It needs to be restated, that Mark is not writing a biography, but a gospel.  In other words, he is not attempting to record every little detail that occurred in the life of Jesus.  None of the four gospel writers do that.  Some may omit some things the others include, while including some things others omit.  And the reason for that is that they are writing a gospel, or a sermon if you will, which presents certain doctrines and principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ that they want to emphasize. 

So as we consider this text before us today, it’s important that we resist the temptation to try to fill in all the blanks or gaps in the historical narrative, by bouncing around all the other gospels for the parts Mark seemingly left out.  We must remember that behind Mark is the authorship of the Holy Spirit.  And the Holy Spirit, speaking through Mark, certainly knows that He is omitting certain details.  So rather than focusing on what is not said, we need to focus on what is being said.  The important question then is what is being emphasized in this gospel account?  What is the message that Mark, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is trying to convey to us?  

Well, to start with, we are introduced to a couple of new characters in this passage.  The first being the governor of Judea, who is Pilate, and the other being Barabbas, a convicted robber, murderer, and insurrectionist.  These are the main players in this scene before the crucifixion. The other players who have side roles are the Sanhedrin, who are the governing religious body of the Jews, and the crowd, and the Roman soldiers. 

In vs1, we see the Sanhedrin, which is the whole Council that Mark mentions, made up of the chief priests and 70 the official religious leaders of the Jews, having a quick trial now that it was daylight, in order that they might officially condemn Jesus to death.  Now they had already had a trial during the early morning hours, but it was an illegal proceeding since  it was against the law to condemn a man to death in a nighttime trial. So they convene again at dawn, condemn Jesus as worthy of death, and bind Him and send Him to Pilate.  Notice some of the symbolism here; that He was bound, that He might set men free.  He was rejected, that men might be accepted.  He was condemned, that we might be forgiven.  

And so the Sanhedrin condemned Jesus of blasphemy in their religious trial.  They say in the previous chapter that His claim to be the Son of God makes Him worthy of death. But the Sanhedrin do not have the authority to take a person’s life. They don’t have the authority to put a person to death.  For that, they must get Roman approval.  But Rome didn’t care too much about blasphemy. They were, however, concerned about crimes against the state. So the Jews are going to accuse Jesus in the civil trial before Pilate with the crime of treason; particularly claiming to be King.

We looked at the religious trial of the Sanhedrin in detail in a previous message, so today we will not spend much time on that.  But Pilate is the officiator of the civil trial.  And Pilate seems to only be concerned about the  charge of Jesus claiming to be a King. Not just because of the possibility of insurrection, but perhaps because he was only the governor of Judea, and if it was true that Jesus was a king, then Jesus would have outranked him.   First and foremost, Pilate is a politician.  He served under Caesar Tiberius.  He had in fact gotten in trouble in time past with the Jews, and had been censored by Caesar.  So he is very concerned to keep his position, to hopefully advance his career in Roman government, and to do so he must try to walk a line between pleasing Rome and not offending the Jews in his jurisdiction.

One thing about Pilate’s position though, it is that he has been given the authority to administer the death sentence.  That is why the Jews have come to him. 

So he asks Jesus, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And Jesus answered him, “It is as you say.” Mark adds that the chief priests began to accuse Him of many things.  Luke and John’s gospel’s add considerable more to the dialogue.  And I would encourage you to read their accounts for yourself.  But what I think Mark is trying to emphasize here is the contrast between this petty, political ruler of Judea, and the King of the Jews.  Pilate is governor by the decree of Caesar, and so he has judicial rule over Judea, only a portion of Israel, but which does include the Jewish capital, which is Jerusalem. 

Jesus, on the other hand, is the King of the Jews.  In actuality, Jesus is King over the whole Earth, but since He specifically came to fulfill the purpose of the Messiah, it is to the Jews that He claims sovereignty.  He is sent to the Jews first.  He is of the royal line of David. So He is a legitimate heir to David’s throne. He has already told the high priest in the preceding chapter that He was the Messiah, the Son of God. Now in response to this appointed politician, He adds the claim that He is King of the Jews.  

It’s interesting to note the contrast between Jesus and Pilate.  Pilate has the authority to condemn, but Jesus has the authority to forgive.  Pilate has the authority to put to death, but Jesus has the authority to give life.  Pilate has a limited, temporal rule, Jesus has a sovereign, eternal reign.  According to John’s gospel, Jesus said to Pilate that His kingdom is not of this world.  It is a spiritual kingdom.  And thus it has no boundaries, it has no end, and no limitations.  Pilate’s rule will come to an end, a rather inglorious end at that as tradition tells us he commits suicide in his later years. 

Pilate represents the natural man, the material man, the temporal man, who claims his right to self rule, who thinks that he can determine for himself what is right and what is wrong.  He thinks he has freedom, when in fact he is in servitude.  He thinks he is making his own decisions, but in fact he is cowering and caving in to popular opinion.

Jesus, in affirming that He is King, adds another dimension to what it means to believe in Him.  Faith in Christ means acknowledging that He has the right to rule over your life.  He is the creator of life, He has authority over life, and He has the power to give life.  But Pilate, as the quintessential natural man, though intrigued by Jesus’s claim,  will not believe in Him, will not submit to Jesus’s sovereignty.  

Isaiah writing 700 years earlier prophesies concerning this failure to recognize Jesus as King in Isaiah 53:2-3,  “For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.  He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”

Then Mark tells us that the chief priests begin to accuse Jesus harshly. We could piece together all that they were accusing Jesus of from the other gospels, but the details do not concern Mark as much as the fact that they make all kinds of wild accusations, and yet He makes no answer.  Pilate, on the other hand, feels he must respond to their accusations.  Because Pilate is a politician.  He makes his career by acquiescing, or at  least appearing to acquiesce, to the demands of the Jews and to the demands of Rome.  But Jesus answers to no man. This judge and jury think that they have authority over Him, but in fact, all authority in heaven and on earth belong to Jesus.  He has the authority to lay down HIs life.  But He is not going to try to defend Himself.  He has said, I am the Messiah the Son of God.  I am the King of the Jews.  And that is all He needs to say in HIs defense.   In fact, He makes no defense at all.  It may be argued that Jesus is on the offensive, not the defensive.  He is going to lay down His life, voluntarily.  He is resolutely headed for the cross. He’s not interested in trying to avoid it.  And so He doesn’t defend Himself and Pilate is amazed at His silence.

But even His silence is fulfillment of the prophecy that He was the Messiah.Isaiah 53:7  “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth.”

Mark then tells us that it was the custom to release a prisoner at the feast of the Passover.  And so the Jews come to Pilate and ask for him to do that.  So Pilate asks them, “‘Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?’ For he was aware that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy.” Pilate, the politician, is trying to walk both sides of the fence.  The other gospels tell us that Pilate had already announced that he found no fault in Jesus.  But rather than seeing that justice was done and releasing Jesus, he wants to please the crowd.  However, perhaps this was just an attempt to pass the blame onto the Jews, by offering to release Him.  But I think that Pilate knows that they will not want Jesus released.  The Jews have made it clear that they want Jesus dead.  I think Pilate is just trying to salve his conscience somewhat by being able to say he offered to release Jesus.  And Mark says that he knew that there was no evil that Jesus committed, it was just a matter of jealousy on the part of the priests.  So I think Pilate knew that they wouldn’t let Jesus be released, but he is just trying to portray that he is innocent in the matter. 

And let me say again that Pilate is a good example of the natural man who thinks that he is his own ruler, he is the king of his castle, but in reality, he is subservient to the peer pressure of  the world.  He claims to be independent, but actually he is a slave of popular opinion.  He caves in to the dominance of the world’s demands, whether it be from the media, or the entertainment industry, or his career, or from the influence of friends.  They reject the dominion of Christ as King, but become enslaved to the passions of sin and the world, which is ultimately orchestrated by the devil.  Like Bob Dylan once wrote, everyone is going to serve somebody.  It may be the devil, or it may be the Lord, but you’re gonna serve somebody.  Pilate chooses to serve the world, which ultimately achieved the purposes of the devil.

Vs.11 “But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to ask him to release Barabbas for them instead.”  So Mark indicates that the crowd is induced by the priests to ask for the release of Barabbas instead.  And Pilate, wishing to accommodate the crowd, releases Barabbas, the condemned murderer, and delivers Jesus to be crucified.

What Pilate and the Jews do not realize, is that by their actions they have illustrated the symbolism of the Passover.  Barabbas, the convicted robber, murderer and insurrectionist, is obviously guilty of his sins and condemned to death. He represents the sinner.  And in setting the sinner free, and putting to death the righteous, spotless Lamb of God, they have illustrated nothing less than the truth of the gospel.  Especially that principle of the gospel that Jesus came to save sinners.  The principle that the innocent would die for the ungodly.  The principle that God would transfer our sins upon Jesus, who would be punished to die in our place, so that we might be set free from sin and death, and receive the transfer of Christ’s righteousness upon us.  That is the gospel, and though they rejected it, yet by their actions in freeing the guilty and condemning the righteous they have given us a tremendous illustration of the gospel of God.

Once again Isaiah predicts this divine justice wrought by God upon Christ for our sins. Isaiah 53:6 “All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”

Such an illustration of God’s grace towards sinners makes me wonder what happened to Barabbas.  Nothing more is said in scripture concerning him. But  I cannot help but wonder if this great exchange, resulting in his freedom, while Christ went on to suffer and die, did not have a tremendous effect on this condemned man.  I cannot help but wonder if he did not follow the crowd to Calvary, and there watch as Jesus was crucified in his place.  I can’t help but wonder if he was converted by this divine act of the innocent dying for the guilty. I suppose we will find out in heaven.  But maybe we will see Barabbas in heaven. 

However, let’s not miss the point that all of us here today are represented by Barabbas.  According to the gospel, we are all sinners, condemned to death, but Jesus took our place on that cross, so that we, by faith in Him, might be set free.

The question of the ages for every man is found in the next verse, 12, “Answering again, Pilate said to them, ‘Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?’”  What shall I do with Jesus?  That is the question for every man. That is the question for you today.  What will you do with Jesus?  Will you accept Him as your Savior from your sins?  Will you accept Him as your King?  Will you bow your will to Him?  Will you trade your sinful life for new life in Him?  What will you do with Jesus? Pilate wanted nothing to do with Him.  He tried to get out of making a decision concerning Jesus.  He tried to shunt Him off on Herod.  He tried to release Him.  He said repeatedly that He found no fault in Him.  But ultimately, Pilate did not submit to Jesus as King.  Ultimately, Pilate choose the favor of the world, and rejected the Savior of the world.

Some of you here today may not want to make a decision concerning Jesus.  You want to remain ambivalent about Jesus.  But if you put Him off today, if you put Him off until a more convenient time, then you are really doing exactly what Pilate did.  You are rejecting the Lord in favor of maintaining your own sovereignty.  And as such, you condemn yourself.  You are not guaranteed another opportunity tomorrow.  Tomorrow may be too late.  What will you do with Jesus?

Well, when the crowd was offered that choice, they cried out, “Crucify Him!”  They wanted to murder the Son of God.  Their hatred for Christ has reached a fever pitch.  Pilate calls back, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify Him!”  They didn’t have to have a reason to want to kill Christ.  Their hatred is all the reason that they need.  You know, Jesus was correct to equate hate as murder in the Sermon on the Mount.  Hatred is a scary thing.  I’ve personally seen hatred escalate to murderous intent.  I’ve seen hatred become so manifest in a person it was scary, it changed them into a monster.  And I will tell you something, rejection or rebellion leads to hatred.  Rejection of the truth is not an innocuous thing.  It’s not a harmless choice. It’s not as simple as you believe what you want, and I’ll believe what I want. Rejection of the truth leads to hatred of the truth, and that leads to murder of the truth. 

Notice what Mark says concerning Pilate in vs 15 “Wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified.”  Wishing to satisfy the crowd.  I wonder how many people have crucified Jesus by wishing to satisfy the crowd?  Trying to satisfy the lusts of the world, we crucify Jesus Christ.  Trying to make people like us, to not lose face in public, trying to gain the approval of the world, we crucify the King of Glory. 

Mark barely mentions in vs15 of the flogging that Pilate gave Jesus.  But a cat of nine tails was commonly used to scourge a convicted person before heading to the cross.  It was meant to weaken them, so that they might not last too long on the cross.  It is said that such a flogging was stopped at 39 lashes, because it was determined that 40 would kill you.  Such a tremendous cost was our sin, that it required such a terrible punishment.  

Once again, consider Isaiah 53:5 “But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.” What a travesty of salvation when the modern day faith healers use this verse as some sort of mantra to guarantee healing of diseases. By His scourging, we are cleansed of our unrighteousness. That is what Isaiah says.  He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities. Our physical health is not the issue, it’s our spiritual health that is being spoken of.  The wrath of God against our sin was satisfied in the suffering of Jesus our Savior.

So beaten to within an inch of His life, His back and legs ripped to shreds, there are still more indignities left for Jesus to bear.  The soldiers now take part in the ridicule and mocking of Jesus.  Mark tells us more detail of the mocking than he does of the scourging. Perhaps the wounds caused by words cut deeper than the whip.  And the mocking of the soldiers is especially cruel.  Perhaps they took out their pent up hatred for the Jews upon Jesus.  After all, He was said to be the King of the Jews.  It was common in those days to disrespect the fallen monarch of a defeated enemy.  Maybe that was it then, as the soldiers call all the Roman cohort from the Palace together to ridicule and scorn Jesus.  

The whole idea of Jesus being a King is obviously the point of their ridicule.  They dress Him in purple, a royal fabric, and crush a crown of plaited thorns upon His head, calling out “Hail, King of the Jews!”  Vs19 “They kept beating His head with a reed, and spitting on Him, and kneeling and bowing before Him.”

This is savage mockery.  This is hatred at it’s lowest form.  It’s easy to imagine that these soldiers were the lowest of the low.  That they were no better than animals.  But the fact is, that such savage mockery of Christ happens today on our concert stages and in our theaters and it is applauded by the world.  The fact is that sin is a savage beast.  Sin is an evil that turns men into the lowest of the low.  God’s is justified in dealing with divine wrath upon sin. But the retribution that these hateful soldiers deserved, God struck the blows due to them upon Jesus. 2Cor. 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

God’s wrath against sin will be satisfied.  And God’s purpose is that in Jesus He would punish sin, put to death sin, and by His resurrection overcome sin.  If you remember in the Garden of Eden at the fall, God pronounced a curse upon the earth.  He said in Genesis 3:18 that part of the curse would be that the land would produce thorns and thistles.  Thorns then are a picture of the curse of the fall.  The soldiers by crushing the crown of thorns upon Jesus’ head, unwittingly illustrated the justice of God, that He would put the curse of sin upon Jesus, that we might be free from sin.  

So as the soldiers hit Him and spit upon Him and revile Him, I can picture Jesus standing there in all of HIs bloody wounds, standing there bravely and purposefully bearing our reproach, that even those who were assaulting Him might go free.  Isaiah 53:4 says “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.”

Then Mark tells us in vs20 “After they had mocked Him, they took the purple robe off Him and put His own garments on Him. And they led Him out to crucify Him.”  

The question that I want to leave with you today, is what will you do with Jesus?  You cannot avoid the question.  You cannot avoid making a decision.  If you try to avoid it, then you are really rejecting Jesus as your Savior and King.  I pray that no one here is like Pilate.  I pray that no one here is like the chief priests, or the soldiers who scorned Him, nor the crowd who hated Him without a cause.  I pray that you would be like Barabbas.  That you would recognize that your sin has condemned you to death, but that Jesus has taken your punishment upon Himself, that He might grant you life everlasting.  

If you don’t know Jesus as your Savior and King, then today I urge you to accept His invitation to enter into His kingdom.  Jesus said in Revelation 22:17  “The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.”  Come to Jesus today.  He will save you.  Jesus said in Matt.11:28-30  “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.  “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Jesus has taken the burden of our sin upon Himself, that we might be given the righteousness of God.  If you confess your sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  He can forgive us, because He has paid our penalty.  Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  Come to Jesus today as your Savior and King and receive the righteousness of Jesus Christ, resulting in salvation unto life.

In the passage of scripture we read today, we have seen a tragic picture of the fall of one of Christ’s closest friends, and devoted disciples.  Peter, by all accounts, was the foremost of the disciples.  He was the first to declare that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God.  He was the one to jump in the water to walk on the waves with Christ in a storm.  If he had been a fireman, or a policeman or soldier, he would have always been first through the door.  Peter was a man that everyone looked up to.  He was a natural leader.  And yet we see him here falling – falling to the lowest level that anyone could have ever imagined.

It reminds me of the lament that David sang of Saul and Jonathan when they died on the battle field.  David said, “Oh, how have the mighty fallen!” Peter was the mightiest, the most courageous of all the disciples, and yet here he is pictured, denying the Lord three times while Jesus was being tried and beaten just a few yards away.  A tragic figure.  A terrible fall into sin. The old adage seems to be true that the bigger they are, the harder they fall.

The question though, as we see Peter rushing out into the night, weeping bitter tears, ashamed at his lack of faith, the question is, how did Peter get to this point? How did he go from being the foremost disciple, part of Jesus’s inner circle, the leader of the band of 12, how did he end up swearing repeatedly that he never knew Him? 

Well, to understand Peter’s fall, we must go back in the gospel accounts to the first step in his decline.  No one goes from the heights of faith to the pit of despair in just a moment. It’s a progression, a downward slide that may be an almost indiscernible drift at first, but it ends up in shipwreck.  It’s like when I see a homeless person on the streets, caught up in addiction, living in poverty and filth, I have to remind myself not to judge him by the way he looks now.  But remember that once upon a time he was a young boy, running around the neighborhood.  Once he was an innocent child.  And I cannot help but wonder what happened in his life that caused him to end up there?  

So let’s retrace the steps of Peter’s denial.  Because I believe we can show that there was a progression which led him to deny Christ.  And perhaps Peter’s fall might serve as a warning to us, that when we think we stand, let us take heed lest we fall.  If Peter could fall, then we all could fall. And perhaps this lesson learned from Peter might even reveal our own fleshly attitudes and actions which are leading us towards a similar fall, and a similar denial.

