Matthew 26:30-35

Scripture Reading: Romans 12:17-21

Introduction

I Want You to Finish These Popular Idioms for Me:

“Put Your Money Where Your…”

“Mouth is”

“Talk is…”

“Cheap”

“Actions Speak Louder Than…”

“Words”

“If You Talk the Talk, You Need to…”

“Walk the Walk”

What’s the Point that Each of These Idioms is Making?

It’s Easy to Say Things, But it’s Much Harder to Do Them

If You Say You’re Going to Do Something, You Need to Do it

You May Talk a Big Game, But that’s Worth Nothing if You Can’t Back it Up

The Test we’re Going to Look at this Morning…

Is a Text Where We Usually Say:

“Those Disciples Sure Did Talk the Talk…”

“But They weren’t Willing to Walk the Walk”

But By the End of this Lesson…

We’re Going to See that is Absolutely False

The Talk They Talked, They were Willing to Walk

But the Talk & Walk of Jesus…

They were Not Willing to Walk

Matthew 26:30-35

For the Past 2 Weeks, We’ve Seen Jesus & His Disciples…

Celebrate the Passover & Institute the Lord’s Supper

Now We’re Going to Follow Matthew…

As He Continues to Tell Us the Story…

Of the Night When Jesus was Betrayed & Arrested

At the Passover Meal…

Jesus Revealed that One of Them would Betray Him

But Now that the Meal is Over…

He has Some Bad News for the Rest of Them, as Well

They’re All Going to Forsake Him

And Peter will Even Deny Knowing Him at All

Matthew 26:30 (NASB95)

30 After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

As They Leave the Upper Room Where They Celebrated the Passover…

They Begin Making Their Way Out of the City…

Across the Kidron Valley…

And Up the Mount of Olives

While on Their Short Journey…

Jesus Begins to Speak to Them

Matthew 26:31 (NASB95)

31 Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, ‘I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered.’

“You will All Fall Away Because of Me this Night”

Something having to Do with Jesus…

Is Going to Happen on this Very Night…

That will Cause the Disciples to Be “Scandalized”

They will Be Shocked

They will Be Offended

They will Stumble

They will Experience a Downfall

To Further Explain What He Means By that…

Jesus Then Quotes from the Prophet Zechariah

Zechariah 13:7 (NASB95)

7 “Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, And against the man, My Associate,” Declares the Lord of hosts. “Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered; And I will turn My hand against the little ones.

In this Prophecy…

God Says He’s Going to Strike His Shepherd & Associate…

And then the Sheep will Scatter…

Because God has Killed Their Shepherd

By Quoting this Prophecy…

Jesus is Saying that He is God’s Shepherd…

And the Disciples are His Sheep

That wouldn’t have Been Surprising Imagery for the Disciples

They Recognize Jesus as Their Lord & King

And They are His Disciples & Servants

Of Course He’s the Shepherd & They’re are Sheep

But What He’s Implying with this Quote from Zechariah…

Is Something that None of Them could Yet Comprehend:

Jesus is Going to Be Struck Down

And God is Going to Be the One to Do it

God is Going to Strike Down His Shepherd & Associate, Jesus

And the Sheep (the Disciples) are Going to Scatter/Flee

And that’s Going to Begin Tonight

But When You Read the Rest of the Prophecy…

You Get a Glimmer of Hope…

That Connects with What Jesus Says to the Disciples Next:

Zechariah 13:7–9 (NASB95)

7 “Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, And against the man, My Associate,” Declares the Lord of hosts. “Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered; And I will turn My hand against the little ones. 8 “It will come about in all the land,” Declares the Lord, “That two parts in it will be cut off and perish; But the third will be left in it. 9 “And I will bring the third part through the fire, Refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are My people,’ And they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’ ”

After the Striking of the Shepherd…

A Third of the Sheep will Be Refined in the Fire

They will Be God’s Faithful People

How Does that Connect with What Jesus Says Next to the Disciples?

Matthew 26:32 (NASB95)

32 “But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.”

“I, the Shepherd, Am Going to Be Killed By God…”

“And You, the Sheep, will Scatter & Flee”

“But Then I will Be Raised”

“And Not Only will I Be Raised…”

“But I’ll Go Before You into Galilee”

He’s Indicating that They’ll Be Together Again

They will Fall Away, But Not Forever

There’s the Image of a Shepherd Going Before/Leading His Sheep

Even Though Their Shepherd will Be Killed…

And They will Be Scandalized & Scatter…

He will Be Raised from the Dead & Be Their Shepherd Once More

When the Women Came to the Tomb Early Sunday Morning…

They were Met By an Angel Who Told Them:

Matthew 28:7 (NASB95)

7 “Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.”

Matthew 26:33 (NASB95)

33 But Peter said to Him, “Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away.”

Typical Peter

He Doesn’t Even Pay Attention to the Good Part

The Part Where Jesus Says He’s Going to Raise from the Dead

He’s Focused on the “You’re All Going to Fall Away” Part

One Thing We Know about Peter is:

He’s Really Good at Talking the Talk

He Claims that His Allegiance to Jesus is So Strong…

That He will Never Turn His Back on Jesus

“Even if All the Others Turn & Run from You…”

“I Never Will!”

Peter Sure can Talk the Talk

But Jesus is about to Tell Him the Bitter But Absolute Truth:

Matthew 26:34 (NASB95)

34 Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you that this very night, before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.”

“This Very Night, Before the Rooster Crows…”

“You will Deny/Disown/Refuse to Acknowledge Me 3 Times”

The 3rd Roman Watch of the Night was Between 12-3 a.m.

