Matthew 26:47-27:31

God’s Sovereign Plans

Announcements:

Introduction: Megan Hutchinson, STL

Division 1:

Big Idea: God’s Sovereign Plans

Aim: God’s sovereign plans and purposes will prevail for our good and His glory.

God’s sovereign plans and purposes will prevail for our eternal good and His glory.

despite unexpected circumstances and human sinfulness.

God’s sovereign plans can be trusted despite circumstances that appear hopeless.

Doctrine: Substitution Attribute: Wise

Matthew 26:47-27:31

just because we rebel against God and don’t live as if he is sovereign- that doesn’t take away the reality that he is in fact sovereign.

We are the ones with the problem- not God.

God didn’t have to fix our problem. God didn’t cause our problem. We did.

Introduction:

Plans changing…abruptly..suddenly…appear to turn for the worse

people who are planners..

move from funny to more serious

Several years ago, I was sitting in a hospital room waiting to deliver my son who had died in the middle of my pregnancy.

It had been several hours since the initial shock of the news that his heart was no longer beating had been delivered.

I had been induced and was told labor could take up to 24 hours before I delivered…so..I waited...

As I was sitting there waiting on more grief, a counselor came in the room to “give me hope.”

She starts off by telling me that what had happened to my son was rare- that typically babies don’t die this late in pregnancy.

She went on to rattle off a bunch of statistics on the chances of it happening again.

At this point- I will admit- I stopped listening.

Telling me that what was happening was rare was far from encouraging…if anything it made me ask the question…well then why me?

I had a college roommate who had lost her Dad while she was in high school.

At that time in my life, I had honestly been pretty protected from suffering. I had lost some great grandparents, but had never really experienced the loss of someone close to me.

I will never forget one day her telling me that she could never believe in a God who would purposefully take her Dad away from his wife and 3 kids.

I had honestly never thought about this before…what did I believe about God’s goodness in what appears to be awful situations?

Was He really good? Did he really have a plan?

If he was truly sovereign over every situation then why was there suffering and injustice all around?

As I have gotten older and walked through seasons of suffering and watched those close to me suffer- I realize that what I believe about God and his goodness and sovereignty over EVERY situation deeply impacts the way I walk through life, especially in difficult seasons.

The events of this week’s scripture are admittedly hard to read at times.

It’s not my favorite portion of scripture to read- I don’t like to suffer and I don’t like to study the suffering of others, especially Jesus.

But, behind the suffering and unjust actions we see in this scripture- there is a beauty of God’s goodness as his sovereign plan for humanity unfolds.

Having a right view of God’s goodness as we read this passage is incredibly important.

There is a holiness about this scripture that you cannot put into words. What Jesus walked through was gruesome- wrong- and all at the same time we will see that he was not a victim- he was completely in control as the events unfolded and God’s plan went forward.

set up talking about God’s plan and what his plan actually was…introduce doctrine of substitution...

I. Purposeful Plans - Matthew 26:47-68 (

26:47-56-Purpose in Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus

Under God’s Sovereign control (arrest)

vs 45-46 (LAST WEEK): he says “Look- the hour has come..” then he says “Let’s go.” Right from the start Jesus was completely in control of situation and every move and action he takes is extremely purposeful

vs 47- Judas shows up with this huge crowd- ready to take Jesus down.

Judas’ kissed him --> Jesus response: vs 50- “Do what you came to do.”

and then…they arrest Jesus.

Can you imagine what is going on in the disciples heads?

fear, confusion, this is it? Time for Jesus to show them whose in charge?

Remember- they thought Jesus was going to overthrow the government—>

51-54a- Ear cut off of servant of high priest by companion

Matthew is intentionally vague here b/c he doesn’t want you to focus on who cut off the ear, but instead on Jesus’ response

52-54“Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. 53 Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? 54 But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?”

Jesus, their unexpected King has no intention of overthrowing these men-and even while being arrested, he makes it clear he is completely in control of this situation- He is sovereign over every moment

in 54 & 56, Jesus reminds us that this is all happening so that the scripture’s-> the Torah and writings of the prophets would be fulfilled.

Last week, Erica reminded us that this whole mess started in a garden, all the way back in Genesis when sin entered the world.

And from the beginning, in Genesis, chp 3., right after sin shows up, so does God’s rescue plan of redemption for His people.

