Matthew
26:31-75
Sermon Notes
Judas and
Peter
May 28,
2017
Lynchburg,
Virginia
EXHORDIUM
Our last sermon looked at the
contrast between Mary and Judas. Mary was extravagant, pouring out her most
precious ointment upon Jesus. Judas was personally miserly because he loved
other people’s money.
Today, we look at the contrast of Peter
and Judas. Both are moral failures. If you ever needed to be encouraged about
coming back to Jesus after major failure, then it is important to relate to Peter.
Peter is an amazing man. He loves Jesus. He is on Jesus’s side. He even shows
himself wiling to fight with and for Jesus and presumably to die with his Lord.
But then he suffers a colossal failure. But the story does end with Peter’s
failure. But Peter repents of his failure with violent weeping and the Lord
Jesus forgives him.
Judas has second thoughts about his
betrayal of Jesus. He knows that Jesus is righteous and that he is a greedy and
treacherous thief. He attempts to give the money back to the chief priests but
he is still in the flesh. He attempts to right the wrong he committed but to do
so without true repentance.
Peter becomes a spiritual man is
forgiven. Judas clings to the flesh and hangs himself.
EXEGESIS
Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because
of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep
of the flock shall be scattered abroad. 32 But after I am risen again, I will go before
you into Galilee.
Jesus quotes Scripture that foretells
the disciples failure. The fact that their actions fulfilled Scripture did not
take responsibility away from them. This is true of the disciples who repent of
their actions, as well as for Judas, who does not. They are all responsible for
their actions, even though their sinful actions are part of God’s divine
decree.
Jesus again speaks of His Resurrection
but the disciples do not understand.
33 Peter answered and
said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet
will I never be offended. 34 Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee,
That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.
35 Peter said unto him,
Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all
the disciples.
Peter has at least understood part of
what Jesus said. At the Last Supper, Jesus spoke of one who would betray Him.
The disciples were concerned about this and did not want to be that one. Now
Jesus says that His own disciples will be offended at Him and will flee from
Him. Peter does not think it could be so. He proclaims His loyalty to Jesus,
asserting that he will never be offended at Jesus, deny Him or dessert Him.
Alas, our best intentions in the flesh cannot even last a few hours.
Peter’s assertions embolden the other
disciples. Peter will not leave you and neither will we! We are in this for the
long haul, starting tonight! Not so. Oh, how willing is the spirit and how weak
is the flesh!
36 Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called
Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray
yonder. 37 And
he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful
and very heavy. 38 Then
saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye
here, and watch with me.
Jesus takes the three disciples closest
to Him at this, His hour of need. It is a great reward to have one close
friend. A man may not have many close friends, not twelve and barely even
three. Perhaps John was closest to Jesus?
Jesus knew sorrow of soul. His heart
was breaking for many reasons. Man was very sinful. Here is Jesus willing to
forgive and heal but His own covenant people are going to reject Him.
Jesus asks them to tarry with Him. Be
with me. Watch with me. Help bare my burden. But they could not do so. They
were overcome by the weakness of the flesh. They needed sleep!
39 And he went a little
further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be
possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou
wilt. 40 And
he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter,
What, could ye not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into
temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
In the flesh, in the human form, Jesus
did not want to die. He did not want to become sin and receive the Father’s
wrath at sin and sinners. He was a sinless man and thus He should not have
died. But He chose to die for the sins of His people. He did not want to die
but doing His Father’s will was more important to Him than what He wanted. In fact, His Father’s will
changed His own will.
Not only were the disciples weak, they
were weak to absurdity. We only know this with hindsight. That is, they did not
know that Jesus would be taken this night and killed the next day. We think
that if they had known, then surely they would have stayed away and watched and
waited. But we are only kidding ourselves.
Have you ever been in a very important
moment, where watchfulness and diligence were much needed, only to fail
miserably? A few hours and you are starving. A few hours and you are dying of
thirst. A late night and you must immediately lie down
42 He went away again
the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away
from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. 43 And he came and found them asleep again: for
their eyes were heavy.
Jesus goes to pray three times. This is
the second. He must drink this cup of woe if it be the Father’s will. It is. He
came from this torment to find His disciples and friends sleeping.
Luke says He that as He prayed, He
sweated out great drops of blood. Hematidrosis is a condition that
sometimes accompanies great stress. The blood vessels near the sweat glands
burst and people are known to sweat drops of blood.
44 And he left them, and
went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. 45 Then cometh he to his
disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest:
behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of
sinners. 46 Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand
that doth betray me.
Let our Lord’s example teach us. If we
are facing a crisis, we might pray three times for the Lord to take it from us.
But if He does not, we may accept it as His will.
Paul was sent a thorn in his flesh and
prayed three times for the Lord to remove it.
47 And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve,
came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief
priests and elders of the people. 48 Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign,
saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast. 49 And forthwith he came to
Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him.
Judas is the worst sort of enemy. Not
only does he betray the Lord, he betrays Him with a mark of friendship. It is a
wicked spiteful kiss. It may seem odd to us that our Lord received such a kiss
of death.
50 And Jesus said unto
him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus,
and took him.
Luke 22:48 48 But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou
the Son of man with a kiss?
Betray me with a kiss? Philema, from phileo, which is brotherly love. Philema is a kiss, a mark of
brotherly affection. See what Judas does here? This is the kiss of Cain.
51 And, behold, one of
them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword,
and struck a servant of the high priest’s, and smote off his ear. 52 Then said Jesus unto him,
Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall
perish with the sword.
John tells us that it was Simon Peter
who drew the sword and began to fight. He really was ready to die. He cut of
Malchus’s ear. Peter was not a very good aim but he missed killing the man by only
an inch.