They Called it the “Cockcrow”

That May Give Us an Estimation of When Peter’s Denial would Take Place

Regardless of the Exact Time of the Night…

The Point Jesus is Making is this:

“Before the Night is Over…”

“You’ll Disown Me”

“You Claim that You Will Never Disown Me…”

“But You’re Going to Break that Promise…”

“Before the Sun Comes Up!”

Matthew 26:35 (NASB95)

35 Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You.” All the disciples said the same thing too.

Mark’s Account Tells Us…

That Peter Continues to Insist…

That He’ll Die Before He Ever Disowns Jesus

And Not Only Did Peter Hold this Conviction

All the Other Disciples were Saying the Same Thing

They All Believed & Proclaimed…

That They would Die with Jesus…

Before They would Ever Disown Him

Application

This Text is Usually Presented as:

“That Peter & Those Apostles Talk the Talk…”

“But They weren’t Willing to Walk the Walk”

“As Soon as Judas Shows Up with a Mob to Arrest Jesus…”

“They All Scatter & Ran Away…”

“Just Like Jesus Said They would”

But, that’s Not True at All

Sure, They’ll All Scatter & Flee, Like Jesus Said

But Not at First

When Judas Shows Up with a Mob to Arrest Jesus…

Peter & the Apostles Don’t Immediately Run Away

They were Ready to Fight!

Peter Pulls Out a Sword…

And Tries to Take Off a Guy’s Head (v.51)

When They Said They were Willing to Die with Jesus…

They Meant it!

They weren’t Just Talking the Talk!

They were Willing to Go to Battle for Their King

And if that Meant Dying in the Process…

I Believe Whole-Heartedly They were Ready to Do it!

“What are You Talking about Jon?”

“Verse 56 Says They Left Jesus & Fled!”

Yes, But They Only Fled…

After Jesus Made it Apparent to Them…

That They weren’t Going to Fight

They were Going to Surrender

I Believe the Apostles were Ready to Fight to the Death for Jesus

But What They weren’t Ready to Do…

Was to Surrender to Death with Jesus

What the Jews Wanted in a Messiah…

And What So Many Christians Today Want in a King…

Is a Powerful Warrior Who Triumphs Over All Who Oppose Him

But Christianity isn’t about Power, Might, or Triumph

It’s about Humility, Meekness, Surrender

Oh, Don’t Worry, When Jesus Returns…

He’ll Return in Power, Might, & Triumph

But Until Then, His People are to Be…

Humble, Meek, & Submissive

We aren’t Called to Take Life of Others

We’re Called to Give Our Own

We aren’t Called to Fight Our Enemies

We’re Called to Love, Serve, & Pray for Them

We aren’t Called to Conquer the World

We’re Called to Change it Through Loving Our God/Neighbor…

And By Sharing the Wonderful Good News of God’s Love/Grace

In Our Text, Jesus Tells Peter that He will Disown Him this Very Night

Then Peter Disagrees & Tells Jesus that He’s Wrong

This isn’t the 1st Time Peter has Gone Against Jesus

Do You Remember the 1st Time?

Matthew 16:21–23 (NASB95)

21 From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. 22 Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” 23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

Peter Rebukes Jesus…

Because Jesus Told the Disciples that He was Going to Die

Peter was Totally Against it

Then this Led to Jesus Rebuking Peter…

For Going Against God’s Will

Do You Know What Jesus’ Next Words are to His Disciples?

Matthew 16:24–25 (NASB95)

24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. 25 “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

Jesus Tells His Disciples that They Must Be Ready & Willing…

To Surrender Their Lives in Order to Follow Jesus

Those Who Try to Save Their Lives…

Will Lose Their Life

Those Who Surrender Their Lives…

Will Save Their Life

Being a Disciple of Jesus…

Is about Self-Sacrifice

Being Ready & Willing to Surrender Our Lives…

In Order to Bring Glory to Our Lord & King…

Who Surrendered His Life for the World

Peter Didn’t Get it Back in Chapter 16…

And He Still Doesn’t Get it in Chapter 26

Following King Jesus…

Isn’t about Fighting to the Death for His Honor

Following King Jesus…

Is about Surrendering to Death for His Glory

Christians for the Last 2,000 Years…

Have Willingly Exposed Their Necks…

To the Sword, Noose, & Guillotine…

Because They were Unwilling to Deny/Disown King Jesus

They Peacefully Surrendered to Death…

Instead of Fighting Back…

Because that’s What Their Lord Taught/Showed Them

Peter Didn’t Get it Yet…

But One Day He would

The Early Church Fathers Unanimously Report…

That Peter Surrendered to the Torturous Death…

That Killed His Lord, King, & Friend:

Crucifixion

Peter Went from Denying Jesus…

And Seeking to Save His Life…

To Denying Himself…

And Willingly Surrendering His Life

Peter Literally Took Up His Cross & Followed Jesus

The Point that Needs to Be Made is this:

An Eye for an Eye is a Temptation Most of Us Face

When Someone Spits, Slaps, or Punches Us in the Face…

We Want to Spit, Slap, and Punch in Return

But Our Lord/King has Told Us to Accept the Wrong-Doing…

And Leave the Retaliation to God

Many of Us would Be Right Beside Peter…

Drawing Our Sword Against Those Who Hate Our Lord

But How Many of Us would Be Right Beside Jesus…

Offering Our Wrists to the Chains…

Our Cheeks to the Spitting & Slapping…

Our Backs to the Whips…

Our Egos to the Humiliation/Mocking…

And Our Hands to the Nails?

This is the Discipleship that Jesus Calls Us to

To Take Up Our Cross & Follow Him

To Surrender Ourselves to the Evils of the World…

And Go All the Way to Death for His Honor & Glory

The Question is:

Are We that Committed/Devoted to Our Lord/King?

Or Do We Just Talk the Talk?