Matthew 26:47-56

Scripture Reading: Genesis 50:15-21

Introduction

What Does this Phrase Imply:

“I’ve Got You Right Where I Want You”

It Implies that the Speaker is in Control of the Situation

They’ve Strategically Manipulated Someone…

Into a Position Where They can Take Advantage of Them

When Playing Tag & You’re the One Who is “It”…

Would You Rather Chase Someone into an Open Field…

Or Chase Someone into a Corner…

Where They Can’t Get Away?

In that Case, You’ve Got Them Where You Want Them

You’re in Control of the Situation…

And They are Now at Your Mercy

You’ll See How this Plays into Our Text in Just a Minute

Matthew 26:47-56

Last Week, We Saw Jesus Praying in the Garden of Gethsemane

Our Text Ended with Jesus Waking the Disciples…

Because Judas, the Betrayer, had Arrived

Jesus was about to Be Surrounded By His Enemies

When I was Studying for this Morning’s Lesson…

One Commentary had a Very Clever Title for this Passage:

The King has Them Right Where They Want Him

Not:

“The King has Them Right Where He Wants Them”

“They have the King Right Where They Want Him”

The King has Them Right Where They Want Him

Jesus’ Betrayer & Those Who are Coming to Arrest Him…

Think They are the Ones in Charge

But Nothing could be Further from Reality

What They Think is Their Plan to Destroy Jesus…

Is Actually God’s Plan to Save the World

“What They Meant for Evil, God Meant for Good”

What We See in this Passage…

Is Not a Man Cowering in Fear…

Or Fighting for His Life

We See a King…

Who is Fully in Control of the Situation

He has Them Right Where They Want Him

Matthew 26:47 (NASB95)

47 While He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, came up accompanied by a large crowd with swords and clubs, who came from the chief priests and elders of the people.

As Jesus was Waking Up His Disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane…

Judas Arrives with a Posse Armed with Swords & Wooden Clubs

Who were These People that Judas Brought with Him?

When You Compare All 4 Gospel Accounts…

You Find that They were a Large Group of Temple Guards/Police

They May have Been the Ones with the Wooden Clubs

And John’s Account Also Seems to Indicate…

That There May have Been Some Roman Soldiers in the Crowd as Well

They were Likely the Ones with the Swords

The Chief Priests & Elders of the Jewish People…

(Likely Members of the Sanhedrin = Jewish Supreme Court)

Had Sent this Small Army to Arrest Jesus…

And Bring Him to Them

The Leaders of the Jewish People…

Were Looking for a Way to Arrest & Kill Jesus…

Without Alerting & Upsetting the Crowds

Judas Agreed to Help Them

And Once He Discovered that Jesus Knew of His Betrayal…

He Ran Straight to Them…

And Told Them that the Arrest had to Happen this Very Night…

And He Knew Jesus would Be Meeting with His Disciples…

In the Privacy of a Garden Called Gethsemane

Under the Cover of Darkness, it was the Perfect Time

And Within the Walls of a Private Garden, it was the Perfect Location

Matthew 26:48–50 (NASB95)

48 Now he who was betraying Him gave them a sign, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the one; seize Him.” 49 Immediately Judas went to Jesus and said, “Hail, Rabbi!” and kissed Him. 50 And Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you have come for.” Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and seized Him.

To Help the Posse of Armed Policeman Know Who They’re Coming to Arrest…

Judas Told Them:

“Whomever I Kiss [phileso = Love] He is the One; Seize Him”

We Know What He Meant By “Whomever I Love”…

By What He Proceeds to Do:

He Walks Up to Jesus and Says:

“Hail, Rabbi”

“Rejoice! Be Glad, Teacher!”

Then He Gives Jesus a Warm, Affectionate Kiss

The Kind of Greeting You’d See Between Family & Close Friends

It’s Bad Enough to Betray Someone

But to Betray Them with Such a Deceptive Showing…

Of Happiness, Love, & Friendship…

Is Especially Cold-Hearted & Sinister

Proverbs 27:6 (NASB95)

6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.

