Matthew 26:47-56

Open up your bibles to the book of Matthew 26:47-56

Matthew 26:47–56 ESV

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. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; seize him.” And he came up to Jesus at once and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” And he kissed him. Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you came to do.” Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him. 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?” 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. But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left him and fled.

This morning we will begin in Verse 47 and we find ourselves in the garden of gethsemane

it begins this way, 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.

Matthew, Mark and Luke all say the same thing.

They all say that while Jesus was speaking, the mob arrived.

what was He saying?

What was He speaking about?

Last week we finished up speaking on the Lord’s supper

It was a Thursday night.

Near midnight he left with the disciples - went to the Mt of Olives

A little way up he stopped and shared

- there will be trials

- they would abandon him

Of course they denied, but it happened

Finally they came to the Garden of Gethsemane

It was Jesus and the 11 - Judas had gone to set up the betrayal

He tells 8 to stay at the entrance and takes Peter, James and John further into the garden

Then he leaves them to go and pray.

So 8 to watch and pray

Then 3 to watch and pray

He goes to pray

And then 3 times he goes and prays

Why?

Why does he need to go pray?

Satan wanted to distract Him from the cross

Anything from dying to redeem mankind

The disciples, instead of praying, slept.

-busy week

-huge meal

-long walk

Vs 45-46 say

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.”

So it is while He is saying that, that we come into our story this morning.

You should be there, read with me please.

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.

PRAY

The apprehension of our Lord.

I. THE BETRAYAL.

1. The approach of Judas.

The three evangelists describe him as “one of the twelve.”

At first it doesn’t seem like anything special, but it is repeated so often, you find it’s worth taking a look at.

In Mark 14:10, “And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve.”

in verse 20, “And He answered and said unto them, ‘It is one of the twelve that dips with Me in the dish.’”

In verse 43 of Mark 14, “And immediately while He was speaking, Judas, one of the twelve.”

Luke says it, in chapter 22, verse 3, “Judas, one of the twelve.”

And verse 47, “Judas, one of the twelve.”

It begins to carry a certain amount of disdain.

This is what the Biblical writers said about Judas, and matter of factly they kept it kind of nice.

Think about what that could have said.

They are much nice than others in history.

In the apocryphal books; that is, religious books written along biblical themes and biblical personalities, but we don’t believe to be inspired by the Holy Spirit, we can get a feeling for how the people of that time felt about Judas.

For example, there is an apocryphal writing entitled “The Story of Joseph of Arimathaea,” and it teaches that Judas was the son of the brother of Caiaphas, the high priest.

-was sent to spy

In “The Acts of Pilate,” there is teaching that Judas went home, immediately after betraying Christ and he found his wife roasting a chicken.

told his wife that he was planning to kill himself, because he was so afraid that Jesus would rise from the dead and come after him.

His wife at that time replied that Jesus would no more rise from the dead than the chicken she was roasting would jump out of the fire and crow – at which very instant, the chicken did exactly that.

And Judas instantly went out and hanged himself.

Stories that he was cast out to sea by his parents

Stories that he contracted a grotesque disease

Stories that he was crushed under a wagon.

the point is that there was terrible hatred of this man Judas.

That statement though “one of the 12” is almost like they are saying that can’t believe it, Jesus was betrayed by one of the twelve.

And he came with a great crowd

Let me point you real quick to Mark 15:7, it says

Mark 15:7 ESV

And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas.

7 And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas.

Why do I mention that?

Barabbas was the leader of a terrorist revolution against the Romans, and they had just put him in prison,

They could potentially see Jesus as another Barabbas and so, after being sold a bill of goods by the Jewish leaders, the Roman soldiers joined in to capture Jesus.

Remember, The Romans had brought in extra troops for the Passover, and so to see an entourage of Roman soldiers marching through the city wouldn’t be particularly disturbing.

So who’s in the crowd?

Chief priests and the elders

Just these people would make up several hundred men.

Now, in John 18:3, it says there was a band of soldiers.

The Greek word is speira.

The word means a cohort of soldiers which is 1/10 of a legion.

a legion is six thousand men.

So one tenth of that is six hundred men.

A legion at full strength, 6,000; a band at full strength, 600;

add to that the rest and you’re approaching around a thousand people who are marching up the side of the Mount of Olives.

The soldiers believing this man was a rebel, an insurrectionist like Barabbas.

they also had swords and clubs. They were armed.

That’s the scene we have.

We could spend time here

Think about the soldiers being sold a lie

Think about the soldiers just following orders

Think about the people and who they represent - do they all think this way?

Think about the idea that a crowd attracts a crowd, right or wrong.

Oh we could preach on this

Judas shows up and delivers...

2. The traitor’s kiss.

He gave them a sign.

