Sermon Tone Analysis

Matthew 26:30-35 "On the Way to the Garden"

Marc Transparenti / General

The King's Cross | Matthew 26-27 / Betray; Prayer; Gethsemane / Mt 26:30-35

Good Morning Calvary Chapel Lake City!

• Parents you may dismiss your kids!

• If you don't have a Bible...

• Please continue to pray for the various families in our fellowship not here today, recovering from various illnesses.

• Fellowship Lunch: Next Sunday is the 1st Sunday of the month...

• Adult Night Out: Dinner and Escape Room in Fort Wayne: Sat, Feb 19... 5-8:30 ish.

• Thank you David & Ty for organizing this event.

• This will be a great time to fellowship with other people at the church... unless you're claustrophobic.

• I actually have done several Escape Rooms and it's a lot of fun... especially watching all the personalities come out.

• We have a sign up sheet at the welcome table, and please sign up if you think you will go, so we can get a preliminary headcount for reservations.

• If you're new to Calvary Chapel...I'm Pastor Marc, welcome!

Thanks for joining us today!

• Welcome Card & Prayer Basket!

------------------------------------------------------------

Please turn in your Bibles to Matthew 26 as we continue our verse by verse journey through the Gospel of Matthew.

Matthew 26 is like a roller coaster ride... highs and lows... and some loops that make you feel dizzy.

• The Jewish Religious Leaders plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him... certainly a low.

• Mary of Bethany sacrificed a very expensive oil to anoint His body in worship of Him... a high point.

• Judas Iscariot went to the chief priest to betray Him for 30 pieces of silver... another low.

• The disciples obeyed Him to go into Jerusalem and prepare the Passover meal... another high.

• And, this chapter continues in like fashion.

Interesting how these different groups respond to Jesus... not so different from today... some betray and plot against Him... while others worship and obey Him.

• There's nothing new under the sun.

So, the disciples and Jesus went into Jerusalem to an upper room.

And, during the Passover meal, Jesus instituted a new covenant... telling the 11 that His body would be broken for them, and His blood shed for the remission of sins.

• Accordingly, as often as they followed this new ordinance of Communion... they were to look back remember His sacrifice... by taking bread and the fruit of the vine... symbols of His broken body and shed blood.

• But, they were also to look forward to the time He would return to establish His Millennial Kingdom... as He stated, "...

I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."

• There is a coming day that He will return, and we are to look forward to that day... when we partake in communion.

• So, look three directions when you take communion... look back remembering Jesus' sacrifice... look forward in hope of His imminent return... and as 1 Cor 11 instructs... look inward and examine yourself to take communion in a worthy manner.

• Look back, look forward, look inward.

Now, today... we pick up in V30... at the tail end of this Passover feast, as Jesus and the disciples leave the Upper Room, and have an interesting conversation as they exit the City of Jerusalem, and travel across the Kidron heading to the Garden of Gethsemane.

The title of our teaching today is "On the Way to the Garden."

Let's Pray!

Matthew 26:30 "And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

[Luke adds "as He was accustomed"... this was a spot Jesus frequented when visiting Jerusalem making it easy for Judas to later find and betray Him].

1. Let's pause here for a moment to talk about this hymn.

2. As discussed last week, during the Seder dinner... there were ordered events.

a.

In V30, the hymn they sung was not how we think of hymns... they didn't open their hymnal and sing "Jesus Paid It All" or "The Old Rugged Cross."

i.

Those were before their time.

b.

They would have sung a Hallel Psalm...a praise psalm... which are specifically Psalms 113-118, with Psalm 118 specifically being the traditional Psalm sung at the end of the Passover Meal.

i.

It's a beautiful Psalm... that speaks about salvation that comes through Messiah... and an appropriate Psalm considering Jesus' passion and cross is at hand.

c.

Listen to a couple of these familiar verses from Psalm 118...

i.

The first and last verses, V1 & V29, are the basis for a song we sings today:

1. Ps 118:1 "Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!

For His mercy endures forever."

2. Ps 118:24 should sound familiar in song... "This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it."

3. Consider how these apply to the events at hand.

ii.

Ps 118:22-23 are prophetic verses and later quoted by Jesus, "The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone.

23 This was the LORD's doing; It is marvelous in our eyes."

1.

Consider the significance of these verses... as the Religious Leaders, the builders, were in the midst of plotting to kill Jesus, the chief cornerstone.

iii.

When Jesus rode in Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey, the Jews quoted Ps 118:25-26, "Save now, I pray [Hosanna], O LORD; O LORD, I pray, send now prosperity.

26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!"

d.

So, in V30, when you read "they sung a hymn."

They weren't just singing a tune... there was depth that truly only Jesus fully grasped in this moment.

3.

As they sing, they left the Upper Room in Jerusalem, and traveled across the Kidron Valley... heading towards the Mount of Olives... during this walk, Jesus again prepares the disciples' hearts for what's upcoming.

a. And, I appreciate that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb 13:8)...

b.

For still today...

He prepares our hearts to be ready for the next chapter... the next season of our lives... as God is conforming us into the image of His Son.

4. Let's read through VSS 31-35...and then we will discuss...

Matt 26:31-35 "Then Jesus said to them, "All of you will be made to stumble 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 have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee." 33 Peter answered and said to Him, "Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble."

[And, at that point there was a Great heavenly sigh of relief that Peter would save the day...

That is definitely NOT what scripture says.]

34 Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times."

35 Peter said to Him, "Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!"

And so said all the disciples."

1.

So, after the Passover feast and singing of Hallel Psalms...the joys of fellowship- a high point... Jesus now makes this sobering statement...

a. But, it was needed.

They were approaching Gethsemane and the hour of His trials were about to begin.

b.

I was thinking this week about a semi-comparable human experience that would elicit similar emotions to this time.

i.

A time when you are laughing and enjoying the moment, but you know great difficulty is right around the corner.

1.

Sometimes we call this "the calm before the storm."

ii.

It feels like being weighed down... you're laughing in the moment, but your heart is so heavy.

1.

It's like sharing memories and laughing with a family member who is close to their home-going.

2. Like a joyous family dinner, the night before you move to another state.

3. Like seeing your first born go to College.

Well... that might not be so bad.

c.

Certainly in this moment... Jesus was feeling mixed feelings... and it probably would have been easier to continue singing Hallel Psalms... but, Jesus takes these final moments to pour into His disciples.

2. First we read, V31 "Then Jesus said to them, "All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written [Fulfilling Zech 13:7]: 'I will strike the Shepherd, And the sheep of the flock will be scattered.'"

a.

The word stumble in many bibles is rendered "fall away";

i.

This comes from the Gk word 'skandalizō' meaning... 'stumble/ entrap/ offend.'