Betrayed (2)

Matthew 26:36-56

You know the story behind that great hymn, ‘Amazing Grace – how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I see.” It’s one of the favorite hymns in the English language. And you know that it was written by John Newton – who had been a slave-ship captain, engaged in that demonic practice of treating human beings as worse than animals.

What you may not know about John Newton, is that he continued his

INTRODUCTION

Betrayed. Betrayed. We are entering Easter week - the season of resurrection and celebration. The time when we especially delight, with a date on the calendar, in the fact that Jesus Christ - our Lord and Saviour, defeated death, once and for all - and so guarantees our eternal life. For all of us who have turned to Jesus Christ in repentance of our sins and faith in the power of His finished work to save us - to transform us - to transfer us from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of His beloved Son - - there is something special about this week.

But what we need to remember - is that before the resurrection, came the cross. We do ourselves a disservice of jumping too quickly from the joyful anticipation of Palm Sunday to the triumph of Easter Sunday

Before the joy, came the suffering. So this morning, we want to join Jesus on His journey to the cross. We will continue the journey at our Good Friday Service, with another stop along the way. And my prayer is that, as we follow our Lord on this road, we will be able to enter into the scenes - see the sights, smell the fragrances, hear the sounds of that most torturous time – because our salvation was accomplished in real time and space.

Salvation is not an ‘ideal’ for enlightened people of developed enough intellect to be able to reach through mental exercises or meditations. It is not a philosophy. Salvation is a work that was done in the real world that you and I live in. So let’s prayerfully enter the world in that day ...

And, most of all, ,may God grace us, re-firing our passion - - our thankful realization from overflowing hearts - that this BLACK valley of suffering - - GOD THE SON walked through, for you and for me.

__________________________________

1 SETTING THE SCENE, v. 36

It is approaching midnight, Thursday is about to become Friday - and the streets of Jerusalem are understandably quiet. The holy city is packed full for the Passover feast coming this weekend, but residents and travellers alike, are safely tucked away in their beds, asleep.

To the east of the city - across the Kidron brook, just a stone’s throw away from the holy city, on the gentle slope of the Mount of Olives - one of several peaks within a mountain range that rims the city on its eastern side, and under an ebony sky, illumined by the full moon and the constellation Orion - the hunter - with stars shining brightly in the northwestern sky - we find ourselves in the Garden of Gethsemane.

_________________________________

2 ALONE IN AGONY, vv. 37-39

Beneath that sky, below the grey-green leaves of the olive trees, standing row upon row … there, all alone on his face

… in agony … is a solitary man. The man is Jesus. He has brought with him to the Garden - 11 men. These are his 12 disciples - minus one. He has left 8 men … midway into the maze of trees and has taken three of them to a more solitary place: Peter, James and John. He brought this inner circle to pray with him - but they just couldn’t keep their heavy eyelids open. So there they recline, perched against the gnarled trunk of an olive tree - asleep.

And Jesus prays … alone.

Prayer is Jesus’ constant practice. Throughout his ministry – rising early from sleep, spending time in solitary places to commune with His Father - it has been a staple of His life. But this is not a usual time of prayer for him. As he prays, on THIS night, Jesus gazes into a cup. Not a literal cup of wood, porcelain or clay, but the figurative cup of suffering.

And he sees in the liquid of that cup, a foreshadowing of what the next day will hold for him. He sees in that cup, something so ghastly and gruesome,

so horrid and harrowing .... that the very soul of our Lord winces and shudders.

Out of my Lord’s lips come the lonely words that pierce the quiet of the Gethsemane night: v. 39, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken away from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

In the dregs of that cup, Jesus undoubtedly sees pain - - harsh, merciless, physical pain. He sees rejection, the thunderous, rolling rejection of the very people he has come to save - people lifting their voices to shout: “Crucify Him! CRUCIFY HIM!” He also sees the heartbreakof betrayal.

God with Us: Themes from Matthew The Agony Begins

The summary of His hour-long petition, repeated twice, betrays the heart of His struggle: “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” (26:39). The “cup” here refers not only to His impending suffering and death, but, as often in the Old Testament to God’s wrath (see Ps. 75:7, 8; Isa. 51:22; Jer. 25:15, 16; Ezek. 23:31–34). Jesus’ agonizing prayer anticipated the rejection by His Father that He would sense most profoundly in Matthew 27:46.