Peter later takes up the sword of the Word
and that sword provoked others and in an ironic sense, killed him, too.
53 Thinkest thou that I
cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve
legions of angels? 54 But how then shall the scriptures be
fulfilled, that thus it must be?
Jesus could have defended Himself. He
had access to twelve legions of angels. But Jesus submitted Himself to the
Scriptures. He would never do something outside of God’s divine revelation.
55 In that same hour
said Jesus to the multitudes, Are ye come out as against a thief with swords
and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye
laid no hold on me. 56 But all this was done, that the scriptures of
the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.
John tells us that the crowd fell back
on the ground when Jesus declared Himself to be Ego Aimee. I am. When He does
so, they went backward and fell to the ground.
Jesus reveals their hearts. They are
not truly seeking a malefactor, a wicked man. Had that been the case, they
could have arrested Him openly in the Temple. Instead, they drum up a mob of
thugs to apprehend Him in the night away from the crowds.
57 And they that had laid hold on Jesus led him away to
Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. 58 But Peter followed him
afar off unto the high priest’s palace, and went in, and sat with the servants,
to see the end.
59 Now the chief
priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus,
to put him to death;
All the leaders of Israel are
implicated in this wicked event, chief priests, elders, and the council, all
seek to kill Jesus.
60 But found none: yea,
though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came
two false witnesses, 61 And said, This fellow said, I am able
to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days. 62 And the high priest
arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these
witness against thee?
These false leaders seek false
witnesses to testify against Jesus. They hypocritically proclaim their
fastidiousness to the law. They need two or three witnesses to put a man to
death. They have a hard time even coming up with two witnesses whose stories
corroborate. However, the need for witnesses and evidence do not stop a
kangaroo court.
63 But Jesus held his
peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the
living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. 64 Jesus saith unto him,
Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of
man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
The High Priest does not want to know
if Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. He wants Jesus to say that He is, so
that the High Priest can condemn Him to death. Furthermore, the leaders seem to
know that Jesus really is who He says He is. This does prevent their
miscarriage of justice.
Jesus says to the High Priest, Thou
hast said. The High Priest might protest, “I said no such thing. I did NOT say
that you were the Christ or the Son of God. I meant do you think you are the
Christ, the Son of God?” Nonetheless, Jesus’s words to him cut deep.
Jesus then follows up with a very clear
answer. The Son of God sits at the right hand of the Father. The Son is in the
place of the heir of all things. The Son rides on the clouds into the throne
room. At this word, the leaders knew what Jesus was saying. It was enough to
have Him killed.
This is a point of clarity for all men.
Jesus lays claim to all power. He is no longer the leader of a movement, a good
teacher, a guru of help for the hopeless. He is either the Son of God or an
imposter, a self-deceived and a deranged lunatic. You must choose. If He is who
He said He was, then you much fall down and worship. If not, then He must be
sent to the gallows.
65 Then the high priest
rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we
of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. 66 What think ye? They answered and said, He is
guilty of death. 67 Then
did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with
the palms of their hands, 68 Saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is
he that smote thee?
As mentioned above, if what Jesus said
was not true, then it would be blasphemy. The high priest got what he wanted
from Jesus. They still needed witnesses to put Jesus to death but since they
cannot find them, the high priest condemns Him anyway.
This is trial by mob. Get them riled up
and going in the desired direction, then let the momentum roll.
The condemned man is now treated with
disdain. They spit in His face, and began to punch and slap Him. They mock Him.
Now that they have Him in the palms of their hands, they are convinced that He
cannot be the Messiah.
69 Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto
him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. 70 But he denied before them all, saying,
I know not what thou sayest.
Peter denies Him. A damsel says, “You
were with Him.” Peter says, “I don’t understand what you are saying.”
71 And when he was gone
out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were
there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. 72 And again he denied with
an oath, I do not know the man.
Now a woman states plainly, “You were
with Jesus.” Peter now ramps up His denial. He says, “I promise that I do not
know Jesus.”
73 And after a while
came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also
art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee. 74 Then began he to curse and to swear, saying,
I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew.
Finally, in a third and brutal denial,
Peter is recognized by His accent. “Surely, you are one of them!”
Peter begins to curse and swear. “Damn
you, stop saying that! I swear to God, I don’t know Him!”
And a cock crows.
EXHORTATION
75 And Peter remembered
the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny
me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.
Have you failed the Lord miserably? No
doubt you have. Mary did. Judas did. Peter did.
Of course, in our flesh, we all fail the Lord. Sometimes we
treat our faith like we treat New Year’s Resolutions. This time, I am going to
do better. But then our best intentions fall to the ground. Sometimes, these
intentions are just trying to do better. But sometimes, we intend to do good
only to dramatically and sinfully fall on our faces. What then?
Judas
tries to make amends. He gives the money back. But he doesn’t repent. Peter is
crushed. He goes out and weeps bitterly. He comes to the truth that without the
grace of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit, he cannot even own up to
knowing Jesus, much less be truly willing to die for Jesus.
Another
gospel tells us that Jesus looked over at Peter. How did Jesus look at Peter?
With anger? Or, with sadness and compassion? I think the latter. Peter
responded. He gathered with the saints and though they did not know they were
waiting for the Resurrection, they were. And Peter and John are anxious to see
Jesus. Probably fearful of their failings but they know Jesus and they know He
will receive them.
We
can come to Him, even if we have failed, even if our good intentions turned
into a disaster.
Watch
and Pray
We
can do this now by the power of the Holy Spirit. Our flesh is weak but we are
made new in God’s Holy Spirit. There is therefore now no condemnation to those
who are in Christ Jesus. We are forgiven and nothing can separate us from the
love of God showered upon us in Christ.
No comments:
Post a Comment