But, Before We Wag Our Fingers at Judas…

We Probably Need to Take a Good Look at Ourselves

How Many Times have We Told Jesus We Love Him…

Only to Immediately Turn Right Around…

And Betray Him By Acting to the Contrary?

Jesus isn’t Fooled By Any of that

And Matthew Shows Us that Jesus isn’t Fooled…

By Judas’ Attempted Deception Either

Jesus Calls Judas “Friend”

This Specific Greek Word is Only Found 3 Times in the NT…

And Only in Matthew

The Other 2 Times We Find this Word…

It’s Used By a Righteous Person Toward a Wicked Person

“Do What You Came to Do”

Jesus isn’t Fooled By Judas’ Artificial Showing of Love

He isn’t Fooled By Ours Either

After Those Words the Police Grabbed & Arrested Him

Matthew 26:51 (NASB95)

51 And behold, one of those who were with Jesus reached and drew out his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear.

John Tells Us the High Priest’s Slave’s Name was Malchus

He Might have Been the One Assigned to Lead this Posse

John Also Tells Us that Peter was the One to Cut Off His Ear

Peter Told Jesus that He was Willing to Die for Him

He’s Showing that to Be True Right Now

He was Willing to Start an All Out War…

A War He was Sure to Lose…

Before He Ever Let Them Take His Lord

Matthew 26:52–54 (NASB95)

52 Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword. 53 “Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels? 54 “How then will the Scriptures be fulfilled, which say that it must happen this way?”

Jesus Immediately Tells Peter to Stop & Put His Sword Away

Luke Tells Us that He Proceeds to Miraculously Re-Attach Malchus’ Ear

Jesus Tells Peter:

“Those Who Use the Sword will Die By the Sword”

Violence Only Leads to More Violence

Fighting Won’t Get You Out of Trouble, it will Only Lead to More

The Warlike will Perish at the Hands of the Warlike

The Way of Violence & Force are Completely Out of Character…

With the Way of Jesus

Jesus is the Prince of Peace

And Those Who Follow Him Must Be Peacemakers

Jesus’ Submission to His Enemies…

Was Not Because He was a Helpless Victim in Need of Saving

He had Over 12 Legions of Angels…

(if Taken Literally, an Army of Over 72,000)…

At His Disposal, Standing at the Ready

If He Wanted Protection…

Heaven’s Army was Ready to Fight at His Word

Jesus wasn’t Powerless to Resist this Mob

He was in Control of More Power than We could Ever Imagine

Yet, He Chose Not to Use it

He had Already Spent Time in Prayer with His Father…

Submitting His Will to God’s

The Scriptures Must Be Fulfilled

God’s Plan to Save the World Must Be Accomplished

Therefore, Jesus Must Surrender His Enormous Power…

And Allow Himself to Be Arrested

People have Debated for 2,000 Years on the Topic of Pacifism

I Think about this Topic a Lot:

Can Followers of Jesus Ever Use Force/Violence?

I Don’t Trust Anyone Who Claims to have an Easy Answer to that Question

As Best I can Tell, it’s a Case By Case Question

In Order to Know What Actions are Right or Wrong…

You’d have to Know the Motives of a Person’s Heart

When it Comes to the Issue of Christians & Violence…

Each of Us has to Carefully Study the Scriptures…

And Familiarize Ourselves with the Character of God…

To Determine Our Stance on this Difficult Issue

But Regardless of Where We Stand…

We Absolutely Must Keep These Truths in Mind:

As Citizens of Jesus’ Kingdom, We:

Are to Love, Serve, Defend, & Bring Justice to the Weak & Vulnerable

Are to Be Peacemakers

Are Not to Seek Revenge/Retaliation for Wrong-Doing

Would Rather Give Our Own Lives Than to Take the Lives of Others

Matthew 26:55 (NASB95)

55 At that time Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me as you would against a robber? Every day I used to sit in the temple teaching and you did not seize Me.

