The King is dead, Long live the King

(((((1))))) Today's message will be quite different from any previous sermon I have ever taught.

I don't have nice little points to go through. Instead, I'm going to simply narrate the story to you, stopping along the way to dig a little deeper, but overall, we are not diving too deep today.

before we begin though, we need to understand what this narrative Im about to tell is. it is our last Sermon in the Kingdom series.

We have divided up the book into the five discourses Jesus gives, plus an introduction and a conclusion.

Today is that Conclusion.

Chapter 26 begins the last and most pivotal section of Matthew’s telling of the gospel. Everything else has been an introduction to the great conclusion, which focuses on the cross of Jesus Christ—the climax of the gospel and the peak of redemptive history, the only eternal hope of fallen mankind.

Charles spurgeon puts it like this.

See also: Cross; Death of Christ

No scene in sacred history ever gladdens the soul like the scene on Calvary.

Charles Spurgeon

The cross is the centre of the world’s history. The incarnation of Christ and the crucifixion of our Lord are the pivot round which all the events of the ages revolve.

Alexander Maclaren (Preacher and Expositor)

We start our narrative in the beginning of chapter 6 where Matthew begins to detail the final days of Jesus before He is killed.

Jesus has already been speaking more direct on his upcoming death, but this intensifies in these last three chapters.

Jesus tells his disciples multiple times that He will be killed, and He is preparing for that to come.

He first prepares by allowing the woman in Bethany to wash Him with an incredibly expensive ointment.

So expensive was it, that the disciples spoke negatively upon her for what they saw as wasting it, when it could have been spent to feed the poor.

Jesus however recognized this as worship and a preparation for His coming death.

Communion

He then goes for Passover supper with His disciples.

Matthew 26:26-29

Matthew 26:26–29 ESV

26 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” 27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

I’m not sure the disciples could have had a full understanding of what was happening, but Here, Jesus begins the tradition and ordinance of Communion.

This is what we are going to continue in a few minutes, just as Christians for over two thousand years have done.

Here, Jesus sets a reminder for us.

When we drink the juice, it represents His blood, poured out for all mankind.

When we take the bread in a few minutes, we are reminded of His body, broken and torn at the hands of evil men.

As we are about to talk about, Jesus did all of these things willingly so that our sins could be forgiven, our shame removed, so that we could have a perfect relationship with Him for eternity.

So when we do this in a few minutes, don’t do it half heartedly.

Take time to be solemn.

Repent of any sins He is putting on your heart.

Reflect on the price He had to pay with His blood, and with His flesh, so that your sins could be forgiven.

And thank God for such a blessing as communion.

As we continue along in our narrative…

They sing a hymn together, and then went to the mount of Olives.

He lets them know that tonight, they will all fail Him, but that after He is rissen, He will still go to them in Galilee.

Even before the abandomnent and betrayal takes place, Jesus is speaking of His forgivness of them.

But Peter, being Peter, just had to speak up. Peter had to make sure Jesus knew that He would never do this. He says in Mat 26:33-35

Matthew 26:33–35 (ESV)

33……“Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.”

34 Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.”

35 Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same.

Not my will, but your will be done.

Jesus then takes Peter, James, and John to the garden of Gethsemane to pray.

we Get a glimpse here at the emotion and pain He was feeling as He awaited what was coming

look at the wording he uses.

Matthew 26:38–39 ESV

38 Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” 39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

and

Matthew 26:42 ESV

42 Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”

Jesus, knowing exactly what was about to happen to Him, knew His only option was to pray to the father.

He did not want to die, He did not want to lose fellowship with the father, why would anyone ever want this?

He knew the horrors He was about to go through, yet He prayed, not my will but your will be done.

What a great example He left for us.

When I was a kid in the 90’s there was a popular trend in American churches called WWJD. There were bracelets, tshirts, hats, and everything else you could imagine.

It stood for What would Jesus Do.

Well, He has given us a great example here of what He would do in the face of overwhelming evil.

Jesus knew He was going to die and He submitted to the father by saying Not my will, but your will be done.

Are there areas of your life right now that you need to submit to God?

Are there areas that you have been strugling to let go?

Maybe it is letting go of a job that you always wanted but you know it is not His will.

Maybe it is repenting of a sin that you have been strugling with.

Maybe it is no longer hanging out with a someone, or a certian group who tend to bring you into their sinfulness.

Maybe it is starting or joining a ministry He has put on your heart.

Maybe it is to trust Him as provider and give more.

I don’t know what it may be for you, but I urge you to not ignore the Spirit when He is revealing the will of the Father to you.