CHILDREN’S BIBLE: in a Children’s Bible I read to my kids, it explains that the Bible is a book and every story points straight to Jesus.

So, in order for those scriptures to be fulfilled EXACTLY as they were written, Jesus had to be in complete control of the situation.

As we move into the rest of our scripture it is important to recognize that Jesus is not a helpless victim, who has no control over what is happening.

In fact, it is quite the opposite- Jesus is in complete control- nothing is happening that he is not allowing to happen.

Jesus has fully surrendered to God the Father’s will- he was born with the purpose of dying- here Jesus is fulfilling God’s plan for his life.

If Jesus is not in control, if there isn’t a greater and good purpose going on- then what we are about to read is the most hopeless event in history.

The same is true for you today- if God is not sovereignly in control of your circumstances then your life serves no purpose- and there is no reason to live.

But Jesus here shows us that there is purpose and plan in EVERY circumstance- NOTHING that Jesus endured was wasted. God used all of it for OUR good and His glory and he is doing the same in your life today.

When we are in the midst of pain and suffering, it’s hard to see the goodness of God. We want to know the end of the story. We want to know exactly how God is going to use our painful circumstances.

The truth is- that in this life we may never know the why…but God has given us the Bible to remind us that there is always a why..there is a always a plan…and God is sovereign over those plans…do you trust that he is good and sovereign in your most painful circumstance right now?

God’s word show’s how he intricately weaves His higher purpose and plan into every situation. The Bible is a living testimony of God’s faithfulness and it shows us that everything is for our good and His glory.

in vs 56- Despite Jesus’ constant reminders that this was coming, we see the disciples flee at this unexpected turn of events.

Jesus, their unexpected King, was not overthrowing the government, instead he was being arrested and telling them to stand down?

Wait a minute- this wasn’t the plan they had expected…this isn’t what they were preparing for?

What unexpected curveball has life thrown at you lately?

Where has God’s plans looked drastically different than the plan you had for your life?

Are you throwing your hands up at God, wondering what in the world he is doing?

Wondering if he even sees you or cares about what is happening?

Friend…the answer is a resounding yes....He sees you, He knows, He has a plan…trust him in the suffering, trust him in the pain. I know it’s hard to trust when the circumstances look bleak…but just like God’s sovereign plans were happening through Jesus arrest and the events that follow, his sovereign plans are also being worked out in the circumstances of your life…God’s plans always lead to greater good even when we can’t see it….

Trust that God is sovereign over your situation, that He loves you and has a good plan and purpose beyond what you can see.

26:57-68 – Purpose in unjust Jewish Trial

57-60

Jesus is brought before the Jewish Council

cant find any FALSE WITNESSES—> weren’t even trying to find real one’s b/c they knew those didn’t exist...

These Bible scholars would have known that it was against the law of Moses to bring false witness and yet here they are, twisting God’s law to accomplish their own purpose.

But remember- Jesus is still in control of this situation…not the Pharisees, let’s see what happens....

2 men show up and completely misquote Jesus’ words

Vs 61… “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in 3 day’s,”

What Jesus actually said John 2:19 “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

he says NOTHING about him destroying anything, in fact, he said quite the opposite. John goes on to explain to us that Jesus was talking about the temple of his body- not that physical temple

Jesus Response shows that he is completely in control...

Caiaphas is all fired up- wanting Jesus to respond.

vs 63-> “But Jesus remained silent.”

His silence is again, purposeful, fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 53:7 which says: “so he opened not his mouth.”

simply by remaining silent, he shows that he is the Messiah

This fires Caiaphas up even more- because he knew that wasn’t enough to incriminate Jesus…

Caiaphas continues… “I charge you under oath by the living God: tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”

here Caiaphas is using a different approach…putting Jesus under oath and trying to get him to incriminate himself.

This time Jesus responds...

vs. 64 “You have said so”—>this is a Greek phrase that deflects responsibility back on the person who asked the question.

Jesus here is not denying the claim but he is also not directly answering the question.

Jesus continues on…vs. 64..”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 back on the clouds of heaven.”

This response from Jesus is again, incredibly purposeful..

1st…it was not blasphemy to claim to be the Messiah- as far as the Jew’s were concerned, the Messiah was simply a political figure- not God.