The first step in the progression of Peter’s failure of faith is found in vs29.  There we see Peter boasting in himself.  Peter said to Jesus, “Even though all may fall away, yet I will not.”  The key to what was wrong in Peter’s response to the Lord’s statement that all of them would fall away that night, was not necessarily in his determination not to fall, but in his superior attitude.  Proverbs says that “pride goes before a fall,”  and Peter shows that in his pride he considers himself superior to the other disciples.  They may fall, they may be weak, but I am not.  I’m better than the other disciples.  I’m not spiritually weak like they are.  

Paul warned the Corinthians not to compare themselves against one another. 2Cor. 10:12 “For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.”  Avoid the pitfall of pride by comparing yourself to others and recognize that it is by grace that you stand. Recognize your sinful nature and know that it’s not by your merit, but by the grace of God you have been saved.

The pride that Peter’s answer reveals is that he is trusting in his flesh, in his courage, in his strength of will to accomplish what the others could not do.  But again, Paul writing the Romans tells us not to trust in the flesh.  Rom. 7:18 “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.”  We have to walk in the Spirit, to keep from fulfilling the desires of the flesh.  Peter though is boasting in his flesh, in his strength. And that’s a dangerous first step in the wrong direction.

The second step in the progression to backsliding, was that Peter argued with the Lord and with the word of the Lord. Vs.31, “But Peter kept saying insistently, ‘Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!’ And they all were saying the same thing also.”  Notice, he kept on
insisting even after Jesus corrected him.  Jesus said that they would all fall away, then Peter denied it.  Then the Lord specifically told Peter that before the cock crowed twice he would deny Him three times.  And Peter argues with the Lord.  He keeps on insisting that he is right. 

It’s a dangerous thing to argue with the Lord. You may say, well I would never do such a thing.  But of course you do that very thing when you argue with God’s word.  When God says, leave something alone, do not touch, we argue that it won’t really be a bad thing for us.  We can do it and not be tempted, we can go there and not fall away.  It may happen to others, they may become alcoholics, but not me.  They may fall into sexual sin, but not me. That admonition might be true for some people, but it doesn’t apply to me. And so we find ourselves arguing with the Lord.  We think we know ourselves better than our Maker does. 

Peter should have remembered what Jesus said to him earlier; “Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat.”  It turns out that Satan didn’t have to use some great tool  to turn Peter.  He simply had to use the accusation of a little servant girl, and Peter ’s faith fell like a house of cards.  Because he was dependent upon his own strength. And Satan knows that though our spirit is willing, the flesh is weak.  To rely upon the Spirit, is to walk according to the word of God.  “Your word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” (Psalm 119:11)  And Isaiah 45:9 says, “Woe to him who strives with his Maker!”  If the Lord said it, don’t be foolish enough to go against His wisdom in lieu of your own.  Let God be true, and every man a liar.

The third step in the progression to Peter’s betrayal is that he was sleeping when he should have been praying. Vs.37.  “And Jesus came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, ‘Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.’”  There is a saying that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. And I suggest that one of the best ways to prevent falling away is by prayer.  It’s hard to be praying and fall into sin at the same time.

It’s interesting that Mark says that Jesus came to them three times to wake them up from their sleep.  You would think that they would have set themselves on fire in order to stay awake after the first time they fell asleep.  But instead, they seem to have become calloused.  They have no sense of urgency.  They forgot the admonition of Prov. 6:9-11 “How long will you lie down, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep?  “A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest”–  Your poverty will come in like a vagabond And your need like an armed man.”  Now in context, Solomon was talking about laziness in regards to work, but it certainly applies as well to spiritual poverty.  Phil.2;12 says we are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling.  Peter himself, though writing many years later in his last letter says, “be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness.”

There are really only two sources of spiritual strength, prayer and the word of God.  And notice that Jesus puts a great deal of emphasis on prayer as the means of overcoming or resisting temptation. That’s when we confess with our mouth our faith.  That’s when we call upon the Lord to help us to stand, to keep us from falling.  And finally, I can’t help myself on this one, notice that Jesus says, “could you not keep watch for one hour?”  I’m amazed at the excuses that people come up with in regards to coming to church.  One hour a week, and that is too much it seems.  And then we don’t understand why we are having such problems in our lives. Jesus said the church should be a house of prayer.  Peter could have possibly prevented a lifetime of heart ache if he would have just made prayer a priority.  

There is an old song, “What A Friend We Have in Jesus.” The one line declares “O what needless pain we bare, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.”  Prayer is not just declaring what we want, but our submission to what God wants.  Jesus taught us to pray “Your will be done.” But ultimately, the error of Peter was he prioritized his physical needs above his spiritual needs. And I think that error is common to many of us. We prioritize the physical above the spiritual, and that leads us to fall away from the Lord.

Another step in the progression to failure of Peter’s faith, is that in the garden he relies upon physical weapons to fight a spiritual battle. Vs.47, “But one of those who stood by drew his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear.”  That individual was Peter, according to the gospel of John.  And we would have expected no less.  They only had two swords among 12 disciples, but you would have expected that Peter made sure he would wear one of them. 

Listen, what happens when we walk in the strength of our flesh, in the wisdom of our mind, rather than in the wisdom of God and the Spirit of God, is that we then find ourselves fighting spiritual battles with fleshly methods.  And not only does that not work, it’s counterproductive to spiritual things.  We may think it makes perfect sense.  We may think we have figured out a method for dealing with a problem, but in the long run, it accomplishes nothing for the faith, or even results in outright disaster.  

Peter forgets that Jesus could have called 10,000 angels to defend Himself if He had wanted to do that.  This was a pretty large mob, it included not only the temple guards of the high priest, but also a group of Roman soldiers.  Peter’s efforts could have ended up getting him and the rest of the disciples killed.  And the sad part of that is, that it was not God’s will.  It was just the consequences of a headstrong, foolish determination on Peter’s part to do things according to what he thought was right.  It’s one thing to suffer for the Lord, it’s another to suffer the consequences of unspiritual thinking.  Peter learned his lesson here though, because many years later he writes; in 1Peter 3:17 “For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong.”

The fact is that what seems like common sense to us is often not the method of the Lord. Isaiah 55:8-9  “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.”  And Zechariah 4:6 speaks to that as well, “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts.”

The fifth step in Peter’s progression to denial is found in vs54, which says Peter followed the Lord at a  distance. “Peter had followed Him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting with the officers and warming himself at the fire.”  After Jesus’s arrest in the garden, Peter fled with all the other disciples.  But then he sort of doubled back and followed the mob back to the high priest’s house.  But whereas in the garden, Peter was right beside the Lord, now he is following at what he thought to be a safe distance. 

Listen, there is no safe distance to be from the Lord.  The further you are from the Lord, the more unsafe it is.  If you think you are in a comfortable place with the Lord, then you are about to get a lot more uncomfortable.  James said, “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.”  But we often think that we don’t want to end up looking like a religious nut, so we find ourselves a comfortable distance from the Lord, where we think we are still close enough to hear Him and see Him, but not too close for comfort, and not so close as to bring undue scrutiny upon ourselves by the world.  We follow at a distance when our hearts are not fully given to the Lord.  We think we are ok being half way.  But that’s a dangerous place to be.

The truth is, we need to be as close as being in the same yoke with the Lord if we are going to have any safety.  It’s much safer to be close to the Lord than close to the world.  The world hates you, if you are a Christian.  Satan is your mortal enemy and looking for an opportunity to devour you, to sift you like wheat.  And when you start hanging near the back of the herd, and then straggling a few dozen yards behind everyone else, the devil’s ears prick up and he begins to stalk you, looking for the right moment to attack.  But poor old Peter has to learn the hard way.  His prideful confidence regarding his own resources is his downfall, and already he has started to pick up the pace in his descent.

The devil is always going to tempt you to think that you can go over there and still be ok.  You can do this or that and still be a Christian.  He uses the allure of the world to lure you further and further from being in communion with the Lord.  It reminds me of the story of a rich man that was hiring a new chauffeur to drive his limousine.  And so he came up with a test course to see how well each applicant could drive.  And the road near his mansion had a hairpin curve around a mountain, with a sharp cliff off the side of the road.  The first driver drove his car pretty fast around the curve, and got within a few feet of the guardrail without skidding out.  The second driver decided he needed to outdo the first, so he went even faster and got within a foot of the edge of the road, and he made it fine.  The third driver drove very slowly around the curve, and he stayed as far away as possible from the edge of the road.  Well, the rich man hired the last driver.  He had no interest in seeing how close he could come to running off the road.  He wanted a driver that would stay as far away as possible from danger.

Now that’s the attitude that we need to have.  When we want to see how close to the world we can get and not end up in trouble, then we are playing right into the devil’s hands.  Our desire should  not be to see how close we can live to this world, but how close we can live to Jesus.

Finally, we see Peter warming himself and sharing a fire with the Lord’s enemies. Psalms 1:1 tells us that there is a progression to falling away from the Lord.  It says, “Blessed [is] the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful.”  Notice that there is a progression; walking in the counsel of the ungodly, then standing in the path of sinners, then finally sitting in the seat of the scornful.  Peter made the same mistakes.  He walked afar off.  He stood near the fire.  Then finally he is seated with and sharing the fire with the very men that are enemies of the Lord.

Trying to find friendship with the world is always a sign of having moved away from a close relationship with the Lord.  And when we find ourselves sitting by the fire of the world, we find ourselves dangerously close to denial of the Lord.  James 4:4 says “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”  

Peter found himself sitting by the fire of the enemies of Christ, the very servants of the high priests who would strike the Lord repeatedly as He was blindfolded, and without realizing it he had put himself in a position to readily deny the Lord, not just once, but three times.

Yet I am sure that none of us today would think that we would ever deny the Lord.  Oh, everyone else may deny the Lord, but I never will.  Yet we may already have denied the Lord either by our words or our actions.  We may have denied HIs word, by not doing what He says, by thinking that His word doesn’t apply to me.  We may have denied Him by avoiding spending time with Him in prayer as He desires.  We may deny Him by the way we talk, or the way we act when we are around the world. No body can tell that we are a Christian.

Notice, that the more the enemies by the fire accused Peter of being with the Lord, the more incensed he became, until he finally begins to curse and swear.  Now cursing and swearing can be a sign of a heart that is far from the Lord, but I don’t think Peter was necessarily saying curse words.  The commentators tell us that Peter was swearing by God, and pronouncing a curse upon himself if he was not telling the truth, that he did not know the Lord.  That’s really a lot worse than saying a couple of four letter words.  It’s hard to imagine Peter falling that far, that fast.  Yet as we saw, it really wasn’t an immediate thing.  It was a downhill slide that started some time before with an attitude of pride.

I think Mark is careful to point out the contrast between Jesus speaking under oath in the inner courtroom and Peter’s oath in the courtyard. Jesus said he was the Messiah, the Son of God, and Peter denied that he knew Jesus at all.  If there is anything good that comes out of this situation, it is that Peter’s pride was broken that night.  He realized when the cock crowed the second time that what Jesus had prophesied concerning him had come true.  His spirit was willing, but his flesh was weak.  Luke tells us that when the cock crowed, Jesus looked at Peter.  And I’m sure that look broke his heart, because Mark tells us that he ran out and wept.  

Sometimes, God has to break us before He can use us.  I heard the story of a famous conductor who had written a beautiful love song, and a  young woman was chosen to sing it in his presence at a rehearsal.  The woman was very talented, and she sang the song perfectly.  But when the friends of the conductor asked him what he thought of her rendition, he said, “She will be great when something happens to break her heart.”  

In the life of faith, whereby we walk by faith and not by sight, it is not enough to simply believe with your mind the facts of Jesus’s life.  But  a necessary component to faith is repentance, and that comes not simply from sorrow, but from brokenness over your sinfulness.  Recognizing as Paul said, that there is nothing good in you.  And yet the Lord still loves you, and has died for you, so that He might purchase you for His own.  Brokenness is the key to usefulness. Brokenness is realizing that the flesh is worthless.  Jesus said in John 6:63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.”

Even Peter’s professed love for the Lord was not able to sustain him in his time of trial because he was dependent upon his flesh, on human abilities and human resources, to carry him through. In the hour of crisis, even love was not really effective in keeping him close to the Lord. Love and loyalty and determination mean nothing when they rest on the shaky foundation of the  human will.  Our steadfastness is not dependent upon our will power, but on the power of the Holy Spirit, who works in us through prayer and the word of God. 

When I look at the lives of many Christians today, I am afraid for them because they depend upon the flesh.  They exhibit sentimentalism instead of sacrificial love. They evaluate spiritual things with worldly appraisals. They propose fleshly methods for dealing with spiritual problems. But God choses to work in the Spirit, which is contrary to the flesh.  Jesus said, “God is Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”  

But we bring fleshly desires into the church, we bring the world’s perspective into the church, and like Peter slashing with the sword, we try to fight spiritual battles with worldly weapons.  And like Peter, it leads to our spiritual destruction.  That’s why Paul could say, that he gloried in his weakness.  Notice he doesn’t say he gloried in his sinfulness.  He was not glad he was weak, but in recognition of his weakness he knew his dependency was in Christ.  And so he dared not stray from  closeness to Christ.

Paul goes on to say in 2Cor. 12:5, 9-10  “On behalf of such a man I will boast; but on my own behalf I will not boast, except in regard to my weaknesses. … 9 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.  Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”  The source to our spiritual strength is our utter dependence upon Christ dwelling in me and my fellowship with Him through prayer and through His word.

The late Paul Harvey used to end his popular radio broadcasts by saying, “And now you know the rest of the story…”  The chapter ends with Peter going out and weeping bitter tears at denying Christ.  But I want to leave you with the rest of the story.  Jesus, after He was resurrected, made a special  private visit to Peter in order to restore him to Himself again.  And then, one more time before His ascension, Jesus made another appearance as Peter and the disciples were fishing, and this time Jesus publicly restored Peter not only to fellowship with Him, but also usefulness to the kingdom. Once Peter recognized his weakness, and repented of his pride and self sufficiency, then the Lord could use him.

The good news is, that if you have seen in yourself some parallel today in the life of Peter, you recognize that you have started slipping away from fellowship with the Lord, then there is the invitation of Christ to be renewed and restored to usefulness.  And that starts with repentance.  David, who also fell away and by his actions denied the Lord, prayed a prayer of repentance in Psalm 51, 10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. … 12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit. … 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”

The Lord is willing to forgive and restore all who come to Him in faith and repentance.  

I am sure that the passage of scripture that we are looking at today is familiar territory for most of you.  I assume everyone here has at least a basic knowledge of the trial of Jesus Christ. 
But I want to look at the historical context in a moment, and make sure we understand that correctly.  And then ultimately, I want to apply the spiritual principles that I think are incorporated in the text.  However, since we have already read the text, I think it will be helpful if we identify what the crux of this passage is teaching before launching into our exposition.

And I would suggest that the crux of this section deals with the identity of Jesus of Nazareth.  That is what He was on trial for. And the application to us is to ask each of you here today, who do you say that Jesus Christ is? What do you believe about Jesus?

I heard of a small girl that was in the children’s section of a big bookstore one day, and she was busily drawing with a box of crayons, and the clerk came over and asked the child what she was drawing. The little girl said, “I am drawing a picture of God.” “But how do you know what God is like?” the clerk said. “That,” said the little girl, “is why I’m drawing him. I want to find out.” She was making up her own mind about what God should be like. And very often when people come to the testimony of scripture that is the kind of attitude that they have. They do not come seeking to learn, but they come seeking to substantiate some preconceived ideas that they have concerning Him.

But the scripture says that Jesus is the exact manifestation of God in human flesh. Heb 1:1-3 says, “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”

But the question of who do you say that Jesus is, is of upmost importance, because the scriptures teach that believing in Christ is the basis for salvation. Jesus says in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him might have everlasting life.” So believing in Jesus constitutes faith, and faith is the means of salvation. 

Jesus says virtually the same thing on several other occasions, one of which is John 11:26 “everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.”  And Paul makes the same assertion in 1Tim. 1:16 “Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those [who would believe in Him for eternal life.”  Paul and Silas said in Acts 16:31, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” I could give you many more references to the fact that belief or faith in Christ is the basis for salvation, but I would hope that is already a settled doctrine for you all, and so I don’t need to belabor it.  

However, the question could be legitimately asked, to what degree must belief be developed to be saving faith?  In other words, at what point does one believe unto salvation?  What constitutes saving faith? Is it merely believing in a historical Jesus?  The fact He lived on earth 2000 years ago is supported by virtually irrefutable evidence.  Even many historians who are for the most part atheists are in agreement that the facts of history indicate that Jesus lived and died on earth 2000 years ago.  They believe that He lived, yet they are not Christians by their own admission.

In fact, even non Christian Jewish historians and scholars do not doubt that Jesus lived.  The Jews have nothing to gain from accepting that Jesus lived.   But rather than try to deny His existence, the Jews simply deny that He was the Messiah, and they try to deny that they contrived His death.  To quote Haim Cohn, an internationally famous expert in Jewish legal tradition, he said that Annas and Caiphas, the high priests mentioned in our text, “Did all that they possibly and humanly could to save Jesus, whom they dearly loved and cherished as one of their own.” (quoted by Hendricksen, NTC Mark)  So most Jewish scholars believe that Jesus lived, they just refute the gospel’s account of their actions towards Him.

And of course, the other great universal religion, Islam, believes that Jesus was a notable prophet of God.  They believe that He lived and taught the scriptures. And yet they are not Christians. So the three world religions, Judaism, Islam, and of course Christianity, are all in agreement that Jesus lived and existed as the Bible teaches.  Yet by no means do all adherents of those religions claim to be saved.

So if we were to draw a diagram which has a horizontal line denoting belief, and at the left end we write the words absolute agnostic, meaning as much of an agnostic as possible, and on the right end we write absolute saving faith, meaning saved beyond a doubt, at what point towards believing would you place a mark on the line to indicate when a person is saved?  Does one have to have full complete faith, full knowledge of all doctrines, full understanding of all  theology in order to be granted saving faith?  Or is it somewhere further down on the line?  Is is perhaps way down at the first dawning of belief?  I must confess that I often wrestle with that. The fact is that I cannot say with absolute certainty where exactly you should make a mark on that line.  I suppose that only God knows for sure where that mark is.  That doesn’t mean that you cannot be sure of your salvation, because I believe you have the inner witness of the Holy Spirit to assure you of that.  But I don’t think that you can necessarily determine with certainty others salvation based on their point on that line. Only God can do that because only God can judge the heart. 