Jesus Then Turns to the Crowd of Armed Guards & Says:

“Are You Really Treating Me as You Would a Violent/Dangerous Man?”

This Word “Robber” can Refer to a Robber or an Insurrectionist

It’s the Word Used to Describe Barabbas…

And the 2 Thieves that Jesus will Be Crucified Between

They Gathered a Large Crowd of Tough Soldiers…

Who are Armed to the Teeth to Arrest Jesus…

As if He’s a Violent Criminal

“I Sat & Taught in the Temple Every Single Day!”

“I’m Not Some Dangerous Terrorist!”

“If I were, You’ve had Numerous Opportunities to Arrest Me in Public…”

“Yet You Never Have”

Jesus is Pointing Out the Wicked Motivations…

Of the Jewish Leaders Who Sent this Crowd

“They’re Not Interested in Justice”

“If They were, They would’ve had You Arrest Me in Public & in the Light of Day”

“They are the Real Robbers, Bandits, & Terrorists!”

They were Going After an Innocent Man…

Under the Cover of Darkness…

In a Secluded Area…

In Order to Kill Him in Secret

Matthew 26:56 (NASB95)

56 “But all this has taken place to fulfill the Scriptures of the prophets.” Then all the disciples left Him and fled.

Though this was Brought about By the Scheming of Wicked Men…

It was All According to God’s Plan

Once the Disciples Hear These Words…

They Now Recognize Exactly What Jesus is Doing:

He’s Saying it’s God’s Will for Him to Surrender

This isn’t at All What They Expected of Their Messianic King

In Their Confusion & Fear…

Their Flight Response Kicked in...

And They All Left Jesus Standing There Alone

He had Told Them in the Garden…

That They Needed to Be Praying…

In Preparation for the Temptation They were about to Face

But They Didn’t Listen

And Now They have Failed the Test

They All Forsook & Abandoned Their King/Master/Friend

Application

The King has Them Right Where They Want Him

From the Outside Looking In…

Jesus has No Control Over this Situation

He & His Small Band of Followers…

Are Surrounded By the Enemy

No Where to Run

No Where to Hide

But Jesus is in Total Control Over this Situation

He’s Not Surrounded By the Enemy

The Enemy is Under Total Subjection to the Will of God…

Without Even Realizing it

Jesus had an Army of Angels Available to Rescue Him

(Like Elisha in My Favorite OT Story We’re Going to Study Tonight)

But Jesus wasn’t Looking to Be Rescued

In His 1st Coming to Earth…

Jesus Came to Surrender to Death…

To Pay for the Sins of Humankind

But in His 2nd Coming to Earth…

Jesus isn’t Going to Surrender to Death

He’s Going to Show Up with His Army of Angels…

Bringing Victory & Resurrection Life to His People…

And Eternal Destruction to His Enemies

2 Thessalonians 1:6–10 (NLT)

6 In his justice he will pay back those who persecute you. 7 And God will provide rest for you who are being persecuted and also for us when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven. He will come with his mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don’t know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with eternal destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from his glorious power. 10 When he comes on that day, he will receive glory from his holy people—praise from all who believe. And this includes you, for you believed what we told you about him.

Do You Know God?

Do You have an Intimate Relationship with Him?

Do You Obey the Gospel?

Notice I Didn’t & Paul Didn’t Say:

“Obeyed” the Gospel

Obeying the Gospel is Not a “Step of Salvation”

Obeying the Gospel is a Lifestyle of Obedience to King Jesus

Those Who are Going to Suffer the Wrath of King Jesus…

And His Army of Angels are:

Those Who Don’t have an Intimate…

Father/Child Relationship with God

Those Who Don’t Obey King Jesus

Who Don’t Live a Life of Submission to His Will

Do You Know God?

Are You Obeying the Gospel?

Or are You Selfishly Running from the One…

Who Willingly Surrendered His Life for Yours?