24 Hours To Live Extended Content Episode 1

Well, welcome everyone to our Easter video series. We created this journey with just one purpose in mind to help you experience the power and the meaning of Easter in a fresh new way. So whether you're new to these stories or you've heard them your whole life, we want these videos to be something you can share with anyone, friends, neighbors, family members, your kids, as we take a closer look, an in-depth look, if you will, at the historical events that changed everything, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Drew and I actually are both history buffs. One of the things that we've connected with over the years to the point where it's probably a little bit like we're kind of nerds. Definitely nerds. Yeah. So this is designed to help illuminate some of those things, but it's not just for history buffs. We want everybody to know the certainty of the events of the crucifixion and the resurrection so that they know they're true. They're verifiable facts and we can base our entire lives on them. And those of you who do like the details about history will enjoy some of this, but honestly this is built so that anybody can benefit from this. Absolutely. We're going to walk you through the real locations tied to these events and show you how they fit into the gospel narrative. And there's an incredible timeline that we're going to experience together. And I'm so excited. We're going to look at actual photos. We're going to be looking at some maps. Some of these photos we took ourselves on our last journey to the Holy Land. And our prayer is that as you journey with us through the Holy Land and through the final 24 hours in the life of Jesus, that you'll begin to trust him more fully, that this will strengthen your faith and encourage you to share this good news with those around you.

And Rob, we're going to start kind of that first link into this 2,000 year old chain of events. We're going to start in the upper room. That's where it all kind of began, the last supper. And everything of course begins in Jerusalem. If you know anything about the Holy Land, where is Jerusalem? Where any time you're in Israel, you always go up to Jerusalem. So it's at the very top and this beautiful city, amazing place. And we're going to show you this map to get you oriented. This first part of the narrative is often called the last supper, because this was when Jesus and his followers were celebrating Passover, like everybody else was during the festival. But Jesus knew this was going to be their last time. They had probably, I would guess, over three years have hundreds of meals together. So the significance of this moment is very, very important. Now Jesus has already been in Jerusalem for quite a bit of time now, and he's been teaching. He's been causing some trouble, to be honest. He's been flipping some tables and it's gotten to the point where even one of his disciples has decided it's too much and we need to do something to stop this guy. So he figures out a way to betray Jesus to the temple rulers so that they can basically try to find a way to shut him up. No question. Judas was in motion at this time. And we're going to start in Mark chapter 14. Now if you have your Bibles, that would be a great help along this journey together. We're going to kind of camp out in the book of Mark. So we'll be in Mark 14, Mark 15, Mark 16, but we'll try to highlight some of the other Gospels and what they say and how they contribute to this story. But in Mark chapter 14, starting in verse 12, we see Jesus sending two of his disciples to prepare that Passover meal in a finished upper room. And during the meal, Jesus announced that one of the 12 will betray him.

It had to be like an awkward moment, super awkward. So Jesus takes the bread, he gives thanks, he breaks it and says, this is my body. And then he takes the cup and he says, this is the blood of my covenant poured out for many. And so they have communion together. And then of course the Bible says that they sang a hymn together, which is awesome. And then they go to the Mount of Olives. But before we go away from the last supper, I want to just talk a little bit about where they might have been located in Jerusalem. This is one of the tricky spots. When you're in Israel, oftentimes they'll say, hey, this is the traditional site. And what does that usually mean, Rob? We think it might've happened here. We got a good idea. We're not sure. We think it might've been here. Oftentimes you'll see that word, it's a traditional site. Or they'll say, this is an authentic site. And that means X marks the spot. So the upper room is kind of traditional. It's called the Cynical. It's located on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, just outside the old city walls, Rob. We've got some pictures of this. It's a short walk from the Zion Gate. And you might remember going through the Zion Gate. It sits in a... It's awesome, by the way. It sits in a two-story medieval structure with the upper room on the second floor. It has these huge ancient archways. And it's traditionally... The ground floor is traditionally identified as King David's tomb. Again, more of a traditional site. So it's really a cool place that holds a ton of tradition, and it's really fun to visit. Yeah. Going along with that tradition, people have thought for a long time that this is where many of the post-resurrection appearances happened, like when Jesus appeared among his disciples with the doors locked. And some people think that this is where they were when the Holy Spirit descended on them at Pentecost. Like you said, the current structure there is,

