The Power of Darkness
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
In Psalm 139, we find that David gives praise to God for the reality of his omnipresence. God is always there. But this Psalm has often been misused so that it suddenly turns from being a Psalm of praise to a Psalm of dread.
Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,”
even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.
The way that this is often taught or preached is that we cannot hide from God. Whatever we think we are doing in the dark is still seen by God. But that is not at all what David is writing. Instead, what David is saying is that God is always near. In our highest of highs (if I ascend to heaven, you are there) to our lowest of lows (If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!). Sheol was the place of the dead. In other words, when I feel like death—when I can’t get out of bed in the morning because of the despair and pains of life, God is still there, leading and loving us. Whenever darkness overtakes me—and it will—God is there. That darkness is not dark to him. He is still light in the midst of darkness. His grace is still present in darkness.
So then, keeping that Psalm in mind, how do we respond when we see darkness falling around us? When the power of darkness is so great? It could be personal darkness that has to do with few more than you; you’re going through a dark time that no one else understands or even knows about maybe. Maybe it’s political darkness that has to do with the state of our nation and its leaders. If that candidate gets in, our nation is going to go through some dark times. Or perhaps it is familial darkness. Darkness is encompassing the family. Or as we’ve seen with all too much regularity, and saw twice more this week, it is a darkness brought by mass shootings. How do we respond in the darkness?
This morning, we are seeing how Jesus responded to darkness because he is consistent in every case we see. We will also see why he responds the way he does. And as we look at the passage we see three displays of darkness. There is darkness displayed in the kiss. There is darkness displayed in the knife. And finally there is darkness displayed in the kerfuffle. (Yes. Kerfuffle).
Darkness is displayed in a Kiss
Darkness is displayed in a Knife
Darkness is displayed in a Kerfuffle
While he was still speaking, there came a crowd, and the man called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss him,
but Jesus said to him, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”
And when those who were around him saw what would follow, they said, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?”
And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear.
But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him.
Then Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders, who had come out against him, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs?
When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”
Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house, and Peter was following at a distance.
Displayed in a Kiss
Displayed in a Kiss
The first way we see the power of darkness displayed is in a kiss.
While he was still speaking, there came a crowd, and the man called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss him,
but Jesus said to him, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”
Here before us in this text is hypocrisy on full display. That which has always meant to be a sign of love, a sign of peace, a sign of friendship has been hijacked by darkness and in one fell swoop, it has become a sign of hate, a sign of betrayal, a sign of enmity. There in the darkness of night, the power of darkness is rising for all to see. Judas shows the darkness in himself as he kisses the Son of Man. And Jesus, in a display of light and love, calls Judas by name—Matthew says he added the term friend—and gives him one last way out. “Would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” One last act of love to his betrayer.
No one knows what brought about the occasion of betrayal. But we do know that the inclination to betray had always been with him. And we know that because that same inclination is in every one of us. Jesus said that evil thoughts, murders, adultery, and pretty much every evil act comes from the heart.
The truth is that every single one of us are born at enmity with God. We are born with the innate ability to suppress the truth in unrighteousness. And that ability does not leave us when we follow Jesus. We can excuse just about every sin we can think of if we try hard enough. James refers to there being passions at war within us. We desire and do not have so we murder. We covet and cannot obtain so we fight and quarrel. We do not have because we do not ask. We ask and do not receive because we ask wrongly to spend it on our passions. And then he asks the question, “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” And we say, “What does that have to do with the passions at war within us?” And the answer is everything!
The passions within us are the things that this world offers to us. James refers to these just a few verses earlier by calling them bitter jealousy and selfish ambition. Those passions are still in us, still causing us to cling to the things his world has to offer. Those passions continuously cause us to suppress the truth in unrighteousness. So let us never assume that we are past the point of betrayal. Both Galatians and Hebrews were written to people who wanted to go back to the old ways of the Jewish religion. Both Paul and the writer of Hebrews were warning them that they could not go back without betraying the very Son of God.
