So he hung on that tree, stake, cross, whatever you want to call it, crucifix, and he laid there in darkness covered the land for three hours. And then he died. He died. And he was buried before sunset on that 14th of Abib. You know, as I think of the darkness that covered the land at that time, and the hour of darkness that Jesus Christ said had come upon the world during that time, it strikes me that when he returns again, soon, very soon, we hope, as we heard in the song, there will be a period of darkness on the earth again. A period of darkness, unlike the world, has ever seen before. The tribulation will be going on. The beast power will be going on. In Amos, we're told there will be a dearth of the hearing of the word of God. There will be the two witnesses that are there, but it'll be a time of darkness, Christ said, unlike any time that has ever been before, darkness will cover the earth. And praise God, Jesus Christ will return, and he will bring light back into the earth. Jesus Christ died. A dark, dark hour, perhaps the darkest hour in history to date, that the world and mankind would put their Savior to death. But then he was resurrected. Then he was resurrected. And that year, 31 A.D., if that's the year it was, three days and three nights later, after he was laid into the tomb. Three days and three nights later.

On that wave sheaf offering day, then he was ascended into heaven, it tells us, and he was accepted by God as the first of the first fruits. Because he lives, because he died, though our sins could be forgiven, because he lived and was resurrected to eternal life, you and I have the hope and the absolute conviction and knowledge God will resurrect us to if, if we follow the example that Jesus Christ lived. If we really are committed to him and doing things his way, not taking it for granted, not watering it down, but remembering the word that he said, do it in his name, follow his example that he so perfectly set. Give it to him. Yield to him. You know, as we go through, as we enter into the Days of Unleavened Bread at sunset tonight, you know the time of putting leavening out of our lives didn't end at sunset today or end at sunset last night. If we find any leaven in our homes during the Days of Unleavened Bread, you don't just let it sit there, do you? You throw it out.

So as you go through the times that we're here now, and as you continue to look at yourself, because this is supposed to be a time where we reflect on what God has given us, the salvation he's given us, the Holy Spirit that he's given us that he talked about in John 14, 15, 16, and in his prayer that's supposed to bind us together, draw us closer to God, give us that agape that that new commandment agape one another, the way he agape'd mankind, do his will. All that is part of what it is, and we continue to look at ourselves, and if we see something, we throw it out. We throw it out, and we eat that bread of life that we talked about last night, just as he instructed us and just as he wants us to continue to do. That time of darkness is coming whenever God determines on this earth. We're in Isaiah. Let's move forward to the book of Amos for a moment. Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos. In Amos 8, as you come to the end of the book of Amos, you see the things that are preceding the return of Jesus Christ. In verse 9 of Amos 8, he kind of infers what happened to Jesus Christ during that time of darkness.

Looking for it, they won't find it. A time of darkness. A time of darkness coming on earth. A time for us to take real good and paying real good attention to who we are, what we're doing, and what God would have us do personally, individually, collectively, as his temple.

So this year, the wave-sheaf offering would have occurred on the Sunday. It occurs on the first day of the week. Jesus Christ, tomorrow, you'll probably be hearing that or something about it in the sermon tomorrow, was ascended into heaven and accepted as the first of the firstfruits.

But tonight, tonight begins the days of Unleavened Bread, and it's this night to be much observed.

And you think back to what it was like when Christ died on the 14th. His disciples didn't understand what was going on. They would understand later the magnitude of what had happened before them that they had witnessed. They would understand later his sacrifice, what he had done for you and me. That would make a lot of sense to them then. And they would pay close attention to it, and they learned a lot. That inspired them and grew them closer to God, so that at the end of many of their lives, they were willing to give up their life just as Jesus Christ did. But that night, that night, they were afraid. That night, they were sitting wherever it was, thinking, someone's coming after me as well. If they would do that to Jesus Christ, they would do that to his disciples as well. John 20, John 20 and verse 19. The actual wave sheep day, three days and three nights later, John 20, says the same day, being the first day of the week, the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews. They were still afraid. Even though Jesus Christ said, Be of good cheer, I've overcome the world, that isn't what they were feeling that night. If we go back to Exodus 12 and see what Jesus and see what the Israelites were feeling, there they were on that 14th of Abib. And in their time, look at everything that happened to them. They had seen all these plagues that God had brought on Egypt. They had seen Pharaoh say, No, No, No, No, No.

