Light on the Hill

Guest (Male): Pastor James says the attacks will come as you live to honor Christ, so expect it.

James Kaddis: I want you to see the pattern of warfare. I want you to see how it works. Why? Because you need to take this and internalize this for your own life, because God is calling you, each and every single one of you. He's calling all of you to express intentionality in your faith. And I promise you, you will absolutely be attacked for it. I promise you that. It will happen.

Guest (Male): It's great to be with you today, and welcome again to Light on the Hill. We come to you each day at this time from Calvary Chapel Signal Hill. Pastor James Kaddis is near the end of a study in Mark, and today we're back in chapter 15 at Calvary. Where in just 6 hours, Jesus changed the eternal destiny of mankind. It's hard to put into words all that our Savior went through for us. He died in our place, receiving all the punishment we deserved. As you'll hear in a moment, prophecy was fulfilled as he did. Here's Pastor James starting at verse 25.

James Kaddis: So look what it says here. And it was the third hour, and they crucified him. So when we say the third hour here, we're likely talking about 9:00 a.m. There is something very critical about the third hour. We won't have the time to talk about it today. We could indeed spend a lot of time talking about the implications are fully given to us with respect to the third hour and why that actually means something the time of day, but it is unique in understanding the morning and the significance of that time in the morning. And it is interesting why that is there and why it's actually specified as such.

So we're talking about 9:00 in the morning. They crucify him. Look at this in verse 26. And the superscription of his accusation was written over the king of the Jews. Now this is very interesting because this is a detail that oftentimes isn't discussed, and we probably should spend some time to talk about it because I think it is a very interesting. It again continues to speak to the issue of intentionality, right? And not only does it speak to the issue of intentionality, it speaks to the remarkable picture that's being created for us that Christ is treated like a criminal who is being charged with the worst of crimes, yet at the same time is perfectly innocent and maintains the very identity that is eventually or will eventually be him.

Now this is really interesting because there's a lot to analyze here, and we could spend a lot of time analyzing it. And I think it's really really really important to spend at least a little bit of time here. I actually think that what they did here was something that although it was designed to mock him in one respect, it was also designed to subtly show that it was the view of the Romans that he was guilty of nothing. I also think at the same time it was done to illustrate another component that a lot of people don't look about.

Now first and foremost, you guys would know this because we talk about this all the time, at least when we talk about Roman crucifixion, but the average person isn't going to know this fact, even though it it it's actually telling us this. Like it actually says it right here. It was Roman law that when somebody would be crucified, they would have a sign put above their head. On the cross it says what they were guilty of being crucified for. So imagine Christ would be crucified. He'd have other crosses by him, and the signs above their head would say murder or rape or whatever it might be.

So the sign above Jesus's head would be one that people would be squinting at to be able to look at. They would want to see what did he do? What did he do? He's the rabbi. What did he do? And it says, you know, Jesus, king of the Jews. Now this is this is really really interesting, which by the way wouldn't have said Jesus, king of the Jews. It just would have said the king of the Jews, but people would be looking at it and saying, wow, look at this. The thing that he is being killed for is for something that hasn't happened yet.

Now think about that for just a second. He's being crucified for something that has not come into fruition. So it does a lot of things. It's the culmination of a lot. It communicates to anybody who sees it that he's being charged for something he's not guilty of. That there is this imputation of all the guilt of everybody that he's taken on from upon him, but not because he's guilty, but because he's just simply taking it on for our sake. But more importantly, it speaks of the fact that the man who is being crucified is now being given a prophetic declaration of what he will become one day.

Now this is something that's really interesting because the devil is very very very very good at attacking this. He is very good at attacking this. Let me tell you how good he is at attacking this. My sister was listening to one of my podcasts that I was doing. And she said, you were referring to a statement that's being utilized by a lot of people in social media where they're saying Christ is king. It's a very common demarcation of their existence online. And when I was talking about this with with Jack, I was telling him about the danger of these declarations where people are saying Jesus is king, Jesus is king.