honestly, from the 12th century Crusader times. But that location has been honored as that spot since at least... They believe it happened right there in the upper room. And so we go to that second floor to kind of get the feel of what it might have been like in that moment. Imagine that moment. Jesus is showing his disciples that the time of the old covenant has come to a conclusion. So powerful, like this behind closed doors meeting. And he's establishing a new covenant in his world, one in which he would bear the full cost of surrender through his own body and his own blood. And he was trying to get them to feel the significance of that moment. And what's really interesting, he even sends Judas out before the meal is finished as if to say, hey, I know you've got something to do. Hey, go do it if that's what you need to do. And so none of this is accidental. This is all coming according to plan. And I wanna just say this, that Jesus is in full control. He is fully aware and fully willing to walk the path laid out before him. He resolutely is setting his face toward the cross. And we'll get to that. So they get done with their meal, they sing their hymn, they get done and they leave. They gotta walk all the way across the city. They go down into this, it's actually a very steep little valley called the Kidron Valley. They go down through that and come back up this hike to a grove of olive trees called Gethsemane, which is just to the east of the city. And so we pick up the action again in Mark 14 verses 32 through 52. Yeah. If you had your Bibles kind of just follow along, we're not gonna definitely read all of the scripture. But just to remember, Rob, that the garden of Gethsemane at its core is just an olive grove. In fact, that word Gethsemane means olive press. It was a familiar place to Jesus. It's a quiet spot where he often met with his disciples to pray. I would guess he probably was there in solitude as well many times. You've been there. It's an amazing place. It's an amazing experience. It is a very sacred place. I hope you get the chance someday to go. I hope I'm with you. We'd love for you to join us sometime. But I think that's partly though why it's so easy for Judas to find him and locate him because it's pretty visible. You can be down in that Kidron Valley and if you're facing the east, you see the Mount of Olives. If you're facing the west, you see the wall. But the reality is the wall of Jerusalem, I should say, old Jerusalem. But Gethsemane was wide open for anyone to see. And of course, that word olive press, just all it is, it's not really a garden. It's really an olive grove. So Jesus and his disciples

arrive at Gethsemane. Jesus takes Peter, James, and John. And again, it's just like any other leader. You have some people you know that are gonna have your back all the time. And for whatever reason, Peter, James, and John just kind of had his back. And so he takes them a little further into the grove and he tells them to sit with him and he asked them to pray. And he says, depending on what translation you're reading, watch and pray. Or I like it when he says, keep watch, keep watch and pray. And he knows that his time is about to come. Three times Jesus returns and finds them sleeping. So a little bit of disciple fail there, Rob, but yeah, that's probably what we would have been doing too. More than likely. So when he finally knows what he has to do, he wakes his disciples up and he makes this declaration. It's so profound to me. He says, the hour has come. In our time-space continuum, Jesus knew down to the minute when things were gonna happen, and he knew this is when betrayal is about to happen. So right about that time, here comes Judas, and he's leading a group of Roman soldiers and temple guards and some other people. They're all armed, and he identifies Jesus with a kiss. Peter, according to the other Gospels, decides it's time to end this nonsense, and he starts taking a swing with a sword, cuts off the ear of one of the high priest's servants. For the record, I love this from Peter. I mean, I don't know, I wanna believe this was me. I don't know, maybe not, maybe not. Maybe I'd be over in the corner praying, but this is kinda what I wish I could do. Me too. Jesus heals that and says,

"'Enough with the swords,' and then he says, "'It's time to go.' And so he lets them arrest him. All of his disciples bail in fear. They run away, and now Jesus is in the hands of this crowd of people who are trying to end his life. And I know this is a very somber and sacred moment, but I've always thought about this. If you're the Roman soldier, and you see him, like, he cuts his ear off, and he picks it up, and he puts his ear back on and heals him. Like, you just wonder, wouldn't you wanna go to Caiaphas or one of the governors and just say, "'We should maybe keep this guy around. We haven't made very many advancements in healthcare. This guy just performed the first surgery in the history of surgeries, and wow.' But I just wondered, did that thought ever cross his mind? Like, I think we might be killing the wrong guy. It seems like, in hindsight, that seems obvious. Anyway, it's incredible. So they take Jesus after they arrest him to Caiaphas' house. Now, let's talk a little bit about Caiaphas, because he was pretty important in this whole journey. He was a big deal. He was the acting high priest in all of Israel, and he had an amazing amount of authority, okay? His full name was Joseph Ben-Caiaphas. He served as the high priest from AD 18 to AD 36,

and he was a savvy politician. He was a high priest, but he was more a politician than he was a priest, right? He was appointed and trusted by Roman rulers. So he was in their pocket, if you will. Basically. Right? He was a member of the Sadducees, okay? A powerful priestly family. The Sadducees, they didn't have a lot of faith. They didn't have a lot of joy. That's why they were sad, you see. Sorry, I just had to do it. I had to do it. Man, I saw that one coming from a mile away, and I'm still in heaven. You saw it coming, and you couldn't stop it, could you? You couldn't stop it. But he was a central figure in the arrest and trial and condemnation of Jesus. And so he would eventually hand Jesus over to the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, pressing for crucifixion. But the house of Caiaphas, where they believed Jesus was held, somewhere around midnight to 2 or 3 a.m. is an amazing place. Robbie, you've been there. Yeah. Talk about that. The place they think is the house of Caiaphas is located on the far other side of Jerusalem.