Lexham Geographic Commentary on the Gospels Jesus’ Choice to Run Away or Remain

it is also possible to understand the depicted struggle as a time of temptation. His prayer was not a perfunctory one—he had the power to act. In Gethsemane, Jesus was kneeling in prayer alongside the very road his people had always used for escape. Within a few more minutes’ walk, he could crest the hill and disappear into the wilderness. Furthermore, he knew how to survive in the wilderness, having spent forty days there during his period of testing at the outset of his ministry. His mind could have easily flown back to that time, remembering the vast expanse of undulating hills and the ease with which he could elude his accusers. However, his previous temptation experience benefited him in a different way. Rather than using his knowledge and skills to escape, he let the former temptations strengthen his resolve. Jesus had surrendered his fears and desires to the Father before. Therefore, unlike those that came before him on the road that led to exile, he chose to remain.

______________________________

3 PRAYER OF SURRENDER, vv. 40-44

Jesus walks back to the disciples, tries to rouse them to keep him company … but it’s to no avail. He leaves them for his solitary place, once again, falls on his face again and now, perspiring with the passion of his prayer - - and gathering up a resolve and determination, the strength of which, we cannot fully understand on this side of eternity - Jesus speaks again to the Father, in v. 42, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, Your will be done.”

God with Us: Themes from Matthew The Agony Begins

But though He was committed to His Father’s will, Jesus nevertheless faced the prospect of the cross with fear, loneliness, profound agony in His soul, tears. Up to this point, Jesus seemed to have exerted the sternest self-control in order to mask His anguish; but now, in an enclosed field on the side of Mount Olivet, in a garden called Gethsemane, He confessed to His most intimate disciples, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (26:38). He meant His sorrow was so deep it was almost killing Him, not that He was so sorrowful He wished He were dead. Sadly, the three disciples who might have borne a tiny part of that sorrow for Him by watching in prayer with Him missed their opportunity and soon fell asleep (26:39–45). Jesus prayed on, prostrated by the profundity of His anguish.

Again he goes back to his disciples - and again he finds them sleeping. So, for a third time he goes away, by Himself and again surrenders Himself to His Father’s painful plan. V. 43 - “He say(s) the same words again.”

_______________________________

4 “THE HOUR IS AT HAND”, vv. 45-46

……….. As He is praying, there is a sound, shattering the midnight quiet. It is the clanking of men and arms. Without even seeing, Jesus knows the identity of this crowd. He goes back to his slumbering disciples - and this time COMMANDS them awake.

“The hour is at hand”. Verse 45, “The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.”

The epic demonstration of God’s love for His people, proved in living flesh and blood, is now nearing its climax: “This is it!”

_____________________________

5 BETRAYED, vv. 47-49

Peter, James, John and the rest of the disciples all rise to their feet. The sounds approaching are getting louder and louder. Jesus and his disciples look out, through the olive trees, westerly, across the Kidron Valley - toward the silhouetted, camel-brown walls of Jerusalem

… and they see, slithering eastward, in their direction, an orange snake. It is a snake of fire, a long snake of torches, being carried by people. It is winding its way along the same path the disciples and their master took from the city. This is a poisonous snake. It kills its prey by kissing.

Louder and louder the sound becomes, drowning out the peaceful rippling of the Kidron brook. You can hear the unmistakable heavy tread of Roman soldiers, marching in lock step. But there are more than simply soldiers here - - Finally, the snake passes out of the shadow of the olive trees and into the center of the garden itself.

Hundreds and hundreds - of eyes glow red in the torch light and the disciples swallow hard as they observe the scales on this snake. Clubs and spears coat its back.

Verse 47 tells us that this is a ‘great crowd with swords and clubs from the chief priests and the elders of the people.’ Rabble and Riff-Raff - the hangers on at the Temple - - wanna be ‘tough guys’, hired to be the temple police - ‘muscle for the priests’. There are also scribes and elders, representing the high priests and the Sanhedrin - the highest ruling authority among the Jews. See the little priests with big ambitions - who have traded their brooms and gowns of worship - for clubs and daggers.

In John’s account -

John 18:3- John tells us that there was a “BAND of soldiers”. NIV - ‘detachment’; NASB - ‘cohort’ … the Greek word ‘speiran’, is a technical one. It refers to one tenth of a battalion of soldiers in the Roman army. A battalion was made up of 6000 troops, so this ‘Band’ or ‘detachment’ would be 600 men, led by their captain.

Let that sink in. This is a ‘great crowd’ alright. As many as 1000 people - armed to the teeth and hatred in their eyes .... here, determined to capture the most peaceable person ever to walk on this earth.

To give a sense of this - as massively short as the illustration falls from the reality it points to: it would be like US Seal Team 6, with army tanks, air support and the local SWAT team being sent to ‘take down’ Billy Graham, who was in a park, with a handful of evangelist friends. MASSIVE OVERKILL.

