Light on the Hill

Guest (Male): Distractions are everywhere today, and pastor James says learn from the past.

James Kaddis: You've got to understand this, and it's really really important. There are distractions everywhere right now. And those distractions are trying to rip you off of every wonderful thing that God has for you. Learn from the testimony of the resurrection. Learn from the testimony of the crucifixion. Learn from the testimony of the life of Christ. Learn from the testimony of what happened in the garden. What's happening today is a brutal manifestation of what was happening during that time.

Guest (Female): I have found the peace only comes from you. I have found the joy only comes from you. Cuz all I need is you.

Guest (Male): It's time for Light on the Hill with pastor James Kaddis online at lightonthehillradio.com. Today he'll be finishing Mark chapter 15 where Jesus has been crucified and is about to be buried. We want to emphasize Joseph of Arimathea who took Jesus off the cross and placed him in the tomb. Pastor James observes how this dear man studied the scriptures and was waiting for the coming of the Messiah. His obedience made a huge difference. We'll start at verse 38.

James Kaddis: As they're distracting everybody while Christ is being crucified concerning the cross. Oh, he's drunk. Elijah, he's going nuts. He's going crazy. He says He screams out with a loud cry. And then look what it says here. This is unbelievably historic. Verse 38. And the veil of the temple was rent in twain. Notice this from the top to the bottom. What are they talking about when they say the veil to the temple? They're saying the veil is the curtain basically that divided the holy of holies from the rest of the temple. That veil, by the way, just so that you know, was not some like simple little scarf made, you know, veil that you just can rip right away, okay?

This thing was so thick that it was physically impossible for a human to tear. There is no way that you could humanly tear it. As a matter of fact, I've read that some people suspected that if you were to take a jigsaw like we have in modern day and try to put one to that veil, you would probably destroy the blade. No joke. Is that thick? So the idea here is that the veil of the temple was ripped from the top to the bottom. It means God was the one that broke open that wall of separation.

That when Christ was crucified immediately the process of restoration between man and God had already been initiated. Everybody that was watching Christ there at the cross and the mockers and all the look he's crazy Elijah they would have never ever understood not only the significance of what many believed to be the subtlety of that fact. But they would have missed out on the opportunity that all of them their whole lives hoped to have experienced. It gets even more critical than that. Verse 39. And when the centurion who stood over against him saw that he so cried out and gave up the ghost he said truly this man was the son of God.

That's very interesting. A lot of people draw this picture as though this was a centurion who was looking up and in essence saw Jesus be sincere in his crying, saw Jesus act sincerely, maybe heard them say father forgive them for they know not what they do. And and upon seeing that realize man there's something different about him. And actually all the movies that portray this will actually draw the picture of the centurion thinking as such. I have a different theory. And I actually think that I'm not wrong about this. I actually think I'm right. I think that Pontius was so concerned about this unjust action that was being taken that he very likely had a group of people that he would have considered to have been scholars to look into any validity concerning the assertion that Jesus was the Messiah.

I'm almost certain that's what happened. Almost certain. And there's a lot of reasons that I don't have the time to build out the argument, but I'm almost certain that's the case. I actually think that this centurion was either one who caught wind of the information that they were seeking out to try to understand the matter differently or was one that we find out later of many Gentiles that were studying Bible prophecy that was actually reading the Bible. Here's why I say this. Look at what we just read here. He says after. Do you notice that?

Okay, the centurion who stood over against him saw that he so cried out and gave up the ghost and said so this happened after he saw these things happen. What was it? What was the crying out that he saw? Was it the moment where Jesus went no? I am certain it was when he heard the phrase I'm certain of it. Well, he was a Roman centurion. There's no way he wouldn't understand the Aramaic language. He wouldn't understand you know what was it baloney. The Roman centurions that were assigned to that time had to have especially if they were in Jerusalem, they had to have understood Aramaic and very likely understood Hebrew.

They had to have. I think the invocation of Psalm 22 by Jesus was enough for the centurion to understand this truly was the son of God. Look at this verse 40. This gets really interesting. There were also women looking on afar off among whom was Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joseph and Solomon. This very interesting by the way. Look at the parentheses that it that it says concerning this who also when he was in Galilee followed him and ministered unto him and many other women which came up with him unto Jerusalem.