So Jesus, essentially correct’s their understanding of Messiah by quoting parts of Deut. 7:13 and Pslm. 110:1 where he claims to be God’s equal by making a claim that he would sit at the Right hand of the Mighty one.

Also- Caiaphas believed that the Messiah was going to overthrow the government…so, he NEEDED Jesus to claim to be the Messiah so he had something to bring to the Romans.

The Roman’s could have cared less about some dude who claimed to be God unless that claim threatened their power and rule.

Jesus response is too much for Caiaphas- he tears his clothes-this would have been a traditional response when someone committed blasphemy…however, the High Priest was not supposed to do it, but as we have seen, they leaders sort of do whatever they want with God’s law anyways.

From there they find Jesus “worthy” of death..spit in his face....and hit him..

What happened to Jesus, from his own people, was incredibly unjust.

The Jewish leaders were determined to find a way to not only charge Jesus-> but find a charge worthy of death.

That is how much they hated him.

Jesus continuously challenged their authority and power, and they wrongfully thought that if they could get rid of him, they could remain in control.

However—> the control they have is really just a false sense of control…they don’t realize that Jesus is the one in in charge of the situation.

Jesus had every right to stand up and call them on their injustice. To correct their claims and put them in their place...

Jesus could have stopped it at any minute, but he didn’t…B/c that was not God’s plan.

Sometimes, the Holy Spirit asks us to do things that don’t make sense to everyone else.

If you are an outsider looking in at Jesus’ trial with the Jewish people- his responses don’t make any sense...

But He trusted God the Father- he knew his plan was good and so he walked in obedience, carrying out his Father’s plan.

This isn’t a script for how you should handle every situation,

this doesn’t mean if you are on trial that you should never speak up for yourself

and it doesn’t mean that you should let people treat you poorly and abuse you…

remember this is a narrative…we cant copy and paste this situation into our daily lives and think that by ALWAYS staying silent or letting someone be cruel to us we are somehow in God’s will.

That isn’t the point… the point is that God was sovereign over the situation and his plan would be carried out…Jesus was completely in tune with the Holy Spirit and knew exactly what to say and when to say it…God gave Jesus was he needed to carry out his plan. He was working in the circumstances and sinful actions of people to save humanity

Remember- God’s plan was to redeem his people-but in order for that to happen- someone had to die- blood had to be shed- and the only person who could be that substitute was Jesus. What is happening here is not accidental. It is purposeful and good.

God’s sovereign plans are going forth exactly as God intended them.

Truth: God is working in every circumstance to carry out his sovereign plan’s

God’s is sovereign over every circumstance and His plans are purposeful and good.

Applications:

What is your response when God’s plan isn’t what you hoped for?

Is there something the Holy Spirit is asking you to do that doesnt make sense? That feels unexpected?

Like Jesus, would you walk in obedience to the Father, trusting that his plans are good, even when they don’t make sense?

Despite what appeared to be bleak circumstances, God had a plan- one that he was completely sovereign over.

Jesus knew that God was faithful and that His plan was better-

II. Prevailing Plans- Matthew 26:69-27:31

26:69- 26:75- despite Peter’s Response

As we move on we see Peter struggling with this unexpected turn of events..we don’t know exactly what he was thinking, but I imagine

that Peter is struggling to believe that what is happening to Jesus is good

and he is probably trying to figure out how this can be part of God’s plan.

Peter knows Jesus’ power. He has seen him perform miracle after miracle, healing after healing, and yet…he is giving himself over to be arrested and condemned???

Do you feel the struggle Peter must be experiencing...

in 26:69-75- Peter has followed Jesus in to the courtyard- keeping his distance but close enough that he can hear

He is confronted 3x’s-> each time denying that he knows Jesus.

He not only lies, but he breaks the Jewish law by making an oath

In his 3rd denial- he went as far to call down curses.

and then the rooster crowed...Just. as. Jesus. said.

Peter weeps bitterly

God’s plan for Peter’s life was that he was to be a prominent leader of his church.

Despite Peter’s failure to even acknowledge that he knows Him here, Peter is later restored and goes on to serve God faithfully.

See, Peter’s heart had been changed- despite believing in who Jesus was- he still, like all of us sinned-but his sin did not condemn him.

There is nothing that you say or do, no sin that you commit, that God cannot redeem and restore- if you are questioning whether or not God can use you b/c of some sin you have committed…then look at Peter..