However, I think that the minimum that you must believe to be saved is delineated in Romans 10:9 which says, “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus [as] Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”

However, I did think of an illustration of what I think common belief vs saving faith might look like. When I was a kid, I used to like to fish in some of the ponds near my home in NC.  We were not very sophisticated fishermen – we used a little Zebco spinning reel set up with a bobber and lead weight, which had a worm on a little hook as bait.  And I enjoyed watching that bobber bounce up and down in the water, signifying that a brim or bass was toying with my bait.  If the bobber ever disappeared, then I knew to pull back on the rod and hopefully catch a fish.

But as those of you who are fishermen know, the fact that the bobber is moving up and down doesn’t always mean that the fish swallowed the hook.  Lots of times, most of the time, in fact, the fish would come up and look at the bait, smell the bait, nibble at the bait, pull on the bait, but in the end it might spit it out and swim off.  Sometimes it would come back and go through the whole process again.  And you might never hook a fish, but you could get a lot of “bites”, as we used to call them.  

And that reminds me of the verse found in Heb. 6:4-6 “For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit,  and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,  and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.”  Now a lot of theologians have a field day offering various interpretations of this verse, but I think it’s talking about people who have come to the faith, looked it over, smelled it, nibbled on it, but ultimately, they don’t swallow it, they end up spitting it out.  They have been given enough light to believe, they have been given enough conviction of the Holy Spirit to repent, they have been given enough evidence of the transforming power of salvation, yet they end up rejecting it.

Now I think there are a lot of so called Christians like that out there.  And I say “so called Christians” because they show by their lives that they are not really saved.  Because if you truly believe who Jesus is and what He has done on the cross to atone for your sins, if you truly believe that He is Lord, that He has sovereignty over your life, if you truly have saving faith, it will result in a change of heart, a change of nature, a change in direction and a changed life.  The Bible makes that clear.  When one is truly saved, they are converted, changed, and they have a new life.

Now that was a long introduction, but hopefully we answered the fundamental question of Jesus’ trial, and now we need to look at the historical context for a few minutes and then we will make application to us here today.  It helps to understand that there were actually two trials going on.  There was the ecumenical trial, which was the religious trial, and then the civic trial.  The high priests and the governing religious body of the Jews known as the Sanhedrin arrested Jesus, with the help of the temple police and also Roman soldiers.  The Jews could try a person for a religious crime, but they could not legally punish him.  They had to get the approval of the Roman governor to execute punishment, especially corporal punishment.

So they arrest Jesus sometime around midnight and they take him to a hearing with the father in law of the high priest named Annas.  Mark doesn’t include this fact, but John does. Then there is the trial before the Sanhedrin, which is the religious governing body made up of 70 persons, not all of whom were probably there since it was held before dawn.  Those were illegal trials, by the way.  It was illegal to try someone before dawn. So there was another trial after daybreak with the high priest Caiaphas. Then there were three stages in the civil trial, first before Pilate, then before Herod, and back to Pilate again.  

In the ecumenical trial, they focus on getting the verdict of blasphemy.  At the civil trial, they try to accuse Him of insurrection and treason against Caesar. But our passage only focuses on the ecumenical trial today.  We are told at the outset that Peter follows at a distance and ends up in the courtyard of the high priest’s house, sitting with the officers by the fire.

Now I am not a legal expert on Judaic law.  However, I will say that most experts in such things concur that this trial was a travesty of justice.  It was an illegal trial, the witnesses were made up of the judges, who were also the prosecuting attorneys, It was held during the Feast, which was forbidden, and no conviction was allowed at night, but yet they proceed to do so.

They also attempt to get Jesus to incriminate Himself. In vs 60 they try to get Him to tell them what the charges were that were being made against Him.  And Mark tells us that their testimonies do not match up.  They also misquote Jesus in vs58. They say, “We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.’” Actually, the words of Jesus according to John 2:19 were, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking of the temple of His body.”

Their hope was to accuse Him of defaming the temple.  After all, they were very angry that He had just cleaned out the temple of the money changers and vendors.  That was their own business enterprise that He had disrupted.

In vs 60 the high priest asked “Do You not answer? What is it that these men are testifying against You?” But He kept silent and did not answer.”  Jesus knows that they are not interested in truth, but in proving their falsehoods.  So He does not answer them. 

The point that needs to be understood though, is that from the very beginning they have already made up their minds about Jesus.  The trial was never an attempt to uncover the truth, but simply an attempt to justify their desire to kill Him.  They had already decided that they would not accept Him as the Messiah, they hated Him without a cause, and they wanted to kill Him. All the evidence in the world wasn’t going to change their minds.  And so in that respect, the religious leaders are an example of those who do not believe in Jesus Christ.  They rejected who He really was because they saw Him as a threat to their position of authority in the nation.

So Caiaphas is irritated over the fact that Jesus does not answer these charges, but in fact Jesus is fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 53:7, which says, “He opened not His mouth.”  So in reality, their trial is really turning out to be a farce, until Caiaphas finally asks Him the key question.  This question was really the point of the whole trial and they finally come straight out with it; “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?”  How many times had they asked Him this during His ministry.  “Tell us plainly, if you are the Christ.” (John 10:24)  

Now up to this point, Jesus had not publicly come out with that declaration in no uncertain terms.  Others had declared this to be true, such as the disciples, and Jesus had confirmed that such a declaration came from God.  He had also defended those who called “Hosanna to the Son of David,” which was another title for the Messiah.  He had called Himself the “stone which the builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone” which was a key prophecy of the Messiah.  And He had told the woman in Samaria that He was the Messiah.  But in Jerusalem especially He had not made such an outright claim to being the Messiah to the religious leaders.

But now that HIs hour had come, now that events had transpired to bring Him to the cross as determined by the plan of God, it was the appropriate time to make that declaration. Other questions that are asked in the trials of the Jews and Romans were not of concern to Him.  Their minds were already made up.  But this question was one that He was ready to declare openly and plainly – that He was the Messiah, and all that title represented.

And notice something interesting in their question before we move to Jesus’s answer.  We can see by their question that they considered the Messiah and the Son of God to be analogous. Therefore according to Jewish theology, they considered that the Messiah had to be the Son of God, therefore being equal with God.  Modern liberal theologians who try to make a distinction between being the Messiah or the Son of God do so contrary to Jewish theology, which was the governing principle in this trial as well as in Christ’s declaration.

So notice Jesus’s answer.  In fact, He goes further than just answering their question.  He declares another prophecy concerning Himself and the nature of His Kingdom. Vs.62, And Jesus said, “I am; and you shall see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING WITH THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.”

Now what Jesus says is important, but especially in regards to what constitutes saving faith in Christ. This declaration of Jesus is crucial for defining our faith.  So let’s break it down.  First, in answering simply “I Am”, Jesus is speaking volumes.  He not only claims to be the Messiah, the Anointed One, but He also makes claim to the personal name of God that was given to Moses out of the burning bush, “I am that I am.” 

But I also think that Jesus is saying that as a reminder of a previous answer that He gave the Pharisees in Jerusalem two years earlier. At that time, Jesus said to them in John 8:58 “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” On that occasion they tried to stone Him to death, and now He states His eternal nature again, and this time they will succeed in killing Him.

Secondly, in the next part of His answer, Jesus quotes from two different scriptures.  One part of His answer refers to Psalm 110, verse 1.  “The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” Jesus has said you shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power.  He is claiming the ultimate throne of His kingdom.  It is a spiritual kingdom of God through which the Messiah rules the world, in the hearts of His people.  It is the throne which is above every throne, above all rule and authority, and certainly above the rule and authority of these corrupt, evil religious rulers.  It is the throne to which those who believe in Him must bow.

And He is making the claim that not only is he the Messiah, but no matter if they kill Him, they are going to see Him on HIs throne. He is going to be raised from the dead triumphant, and he is going to sit on the right hand of the Majesty on high. And when He comes with the clouds, He refers not only to His second coming, but coming in judgment upon the world.

The other text Jesus refers to is found in Dan.7:13, “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man.”  In referring to Himself as the Son of Man in this context, Jesus is alluding to the prophecy of Daniel, especially that which says in vs14,”And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.” So Son of Man is a Messianic title that they would have been familiar with.

Now, I would suggest that Jesus’s answer to the high priest  is the definitive answer to what constitutes saving faith. Believing in Jesus Christ then by His own standard is recognizing that He is God, the great I Am, He is the Son of God, which according to the testimony of the Jews meant that He was equal with God in all respects, and that He is the Son of Man, meaning that He became flesh and dwelt among us, that He might become our substitute, so that He might die on our behalf that we might be made the children of God, to become His kingdom, that we might live for Him and serve Him and rule with Him in His eternal kingdom, which shall never pass away.  All of that constitutes saving faith, what it means to believe in Jesus.

Well, the Jews rejected that outright.  They refused to believe.  In fact, Caiaphas makes a great show out of rending his garment, which was done in a prescribed way to show grief.  But in actuality he wasn’t experiencing grief, I think he was happy that Jesus had made this confession, because he could now condemn Him of blasphemy.

Mark 14:63  Tearing his clothes, the high priest said, “What further need do we have of witnesses?”You have heard the blasphemy; how does it seem to you?” And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death.”

Their judgement towards Christ, in spite of all the evidence that He had provided during His three years of ministry that He was the Messiah, was to reject it, to claim blasphemy and condemn Him to death.  I believe that they actually knew that He was the Messiah, and yet in spite of the evidence, wanted to kill Him because He did not fit into their plans and He threatened their power and position.  I believe they knowingly put to death the Son of God.  I can’t be dogmatic about that.  However, I believe ample evidence was there, and more than enough prophecy concerning the Messiah had been fulfilled that they had to have known about. But they rejected it.

Well, the hatred of these self righteous religious leaders had come to the boiling point, to where they could actually bring about the murder of the Messiah.  They take this opportunity to spit on Him, to punch Him, to strike Him.  They even blindfolded Him and then hit Him, while asking “who hit you?”  They truly revealed the evil nature of their hearts.  Their hatred towards Christ had become murderous.

Well, we must close.  But let me try to apply this to us today if I can.  Let’s imagine that you are the judge and jury at the trial of Jesus Christ.  You are the one that must decide who you will say that Jesus is. Who do you say that He is?  It is not enough to recognize that He was a good teacher.  Or that He was a miracle worker and prophet who lived 2000 years ago.  By the words of Jesus own mouth, He declared Himself to be the same God that appeared to Moses in the burning bush 2000 years before. He was the same God that existed before Abraham. He is the same God that existed with God since the beginning of the world. He is either crazy, or a liar, or He is the great “I Am”, the eternal God.

Jesus claims to be the Son of God.  He answered that question of Caiaphas in the affirmative.  That claim makes Him the equal with God. He told the disciples that He and the Father are One. That if you have seen Him, you have seen the Father. He is the author of salvation.  He is the Sent One, the Anointed One, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, who redeems to Himself a people from every tribe and nation. He is the Lord God Almighty,  seated at the right hand of the Father on the throne of God above all power and rule and authority.  And by that claim, He claims sovereignty over our lives.  If we believe in Him as Lord then we will be His people who serve Him. And He is coming again in power and glory for His chosen people.  That is the definition of faith in Jesus Christ, or believing in Jesus Christ, as defined by Jesus.  

How do you judge Him by that statement?  Do you believe in  Him?  The Jews didn’t believe Him and they thought they could condemn Him.  But in actuality they condemned themselves. John 3:18 says “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

If you believe in Him, in all that He claimed to be, then that faith is the means of justification.  “For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.”  I pray that no one tasting of the truth  today hardens their hearts, and spits out the truth of God, and goes away from this place unsaved.  Jesus came to earth to save sinners, and He has paid the price for your sin, that whosoever believes in Him might be saved.  Let’s pray.

We are looking today, in our ongoing study of the book of Mark, at the night before the death of Jesus Christ.  It is the night of His betrayal.  Actually, there are multiple betrayals.  We are all familiar with the betrayal by Judas, but we will see that before the night is over, all of Jesus’ disciples will have deserted Christ.  Now remember that at the beginning of that evening, which was Thursday evening, Jesus and His disciples observed the Passover.  It was customary for the Galileans to observe the Passover supper on Thursday, and the Judeans would observe it on Friday.  Hence Jesus was able to observe the Passover on Thursday, and change it’s symbolism to the Lord’s Supper in so doing, and then the next day, Friday, He was able to offer Himself as the Passover Lamb for the sins of the world.  God’s timing was impeccable, planned in infinite detail since before creation, and Jesus knew exactly what and when all things pertaining to His death would occur.  

I believe that realization on the part of Jesus of the exact details of His death is very important for us to understand.  Some theologians seem to love to portray Christ as an unwilling, and unwitting victim.  But we will see that Christ showed unwavering courage and commitment to the Father’s will, and even more so because He fully knew the horrors set before Him.  Jesus was no coward, He knew what was coming, and yet He courageously set His face towards the cross and no power on Earth could have stopped Him from laying down His life.  And He did that not only because He loved the Father and wanted to do His will, but also because He loved us, and He wanted to obtain for us the price of our redemption.

Another indication that Jesus fully knew what was ahead of Him, is because it was traditional at the close of the Passover meal to sing the Hallel, which was the hymn they sang before going out on the Mt. of Olives.  The Hallel comes from Psalms, and particularly we see in Psalm 118: 27 “Bind the festival sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.”  In Psalm 116, the same hymn, we read in vs 3 “The cords of death encompassed me And the terrors of Sheol (Hades) came upon me; I found distress and sorrow.”   I would suggest that if you read the entire Hallel, you will understand that Jesus faced the knowledge of His death with courage and commitment, and He left the Upper Room after singing His battle song, the Hallel, then He  headed for the Mt. of Olives.

As the disciples followed Jesus out of the Upper Room, headed towards the Mount of Olives, it was dark, and they wound their way through the streets of Jerusalem towards the Kidron Brook, which already was flowing red with blood as the temple mount and the altars drained directly into it.  And as they waded across this bloody brook by the moonlight, Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, because it is written, ‘I WILL STRIKE DOWN THE SHEPHERD, AND THE SHEEP SHALL BE SCATTERED.’ But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.”

Jesus is quoting from a passage in the Old Testament, in Zechariah 13:7.  I suggest to you that it is the Spirit of Christ who was the author of that prophecy, so it is no surprise that Jesus knows it by heart.  Peter writes later in 1Peter 1:10-11 “As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries,  seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.” So Jesus Himself was the author of the prophecies concerning His death. 

And I make much of this principle of the deity of Christ and His divine nature which is spoken of in Hebrews 1:3, because it is important that we understand that it must be God that dies on the cross in order to effect our salvation.  Jesus, if just a man, was no more than just a martyr. Many people have died as martyrs, even many people have died on a cross.  Jesus had to be God in human form in order to effect our salvation through His death.

There is nothing inherently holy in crucifixion. There was an article  in the news some time ago about a primitive and superstitious culture in the Philippines which every year before Easter act out several crucifixions.  They actually flagellate themselves as they walk on these marches, and then it culminates with several of them being tied to a cross and then nails driven into their hands.  The sad thing is that such sacrifice and suffering does nothing in regards to obtaining justification or holiness.  They are suffering needlessly.  Only a holy, righteous God can atone for sin.   And Jesus was the divine, spotless, Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. 

Notice also in this statement of Christ in vs 27,28, that Jesus predicts not only their falling away, but also His death and resurrection, and also the regathering of the disciples afterwards. He says in vs28 “But after that I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee.” He knows all that is going to happen before it happens. It is all going according to a divine plan.

However, Peter doesn’t believe Him. Peter says that even though all the other guys may fall away, that He would never fall away.  I want you to notice some dangerous attributes that Peter exhibits in this statement.  First, he disregards the word of the Lord.  God has given us His word, even His commandments as warnings that we need to heed.  But how often do we brush aside the word of God in view of our own confidence?  We think we know better than the Lord.  The word  says, do not be unequally yoked; we say, we don’t see a problem with it.  The word says, do not be drunk with wine, we say, a few drinks won’t hurt you.  The words says, do not commit fornication, we say, that’s unrealistic in today’s culture.  How foolish Peter was to brush aside so easily the word of the Lord.  And how foolish we are today when we think what the Bible says doesn’t really apply to us, or that there won’t really be any consequences when we disregard it.

Secondly, another dangerous attribute of Peter is that he shows a superior attitude towards his fellow disciples. “They may fall away, but I never will.”  We often do the same thing, don’t we?  We look down at others who have fallen into sin, and yet somehow think that we are above such a thing.  We routinely think that what we do isn’t really so bad.  We conveniently forget how often we sin against God. As I said the other day, we should never see a person enslaved to some grievous sin, without saying, “There, but for the grace of God, go I.”  The scriptures say, “there is no temptation overtaken you, but such as is common to man.”  It’s a dangerous thing to look down upon others while thinking that you are above such things.

The third dangerous attribute of Peter is that he shows that he doesn’t know himself. He has an inflated, conceited opinion of himself as events are going to show. Prov. 16:18 says pride goes before a fall.  Peter is controlled by his ego. Ego is self esteem.  And I think ego is the opposite of humility.  Humility should be the guiding principle of the life of a Christian, not your self esteem. Self esteem doesn’t really think you are that bad. Self esteem makes you think you’re not a sinner.  Self esteem is just a nicer word for pride. And self esteem wants others to confirm or build up your ego.  It’s really a terrible sin that is not often repented of or recognized for what it is. But pride is the original sin, and it’s insidiously rampant among Christians.

Jesus then rebukes Peter with an even more detailed prophecy of the hours to come. “Truly I say to you, that this very night, before a rooster crows twice, you yourself will deny Me three times.”  Jesus is referring to the third watch of the night, between midnight and 3am.  That’s pretty specific, I would say.  And yet Peter denies the word of the Lord again, with an even stronger emphasis, “Even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you.” Though Peter did not know himself, yet the Lord knew his heart.  And notice that Mark says, the other disciples said the same thing.  Yet in just a few hours, all would desert Him and flee.  