When the disciples see the HEAD of this blood thirsty snake, they let out an audible gasp. They recognize the stride of the man who steps out ahead of the crowd and makes his approach to them. This is the leader of the crowd, the guide himself - - and it is JUDAS ISCARIOT: One of their own! This is Judas, who has eaten and slept with them. They have laughed and cried together. He is the one who took care of their finances - carried the cash in his hand. Why, they have just broken bread with him a few short hours ago, after Jesus himself, kneeled before him and WASHED. HIS. FEET!

Do you wonder what Jesus must have felt, right now? Sure, He knew this was coming, but could that have done much to lessen the hurt? Jesus is fully God, but he is also fully man - and, as a man - oh, the emotions you feel when you are betrayed by one you have loved and invested in and cared for.

“Oh Judas! You had been with Jesus. The Lord had specifically chosen YOU … called YOU, BY NAME, to walk with him. He had opened his heart up to you, given you a real taste of the secrets of the Kingdom of God. Now you, of all people, leading this treacherous mob! And for what?!! You were the Chancellor of the Exchequer for the Kingdom of heaven, the Finance Minister for the King of Kings - - - and you traded that for a few lousy pieces of silver?!

Jesus warned about the terrible responsibility of privilege - - about being so close to the heavenly gift - - - and then turning away in cold rejection:

“Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sack cloth and ashes. I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of Judgment than for you.”

Oh friends - you who are within earshot of the Good News. What a tremendous privilege we have - - this very day, in this very city, there are thousands and thousands of people, nice, kind, thoughtful people … who are stumbling around in the dark, wondering whether there is a reason to live … if life really can have a purpose … whether there is anything that can be done about the guilt that haunts every step - and makes every pleasure seem so futile. And God has brought you HERE - to hear His Word and to understand that there IS Hope - There is LIFE - and Jesus Christ is His name. We have received such a tremendous privilege - -

but also a solemn, sacred trust.

Well, his face illumined by the flickering orange torch-flame - - - Judas, the head, steps out from the rest of the mob, the body of this hideous snake. He takes another step and another.

Matthew records his words in v. 49, “Greetings Rabbi!” .... and, when close enough to feel Jesus’ own breath on his face, he wraps his arms around the Saviour of the universe and kisses him on the cheek.

With an ironic, mocking sign of devotion, Judas identifies the one for the blood-thirsty crowd to take away. With this lie - you kiss the one you love … with THIS lying kiss, Judas, the betrayer, turns over his Lord, to His enemies.

____________________________

6 GRACE IN RESPONSE, v. 50

Now Jesus, who just minutes before had been in such anguish of Spirit over the path he knew he must walk, that his perspiration became like great drops of blood … this Jesus, stands straight and strong. He engages Judas, eye to eye and says, in v. 50, ‘Friend, do what you came for.”

Don’t miss the gentleness of Jesus here: The very first word he speaks to Judas, when the traitor has just polluted his cheek with a kiss was this: “FRIEND”. See that! Not, “You ungrateful jerk.” “After all I’ve done for you … you child of Satan, you tool of the devil”, but “Friend - - do what you came for.”

If there had been any softness left in the stony heart of Judas - - this would have penetrated to his core.

I can imagine that the tears streamed from the eyes of our Savior, and his voice cracked, when he spoke to this one he had loved unfailingly, “.... FRIEND”.

“Judas, my treasurer … MY FRIEND” …

If the Holy Spirit had not utterly left him, if his heart was not as lifeless and cold as granite … this would have broken the betrayer. Surely he would have fallen on his face and repented through tears … “I can’t do it! I can’t betray YOU, my Lord - my only hope … forgive me, please! Forgive my foolishness and my deceit … can you forgive … WILL you forgive me?!”

And if you are here - haunted by your own betrayal of your Lord in the past - maybe the past week - - you wonder can there be forgiveness for me? Or, am I defined now by the stupid sins I’ve committed against the King of Kings … if that’s you … hear Jesus’ voice to Judas, “FRIEND” .... and if there is any repentance in your heart - know that the Holy Spirit is the One who put it there … it’s NOT too late to hand it over, to confess -and to be restored. RIGHT HERE IS NOT TOO LATE FOR JUDAS. YET.

Oh friend, fix your eyes on your Lord - in your times of devotion, in your thoughts - and see him here: “Despised, rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief … and file this away in the lockbox of your own mind … knowing that when sorrow crashes into your life … it is nothing that your Savior hasn’t walked through before … and He has promised that, even if your mother and father betray you .... HE. WILL. NOT.