But then on the 14th, all the firstborn of Egypt were killed. A harrowing event. Look at the power of our God. All the firstborn were killed. They were told, Stay in your house until morning. And in the morning, they were told, Get ready and flee Egypt. Plunder them and get out of there. That God would have them miraculously, whether it was one, two, or three million of them, out of Egypt. After all this waiting, out of Egypt, be ready.

And they were ready. And by the time the 15th of Abib began at sunset, they were out of Egypt.

Let's go back and look at Exodus 12 for 42.

They were there. And God had brought them out. And God had brought them out. In Luke, number 13, he brought them out in the 15th at nighttime.

And in verse 42, he says, it's the night of solemn. Not that word solemn. It's the night of solemn observance. Just time to reflect. What has happened? How did we in one day flee Egypt?

How did one day in history did Jesus Christ become the Savior of the entire world?

Everything that went on in that day. The awe that it should inspire in us. The time to think and contemplate. What did we do last night at Passover? What did Jesus Christ institute? Why did he give us those symbols? What are the deeper meanings of it? What did he endure in that next, however many hours after he prayed the John 17 prayer? Everything he went through, he did it for us.

He did it for us that we could learn and so that we could sing those same praises of glory to him, like the angels and the four elders and the four living creatures and the 24 elders did in Revelation 5. So tonight is a night of awe. Here it's a night of solemn observance to the Lord for bringing them out of the land of Egypt. This is that night of the Lord, a solemn observance for all the children of Israel throughout their generations. Did Jesus Christ win the victory? Yes, he did. Yes, he did. But you know, on that night, that night, that night to be much observed, where they were in awe of what God had done and how he delivered them? It wasn't a night of wild celebration. They were there in awe of what had happened. You know, in the night of wild celebration, I use the word wild tongue-in-cheek, it happened after they were delivered through the Red Sea.

Through the Red Sea. Because on that night that they were delivered, yes, God had delivered them.

Yes, we were baptized, but you know sin was still there. It was going to catch up to them. So God said, watch. Watch. You have a lifetime. If we don't watch what's going on, sin can sneak up on us, just like it snuck up on them as they were wandering through the desert. And then God gave them the final victory. He gave them the final victory as he vanquished Pharaoh's armies in that sea, never to be heard of again. That's the final victory. That's the final victory you and I look to. We go through our lives, always aware there is sin lurking if we allow it. That's why Christ said in Luke 21, 36, watch. Watch what you're doing. Observe what you're doing. Be aware that God, Christ has delivered and you have been called and given the Spirit so that you can overcome. But always be mindful that sin can overcome you if you don't endure to the end. And then, when Christ returns, that will be the final thing, and that will be if we endure our life until then. Let's, I mentioned Luke 21, 36. Let's just finish in Ephesians 5.

Because as we've talked about Christ's first coming, the darkness that covered the earth, we have to be aware and remember always what is coming. And that will be a time of testing, just like it was for all of mankind then. We will be strongly tempted to join the first forces of the world. We will be strongly tempted to say, I think God is okay with it if I just give in a little, right? No, He's not.

It's the time for us to be strengthened, our lives to be strengthened. Ephesians 5 and verse 8. You, He's talking to you and me, you were once darkness. We were those people. We were people of the world. We were hopeless without Jesus Christ.

If we really look at what our proclivities were without God's Spirit, we would probably marvel at how awful we would have been. You were once darkness, but now you are light and the Lord walk as children of light. Verse 11. Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it's shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret, but all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore, He says, awake. That's what watch is. If you look at the Greek word when Christ said watch, yeah, you watch world events. Stay awake, He said. Stay awake. Be on your guard.

Don't let sin creep in. Don't let Satan come in and take and steal from you the salvation that Jesus Christ gives us if we continue living His way. Therefore, He says, awake, you who are asleep. Arise from the dead and Christ will give you light. See then that you walk circumspectly. That means exactly following every word of God, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil and they will tempt us. And if we don't watch, we could become people we never thought we could become.

But that's not a downer. Jesus Christ didn't preach these words because He wanted us to be discouraged. He did it because He is the Savior. He is the victory. It is His Spirit in us. When we stay close to Him and work with Him, consistently putting the sin out, being aware of who we are, learning the lesson of these days from the Passover service all the way through the days of Unleavened Bread, always putting His word in our mouth and remembering when we eat that Unleavened Bread, what we're signifying. So have a very good, a very good, a very good and beneficial days of Unleavened Bread and night to night.