How many of us confidently assert that we will never be untrue to the Lord, yet find ourselves later forsaking Him and His word. We do not know our hearts.  Jeremiah 17:9 says “The heart [is] deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” The point that needs to be made if we are to fully understand what is going on in Gethsemane and then at Calvary, is that we are all utterly sinful.  The word of the Lord says in Romans 3:10-12 as it is written, “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;  ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.” Six times the word of God says “there is none.”  That includes you. Not your neighbor, but you are a depraved sinner.  And in Isaiah 53:6, “All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way.”  And furthermore, the word of God says in Romans 6:23 that “the wages of sin is death.” So the sinful man is cut off from God, without hope, and fully deserving of the punishment of eternal death away from God.  

There is no hope in good works, there is no hope in being better than your neighbor, there is no hope in religion.  There is no way to atone for your sins. The only hope is that God will have mercy and forgive us.  But God cannot wink at sin.  God cannot break His own law. If God is a good God, then God must also be a just God. And the justice of God must be meted out towards sinners.  There is only one way for us to escape the judgement that we rightly deserve.  That is if God might transfer our iniquity on another, who takes our place, and punish Him, so that we might go free.  And that is exactly the point of the gospel.  Isaiah 53:6 says, “God has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” And 2Corinthians 5:21 says, “God made [Jesus], who knew no sin, to become sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”  God did not stop counting sin, He just stopped counting my sins against me, and He counted them against Christ. That is the symbolism of the Passover, the innocent spotless lamb dying in the place of the guilty.

I believe that our iniquity, the sins of the world, began to be placed on Jesus that very night in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Gethsemane is a garden on the Mount of Olives, and as you might expect in an olive grove, it was the place where there was an oil press, where the olives were taken to be pressed into olive oil.  In fact, that is what the name Gethsemane literally means, an oil press.  I believe that what happened there that night was the fulfillment, at least in part, of the prophecy in Isaiah 53:10, which says, “But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering.” “The LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.”  It was there, in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Lord began to crush Him, putting Him to grief for our sins.  The guilt of the world began to crush Him, until as Luke 22:44 tells us, “And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”

Notice that Mark says, after Jesus left some disciples and went off by Himself to pray, that he says Jesus was greatly distressed and troubled. I don’t think that the English translation does that phrase justice. I think it could be better translated, filled with horror and anguish. Jesus goes on to say to Peter, James and John who went a little further with Him, “I am overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.”  Then Mark says that Jesus going further still, alone, He threw Himself to the ground and prayed, “Father all things are possible for you, remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.”

Now what is going on here? How does one sorrow to the point of death? Can extreme grief kill someone? I suppose it can. But didn’t Jesus know that this suffering was coming?  Is He now wishing for another way out?  Is He looking for a way to avoid the cross?  Is He crying because He is sick in fear of what is to come in the crucifixion?  I would answer – No! Never!  I think His anguish was not caused by anticipating the cross.  On the contrary, He was looking forward to it.  It was the purpose for which He came.  

No, I think that what was agonizing to Jesus was the horror of sin.  He had never known sin.  He had been always in perfect communion with the Father from eternity past.  Now He begins to know the burden of sin, the horror of sin, the weight of sin, upon His spotless, holy, righteous soul, and the anguish and horror of experiencing our sin  drove Him to the ground, and the weight of all our sins pressed down upon His soul until great drops of blood began to be sweated out of Him.  And in regards to that horror, previously unknown, Jesus calls out  “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.”Jesus is calling out to the Father to remove, not the cross from Him, but the weight of sin from Him, that if there was any other way than to bear this unholy burden of sin then He would that God would do it.  Yet He is willing to bear it, as deemed necessary by the will of the Father.

I want you to see something else that is given to us in this passage for our instruction.  And that is the contrast in attitude between Jesus and the disciples regarding prayer.  Between the two, Jesus and the disciples, it would seem that the Lord needed prayer a lot less than the disciples.  But as the text illustrates, Jesus prays fervently, repeatedly, but the disciples repeatedly are found sleeping instead of praying.

Christ is the quintessential spiritual man, but the disciples are natural men in their actions and attitudes.  The disciples may have been saved, but they are still natural in the way that they view the world around them and their response to circumstances they find themselves in.  And so they do not obtain victory in their lives, because they fail to live by the Spirit, but instead they are walking according to the flesh.

An essential component of a victorious spiritual life is prayer. Prayer is spiritual conversation. Prayer is spiritual connection to God who is Spirit.  So when Jesus warns the disciples to be on the alert, because the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak, He is speaking to that very principle that it is necessary to be in the spirit, to be in communication with the Spirit of God, if we are going to be able to stand firm in the natural world. 

Ephesians 6 tells us that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against angelic principalities and spiritual forces that are fighting against us.  And Paul’s list of the Christian armor gives us only two weapons that we might use in this spiritual battle that we are engaged in.  One is prayer and the other is the Word of God.  Paul has this to say in regards to prayer, “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel.”  

So as we see this contrast between Jesus and the disciples. Jesus is praying fervently. Jesus is throwing Himself on the ground. He is crying, beseeching the Lord.  He is sweating drops of blood as He prays.  He prays repeatedly.  He prays for hours.  We have recorded elsewhere that many times Jesus prayed all night.  And also Jesus implores, practically begs the disciples to pray with Him and for Him.  So that is how Jesus prays in the Garden.  On HIs face in the dirt, crying with tears, sweating with drops of blood, for hours calling out to God. 

Then look at the disciples.  They were too sleepy to pray.  They were too conceited in their own strength to feel a need to pray.  They had physical, rational, normal, natural reasons to lay their heads down and go to sleep.  They just couldn’t see what Jesus was so worked up over.

I wonder which example is the one that is most like our spiritual life?  Do we tend to pray more like Jesus, or more like the disciples?  And let me point out one more thing about this prayer time.  Jesus says, “Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”  Remember Jesus said earlier to Peter, “Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.”  Satan has demanded permission to sift you folks here today like wheat, to sift your children like wheat, to sift your spouse like wheat.  Have you prayed for them, that their faith may not fail?  Your fervent prayers may be the only thing that keeps them from falling.

The point that needs to be made is that if you are desiring to live the spiritual life, the victorious life, then it’s necessary to be proactive spiritually, and not reactive.  In other words, Jesus is saying that prayer now delivers from temptation later.  Prayer now delivers from trials later. I used to have a teacher who said, “Proper prior planning prevents poor performance.”  I think you could also revise that and say, “proper prior prayer prevents poor performance.” 

 The natural instinct is that you live the way you think makes sense now, you do what seems natural now, and then when things fall apart, then when consequences come, then when the crisis arises, then you pray.  But we need to be proactive in our prayer life, that we may not come into temptation. That’s the secret to a successful spiritual life, it’s praying at all times, in good times, when it seems there is no necessity to pray.  Pray at all times in the spirit. I will assure you of this, that if you are in prayer, it is highly unlikely that you will fall into temptation to sin. Prayer is resistance to sin.

Well, the time of trial comes unexpectedly for the disciples, even though they are weary, in fact, it deliberately comes in their weariness.  The devil always attacks us when we are weak.  When we are tired.  He hits us when we are down. And so Judas and the mob are approaching and Jesus who has been watching and praying hears them and says, “Get up, let us be going.  The one who betrays Me is at hand.”  

Some people point to this statement as evidence that Jesus wanted to flee the cross. But in fact the opposite is true.  Jesus wants to go out to meet them.  And as He does, Judas and the mob come up and Judas runs up to Jesus and greets Him with a kiss, which was the prearranged signal with the mob that this was Jesus whom they were supposed to arrest.  It’s only been a few hours since Jesus washed Judas’s feet in the Upper Room and served Him the Passover meal.  Judas went out into the night, told the High Priests that He knew where Jesus would be sleeping that evening, and was given this mob made up from the temple police and Roman soldiers.

Peter though is still determined that through sheer force of will he will not deny the Lord, in fact he will die with Him if necessary.  So he draws his sword and takes a swing at the nearest man and ends up cutting off his ear. Luke’s gospel tells us that Jesus healed the man’s ear and Matthew’s gospel tells us that Jesus rebuked Peter.   The point Jesus made in response to the mob and their arrest of Him was not to fight them with swords.  They came with swords and clubs.  They came with all the physical strength and weapons they could muster.  Peter thought that the disciples must fight fire with fire.  But Jesus doesn’t do that.  Instead, He says all this was done to fulfill scripture.  It was the Father’s plan not to fight against flesh and blood, but to fight against sin and death.  And Jesus would accomplish this great spiritual victory by delivering Himself over to death, so that He might experience the suffering and death that we all deserved, so that we might be given eternal life.  The enemy was sin and death, and Jesus would defeat sin through His righteousness and paying the penalty of our sin through His substitutionary death.

The disciples though, still seeing through physical, natural eyes, are totally taken aback at Jesus’s response.  They don’t understand the spiritual yet.  They are still operating in the natural realm.  They don’t see Jesus doing anything that is going to bring about victory, they think that Jesus is surrendering to the stronger power of the mob.  They think He’s raised the white flag of surrender.  And so they all flee.  

Almost as a footnote, Mark adds an autobiographical note in vs51 and 52.  He was the young man who escaped naked.  Not yet a disciple, just a young hanger on, eventually he would become mentored by Peter and become a valued asset to the church.  But like all the rest, he too deserted Christ that night.

I hope that you recognize in this passage of scripture we have studied today, why Jesus had to suffer and die.  Jesus suffered and died in our place, so that He might fulfill the justice of God, the wrath of God against sin which was poured out on Him.  And He did that so that we through faith in who He is, and what He has done, might be made righteous in Him.  I pray that you have accepted through faith this marvelous gift which Jesus purchased for us.  Saving faith is not just believing Jesus existed, but believing that His substitutionary death was sufficient to satisfy the judgement of God towards me.  And that assurance is given in that God raised Jesus from the dead, having satisfied all judgment.

And then secondly, I hope that you will be encouraged to walk in the Spirit, to live in the Spirit.  1Cor. 2:14-15 says “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.  But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one.”  You want to live the victorious life over sin, which Jesus died to procure for us? Then walk in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh.  Pray at all times in the spirit.  Don’t be wise in your own estimation.  Don’t think too highly of your strength of will.  But put your faith and trust in the Lord and seek Him in all things and at all times.  And if we are diligent to do these things, then I believe it will ensure that we will never forsake the Lord.   

Today we are looking at the section of scripture in which Jesus institutes the Lord’s Supper.  It is called by various names in Christianity today. In some churches, it is the eucharist, in some, it is communion. All refer to the same ceremony, yet all do not observe it in the same way.  It is the belief of this church, and most conservative, evangelical Christian churches, that this ceremony is one of two essential ordinances for the church, the other being baptism.  In fact, some theologians have said that the identifying factors of the church are that it observes the preaching of the word and the observation of the ordinances. So it is important that we know how we are to observe the ordinance of communion, and why.

I believe that the answers to those questions can be found in this passage of scripture.  For the answer to how we are to observe it, I would point to the precursor of the Lord’s supper as the template from which it was established.  And as we se in vs12, it is the ceremony or ritual of the Jews that was known as the feast of Unleavened Bread.  And if you look back at vs 1 of chapter 14, you will see that the Passover and the feast of Unleavened Bread are presented as synonymous.  They refer to the same event, which is a week long celebration of Passover.  

The Passover was perhaps the most important ceremony celebrated in Israel.  It was observed in memory of the deliverance of Israel from captivity to Egypt. You will remember that Israel was held captive by Egypt for 430 years, and God raised up Moses to be their deliverer.  God, through Moses demanded that Pharaoh would let Israel go, but Pharaoh hardened his heart, even though God showed great signs and caused plagues to fall on the Egyptians.  Until at last the patience of God was finished, and God pronounced a final judgement saying that at midnight the death angel would pass through the land, and God would strike dead the firstborn son of whomever did not have the blood of the Passover lamb upon the door posts of their house.

But to provide for the salvation of Israel from the plague of death, God instituted an ordinance which required for the Israelites to take an unblemished lamb and slay it, and put some of the blood upon the doorposts of their house.  Then they were to roast the lamb whole in fire, and eat the lamb with a side dish of bitter herbs and with unleavened bread.  And the angel of death would passover the house that had the blood on the doorposts. Then as a perpetual commemoration of God’s deliverance, this meal was to be taken once a year on the first month of the year, as a way of remembering God’s deliverance of the Israelites from slavery and from death.  

And though all the Jews may not have understood all the full spiritual significance of the feast, other than the historical application, yet from our perspective we know that there were many symbols in the feast which were to be for our instruction.  Namely, that  as the scripture said in Hebrews 9:22, that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. The unblemished Passover lamb that was to live with the Jews in their home for 3 days, and then be sacrificed was a substitute for sin.  It presented the principle of the innocent dying for the guilty.  God allowed for the spotless lamb to be slain for the sins of the  believing family.  The bitter herbs represented the bitter years of slavery to Egypt, which in turn represented the bitter years of enslavement to sin and the world.  And the symbol of unleavened bread represented the removal of sin; sin being signified by the removal of yeast which causes corruption in the bread, making it rise, or in the absence of it, causing it to be unleavened, or uncorrupted.

So the Passover was observed every year in Jerusalem, and Jesus has been heading for this particular observance since the day He began His ministry, referring often to His appointed hour, which was the exact time when the lamb would be slain during the Passover.  Now on the day of the feast, Jesus sends two of His disciples to prepare the meal in a room which He has designated for this important event.  And there is an aspect of mystery to Jesus’s instructions.  He says “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him.”  It sounds like some clandestine arrangement like you would read about in a spy novel or something.  But actually, there is a reason why Jesus would want to keep the location secret, and that is that Judas was looking for a way to betray Him to the rulers. So in saying look for a man carrying a water pitcher, the disciples would readily recognize the incongruity of a man doing something which was typically something only women did, and in so following this man they would be taken to the house which the Lord had designated, without Jesus having to divulge it’s exact whereabouts ahead of time.  Now we don’t know whether or not Jesus had prearranged this, or whether it was His divine foreknowledge, but either way, it was something Christ had arranged, either through divine providence or prearrangement. 

And I believe it was by divine providence, as Christ is able to even tell them the details of the conversation they will have, and Mark tells us that they found everything just as Jesus said it would be.  And so they prepared everything for the Passover meal.  

When it was evening, Jesus came to the house with the rest of the disciples, all twelve of them being now present, and Jesus as the host would have conducted the ceremony.  The timing of this is Thursday evening, by the way.  I’ve heard some Bible scholars explain that the Galileans celebrated the Passover on Thursday evening, but the Judeans celebrated it on Friday. But in any event, according to the Jewish concept of time, the next day began at sundown of the previous day, so therefore Jesus could celebrate the customary meal with His disciples on what we would call Thursday evening, but then be sacrificed Himself on Friday as the Passover Lamb for the remission of sins, even as thousands of lambs were being slain in the temple.

Now according to John’s gospel account, Jesus first washes the disciples feet in preparation for the meal. It was customary to wash the guests feet before entering a house to eat.  And so Jesus takes on the position of a servant, that He might wash the disciples feet.  You can read that account in John 13 if you like, but I will not expound on that aspect of the evening except to point out one fact; and that is that Jesus also washed Judas’s feet.  If you want to know what love looks like, then look no further than at the humility of Jesus who washes the feet of the man whom He knows will betray Him that very night.  

And we see that divine omniscience of Jesus revealed in His remark as they were then seated and eating the meal, “Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me—one who is eating with Me.”  Now this was a shocking statement, and it should be noted that the word betray means literally, to deliver over.  So it is clear what Jesus is saying, yet it is unclear of whom He is speaking of.

If this were a “who dunnit” mystery story then such a statement might draw conspiratorial glances around the dinner table, each of them appraising the criminal intentions of his neighbor.  But to their credit, it sparks intense introspection on the part of the disciples, as they each wonder whether or not they could be the culprit.  They show a healthy sense of self distrust.  They don’t think of themselves as too far above such a thing as disloyalty or even betrayal of their Lord.  

And I say such an attitude is healthy, because we should always have the mindset that we should not think of ourselves as being above temptation to some sin. We should always have a view towards anyone found in some public sin, that there, except for the grace of God, go I.   In fact, to some extent, everyone of them would desert Him that night.  And Peter would in fact publicly deny Him three times.  Betrayal is just one step further.

So they each ask with a sense of inner grief, “Surely, not I?” They grieve because they mourn their own lack of fortitude or certitude.  They know they are weak, but they pray that they are not that weak.  And Jesus does not immediately allay their fear.  Nor does He identify the culprit.  But Jesus allows a moment of introspection and examination.  And in 1 Corinthians 11:28, Paul warns that before taking the Lord’s Supper we too must take a moment to examine ourselves that we do not eat of the table of the Lord unworthily.  We need to take the time to examine ourselves, to look for the yeast which needs to be removed from the Lord’s house, whose house we are, if we are to properly celebrate what Jesus has done for us in His sacrifice.

Jesus gives an answer to their questions of “Is it I” by giving an ambiguous answer, “It is one of the twelve, one who dips with Me in the bowl.”  This was referring to the practice of eating a piece of bread dipped in the juices and herbs and meat.   He was referring to the unthinkable act of sharing His food and yet plotting His betrayal by one of His own friends and close acquaintances.

But though Jesus’ statement was meant to be ambiguous to the disciples, it must have cut like a knife to Judas, who had already planned to betray Jesus, and now understood that Jesus knew his heart.  It’s very likely that among the disciples none were more highly esteemed than Judas.  He was above reproach.  He was the treasurer, even though someone like Matthew, the former tax collector, had more experience with handling money.  Judas was a Judean, whereas all the others were Galileean.  Therefore he was probably from a higher level of society, was better educated, even possibly more noble in appearance. And yet we are reminded that God said, “man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.”  And Jesus knew what Judas had planned in his heart.