__________________________

6 MISGUIDED ATTEMPTS TO PROTECT THE LORD, vv. 51-56

The action continues in v. 51, Peter, impetuous Peter, reaches inside his coat for his ‘concealed carry’ sword and starts flailing away with frenzied devotion. “Even if all fall away, I will not” - the words of promise that he so earnestly proclaimed to Jesus, just hours before - they are ringing in his own ears and he will prove that he meant them .... He will defend his Lord (unfortunately, in just a couple of more hours, he’s going to break that commitment. But that time is not now. He’s all in to defend the Savior)- - - We know it’s Peter from John’s account – I think that’s funny – these two disciples seemed to have a special little rivalry -

Oh how I love Peter! He so often springs into action before his brain engages .... one little, hand held dagger, wielded by a fisherman - - in the face of 600 plus, highly trained Roman killing machines and a gang of thugs on top of that .... He doesn’t have a chance! But don’t tell him that - He is going to protect the Lord who has given his life purpose and meaning and hope.

Don’t you find it, at least a little bit refreshing? This is the one act of courage from Jesus’ entourage in an otherwise dismal night of cowardice on the part of Jesus’ disciples.

But Jesus will have none of it. In his wild sword-swinging, Peter has managed a clean slice of the servant of the high priest, Malchus - into the dirt of the ground falls this appendage - and there is a terrified civilian, obviously not used to armed combat … desperately clutching at the side of his head. “I didn’t sign up for THIS!”

God with Us: Themes from Matthew The Agony Begins

Even Peter’s attempt to defend Jesus with a sword (26:51–54; Peter is named in John 18:10) was as pathetic as it was magnificent. His action represented magnificent courage. After hearing repeated warnings about the danger of defection, Peter felt the crucial test had arrived; and he resolved to prove he was as good as his word (26:35).

But his action was no less pathetic. Nothing revealed his complete failure to grasp the fundamental reasons for Jesus to go to the cross than his impetuous grab for his sword. He still believed that Messiah’s kingdom would come with military might and spectacular displays of power against the Romans and against corrupt leaders. Worse, when he was rebuked, his moral courage evaporated so thoroughly that he fled like all the other disciples (26:56), and ended up cursing and blaspheming in a frenzied effort to distance himself from the Man to whom he had pledged undying loyalty (26:69–75). Physical courage he had aplenty; but when that proved useless, he knew no other kind. The most that can be said for him—and it is a great deal—is that when the rooster crowed he remembered Jesus’ prediction, went out, and wept bitterly (26:34, 75).

Jesus rebukes Peter - verse 52, “Put your sword back into its place”. “Put your weapon away, Peter - God’s Kingdom doesn’t come by violence

… Verse 54, “… how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so.”

“It has to happen this way - the Scriptures have all pointed to this very point in time. And they MUST be fulfilled. God always keeps His word.”

In Luke 22, Doctor Luke’s account of the scene points out what Matthew isn’t as concerned about - he mentions that Jesus reached out his hand, put the ear in its proper place and healed the wound. Oh the compassion of Jesus - with hands that are soon to load his own cross on his shoulders and then spread wide apart to receive the nails that he will hang from and die … with such sacred hand … he stops everything to heal the ear of the servant of the very high priest who will push for his execution.

So the eleven take their cue and promptly run from the garden, abandoning their teacher, just minutes after their brave promises to the contrary. As the curtain closes on this scene, we see the one whose very presence on this earth was an act of inconceivably extravagant grace: GOD STOOPING DOWN … low in love. We see Jesus standing there, in Gethsemane’s night … ALONE. BETRAYED by His own.

___________________________________

7 APPLICATION

When you read the account - don’t you just instinctively want to wipe your face in revulsion at the traitorous act of this betrayer?! How could Judas do such a thing?!

Oh, but the longer we gaze on the scene - don’t you find that we start to see Judas more and more looking like … ME?

Jesus says, in Matthew 16:24, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” When I say, “Yes, I’m a Christian - - I belong to Jesus. But don’t you dare step on MY toes. If someone pushes me, I’m going to push back - twice as hard.”

When I say, “I’m a Christian - I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ” … but then I treat the Church as a consumer product - something to use as I see fit … come to and back away from without commitment .... I am betraying the example of my Savior who stayed in the Garden of Gethsemane - stood there alone … for the sake of his fearful, faithless and fledgling little church of disciples .... and for ME, faithless as I so often am.

When I say, “Sure, I’m a Christian - but don’t hand me that cross to bear … I want my crown. RIGHT NOW” … then I’m betraying the Lord’s message about the pathway of discipleship.