In John 21, after Jesus is resurrected, the disciples are fishing in the middle of the night. Jesus calls out to them from the shore and when Peter realizes it is Jesus he leaps out of the boat and swims as fast as he can towards Him.

See, Peter got it- he realized what Christ had done on the cross was for him…b/c his heart had been changed he wept over his sin and then instead of walking in shame and swimming away from Jesus- he went full speed towards him.

That is exactly why Christ died- so that we would recognize our sin- and run straight towards him into everlasting life…God had a plan to use Peter in big ways but Peter had to choose Jesus- to run towards him. God’s sovereign plans for Peter’s life prevailed despite his sin along the way.

God too has a plan for your life and He wants to use you for his Kingdom…would you choose Jesus…would you, like Peter, repent, weep over your sin and run towards him today.

27:1-10: despite Judas’ Response

In contrast, in 27:1-10, we have Judas’ response

When Judas realizes that Jesus is condemned, when things didn’t go as he had planned, verse 3 tells us he was seized with remorse...

The Greek word that is used here “metamellomai”/meta-mello-mi/ which means “changed his mind”

This does not mean that Judas repented of his actions

This is different than a change of heart-> repentance is when there is a change of heart

Judas here does not walk in repentance- he recognizes his sin and feels horribly about the consequences of what his sin has caused, so horribly that he chooses to end his own life.

Instead of running towards Jesus, Judas chooses to run the other way. The shame that he is walking in is not from God.

Unlike Peter, Judas did not have a changed heart- despite all the time he spent with Jesus and all the miracles he witnessed, there is no indication that he ever gave his life to Jesus.

Jesus’ blood was more than enough to cover the sins of Judas. But instead of walking in the grace offered through Jesus and repenting of his sin, he instead chose the path of destruction.

Both Peter and Judas’ trusted in their own plans over God’s…and when they recognized that the plan they had wasn’t going the way they had expected-they panicked. they sinned...

we are no different…we all betray Jesus when we think that our plans are better...

God is perfectly wise and sovereign…we can trust his plan…and we can trust that his plan will prevail despite our failures along the way.

You have a choice- you can respond like Peter- with a changed heart you can run towards Jesus every time you fail- knowing that you haven’t messed up his plan’s and that nothing can take you away from him.

or, like Judas, you can run away from Jesus in shame- rejecting the free gift of salvation that he offers for you on the cross.

It is true that God’s plan’s will prevail regardless of how you respond…but what Jesus is walking through in our scripture this week- this path towards the cross-was all for you-it was part of God’s sovereign plan- to save you…if you haven’t, would you choose Jesus today?

27:11-26- despite Roman Trial (Pilates response)

While the Sanhedrin had deemed Jesus’ worthy of death, they had to convince the Roman’s that he needed to die.

So Jesus has now been taken before Pilate-Pilate begins to question him.

in vs 11 he asks if he is the king of the Jews, and Jesus responds with that same greek phrase he gave to Caiaphas...”you have said so.” Again- not directly answering his question, but putting it back on him.

Pilate is so confused- he knows there is no fault in Jesus and yet Jesus isn’t standing up for himself?

So Pilate is faced with a choice- do what he knows is right and let Jesus go…or give in to the people and have him crucified.

So Pilate offers to release a well known criminal, who was also a Jew, to the people- we frequently just refer to him as Barabbas, but that was most likely not his name, Barabbas was not the name of someone living at that time, it is more of a general term that means “son of a father”...

...based off of some early manuscripts, some scholars believe that his first name was most likely Jesus…Jesus was a fairly common Jewish name…& the literal translation of verse 17 is: “Which Jesus do you want me to release to you? the son of a father or the one known as the Messiah?

and in vs’s 21-23 we see the crowds shout that they want Barabbas to go free and Jesus to be crucified.

If you are a believer in Christ today…you are Barabbas.

Barabbas deserved to die. He was a criminal- he sinned against God and Romans 6:23 says that the wages of sin is death.

Jesus had committed no sin. He should have been set free. But Jesus- who had submitted to the will of His Father’s plan, purposefully took the place of Barabbas- he took our place- as our substitute.

Because Jesus chose to remain silent and not declare his innocence before Pilot- he became sin for us.

