A Faithful High Priest
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Text: Matthew 26:30-75
30 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
31 Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ 32 But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.”
33 Peter answered him, “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.
36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.”
37 And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 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.”
40 And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
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.” 43 And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44 So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again.
45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”
47 While he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people.
48 Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; seize him.” 49 And he came up to Jesus at once and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” And he kissed him.
50 Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you came to do.” Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him. 51 And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear.
52 Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. 53 Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? 54 But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?”
55 At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. 56 But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left him and fled.
57 Then those who had seized Jesus led him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered. 58 And Peter was following him at a distance, as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and going inside he sat with the guards to see the end.
59 Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, 60 but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward 61 and said, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to rebuild it in three days.’ ”
62 And the high priest stood up and said, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” 63 But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.”
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.” 65 Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy.
66 What is your judgment?” They answered, “He deserves death.” 67 Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him, 68 saying, “Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?”
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.
Main Point/FCF: Even when we are faithless, God is faithful, for he cannot deny himself. (2 Tim. 2:13)
Application: Throughout our lives, all of us will have seasons of unfaithfulness to Christ, times when we fail to live up to what we say we believe. But even in our unfaithfulness, God remains faithful. Christ’s faithfulness to himself and his own divine nature is the bedrock of our confidence and assurance.
All of us have seasons of unfaithfulness.
All of us have seasons of unfaithfulness.
The disciples slept while a spiritual war was raging. (39-45)
The disciples slept while a spiritual war was raging. (39-45)
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 he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour?
Jesus’ humanity is on display in this passage. In his humanity, Jesus needed support from his closest friends. This is the greatest temptation that Jesus has faced thus far.
And in this moment of his greatest need, his disciples slept. As Jesus suffered the agonizing weight of the greatest temptation of his life, his best friends yawned. As Jesus suffered an agony so intense it made him sweat blood, his best friends slept. Jesus had warned Peter:
“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”
Jesus had warned Peter that Satan was after him, and yet Peter slept. A spiritual war was raging with the souls of mankind hanging in the balance, and the disciples slept. The Kingdom of God was clashing with the kingdom of this world and Satan was scrambling trying to undermine God’s plan to redeem mankind, and the disciples slept. Fiery darts from the evil one whizzed past their heads left and right, and the disciples slept.
That same war is still raging today. Satan lost the battle against Christ, and he will ultimately lose the war. But right now, the battles are still very real, and the costs are eternal. Satan is after your marriage. Why? Because marriage is a picture of the gospel, it’s a picture of how Christ loves the Church and how the Church loves Christ. Satan wants to destroy that and he wants to destroy your children.
He is gunning for your neighbors, your friends at school, your teachers, your best friends. He is leading them to believe in lies, to hate what is good and godly.
Satan is gunning for this church, for Sunday School teachers, youth group leaders, deacons, and the pastor. He does not want to see the Kingdom of God advance, and so he is fighting against you.
Are you sleeping? Do you see how he schemes and works to sow discord, false doctrines, apathy, discouragement, and impurity? Or are you sleeping in the foxhole? We need to wake up, and we need to pray.
Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
The disciples fought with the wrong weapons. (50-55)
The disciples fought with the wrong weapons. (50-55)
And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear.
Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword.
Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?”
Jesus had told them time and time again that he had not come to establish a Kingdom like the kingdoms of this earth. But still, they didn’t get it. Still, they thought his Kingdom needed their earthly weapons.
And many of us today are still depending upon earthly, worldly means to advance a kingdom that is not of this world. So often we fail to grasp the distinction between worldly kingdoms and the Kingdom of God.
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.
So, when evil people murder believers, we don’t return violence for violence, evil for evil. When evil people revile and ridicule us and our beliefs, we respond in love and truth.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
We don’t use harsh words as weapons against those who hate us. Instead, we respond with the truth in love.
The disciples ran when they should have stood firm. (56, 69-75)
The disciples ran when they should have stood firm. (56, 69-75)
Peter and all the disciples had boldly declared,
Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same.
Peter’s self-confidence was unfounded.
...Then all the disciples left him and fled.
Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately the rooster crowed.
And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.
I think if we’re honest with ourselves, we’re a lot more like the disciples than we’d like to admit.
See, Peter was willing to die for Christ, but he envisioned going down in a blaze of glory, fighting side by side with Jesus and the disciples. So, when Jesus surrendered willingly to his persecutors, Peter was out.
What about you? Sure, you’re willing to fight for Jesus, but are you willing to suffer quietly for him? Are you willing to bite your tongue and accept the hostilities of those who don’t know Christ?
All of us, unfortunately, have Peter moments where we fail to stand up for what we believe in. All of us have moments when fear seizes us and we turn tail and run from the suffering that comes from following Christ. All of us have moments where we boldly stand up for the wrong cause and mix up our kingdoms.
But, I want you to see the good news in this passage. We may have moments of faithlessness, but...
Jesus is always faithful.
Jesus is always faithful.
Jesus is faithful to his people. (31-34)
Jesus is faithful to his people. (31-34)
Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.”
Jesus could have rightly said, “If you don’t stand up for me tonight, I’ll reject you.” But, instead, Jesus prophesies of their betrayal and tells them that he’ll stand by them anyhow. Jesus knew their betrayal in advance, he still loved them and watched over them.
Jesus knows every sin you will commit ahead of time, and he still loves you. Even the sins that we commit that surprise us aren’t a surprise to him. He already knows about those sins, and he’s already paid for them in full. You don’t have to be afraid to come to him when you’ve sinned.