Now I should have said Christ is king because that's what they actually say. But I think subconsciously my words would be Jesus because again, first of all, even when they say Christ is king, they don't even really know what they're talking about because they're referring to the title. They're not referring to the name. So they're not speaking specifically of Yeshua. They're actually speaking of the Messiah. The Messiah is king. Okay, fair enough. But you are denying Bible prophecy when you walk around telling everybody right now, Christ is king, Christ is king, Christ is king. You have no understanding of the place where Christ sits in the very moment by which he sits.

If you use that name because you don't understand the prophetic significance of Christ being king, Jesus being king as it relates to the biblical account. Now could you say that it is appropriate to give the title of king to Christ? Absolutely. Absolutely. It is appropriate. But technically, is he king right now? No. No. He will be. The Davidic covenant will be fulfilled. It will happen. And he will stand as the king of kings and the Lord of lords. It is said one day, the day will come that every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess.

It says it. It's going to happen in the future. We know that. The role in which Christ sits right now in the moment is that of priest. This is very critical to anybody who understands the Bible because Paul makes this argument. It's a distinct argument. It 's a unique argument because the Jews are openly and correctly so questioning the authority by which Christ could be viewed as priest. They're not ready to make the stipulation that Christ is priest because Christ comes from what tribe? Judah. If he comes from the tribe of Judah, he comes from the kingly line.

He doesn't come from the priestly line. Well, what does Paul do in the book of Hebrews? In the book of Hebrews, Paul makes all kinds of arguments. He makes very important arguments, all of which relate to the superiority of Jesus, right? He's superior to the angels. He's a superior sacrifice. He is superior in every way. And one of the arguments that he makes, and it 's really important, very important for us to understand, Christ is the superior what? He's a superior priest. Well, how in the world can he be the superior priest if he comes from the line of the tribe of Judah?

How can he be the line of the tribe of Judah and still be a superior priest? Because as Paul argues, he didn't come from the ironic line. He didn't come from Aaron, okay? If he came from the ironic line, then he wouldn't be the superior priest because that would mean that he would be one who was born in sin as everybody else. But he is referred to as the last Adam by Paul very specifically for a reason. Why? Because he came from the line of Melchizedek. Melchizedek was the priest that we read about in the book of uh Genesis who came well before Aaron, well before Isaac.

He came during the time of Abraham. And he served communion to Abraham. And isn't it interesting that Melchizedek, who was understood to be a priest who was serving Abraham at the time, was also given another title, and that title was The king of peace. Very interesting. So the implication is he comes from the not the ironic line. He comes from the Melchizedekian priesthood, which means he came before that existence. That's why they wanted to kill him when he said before Abraham was, I am. When he says, I was there, I watched. What do you think he was talking about?

He was being the priest before Aaron was ever born. He was being the priest before there was ever any instruction with respect to animal sacrifice. He was doing what God had set for him, he himself being God. It's important because when you read the phrase the king of the Jews, it wasn't something that was designed to simply say this is what he is being criminalized for, although it is beautifully accurately put to say that he is being crucified and the the crime that he's being accused of is the king of the Jews. That could not be better placed.

Pontius is probably putting it there to be sarcastic to say, look at this. I'm being forced to crucify him because he's the king of the Jews. So I'm going to put it up. What he's not realizing is how much hatred that must have induced in the heart of all of those people that never wanted to see the declaration of him being king by any stretch of the imagination. But it carried a dualism and one that was really really important and one that put the Jews all in check because the idea here was that the Romans said, you crown a king and we're crucifying that king for it.

They didn't understand the full implication of what was being communicated, but the prophetic prowess here, the beauty of what's being said is remarkable. God says very clearly, I told you this would happen. And there's a label above his head that actually shows it, which by the way is prophetic in nature. When you saw that sign, you would be seeing another prophecy that matches up what you read in 2 Samuel. It's another prophecy that will actually coincide with what you read in the book of Revelation at the very end. It's beautiful. This is the reiteration of the Davidic covenant.

The covenant of Christ eventually stepping into the role of king. This gets even more interesting because look at what it says here in verse 27. And with him, they crucified two thieves, the one on his right hand and the other on his left. And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, and he was numbered with the transgressors. This of course is going to be Isaiah 53. We can go over there really quickly. That's a very important passage by the way. One that I think cannot be removed from us. Isaiah 52 and 53 are both really powerful with respect to the crucifixion.

