He Didn’t Have To
Notes
Transcript
Last week, we finished the teaching portion of the Gospel of Matthew. We turn to the events leading up to Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. This is a sober passage, which is normally read around Easter. Not necessarily around Thanksgiving, but it is the basis for everything that we are thankful in this life.
May people ask me why I decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving. Many people are concerned about Thanksgiving as a holiday being pushed out. And I respect that. However, I most thankful for the fact that Jesus came for me, and so I celebrate thanksgiving by pointing to Jesus birth, death, and resurrection.
He didn’t have to come. I am certainly not worth it. I am a horrible sinner who repays my savior’s sacrifice by fickleness, apathy, and selfishness.
But, in the face of my faithlessness, the king faithfully sacrifices. He faithfully sacrifices in the face of the faithlessness of the world.
This is another long passage, but instead of splitting it up like last week, we are going to read the whole thing, and then I will make a few remarks.
When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”
Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. “But not during the festival,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.”
While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.
When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”
Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.
On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”
He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’ ” So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.
When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.”
They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?”
Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”
Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?”
Jesus answered, “You have said so.”
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”
Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 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 from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written:
“ ‘I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”
Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.”
“Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”
But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the other disciples said the same.
Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”
When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”
While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.” Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him.
Jesus replied, “Do what you came for, friend.”
Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him. With that, one of Jesus’ companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.
“Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?”
In that hour Jesus said to the crowd, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me. But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.
Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the teachers of the law and the elders had assembled. But Peter followed him at a distance, right up to the courtyard of the high priest. He entered and sat down with the guards to see the outcome.
The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death. But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward.
Finally two came forward and declared, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’ ”
Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” But Jesus remained silent.
The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”
“You have said so,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?”
“He is worthy of death,” they answered.
Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him and said, “Prophesy to us, Messiah. Who hit you?”
Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. “You also were with Jesus of Galilee,” she said.
But he denied it before them all. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.
Then he went out to the gateway, where another servant girl saw him and said to the people there, “This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.”
He denied it again, with an oath: “I don’t know the man!”
After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them; your accent gives you away.”
Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!”
Immediately a rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.
Looking at this passage, for the few minutes that are left, we are going to see our faithlessness and Christ’s faithfulness.
Before we dive in, will you pray with me?
1. Our Faithlessness
1. Our Faithlessness
Jesus’ cry to those bringing the demon-possessed boy can apply to the whole world:
“You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.”
We are those who do not keep faith, as illustrated by the disciples in this passage.
A. Complete Betrayal
A. Complete Betrayal
The passage begins with Judas. Picked by Jesus to be one of the 12 apostles, but never truly one of them. We do not know why Judah actually sold Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. But he did. He willfully turned his back on the one he had agreed would be the Messiah.
We can point fingers at Judah and shake our head at him. But, he is us.
Humanity betrayed their creator completely. Adam and Eve at the beginning of time, sold their relationship with their creator for a bite of fruit and a promise of the fulfillment of what they believed had been withheld from them.
Since that time, all of humanity have acted against their creator, following false gods, calling that which is evil good and calling good evil.
Day after day, we sell our God and creator for 30 miserable pieces of silver, things that never satisfy.
B. Willful Abandonment
B. Willful Abandonment
We continue reading the passage and see the disciples, whom Jesus told:
Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written:
“ ‘I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
But, they all denied it, especially Peter.
But, on that night, after Judas kissed Jesus:
But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.
They abandoned him, willfully. None stayed.
Well, we know from other Gospels that Peter and John came back. But in that moment, everyone left. They wanted him to fight. They wanted him to conquer. But, that wasn’t what he came to do. So, when it got hard, really hard, everyone left.
That’s what we do as humans. Hard times come and we leave. Someone dies, a family disintegrates, a job is lost, and we check out on God. He hasn’t provided the way we wanted him to provide. He has hurt us. He abandoned us. So, we think.