But sometimes, it is hard to follow Him.

The road is narrow, and although filled with unimaginable joy, it is most certianly not always easy.

I encourage you to go into your place of prayer.

Go before the Father, just as Jesus did, and be honest with Him.

He knows your struggles.

He knows your hesitations, so be honest.

Wrestle with it as long as it takes, but get to the point where you can Humbly proclaim, Not my will, but your will be done.

So Jesus gets up, after fully submitting to the will of the father, wakes up the disciples, again, and tells them that He is now being betrayed, so they should get on with it.

Judas comes, and following through with His plans to betray Jesus, kisses Him to signify who to arrest.

Does Jesus fight this?

Does Jesus yell and condemn Judas for His betrayel, no.

He simply tells Judas to do what He came to do and went into the hands of sinners to be put to death.

He is taken to Caiaphas, the high priest to stand before the scribes and the elders.

Peter followed Jesus all the way to the courtyard of the high priest and sat with the guards to see what would happen.

Jesus declares He is God

Inside, They brought multiple people before Jesus to give false wittness against Him, but He stayed silent.

The high priest then ask Him directly to say if He is indeed the Chist, the Son of God.

Jesus replies in Matthew 26:64

Matthew 26:64 ESV

64 Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

I can not stress the significance of this enough.

This is what they crucified Jesus for.

They crucified Him for claiming to be The Christ, the Messiah, the promised anointed one, the Hero they had been waiting for thousands of years to come.

They crucified Him for claiming to be the Son of God.

They crucified Him for claiming to be God.

They called this blasphemy, because if any other man were to have said this, it would be.

But it wasn't blasphemy was it?

It was not blasphemy because he was indeed whom He claimed to be, as evidenced by the Transfiguration discussed two weeks ago and the resurrection in chapter 28.

Why is this important?

It is important because some will say that Jesus never claimed to be God, but we know this to be false when that is the very thing He is being crucified over.

Jesus, although fully human, is fully God the Son.

Can you understand that?

If you can, explain it to me later because my head still can’t fully wrap around this mystery, but oh the greatness of God that He is able to do what we will never understand.

Peter’s denial

But now, let us go back to the courtyard outside where Peter is. We will actually read this section since it is short.

Matthew 26:69–75 (ESV)

69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.”

70 But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you mean.”

71 And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.”

72 And again he denied it with an oath: “I do not know the man.”

73 After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you.”

74 Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately the rooster crowed.

75 And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

Last week, if you remember, I spent a lot of time saying that Christians will have fruit and Christians will not look like the rest of the world.

That was incredibly true and an important message for us, but today I want to balance that out a little bit.

As I mentioned last week, Christians still fail.

Our flesh is weak, and in it we still are prone to sin.

Yes, the cost and power of sin have been defeated but that does not mean we become perfect upon salvation.

Peter’s actions and words were often been the wrong thing, steaming from an incomplete and immature view of Christ, but they were so often done out of a love for Him.

Even when Jesus was arrested, Peter in His love for Christ drew his sword and decided to fight a one man war against the guards, even cutting off one of their ears, to which Jesus condemns and tells him to stop.

After the resurection, Peter goes on to be one of the main leaders of the church.

Not long from the setting of our story today, he will stand up at pentacost and preach a message where God saves around THREE THOUSAND SOULS.

But what do we see here in this story? Is Peter’s love of Christ seen here? Is he showing great fruit in this moment?

Sadly, no. He denies Jesus three times, just as Jesus predicted He would.

Peter messed up bad here guys. in His fear, He actively denied Jesus, the Christ, the THREE times.

In this moment, Peter was absolutely behaving like the world. So does this mean He was not a follower of Christ or one who put His faith and hope in Him?

no

What we see with Peter is a pattern of fruit that Jesus had been changing his life,

and even through this horrible act of denying the one who is about to die for the forgivness of His sins,

He still repented and led the Church until He was eventually killed for His love of Christ,

being cruicified upside down because He said he did not deserve to die the same way Christ did.

So yes, we must check our lives for the fruit of the spirit, but church, this should bring assurance of our salvation, not condemnation

In Christ, there is no condemnation. If you have been made a new creation, if the spirit lives within you, then You are forgiven, never forget this.

Yes, we should weep at the face of our sins. We should see it for the evil that it is, but don’t let the enemy make you lose sight and forget the work of Christ on the cross.

Repent of your sins daily, turn from them, and continue, just as Peter did, the great work of His Kingdom.

The King is dead: The crucifixion

This leads us closer in our story to Christ on the cross.

Jesus goes before the Roman govenor, since the jews did not have the authority to condemn someone to death.