But I really really love what it says here because it cannot get more graphic, right? Look at this in verse 11 of Isaiah or sorry uh well, I guess we can start in verse 11 of 53. Yeah, that would actually make sense. Look at this. He shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Look at this verse 12. Therefore will I divide him. Notice this, a portion with the great. And he shall divide the spoil with the strong because he hath poured out his soul.

Notice this unto death, and he was numbered with the transgressors. And he bare the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors. The Bible said it right here. When you look at these two verses, verses uh uh 27 and 28, there's the fulfillment right there. It's the fulfillment of that thing. Christ was numbered amongst the transgressors. That means something. That 's really really important. Let's look at what it goes on to say, verse 29. And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple and buildest it in 3 days, save thyself and come down from the cross.

Here's the funny thing about intentionality. Here's the funny thing about seeking excellence. Here's the funny thing about being somebody who goes out on the limb. It takes radical faith. It takes incredible articulation. And it takes a literal, and I mean this I mean this, a functional repudiation of that which is evil. It requires you. It requires you to no longer make choices, but to rather make decisions. The implication behind the execution of a choice means you leave your options open. When you make a decision, you cut off any possibility of moving any other place. The Bible by the way is filled filled with moments where people in their intentionality made a decision.

Perhaps one of my favorite and most profound examples of this besides Christ of course as you've got Elijah. He's looking for a predecessor or someone to come after him. And he sees something in Elisha. And he says, come on. Elisha says, Well, I got to take care of a few things. It's kind of what happens. And Elijah I I I I just have to say this about Elijah. If there was ever such thing as like reincarnation or anything like that, I think he had my personality for a little while. Rough around the edges, you know, not very patient, loud, just abrasive, uh harsh.

Elijah basically tells his young predecessor, I want nothing to do with you. Get lost. It's pretty much what he says. Kind of a tone that he carries. And you know what this guy does? You know what this remarkable man does? Look. It's no surprise to know that Elisha came with greater power than Elijah because Elisha takes all of his stuff and he destroys it. All of the equipment that he used to care for his cattle, he he destroys it to where it's completely unusable. And then he cooks all of his animals to feed people and goes on his merry way.

At that point Elisha wasn't making a choice. He made a decision. He cut off any possibility beside him. Just gone. I'm moving forward. I think that God did that for us, and I think that it is so remarkable to understand that when we choose to do that very thing, when we decide instead of choose, we oftentimes encourage mockery at depths that we never thought were even possible. We see patterns of it again and again and again and again and again and again and again. And it's so funny how Satan will literally possess people. He will inspire people to do the very same thing in the modern day that they did to Christ.

I might get myself in trouble for this. I kind of don't care because I think it's a good modern day example. Might as well might as well talk about it. I actually am in the know. I have firsthand knowledge of all of these issues. When Charlie was killed, you know what Erica did for most of her time? She was a wife and a mom. Stay at home, do the responsibilities that she loved doing. Yes, she had other ministry things and all that going on. She didn't ask for her husband to get killed. She didn't ask to have to step up in the ways that she has stepped up now to take care of the obligations and the responsibilities of honoring her husband as God calls her to and carry his legacy as God has called her to.

She didn't put together some massive, you know, uh attempt as some people might say to create this condition for herself. Who would want it? Anybody want to be in her position? No. I'm a man. I don't want to be in her position. Here's a thing that I think is really really interesting. There was a decision that was made on that day. It was literally that day. In the midst of morning and in the midst of grief and in the midst of pain and in the midst of suffering, the decision was, I'm not going to curl up in a hole and run my life into the ground.

I am actually going to decide. I'm going to cut off any possibility behind me. I'm going to carry the legacy of my husband. Jesus did what Jesus did, and I'm certainly not saying that Erica is Jesus. That's ridiculous. Look at the example. Jesus did what Jesus did, and you know what they did? They mocked him. They used his words against him. They said, you said this. Come on. Help yourself. Get up. Get out. You could you said you'd rebuild the temple in 3 days and you can't even save yourself. All that other stuff. Look at what's happening right now.