And so we abandon him. We stop following him and we follow someone or something else. Some sort of lie that sits better on our understanding than what we were following before.
C. Struggling Denial
C. Struggling Denial
At the end of the passage, we see Peter in the courtyard of the High Priest, waiting to see what happened to Jesus. Three times he is approached by servants, asking if he was a follower of Jesus. Three times, Peter denies the fact, ending with the emotional last two verses in our text:
Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!”
Immediately a rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.
Peter’s response shows the difference between himself and Judas. Peter didn’t want to deny his savior, but he buckled under the pressure.
I cannot blame Peter for what he did. Because I do it every day.
Every day, I am tempted by my own flesh, the sins that dog my steps. And I have a choice in those moments to stay true to my savior who loves me and gave himself up for me or to deny him, in that moment to say: I don’t know the man, and grab the hand of that sin.
Some days, I stay true. Other days, I struggle and buckle under the pressure. Deny my savior by my sinful actions and weep bitterly.
We are wretched, faithless, beings.
2. Christ’s Faithfulness
2. Christ’s Faithfulness
Praise be to God, In the face of our faithlessness, Christ is Faithful.
if we are faithless,
he remains faithful,
for he cannot disown himself.
A. Friendship to the Betrayer
A. Friendship to the Betrayer
When Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss, Jesus did not respond with a slap on the face.
He looked at Judas and said:
Jesus replied, “Do what you came for, friend.”
Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him.
Friend!
The amazing love of our savior, that he could extend that relationship to the person who was stabbing him in the back.
But, that is what he came to do.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
While we were Judas, actively betraying our savior, Jesus reached out in love, expressing his desire to have a relationship, an intimate friendship, with us. He loved us so much, in spite of what we were doing against him, that he died for us, taking our betrayal on his shoulders, paying the penalty for our sin, that we might stand righteous before him, possessing a relationship bought by his own precious blood.
He reaches out his hand to the world, saying “Friend, will you accept this gift?”
Some will accept it. Others won’t. Scoffing at his sacrifice, saying that they don’t want anything to do with it.
And yet, he still stands, offering friendship and love if they would but turn to him.
Christ’s amazing faithfulness.
B. Compassion to the Abandoner
B. Compassion to the Abandoner
When the disciples willfully abandoned Jesus that night, Jesus didn’t kick them to the curb. But, he offered compassion. Before they abandoned him, he shared an intimate meal with them, the last supper, and provided them a way to physically remember him after he had gone.
He knew they were going to abandon him, but he still compassionately provided a way for them to remember him.
And in the face of the knowledge that they would in fact abandon him, he gives them this promise:
Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written:
“ ‘I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”
The ultimate compassion: Jesus promises a continued relationship after his resurrection. He does not hold their betrayal against them. In fact, he died for that on the cross also.
After the resurrection, in Galilee, he gives those who abandoned him the charge to tell others about him, the opportunity to stand with him.
So many of us who abandon Jesus, who followed him for a bit and then turn away, he still offers us a chance to come back and not just come back, but to join Jesus intimately in his ministry, through his death on the cross.
Christ’s amazing faithfulness.
C. Grace to the Denier
C. Grace to the Denier
When Peter strugglingly denied Jesus that night, Jesus didn’t hold that against him.
In fact, Luke records a fact that no other Gospel records. Right after Peter denies Jesus the third time, as the rooster crows:
The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.
Jesus looked at Peter. In the face of Peter’s refusal to acknowledge a relationship with Jesus, Jesus shows a relationship with him.
This relationship, he bought as he hung and died on the cross and then blew the tomb open.
So often, we can look at times we deny Jesus by our actions, and we can beat ourselves up. But, since Jesus paid the penalty for all of our sins:
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
It is done. Because of Jesus, our sin does not define us anymore. Because of Jesus our sin does not have any power over us.
Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
The king faithfully sacrifices in the face of our faithlessness.
Have you accepted his gift? Have you joined in his calling? Have you lifted up your head, experiencing his grace.