So now they've crossed back from the Mount of Olives all the way across Jerusalem, right about the place where the Last Supper was. And today, if you go there, it's marked by a church called the Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu, which basically just means in Latin, the rooster's song. The rooster's song. Yeah. And that church commemorates both Jesus' trial before the Sanhedrin and Peter's denial of it. So here's what happens. Jesus gets taken to the house of the high priest and all of the chief priests, the elders, the scribes, they put him on trial. Peter and John show up, and John somehow finds his way into this, but Peter's out in the courtyard, sits by the courtyard or sits by a fire trying to stay warm. The religious leaders seek false testimony against Jesus, trying to get people to witness against him and make stuff up about him. But of course, that's not coming together at all. And so all of a sudden, they're kind of stuck. They don't really have a way to go forward. And then Caiaphas steps up. What's so amazing to me, can I back up just for a second and talk about Peter? Because the scripture says something interesting. If you remember, it says that Peter followed,

what does it say? At a distance. At a distance, which is so interesting to me because he's the guy that was willing to kill, chop a guy's ear off just a few hours before, but now he's following at a distance. This man that he had followed every day, they had literally done life together. for three straight years, he had seen him heal crippled people and make the blind to see. The guy that jumps out of the boat. And he jumped out of the boat and walked on water for a while at least, for a little while, it worked out for a little while. And he saw him raise Lazarus from the dead. Right. And he's following at a distance. That's amazing how it's kind of a lesson for all of us that when when we get apart from Jesus, we tend to drift. So this is incredible because Caiaphas is going to ask Jesus directly if he is the Messiah, if he is the son of the blessed one. And Jesus says, I am. I am. And at this moment, Caiaphas just loses it. I mean, he is just tearing his clothes because in his mind, this is blasphemy. Jesus is declaring himself equal to God. To Yahweh. And so this is a big moment and he just goes nuts, right? And he tears his robe and he accuses Jesus of blasphemy. And of course, the Sanhedrin is there. We should mention that. And the Sanhedrin, of course, is looking on and they're disgusted by Jesus. And they begin to spit on him and they begin to beat him and mock him. And in the courtyard, which is, I mean, it's adjacent. Right, right there. Peter gets confronted, not once, not twice, but three times in the courtyard. And about that time, he hears the rooster crow, which Jesus had predicted that he said, Peter, by the time the rooster crows the third time, you'll have...

You'll have denied me three times. Yeah, you'll have denied me three times. So unbelievably, just a somber setting there in that courtyard of Caiaphas. Since the third century, Christians have looked at this location and said, this was the house of the high priest. And it's the place he was held the entire night before the crucifixion. Rob, do you remember when we were there, I asked you to read this passage and talk about this. And we were down in the dungeon where they believed, kind of the holding cell, where they kept Jesus before his crucifixion. Isn't that one of the most amazing places you've ever been? And talk about how you felt. It was so impactful to me because that particular dungeon was designed that before they had to go somewhere else, they dropped Jesus down in there and let him just sit for hours alone in the dark. And when I was thinking about what levels of suffering he went through for me, even things like boredom, waiting and waiting and waiting with no activity, just all of the pain he was in after being beaten by the guards and spit on and mocked and slapped and all that. It is forever burned in my mind and my heart about that place and that experience. Yeah, incredible. So the dramatic nature of the last supper, the new covenant, Jesus and his unwavering commitment to the will of God, resolutely setting his face toward Jerusalem, the painful intensity of everything that he endured. They just reveal who Jesus truly was. They show us the depth of God's love, love strong enough to plan this moment since the beginning of time. You can go back and look at all the messianic prophecy back in Isaiah and Zechariah and Malachi and all the different... And even the Psalms, we see the Psalms speaking out about the prophecy of Jesus and messianic prophecy. But just this is love of another kind, Rob, what he was willing to go through. But this is only the beginning. What happens next takes place in the earliest hours of Friday morning, long before the sun comes up, when the city is silent, when the forces already moving against Jesus finally make their move. And that's where we're going to pick it up next time because Friday is absolutely incredible. We'll see you then.