The great Puritan John Owen wrote,
“When we realize a constant enemy of the soul abides within us, what diligence and watchfulness we should have! How woeful is the sloth and negligence then of so many who live blind and asleep to this reality of sin. There is an exceeding efficacy and power in the indwelling sin of believers, for it constantly inclines itself towards evil. We need to be awake, then, if our hearts would know the ways of God. Our enemy is not only upon us, as it was with Samson, but it is also in us.”
We may not betray Jesus with a literal kiss, but it is not outside the possibility that we would use even our friendship, our brotherhood with him, to betray him just the same. Paul even says that there will come a day when people will no longer endure sound teaching; they will turn away from the truth and wander into myths. He tells us that there is a day of apostasy coming, in which so many in the church will turn away from Jesus and the gospel message. Brothers and sisters, rarely does anyone turn away from Jesus on a dime or on a whim. It is a slow gradual turning. It is a drifting away further from the light and deeper into darkness.
Displayed in a Knife
Displayed in a Knife
Which takes us to the second display of the power of darkness. The first was displayed in a kiss, but this time it is displayed in a knife. In this case, darkness presented itself as light—that it was the right thing to do, the correct way to respond.
And when those who were around him saw what would follow, they said, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?”
And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear.
But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him.
It seems at this point that the disciples finally caught on to what Judas was doing. Their eyes were finally open to the truth. But their response displayed just as much darkness in their hearts as was displayed in Judas’s. Once again, this moment was only the occasion to display what was already within them, and what was in them was dark. Whether it was anger, fear, revenge, or some other sin that had been awakened, it was already inside of them waiting to be called upon at the right moment in time.
Though only one actually took the knife (I call it a knife because the sword being used was short; more like a dagger or knife than what we typically think of as a sword) to fight, they all had the inclination to do so. They asked beforehand; one—John tells us it was Peter—just took action. Shoot first and ask questions later. If it’s a fight they want, it’s a fight they’ll get. We’ll fight fire with fire.
At least, at this point, Peter is living up to what he promised Jesus.
Peter said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.”
If Jesus is going to get arrested, then Peter will fight to the death or give them a reason to arrest him too. And in the midst of this darkened display of a knife, Jesus reproves the disciples and restores the disputant. Think about this for just a moment. The darkness of Peter and the disciples’ hearts was on full display. They did not go along with God’s sovereign plan to have Jesus arrested, so they fought back—or at least were willing to fight back. Thus, displaying the suppression of the truth in unrighteousness. Yet Jesus, in love and kindness, reproved them and in so doing restored the servant whose ear was sliced off. Thus, taking away any reason or proof of wrongdoing on the disciples’ part.
Can you imagine how that conversation would go? It would be like a Monty Python skit. “He sliced my ear off. . . . I got better.” No one interested in putting to Jesus to death wants it on record that he healed one of the men arresting him. Thus even in the display of darkness in a knife, Jesus loved and protected his disciples one last time before he was taken away.
Beloved, it’s hard not to fight back, isn’t it? It’s hard to accept that God has plans that aren’t to our liking. It’s hard to go along with the suffering that God puts in our paths. Everything within us seems to want to pick up a weapon and fight against the darkness with…our own darkness. Even in what may be considered minor ways. For example, with the election coming up, there are all types of ads or posts that say something against the candidate we do not support. And since we do not want that person elected, we repost them without actually checking to see if they are true. Or we may not post them, we just talk to others about what we saw or read; but that is nothing more than bearing false witness by a people who are supposed to be people of the truth—all truth.
And yet, what do we find in the Scriptures themselves about how we should respond in these cases?
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,
for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.
Church family, we must fight by the power of the Spirit the inclinations to fight darkness from the darkness of our hearts. It is the light that drives out darkness. To replace another person’s darkness with our own darkness, leaves us in no better of a position than if we’d done nothing. We may like our darkness better than theirs, but we are still in darkness. Let us be children of light! Let us imitate Jesus who is love and light.