She's choosing to model Christ to others, to live as God would have her to live. And they're mocking her the same way they mock Christ. Why? Because they're not mocking her. They're mocking Christ. That's why I call some people Satan worshipers because they're emulating their father, the devil. They're emulating their their father, the devil. But the point behind what I am trying to communicate is I want you to see the pattern of warfare. I want you to see how it works. Why? Because you need to take this and internalize this for your own life because God is calling you, each and every single one of you.

He's calling all of you to express intentionality in your faith. And I promise you, you will absolutely be attacked for it. I promise you that. It will happen. They're making fun of him. They're saying, save thyself, save thyself. By the way, the Psalms also predicted that. The Psalms said that with that level of intentionality, what would happen? Look at Psalm 22 verse 9. Let me just actually back up a little bit. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Oh my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not. And in the night season and I'm not silent, but thou art holy.

Oh thou inhabitest the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in thee. They trusted and thou didst deliver them. They cried unto thee and were delivered. They trusted in thee and were not confounded. Notice this. But I am a worm. Notice this. And no man no man a reproach of man despised of the people. Look what it says in verse 7. All they that see me laugh me to scorn. How how much more prophetic can it be? They laugh me to scorn. They shoot out the lip. They shake the head saying he trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him.

Let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. But look at verse 9. I love this because it it becomes a culmination. But thou art he that took me out of the womb. Thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts. The picture here is this. They mocked me. They said, come on, save yourself. The Psalms said that that's exactly what Jesus would say. But the psalmist recognized the very truth of the moment, and that was, you made me for this moment, God. When I was in my mother's womb, you ordained me for this place.

Jesus here is recognizing or the people watching this happen to Jesus here are recognizing Bible prophecy being fulfilled in the very moment.

Guest (Male): Thank you for joining us today for Light on the Hill. What you just heard is one part of a study in Mark's Gospel from Pastor James Kaddis. You can hear it again at lightonthehillradio.com or wherever you get your podcasts. Not long ago, Pastor James released his new book on the first half of Revelation. It's entitled The Last Book. He points out that Revelation isn't a book of fear, but rather a book of hope. Pastor James will help you understand the world we live in and current events through a biblical lens, preparing your heart for what lies ahead.

Get a copy by going to lightonthehillradio.com or through Amazon. We're so grateful for your support. Each donation that's sent in is an investment in what God is doing over the radio and internet. Lives are being impacted daily for the glory of God as a result. If you'd like to stand with us through providing either a one-time donation or ongoing monthly support, please visit lightonthehillradio.com. While you're there, you can also send us an email. It would be great to hear from you and have you share the station you listen to as well. Just visit lightonthehillradio.com and then click on contact.

With the rest of today's message from Mark chapter 15, here's Pastor James.

James Kaddis: Likewise also the chief priest mocking said among themselves, with the scribes he saved others. Himself he cannot save. This is the fulfillment of Bible prophecy here. Look at this in verse 32. Let Christ, the king of Israel, descend now from the cross that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled him. When you hear all these people running around saying Christ is king, Christ is king, Christ is king, you know, many times you don't even realize how crazy of an invocation they're actually making. But when they're saying it, what they're actually doing, at least the ones who are the proponents of it, the initial proponents, they are seeking to acknowledge the failure of the Jews to proclaim Christ in his identity as Messiah and are trying to tell the whole world that they are no longer in God's intentional plan.

And that is completely broken. When you read this as it is listed here, it points out some very very very very important things, and these are things that I think are really important. And I listed them down because I didn't want to forget them, okay? It shows us the humiliation that Christ went through. He allowed him he brought himself to that place of humiliation. It's the fulfillment of Bible prophecy, which means it shows yet another component of intentionality. Planning shows intentionality. It brought into play what we all talk about when we talk about the substitutionary atonement.

We all know what that means, right? You guys know what substitutionary atonement means? It means by Christ being put in the middle of those two thieves, it represents our sin being put up in the middle. And him experiencing all of that pain, all of that suffering so that we wouldn't have to. He substituted. He substituted for us. We have salvation as a result. It's just absolutely beautiful.

Guest (Male): We'll finish up Mark chapter 15 and hear more about the death and burial of Jesus next time on Light on the Hill with Pastor James, a listener supported ministry of 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.