But if you’re thinking right now that I want you to feel sorry for Jesus - “Please, pity the Savior - see how helpless and alone he was …” - if that’s what you are feeling - - then you are hearing me wrong.

Turn to John 18.

John gives his account of the betrayal in verses 1-11 of his gospel. And just like if you were to ask 4 different people who are here at church this morning about what happened in the service - and you will get 4 different perspectives - 4 different emphases - so the 4 gospel writers emphasize different parts of the night in Gethsemane. There’s one thing I want you to notice that John records - that Matthew left out - something that happens somewhere between Judas’ traitorous kiss and Peter’s desperate sword slices.

Look at v. 3, Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. (4) Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, ‘Whom do you seek?”

SEE - Jesus, not cowering and fearful … No – this is a valiant Jesus fully in control. An entire army coming against him - - and he strides out to meet them. He takes the initiative. “WHOM do you seek?”

Verse 5, “They answered him, ‘Jesus of Nazareth’. Jesus said to them, ‘I am he’ - and here’s what I want you to see .... “Jesus said to them, ‘I am he’ .... and THEY DREW BACK AND FELL TO THE GROUND.”

See him there, in the midnight darkness of the Garden, one man face to face with a weaponized force of ONE THOUSAND - - and without a shot fired, but at His Word alone … He speaks and there they are are, on their faces … swords beside them in the dirt. Paying unwilling homage to the KING of KINGS. The One who spoke the earth that they are now prostrate on - He has spoken to them and identified himself … and they cannot stand in His presence … unless He allows them to.

Reminds me of Aslan’s roar in the Chronicles of Narnia - He is no tame lion … but he is good. He goes to the Stone Table for his human friends.

God with Us: Themes from Matthew The Agony Begins

As the death of Jesus Christ was unique, so also were the agonizing events that led up to it. At the heart of this uniqueness is the fact that Jesus was not a martyr. A martyr believes so strongly in a principle or a cause opposed by the surrounding society that death becomes inevitable. In that sense, the martyr loses control of his or her own destiny. Not so with Jesus! A martyr could never say, “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” (26:53). We must conclude that the Lord Jesus went to His death knowing full well that it was His Father’s will that He should perish alone and abandoned as the sacrificial Passover lamb.

Our God is a WARRIOR - who makes it clear throughout His journey to the cross - that nobody is dragging him to death .... nobody is overpowering him - - - He has chosen to walk the pathway of suffering, to drink the cup that the Father placed in His hand … and He will

Your human eye may be tempted to read, ‘O my poor, helpless Jesus’. And sure, His agony was very real – the pain He suffered for YOU was excruciating …

.... Oh, but He is anything but helpless.

Matthew 26:53, in his rebuke of Peter - “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?

“I don’t need your pity nor your protection … I am the King. This crowd of troops are no more a threat than a couple of mosquitoes on my arm … the armies of heaven stand at the ready – waiting for me to so much as snap my fingers …”. A SINGLE angel passed over Egypt, centuries before – and every firstborn child, in every house – died. “I can call 72,000 mighty beings, if I wanted to – how well do you think these soldiers would do then?!”

So why doesn’t he? Why don’t you stop this, Jesus? He tells us -

v. 56, “But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.”

But this is the way I have to walk to my death, if you are ever going to be saved. And I love you this much.

Are you here this morning, heartbroken … “I am Judas”. “I have betrayed my Savior. When I knew better –

__________________________

CONCLUSION

TEEN CHALLENGE – woman – married young, three beautiful daughters and a nearly perfect husband … went to church together, were involved, went camping together, perfect family life. Her kids were everything. Ran children’s programs at their church. Life was perfect. Until – the girls got to the stage where they didn’t need their mom as much … she started to feel as though she had no identity outside of her role as mom and wife … and with the increasing independence of the girls … had no identity – no purpose

… turned to alcohol to self-medicate the pain … drunk herself into oblivion – and the girls she had given herself to care for – now had to care for her – take her to bed, clean her soiled clothes … one of her daughters reached the breaking point and begged her dad to, ‘kick mom out of the house’. She had betrayed their love …. Dad wouldn’t do it … and now she is receiving treatment – more importantly – she has found that it is never too late to find forgiveness in Christ – and to find your significance in HIM.

Oh Christian – see your Savior, in the torchlight, under the spreading branches of the twisted olive trees … see him there, surrendering himself to the mob, so that he can finish the journey, He and the Father planned from eternity past – to walk to the cross – to give His life …. So that you could live - - by faith in the finished work of the Spotless Son of God.

This is what I want you take from this text, friend: Jesus was betrayed – because He determined that this was the way He had to go to His death – this was the first step on His Divinely directed march to death – to RESCUE YOU.