It's it's interesting that that the author here is pointing out the women that were looking upon Jesus. I think there's a real interest in in in doing this. Why? Because it was the women who were actually the most sympathetic towards what they believed was the truth and what actually was the truth. That's why it's not a surprise that it was a woman that discovered that the tomb was empty and it was even the woman that carried the message concerning the resurrection later on. But look at this. This is so interesting. Verse 42. And now when the even was come because it was the preparation that is the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, an honorable counselor which also waited for the kingdom of God came and went in boldly into pilot and craved the body of Jesus.

This is very interesting to see what's going on. We we believe that Joseph of Arimathea was also a Bible student and actually believe that Jesus was indeed the son of God and he actually wanted Jesus to be honored by the rules of the Sabbath. By the way, this would have been especially important because when you see the phrase the preparation before the Sabbath, this would have been very very important for everybody to understand because the first preparation would have actually taken place on what everybody would have understood to have been Thursday night and then the second preparation that's being spoken about here would have happened on Friday night.

Remember it was during this year they had the special Shabbat. And so this would kind of make sense in being able to understand how the resurrection happened 3 days later. It was actually Thursday night that Christ was buried, not Friday night. So you go from Thursday night into Friday night, Friday night into Saturday night, Saturday night into Sunday morning Christ is resurrected. Okay? So that's that how you are able to deal with what people believe is the inconsistency related to the resurrection, but that's not the case at all. But Joseph recognizes the fact that the Shabbat had to be honored especially because of who Jesus was.

So he goes to act for the ask for the concession. Of course, again, Joseph of Arimathea was a very wealthy man and so Pontius Pilate's going to give that to him. He's going to give him the concession. So he goes and and again he is given that. Look at this verse 44 and Pilate marveled if he were already dead and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead. So this is interesting little nuance here that many of you may not know. When the average person was actually being crucified by the Romans, they sometimes would take as many as 30 days to die.

It was a torturous form of death. It was it was designed to give you excruciating pain every single moment that you're dying. So pilot gets approached by Joseph of Arimathea and he's shocked by the fact that Jesus is dead already. Shocked by that fact. Completely shocked. Joseph of Arimathea is recognizing something here. Okay? He's he's recognizing something very significant and a lot of people don't talk about this, but I'm going to go out on a limb and talk about this cuz I think it's important. I think Joseph of Arimathea notice notice what it says. I'm going to read this again, King James.

Look at how it describes him. Okay? It says Joseph of Arimathea an honorable counselor which also waited for the kingdom of God. That means he was a man who studied the scriptures and was waiting for the coming of the Messiah. That's what it means. He was desperate desperate to take Jesus off the cross and put in the tomb as the law of the Shabbat requires before it got dark. Remember Jesus here is dying while there's still sunlight out. When I say sunlight meaning when it's still daytime. There's not a lot of sunlight at the point that he dies here.

But this is where it gets really interesting. Pilot is shocked because pilot's like there's no way he could die that quick. No way in the world. No way he can he can be hung around 9:00 in the morning and die right around sometime between 3 3:00 to 4 o'clock in the afternoon. No way. Impossible. No way that can happen. So he goes to the centurion. Okay? When he knew of it of the centurion, he gave the body of Joseph. So he goes to the centurion and the centurion checked to see whether or not he was dead.

By the way, that's probably the very moment that John speaks about where you know the spear was put in between the fifth interspace there where the rib was. Water came out which is of course how we know that Jesus actually died from a situation where the pericardium was filled up with fluid and literally crushed Jesus's heart. A very interesting story there. We'll actually read the medical account in a few weeks, but this is where it 's interesting. Okay? I believe that Joseph of Arimathea understood how critical it was for Jesus to be buried prior to the Sabbath, to the Shabbat because he knew that Jesus was the perfect lamb of God who took away the sins of the world.

