Endgame - 4 (2021)

Endgame - 4

Introduction

Listen to one author’s account of a childhood betrayal. He writes: “Right after I finished 6th grade, my family moved to a new town. As I started junior high that fall, I suddenly found myself in a school I didn't know, in a town I didn't know, with people I didn't know. I felt very alone. Nobody knew me, and nobody wanted to talk to me.” But then he met Earl, an uncool, unpopular kid who befriended him. The problem was that he really wanted to be cool and couldn’t be if he remained friends with Earl. So when Mike and Eddie, the cool kids, invite him over to their house, he rejects Earl and finally gets what he wants…”in” with the cool kids. Here is how he ends the story:

“All those years since that time, there's still a shame around that betrayal, because the truth is, I betrayed Earl. I handed him another rejection in his life, when he'd probably had so many. But I wanted something: I wanted that "in," I wanted that popularity. If I had to hurt him, I would do it. That is the essence of betrayal: I am willing to hurt you to get something for myself.”

TS - as we approach our text for today, we are going to see this essence of betrayal. A willingness by the disciples to hurt Jesus in the name of getting something for themselves. It all begins right after they are finished with the Last Supper and are walking to the Garden of Gethsemane late into the night:

Matthew 26:30-35 - 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.

In the critical moments coming for Jesus in the early hours of the morning, Jesus’ closes friends will not be there for him. They will flee and abandon him in the moments of his greatest need. And you have to love the stubbornness of men…no we won’t! We would never do that. And of course we love Peter’s brash confidence…they might, but I certainly won’t! Well, actually Peter, you’ll be the worst one. You will deny three times before the rooster crows at daybreak. “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” Odd, isn’t it, that Peter’s declaration that he won’t deny Jesus is an actual denial of Jesus?! This is where Peter’s denial begins, and the abandonment of the rest of them begins. Denial starts at the rejection of his word. Jesus declares a definitive fact and they deny it to his face.

After Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus tells his disciples, who were sleeping, to rise because his betrayer is at hand.

Matthew 26:47-50 - 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.

Judas has already sold Jesus out for 30 pieces of silver. As we looked at a few weeks ago, that is the price paid for a dead slave. That is the level of Jesus’ worth to Judas. Here now is the actual betrayal. Judas has gathered a small army of armed soldiers for this moment, but Jesus goes voluntarily. Though there is one small skirmish with a disciple.

Matthew 26:51-56a - 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.”

John’s Gospel account of this tells us that this sword-wielding disciple is Peter. No surprise there. And he tells us the name of the servant of the High Priest…his name is Malchus. Peter cuts off his ear. That’s an odd target. Well, that definitely wasn’t the target. It’s dark, Peter is scared…he goes for the death blow. But the sword misses his head and takes off his ear. Peter was ready to take a man’s life. Why? “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” Yup, attempted murder on the High Priest’s servant is a good way to get yourself killed. Thankfully Jesus stops all the madness. Luke’s account tells us that Jesus immediately healed the man’s ear. This is the only reason Peter is not arrested too and crucified next to Jesus.

I love Jesus’ words here. There is no need for violence in this moment. Twice he references that all this had to take place to fulfill the Scriptures. Why didn’t they arrest him publicly at any of dozens of times they saw him in the city? Because there is a divine timetable at work that Jesus submits to. This is all God’s will. God is orchestrating all of this, and has been throughout all of history. No one…not the guards, not the high priest, not Peter…are going to thwart God’s eternal plan.

Matthew 26:56b - Then all the disciples left him and fled.

So much for that ‘we will die with you’ stuff they said earlier. They are scared, Jesus is arrested…they don’t want to go that way too. So, in the name of saving themselves they abandon Jesus. This is the essence of betrayal.

The soldiers take him to Caiaphas, the High Priest, where all the scribes and elders have gathered. They have prepared this secret, under the cover of darkness, kangaroo court, ready to condemn Jesus. Peter though, is following at a distance and sneaks his way into the courtyard of the High Priest and can see what’s happening. They whip up some false witnesses to testify against Jesus.

Matthew 26:62-63 - 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.”

This is a critical moment…just hours before Jesus had prayed for this cup to pass from him. That if there was any other way for this to go down, let’s do that. All Jesus has to do at this moment is say ‘No.’ If he denies this charge, they have no choice but to let him go free. But remember…there is a divine timetable happening here. Jesus goes voluntarily to the cross.

Matthew 26:64-68 - 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?”

Remember where Peter is right now. He is sitting in this very courtyard watching all this go down. And it turns out, being in that courtyard is going to pose a problem for him.

Matthew 26:69-74 - 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.

The first denial is pretty simple…I don’t know what you are talking about. The second one gets a bit more dicey…he says it with an oath. I swear to God I don’t know him. Now he’s calling on God to validate his lie. But even in answering the first two, he has done himself in. Peter’s a Galilean and has a distinct accent. So the bystanders who hear him speak now come over and join in the mob. John 18 tells us that this bystander who confronts him is a relative of Malchus, the servant of the High Priest. Ooops. Now Peter’s boastful, brash move is coming back to bite him. This time he curses, May God condemn me…I do not know him. The word for ‘curse’ is anathema, cut off, damned. May God damn me to Hell…I am not with Jesus. Cocka-doodle-doo. Look at Luke’s account of this horrific moment:

Luke 22:60-61a - 60 But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 And the Lord turned and looked at Peter.