And then Jesus adds a warning for Judas. “For the Son of Man is to go just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.”  Though the Christ had been prophesied in the scriptures that He would die, (in Isaiah 53 especially) yet Jesus is saying that Judas is still responsible for his actions. Though God appointed that Jesus would suffer for the sins of the world, yet still man who caused His suffering is responsible.  Nowhere in scripture does predestination cancel human responsibility. 

Jesus intended it as a warning to Judas, but also as an opportunity to repent.  Judas could still  have repented.  Perhaps even up to the moment Judas kissed Jesus as a signal to the mob later on that night, he could have still repented.  But like Pharaoh, Judas continued to harden his heart.

Well, at this point, Judas goes out of the room, and the other disciples thought that Jesus must have given him some mission to go buy something that was needed. And so Jesus resumes the Passover meal, and in so doing He institutes the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper.  And please note that I try to consistently use the term “ordinance.”  There is another word that is often heard in this regard which is “sacrament.”   Sacrament infers an inherent sacredness by which a certain measure of righteousness is attained.  The Roman Catholics, for instance, believe that as a sacrament, taking the host actually credits you with righteousness. They believe it is a means of salvation. They also believe in transubstantiation, in which the bread and wine become the very body and blood of Christ as it is taken.  The Reformation began to move Protestants away from that view, and most evangelical Christians today believe that it is representative, or symbolic of Christ’s body, but it is not His actual body. 

And we believe that Jesus was speaking figuratively.  Because as the Passover meal was symbolic of God’s deliverance of Israel from their sins, in like manner the Lord’s Supper is symbolic of Christ’s deliverance from the penalty of sin.  Jesus often used symbolic language to teach spiritual principles.  For instance, Jesus said “I am the vine, you are the branches.” That’s obviously symbolic.  Jesus said about Himself that He is the door, He is the light of the world, He is the good shepherd, He is the bread that came down out of heaven, He was the rock in the wilderness, He is the water of life.  In all those expressions we understand them to be symbolic, and so also then is the Lord’s Supper.

Furthermore, Jesus was sitting at this supper in front of them in His natural body, a 33 year old Jewish man, and He was holding out a piece of bread and a cup of wine and saying, “this is My body, this is My blood.”  He was not yet crucified, so He could not be actually offering those things to them as His physical body, but as symbols, representing what He would accomplish for them on the cross.

So without further debate, it was a symbolic ceremony that Jesus was instituting.  But what does it symbolize?  Well, once again we need to look at the precursor, the Passover meal.  Jesus was declaring that He was the Passover Lamb.  We are the people that must offer an unblemished sacrifice for the remission of sins, that the angel of death might pass over us. We do not have a qualified unblemished lamb that we may offer to God.  The Bible says that there is none righteous, no not one.  The original Passover Lamb in Egypt was a symbol of the true Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world – which at that time was yet to come.  The Passover pointed forward in faith to the day when Christ would be slain as the unblemished Lamb of God.  The Lord’s Supper points back in faith to the day when Christ was slain as the unblemished Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. 

As the Jews ate the Passover meal, they looked forward to that promise which would be fulfilled by the Messiah.  Even so, as we eat the Lord’s Supper, we look back in faith to what Christ accomplished on the cross, the righteous dying in the place of the unrighteous.  The innocent dying for the guilty.  We recognize that we are guilty and that He died in our place.  And then we eat of the unleavened bread, symbolic of receiving the righteousness of Christ which is applied to us by faith.  As He is righteous, we by faith become righteous.  That is why we eat the unleavened bread.  It represents His righteous, sinless body, which was broken for us. 

And then we drink of the cup.  The cup, Jesus said, was the new covenant in His blood.  God made a covenant with man.  A covenant is a binding agreement, a promise, usually sealed with an oath, or a deposit, or sometimes with blood.  Jesus made the strongest possible covenant, when He sealed it with His own blood, the very blood of God.  By faith in the shedding of His blood we are saved.  Romans 5:9 “Since, therefore, we are now justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.”  

The Old Testament spoke of this new covenant, especially in Jeremiah 31:33-34 “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” This covenant between God and man for our forgiveness is ratified by Christ’s blood.

The author of Hebrews tells us that Jesus is the guarantee of a better covenant with better promises.  Though we celebrate the Lord’s Supper again and again, it is in remembrance, not by a continual sacrifice.  The scripture says once and for all His sacrifice has sufficed to be the guarantee of our inheritance in heaven as children of God.  But notice that Jesus says that His blood has been poured out for many.  That is, for those who receive His sacrifice and substitution for themselves.  Those who believe in Him, and who accept Him as their Lord and Savior.  And that is what we are symbolically referring to  when we eat and drink of the Lord’s Supper.  Just as baptism does not save us, but it represents dying to sin and being raised to newness of life, so the Lord’s Supper represents what Christ has done in dying for our sins, and what we have believed and received, and now live with Him in us, and us in Him.

Finally, there is one last statement which Jesus makes in vs. 25, “Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”  In this statement Jesus reveals that the Lord’s Supper not only points back in remembrance to the cross, but also it points forward to the second coming.  When Jesus speaks here of the Kingdom of God, He speaks of the consummation of the kingdom, when Jesus comes for His bride the church, and we are with the Lord, and participate in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.   Jesus is prophesying, in the face of His imminent death, that He will rise again, and He will return to claim His kingdom as it’s King.  It is then not just a solemn remembrance of His death, but also a blessed hope of the resurrection, not only for Christ as the first fruits, but also for us as His bride, who will never taste death but will be raised with a new, glorified body to be with the Lord forever.  And that is something to celebrate.

In vs.26, Mark says that they concluded the ceremony by singing a hymn, and went out on the Mount of Olives.  I would point out that this is the only time we are told in scripture that Jesus or the disciples sung.  I’m sure it wasn’t the only time.  But it’s scarcity tells us that singing did not have the emphasis in New Testament worship that we have given it in the church today.  Now you can make as much of that as you want.  But I think we need to examine what we do today in the church in the name of worship by looking at the example of the early church.  There were other examples of singing in the church, Paul and Silas singing in prison comes to mind. And both James and Paul instruct us to sing.  

But if we look at the traditional Passover Feast ceremony, then we learn that the hymn they closed the Passover feast with was called the Hallel, which is Psalm 116 to 118.  I wish I could take this opportunity to read them in their entirety, but we do not have the time.  It is particularly poignant though to read some of the verses while recognizing what Jesus was about to go through as He was singing them. We don’t know the melodies of these songs today, but I can’t help but imagine that they were like fighting songs, like marching songs, that stirred up courage and faith in a time of trouble.  And so in closing, I would like to read just a few random verses as they speak so vividly of what Jesus must have been thinking and feeling as He prepared Himself for the cross.

We read Psalm 116 at the start of our service, so I will just read a few from Psalm 118.

Psalm 118:1, 5-6, 8, 14, 16-17, 19, 22, 27-29 . … 5 From my distress I called upon the LORD; The LORD answered me and set me in a large place. 6 The LORD is for me; I will not fear; What can man do to me? … 8 It is better to take refuge in the LORD Than to trust in man. … 14 The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation. … 16 The right hand of the LORD is exalted; The right hand of the LORD does valiantly. 17 I will not die, but live, And tell of the works of the LORD. … 19 Open to me the gates of righteousness; I shall enter through them, I shall give thanks to the LORD. … 22 The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief corner stone. … 27 Bind the festival sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. 28 You are my God, and I give thanks to You; You are my God, I extol You.

Let us not forget that Jesus suffered and died for us, that those who believe in Him and accept Him as their Savior and Lord might have the forgiveness of sins and have everlasting life. We are now going to celebrate the Lord’s Supper.  Let’s pray as we examine our hearts.  

Last week we looked at the most important question in the world, which is what must I do to inherit eternal life? The rich young ruler was considered a good person. But he found that he wasn’t good enough to enter the kingdom of heaven. The question before us today in the passage we’re looking at, is how do you become great in the kingdom of God? A desire for greatness is a worthy goal, if it is achieved within the realm of the kingdom of heaven. But I would be willing to guess that many people who may desire greatness, consider it only within the temporal, earthly realm, and aren’t very concerned about being great in the kingdom of God.

We typically think of greatness in the realm of sports figures. Hank Aaron was a great baseball player. Maybe the best there ever was. Muhammed Ali considered himself the greatest boxer. That’s open for debate. Tom Brady could be considered perhaps the greatest quarterback in football. That is unless you’re an old Colts fan like my wife. Then you would probably say Johnny Unitas was the greatest quarterback. My sport of choice is surfing.  But I’m not a great surfer by any stretch of the imagination.  But there are a few icons in the sport that have achieved greatness to some degree or another.  One such guy is a man named Laird Hamilton.  And even if you aren’t a surfer, you might have heard of Laird.  

Surfer Magazine once labeled Laird as “the sport’s most complete surfer, displaying almost unnerving expertise in a multitude of disciplines, and flat out surfing’s biggest, boldest, bravest, and the best big wave surfer in the world today, bar none.” I guess that qualifies Laird as being one of the greatest surfers ever. 

Usually along with such physical feats of greatness come also a lot of arrogance and pride.  And perhaps Laird was prone to that sort of thing at certain times in his life. But I understand that a near death experience may have tempered that arrogance to a certain degree. In fact, according to a YouTube video I saw, it would appear that he turned to the Lord in that situation.  I can’t say that he is saved, but it certainly seemed like that near death experience may have humbled him to some degree.  

So a while back I watched an interview with Laird in which they talked about all sorts of things that were going in his life, and the interviewer finished the talk with a last question which was “How do you define greatness?”  You would half expect an answer like, “well if you look up greatness in the dictionary you will see my picture.”  But the answer that Laird gave was really kind of out of character for him.  He said greatness required compassion, being courageous, humility and love.  There could be other aspects as well, he said, but those were in his opinion the top four.  Not exactly the stereotypical answer you would expect from a great sports figure, is it?  

The topic we are looking at in today’s passage is that of greatness, and I’ve titled the message “the gospel’s path to greatness.”  This has really been a sort of a theme in this chapter and even in the previous chapter.  There is a recurring theme about what it means to be considered great in the kingdom of God.  And in regards to Laird’s answer to the question of what constitutes greatness, I was quite surprised to find a correlation here in this passage of those same four points, compassion, courageousness, humility and love.  I think we are going to see Jesus illustrate each of those characteristics in the following passage, though not necessarily in that order.  

Before we get into this passage though, let’s look back at the last verse of the previous passage which I think gives us spiritual insight into God’s perspective on greatness.  Jesus said in vs.31, “But many who are first will be last, and the last, first.”  That statement sets the stage by letting us know that God doesn’t look at greatness the way man looks at greatness.  Let’s look now at the opening scene, in which we see the courageousness of Christ which is one of the essential characteristics of greatness.  

In vs32 we see Jesus leading His disciples on the road to Jerusalem.  Notice that He is taking the lead.  He is purposely, resolutely heading to His destiny with the cross.  The disciples aren’t fully aware of where He is leading them, but He knows very well the pain and suffering that awaits Him.  So Mark says He took the disciples aside to explain to them more fully what lies ahead.  Marks says the disciples are amazed and fearful.  Yet Christ is courageous.  He resolutely marches toward what most people would run from. Jesus knows the full ramifications of all that is inculcated in the cross.  Far beyond what we can even understand from the benefit of having the scripture accounts, He knew completely in advance.  And yet He faces towards Jerusalem, heading resolutely towards the cross.

Notice also what Jesus has to say about His destiny.  This is the third time in Mark that we see Jesus foretelling that He will suffer death.  He first did so in chapter 8 vs 3, after Peter had affirmed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God. Then He gave a more detailed version of this prophecy in chapter 9 vs 31.  And now in chapter 10 vs 33,34 He gives the most detailed version yet.  This is a great illustration of what I have often referred to as “progressive revelation.” That as you walk in obedience to the light God gives you today, He will give you more light for the next step.  It is important, not that we have full knowledge, but that we have full faith in what knowledge we have received and walk in it in obedience.  And when we do that, then God will give us more knowledge that we might walk in it.  

In this third prophecy of vs 33 and 34, we see seven distinct prophecies that Jesus reveals.  That’s pretty definitive prophecy isn’t it?  Jesus is not just giving an indistinct allusion to something that may or may not happen, but very specific things regarding His Passion.  Notice these seven points; 1, the Son of Man will be betrayed into the hands of the chief priests and scribes, 2, they shall condemn Him to death, 3, they will hand Him over to the Gentiles, 4, they will mock Him and spit on Him, 5, they will scourge Him, 6, they will kill Him, and 7, three days later He will rise again.  That is incredibly detailed prophecy concerning Himself, and as we all know, all those things were fulfilled to the letter. 

You know, I’m sure a lot of us we wish we could know the future.  But to know the way you will die, especially the time and the manner, which in Jesus’ case was through torture, is not a knowledge that any of us would want to have.  But to have this foreknowledge to this degree, and then to resolutely head towards it rather than run from it is to show courage at it’s greatest level.  It is one thing to go on a dangerous adventure, perhaps to surf the biggest waves you can find, but you do so with the expectation that you will survive.  Jesus went to Calvary knowing that He would be tortured and killed and yet willingly offers Himself up for our sakes.

And that courage illustrates another characteristic of greatness, which is love.  Jesus said in John 15:13, “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lays down His life for His friends.” Jesus loved us with a sacrificial love.  The greatest love that one can exhibit is to lay down your life for another.   John 13:1 says, “having loved His own, He loved them to the uttermost.”

There is another essential element of greatness, which is humility.  Yet first  we see that the disciples illustrate the negative contrast to Biblical principle of humility, through their selfish ambition. Their selfish ambition is a sharp contrast to Christ’s humility.  We see this starting in vs35.  

The gospel of Matthew adds further detail to this situation – Matthew says the mother of James and John accompanies them, and in some way or another adds her request to theirs.  They start by approaching Jesus and asking Him to do them a favor.  It would seem they understood at least that Jesus was going to be established on His throne as the ruler of the Kingdom of God.  So they have that going for them.  They have faith in Christ the King and the gospel of the kingdom.  But that’s where the good implications of their question ends.  What they were asking for, and even recruited their mother to help them get, was to be seated on the right hand and the left hand of Christ when He sat on His throne.  They were asking for the chief seats of honor in the kingdom. They were asking to be recognized as the greatest in the kingdom of God, second only to Christ.

Now this is nothing short of naked, unbridled, selfish ambition.  It is a desire to be given preference over the other disciples.  It is a desire to be recognized as greater than the other disciples.  But as we will see, it was not a good desire, but a sinful desire born of of selfishness and pride.  

Notice the sharp contrast between Jesus and the two disciples; Jesus is predicting His humiliation, while they are asking for their exaltation.  But before exaltation must come humility. Humility is an essential characteristic of greatness.  Jesus was a perfect example of humility, having left His glory in heaven to become a servant.  The apostle Paul says we are to emulate this example of Christ’s humility in Phil. 2:3-8, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;  do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.  Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,  who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,  but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.  Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”  Notice that Paul said we are to have the same attitude as Christ did in regards to humility, putting the needs of others before yourself.

That’s the exact opposite of the attitude of the world, isn’t it?  The doctrine of the world is go for it, grab all you can get, protect and proclaim your rights.  I’ve often said in regards to surfing that it is one of the most selfish sports there is.  There are no referees out there, no rules saying who’s turn it is.  And so it’s every man for himself.  And consequently it turns out to be a very selfish endeavor with everyone trying to get as many waves as they can.  The better you are, the more waves you get.  And that’s a good illustration of what is wrong with the world’s view of greatness.  Climb over, walk over anyone in pursuit of your goals. All’s fair in love and war. Do whatever you have to do to advance yourself. But that’s not God’s path to greatness.  

Notice what Jesus says in regards to this request of James and John. “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” They said to Him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you shall drink; and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized. But to sit on My right or on My left, this is not Mine to give; but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

James and John seem a little overconfident in their answer that they would be able to drink the cup that Jesus drinks, and be baptized in His baptism.  Whether or not they fully realize it, Jesus is talking about the agony that He will suffer at the cross.  To “drink the cup” was a Hebrew idiom which they should have realized meant to fully undergo the same experience.  And to be baptized they should have been understood meant to be engulfed, or overwhelmed.  Their answer showed they obviously did not understand what He had just said about being scourged and delivered up to be killed.  They probably thought that was just hyperbole.  Just like we think that it is hyperbole when Jesus said in the previous passage that it was impossible for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.  We have a tendency to disregard those truths which don’t fit our template.  

But Jesus out of His compassion for these two disciples does not rebuke them, in fact He acknowledges that they will in fact endure a similar baptism of fire and drink the bitter cup.  Little did these aggressive, ambitious young men who, by the way were known as the Sons of Thunder, little did they know then that one of them, James, would become the first martyr of the church, and the other brother John would be imprisoned on the Isle of Patmos.  But it should be noted that while Jesus’s suffering and death was vicarious, their suffering could never be, but nevertheless it is related in the sense they would suffer for Christ’s sake. 

However, it needs to be pointed out that they were overconfident in their assertion that they could endure what Christ would endure.  In fact we know that on the night of His arrest, they initially  ran away as did all the disciples.  But at this moment, they are full of bravado.  And that is an important distinction in the pursuit of greatness.  One must not mistake bravado for courageousness. There is an old adage I like a lot which was spoken by a king of Israel, ‘Let not the one who puts on his armor boast like the one who takes it off.’  Jesus is courageous in the truest sense of the word.  The disciples are full of bravado.  They have not yet had their faith put to the test.  After the resurrection, they will exhibit some of that courage that Christ had.  But up to this point they are full of their own self importance.

Well, lest we think too little of James and John and too much of the other disciples, note that in vs 41 that when the other disciples hear this they become indignant towards the two brothers. They are indignant because the greed of the two is exposed, but their indignation exposes their greed as well.  This desire for greatness is a long standing issue with the disciples.  Remember back in chapter 9 vs 34 they are discussing among themselves which one of them would be the greatest.  So if anything, they are just jealous that James and John spoke up to claim those thrones before they did.  All of them are guilty of the same selfish interests. 

But before we move on, let’s be honest about ourselves.  It is human nature to think of yourself first.  It’s human nature to look out for number one.  But though it may be human, it is indicative of our sin nature. That is why Jesus said the second most important commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself.  The first commandment is to love God above everything and everyone.  The second commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. 

