Goat in with the Sheep
Notes
Transcript
Good Morning
Why do seagulls fly over the sea?
If they flew over the bay, they would be bagels!!!!
I want to mention again, on the 11th we are having our family fun night! I want to encourage everyone to invite people to come.
We finished going through the Baptist Faith and Message last Wednesday and we are going to have a game night this Wednesday before we dive into another study. Come and join us for a meal and some fun games.
Today we are going to be in Mark 14:17-21.
Last week we looked at the sovereignty of Jesus. The disciples came to Him and asked where they were to prepare the meal for the Passover. He gave them some detailed instructions on how to find the room. It to trust and faith in Jesus to obey those instructions. We saw that the disciples had spent 3 1/2 years following Jesus, they saw all the miracles that He preformed, all the truths that He taught and they saw He tell how things were going to happen multiple times and every time, it happened just like He said it would. There obedience was a result of the trust that had been developed over time being with Jesus.
Obedience is a byproduct of trust. We will not obey someone we do not trust, especially when it comes to difficult and hard things. We have to learn to trust Jesus like the disciples did. It didn’t happen overnight, they had to see Jesus do things multiple times for that trust to be developed. We are no different. We need to take time and reflect on our past and see where Jesus had done things in our lives and when we do that, it will add to our trust for Him.
Today we are going to look at Jesus and the twelve reclining at the table eating and Jesus tells them again that one of them is going to betray Him. None of them think that it is Judas, they all begin to think is it me? One of the twelve who had been with Him for 3 1/2 years doing ministry with Him and doing outreach just like the other 11, was a deceiver and a liar. He was doing good things and heard all that Christ taught, but his heart was hard and no one but Him and Jesus knew it.
We are also going to look at a statement that Jesus makes that is very telling as to how bad hell is going to be for those who do not repent and believe.
I want to try something different this morning before we read God’s Word. I want us to take a minute and get our minds and hearts clear of all distractions and focus on God. In Matthew 18:20 Jesus tells us that where two or more are gathered in His name, He is among them. Jesus is here with us today. We are gathered here in His name to worship Him and to learn about Him. Think about that for a minute, Jesus Christ is here among us this morning. I want us to have a moment of silence and then I will read His Word.
Please stand and we will have a moment of silence.
17 When it was evening He came with the twelve. 18 And as they were reclining at the table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me—one who is eating with Me.” 19 They began to be grieved and to say to Him one by one, “Surely not I?” 20 But He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, the one who dips bread with Me in the bowl. 21 For the Son of Man is going away just as it is written about Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.”
Mark tells us that it was evening, this means it was sometime after 6pm, that is what the Jews considered evening. All day the two disciples whom Jesus sent to prepare the Passover meal had been at the room getting ready for the rest of them to come. Judas was not one of the ones who was allowed to know the location of this Passover meal. If he would have known, it would have been the perfect location for the scribes to arrest Jesus. That was not part of God’s plan. If that would have happened, we would not have the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper, Jesus would not have been able to tell Peter that he was going to deny Him three times. There were a lot of important things that needed to happen before Jesus was arrested and for that reason, Jesus kept the location secret.
We can see that they are reclining at the table and eating. This was not a fast meal, this was a ceremony that they took seriously and was for them to remember what God had done in Egypt. There was a specific order.
Kadesh (Sanctify!): The Seder begins with the blessing of the holiday (Kiddush) and the drinking of the first cup of wine.
Urchatz (Wash!): Participants ritually wash their hands.
Karpas (Appetizer): A vegetable, often parsley, is dipped in saltwater and eaten, symbolizing both the hope of spring and the tears of slavery.
Yachatz (Break!): The middle matzah is broken, with the larger piece, called the Afikoman, kept hidden to be found later.
Maggid (Telling): The story of the Exodus from Egypt is retold from the Haggadah, including the Four Questions.
Rachtzah (Wash!): Hands are washed again, this time with a blessing, before eating more substantial food.
Motzi-Matzah: Blessings are recited over the bread (matzah), which is then eaten.
Maror (Bitter Herbs): The bitter herbs are eaten, symbolizing the bitterness of slavery.
Korech (Sandwich): A sandwich is made from matzah and bitter herbs, in the tradition of Hillel.
Shulchan Orech (Set Table): The main festive meal is served.
Tzafun (Hidden): The hidden Afikoman is eaten.
Bareich (Bless!): The Grace After Meals is recited.
Hallel (Praise!): Songs of praise are recited.
Nirtzah (Acceptance): The Seder concludes with the hope that the observance will be accepted.
They were celebrating a great thing that God had done for their ancestors. They were enjoying it.
At some point in the ceremony, Jesus drops a bomb shell! He tells them that one of them is going to betray Him. One of the people who is eating with Him is going to hand Him over to the scribes. This is a big deal. Eating with someone was something special to the Israelites from that time. When you ate with someone, that was a way of saying that you were friends. It was a way of connecting with that person. They would not lightly make the decision to have a meal with just anyone. Eating with someone signified inclusion and peace. For Jesus to say that someone who was eating with Him was the one, that was alarming to them. That was a big deal. They would have only eaten with someone who was with them, so they thought. That is how good this betrayer was. He had everyone but Jesus fooled.
When Jesus said that it was someone who is eating with me, he was also referring to an Old Testament account of betrayal. Psalm 41:9
9 Even my close friend in whom I trusted,
Who ate my bread,
Has lifted up his heel against me.