Ouch! The already bruised and bloodied Jesus, covered in the spit of his accusers, turns eye-to-eye with Peter in the worst moment of his life. All those confident words of undying loyalty and devotion have all come to nothing. He blew it. He failed.

Mathew 26:75 - 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.

TS - now the narrative circles back around to Judas one final time.

Matthew 27:3-5 - 3 Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, 4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” 5 And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself.

Judas, much like Peter, is overcome with grief and remorse at his actions. Both have denied. Both have abandoned. But Judas cannot handle what he’s done and takes his own life.

TS - as this drama unfolds here in these last hours of Jesus’ life, as all the pieces are moved around in the Endgame, two figures rise in prominence here: Peter and Judas. Both respond with overwhelming sorrow. But Judas takes his own life while Peter is eventually restored and becomes the pillar of the New Testament church. Why the difference?

Let’s start with Judas. Let’s go back to moments before he hangs himself. He sees that Jesus is condemned, and immediately regrets his actions. I’m not sure what he thought was going to happen by betraying Jesus into the hands of the religious leaders, but apparently he is surprised by this turn of events. He “changed his mind” in 27:3 and brought the money back to the chief priests and elders. While the English phrase ‘change your mind’ is typically associated with the concept of repentance, Judas did not repent here. Matthew uses a different word to describe what has happened to Judas. The word Matthew uses for ‘changed his mind’ is not the typical word for repent, but a word that literally translates ‘change how you feel.’

So Judas does not repent in that he changes his mind and beliefs about Jesus. He simply changes how he feels about what he has done. He shows remorse, not repentance. And remorse doesn’t save anybody. It is not enough to merely feel bad about your sin. For Judas to repent of his sin, he would need not only to change what he believes about Jesus, but come to him for forgiveness. Judas does not cry out to God for mercy. Why?

Let’s track the decisions Judas has made up to this point. He betrays Jesus for the price of a dead slave. This is how he actually feels about Jesus. He is worthless to him. Jesus was apparently just a means to an end for him. Then, when Judas comes for the kiss of death, he brings with him an army of armed soldiers. Does he really believe Jesus to be a violent man? That Jesus is going to start killing people, so he has to bring the protection?

Here is the conclusion: Judas doesn’t know Jesus at all. After following him for three full years Jesus is still a stranger. Isn’t this a scary thought?! This is the issue Jesus himself addressed in Matthew 7 about those who give him lip service and call him Lord, but do not really have any relationship with him. Though they call Jesus by the right title and have even done some religious things…there is no relationship. Matthew 7:23 - Depart from me, you workers of iniquity, I never knew you.

You’ve heard me talk about this before because here in the midwest, in the heartland of America, where religion is a way of life for people, where conservative political values get mistaken for faith in Jesus Christ, where patriotism equals being a believer, where biblical teaching is woven into the fabric of society, where the Gospel is assumed, not embraced…the chief danger for the Church are those who are not true followers of Jesus, who do not have a relationship with him, but claim that they do. That is who Judas is. He has played the game. He has said the right words. He has done the right actions. But when it matters the most, he reveals that he is ignorant of who Jesus really is.

All Judas wants is a way to alleviate his guilt. That’s why he returns the money. He is stricken with all these feelings he doesn’t like and wants them to go away. And when it doesn’t work the only option he sees is his own death. In a manmade religion void of the Gospel, when people are overwhelmed by guilt for wrongdoing, there is only one way to atone for it…it will cost you your very life. Judas doesn’t want God, he wants freedom from guilt. There are many today who don’t really want God…they reveal that by their refusal to obey, by their willingness to edit what God says to suit their own desires…but they are overcome by guilt and they just want it to go away, so they participate in religious activity for the sole purpose of making themselves feel better.

Then there is Peter. He has massively failed. He is overcome by guilt and shame as well. He certainly feels remorse. He weeps bitterly. Peter is apparently a true believer. He has been clear in his declarations of who Jesus is. It is Peter who declares in Matthew 16 that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. It is Peter who has the faith to walk on water to Jesus. Peter knows Jesus. And upon Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, when Peter sees him, unlike Judas who would not go to God for mercy, Peter gets to him as fast as possible. Peter and some other disciples have gone back to fishing…what they did before they started following Jesus. While they are out on the water, here is what happens:

John 21:4-8 - 4 Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” 6 He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. 7 That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. 8 The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off.

Peter doesn’t wait for the boat to get to shore, he jumps into the water and swims. He cannot get to Jesus fast enough. And after breakfast Jesus will have this intensely personal and precious moment with Peter and restores him. Three times, one for each of Peter’s denials, Jesus asks “Peter, do you love me?” Yes, Jesus, you know that I do. You see, Jesus welcomes the denier, the betrayer, the one who has failed. His mercy, made possible by the cross, welcomes all who are overwhelmed by their grief, by their guilt. He is the only solution to your guilt. And he promises to restore you, just as he did to Peter.

When Jesus restores Peter, he rolls back all that Peter had done. And that is really a theme of Peter’s life. Peter foolishly attacks the servant in the Garden. Jesus heals him immediately. He rolls back Peter’s mistake to save Peter’s life. Peter denies him three times and Jesus restores him, rolls back all that Peter has done to save his life. At the cross, for Peter and for all who call upon his mercy, he will roll back your sin and save your life.

So don’t avoid God like Judas did, and have that cost you your very life. Run to God, like Peter did, and have him restore you.

Hebrews 4:14-16 - 14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

BELIEVE/REPENT/CONFESS/BAPTIZE

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