So Jesus needs to correct this attitude among the disciples, so He stops and calls them together for a lesson.  And He tells them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

First, Jesus uses an analogy of the world’s great men as compared to those who would be great in the kingdom.  In the world’s system of greatness, the rulers exercise authority over the others.  To exercise authority is to lord one’s superiority over people, to oppress people, to govern people.  They make laws and ordinances to restrict or control.  And in so doing they make the people serve them.

But that is not the way God would have greatness expressed. In the kingdom of God, the great serve the weak.  The ruler becomes the servant.  As illustrated by the Lord Himself, He came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. 

Jesus is saying that in the kingdom of God in which He is Ruler, it is the exact opposite of what is practiced in the world. Greatness consists in serving, in the outpouring of self in service to others.  It is to practice sacrificial love, and that not just to those who can reciprocate by advancing you, but even to those who cannot repay or to those who are undeserving.  This reveals yet another characteristic of greatness, that of humility, and no one is more humble than a servant.  Remember the text we looked at earlier in Phil. 2:7,8 “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,  who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,  but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.  Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

The service which Jesus came to give was to give His life as a ransom for many.  This ransom paid in Jesus’s blood is what is known in theological terms as substitutionary atonement.  Isaiah 53:11 in speaking prophetically of the Messiah says, “As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities.” 

Now finally, Mark gives us an illustration of greatness in the account of the healing of a blind man named Bartimaeus. As Jesus and the disciples are walking out of Jericho, Bartimaeus hears that Jesus is passing by.  And so this poor blind man, a beggar, begins to call out in desperation for Jesus to have mercy on Him.  Bartimaeus is a perfect picture of a man who is lost.  He is the perfect picture of a man who needs to be saved.  First he is blind. The image of blindness is a common metaphor presented in the gospel for those outside the kingdom of God.  Paul says in 2Cor. 4:4 “the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” 

Secondly, he is a beggar. In the eyes of the world there is certainly nothing great about him. In regards to salvation it is necessary to see yourself as a beggar.  Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” To be poor in spirit is to recognize that you are spiritually bankrupt. To be a beggar means you recognize that you have no means by which to be saved.  To be rich is to think yourself as self sufficient, when in fact that very attitude prevents you from receiving the grace of God unto salvation.  So the fact that this blind man is a beggar makes him an excellent candidate for salvation.

And thirdly, notice his desperation.  His urgency.  He cries out repeatedly, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.”  People around him told him to be quiet.  But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”  Listen, that is how you are saved.  That is how you enter the kingdom, as a beggar, as one who realizes that he is blind, hopeless and helpless to affect anything on his own.  And then a desperate appeal to God for mercy.  A blind person in those days had no other recourse than to beg.  There were no state resources available to such a person.  There were no cures, no doctors that could offer help.  There were no jobs to be had for blind people.  You had to beg.  It was a hopeless situation. 

And so is our natural condition.  God wants us to recognize the reality of our sinful condition.  He wants us to realize our hopelessness, so that our hope is in Christ, our faith is in Him alone.  So Jesus says, “call him to come here.”  So they said, “Take courage, stand up! He is calling for you.”  Notice that characteristic of courage again, but now it’s on the part of the blind man. And here we see the proper application of courage.  Courage is acting in faith to what God has promised.  If the Lord calls us to it, we may be courageous because we know that it is according to HIs will.  

So Jesus asks him “What do you want Me to do for you?” Jesus asks this not because He doesn’t already know the answer but because He wants Bartimaeus to confess what he desires of the Lord.  The Lord knows what we need, but He wants us to ask for it.  He wants us to confess it. And so Bartimaeus says, “Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!”  It’s interesting that he said, “regain my sight.”  That would indicate that at one time he had his eyesight, but for some reason or another had become blind.    

The linguists tell us that Rabboni is equivalent to calling Jesus Master.  First he called Jesus “Son of David.”  That’s a Messianic title.  Now he calls Him “Master.”  That is a recognition of Jesus’ superiority. He recognizes that Jesus has control over His creation.

And in response, Jesus praises him for his faith. Vs 52 “And Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your faith has made you well.’ Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road.”  The word there that Mark uses which has been translated as “made you well” is actually in the Greek “souzo”. Souzo may also be translated as your faith has saved you. I think that’s more accurate. He asked for physical sight, but Jesus gave him spiritual sight and physical sight.

But notice Jesus says, your faith has made you well.  Faith in what, you might ask?  Faith in the power of healing?  Faith that he could be healed? Not at all.  But rather faith in Christ, in who He is, in His authority and power as Lord and Christ.   And immediately he received his sight.  And when the procession started up again for Jerusalem, Bartimaeus followed them.  

Listen, this healing of the blind man is not only an illustration of the greatness of Jesus, as illustrated by His compassion, His love and humility in serving a beggar, but also the greatness of Bartimaeus.   This man went from being the least in the eyes of the world to great in the kingdom of God. Jesus said in Matthew 11:11, that he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist, who was the greatest among men.  To see Jesus in the light of His truth, to have faith in Him and to forsake all and follow Him, is to begin a journey on the path to greatness according to the gospel.  There can be nothing greater than to inherit eternal life, to become a citizen of the kingdom of God, and to become a child of God.  That is greatness that far surpasses all the world’s concept of greatness.

The question for you then is, have you begun that journey to greatness?  According to the standards of man you may think you have already accomplished much in that regard.  But in the kingdom of God, it begins with a new birth, becoming like a child, realizing like Bartimaeaus that you are helpless and hopelessly blind, unable to do anything of your own power, and calling upon the mercy of God to save you. And then in the light of God’s truth, to follow Him in faith.  That is the path to greatness.  

As I was talking about this concept to someone the other day, I said that before you can become great, you must first become good.  Before you can become a great surfer or great football player, you must first become good.  But becoming good spiritually is not something we can achieve through our own efforts.  We become good through faith in the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ, believing in who He is and what He has accomplished on our behalf.  And through faith in Him, our iniquity is transferred to Him, and His righteousness is transferred to us, so that we are made good, made righteous in Christ before God.  Then, and only then, we may be able to do even greater works than these, as Jesus Himself promised.  

The question before us today is without a doubt, the most important question in the world.  We find it articulated by the rich, young ruler in vs 17.   The question asked by the young man is this: “what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”  It is a question that should be of the upmost concern to everyone here, to everyone in every age.  Hebrews 9:27 says, “It is appointed unto man once to die, and after that comes the judgement.” 

The certainty and the inevitability of death should be apparent to any thinking person.  We consider it prudent to plan and save and prepare for our retirement, and yet we do not seem to prepare for death. You may not make it to retirement. You don’t know what the stock market or real estate market will be like 10 years from now, or if you will be around to find out.  But reality should tell you that one day every man and woman in this audience today will die.  Science would like us to believe that we simply cease to exist when we die.  But the Bible tells us that upon death we will face God’s judgment and the verdict of that judgment will be eternity in either heaven or hell.  

Mark is presenting for us the gospel of Jesus Christ.  He is not writing a biography of Jesus Christ per se, but he’s writing the gospel.  The gospel is the good news that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the Son of God, the King of the Kingdom of God,  who took on human form and became our substitute and our Savior, paying the penalty for our sin by His death, that we might receive eternal life in the kingdom of God. 

And as Mark writes this chapter of his gospel, he uses two events to illustrate how one may enter into that life in the kingdom of God.  Last week, we looked at the passage beginning in chapter 10 vs 13, in which Jesus essentially says that the way to enter into eternal life is by becoming like a child.  Jesus says in vs15 “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it [at all.]”. I said last week that means that you must be born again.  There must be new birth, spiritual new birth.  Jesus said in Matthew’s account of that event that you must be converted and become like a child to enter into eternal life. Jesus said in John 3 to Nicodemus, “you must be born again.”  And you are born again spiritually when by faith and trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior you are regenerated by the Holy Spirit and given new life in the Spirit.

Now in the passage we are looking at this week, the same question is presented, but in this situation, the person finds out he is not able to enter into eternal life because he was trusting in his accomplishments.  He was trusting in his own righteousness, and in his wealth.  The baby that Jesus used previously as an illustration had no accomplishments, had nothing by which to gain merit with before God, had no wealth, and had to trust completely in Jesus Christ for his salvation. The rich young ruler has everything that wealth and position and good works have to offer, and yet finds it is not enough to gain entrance into eternal life. 

So the incident that Mark records for us in the meeting of the rich, young ruler, provides a sharp contrast to that of the children.  The children came to Jesus in their helplessness and trust and they are accepted into the kingdom.  The rich young ruler comes to Jesus in his wealth and self sufficiency and he goes away crestfallen that he cannot enter the kingdom.

Let’s look more closely at why the rich, young ruler was not able to enter the kingdom of God.  I keep referring to this man as the rich, young ruler, but Mark doesn’t call him that.  Mark just calls him a man, and so we have to get the rest of the description from the other synoptic gospel accounts.  But all the gospel writers  say that he was rich, that he owned much property.  The fact that he was young may not have a lot of bearing, but the fact that he was a ruler probably indicates that he was a religious ruler of a synagogue.

Notice that he comes running up to Jesus.  That may be an indication of his youth.  He is excited to meet Jesus.  He is eager to find out the answer to a question that is obviously important to him.  Those are all good qualities.  We should all be eager to know the truth concerning the kingdom of God, and recognizing that Christ is the source of truth is an important first step.  Jesus Himself declared, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father except by Me.”  So it is a good first step for this young man to come to the Lord with a sense of eagerness, and it is prudent to come with a sense of urgency.

Then Mark says that this young man knelt before Jesus and addressed Him as “Good Teacher.”  As a ruler of a synagogue, this would indicate an uncharacteristic willingness to humble himself, and a reverence for Jesus.  This also is a good beginning, but Jesus is going to seize upon that reference to Him as “good” in order to get this man to see who He really is.  To believe in Jesus Christ, in who He is, and what He has done, is the basis for our faith which is required for salvation.  Does this man believe that Jesus is the Son of God? I would suggest from his address of Jesus as “Good Teacher” that he doesn’t really understand who Jesus is.

So while his sincerity and urgency and reverence are commendable, it still falls short of what is necessary to gain eternal life.  That raises an important point that needs to be stressed.  Many people are impressed to come to the Lord for a variety of reasons.  And according to popular opinion, you just need to come as you are and be sincere, and if you have some degree of belief that  God is real, then God will accept you.  But Jesus makes it clear that sincerity alone is not enough.  Only the truth can make you free. So Jesus questions him in vs18, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.”

And that is the crux of the issue.  Yes, we are saved by faith in Christ.  In John 3:15 we read that   “Whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” But believes what about Jesus? That is the essential question.  What Jesus is pointing out is not that He isn’t good, and only the Father is good.  But rather He’s making the point that if He is truly good, then He must be God.  A lot of people are willing to say that Jesus is good, He is a good teacher.  That He was a mystic, a shaman, a spiritual guide.  But Jesus never claimed to be just a teacher or just a prophet.  He claimed to be the Son of God.  He told Philip, “if you have seen Me you have seen the Father.  I and the Father are One.”  He told the Pharisees, “Before Abraham was, I am.” Therefore, either Jesus is God, and is good, or He is a megalomaniac, He is an evil imposter.  But He cannot be good unless He is God, because He claimed to be God.

Before you can gain entrance into eternal life, or the kingdom of God, you must recognize that Jesus is God.  Salvation is from the Lord.  And Jesus the Lord is the only  way to salvation. Jesus said “no man comes to the Father except by Me.”  It is only through the grace of God that we might come to know God and be accepted  by God and receive eternal life.  A good man, even the best of men, could not by his death atone for even his own sins, much less anyone else’s.  Only God can atone for the sins of the world.

The problem though really wasn’t whether or not Jesus was good, but that the young man thought he himself was good.  If you had met him, he was what you might call a good person.  He was religious, he had his head on straight, he was moral, he was sincere, he performed good works,  he was all the things that we think constitute goodness.  In his mind, I’m sure he didn’t think that he needed to be saved, he just wanted the assurance that he was going to have eternal life. He wanted Jesus to confirm that he was good enough to enter into eternal life. It’s like when you were in college, and you had worked hard to get good grades in class, but you come to the teacher near the end of the course and ask him if you’re going to get an A in that class.  I’m sure that if you compared him to practically everyone else around, you would consider him the upper crust of society.  He had no obvious shortcomings.  If anyone could go to heaven, it would be someone like him.  And it’s evident that he thought of himself that way.

So Jesus turns the conversation to the standard of goodness.  The standard of righteousness.  God’s standard of righteousness is not by comparing you to your neighbor, or your husband, for that matter.  According to our standards, we are righteous, or at least we think, we’re really not a bad person. Certainly not deserving of spending eternity in hell.  But Jesus turned him to the standard of God’s righteousness, which is the law, or commandments.  

Jesus said in vs.19 “You know the commandments, ‘DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, Do not defraud, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.’”  And notice how quick the young ruler answered, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.”  Now I’m sure he was sincere.  But I am also certain that Jesus, knowing all things and able to know his heart, was more than aware of the ways in which this man had fallen short of those commandments.  But the Lord would allow this rich young ruler’s answer to stand, and move him from the second table of the law to the first table.  The second table, or the second half of the law, deals with mans’ actions towards man.  The first table of the law deals with man’s actions towards God. Had the young man been in attendance at the Sermon on the Mount, he would have known that Jesus equated hate with murder, and lust with adultery and so forth.  But rather than address those internal shortcomings, Jesus brings his attention to his relationship with God.

Vs. 21 Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

Notice in bringing his attention to his relationship to God, Jesus first demonstrates God’s love for us.  We would have no chance of eternal life were it not for the love of God.  John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should have eternal life.”  God’s love comes first in our relationship with God.  We love, because He first loved us.  Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  In any relationship we might have with God, it must be predicated by the fact that God first loved us.

Secondly, if God loved us, then we are to love God. Jesus said in another place that the foremost commandment was this; (Mark 12:30)  “AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.”  So the question Jesus posed to the young man was this; if you think you keep the commandments, then here is the foremost commandment.  And if I am good, then I am God.  And if I am God and you love Me with all your heart and soul, then you will do what I command you.  And this is my command, “Go and sell all you possess and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, follow Me.”  

Now no matter how you look at this statement, this is a tough thing to do.  Imagine if that were it.  Imagine if the only way to enter into heaven was to sell all that you have and give it to the poor, and then follow Christ. If that were truly the only way to have eternal life, then I dare say that none of us here today would really be willing to make that sacrifice.  Would you be willing to sell your stocks, your cars, your houses, your jewelry, etc, etc, and give it all away to poor people?  I think not.  I think all of us would be like the rich young ruler and walk away from this church crestfallen, knowing that we were not willing to give it all up to God.

So then, according to this standard of righteousness, none of us can be saved. This young man’s refusal to sell everything exposed three sins against the commandments.  First, He did not love the Lord with all his heart, mind and strength.  Secondly, he sinned by holding onto idols in his life. You cannot serve God and wealth.  His wealth was his idol.  And thirdly, he sinned against the second foremost commandment, which is that you shall love your neighbor as yourself.  If he truly loved his neighbor as himself he would have acquiesced to the Lord’s request and given the poor all that he had.  In one simple statement, Jesus exposed the young man’s hypocritical adherence to the law.  And He has also exposed our hypocrisy as well.  Though we would like to think that we are really not a bad person, Jesus has shown us that there is none righteous, no not one. We’re all guilty of breaking God’s law, of falling short of God’s standard of righteousness.

Then who can be saved?  That is my cry, and the cry of the disciples. And Jesus does not make it any easier for us.  He turned to the disciples when the young man went away crestfallen and said, “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!”  I would have half expected Jesus to stop the young man as he was walking away and say to him, “Hey Richie, come back here!  I was just kidding!  It’s not really that tough.  I would never ask you to sell everything and give it all away.  I was just using hyperbole!  I was exaggerating!  Lighten up, salvation is free for the asking!”  

But no, Jesus states that it is hard for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God. And the disciples are amazed, so Jesus repeats it again in vs24. Jesus *answered again and *said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!” But notice this time He does not add the phrase “for those who are wealthy.”  In this verse, He seems to include everyone.  

But then for the third time, Jesus declares this principle by analogy, saying in vs25, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” If there is any doubt, we should have none after three such statements.  Jesus has just emphatically said  three times that it is practically impossible for a rich man to be saved.  

So the disciples are amazed at this statement, and understandably so.  I am amazed by this statement.  I am terrified by this statement and you should be too. Because we are all rich in this world’s goods. I’m sure that though many of us may wish we were richer, none of us would wish that he were poorer.  And I can guarantee even if you are considered low income by the standards of the United States, you are extremely wealthy compared to the majority of other people on the planet. 

So the disciples ask the second most important question in the world, in vs.26, “Then who can be saved?” If none of us are willing to give away everything and follow Him, then who can be saved?  If the disciples question makes you cry out in despair then the Lord’s answer should make you cry out “Hallelujah!”  

The Lord’s answer is found in vs27 Looking at them, Jesus said, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”  Notice, Jesus broadens it to all people, not just rich people.  For people it is impossible to keep the commandments.  For people it is impossible to enter the kingdom of God.  Isaiah 53:6 says, “All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”  It’s impossible for anyone to enter the kingdom of God on their on merits, regardless of what they might do, because none of us can measure up to the standard of God’s righteousness.  

But the good news is that Jesus Christ has measured up to God’s standard of righteousness.  He is good, and He is righteous.  And because He loves us, He has offered up Himself to be our substitute, and God has put the penalty for our iniquity on Him, and transferred His righteousness to us.  2 Cor. 5:21 says, “God made Him who knew no sin, to become sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”  With God it is possible to enter the kingdom, because Jesus has paid for our sins and transferred His righteousness to our account, so that by His grace we who believe in Him might be given eternal life.  That is the gospel of the kingdom of God.  The good news of the kingdom.  God has made our citizenship in heaven possible through Jesus Christ.  Salvation is from the Lord.