For years, the Jews had been slaughtering spotless lambs as a symbol of the need for blood shed of something innocent to pay the price for sin.Jesus was the perfect passover lamb....after his death no lambs needed to be slaughtered because the ultimate price was being paid by Jesus on the cross.

When Jesus stood there in our place- he took the condemnation we deserved upon himself and for those who have made Jesus king and Lord over their life they are seen as righteous before our perfect and Holy God- washed clean by his blood.

When Jesus stood in our place as our substitute he made a way for us to have a relationship with God.

Ultimately......pilate

27:27-31- despite physical suffering

Our scripture ends this week with Jesus being flogged, stripped, mocked, and beaten all before being led away to be crucified.

The reality is the Jews could have killed Jesus- but Jew’s stoned people…Roman’s crucified.

Again- do you see the wickedness and hate they have for Jesus…they didn’t just want him to die- they wanted him to suffer.

The Roman’s were known for their ability to torture people.

They knew how to prolong death so that the pain would be unbearable and continuous.

This was the type of death the Jews plotted for Jesus.

They could have stoned Jesus…but they wanted him to suffer.

This type of death was so severe that Roman citizens were exempted from being subjected to it.

Jesus’ followers knew how the Roman’s treated people- they must have been terrified- their Rabbi, leader, and Lord was receiving the worst type of death- these people hated Jesus- they had to be wondering if this was in store for them as well...

And as the day continued, and Jesus’ fate seemed to go from bad to worse…they had to have been wondering…was God there…had hope been lost..had the Messiah really come?

Imagine being his followers and watching this unfold....wondering…how can God be sovereign over this, surely this wasn’t his plan, surely nothing good can come from this? Couldn’t there have been another way?

The suffering Jesus endured through being flogged, mocked, and beaten before even getting to the cross is hard for us to even imagine.

Maybe in the midst of your unexpected circumstance- ..there is also unimaginable hurt and pain, so much so that you are unable to possibly imagine how any good could ever come out of what you are feeling and experiencing right now.

And me standing up here telling you that God has a good plan and purpose for your circumstance sounds ridiculous.

God didn’t cause Jesus’ pain- wicked human sinfulness did that. But God did allow it and used it the suffering as his plan went forth to save His people.

In our worst pain and suffering- we may never know the why- but we can trust that God is working and that his sovereign plans will prevail despite the human sinfulness and wickedness in this world that leads to suffering and pain.

Nothing can stop God’s plan. No evil scheme. No plotting. No amount of suffering. God is always at work. through this awful event God brought eternal life to all who believed. That is good news.

If Jesus’ followers gave up on Jesus now and deemed God’s plan as hopeless and bad then they would miss the eternal life that he brought....the eternal good that came from this horrible event.

Jesus knows pain. He knows suffering...trust that God has not abandoned you in your difficult circumstance…he will see you through it…and he is working out all things for your good and His glory.

Truth: God’s sovereign plans prevail for our good and his glory.

God’s sovereign plans prevail despite sinful human responses.

Applications:

Who do you most identify with?

Peter?

Judas?

Pilate?

the crowd?

Jesus followers?

Every person here was in need

Conclusion

I don’t know why God chose to take my son when he did. And while I have seen God’s hand all over it and I have seen him use it in other’s lives there is also a part of me that says…couldn’t you have done that a different way?

I have to choose to believe that God is good. I have to choose to believe that he had a GOOD plan and a purpose for my son’s short life and death that is beyond anything I could imagine.

And I have to choose to trust God that I may never know the why while living on this earth.

But as I read our passage this week I am reminded that the same God that was in control of this situation, is in control of my situation, and he is in control of your circumstance and situation right now.

Do you trust that he is sovereign over your situation?

There is nothing happening to you that is outside of his control. And what looks like the worst possible mess, he is going to work for good- even if you never know the why while living on this earth- he promises not to waste it?

You can’t mess up God’s plan. The person who betrayed you or hurt you deeply, the family member you lost, the diagnosis, or even the sin you committed cannot stop God’s plan.

We are not passive participants- we are to be faithful and obedient to God. Last week we talked about God’s faithfulness despite human unfaithfulness- your faithfulness and obedience to God does matter.

We aren’t done…this story isn’t over…and friends…your story isn’t over either…keep reading…keep trusting God that he is working his sovereign plan and purposes and that they will prevail for our good and His glory.