With so many people, maybe not everyone knew the Lord

The sign would be a kiss

The Judas kiss, an unholy kiss

The betrayal

He would kiss him now for the last time

This wasn’t a kiss of peace

The way it’s written seems to imply that he did it with an earnestness, perhaps fear.

Maybe he thought that Jesus and the disciples would think he was coming to join them.

Maybe they wouldn’t discover the connection.

But you’re not fooling Jesus

Did you hear me?

You’re not fooling Jesus!

God knows your heart!

Vs 50 Jesus says “Friend, do what you came to do.”

the Greek has something of sternness in it

In John’s gospel we see his almighty power

John 18:4-6

John 18:4–6 ESV

Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

4 Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?”

5 They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.

6 When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

Imagine that scene! Imagine all those people!

But then he meekly yielded himself to suffer and to die.

One word of wrath would have swept these people into utter death.

He would not speak it;

he came to lay down his life for his sheep.

And as they came we see the reaction of Peter...

II. THE SWORD OF PETER.

1. The blow.

We read in Luke 22:38 that Two of the disciples were armed with swords.

Maybe They thought for a moment of resistance;

Peter didn’t wait for instructions,he struck at the servant of the high priest and struck off his ear

Now, I can promise you that Peter was not going for his ear; he wasn’t that good with a sword.

He was going for his head, and he ducked, obviously.

Peter’s idea was, “We’ll just take them on, all of them.”

He had such a boldness! WHy?

We just saw the whole mob fall down at mere words from Jesus, maybe he thought if he got in trouble Jesus could just speak again.

Now it’s not Matthew who identifies who this was.

Mark doesn’t tell us who it was. And Luke doesn’t tell us who it was.

John tells us who it was.

You say, “Why did John tell us?”

Because John was written long after this.

By the time it was written, it was safe to say who it was then.

The earlier writers didn’t want to identify Peter in case he came under some kind of difficulty.

But this stopped with...

2. The Lord’s reproof.

52 Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword.

The kiss of Judas and the sword-stroke of Peter stand in diametrical opposition;

one was the act of cold, selfish, hateful treachery;

the other, of bold, ardent, self-forgetting zeal.

Both were wrong, though in widely different degrees.

one was the act of a devil (John 6:70);

the other, the act of a saint, though not a saint-like act.

Sometimes mistaken zeal and unholy motives have led to persecutions and to so-called religious wars.

The Lord distinctly condemns the use of force; he himself refrained from the exercise of his power.

He was King of kings and Lord of lords;

He could have merely spoke!

He could have called 12 legions of Angels!

But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled?

The salvation of man was to be brought about, not by force, not by a display of power, but by suffering, by self-sacrifice, by the cross.

Jesus would not terrify men into obedience.

What he seeks is not the forced service of slaves, but the willing obedience of love.

And love cannot be forced; it can be gained only by love.

And so Jesus addresses the multitude.

III. THE ADDRESS TO THE MULTITUDE.

We know there was...

1. The needless display of force.

There was much hesitation in the action of the soldiers.

For good reason, they had felt the Lord’s power just by speaking!

they regarded him with awe, with some terror.

Do we blame them?

No

Jesus healed the man of his wound.

Interesting to know, this is the only place we see Jesus heal an open wound and more interesting is that this man doesn’t even have faith.

This shows that God is sovereign!

He asked them now

why they had come out as against a robber?

He had long sat quietly teaching in the temple;

You could have gotten me then.

They were scared of the people

And we discover...

2. The real cause of the Lord’s sufferings.

56 But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled

The Lord knew,

they did not know,

The Scriptures of the prophets must be fulfilled.

Those wicked men were ignorantly working out the eternal purpose of God.

They were free. But yet, in the mystery of the Divine foreknowledge and the providence of God they were bringing to pass the word of God through the prophets.

The Scriptures must be fulfilled.

Matthew dwells upon that great truth.

God Himself had foreordained the very minutest details of how Jesus would die (Ac 2:23; 4:27, 28).

Jesus Himself was in absolute control (Jn 10:17-18).

17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.

18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

Yet it was not Jesus alone, but everyone around Him—His enemies included—who fulfilled precisely the details of the OT prophecies.

These events display His divine sovereignty.

Let us remember it, and treasure it in our hearts for warning and for encouragement.

Our passage closes with...

3. The flight of the disciples.

Maybe They had looked for some exertion of power.

But the Lord did not resist;

he yielded himself to die.

Maybe before they were gearing up to follow Peter and his boldness, but now,

their heart sank within them.

Fear became stronger than love.

Then all the disciples left him and fled.

Even Peter

So what can we learn from this passage?

LESSONS.

1. Many knew Jesus and yet they were not saved. Let us pray to know him by faith through the presence of his Spirit.

2. The kiss of Judas could not hide his treason. Outward reverence will not conceal a selfish, wicked heart.

3. We must use gentle means to win hearts to God.

4. Apostles fled. Let us watch and pray.

Col. 3:16-17 - Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.