Peter though is not thinking so much about what Christ has done for them, but rather what they have done for the Lord.  He’s still thinking of the rich young ruler who couldn’t give up his wealth to follow Jesus.  And so he says to Jesus, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You.”  That’s a rather bold statement.  They had left much.  They had left their fishing nets.  They had left their homes.  But there were times that it would seem they returned temporarily to their fishing, and to their homes.  So I can’t help but wonder if there is not a hint of the same hypocrisy in Peter that the rich young ruler expressed when he said that he had kept all the commandments since his youth.  

But notice that Jesus does not rebuke Peter for overstating their commitment.  But rather Jesus would seem to commend whatever sacrifices they had made, even if it was only temporary.  In vs29 Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life. “But many who are first will be last, and the last, first.”

Now this statement must be understood figuratively to be understood correctly.  The point Jesus is making is that there will be a reward for what we give up here on earth for the sake of the kingdom of God.  Paul said, “all the things which were gain to me here on earth, I gladly count as rubbish for the surpassing value of knowing Jesus as Lord.”  There is great reward in following Jesus.  But here in this earth it may be spiritual blessings in exchange for physical benefits.  In the physical, there will also be persecutions. You may well suffer physically in this world for following Jesus, but there will be incalculable spiritual blessings.  Jesus said elsewhere, “In this world you will have tribulations, but take courage, I have overcome the world.”  And when we overcome this world, we will grasp hold of eternal life, and all that eternal life promises; an abundant, fulfilled life, eternally living in the presence of the source of all life and blessedness.  So all of the benefits and wealth that this world offers will one day pale in comparison to the blessings we shall enjoy in eternity.  

However, Jesus adds one caveat to that future promise of rewards, which will be looked at more thoroughly later, and that is He says “But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” This was the qualifying remark regarding the apostle’s reward. All who sacrifice for the Lord will be rewarded, but God’s way and timing of rewarding may not match up with man’s way and timing of being rewarded. When God rewards, He judges with righteous judgment.  He sees the heart, the motive, and the sacrifices that were made that may have not been noticed by man.  Man judges according to outward appearances.  But God judges according to the heart.  Thus many who have seemingly achieved great things for the kingdom according to man’s perspective, may find themselves on the end of the line in the judgement to come.  

But that should be an encouragement to all of us.  Because not all of us have great wealth, or great talents to use for the Lord.  But we will be judged by what we do have, and as we are faithful in little things, He will be faithful to reward us with better things.  

Back when I was just trying to start this church, I used to work two or three days a week in construction to help meet my bills.  I wasn’t very talented when it came to construction, so I was at the bottom of the totem pole at work. Everyone else it seemed was my boss.  But there was a man who lived in Potomac that was the big boss. And I would see him almost every weekend when he would travel to the beach and check in on the development. This man and I were just about the same age.  And though I didn’t see the resemblance, one of my coworkers said that he thought we could be brothers because we looked so much alike.  But if we did, that’s where the similarity ended.  This man, that I’ll call Dave, was at the top of the company ladder, while I was at the bottom.  I remember working in his beach house, and being a little envious of a lifestyle like he had, with a million dollar beach home fully furnished whenever he chose to come to the beach. He seemed to have everything, and I seemed to have very little in earthly wealth.  I was literally sweeping floors and taking out trash in this company, while trying to start this church. And I will confess I sometimes I felt sorry for myself, and perhaps felt like Peter must have felt.  “Lord, I’ve given up so much to follow you.  What’s my reward?”  

Well,  a couple of years after I had been working there, one day I heard the news that Dave passed away suddenly and unexpectedly from a heart attack.   I don’t know his eternal destiny.  From my perspective, there was nothing about him that led me to believe that he was a follower of Christ.  But one thing I do know, the beach house, and the cars and the bank accounts and profit sharing were still there, but Dave doesn’t live there anymore.  He is in eternity.  And in light of this passage we looked at today, I wonder what his reward was?  Did he receive eternal life through faith and trust in Jesus Christ, or did he enter into eternal damnation and separation from God for refusing to let go of the idols of this world?  

What about you?  What are you worshipping today?  What do you consider more valuable than love for the Lord? As you examine your life today in light of the word, I urge you to remember the question Jesus asked back in Mark 8:36,  “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”  Jesus gave His life in exchange for your soul.  If you will just trust Him and believe in Him, then He will forgive your sins, and give you His righteousness, so that you might inherit eternal life.

Today’s passage is one of the best known stories of the gospels. It’s very simple truth, presented in a simple, straightforward way. So much so, that the full significance of this passage might be easily overlooked. I believe it contains some of the richest theology in regards to salvation that we might find anywhere in the scriptures, and so I want to focus on just these four verses this morning.

Let’s read it in it’s entirety first of all, and then I will try to comment on it. Vs 13, “And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it [at all.]” And He took them in His arms and [began] blessing them, laying His hands on them.”

This account is repeated in all three of the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, with very little variation. Another interesting thing to note is that the familiar story of the rich young ruler follows directly after the account of the children coming to Jesus, which serves as a stark contrast. If the subject of entering into eternal life is the point of that contrast, as evidenced by the rich young ruler’s question in vs 17, then the significance of this event with the children must be taken as instructive as to how one may enter the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus says here that the kingdom of God belongs to such as these children. And that whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all. Compare that to the rich young ruler who after asking how he could inherit eternal life went away sorrowing, even though he had kept the law, because he was not willing to forsake everything and follow Christ. And of course, the phrase “enter into the kingdom of God” is the equivalent to the phrase “inherit eternal life.” They are both speaking of the same thing; the kingdom of God is eternal life. Eternal life is not just a long, long, long life. It’s the abundant life that Jesus said He gives. “I have come that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”

The prosperity gospel preachers have bastardized the abundant life concept as something that you get when God blesses you with health, wealth and happiness. But Jesus wasn’t talking about that, or promising a heaven on earth type of existence for believers. But rather, Jesus was talking about a new life through Jesus Christ. He was talking about being born again of the Spirit into new life. And that life is everlasting life in the kingdom of God, as we live under the reign of Jesus Christ the Lord.

The passage begins by saying that they were bringing children to Jesus so that He might touch them. The idea was that He would bless them, laying hands on them and praying for them such as was the tradition passed down from the patriarchs. You can find examples of Isaac and Jacob doing the same for their children. Today we have somewhat of a tradition of bringing your baby to the church for dedication, which may have come from this sort of thing. But it would seem not to be out of place in Jewish society of that time to bring your baby to receive a blessing from the priest or rabbi.

So I think it was a sincere desire on the part of the parents to see the child grow up unto the Lord, to have a godly upbringing, to call upon God to protect and nurture the child, and to bless the child as he grew up. There was nothing wrong with such a thing, in fact, the parents are to be commended for their desire to raise their child up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

I would encourage you that are parents today to realize that you have a stewardship of the gift of children that should not be taken lightly. Your responsibility in raising a child is not merely to keep a roof over their head and feed and clothe them. Your responsibility is not just to save up money so that they can go to college. Your responsibility is to teach your children the fear of the Lord. To raise your children up in the church. To teach them the word of God.

When God gave the commandments to Moses He gave specific instructions to the parents saying in Deut. 6:6-9 “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

Being raised by Christian parents to believe the Bible and follow the Lord should not be an option. I’ve heard parents say, “Well I am leaving it up to junior if he wants to come to church or not. I don’t want to push anything on him, you know.” I wonder if such parents leave it up to junior whether or not he wants to brush his teeth. Or whether or not he wants to go to school. I would suggest that their spiritual state is of greater importance than their grade point average or how many cavities they have. So I encourage you as parents, and as grandparents, to make the spiritual development of your child the highest priority.

These parents wanted the best spiritual advantage for their children and so they brought them to Jesus. Commentators tell us that Luke makes it clear in his account that the little children were actually infants. I would think it included infants up to the age of toddlers, because we see later in vs 16 that Jesus took them in His arms. So I doubt that they were much older than toddlers.

The disciples though rebuked the parents for what they perceived as bothering Jesus with their children. This is another example of the disciples exercising certain behavior that we can as arm chair quarterbacks easily criticize them for. Many preachers seem to love to point out the faults of the disciples, as if to show their own surpassing spiritual maturity. But in the disciples defense, there are multiple instances recorded in Mark when Jesus Himself attempted to get away from the crowds.They were constantly being hounded by people seeking to see some spectacular miracle, or people seeking healing, or all kinds of things that people wanted from Jesus. And so they were probably just trying to prevent what they thought were just another type of interruption. They certainly didn’t understand the full significance of what these parents were trying to do. I’m sure in their minds, blessing babies didn’t compare with the pressing business of healing blindness or casting out demons.

But when the disciples rebuke the parents, Jesus rebukes the disciples. Actually it says He became indignant towards them. I think a better translation might be annoyed. I think Jesus thought the disciples were missing the point. Jesus came to give life, everlasting life. That was His purpose. His goal wasn’t to heal everyone of every disease in Israel. And as evidenced by Jesus’s statement, these children were the perfect recipients of the grace of God.

Jesus says to them, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” Previously, in chapter 9, Jesus had said that whoever puts a stumbling block in front of one of these little ones, (referencing a child that was among them) it would be better for him if a milestone was tied about his neck and he was thrown into the middle of the ocean. So when Jesus says don’t hinder the children from coming to Me, I suppose He is annoyed that they so quickly have forgotten that admonition.

The point is Jesus wants the children to come to Him. Listen, there is no better time to come to Jesus than when you are young. I read some statistics once that I can’t find now, but they spoke about the odds of coming to Christ at various ages. The percentage of the possibility of coming to Christ when you were below the age of 18 was quite high, but with every decade that passed the likelihood of coming to salvation dropped considerably. By the time someone had reached the age of 60 or more, and had not come to salvation, the likelihood dropped to the low single digits. So for you parents, you’re not doing your child any favors by waiting until they get older to make a decision about the Lord. The best opportunity to become a believer is while they are young.

Jesus says, “the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” John MacArthur preached a sermon on this text and the whole premise of the sermon was to say that children who die before the age of accountability are saved by the grace of God. I think he also wrote a book on that subject. And I think that has long been the traditional view of many conservative Bible teachers and scholars. John Calvin, for instance, seems to hold to that view. And they use this text and a number of other supplemental passages to support the idea that God bestows His grace upon those children that die before they have an understanding of right and wrong, and consequently are innocent of presumptuous sin. They have inherited the sin nature from their parents, but they haven’t had the cognizance to act upon it, and God grants those who die in that state grace. I would tend to agree with that view, but I don’t feel we can be dogmatic about it on the basis of this statement alone.

But Jesus does seem to make an unequivocal statement here; the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. He doesn’t qualify it by saying the kingdom of God belongs to such as these who are born of believing parents. He doesn’t say that the kingdom of God belongs to such as these who are baptized. Grace is getting what you don’t deserve. And these little children have nothing to offer God in exchange. They can’t even offer God faith. But God grants them grace.

But while the salvation of babies may be implied in what Jesus says, I don’t think that is the primary point of what Jesus is saying. He further explains His point by saying, “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” So He isn’t saying that only babies will enter the kingdom of God, but that unless you become like a child you will not enter it. Unless you become LIKE a child.

Well, what does that mean? How do you become like a child? It means to accept the gospel with genuine trust, with child like humility, knowing that you have nothing to offer in exchange. It’s complete trust in what Christ has done for us, and not trusting in your own righteousness, or your own accomplishments, or your own inherent goodness. To be like a child means simple, child like trust in Christ.

I heard the story of a wealthy shop owner that piled up gold coins on the window sill of his storefront. There was a sign in the window above it which said “Take one.” All day long people walked by the window and saw the coins and read the note, but inwardly they were thinking, “You can’t fool me.” And so they passed on by. When evening came, just before the shop owner was going to remove the coins, a child came by, read the sign, and reached out and took a coin. That’s child like faith.

How many people, I wonder, have refused to trust in Jesus as their Savior because they think that they are too smart for all this Christian stuff. I shudder to think of who might be here today who doubt in the validity of the gospel, who want to think about it, who want to believe that it can’t be that simple, that there must be more to entering into the kingdom of God. But Jesus said in Matt. 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

But there is yet another application that we could make from this statement of Jesus. To become like a child is to be born again. To be born again in spirit. Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3: 3 “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

So to be born again is to become a child again, but not in the flesh, but in the spirit. That is how you must become like a child in order to enter the kingdom of God. Being born again is to trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, the Holy Son of God, who came to die in your place, to pay the penalty for your sins, that whosoever believes in Him might be saved.

John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” Through the cross of Jesus Christ, my sins are transferred to Jesus, and His righteousness is transferred to my account. And by faith in that sacrifice on His part, I am given new life, I am born again. I have become like a child born into the kingdom of God.

The kingdom of God is the rule of Christ in your heart and life, together with all the blessings that result from His rule. Entering the kingdom means receiving new life, that is, everlasting life. John 17:3 says, “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” Once you come to know and believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, you enter into eternal life and all the blessings that come from being a child of the King.

Then after stating how you must become like a child to enter the kingdom of God, Jesus took the children in His arms and blessed them. Vs.16, “And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.”

John 1:12-13 says, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” The Bible tells us in several places that salvation is of the Lord. God is the author and the finisher of our salvation. Do we have a part, a responsibility in salvation? Yes, our responsibility is to believe. To come to Jesus. And He will do the rest. As many as receive Him, He will give you the power to become the sons and daughters of God, even to them that believe on His name.

You are born again by believing in Jesus Christ, believing in who He is, and what He accomplished for us, and you are born again not of flesh, nor by the will of man, but you are born of God. You become like a child, born for the second time, born of the Spirit, and as a child of God, you are granted an inheritance in the kingdom of God, even everlasting life.

Today the ruler of the world has left a coin of the greatest value on the window ledge of the kingdom of heaven. He has put a sign there which says, Take one. What is your response? I urge you – in child like faith to receive His gift of eternal life, the greatest treasure.

As you know, our tradition at the Beach Fellowship is that we study the scriptures verse by verse. That tends to keep us from over emphasizing some things, or under emphasizing other things, depending on what we think people want to hear. Last week I said that the subject matter of Jesus’ teaching on hell at the end of chapter 9 was very unpopular, and if I were a smarter, more popularity conscious preacher, I would have skipped over it.

Well, I suppose that today’s passage of scripture is even more unpopular than the subject of hell. Today Jesus speaks against divorce, and for the sanctity of marriage. And so in all likelihood, I will be offending at least half of you here today. According to the American Psychological Association, approximately 40-50% of first marriages end in divorce. The divorce rate for second marriages is even higher, with approximately 60-67% of second marriages ending in divorce. I have also heard that the statistic for divorce is about the same in the church as it is in the world. So I’m sure that in our representative congregation here this morning, about half of you have been divorced.

That being said, I have already resigned myself to the fact that I will never win any popularity contest. And I believe that it’s far more important that I try to please God rather than men, so I will simply tell you what Jesus had to say on the subject and you can take it up with Him if you find it unsettling.

Let’s look at our text beginning in Mark chapter 10, vs 1: “Getting up, He went from there to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan; crowds gathered around Him again, and, according to His custom, He once more [began] to teach them. [Some] Pharisees came up to Jesus, testing Him, and [began] to question Him whether it was lawful for a man to divorce a wife.”

Jesus is deliberately and slowly moving closer to HIs destination which is Jerusalem and to His destiny which is the cross. He now leaves Galilee and enters Judea and once again the crowds flock to Him. And as was His custom, He began to teach them. The subject of His teaching is the gospel of the Kingdom of God. The only means by which people can enter the Kingdom of God is through Jesus Christ, through faith in Him as the Son of God, the Messiah, and what He will accomplish for them on the cross.

One of the main points of His teaching is to help people come to the realization that they are lost. That is why in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus spends a great deal of His message expounding the law. The purpose of the law was to make man understand that he is a sinner in need of salvation. I think it was Billy Graham who said, that the difficulty is not in getting people saved, the difficulty is in first getting people to understand that they are lost. Most people tend to think that they actually are not such a bad person. And so they make excuses for themselves while condemning others. But in reality all men are sinners and hopelessly lost, outside of the kingdom of God.

The Pharisees were a religious order of the Jews that prided themselves on their self righteousness. They believed that they kept the law as they had determined it. They had lawyers and scribes and rabbis who had studied the law and wrote a commentary upon it called the Mishna which they held in higher regard than the scriptures. So believing that they had kept the law according to their interpretations, they were not exactly fond of Jesus’ teaching which suggested that they were actually guilty of breaking the law.

And so the Pharisees routinely showed up whenever Jesus was teaching to try to catch Him with a trick question, or to catch Him or His disciples in some infraction according to their understanding of the law, with the ultimate goal of discrediting Jesus in the eyes of the people.

Their question then was a trick question, one that was designed to get Him in trouble with half the people, regardless of how He answered it. The question was whether it was lawful for a man to divorce a wife for any reason. According to one school of rabbinic teaching, Moses, whom they considered the author of the law, permitted a man to divorce his wife for unchastity, or adultery. The other school interpreted that Moses wrote that a man could divorce for any thing that he found distasteful. For instance, he could divorce her for burning his toast. And the majority of Jews favored that interpretation, and possibly that was also the accepted view of the disciples.

So if Jesus answered in such a way as to take the stricter position, He would undoubtedly offend the majority of people that favored the more lax view. But if He sided with the more liberal view then they could accuse Him of accommodating sinners and being morally lax.
Either way He answered, the Pharisees weren’t interested in keeping the commandment as He understood it, but only in trying to embarrass Him and discredit Him before the people.

But in response to their trick question, Jesus turns them to the scriptures, not to the rabbinic traditions. He says in vs3 “And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?” The scripture, though written by human hands, in this case Moses, is the inspired word of God. So the scripture is authoritative, because it is the word of God. The rabbinic traditions were the word of man as he interpreted scripture. But Jesus turns their attention to the word of God. It’s the authority, not the rabbinic traditions.

By the way, that’s why we preach through the scripture, verse by verse. There is no other authority. Science is not an authority. Philosophy or psychiatry is not authoritative. All of the sciences are evolving, ever changing. But God’s word never changes. It is forever settled in heaven. 2Tim 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” And Peter says in 2 Peter 1:20-21 “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is [a matter] of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”

The Pharisees answer Jesus in vs 4 They said, “Moses permitted [a man] TO WRITE A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND [her] AWAY.” What they give is an abbreviated synopsis of what Moses said, and in so shortening it, turn the intention of the law into something that indicates permissiveness. They say Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce. That is not actually what Moses says.

