A Betrayed Savior

When A Crisis Comes

Think about the crisises that have happened in your life; international, national and personal.

My lifetime:

The fall of Saigon, ending the Vietnam conflict

Jim Jones Jonestown mass suicide

Islamic Republic rises in Iran

AIDS begins spreading in the US

Two space shuttles explode

Middle Eastern wars

Oklahoma City bombing

First World Trade Center Bombing

Genocide of abortion in America

Cloning

9/11

Hurricane Katrina

2008 Recession

COVID-19 “pandemic”

Rise of dangerous political divisions

Some of these were things people could prepare for, many we could not.

But, from all of them, we learn vital lessons about the world around us and our own personal lives, if we study them.

This is also true of the crisis in the Garden of Gethsemane.

This morning we will see three betrayals in Gethsemane and the lessons we can learn from them. But, we will also find great hope in spite of the crisis in Gethsemane.

The Betrayals of Gethsemane

A Betrayal of Self-Centeredness

Read Mark 14:43-45

Why did Judas do what he did?

Demonic Influence

Luke & John’s Gospels tell us that Satan entered into him...

“The devil made me do it”?

Judas’ heart was a wide open space for the devil to operate in, so he did what he often does: he nudged Judas in the direction he wanted him to go.

Through his demonic emissaries, he is constantly doing this to us. Not necessarily creating a new desire as much as using the ungodly desires of our heart against us, nudging us in the direction that he wants us to go: the opposite direction of God, ultimately.

We must remember:

1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

Self-centered Ambition

Almost everything we hear about Judas in the NT is either about his betrayal of Jesus or about his issues when it comes to money. In fact, it was this desire for personal financial gain that likely opened his heart to Satan’s influence and drove the betrayal in the first place.

This is illustrated at Bethany, as it was Judas who was indignant about the woman who anointed Jesus with the very expensive ointment, claiming the flask could have been sold and the money given to the poor.

But, as John’s Gospel says:

John 12:6 ESV

He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.

Consider for a moment all that Judas had heard and seen during his time following Jesus…yet none of it penetrated his heart enough that he would give his full heart to Jesus.

Judas’ heart was centered on what he could gain in this world by following Jesus. Money, position, influence, power, etc. Thus, he never gave his full heart to Jesus.

The Lesson of the Betrayal of Self-Centeredness: It’s not enough to hear Jesus teachings, to see His wonderful works, or to experience the power of His Gospel in the lives of others if we don’t give our full hearts to Him.

Being familiar with Jesus isn’t enough;

Knowing a few verses of Scripture isn’t enough;

Being part of a Christian family isn’t enough;

Going to church isn’t enough;

Being an active member of a church isn’t enough;

Giving money to the church isn’t enough’

We must give our full hearts to Jesus, or we run the risk turning our backs on Him.

Never be so arrogant as to believe it couldn’t happen to you. We must be fully committed to our walk with Christ Jesus, or we will find ourselves at risk of spiritual compromise.

A Betrayal of Self-Assurance

Read Mark 14:43, 46, 48-49

The religious leaders clearly are in the background of this text. However, Jesus words are focuses primarily on the religious leaders, thus their importance to this scene shouldn’t be ignored.

Why did they have Jesus arrested under the cover of night like this?

They were afraid...

…of the crowds rioting because Jesus was popular…

...of the Romans who wouldn’t stand for civil unrest...

…of losing their honored positions...

…of anything they deemed a threat to their traditions.

They were self-assured...

…in their traditions...

…in their knowledge...

…in their position...

The Lesson of the Betrayal of Self-Assurance: The religious leaders hearts were so entrenched in their religious traditions that they no longer recognized God’s mighty hand at work around them.

Judas’ heart was open to demonic influence because of his selfish ambition. But the relgious leaders hearts were closed to the influence of God because of their self-confidence.

We must never let our fears and/or our self-assurance cloud our vision of how God is at work around us.

In June 1976, Henry Blackaby and Claude King released a study called Experiencing God. The study is a deep-dive into the life of Moses, specifically focused on how we discover what God is doing around us and meet Him where He’s already at work. It’s one of the truly great Bible studies and I highly recommend it.

One of my biggest take-homes from the study was the need for believers to recognize that God is constantly at work around us, whether we recognize His working or not. It’s not our calling to start a work for God, but to meet Him where He’s already at work.

The quickest way to miss what God is doing around us is to be driven by fear or by arrogant self-assurance.

In spite of everything, God is at work all around us, even in this time of COVID-19. There are more opportunities for the church today than there were before the pandemic. But, will we been too afraid to meet Him where He’s at work? Will we be so self-assured in what we already believe about politics, the community, or the church that we miss what He’s doing? Or will we meet Him where He’s already at work and experience His moving in our church body in new and powerful ways?

A Betrayal of Self-Preservation

Read Mark 14:50-52

Notice something that can be missed here: Judas comes up with a plan to get Jesus arrested, not the rest of the disciples. It would have been much easier to round them all up, but Judas’ plan is to indicate which one was Jesus, so they only arrested him, in spite of the dark and the guard’s unfamiliarty with Jesus.

Why did the disciples all flee, even though the guards only came for Jesus?

Because they weren’t prepared for the spiritual crisis to come.

It’s why Jesus encouraged them to pray for the three hours before this moment.

It’s why Jesus taught them for the last three years about what it was to be His followers.

Their lack of preparedness is illustrated in Peter’s misguided attempt to defend Jesus through violence...

It’s further illustrated by the disciples fleeing, as if they were the targets of the religious leaders...

It’s uniquely illustrated in the young streaker who fled the scene, naked as the day he was born...

The Lesson of the Betrayal of Self-Preservation: The disciples hadn’t prepared themselves spiritually for the crisis to come, thus their courage gave out when all hope seemed lost.

They had their chance, but they missed it. And now, the crisis was upon them.

In a crisis, most people go into self-preservation mode…especially when we aren’t prepared.

We never know how we will respond in the midst of a crisis, but we can prepare ourselves through prayer, devotion to biblical truth, and ministry partnership.

I wish I would have known the Disney was going to cancel Gina Carano a week before it happened. The character she played in The Mandalorian, Cara Dune’ s action figure which used to sell for about $10 is now selling for $50. The larger action figure, which sells for about $20 bucks, not sells for $150.

I wish I had a couple of the now banned Dr. Seuss books, as one of them is now selling for $1500.

Crazy things like that, we just can’t prepare for. But, we can prepare for spiritual crisises through consistent prayer, increasing devotion to biblical truth, and involvement in the ministry of the local church.

The Promised Savior

Read Mark 14:48-49

Why did Jesus allow himself to be betrayed and arrested?

Jesus answer to this is simple, yet profound. The Scirptures must be fulfilled.

Specifically, the Scriptures here are probably from Isaiah 53:3-5...

Isaiah 53:3–5 ESV

He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

The Lesson of the Promised Savior: Jesus knew that He would be betrayed and abandoned, yet He was completely submitted to fulfilling God’s plan of salvation.

God’s plan of salvation was the priority throughout Jesus life, and especially now in Gethsemane.

That’s how much our salvation matters to Jesus.

Jesus is worthy of our faith because He alone perfectly fulfilled all of the Scriptures that pointed to the coming Messiah.

While the lessons about the three betrayals are important, nothing is more important than knowing that Jesus is the Messiah and putting your faith in Him.