Govenor Pilate questioned Jesus and saw no fault in Him.

He did however fear that there could be civil unrest if something was not done, so when his plan to have him released by the local custom of releasing a prisoner during the feast failed, because the crowds chose a horrible murderer to be released over Jesus, He sent Jesus off for execution.

Here, Jesus is mocked by the crowds and the soldiers.

They beat him,

spit at Him,

put a robe on His back and a crown of thorns were painfully placed on his head.

They made fun of Him for His claim to be God.

For His claim to be King of the Jews.

For His claim to be the Christ,

Messiah,

anointed one.

They then have Him carry his cross to the place of His execution, where the mockery continued.

They placed a sign above Him that read “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.

They placed him in between two thieves, marking Him as just another common no good criminal.

We see starting in verse 40 in chapter 27

Matthew 27:40–44 (ESV)

40 and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”

41 So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying,

42 “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.

43 He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ”

44 And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.

But Darkness came over all the land and Jesus shoutted with a loud voice “ Eli, Eli, Jema sabachthani”. My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?

At this moment, Jesus bore the cost of sin. At this moment, my sin and my shame were put upon Him. He who knew no sin has just taken the sins of the world upon Himself.

We talk alot about the horrors of crucifiction and how horrible His death was. But I don’t think that is what had Jesus sweating blood in the garden in prayer to the father. The worst torment that Jesus faced was not the cross, it was not the beatings, it was not the mockery, but it was the taking of our sin upon Himself.

Why did He cry out “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?

Because at this moment, for the first time in eternity past, He no longer had perfect communion with the father.

In ways that I can not understand, God the father and God the son, being one God, were no longer in perfect fellowship. Why?

For the same reason that our relatoinship with the father as humans is broken. God can not look upon sin. He is too Holy, too righoutous, too perfect in every way. And sin is too evil, too wicked for a Holy Just God to look upon.

Jesus had taken this cost of sin upon Himself, so that you and I would no longer need to bear it.

transition

He then cried out again with a loud voice, and dies.

At this moment, the curtain of the temple is torn in two from top to bottom, the earth shook, the rocks were split and the tombs were open so that the bodies of the saints came back and appeard to many.

Even the Roman centurions saw all these things and responded with “Truly this was the Son of God!”.

Long live the King: The resurrection

Jesus was then placed in a tomb and a great stone was rolled infront of the entrence. the Chief priests and the pharisees came to Pilate and told Him that Jesus spoke of resurrecting from the dead after three days, so let us put guards to make sure His disciples don’t steal the body and make everyone think He did indeed rise from the dead. So they put soldiers to gaurd the tomb.

This was not going to work however, because there was no human coming to steal the body.

No, but an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone.

A couple of the Marry’s had gone to see the tomb, but when they got there, they found an empty grave with an angel sitting on the stone. The angel shows them the empty tomb and gives them instructions to have the disciples meet Him in Galilee.

The great commission

So the Disciples meet Jesus there, and worshiped Him. It is here that Jesus gives them, and us here today, the great commission.

Let’s read it in Matthew 28:18-20

Matthew 28:18–20 ESV

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

I know I say this almost everytime I am up here, but this could be an entire series, or at least an entire Sermon.

But what is the main idea that we can take from these verses?

We are to be going out, making disciples of all nations.

This starts by going out into the world and telling people of the works of Christ.

When they repent of their sins, being made a new creation,

we baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

We don’t just leave them be at this point though, but we continue to teach them to observe all that Jesus has commanded us, knowing that He will be with us through it all.

So are you doing this?

Discipleship is a key factor of the Church in Acts. It is how the Church grew.

At City Church, we believe in discipleship. One of the main ways that we do this is through small groups.

Are you a part of a small group?

Maybe you are a more mature believer and one of the things God is calling you to submit to is discipling others. Small groups are not the only avenue for this, but maybe for you, it could be leading a small group, or doing more in your current small group.

We covered a lot today. But I will sum it all up for you here.

Jesus did many wonderous works and taught us much during his three year earthly ministry. But it all led to the Cross.

At the cross, He made a way for sinful me and you to have a relationship with the father, but He did not stay dead, no, He defeated death and the grave and rose again, still alive today on the right hand of the father.

I encourage you, if you are sitting here and don’t have this relationship with God, don’t wait.

come to one of the prayer team members who will be up here, repent of your sins, and turn your life to Christ.

For those who do, I again ask you, have you been discipled? Are you descipling others?

Are you taking the commands of Christ in the great commission serious? I hope so.

Let’s pray