The original commandment can be found in Deut. 24:1-4 which says 1 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts [it] in her hand and sends her out from his house, and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man’s [wife,] and if the latter husband turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts [it] in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife, [then] her former husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, since she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance.”

Moses, while recognizing that the common practice was to write a certificate of divorce and send her away, does not condone that practice, but is merely addressing the additional responsibility of possible sin after a man has divorced his wife. Moses is saying that if you divorce your wife, and she becomes the wife of another man, then the former husband is not allowed to take her back again to be his wife. That’s a sin, an abomination before God. But Moses does not encourage or condone divorce. They had misinterpreted the law to accommodate their sinful desire.

So Jesus answers them in vs 5, But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment.” See, Jesus says that Moses didn’t permit divorce, but he is writing a commandment in response to the hardness of their heart in carrying out their sinful desire to divorce their wife. In Malachi 2:16 God says, I hate divorce. God said, “the LORD has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.”

So God didn’t condone or give permission for divorce. Sometime before, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spoke to this same issue saying, Matt. 5:31-32 “It was said, ‘WHOEVER SENDS HIS WIFE AWAY, LET HIM GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE’; but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for [the] reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” So Jesus had taken a position on divorce and according to Him, who is the Word made incarnate, the only reason for divorce would be unchastity. But even then, I think that the will of God is that there would not be divorce. He does allow for it in the case of unchastity, but He does not order it.

And that principle finds it’s in the sanctity of marriage as given by God. If marriage is a holy union between a man and a woman and in the sight of God they become one flesh, then what God has joined together let not man separate. So Jesus expounds the principle of divorce by stating the ordinance of marriage. He says in vs 6 “But from the beginning of creation, [God] MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE. “FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

So in answer to this question of divorce Jesus goes back to the original ordinance of God in regards to marriage, and once again, Jesus uses scripture as His authority. The first scripture reference is taken partially from Genesis 1:27 which says in full, “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” The world has a whole bunch of problems with that verse, don’t they? First of all, the world doesn’t believe in creation. It doesn’t believe in intelligent design. The world believes in evolution, which is that man evolved over billions of years from some microorganism and random chance.

But if you believe that God designed and created man in His own image, and created them male and female, then that sets the parameters for everything that comes after. God didn’t make three or four or ten genders, He made two genders, male and female. But if you take God out of the equation, then I guess anything goes. If evolution were actually possible, then it’s conceivable that man could evolve into many different genders or variations of genders. But I don’t believe evolution is even possible, and if it were to happen that gender evolved then it would mean the end of our species. But I believe the Bible, and that God created man male and female and He said it was good. And that settles a lot of questions for me right there.

But that raises the question, do you believe in God, or more to the point, do you believe God? A lot of people claim to believe in God. However, they don’t believe in the God of the Bible. But the Bible says that Abraham believed God, not believed in God, and He credited it to him as righteousness. Abraham believed what God said. And like Abraham we gain righteousness by believing in the God of the Bible and believing what He said and what He promised and what He accomplished.

So having established that God made man male and female, Jesus goes on to show that God established marriage. Vs 7 “FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” Again, Jesus quotes scripture. This time He quotes from Genesis 2:24 which says, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.”

The whole context of that scripture should be considered though. God had said that it was not good for man to be alone. And then “the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.” For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.” God designed marriage as part of creation to complete man and accomplish God’s purposes in creation.

So the indissolubility of marriage is stated by Jesus in very forceful terms. Jesus is summarizing the divine ordinance concerning the marriage bond. In God’s eyes, they form a partnership, one completing the other, each complementing the other, so that they individually are better together through their union. For a man to separate what God has joined together, means to arrogantly defy the work of God. And I would add to that, that when a couple make their vows to come together in marriage, that they make such vows to God and not just to each other. It is a three party covenant. So when you break that vow to your wife or husband, you are also breaking a vow to God. And that is a fearful thing, to break a vow to God.

Well, after Jesus said these things, they go into a nearby house, whose house we are not told, and the disciples take the opportunity to question Him further about this teaching. Vs.10 “In the house the disciples [began] questioning Him about this again. And He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her; and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.”

What Jesus is saying here is that a husband who divorces his wife, thereby separating what God has joined together, is committing a grievous sin, and that he adds to that grievous sin a further condemnation by marrying another woman. Such a man is sinning not just against God but against his wife, for he is involving himself in adultery against her, or if she remarries, causes her to commit adultery.

So in very simple terms, using scripture as the authority, Jesus denounces divorce, refutes the rabbinical misinterpretation of the law, reaffirms the laws true meaning, condemns the guilty party, defends the innocent, and throughout it all reaffirms the sacredness and inviolability of marriage as ordained by God between a man and a woman.

So we are to understand that Jesus regards the break up of a marriage to be an abomination before God. Yet on the other hand, that same uncompromising Lord Jesus Christ is the merciful Savior, who says to the woman caught in adultery, “Go and sin no more.” For most people listening here today that have had a divorce, it’s too late to undo it. In fact, you can add to the injury by divorcing once again to try to rectify the old divorce. But we can go and sin no more. if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

The law exposes the fact that all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. But if we turn in repentance to the Savior, and believe that He died on the cross to pay the penalty of our sins, then as Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness, so we by faith believe in what God has done and we receive the righteousness of Christ applied by grace to our account that we might gain eternal life and escape the condemnation that we deserve.
If you’re here this morning and you have been considering divorce I pray that God’s word has convinced you that God’s plan does not accommodate divorce and you will keep your vows to God. But if you’re here today and you are considering marriage, I hope that you realize that marriage is a covenant between you and God and your future spouse. It’s not something to be entered into lightly, or with a cavalier attitude. And if you are here this morning and you recognize that you have sinned against your spouse and against God by divorcing your spouse, then I hope you recognize that if you confess your sins, God is faithful and just to forgive you of your sins, and cleanse you from all unrighteousness, and by faith in His work on the cross, God can make all things new in your life.

As I so often tell you, I preach through the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter.  In so doing, we end up dealing with the attractive parts of the gospel, and the not so attractive parts of the gospel.  But irregardless of a particular scripture’s agreeableness, we know that all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction in righteousness, that the man of God may be adequate, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

I suppose that I preach through the gospel verse by verse, is because I’m not smart enough to write out a series of sermons on popular topics such as loving relationships, or on God is love, or about how to live your best life now.  However, I suppose that if I were really smart, I would skip right over this passage before us today and move on to chapter 10 as if nothing was amiss. 

This passage and subject matter would have to be one of the most difficult to speak on in light of the attitude of our present culture, and the incongruity of speaking on such a unpopular subject of divine judgement and the punishment of hell.  I’m sure that speaking on these subjects will certainly disqualify me from any popularity contest. Those of you visiting here will probably go home and tell all your friends of this horrid experience you had, when you visited a church  on the beach on a really delightful morning, with the sun shining and the waves breaking and the dolphins jumping, and then this awful preacher started ranting on about hell fire and damnation.  Really quite a terrible scene.

But you know what’s really weird, is that Bible scholars tell us that Jesus spoke more on hell than He did about heaven.  So if you are going to preach through the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, then you will have to hear a lot about hell.  And so I really don’t see how we can avoid this for long.  So let’s just get to it, and deal with it, as best we can.

Thankfully, this passage doesn’t start with that subject, however.  It starts with the apostle John asking Jesus about someone they had seen casting out demons in Jesus’ name, and they had told him to stop doing it, because he was not one of them.  It seems a bit out of context with the rest of the passage, but I think there is a thread of continuity that runs through these verses and we see it all come together at the end.

Vs. 38 John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to prevent him because he was not following us.”  But Jesus said, “Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me. For he who is not against us is for us. For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as [followers] of Christ, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward.”

It’s important to read this keeping in mind that the disciples had just had an embarrassing incident which we looked at a couple of weeks ago in which they had been unable to cast out a particular nasty demon.  Actually, it wasn’t so much that the demon was particularly powerful, but that the disciples had neglected to spend enough time in prayer, recognizing their utter dependence upon Jesus Christ to do any mighty works.   Pride, or a lack of humility on the part of the disciples were really the problem, not the power of the demon.  Remember Jesus had cast out  thousands of demons that were in the demoniac of the Gerasenes. So the difficulty wasn’t the demon, the difficulty had been their lack of reliance upon God for their authority.

So then the disciples see a man casting out demons who aren’t a part of their group and they have a problem with him, perhaps due to jealousy on their part.  In fact, they tried to stop him.  But what they failed to pick up on was that this man was not some Jewish exorcist, he was casting out demons by the name of Jesus Christ.  In other words, this man was a believer in Jesus Christ.  He was working the works of God through the power of Jesus Christ.  That’s what it means when Jesus said, “in my name.”  In the power and authority of Jesus Christ.  And he could only do that because he was a believer in Christ. Just because he wasn’t a member of the 12, didn’t mean that he was not a disciple of Jesus.

And Jesus speaks to that, saying, “Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me. For he who is not against us is for us.”  The key to understanding that saying is that this man was working “in My name,” or “in Jesus name.” The power of Christ works in us that believe in Him to bring about any righteousness that we do.  Our ability to live the Christian life lies not in our power of discipline, or our power of self control, but in having given our life to Christ, so that the power of Christ lives in Me.  That’s what it means to be saved, to be born again, it’s to have new life in Christ, Christ living in me.  That’s what Paul speaks of in 2Co 12:9 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”

And that power of Christ in us is the reason that we do good works. As Paul says in Eph 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

Now there is a special significance to that phrase, “in My name,” or “in Christ’s name.”  What it means is that it is true to the gospel of Christ, it is according to the truth of Christ, it is by the authority of Christ, it is in the power of Christ.  Jesus, as the Son of God,  omnipotently knew that this man was speaking the truth of Christ and working in the genuine authority and power of Christ.  We may see someone today who claims to be speaking and working in the power of Christ but we may wonder if the person is truly representing correctly the gospel of Christ.  And sometimes that is a justifiable concern.  Because the devil often masquerades as an angel of light, as we are told in the scripture. 

So we have to balance this admonition of Jesus to not hinder someone who is preaching in Jesus name on the one hand, with another admonition against those who claim the name of Jesus, according to Matthew 7:21-23, but their sinful life betrays them as not being of Christ.  Jesus said,  “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven [will enter.]  “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’  “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’

So we must use spiritual discernment to know when someone is truly working in Jesus name, and when someone falsely claims Jesus name, but they aren’t preaching the truth of Jesus’s gospel.

But for those who truly work in Jesus name, Jesus says in vs41 “For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as [followers] of Christ, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward.”  So as we do the works of righteousness which God prepared beforehand, that we might walk in them, even to the very minor work of giving a cup of water to another believer, Jesus says that such work will be rewarded.  Heaven is a place of rewards, as well as a place of rest.  It’s a place where we are given rewards for the works that we have done on this earth.

But at the judgement seat of God which is in heaven, it will on the last day be a place for the judgement of wickedness.  And just as a minor thing as giving a cup of water will have a reward, so will every thought and deed, no matter how trivial it may seem now, have a consequence or a reward in the judgment.

Jesus spoke of that in Matt. 12:35-36 saying “The good man brings out of [his] good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of [his] evil treasure what is evil. But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment.”

And so having spoken of the reward of the righteous works,  at this point Jesus turns His attention to that judgment of the unrighteous works, those who have rejected Him, and who hindered those who would come to Him.

Jesus says in Vs42  “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea.”  These little ones that Jesus speaks of are the children of God, those who have believed in Jesus Christ, who have believed His gospel and been converted.  This statement relates back to vs 37 “Whoever receives one child like this in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me does not receive Me, but Him who sent Me.”   Matthew’s account of this saying gives further amplification of this – “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”  So little children are the children of God, made so by conversion, being born again.

But those that hinder a child of God, that cause a child of God to stumble, to fall into sin, Jesus says that having a millstone tied around your neck and being dumped into the ocean to drown would be a much better alternative than the judgment that you will face when you are called to give an account for your life.  I think that there will be a hottest part of hell reserved for people who lead others, especially young naive people, even children, into sin. And yet I believe the devil has especially targeted children today in our society, and he’s using people of influence in the media and entertainment industry to put a stumbling block in front of them.  Jesus says that such people will deserve the most severe punishment. And Jesus promises that God will judge such with the fullest measure of His wrath.

Jesus goes on to say that the disciples must be on their guard lest they cause others or themselves to stumble, to fall into sin. If any bodily organ, hand, foot, eye or anything, no matter how dear to us it may seem, if it threatens to become a trap or a stumbling block to someone, they must immediately take drastic action to be rid of it.  Jesus correlates this back in chapter 8 vs 34 as taking up your cross, being willing to die to  physical lusts of the flesh.  Here he relates it as cutting off your hand, or plucking out your eye.   In other words, you don’t try to mollify sin, to condone sin, to accommodate sin.  You cut it off. You mortify the flesh.

Jesus says, in vs43 “If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, [where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.]  If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell, [where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.] If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell,  where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.”

There are some theological issues that are raised by this teaching which I want to address, and yet I am sure I cannot answer to everyone’s satisfaction.  The primary question to my mind that arises is the reality of hell.  Is hell a real place?  I would say that according to Jesus, it is very much a reality.  Is hell eternal or is it a place of annihilation? I would say that according to Jesus’ statement, it is eternal.  Is hell a place of fire and burning? I would say that according to Jesus, it is an unquenchable fire. Then another question is, who will go to hell? According to what Jesus indicates here, it is for those who have rejected Christ and continued in rebellion against Him.  Sin is rebellion.  And hell is reserved as the punishment for sin.

I wish to God that there was not a hell. I wish that no one would ever end up in hell.  I hope and pray with all my heart and soul that none of my loved ones or friends would ever find themselves in hell.  I heard one preacher say that we should never be able to speak of hell without tears in our eyes. No one in their right mind wishes hell on anyone.  Even our worst  enemies we should love enough to do everything possible to keep them from hell.  

But I also heard another preacher say that a person will have to walk over the cross of Christ in order to get to hell. They are going to have to trample on Jesus as He is dying on the cross for your sins, in order to get to hell. The good news of the gospel is that Jesus suffered our punishment so that we might be delivered from the hell we were destined for.  The good news of the gospel is that salvation is a free gift of God, if we will just believe in what Jesus did for us, that as the Son of God He became our substitute, and was punished for our sins, so that we might be forgiven and receive the righteousness of God, and we might have eternal life.  

But Jesus makes it clear that for those who reject Him, there is reserved for them a place in hell.  Then Jesus continues to talk about the judgment of fire, which I think is directed towards His disciples, or believers,  in vs 49 saying,  “For everyone will be salted with fire.”  He isn’t saying that everyone will go to hell.  But it’s not easy to understand what He is speaking of.  He probably is speaking of a trial by fire, what Peter calls a fiery trial, which will come upon everyone for the purpose of purification.  In believers, this fiery trial will be the means by which sin is purged, our iniquity is burned away so that our righteousness may be revealed.  Jesus correlates fire with the metaphor of salt to represent a curative, a preservative against the corruption of sin. If you rub salt into a wound, it burns like fire, but it also cleans and preserves against corruption.  So is the work of a fiery trial in a believer.

In Isaiah, when the prophet saw the glory of God on His throne, he said, “woe is me for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips.” And an angel of the Lord took a lump of coal from the fire before the altar and put it on his lips, and said, ““Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.”

The hymn How Firm A Foundation that we sing here so often says, “when through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie, my grace all sufficient shall be thy supply, the flames shall not hurt thee, I only design, thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.”

Peter says in 1Peter 4:12-13, 17 “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you;  but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. … 17 For the time [has come] for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if [it begins] with us first, what will [be] the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?” 

So there is either a fire of punishment for the wicked or a fire of refining for the believer.  But everyone will be salted by fire. But Jesus leaves the idea of fire and continues with the metaphor of salt, saying in vs 50 “Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty [again?] Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

It’s easy to see that salt is good. It’s a preservative, it cleanses, it was even used as currency, as a measure for money.  The saying that someone is “worth their salt” means worth their wage.  It comes from Roman times when soldiers were paid in salt.  Salt was considered of such great value that the soldiers were paid with it.

However according to Jesus, salt could become worthless. It could lose it’s saltiness. And He asks the rhetorical question, “how can you make it salty again? Jesus said in Matt. 5:13  “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty [again?] It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.”

You might say then that salt is the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in your life, the refining fire of the Holy Spirit in your life.  But if you disregard the Spirit’s warnings, and sin against God and man, then you effectively quench the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, and righteousness and judgment.  But it’s possible to quench the Holy Spirit and rebel against the Lord, to continue in sin.  And if that occurs in your life, then your physical life is  no longer good for anything godly, but to be trampled under foot by men.  Reminds us of trampling over the cross of Christ in order to get to hell, doesn’t it? 

Heb 10:28-31 says,  “Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on [the testimony of] two or three witnesses.  How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?  For we know Him who said, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY.” And again, “THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE.”  It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

So as a preservative against the temptation to sin, Jesus says, “Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”  It’s useless for a man to try to do good works unless by the grace of God he has been made good within. That is unless he has been converted into a true child of God. It’s having the power of the Spirit of Christ in you. To have salt within oneself means then, to have the sanctifying presence of the Holy Spirit in your life, working to conform you into the image of Jesus Christ.  Romans 8:9 says, “But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.” So having the Spirit within you,  then you become, as Jesus said in Matt. 5:13, the salt of the world. And therefore also, your speech is always seasoned with salt. 

To that end, Jesus said, be at peace with each other.  Having the Holy Spirit in us as the salt that cures us from quarreling, from envy, from strife, from anger, from jealousy, from trying to outdo each other, but instead learning to love one another and serve one another, and value the other more highly than yourself.  That is the means of peace.  As Paul said in Rom 12:18 “If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.”  That is how we become the salt of the earth. Being at peace with one another is how we manifest Christ who is in us,  to the world.   As Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.” (Matt.5:9)