"The Passion - Part I" Matthew 26b April 27 2025

Intro & Scripture

Good morning

(Story of business man - lady selling pretzels for $0.25...My sermon is how Jesus dealt with bad news)

We are continuing Matthew 26

The title of my sermon: The Passion - Part I

Last week was Easter - and we looked at the Resurrection from Luke’s perspective

Today, we’re looking at the the events leading up to the Crucifixion - known as The Passion

Unfortunately, this wasn’t perfectly timed in respect to Easter last week

But, I think we’ll survive

As I mentioned two weeks ago, Matt 26 is very long (75 verses) with many short scenes

Last week, we ended with Jesus Anointed at Bethany

If you remember - a woman approaches Jesus and anoints his head with expensive ointment from an alabaster jar

Today, we will continue at verse 14

Here is an outline of the remaining sections within Matt 26

14-16 Judas to Betray Jesus

17-29 Passover and the Lord’s Supper with the Disciples

30-35 Jesus Foretells Peter’s Denial

36-46 Jesus Prays in Gethsemane

47-56 Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus

57-68 Jesus Before Caiaphas and the Council

69-75 Peter Denies Jesus

This is a lot of content

Today, marks 44 weeks we’ve been in Matthew

We don’t get to the Crucifixion of Jesus until next chapter, Matt 27

Even then, we don’t get to the part where he is hanging on the cross until verse 35

I’m certainly not asking for sympathy - but for a moment, I’m asking you to put yourself in my shoes and ask yourself:

How much of this should I cover in one sermon?

It’s a basic question every pastor asks - or needs to ask themselves - for every sermon

How much Scripture do I cover in one message?

Do I gloss over many parts just to get to my main point?

Or do I break this down to the minute detail

I’ve preached from one or two verses - and made it into a full sermon

I’ve also taken an entire book - like I've done with Leviticus - and make it into one sermon

This is the part where I encourage you to read Matt 26 yourself

I’m not going to gloss over the rest of this Gospel

But at the same time, I won’t break down every single word and spend another year in Matthew

My roll as a preacher is to encourage you in the Word - and encourage you to read the Word

My job is also to faithfully exposit the Word of God, so that the Holy Spirit can work in your heart

I’ve prayed about this and I feel I can’t rush this

This morning, we’re going to end right after the Lord’s Supper

Before we get into this, I want us to first look at this passage in Romans

I’ll be reading from Romans 6, starting in verse 3 - going all the way until verse 8

And then skipping down to verse 11...

Romans 6:3–8:11 ESV

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

(Pray...)

Judas to Betray Jesus

As we continue in Matthew, we come to the part right after Jesus was anointed in Bethany

The scene opens up with Judas going to the chief priests to spark up a deal with them to ensure himself that if he’s going to betray Jesus, he figures he should get paid to do so

It’s interesting - I’ve made this point clear -

That Jesus, over and over predicted his death and Resurrection by saying that he will be delivered over to the elders and chief priests, that he will be killed, and on the third day, raised

And here is Judas, now going to the chief priests to help facilitate that prophesy

A couple of things I want to point out

It would be one thing if Judas did all of this on “principle,” based on his own moral convictions in a sense

Actually, he could have even pulled the Lord aside to tell him his concerns, and disbelief

But his devious motivation was more insidious and more terrifying

The bottom line: he wanted money for his betrayal of Jesus

Imagine how dark this was - Judas, along with the other eleven, walked with Jesus, ate with him, lived with him, etc

After three years of this, he saw the heart of Jesus - he personally knew the Son of God!

And now he wants money to turn him over to the enemy!

He assumed correctly that the religious leaders would give him something

But he wasn’t even good at negotiating - he was lousy

He didn’t even make the first offer

He just walks up to the chief priests and says, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?”

I’ve negotiated better salaries than this

They say, “Sure, here’s 30 pieces of silver so we can murder the Son of God. Thanks.”

Judas doesn’t even counteroffer - he just takes the money

This goes to show the character, not only of Judas, but of the chief priests - all of them were happy to make all of this about money

Sickening

But remember - Jesus predicted this - going to the cross was the reason he came to earth

God was always in control of the situation

Passover and the Lord’s Supper with the Disciples

We now come to the part where Jesus and his disciples eat the Passover meal together

And where Jesus institutes the Last Supper -

Matthew 26:17–19 ESV

Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?” He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’ ” And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover.

The festival of Passover was established in Ex 12 to commemorate the time when Jews were freed by God from Egyptian slavery

It refers back to the night where God passed through the land of Egypt and struck down all firstborn in the land - both man and beast

God instructed his people to sacrifice their unblemished lambs and put the blood on the doorposts of their houses

Any house that had the blood on their doorposts, would be safe from this plague

The Bible tells us that God told them, “And when I see the blood, I will pass over you.”

And here now is Jesus having the Passover with his disciples

The obvious meaning behind this is profound

Jesus would soon show the world the true meaning of Passover -

How his shed blood on the cross covers the doorposts of our lives so that we are saved from eternal death

That we are literally saved from the wrath of God

God “passes over us” because of the blood of the Lamb

And then the Bible says that Jesus reclined at the table with the twelve

And continuing in verse 21 -

Matthew 26:21–25 ESV

And as they were eating, he said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?” He answered, “He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me. The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” Judas, who would betray him, answered, “Is it I, Rabbi?” He said to him, “You have said so.”