Displayed in a Kerfuffle
Displayed in a Kerfuffle
This leads us to the last display of darkness in this text. We first had it displayed in a kiss, then a knife, and now a kerfuffle. Some may say that I have stretched the parameters of a alliteration with this one, but a kerfuffle is, I think the appropriate word. This darkness is displayed in by the commotion and agitation on the Mount of Olives. They had come there in the dead of night. Luke actually emphasized the point that they disrupted Jesus’s speaking with his disciples in verse 47. What we see is that they came with the intention of intimidation.
Then Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders, who had come out against him, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs?
When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”
Chief priests, officers of the temple, elders, all coming out in one large crowd in a show of force carrying clubs and knives in their hands. And Jesus calls them on this ostentatious display of darkness. What about his previous words or behavior ever led to these men to think he was going to start something during his arrest? Unlike Judas, unlike his disciples, unlike these men, Jesus understood this moment. He understood the plan of God and willingly obliged his Father.
And he looks at these men who came to arrest him and explains that this was indeed planned by the Father. This hour was planned just for them. In God’s providence, he rose up these men to do this thing in that way. He equated the this hour destined for these men as being the hour for the power of darkness.
This was Satan’s hour, and he was using these men as his pawns to get done what he wanted to get done—but only by God’s providential permission. And don’t let it be lost on you how much leeway God has given to Satan.
At the beginning of this chapter we read
Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve.
Then in the midst of the chapter we read
“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat,
And now, here we have Jesus saying this is indeed the power of darkness. One disciple possessed by Satan, the other eleven being sifted by Satan, and all these chief priests, elders, and guards are led by Satan physically (by Judas) and spiritually. There has never been a moment in history that has been darker than this moment. Everyone in this place was under the influence of Satan except for Jesus himself.
That is not to say that there have not been dark days since. There have been plenty. We live in dark times; there have been darker times though. And no matter how many dark times, no matter how dark the darkness gets, no matter how long the darkness lasts, we know that it is by the providential permission of God.
It may be displayed in a kerfuffle—commotion, agitation, chaos or it may be more subtle like it was with Judas. But may we know that we are not called to fight against darkness with our own darkness. John reminds us that we are to follow the commandment to love. Love? Because the darkness is passing away. Our darkness—that inner darkness that so desperately wants to escape and display itself is passing away. It is being replaced by the true light. And we must continue to allow it to shine.
Jesus, knowing how influential Satan was in this moment, did not fight back and kept his disciples from fighting back because he knew God’s will must be done. We would do well to take the advice of Gamaliel.
So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail;
but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice,
Matthew Henry wrote, “Christ was willing to wait for his triumphs till his warfare was accomplished, and we must be so too.”
Conclusion
Conclusion
As we finish this passage from Luke, we’ve seen how dark this night truly was. There was darkness within Judas, within the disciples, and within the crowd. Satan’s fingerprints were all over the place. And it is not hard to see that there is still darkness in this world.
John reminds us 1 John 5:19 “We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” Being that we are from God, ought we not act as if we are from God. As Paul tells us,
Therefore do not become partners with them;
for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
(for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true),
and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.
Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.
We don’t partner with darkness even to combat darkness in some other area. We expose the darkness. “Would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss.” Judas’s darkness exposed. “No more of this!” The disciples’ darkness exposed. “This is your hour, and the power of darkness.” The crowd’s darkness exposed. We expose darkness; we do not express darkness.
So when we feel that our world—whether we’re talking about the world itself, our nation, or just our small circle of influence among friends and family—make that moment about ME. Make it about ME: mindfulness and exposure. Be mindful about this moment in Jesus’s life. Be mindful that it is by God’s providential permission that this darkness exists in this moment in time. And then expose the darkness as children of light.
Jesus died in order for us to be children of light. Let us then set our hearts and minds to act like it.
Prayer
Heavenly Father,
We know that we have faced many dark days in our past; some we handled well; some we have not. Strengthen us now to imitate Christ by the power of your Spirit. Give us the mind of Christ and seek to expose the darkness around us in love. We pray this in Jesus’s name. Amen.