How do I know that? John the Baptist referred to him as such. John the Baptist would say behold the lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world. Those words would have been well understood by people who were following Christ and knew who Christ was. If you understood the custom of the Passover you would also understand that the lamb had to be killed at a very specific time. The same exact time that Christ himself was killed. And if that would have been the case, then Joseph of Arimathea would have known how critical it was for Christ to have been buried when he was actually buried, when he was put in the tomb.

It would have been it it would have been critical. That's why he went and used his influence to bring Jesus down in order to do it. But look at this. This is so interesting. Verse 46. And he brought fine linen and took him down and wrapped him in the linen and laid him in the sepulcher which was hewn out of a rock and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulcher. And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Jesus beheld where he was laid. So they were able to see it happen. I want you to notice he wraps them up in fine linen.

I want everybody to understand this. Okay? You would never wrap up somebody dead in fine linen especially prior to preparation. You would not do it because of the cost associated with doing something like that, and they did it with Jesus knowing full well what was going on. Knowing full well. I believe that he was fully aware of what was happening. Here's the thing that's really interesting. Really interesting. Joseph of Arimathea may have not fully understood the effect that he was going to have based on the action of obedience that he yielded himself to. You You do understand that by this man going to pilot he would have lost everything by doing it.

He would have lost his reputation. He would have committed business suicide. He would have committed social suicide. It would have been all over for him. If the angry crowd recognized what this wealthy man was doing and especially when that angry crowd are the same people that made Joseph of Arimathea wealthy, the religious leaders it would have been all over for him. But he didn't care. He didn't care. Cuz he did what he did. He opened up the door for the testimony of the resurrection to be flawless. He opened up the door for the testimony of the resurrection to be irrefutable.

He allowed the biblical precedent to be settled into place so that the Passover would be fulfilled in the Messiah that he knew Jesus was. And it changed the world. We actually have Joseph of Arimathea to thank for why we have our salvation because Christ being the perfect fulfillment of the Passover gave it to us. That's why Jesus ate that last supper. That was the Passover supper he was eating with his disciples. Understand the fact that what was happening in that moment was the obedience of one man literally saved the world because he would not allow himself to be distracted by the rhetoric of the people that were around him.

I'm here to beg you especially especially the younger crowd to not allow yourself to get distracted by the things the world wants to take your eyes off of. Don't allow yourself to get caught up in the he's drunk and calling out Elijah. If you believe the lie that you can't buy a house or get married you can't find anybody you know you'll be stuck in that place forever because you'll allow yourself to become something that nobody desires. Had somebody come up to me the other day, there's no decent women out there. They were literally quoting one of these bozos that are online, you know?

I think he was almost almost perfectly quoting Nick Fuentes. There's no decent woman out there. They're all loose. They're all this. They're all that. All kinds of crazy terminology. I can't find a decent woman out there. The reason why you can't find a decent woman out there is because you're a terrible man. And the problem is decent women, the women like I'm married to they're only attracted to men who carry virtue and make themselves worthy of that which a woman would seek. Is that simple? Same thing goes for these ladies. Oh, it's so hard to find a man out there and so on and so forth.

Stop trying to find one. Make yourself the virtuous person that I know God wants you to be and you're not going to have a problem being put in that right. I promise you you're not going to have that problem. But the very moment you allow yourself to get distracted like I've always laughed at this. Like I've always laughed at these guys that that that go on social media and talk about I can't find a single decent woman. Yeah, your whole definition of life is spending it in a club or in your basement or anything. Like you you're not a virtuous person.

You think do you think a godly woman would want to even be within a mile of you? No. You're going to attract the very thing that you call horrible because you are horrible. You're the magnet. That's why when men come to meet look and even in our men's Bible study, our men are not allowed to put their wives down. They'll get rebuked if it happens. Because if you're a man and you're coming to me and you're saying my wife this and my wife that and my wife my wife dude, you're the one that made your wife that way.

You did that. You you opened up the door for her to walk outside of that place of virtue because you chose to be an ungodly man. It's that simple. It's that simple. Look you've got to understand this and it's really really important. There are distractions everywhere right now. And those distractions are trying to rip you off of every wonderful thing that God has for you. Learn from the testimony of the resurrection. Learn from the testimony of the crucifixion. Learn from the testimony of the life of Christ. Learn from the testimony of what happened in the garden.