This is talking about Ahithophel who was the leader of David’s and he relied on his counsel. But later on Ahithophel betrayed David and sided with Absalom and gave him counsel. Ahithophel and Judas have a lot in common. They both betrayed someone close to them and they both killed themselves. They both hung themselves. It is amazing to me as I study the Bible more and more, the foreshadowing that is in the Old Testament about the events and characters in the New Testament. Judas is Jesus’ Ahithophel.
When Jesus had told them this, we can see that they became very sorrowful and began to say to Jesus, “is it I?” They were all so devoted to Jesus that they could not imagine that anyone would betray Him so they thought maybe it is me. This shows just how much Judas had fooled and deceived everyone. No one thought it was him, they all began to wonder if it was them! This also go to show how much they trusted what Jesus said. They trusted Him so much that they began to doubt their dedication to Him. Just Jesus telling them that someone eating with them was going to betray Him, had them all doing some serious soul searching! Judas was good a faking his devotion to Jesus. This is why Jesus told the parable of the wheat and tares. We can not tell the difference between some of the Judas’ and the true followers that are in our churches today. If we tried to root out the tares, we would end up rooting up a lot of the wheat also. We let God do the sorting. We are to treat all who come here and profess Christ as their Lord and savior the same and let God sort them out for us. We love all who walk through those doors.
After they had all been asking Jesus if it was I, He gave them a clue. It is one of the twelve. One who is dipping bread into the dish with me. That shows that there were more than just the 12 with Him at this Passover meal. Jesus made the bombshell even bigger with this clue. It was one of the closest followers. One of the ones that was in the inner circle. The ones that were the closest to Jesus. The more we dig in, the more we can see just how deceitful Judas was. He was one of the 12, he was one of the ones that Jesus called to follow Him. He went out with them when Jesus sent them 2 by 2 to proclaim and heal and he did just that. He saw all the miracles that Jesus did! He heard the greatest teacher to ever teach! Yet his heart was like a rock! Judas was good, good a deceiving! Our churches in America are filled with Judas’! People who are at church every time the doors are open, they go on all the mission trips, do all the outreach in the community. They volunteer for all the events. They are the most active in the church, but their hearts are hard! No one can tell that they are not truly saved. Only God and they know! To everyone else, they are the model Christian, but they are just as dead as they have always been. That is why we are not to judge if someone is saved, we can never know! Only God can see their heart! We are to just love them and help to keep them on the narrow path. We are to call out their sins to help them repent of them, we don’t judge them, we just help them.
Next Jesus tells them that the Son of Man it goes as it is written of Him. What is written in the Old Testament in Daniel 7 that the Son of Man was predestined to be betrayed and crucified, that is exactly what is going to happen to Jesus. Jesus combines the apocalyptic figure of the Son of Man to Isaiah’s Suffering Servant. Jesus is not trying to do things His way, He is doing exactly what the Father has told Him to do! He is being obedient to the Father’s will, all the way to the cross!
Jesus ends this set of verses with a strong statement of what hell is going to be like! He says woe to the one who betrays the Son of Man, it would be better for him to not have been born! Hell is so bad that it would be better to have never been born than to go there. Jesus is warning all those who have not repented and believed in Him. It is better to have never been born than to die without having put your faith in Him. Hell is a real place. Jesus talked about a lot and warned people about it, we should do the same. Judas’ judgement is going to be so bad, that he will wish he had never been born. This shows us that revelation brings responsibility. The more you hear about the truth of Jesus and the truth about your sin, the more responsibility there will be on judgement day. Judas walked with the truth for 3 1/2 years. He heard it, saw it and experienced it! Yet he still rejected Jesus. For that reason, his punishment will be so great, it would be better that he not be born!
Teaching: This sermon could teach that betrayal can occur even in the closest of relationships and that Jesus understands our pain. It highlights the importance of vigilance in our faith and the need to prioritize our relationship with Christ amid temptation and failure.
Application: This passage serves as a reminder for Christians to reflect on their own relationships with Christ and others. It encourages self-examination regarding loyalty, faithfulness, and the pain of betrayal. Through this reflection, believers can find healing, forgiveness, and a renewed commitment to faithfulness in their own lives.
Big Idea: Even in our moments of betrayal, Jesus invites us to His table, offering grace and a second chance to remain faithful to Him and one another.
Only In God: Our Stronghold in the Wilderness
Only In God: Our Stronghold in the Wilderness
Posted January 4, 2021 by Clint Archer
The story is told of Frederick Nolan who was fleeing from persecution in North Africa. His pursuers had one objective, to capture him, ask him if he would deny Jesus Christ, and then if he confirmed he was a Christian, they would execute him on the spot. He ran past a number of caves but knew that his pursuers would check each one of them until they found him. Eventually, he was so exhausted that he entered a cave and waited to be found.
He heard them checking nearby caves. As he lay there staring at the entrance, he watched a small spider weaving a web. Within minutes the beautiful web covered the entire entrance to the cave. Just then his pursuers arrived at his cave but seeing the web they concluded that he could not have entered that cave without disturbing the web, so they moved on.
After escaping that predicament, Nolan penned this profound couplet from his experience:
Where God is, a web is like a wall.
Where God is not, a wall is like a web.
Where is God in relation to your life? Is the wheel of your personal history in his hands? Or do you still have the wheel in your hands? Fate will never determine the course of you life. If you follow Jesus, you will never be crushed by in the gears of History, though all hell should attach you.
Let’s pray