You haven’t let down God because you were never holding him up.
Yes, the Spirit is grieved when we sin, but the proper reaction to our sin is not to run and hide like Adam and Eve, but to tearfully come running back to the Father in repentance. And we can do that because we know that Jesus is faithful, even when we’re not!
Jesus is faithful to the Father. (32, 36-44)
Jesus is faithful to the Father. (32, 36-44)
He had confidence in the Father’s plan. He knew the Father would raise him up.
But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.”
He willingly submitted to the Father’s plan even though his flesh hated the thought of suffering.
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.”
Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”
So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again.
Jesus practiced what he preached.
Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
In his greatest temptation, Jesus never gave in. He remained faithful to the Father.
Jesus is faithful to himself. (63-64)
Jesus is faithful to himself. (63-64)
But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.”
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.”
When faced with torture and death, betrayal and abandonment, Christ did not cave into the pressure to deny himself.
He could have saved himself by simply recanting, but instead he doubled down and revealed himself even further.
Jesus identifies himself as the “Son of Man,” a divine figure from Daniel that was present in heaven with God the Father.
“I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.
And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
This Son of Man is given an eternal kingdom, something that can only be true of an eternal being.
He also says that he will be “seated at the right hand of Power” in Matthew 26:64 “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.”” This is a reference to a well-known Psalm that spoke about the Messiah in divine terms, calling the Messiah “Adonai.”
The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”
Jesus effectively says, “not only am I the Messiah and Son of Man, but I am Adonai himself, and I will be seated at the right hand of God the Father.” (recall a few weeks ago we talked about Ps. 110 and how it revealed that the Messiah would be divine.)
And the high priest and the Sanhedrin court officials know exactly what Jesus is insinuating, he is making himself to be God.
Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. What is your judgment?” They answered, “He deserves death.”
Jesus had been tempted to deny his identity as Messiah and God before, when Satan tempted him to bow down to him in worship in exchange for the kingdoms of this world:
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”
Here, again, Jesus is tempted to deny who he is in exchange for his life. But Jesus remained faithful to himself.
Why should it matter to us that Christ was faithful to himself?
God’s faithfulness to himself is the bedrock of our confidence and assurance.
God’s faithfulness to himself is the bedrock of our confidence and assurance.
if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.
“For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.
Israel had been unfaithful in their tithes, unfaithful to their covenant. Like the 12 disciples, they had not upheld their end of the deal. They had forsaken God.
God says here in Malachi that the only reason they were not immediately consumed in God’s wrath was because God doesn’t change, because he is faithful to himself. See, God himself had taken the initiative to make a covenant with them. God’s faithfulness to his word and to himself, his immutability and unchanging nature is the only reason that Israel was not consumed in his wrath.
In the same way, the reason that you and I as believers can have assurance and confidence in our salvation has nothing to do with us and EVERYTHING to do with God.
If you’re sitting here this morning and you feel like a Peter—you’ve denied Christ through your words or actions, you’ve rebelled against him and sinned over and over—hear this! Your salvation does not depend upon your own efforts to maintain it or your own faithfulness to God but upon his faithfulness to himself. Malachi 3:6 ““For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, [oh wandering sinner], are not consumed.”
Immutability = the inability to change
God is immutable = God is eternally unchanging in character.
We can have assurance of our salvation and confidence before the Father because of what’s happening in this passage, because of the Immutability of God. Not because we are faithful to Christ, but because Christ is faithful to himself! He keeps his word!
Why is it that you can have faith that God hears your prayers? Because you were really good that day and deserve to be heard? NO! It’s because God has made an oath that Jesus is our high priest and is interceding for us. And because God cannot change, we know that Christ is still our high priest today.
The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever.
Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.
The immutability of God is the foundation for our confidence in prayer! It is because God never changes that Christ continues to be our high priest, interceding for us to the Father.
It is because of that—because God never changes—that Christ is able to save you and intercede for you to the Father.
He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.
Christ is our perfect High Priest. He’s not like earthly ministers, like myself, who sin and have to repent. There are times that my ability to minister to you is hindered because of my own sin. I have to first get myself right with God before I’m worth anything to you (like before I preached this sermon, for instance).
But Jesus never has to do that. He never has to make a sacrifice for his own sins, never has to pray for forgiveness for himself first, he’s never distant from God the Father, never has to get himself right, he’s never consumed with his own worries and anxieties,
For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.
And because of God’s unchanging character, God’s immutability, Christ’s faithfulness to himself, this is the result:
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
God’s faithfulness to himself and his promises, his immutability and unchanging nature, are the reason that you can have assurance of your salvation.
And this is a lesson that Peter and the disciples learned well that night. Because as their savior was being led to his slaughter and all their bravado and misplaced self-confidence came crashing down in a heap of shameful denials and cowardice, Christ stood firm.
if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.
Conclusion: Students who have been or are going to soon be baptized—over your life as a Christian, you’re going to make a lot of mistakes. There’s going to be times that you have “Peter moments” where you do or say things you swore you’d never do or say. Times when your actions are a denial of what you say you believe. And in those moments, Satan will pounce upon you like the accuser he is. He will throw your sins back in your face and remind you what a dirty, rotten sinner you are. He’ll question your salvation, your sincerity, and make you doubt your faith. But your confidence in salvation is not based upon your faithfulness to him, but upon his faithfulness to himself and his faithfulness to you.
Benediction
23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.