What's happening today is a brutal manifestation of what was happening during that time. We know what the distraction was during the crucifixion. What was the distraction during the garden when man chose to rebel against God? Really simple. Look at that fruit right there that you were told not to eat of. You can't have that. You can't have that. That was the distraction. What did it distract them from? It distracted them from the fact that God had given them abundance. God I think about this. God gave them the whole world. You can eat all of it freely.

You just cannot eat of that fruit. Yet what did Satan do? Satan distracted them with that fruit. Here you go. That's the one that you can't have. And what happened? Because he got distracted with what he could not have. He forfeited everything that had already been given to him. And that's why God said as part of the curse it would be painful for him to labor for that which was necessary for his family. The enemy distracted them that way in the garden. He distracted them that way when he was on the cross and he wants to distract you that way in the environment in which we sit today.

Do not let it happen. Do not let it happen. Allow yourself to see things the way God intended for you to see them that you may focus on those things which are pure, which are righteous, which are virtuous. And God will take those things that you give yourself to. And he will not only be honored by it, but he will bless you because of it. For everybody in this room, I have to say this, the best is yet to come. Don't allow it to get ripped off from you. Don't allow it to get taken away from you.

Every distraction that's in your life right now that is telling you you can't have any of this stuff were all lies because God already gave it to you. Don't take your eyes off of that to focus on what you were never going to have anyway. And seek the Lord and watch him do great things. Amen. Father, we just thank you, Lord, for your word, and we thank you for what your word teaches us, Lord. This is a powerful message, one that I know uh is so easy for us to lose sight of. And I pray, God, that you would teach us your way, help us to be able to better understand and more deeply contemplate, Lord, the things that you're telling us through all of this.

We love you, Father. Help us to look to you and seek you now with a whole heart and mind. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Guest (Male): This is Light on the Hill with pastor James Kaddis, and we're currently going through the Gospel of Mark. Listen to this study and more at lightonthehillradio.com. Pastor James's teachings are also available through the Light on the Hill app and at oneplace.com. You can listen to us wherever you get your podcasts as well. Pastor James Joseph of Arimathea is a good example for us today of why we should study the scriptures. That includes Bible prophecy, doesn't it?

James Kaddis: Oh, absolutely. You know, we think of the picture that Arimathea creates for us, and often times when that name is being worded, the full implications of what relates to what he did are often times forgotten as you've already heard and are about to find out. When you study the word of God, it not only creates guidance for you as in to where you need to go in terms of taking your next step, but it also solidifies the moral clarity that you need in order to take a stand in a very dark world. It also opens up the door as it did in the case of Joseph to be able to find all that God has for you, and it creates a demarcation for lack of a better term that in essence shows you where you need to go to experience the fullness that God has for you.

Bottom line is the word of God is central, and if you don't have it, you have nothing.

Guest (Male): If you'd like to study the scriptures and Bible prophecy in greater detail, we recommend visiting jameskaddis.com. There you'll find many videos and resources that can help you in that endeavor. When you have a moment sometime today, send us an email. We'd love it. It's encouraging to hear what the Lord is doing in our listeners' lives, and it's an opportunity to thank the Lord for what he's doing. There's a place to contact us at our website lightonthehillradio.com. We've been blessed by the feedback we've received thus far regarding pastor James's new book The Last Book. If you haven't ordered a copy yet, we'd encourage you to do so.

This Guide to Revelation covers the first half of the book giving you what you need to know about the rapture and the end times in a clear and concise manner. Request your copy today at lightonthehillradio.com or through Amazon. If God is leading you to support this radio outreach, there's also a place to make a donation at lightonthehillradio.com. More from the Book of Mark coming up next time on Light on the Hill with pastor James Kaddis. This listener supported program is brought to you by Calvary Chapel Signal Hill.

Guest (Female): I have found the peace only comes from you. I have found the joy only comes from you. Cuz all I need is you.