The disciples say, “Is it I, Lord?”

But Judas can’t even bring himself to say that - he says, “Is it I, Rabbi?”

It’s also chilling to realize that when Jesus said one of them would betray him - they all doubted themselves

Every one of them

They may not have understood the level of betrayal he was talking about - but their honesty about their own faulty lives in the midst of the holy Son of God was evident

We all betray God in the little things we do

All of us are like wandering sheep - I wander everyday

But God keeps us - I am his and he is mine - and he will never let me stray to the point where I can never hear his voice

Jesus is our Good Shepherd

The Lord’s Supper

And now we come to one of the passages we’ve looked at all year - the Institution of the Lord’s Supper

I want to read this - and then I actually want us to pause for communion - and then I’ll continue afterwards

Matthew 26:26–29 ESV

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.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 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.”

(Pray...)

When I was younger, I wondered why communion seemed so intimate

That we’re not just eating a cracker and drinking fruit juice

Jesus said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And later, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood...”

Eat his body and drink his blood?

When I was a kid, I admit that seemed a little weird

I want to be clear - that I don’t believe for a moment that the little crackers are literally his body - and the juice is literally his blood

Jesus also said that he is the “door of the sheep” - we don’t take that to mean he is literally a door

But I believe there is something special here

I also believe that on the night he did this, Jesus ushered in the new covenant of grace with us - “this is my blood of the covenant”

We take communion in remembrance of what he did

1 Cor 11 tells us, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”

Communion is a spiritual act - and it is a spiritual thing we do together as the Body of Christ

We call it a sacrament

We look back to what Christ did for us

And notice that Jesus said he will not drink until, “that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

We also look forward to that day when we will enjoy the Lord’s Supper face-to-face with Jesus

But look how intimate this passage is - the fact that we’re eating and drinking - with him and with others - indicates that we’re part of all of this

My question for you - as Christians, are we part of this? Are we part of him dying on the cross?

Oh yes! We are literally entangled with Christ’s death on the cross and his Resurrection

Put up that Romans slide again - let’s examine more closely on what Paul said about this

Romans 6:3–8:11 ESV

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Again, this is Rom 6, verses 3-8 and verse 11

Let’s go through this verse by verse

Notice how our lives are completely interwoven with the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus

I’m going to summarize what each verse is telling us

Verse 3 - When we were baptized into Christ, we were baptized into his death

Verse 4 - We were buried with him by “baptism into death,” so as the Father raised him from the dead, “we too walk in newness of life”

Verse 5 - We’ve been united with him in his death, we shall certainly be united with him in his Resurrection

Verse 6 - Our old self was crucified with him “in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing” and therefore, we’re no longer enslaved to sin

Verse 7 - Paul summarizes: “One who has died has been set free from sin”

Verse 8 - And if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him

Verse 11 - We must then consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus

That’s why we eat his body and drink his blood

He made us part of his death - our sins were put to death

And he made us alive in him because God raised him to life

This is the good news of the Gospel!

All of this is because of Jesus

All of this is the grace of God

I don’t have to “do anything” to get God to save me!

I have the blood of Jesus on the doorpost of my life

I’ve done nothing to cause God to pass over me - I am saved by the blood of Jesus. Period.

Paul pleads with us in verse 11 - almost like he’s screaming: “You must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus!”

Today, Christians enjoy a true intimacy with Christ - he dwells within us

I know it doesn’t always feel that way

But we must consider ourselves dead to sin and alive in him - because he lives in us

But there’s a loss of intimacy Jesus had with his disciples in Matt 26

This is just hours away from him dying on a cross

Already, we’ve seen Judas prepare himself to betray Jesus

Later, Peter denies Jesus

And then he can’t even get his disciples to stay awake with him while he prays in the garden

And then comes the scene where they come to arrest Jesus - and in verse 56, it says, “Then all the disciples left him and fled.”

Jesus went through all of this so that we could be brought closer to him

Isn’t that amazing??

So that we could be forgiven and put in a right relationship with God

Communion is a reminder of what Jesus did for you and me

In the church that I grew up - there was a table in the front - like a lot of churches

“Do this in remembrance of me”

Today - how would you describe your walk with Christ?

I’m not trying to make you feel bad - I’m saying that when we, “do this in remembrance of him” that it’s a reminder of the relationship we have with him, because of what he did

Christ isn’t going anywhere

He said, “Do this in remembrance of me”

Did you ever think that was to engage us in a closer walk with him?

And that’s why we participate in this sacrament - because we need it

When taking communion, have you ever prayed, “Lord, restore my relationship with you”

“Lord, thank you for the reminder”

“Thank you that you did this alone, in one sense - but in another sense, my sins died with you, and now I’m alive in you”

Some of you right now, want seconds on communion!

Religion says, “Get out there and do better - try harder”

“You’re not trying hard enough”

“Bad Christians sin a lot - the good ones hardly ever do”

“Every time you sin, you’re nailing Jesus to the cross”

Ever heard that one? Jesus said, “It is finished”

Nothing you or I do puts him back on that cross

Jesus never said any of that

Jesus does want a closer walk with you

He wants you and I to remember what he did for us

(Pray...)